I did this same Olympic tri 2 years ago and here were my results then (as I'll reference if I went faster or slower in each portion):
1500m swim: 29:57.3
T1: 2:48.5
40k bike: 1:42:47.3 (14.5mph)
T2: 2:27.5
10k run/walk: 1:22:59.4 (13:21/mi)
Total: 3hours 41minutes 0.00 seconds
2016
I had been training decently for this triathlon this time, as seen in my last post. However, in the weeks leading up to the tri, I was having semi-regular hip pain. (turns out it's my tensor fascia latae...close to the IT band, but not the IT band). The pain was from overuse of my quads and lack of glute use. Need to do more squats!
Night before:
I worked until 8pm the night before at my side job, grabbed a sub from Jimmy Johns, and went home to go to bed early. However, my roommate had rented a carpet cleaner for 24 hours and had to return it in the morning, so I had to suffer through that before I could go to sleep! :/
Morning of:
Tri started at 7:30am. Knew I needed to get there closer to 6am, but 6;15am would be fine. I decided to try something new on race day. I've had problems with my hair not staying in my cap (my hair is thin, but reaches to my shoulder blades) and I thought it might be due to oils in my hair/on my face, so I took a shower the morning of. Well, that put me behind and I ended up leaving my house 6:07am. Miraculously, I made it there and parked in 20 mins. I still had to get my cap, bib, bike number, , timing chip, get marked, rack my bike and put my stuff down!
During registration, they asked how good of a swimmer you are. I must have been feeling particularly good about myself because I put "I swim like a fish" (yes, that was the fastest option). So out of about 500 swimmers, I got #18. 18!!! This meant I was with very speedy people! The bikes on my rack were tri bikes with zip wheels! And here I was with my red road bike :) haha! When I got to my rack, it was FULL! So I tried to find a place to squeeze in and as I was asking a few guys to scoot theirs one way or another, I counted and there were too many bikes on the rack. One guy volunteered to see who was not supposed to be there and make him move. Soon enough, the offender left to go to his proper rack and I got a spot!
Swim:
The swim is point to point, ending at the transition area. So we have to walk a mile to the start line. I wasn't thinking, but I did walk the whole thing barefoot, which didn't feel great on my hip. I got down to the start line about 7:25 and went to put my hair into a braid and into the cap. I put the cap on and IT DID NOT FIT MY HEAD. Like I could have the back of my head covered with the front uncovered or have the cap on my forehead, but the back of my head was sticking out. By this time, they were already starting (they started one by one). I had jumped in line, but I kept moving back because I literally could not believe I could not fit this cap on my head! No one else was having problems, but I just decided that was the way it was going to be, so I knew I would probably end up losing my cap somewhere along the way.
I jumped in and started swimming. My legs felt a little stiff, but I told myself to keep pressing on and to use my arms as much as possible because they wouldn't be too much use in biking or running. About 500m in, my cap was ONLY on the crown of my head. I took it off my head while still swimming and shoved in my tri shirt. I was being passed and passing a few people, but I just kept on. Soon enough, I realized that my hair was coming out of the (loose) braid I had put it in. Uh, yeah, that happened. At about 1000m in, I had no cap and no hair tie. Just goggles on my head. Un-freaking-believable!!! I decided to swim the best race I could, hair be damned, and kept on. I was pretty embarrassed because there were spectators on both sides of the canal we were swimming in, most waiting for the sprint tri start. I felt like they were all staring at me, but what could I do at that point?
I got to the stairs and made my way out and was walking to transition while I tried to rip my goggles out of the tangled mess that I called my hair. I then realized two things. 1. Your swim time doesn't end until you cross the timing mats, and I had been walking :( and 2. There was a photographer taking pictures as people got out of the water. Great! (sarcasm!)
Swim time: 30:09.7 (12 seconds slower)
Can't believe there was such a small difference with such a crazy swim. Oh well, the race can only go up from here!
T1: 2:42.5 (6 seconds faster)
Bike:
I got to the rack and there were about half the bikes still left. So I felt good that not everyone had passed me at that point! I grabbed a few chews, but on my bike shoes, helmet, gloves and took my bike to exit transition. Unlike 2 years ago, I DID NOT drop my chain out of transition, so things were already looking up. I passed a few ladies in the first half mile and kept my pace to something that was challenging, but didn't hurt too much. I'm faster at swimming than the other two sports, so I get passed the whole time. And I'm okay with it. If you're passing me, you're either a slower swimmer than I am, or you're doing a shorter race than I am (these were my justifications!). The course is pretty flat and fast, but there's a few slight downhills where anyone would love to pick up speed, but the condition of the road is so bad, that you pretty much have to brake the whole time and ride single file in order to avoid a flat. I got to the turn off of loop 1/sprint finish in 45 minutes. The connection from the sprint turn off back to the start took 6 minutes, so I was about 51 minutes in starting the second loop. I knew I probably wouldn't make it back to my "A" goal of 1:30 for biking. The second loop had my groin muscle on my left side aching toward the end - so weird! That never happened during any of my training! But I just reminded myself that I put the work in and could accomplish more than I thought, so I kept pressing on. That bike finish was such a sweet sight! I still felt silly with my hair hanging all raggedy down my back,but I had a hat to wear for the run!
Bike time: 1:35:56.5 - 15.5 mph (7 mins 9 seconds faster)
I was VERY happy with my bike time. I had wanted to be over 15mph and to surpass my time from 2 years ago. This is probably the sport I trained the most/hardest for, so it felt good to take off over 7 minutes from my previous time.
To be continued...
Friday, August 19, 2016
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Triathlon This Weekend!
I'm SO ready for this triathlon to get here!
Not necessarily because I have trained perfectly for it or am feeling awesome, but because I have had some nagging pains/injuries.
It's been really funny how training for this Olympic distance triathlon has been different from the last one I did 2 years ago.
-2 years ago I followed the training plan to a T. If I missed a workout one week, I would make it up the next week. This time, if I missed a workout, I made sure it didn't happen again that week, but I didn't make it up OR stress about it.
