Mary Eggers

I am often asked how the mood is here at camp Egg. Two triathletes, two competitive minds, two type AAA people and a 6 year old. Some think it’s thick with competition, but I have to break the news….. Camp Egg is likely one of the most fun households on the planet. Laughter and wrestling are the two common themes here, and at any given moment I find myself pinned on my back by one of the two boys. It can be dangerous, but damn it is fun.

Which came to a halt this week when Curt delivered what I am calling a Pile Driver, to me.

You see, Curt in high school was a star wrestler. Yet his senior year he did not make it to states. Something for the thousands of years he has been out of high school…… has haunted him.

And for the past ten years, I have been the guy he should have beaten. Until now. I can happily say the game is over. And thank goodness I am just fine.

Because you see my feet were both swiped out from underneath me one night as I once again attempted to wrestle the star wrestler. And not only in ten years have I never successfully pinned him, I found myself landing on my tailbone, with horrendous pain suddenly shooting through my back.

Not since 2005 Half Max Nationals had I a problem with my back, which was originally injured in 1997 when I was hit by a car. I was running, and I was fine. I ran home but came into contact with some back issues. They creep up every now and then, and after this long I know exactly how to handle it. It takes me three days to get back to 100%.

Luckily at the time of the event my long ride and key run was already complete. Wednesday I jumped right into a recovery week, and switched things up down the line. I adjusted all other workouts to recovery to protect, and added in some more yoga.

And as I look at the plan, I am glad. Still the same number of build and recovery weeks, just ordered in a…… whoah…… better way. Did the wrestling star know this at the time of the Pile Driver? Possibly. Probably not however.

As I tuned into the weather and saw another blast of snow coming our way, I was secretly relieved that Sunday’s run had been changed to 9 miles rather than 18. Next week when the 18 are to be run…. hell it is supposed to be sixty degrees.

Fate? I would like to think so.

So training is sometimes interrupted with pile drivers, or illness, or crashes or just life. Being flexible enough to literally roll with the punches…… that’s the key to getting to the starting line.

So here I am on Saturday evening and I am back to 100%. Recovery week unannounced, it showed up, I rolled with it, I re planned. It was hard not to push through it, but it was the right decision. Whew!

And then at the end of it all, I will have had one extra long ride. And for a girl like me, that’s better than hot cocoa!

mary eggers

We’ve had a taste of spring here in the Northeast. A dip in the warm ocean, a sprinkle of sunshine on our backs. I opened my eyes, looked to the sun and I smiled. I knew it wasn’t here to stay, I knew it would not stay long. But while it was here I drew it in, I soaked it up and again, I smiled.

It’s a taste of the good things to come. A light at the end of the tunnel.

As we dip back into the not so frigid temperatures of winter again this weekend, we dip back into it with hope. The snow will fall but at thirty degrees the end is looming. The sun is ready and there is grass that is ready to grow, flowers that are ready to bloom.

I spread my wings this week and I allowed myself to fly. I also held onto the reigns and pulled things back in as they needed to be. That’s the fine line we walk, a dip over the edge and then a step back. A little more rest and a little more work.

A few more weeks of base and then a test session in Florida. Between now and then a few cruise interval runs, hill work, but lots of base miles to solidify this foundation. What’s hidden underneath? I am not even sure. But I will shine on the day I need to shine on. At the distance I have dreamt of returning to.

Until then I will hold back, I will hold hope and I will continue to move forward. There is a reason for each of the seasons we travel through. A reason for winter, a reason for spring and a reason for the summertime. And then comes fall when the earth prepares to enter the next cycle.

And so it is with many things in our lives, we follow cycles. One builds into another, one prepares us for the next. We must hold hope that the sun will again shine. Because it will.

Until then, we bundle up, slide on our fuzzy hats, and we allow ourselves to be patient.

Mary Eggers

“Run like the wind” my friend Jen wrote to me today. I admitted my fear to her. I have been afraid to run my cruise intervals because I am afraid my Achilles Tendon is going to snap. However there is no pain, no soreness nor any indication that something like that would happen.

It is fear. And it is me being in the way of my own self.

With 44 miles of running scheduled this week and Gulf Coast 1/2 Ironman in 8 weeks, I know I can not procrastinate any longer. I am running hills. I am running steady. I am running tempo. The cruise intervals can not be pushed off any longer. They have to take place on Wednesday.