-2 years ago I followed the training plan on a website of a specific triathlon. It was perfect. Training in minutes for each sport (ex: 35 min run or 105 min bike) instead of miles (I'm slow, so miles take me longer than minutes). This year, I started with that same training plan. It's a 16 week plan and I started on week 6 haha! And at about week 12, the website went under construction to a new format, which did not include the training plan. When I realized it, I emailed them immediately and was freaking out. They responded about 5 days later with what they had copied from the previous website. It wasn't the workouts, just the headings of each week. I had calmed down by then and remembered from the past what my biggest workouts would be. And I knew after that peak week, I would taper from there. So...I've been winging it!
-2 years ago I did yoga once a week during triathlon training and remained injury free. This time, I've come into training with a wrist injury and am working on fixing my hip issues. Yoga aggravated both of these things :( My Dr. has my wrist at about 95% and my hip...we'll get there eventually!
-2 years ago I did the majority of my workouts with friends or my triathlon group. This time, I've been swimming with friends (unofficial triathlon group) and doing occasional "runs" with them. If we "run" together, that means that we start at the same time, but I'm slower than they are, so I end up running on my own, which is fine!
-2 years ago, I worked out mostly in the afternoons or evenings. This time, aside from swimming with friends on Mondays, it's been all mornings. And I kind of love it. You just feel badass (and not as miserable with the temperature) when you're out with the other morning warriors.
-2 years ago I didn't run with music unless it was one of my longest runs (over an hour). This year, I've been using music every time. With only one headphone in when run in the park because I need to keep an eye and an ear out when I'm running in the secluded sections.
-2 years ago I dropped about 10-15 pounds while training. This time, I've stayed the same weight which is about 20 pounds heavier than 2 years ago. (yesterday I was at 212) I'm not mad about it. I wish I could fit in some of the clothes that I wore then, but I feel so powerful when I complete my workouts. Like, look what I can accomplish! I even took pictures of myself smiling and flexing. Yeah I have some saggy upper arms and my stomach hangs over my bike shorts, but DANG, I just killed that workout and I am proud of myself!!!
My prediction for the race is that my swim will be slower (noooooo!!! but I haven't been training as hard in that area). My bike will be faster (last time I dropped my chain right out of transition and had to get off my bike to fix it). And my run will likely be about the same. Since the bike is the longest distance, I'd like to see myself take off at least 5 minutes of my overall time. 2 years ago I finished in 3:41.00.
Hopefully I can get back on here and let you all know how I did!
Here's a photo dump:
Not necessarily because I have trained perfectly for it or am feeling awesome, but because I have had some nagging pains/injuries.
It's been really funny how training for this Olympic distance triathlon has been different from the last one I did 2 years ago.
-2 years ago I followed the training plan to a T. If I missed a workout one week, I would make it up the next week. This time, if I missed a workout, I made sure it didn't happen again that week, but I didn't make it up OR stress about it.
-2 years ago I followed the training plan on a website of a specific triathlon. It was perfect. Training in minutes for each sport (ex: 35 min run or 105 min bike) instead of miles (I'm slow, so miles take me longer than minutes). This year, I started with that same training plan. It's a 16 week plan and I started on week 6 haha! And at about week 12, the website went under construction to a new format, which did not include the training plan. When I realized it, I emailed them immediately and was freaking out. They responded about 5 days later with what they had copied from the previous website. It wasn't the workouts, just the headings of each week. I had calmed down by then and remembered from the past what my biggest workouts would be. And I knew after that peak week, I would taper from there. So...I've been winging it!
-2 years ago I did yoga once a week during triathlon training and remained injury free. This time, I've come into training with a wrist injury and am working on fixing my hip issues. Yoga aggravated both of these things :( My Dr. has my wrist at about 95% and my hip...we'll get there eventually!
-2 years ago I did the majority of my workouts with friends or my triathlon group. This time, I've been swimming with friends (unofficial triathlon group) and doing occasional "runs" with them. If we "run" together, that means that we start at the same time, but I'm slower than they are, so I end up running on my own, which is fine!
-2 years ago, I worked out mostly in the afternoons or evenings. This time, aside from swimming with friends on Mondays, it's been all mornings. And I kind of love it. You just feel badass (and not as miserable with the temperature) when you're out with the other morning warriors.
-2 years ago I didn't run with music unless it was one of my longest runs (over an hour). This year, I've been using music every time. With only one headphone in when run in the park because I need to keep an eye and an ear out when I'm running in the secluded sections.
-2 years ago I dropped about 10-15 pounds while training. This time, I've stayed the same weight which is about 20 pounds heavier than 2 years ago. (yesterday I was at 212) I'm not mad about it. I wish I could fit in some of the clothes that I wore then, but I feel so powerful when I complete my workouts. Like, look what I can accomplish! I even took pictures of myself smiling and flexing. Yeah I have some saggy upper arms and my stomach hangs over my bike shorts, but DANG, I just killed that workout and I am proud of myself!!!
My prediction for the race is that my swim will be slower (noooooo!!! but I haven't been training as hard in that area). My bike will be faster (last time I dropped my chain right out of transition and had to get off my bike to fix it). And my run will likely be about the same. Since the bike is the longest distance, I'd like to see myself take off at least 5 minutes of my overall time. 2 years ago I finished in 3:41.00.
Hopefully I can get back on here and let you all know how I did!
Here's a photo dump:
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| This shirt made me feel like I was in the hunger games haha |
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| My favorite workout shirt! And bright blue pants! |
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| It was just a little humid.... |
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| Soooo gross! Rained an hour later. |
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| Shoes and bag+contents drying out after a wet bike. |
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| Bike grease...not great for the manicure! |
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| After wiping down my bike... |
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| Definite sock line/dirty leg! |
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| Dirt all up the back! |
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| My workout buddy Liz, post-ride, before she moved to NYC :( |
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
February In Review
Well, well, well. Here I am again :)
Happy to be back blogging for a second, but not so happy to tell you all about the big gain.