I will run like the wind.

I think that I found heaven today, at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Just 5 miles form my home, RIT is where I am now an adjunct faculty…. teaching Spinning. The group of kids this morning were terrific. They had great form, they wanted to be there. I am so honored they are taking the class this quarter.

It gives me the opportunity to get in a nice 90 minute ride with music and people and just let loose.

RIT also has the most beautiful pool in the world. I swim 2 X 90 minute practices with the RAMS, and I have been swimming a third 60 minute swim on my own at the Y. The hot crowded pool was just fine, and then here I was at RIT. Full use of the incredible facilities. And here was the pool.

So for 4000 yards I was in comfortable space, splitting a lane, and swimming long, swimming steady. It was heaven on earth as far as pools go. And through my life I have been in many chlorinated environments.

So cheers to another great training week. And thanks Jen for my mantra on Wednesday.

Run like the wind……..

Mary Eggers

Week two of the current build complete. Running miles to 41.94 Total training hours are at 18. While that is all well and good, you can run all of the miles you want and train the most hours of anyone, but it is what you do with those miles and hours that matters.

Given that, each workout has served its purpose. I am feeling wonderful. After the most running I have done in a few years I am absent of any kind of soreness. When I wonder if I can handle more miles, I am reminded that I can right now, handle more quality. It is easy to want to pile more on, it is hard to be smart.

My cycling is coming in the direction I hope it shall. cadence much higher, steady wattages and the heart rate zones as prescribed.

Swimming is going well also. Now that we are swimming 2 X 90 minute sessions we are cranking out 5000+ yards. What I adore about my swim coach however is that we still drill. We still scull, we still do the basics.

Nutrition also evolving. More water is the goal this week, as I tend to be a coffee drinker throughout the day. I love the ambiance that comes along with my caffeinated glory. The warm mug, the conversation. Just about anything in the world can happen over a cup of Joe.

At our Ironman meeting this mooring I noticed how the team has bonded. The boundary between the new people and the current group has been erased. Memoreis are forming, It’s all so wonderful.

Onward we go, build week three next week. Tempo and hills are the themes.

Mary Eggers

I am currently in a 2 day class to renew my Pediatric Advanced Life Support Certification. We call it PALS. Mine actually expired a year ago and when my new nurse manager realized this (I didn’t even pay attention, my bad) she did what any great nurse manager would do…. she suspended me. Now mind you I work one night a week, so a 2 week suspension was met with cheer! That was signal number one.

Signal number two came today. As I walked towards the Big House (Strong) my heart felt heavy. For eight hours I would be buried behind walls and get tested on every skill known to man. They have completely changed the way they do this course and it sucked.

So there I was standing at skills station #3, the Team Leader of a Pediatric code. Michael from the Adirondacks was my tester, as he was the last time. We talk a lot about Saranac and Lake Placid, it’s where he is from. He’s terrific.

“Okay Mary do you suspect Cardiogenic shock or hypovolemic shock?” He asked me. And I looked at him. Although I knew the answer, I recognized the signs, and had been able to lead the code very effectively until this point……… I wanted to say to Michael ask me if I care.

“Hypovolemic” I correctly stated.

It’s not that I am not intelligent enough. It’s not that I don’t have the credentials. It’s not that I don’t love being a nurse. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the 4-8 hours I do it a week.

I just want to be on the other side. I don’t want to be cleaning up the mess. I want to be preventing the mess.

So as I was leaving the big house and making my way to Afghanistan where I park….. I turned around and looked at The Big House. I have been there only 7.5 years. I became a nurse here. I gave birth here. My son’s heart was stopped and started here. I feel like I owe a debt of gratitude to this sprawling mass of buildings and the people inside.

“Strong isn’t going anywhere” Bill told me that last week. Maybe he is right.

So as I was standing there and people walked by me, wondering why I was staring back at the big house. I thought “What would you rather do Mary?”

Visions of the Train-This personal training studio flashed into my mind. Where I would be helping people get healthy and avoid coming here. I dreamt of being on my bike in the sun, I dreamt of being in yoga class, either teaching or taking……

I dreamed of continuing to work for myself rather than swiping in and swiping out.

So I said it. I set the deadline.