I think my lowest was at 192 when I did the olympic tri in August of 2014. I've been around 215 for the better part of 6 months now. I chose to sit on the couch instead of workout. I chose to eat bad things instead of good. That simple! My life is waaaay too busy to make New Year's resolutions (plus, bday is in January!). Last month, I started being a lot more disciplined in my workouts. Here's a recap:
Not bad! An average of 4 workouts a week. I was sick a little bit here and there and just plain tired other times. I think I was on drugs on Feb 2nd with the treadmill after yoga. That's a lot!
What did I the scale show me in return? NO change.
Really?
Yep.
Workouts were good, but my eating was not stellar. At. All.
I tracked my food spending all month and got a little lenient with the ice cream both around one of my bestie's 30th bdays and then again when I had a sore throat.
Moderation is key, but ice cream is the devil.
I just really, really love ice cream. I did keep some blood orange sorbet around for like a week, but that was mostly because it was so sour that it hurt my taste buds if I had a normal serving.
Plan for March:
-Keep up the good workouts
-For the love of God, eat better
-Crazy schedule = crazy rest (be responsible with my free time)
Happy to be back blogging for a second, but not so happy to tell you all about the big gain.
I think my lowest was at 192 when I did the olympic tri in August of 2014. I've been around 215 for the better part of 6 months now. I chose to sit on the couch instead of workout. I chose to eat bad things instead of good. That simple! My life is waaaay too busy to make New Year's resolutions (plus, bday is in January!). Last month, I started being a lot more disciplined in my workouts. Here's a recap:
| FEBRUARY 2016 | |||||||
| SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY | |
| 31 | AM: Bike 40 mins | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||
| PM Swim 2500 yds - 1 hour | PM 1 hr yoga, 30 min walk on treadmill | AM swim 2000 yds | AM 1 mile run + weights | ||||
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
| AM 1 mile run + weights | AM swim 1 hr | 53 min run/walk treadmill 3.65 mi | |||||
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |
| PM swim 1 hr 15 mins 3000 yds | AM hot yoga | AM bike trainer 45 mins | AM 1 mile run + weights | ||||
| 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |
| PM swim 1 hr 2300 yds | AM 1 mile run + weights | AM 1 mile run + weights | AM bike trainer 45 mins | 50 min run/walk treadmill 3.36 mi | |||
| 28 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| PM 1 hr swim 2300 yds | |||||||
| NOTES | |||||||
| 19 workouts, 17.6 hrs of working out | |||||||
Not bad! An average of 4 workouts a week. I was sick a little bit here and there and just plain tired other times. I think I was on drugs on Feb 2nd with the treadmill after yoga. That's a lot!
What did I the scale show me in return? NO change.
Really?
Yep.
Workouts were good, but my eating was not stellar. At. All.
I tracked my food spending all month and got a little lenient with the ice cream both around one of my bestie's 30th bdays and then again when I had a sore throat.
Moderation is key, but ice cream is the devil.
I just really, really love ice cream. I did keep some blood orange sorbet around for like a week, but that was mostly because it was so sour that it hurt my taste buds if I had a normal serving.
Plan for March:
-Keep up the good workouts
-For the love of God, eat better
-Crazy schedule = crazy rest (be responsible with my free time)
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Triathlon Training Weeks 1 and 2
The first two weeks are down! I'll be honest, I feel half hearted at this point, but hey, I will press on :)
Week 1:
Needed: 2 - 20-30 minute biking, 2 - 20 minute runs, 2 - 15 minute swims
Monday: 1 hour swim
Tuesday: 25 minute bike, 30 minute run
Thursday: 25 minute bike, 30 minute run
I was really liked doing my runs from last year with my run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute ratio, so I've stuck with that for now. I did my biking and running inside, in the morning, as it was still chilly this week.
Week 2:
Needed: 1 - 20 minute bike, 1-30 minute bike, 2 - 20 minute runs, 2 - 20 minute swims
Monday: 1 hour bike
Tuesday: 54 minute run
Wednesday: 1 hour swim
Friday: 1 hour swim
I decided that it would be no harm in combining what I was supposed to do into one session at this juncture. That's why I only rode my bike and ran once. I wanted to get in a full 40 minutes of running, so I did 3 min warm up walk, ran 4 mins, walked 1 x 10, warm down 2 minutes. The last 5 minutes were awful. 5 minutes before I was done, the treadmill next to me was occupied by a man who smelled strongly of axe body spray. Which was gross, but then I got a whiff of what he was trying to cover up - pot. I had to breathe through my mouth the last few minutes, it was so gross!
There was a crazy big half marathon in town on Saturday, so the rest of the people I swim with on Friday morning (from my triathlon group) were resting up. We usually do mostly freestyle, but my coach let me do more of other strokes. I warmed up 400 yds, 10 x 100yds odds IM, evens freestyle, 50yds slow, 20 x 25yds 5 butterfly, 5 backstroke, 5 breaststroke, 5 freestyle odds easy, evens hard, 250 yds cool down. Man, I was really tired after that workout!
This next week I'm taking a couple of days to hang out in the windy city, so I will have to be creative in fitting my workouts in!
Week 1:
Needed: 2 - 20-30 minute biking, 2 - 20 minute runs, 2 - 15 minute swims
Monday: 1 hour swim
Tuesday: 25 minute bike, 30 minute run
Thursday: 25 minute bike, 30 minute run
I was really liked doing my runs from last year with my run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute ratio, so I've stuck with that for now. I did my biking and running inside, in the morning, as it was still chilly this week.
Week 2:
Needed: 1 - 20 minute bike, 1-30 minute bike, 2 - 20 minute runs, 2 - 20 minute swims
Monday: 1 hour bike
Tuesday: 54 minute run
Wednesday: 1 hour swim
Friday: 1 hour swim
I decided that it would be no harm in combining what I was supposed to do into one session at this juncture. That's why I only rode my bike and ran once. I wanted to get in a full 40 minutes of running, so I did 3 min warm up walk, ran 4 mins, walked 1 x 10, warm down 2 minutes. The last 5 minutes were awful. 5 minutes before I was done, the treadmill next to me was occupied by a man who smelled strongly of axe body spray. Which was gross, but then I got a whiff of what he was trying to cover up - pot. I had to breathe through my mouth the last few minutes, it was so gross!
There was a crazy big half marathon in town on Saturday, so the rest of the people I swim with on Friday morning (from my triathlon group) were resting up. We usually do mostly freestyle, but my coach let me do more of other strokes. I warmed up 400 yds, 10 x 100yds odds IM, evens freestyle, 50yds slow, 20 x 25yds 5 butterfly, 5 backstroke, 5 breaststroke, 5 freestyle odds easy, evens hard, 250 yds cool down. Man, I was really tired after that workout!
This next week I'm taking a couple of days to hang out in the windy city, so I will have to be creative in fitting my workouts in!
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
No Where To Be
Today, I was at the grocery store and the gentleman in front of me asked if I would like to go ahead of him. We had the same amount of groceries so, I said, "No, thanks. I don't have anywhere to be".
When was the last time I had no where to be?
I'm finally ready to admit it: I over commit myself!
I think I've gotten pretty good at managing a busy schedule, but as an introvert, I still need to block out time for me to do nothing. So, today as my cramps are awful and I'm sore from my workout yesterday and work was not pressing, I took a half day.
There are plenty of things I wanted to do - grocery shop, laundry, plant seeds for my garden this summer, BLOG. :) I just haven't had time. When I ordered my seeds, I was so excited for them to come in and now they've been here for almost 3 weeks and I haven't planted them! (going for zucchini, crooked neck squash, a couple of types of tomatoes, jalapenos, lettuce, and maybe an onion or two)
This week started my Olympic triathlon training - week 1 of 16! :) Monday I got my swim on. Since the first couple of weeks have short bike rides and runs, I combined them and yesterday I got up early and ran for 30 mins (run 4 mins, walk 1) and was on the bike for 25 minutes. Then I rewarded myself with Starbucks. hahaha. a venti pike place, but I can't drink all of that in one day. It will last me at least 3, maybe 4. I'm going to try to run/bike again tomorrow morning and then swim Friday morning and my 6 "workouts" of my first week will be done.
Still hoping to get that race recap from AUGUST up. Someday! LOL
I've got to work on meal planning and keeping my eating on track. I either do bad for me convenience food or no food until I'm starving and then eat a bunch of stuff that doesn't go together. This past weekend was busy, as usual, but I was gushing over my new sweet little niece, Ellie. Love that kid, but oy eating out and hospital food has not made me feel awesome this week.
When was the last time I had no where to be?
I'm finally ready to admit it: I over commit myself!
I think I've gotten pretty good at managing a busy schedule, but as an introvert, I still need to block out time for me to do nothing. So, today as my cramps are awful and I'm sore from my workout yesterday and work was not pressing, I took a half day.
There are plenty of things I wanted to do - grocery shop, laundry, plant seeds for my garden this summer, BLOG. :) I just haven't had time. When I ordered my seeds, I was so excited for them to come in and now they've been here for almost 3 weeks and I haven't planted them! (going for zucchini, crooked neck squash, a couple of types of tomatoes, jalapenos, lettuce, and maybe an onion or two)
This week started my Olympic triathlon training - week 1 of 16! :) Monday I got my swim on. Since the first couple of weeks have short bike rides and runs, I combined them and yesterday I got up early and ran for 30 mins (run 4 mins, walk 1) and was on the bike for 25 minutes. Then I rewarded myself with Starbucks. hahaha. a venti pike place, but I can't drink all of that in one day. It will last me at least 3, maybe 4. I'm going to try to run/bike again tomorrow morning and then swim Friday morning and my 6 "workouts" of my first week will be done.
Still hoping to get that race recap from AUGUST up. Someday! LOL
I've got to work on meal planning and keeping my eating on track. I either do bad for me convenience food or no food until I'm starving and then eat a bunch of stuff that doesn't go together. This past weekend was busy, as usual, but I was gushing over my new sweet little niece, Ellie. Love that kid, but oy eating out and hospital food has not made me feel awesome this week.
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| My "I need to go to the grocery" Lunch |
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| Me and sweet baby Ellie |
Friday, March 6, 2015
Healed
...in the name of Jesus!
That's an inside joke. My dad does some amazing impressions of TV evangelists. I'm sorry you all don't get to see it. I'm always doubled over laughing when he does it.
So...my foot is healed!
So far this year, I've done plenty of yoga, 2 bike sessions, 2 runs, and countless swims. yeah, a lil bit lazy!!!
Around August, I was holding steady at 192, but a couple of trips to Cleveland and the holidays later, I actually saw 202 on the scale. And that didn't make me happy. I did feel more sluggish and my clothes weren't fitting as well. I put in a couple of weeks of hard work and was down to 198. I decided to do another Adv*ocare Cleanse (I had done one last year).
I stuck to the cleanse really well and lost 6 pounds in 10 days, back to 192! I think the part that frustrated me the most is that at 192, I am only 2 pounds away from 100 pounds lost. You would think that would be motivation, but I guess it's not.
I love where I live now, but I'll be honest, I'm a little bummed when talking about tri training. Where I lived before in the 'burbs was ideal for tri training. Bike lanes, wide sidewalks, trails. Here in my part of the city, we don't have any sidewalks. I can get to the main trail in town, but I have to take the road with no sidewalks. I haven't done that yet because that really scares me. especially with the amount of potholes we have right now.
I don't feel as motivated last year and that's partly because I'm lazy and partly because I'm busier.
*cookie break*
Oh, uh, yeah. My eating is not that great! I'd better get on that. :) I don't need to do anything new, I just need to do what I know. Plan my meals and snacks and stick to them.
Good things: getting faster at swimming.
plenty of NSVs
enjoying life
That's an inside joke. My dad does some amazing impressions of TV evangelists. I'm sorry you all don't get to see it. I'm always doubled over laughing when he does it.