After Ironman Florida I will take a new path. A path that has been building for three years. The Train-This path. I have to see what I can do, or I will forever wonder…… what if?

Mary Eggers

Call me crazy but I am going to miss these mornings. The mornings where I wait a bit to start my long run, until the sun comes up and the cars have all gotten to work. The mornings where out the window of my home office the blanket of white covers the earth, and there is quiet stillness all around.

I will strangely miss the cold long runs, the crisp air, the frozen eyelashes, the trickery of footing. These runs present challenges that make me stronger. And it isn’t just the run itself, it is the subsequent ice bath. Because it wasn’t cold enough on the fifteen miles I am about to run. The fifteen minutes submerged in literal ice water itself presents challenge. Can I do it?

And all of it come down to 2 final events. The long hot shower and the big bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup. Those 2 things are heaven in themselves.

I believe we have solved the problems during my races of vomiting during the runs. Thanks to the Computrainer and the Garmis 305 we are able to track, graph and take a good look at my heart rate and my effort levels. Closer than ever we are, to figuring the mystery out.

Before my 4 hour ride yesterday I tempted fate by eating a big breakfast not too long before I got onto the bike. I wanted to see how I felt. After a few weeks of steady efforts at a higher cadence, 200-250 wattages and heart rate hanging steady in zones 2 and 3, I feel as if I have “evened out.” And it might turn out that I can eat just about anything during a race.

I am looking forward to the Gulf Coast 1/2 Ironman and the Eagleman 70.3 races to test all of this out. Those races will be data gathering races. I won’t be doing long tapers for either, and I know it is a long way to travel to gather data. But I need to see how my body reacts to heat, wind, efforts on these courses, as that is all going to direct my training for Ironman Florida. So at both of those starting lines I will be wired for data. And I will have good days because I am too used to having terrible disastrous days. And once you have the terrible day…. it becomes easier to allow the day to become terrible.

And that segways into the mental training I have been working so hard on. the 70.3 distance is the perfect testing ground for the Ironman, because you get a mental and physical taste of distance. And when it comes to Ironman we know it is so much more mental than anything else.

I will remain on the even keel, not getting to happy, not getting too sad. Letting go of doubts and just being in the actual moment, being present.

But I digress, time to go now. I have a date with 15 miles and an Ice Bath.

mary Eggers

We have resurfaced into the prettiest days of winter here in Rochester. Temperatures are in the mid 20′s to 30′s, the snow is perfect form snowball fights and snowman making. The roads are clear and the earth is covered in a beautiful blanket of white.

If you look towards a forest at night, it no longer looms dark, the brightness of the winter snow illuminates the earth under a stunning full moon.These are the days that I relish, and these are the times I adore living in upstate New York. Those minus zero days can be difficult, but we have roofs over our heads and fireplaces to snuggle up in front of. Come the weekend and thirty degrees there is snow fun to be had, whether it is sledding, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, down hill skiing…… you name it and we can do it.

As I completed the fortieth mile of running this week I soaked up every inch of winter crisp air that I could. No longer the annoying bitter wind, but the stillness and beauty of winter. In just a few short weeks our attention will turn from staying warm to staying hydrated. From bundling up to stripping down. From gearing up to tapering.

We’ve even had a new arrival here in my gadget training land….. the Garmin 305. I am now able to track, GPS, graph and preplan and program running workouts into my Garmin, no excuses now. Now not only can I create graphs of all my workouts, I can graph my heart rate when I grocery shop and pee too! Talk about geek squad, I have fallen in love with data. Don’t tell my physics teacher in high school!I

have had a wonderful week of training, and as I arrive here at the end of it I find myself feeling very good. Soreness has escaped me, which I will forever credit to yoga. The 90 degree room and the constant flow not only help strength but the flexibility issues we all face. Last weekend I taught to a group called Moms in Motion. They told me that I legitimize yoga.I can’t explain it, I can’t articulate it, but yoga has brought me more than flexibility. So much more.

Swimming is feeling great, even though I had to swim alone this week. My friend Susan was in Hawaii for her yoga training, as I was last year so I subbed her am yoga classes. Swimming alone gave me good alone time. Good technique time. Good pace time.

I am loving the Vasa Trainer.