So...my foot is healed!
So far this year, I've done plenty of yoga, 2 bike sessions, 2 runs, and countless swims. yeah, a lil bit lazy!!!
Around August, I was holding steady at 192, but a couple of trips to Cleveland and the holidays later, I actually saw 202 on the scale. And that didn't make me happy. I did feel more sluggish and my clothes weren't fitting as well. I put in a couple of weeks of hard work and was down to 198. I decided to do another Adv*ocare Cleanse (I had done one last year).
I stuck to the cleanse really well and lost 6 pounds in 10 days, back to 192! I think the part that frustrated me the most is that at 192, I am only 2 pounds away from 100 pounds lost. You would think that would be motivation, but I guess it's not.
I love where I live now, but I'll be honest, I'm a little bummed when talking about tri training. Where I lived before in the 'burbs was ideal for tri training. Bike lanes, wide sidewalks, trails. Here in my part of the city, we don't have any sidewalks. I can get to the main trail in town, but I have to take the road with no sidewalks. I haven't done that yet because that really scares me. especially with the amount of potholes we have right now.
I don't feel as motivated last year and that's partly because I'm lazy and partly because I'm busier.
*cookie break*
Oh, uh, yeah. My eating is not that great! I'd better get on that. :) I don't need to do anything new, I just need to do what I know. Plan my meals and snacks and stick to them.
Good things: getting faster at swimming.
plenty of NSVs
enjoying life
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| Awe, swim kid, my niece, is growing up fast! |
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| Chilly but beautiful mornings |
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| I don't know why I love this meal so much. Eggs, peas, cilantro, garlic, dill, sea salt. |
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| 30th Bday Selfie |
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Injured. Sigh.
For the past 2 years, I have done a year end wrap up post and a new year goal post.
Sadly, not this year. One of my goals for the past year was to remain injury free for tri season. I stretched, did yoga, followed my training plan. Tri season was great and I remained injury free. Since then (August) I've been working out several times a week, but not eating the best and have added back a few pounds that I lost.
And then, 2 weeks ago, I was leaving my house and one tiny misstep led to the storm door taking a chunk out of my ankle. It was pretty painful, but I NEVER want to be one to overreact, so I did what I often do: underreact. I didn't clean out the wound, just slapped a bandaid over it and went on with my obligations. And bled into my shoe. Blech.
Fast forward 10 days. Christmas had past. I had been doing hot yoga. And my ankle had not been healing. Oh, and the only shoes I can wear without pain are flip flops. In January. In the Midwest. Ha. So i consult a co-worker who used to be a physical therapist and therefore do wound care. She said I needed to go to urgent care that very day. The employee clinic across the street from my building only has morning hours. I took my boss up on the recommendation to go to an urgent clinic across town. So I go and they say its a 3 hour wait (plus a waiting room of full hacking people). I tried the employee clinic at another location. The doctor is on vacation. I went to another urgent care facility and was so irritated that my initial bp reading was 158/108.
The doctor ended up giving me a tetanus shot, antibiotics, bandaged my foot, and made me take my bp again - which was normal after I got over being so upset about the days events. And she told me no hot yoga, plenty of rest. Doesn't that sound great in theory?
I'm on day 6 of no exercise and I"m about to strangle someone.
Oh, and when I was waiting for my prescription to get filled, I found 75% off Christmas candy. And I had a mini-cold with a sore throat, of course I had to pick up ice cream. Ugh. The exercise has always been the easy part for me, not the eating right!
I'm about ready to look up some exercises for upper body or just not involving movement of the feet. I'm in a hurry to get this foot healed. I'm turning 30 this week and as much as I don't care about what others think of me, I WANT to wear cute shoes on my birthday. And go to one of those trampoline places. And swim.
Bah humbug! :)
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| Not great eating: microwave pizza, salad with avocado and (plenty of) ranch, apple, pb and water! |
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| In times of healthier eating! |
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| Ugly sweater party outfit (minus the pink jacket) |
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| Nerd. And proud of it. |
Thursday, November 6, 2014
2 Race Recaps
I have a few minutes to breathe (read: blog) because I have the day off for election day. Did you all vote? I did not register after I moved here, so I'm not going to today :/ I am cosy-ed up on this rainy day with some laundry going, about to cook some soup and watching the third season of Luther.
Well, now that its fall, I might as well recap some of my races from this summer! Sprint Tri - In June I did a Sprint Tri in a super cute picturesque little town. It was my first tri of the year and I needed it under my belt to get my confidence up before my Olympic Tri in August.
I signed up for the Athena (165+ lbs) category. I was able to run some of the course a few weeks beforehand after my open water swim at a nearby lake (the town is actually nicknamed "lake city" as there are so many in a small area). I tried to mimic my outfit as closely as possible during that run. Going into this tri I felt pretty good! The morning of, the usual nerves set in and I was running late, so I just brought my peanut butter and rice cakes with me (I had a pb and rice cakes phase over the summer!). I didn't get there early enough to park close, so I hauled all of my stuff the 3/4 mile to transition. I saw my friend's dad on my way to check in (sidenote: totally got beat by him!) and as I am a USAT member this year, I got to skip the long line and pick my things up just by showing id. It was nice!