The four hour ride came and went. Actually 4:10. And it was effortless. My intensity rose and fell as I focused on different things for different parts of the ride. Cadence, wattage, zones, pace….. my head was in a peaceful place. I had no difficult moments, it was like this ride and I were destined to be together. It came and went quietly and it was then, at the end of 4:10 that I felt grateful for the previous debacles and bad workouts. I knew this day would come. There is something about the Lake Placid course, whether it is on the Computrainer or in real life… it mesmerizes me.

Coming this week we develop into more hills, with tempo tucked into the middle of it all, blending together for some intensity and mileage that will take me to the cycling heaven that I dream it will.

I hit 40 running miles for the first time in a few years without incident. The long run was in the middle of the week, with a middle distance run on the weekend. Just remaining in one II-III as I work on cadence and hills. Nice and steady. It’s a great place to be compared to where I was a year ago today.

Strength is still coming along, as I have completely fallen in love with functional strength training. And did I mention how much I love the Vasa Trainer?

Nutrition, falling into place. The next 3 weeks will rob my body of the final 10 pounds, as the focus becomes not losing them too quickly. Good food in = good performances out.

Not all weeks will glide by with ease. Not all workouts will feel light and easy. The intensity is gaining, the hours are at 16. I look forward to days of challenge and more focus. I look forward to the sun shining down, I look forward to the taste of salt water in 2 months.Here at the end of the week I am analyzing the collected data, with the collected notes of how I felt.

My inner awareness is heightening, strengthening, honing in.My wings are spreading and I am preparing to fly. With a recharged heart, a recovered body, and a mind that is clear.

Thank you for reading, and thank you for your kind support.:-) Mary Eggers

There is the story of a golfer, we will call him Golfer Joe. Golfer Joe quit golf for seven years. Previous to quitting golf for seven years, Golfer Joe was no one special on the green. He was your average Joe. But Golfer Joe had a dream. His dream was to improve his average, which was around 90. Seven years later he stepped onto a golf course again and shot a 74. That’s a 20 stroke improvement for those of you who don’t know.

What was interesting was that Golfer Joe was also in worse physical condition than he was 7 years prior.

Golfer Joe, for those seven years was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Not only did he never swing a club, he never saw a green. He never spoke to or saw anyone except for those holding him captive. He was alone.

To escape, to occupy his mind Golfer Joe dipped into his mind. He imagined the smell of the grass, the feeling of the sun, the grip of the golf club in his hands. And in his mind he imagined himself playing round after round, hole after hole, swing after swing.

For seven years he played golf in his mind for four hours a day. Eighteen holes of golf, in all weather conditions. He saw the ball bounce, he corrected the imperfection in his swing.

Golfer Joe tapped into the most amazing, strongest, most capable part of our body. Our mind.

When I swam in high school, Coach Aungst would lead us through visualization drills. He would have us distance swimmers lay on mats. He’d set up the races. We’d imagine stepping onto the starting block. We’d imagine the feel of the block beneath our feet, we’d feel the anticipation of the gun. Then the race would start. Mr. Aungst would start his watch and then fall silent. We were left on our own to visualize our race. When we hit the wall we were to raise our hand.

After three sessions like this I was about to hit the wall at 5:20. The time it took for me to swim a 500 yard freestyle. Each race we would do that and I would be able to predict my time within 2 seconds. At the ripe young age of 15 Mr. Aungst taught us about the most important aspect of athletic performance….. the mind.

So think about your goal, your big race, your big game. Then lay down. Get comfortable. Feel the conditions. Is it hot? Is it cold? If you are outside can you smell the grass, the sand or the ocean? When the game starts or the gun goes off does your heart leap?

Imagine yourself flowing through every aspect of your game, your race, your event with ease. With grace… as you make no mistakes. Feel the lactic acid build in the legs, but feel yourself rise above it all. Feel yourself let go, and feel yourself soar.

As it finishes feel the finish line, hear the whistle blow, allow yourself to experience the ending. Then in your mind turn around. Did you give it 100% Did you do your best?

Don’t visualize failure, visualize success, and don’t be afraid of it. But don’t discount the power of your mind either.

When it comes down to that one day when you need the stars to align and the wind to blow from the back…….. you will be ready. And just like Golfer Joe, you will be more prepared than ever to go out and have your best day.

Mary Eggers