I racked my bike on the far end of my row, which was set up in a parking lot and sat down to eat my pb and rice cakes. I am shy, but I did end up talking to a guy who put his bike next to mine. I asked how many triathlons he had done - he had a very nice bike with aero bars and his tri suit looked to be of good quality too. He told me it was his first ever - which I didn't believe until he asked how he was supposed to pin his bib to his tri top if it was going to get wet during the swim (answer: don't wear your tri top during the swim or use a race belt and put it on before the run). There was only a flimsy orange fence in between the transition area and the spectators. I went to the bathroom and came back to my spot right by the fence. A rather aloof spectator had his dog with him. And, of course, that dog had it's head under the fence licking the pb off of the knife i had brought and the jar. I am NOT an animal person, so I was extremely grossed out. I actually threw the pb away :)
They called all of our waves to the beach for the start. I got ready to go, but then I realized that the Athena group was starting with the 60+ women. One of the last waves - womp, womp! I probably waited a half hour before I got to start. I lined up in the water with my group and put my goggles on. Did I grab the old ones from my bag? These were awfully foggy. Oh well, I started off strong when they blew the whistle. I couldn't really see anything, and something else was wrong - very wrong. I had on my usual triathlon sports bra with my swimsuit over it. But....it was the same one as last year. As in, the same size as last year. I am not the same size as I was last year! "The girls" felt like nothing was holding them back and I had to stop swimming so I could make sure I didn't flash anyone, but I can't be 100% sure I didn't! Near the turnaround point it was getting really congested and not only was I running into/very close to my wave, but also the 60+ male age group that went right before us (sidenote: hello 60+ males! there are some in shape older dudes!). One the way back to shore, I could not see a darn thing. I had to stop and tread water a couple of times in order to lift my goggles up and look for the beach. I had a very bad feeling at this point. Swimming is my best sport of the three and I was bombing the swim!
I am pretty embarrassed at that swim time! In transition, I got to my bike and the gentleman I had been next to must have accidentally hit my bike while taking his off because my helmet, gloves, shot blocks and sunglasses were on the ground. Transition took a good chunk of time, but I was off and ready for this 13 mile bike ride. There is a decent hill on the way out of the small town we were in, then it was country roads until I hit the turn around at the next little town over. The ride was very interesting. The smells were definitely not what I smell here while biking on the city trails! A few people were cheering in their yards. The kids are always cute, but the lady who was apathetically yelling "better you than me!" was probably my favorite. The ride felt decently hard on the way out and was a little more comfortable on the way back. I really wanted to be under an hour on the bike, but I was just barely over. Probably would have been under, but there were some technical areas on the way back - downhill through a bank parking lot? Strange!
I got back to transition and the guy next to me was finished - as were plenty of other people. The majority of the run was what I had done when I visited after the open water swim earlier in the month. Through the paved trails, into and around a subdivision, back on the trails and a bit through town. I can't remember exactly how far the run was, but I think it was around 3.5 miles or so. I was getting closer to the finish and could hear the crowd so I started to kick it in. Unfortunately, it was a loud crowd and I was going way much faster than was comfortable, haha! My run time was a minute a mile faster than any of my tris last year. Very happy with that progress!
A cold washcloth at the finish line was wonderful! I entered the post race food area and was overwhelmed! I was asked what kind of pizza I would like - as in from which company. They had pizzas from 3 different places, and chicken, pasta, cookies, veggies, fruit, drinks, etc. wow! I got a plate and talked to some women I had started with in the athena category and had some laughs. The course is on the edge of a college campus, so I took a stroll afterwards and found a really creepy statue!
I headed for home and when I walked in the door, my sister asked when I would be ready to go to the lake with our family. No rest for me! I dropped off my bike and other triathlon stuff and headed out for the boat to spend the rest of the day with my family. I really, really liked this tri and will hopefully be back next year. I have some obvious areas of improvement, but it was a fun race despite my screw ups!
The next week I had a 4.5 mile race on the 4th of July. Luckily, this one was close to my house! Before the race, I had my pb and rice cakes, naturally and hung around the library until it was time to start. I lined up near the back and we were off! I don't usually think of my (old) town as hilly, but geez the little bit of rolling hills were not making me happy!
I started out at a good pace and tried to maintain the run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute ratio I had been doing all summer (in preparation for my Olympic tri). Soon enough, the crowd thinned out and I was leap frogging people on the main trail in town that is shaded. My first mile was about 12:30 and my second 13 something. Miles 3-4 were mainly uphill and I wanted to walk badly, but there was a parade soon after the race so there were a ton of people watching so I had to be accountable! Plus there were several kids running at my pace, I had to keep up what I had started!
We turned onto the home stretch with a quarter mile left. My main goal was to finish in under an hour. I ran that last stretch as hard as a could (this time passing a 70 year old man) and I saw the clock was over an hour, but I knew I hadn't crossed the starting line right away. I hit my watch as I crossed and there was the answer!
Yay! Mission Accomplished. Post-race, I grabbed as many freebies as I could. I love keeping a full "snack box" in my car if I need something before/after a workout and races usually keep it updated! I went home, grabbed my swim stuff and headed to the pool to get a swim in! Unfortunately, I had misplaced my swim cap and had to swim the entire thing without one, womp womp. The rest of the fourth of july found me with a carry out salad and a pint of ice cream. :)
Later that day, I was looking at the race results online and I saw that one of my good friends who lives HOURS out of town, and whom I had plans with later, had actually run the race with her family and had finished 59 seconds before me, but I NEVER saw her. How crazy is that? I guess it's a where's waldo situation when you have 950 running at the same time!
I can't wait to update my blog about my Olympic triathlon - it was quite an experience and I trained really hard for it. Since then, I have not been as active (let's be honest, the 6-7 workouts a week kind of took over my life!), but still maintaining the same weight as late August.
Well, now that its fall, I might as well recap some of my races from this summer! Sprint Tri - In June I did a Sprint Tri in a super cute picturesque little town. It was my first tri of the year and I needed it under my belt to get my confidence up before my Olympic Tri in August.
I signed up for the Athena (165+ lbs) category. I was able to run some of the course a few weeks beforehand after my open water swim at a nearby lake (the town is actually nicknamed "lake city" as there are so many in a small area). I tried to mimic my outfit as closely as possible during that run. Going into this tri I felt pretty good! The morning of, the usual nerves set in and I was running late, so I just brought my peanut butter and rice cakes with me (I had a pb and rice cakes phase over the summer!). I didn't get there early enough to park close, so I hauled all of my stuff the 3/4 mile to transition. I saw my friend's dad on my way to check in (sidenote: totally got beat by him!) and as I am a USAT member this year, I got to skip the long line and pick my things up just by showing id. It was nice!
I racked my bike on the far end of my row, which was set up in a parking lot and sat down to eat my pb and rice cakes. I am shy, but I did end up talking to a guy who put his bike next to mine. I asked how many triathlons he had done - he had a very nice bike with aero bars and his tri suit looked to be of good quality too. He told me it was his first ever - which I didn't believe until he asked how he was supposed to pin his bib to his tri top if it was going to get wet during the swim (answer: don't wear your tri top during the swim or use a race belt and put it on before the run). There was only a flimsy orange fence in between the transition area and the spectators. I went to the bathroom and came back to my spot right by the fence. A rather aloof spectator had his dog with him. And, of course, that dog had it's head under the fence licking the pb off of the knife i had brought and the jar. I am NOT an animal person, so I was extremely grossed out. I actually threw the pb away :)
They called all of our waves to the beach for the start. I got ready to go, but then I realized that the Athena group was starting with the 60+ women. One of the last waves - womp, womp! I probably waited a half hour before I got to start. I lined up in the water with my group and put my goggles on. Did I grab the old ones from my bag? These were awfully foggy. Oh well, I started off strong when they blew the whistle. I couldn't really see anything, and something else was wrong - very wrong. I had on my usual triathlon sports bra with my swimsuit over it. But....it was the same one as last year. As in, the same size as last year. I am not the same size as I was last year! "The girls" felt like nothing was holding them back and I had to stop swimming so I could make sure I didn't flash anyone, but I can't be 100% sure I didn't! Near the turnaround point it was getting really congested and not only was I running into/very close to my wave, but also the 60+ male age group that went right before us (sidenote: hello 60+ males! there are some in shape older dudes!). One the way back to shore, I could not see a darn thing. I had to stop and tread water a couple of times in order to lift my goggles up and look for the beach. I had a very bad feeling at this point. Swimming is my best sport of the three and I was bombing the swim!
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| Please note the age of this man who came in 1 spot ahead of me... |
I got back to transition and the guy next to me was finished - as were plenty of other people. The majority of the run was what I had done when I visited after the open water swim earlier in the month. Through the paved trails, into and around a subdivision, back on the trails and a bit through town. I can't remember exactly how far the run was, but I think it was around 3.5 miles or so. I was getting closer to the finish and could hear the crowd so I started to kick it in. Unfortunately, it was a loud crowd and I was going way much faster than was comfortable, haha! My run time was a minute a mile faster than any of my tris last year. Very happy with that progress!
A cold washcloth at the finish line was wonderful! I entered the post race food area and was overwhelmed! I was asked what kind of pizza I would like - as in from which company. They had pizzas from 3 different places, and chicken, pasta, cookies, veggies, fruit, drinks, etc. wow! I got a plate and talked to some women I had started with in the athena category and had some laughs. The course is on the edge of a college campus, so I took a stroll afterwards and found a really creepy statue!
I headed for home and when I walked in the door, my sister asked when I would be ready to go to the lake with our family. No rest for me! I dropped off my bike and other triathlon stuff and headed out for the boat to spend the rest of the day with my family. I really, really liked this tri and will hopefully be back next year. I have some obvious areas of improvement, but it was a fun race despite my screw ups!
The next week I had a 4.5 mile race on the 4th of July. Luckily, this one was close to my house! Before the race, I had my pb and rice cakes, naturally and hung around the library until it was time to start. I lined up near the back and we were off! I don't usually think of my (old) town as hilly, but geez the little bit of rolling hills were not making me happy!
I started out at a good pace and tried to maintain the run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute ratio I had been doing all summer (in preparation for my Olympic tri). Soon enough, the crowd thinned out and I was leap frogging people on the main trail in town that is shaded. My first mile was about 12:30 and my second 13 something. Miles 3-4 were mainly uphill and I wanted to walk badly, but there was a parade soon after the race so there were a ton of people watching so I had to be accountable! Plus there were several kids running at my pace, I had to keep up what I had started!
We turned onto the home stretch with a quarter mile left. My main goal was to finish in under an hour. I ran that last stretch as hard as a could (this time passing a 70 year old man) and I saw the clock was over an hour, but I knew I hadn't crossed the starting line right away. I hit my watch as I crossed and there was the answer!
Yay! Mission Accomplished. Post-race, I grabbed as many freebies as I could. I love keeping a full "snack box" in my car if I need something before/after a workout and races usually keep it updated! I went home, grabbed my swim stuff and headed to the pool to get a swim in! Unfortunately, I had misplaced my swim cap and had to swim the entire thing without one, womp womp. The rest of the fourth of july found me with a carry out salad and a pint of ice cream. :)
Later that day, I was looking at the race results online and I saw that one of my good friends who lives HOURS out of town, and whom I had plans with later, had actually run the race with her family and had finished 59 seconds before me, but I NEVER saw her. How crazy is that? I guess it's a where's waldo situation when you have 950 running at the same time!
I can't wait to update my blog about my Olympic triathlon - it was quite an experience and I trained really hard for it. Since then, I have not been as active (let's be honest, the 6-7 workouts a week kind of took over my life!), but still maintaining the same weight as late August.
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| My precioussssss :) |
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| Can't take me anywhere |
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| Post-race |
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| Ah, cold wash cloth! |
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| "running" down this hill verified that I am a weeny - so scary! |
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| Ah, so picturesque. Oh, an interesting statue... |
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| DON'T BLINK |
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| Post tri treat, yum! |
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Different, but the same.
27
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29
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275lbs
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205lbs
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Happy
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Happy
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Walks a mile a couple of times a week
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Trains for an Olympic Triathlon
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Loves her body
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Loves her body
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Hasn’t been on a bike in years
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Bikes regularly
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Thighs rub together
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Thighs still rub together
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I wanted to write this for a little while, but am just now making the time. I am different than I was 2 years ago, but still very much the same. I feel like a lot of women are down on themselves for what they look like/their size. But you can truly be happy and still want to improve. I think the difference is your goal. My goal has always been to get healthy. Weightloss is a welcomed side effect. If you're not happy now, will you really be happy when you lose weight? We have to love ourselves first! Identify bad habits, then work on the issues that cause them. (Lord knows issues will still be issues if you only treat the symptom of the problem!) I'm currently in the throes (sp?) of training. Next week is a very lovely taper and my BIG tri will be here before I know it! I'm slightly sorry I'm not blogging more, but life is exciting and my computer is slow. Love you all tons!
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Busy June
Wow, this month is crazy! I'm someone who loves their routine, but also the occasional adventure. June has had lots of adventures and I'm ready for life to slow down a little bit!
All charts brought to you by Bia Sport! So happy that I backed their Kickstarter campaign. This is my first GPS watch, so there may be some user error involved!
Workouts have been really consistent due to my Olympic triathlon training. My weeks are basically swim, bike, run x 2 for 6 workouts a week. I missed a ride over Memorial Day weekend, so I tacked it on to the first week in June. I have been running on a Monday-Sunday training week (aka my "week"starts on Monday)
June 2-8. Need: 2 swims, 45 min bike x 2, 35 min run x 2. + 60 min bike from previous week. (this was a scaled back week in training).
Monday: supposed to run w/group. got rained out. Put in 30 min on the treadmill, 30 min on stationary bike at YMCA.
Tuesday: AM swim, PM yoga
Wednesday: Morning ride. Radar showed rain a ways off. It wasn't raining when I woke up. I got out the door and it started sprinkling. I wasn't going to let rain show me up! However, it was steady enough for me to only go a mile from home and ride some repeats down my favorite street. Only got 30 minutes in until the lightning/thunder got close and I had to bail!
Forgot to start my watch until I was halfway through!
Thursday: AM swim with the new coach. Eh. I just wanted my coach who knows me and can push me. It was okay and pretty easy. PM 40 Min run. Felt awful. Legs were heavy, lungs were tight. Decent pace, though!
Friday: Glorious rest.
Saturday: Garage sales :) ha!
Sunday: 90 min bike trainer ride. I had those two 45 min bike rides to get in, so I just combined them. I got to space out on the bike trainer and it went pretty fast. Why didn't I use this more in winter?
June 9-15 Needed: Swim x 2, run 50/45 mins, Bike 75 min x 2.
Monday: 45 min run. Slower pace once I hit trails instead of pavement.
Tuesday: 75 min bike trainer ride.
Wednesday: Morning swim. Swam outdoors in a 50meter pool. Tried the GPS watch for kicks. I swam "a mile" 1500m (a swimmer's mile). The time was right and the distance was pretty darn close. (1500m=0.93 miles). But that GPS map! LOL
I think my flip turns threw it off, because that was when it was under the water. I swear I just swam down the black line in the middle of the lane!
Thursday: Rest (AKA BOUGHT A CAR!!!)
Friday: Rest.
Saturday: 1 mile open water swimming race! A few posts ago I said I was doing this one, but could have done a longer one 50 minutes away. I'm glad I stuck to this one! It was great! It was about 2 hours away, but the drive wasn't that bad. I got to registration and got my stuff. Did the sunscreen thing, and then was hanging out near the beach. The race isn't huge, but the race director coming over and introducing himself was very nice. I warmed up and wasn't super confident because everyone looked so fast! But the water was a perfect temperature and remarkably clear. We had our pre-race meeting and I was off before I knew it!
Lord knows what I did to make this a "run"on my watch, but at least I got my time and the GPS looked a ton better than Wednesday's swim!!! I definitely believe I did 1.04 miles - sighting is hard! I was next to a man the entire time! In that first part of the triangle, out to the left, he was weaving in front of me and it was very annoying! So many times I tried to get ahead of him, but I just couldn't. Around the halfway point, i was in survival mode - soooo tired!
I only got kicked on the last turn. There were about 4 of us turning at the same time at the buoy and I turned and then did 2 breastroke strokes to make sure I had sight of the buoy at the end. In that moment, the people behind me kept doing freestyle and my legs were under someone when I tried to kick and I got kicked as well. It was amusing to me! We got to the end and I had wanted to make it under 1/2 hour, but I knew i was probably over. I swam the best pace I could and the race ended on the beach. I swam till 2 strokes hit the sand, stood up, and jogged over the finish mat. And wouldn't you know it, that sneaky little bastard that I had been next to and was ahead of at the end SPRINTED out of the water and crossed 2 seconds before me? Rude. haha!
I took off my timing chip, handed it to a volunteer and was promptly greeted by a congratulatory handshake from the race director. What?!? Small race in small town America - can't beat it! I felt awful and dehydrated, so I downed a gatorade and hung out near the finish. The race was supposed to cut off at an hour, but the last person was a few minutes over. Do you really think this nice race director would pull the oldest competitor out of the water because of the time limit? No! When she crossed the finish line, there was as much cheering for her as, I imagine, the winner. Made me happy! They got through the awards and door prizes - I didn't win any (I was hoping for a door prize!). I went to look at the results and found the sheet for women's results. I look down at the bottom half of the list..um..not there...kept going up and - holy smokes! I got 5/18! I was VERY happy with that. I wasn't anywhere close to the top 3, but was about 45 seconds behind 4th place. And the kicker - I recognized a girl's name I used to race against in high school...I beat her by a lot! :)
Now, I was TIRED. And I knew I needed to run. I didn't see any good routes close to this lake. And if I got in the car and went to my dad's, I know I definitely wouldn't run. And I skipped the run today, I wouldn't do it tomorrow. But, if I did it today, in this town, I could get one of my favorite lunches that we don't have in the city! A light bulb went off! The people who did the timing was a running company from that town. I asked them for suggestions and they suggested a park with plenty of greenways 10 minutes away. Perfect!
I had a banana, nutrigrain bar, and some water and I was finally feeling a lot better. My run started by feeling tired, but not impossible. I had bargained that I would do 4:1 run/walk ratios so that I wouldn't beat myself up if I was too tired to run for a very long time. The first mile wasn't amazing, the second mile was pretty slow, the third mile, for some reason, I picked the speed up and I was not impossibly tired, and the final 3/4 of a mile, I was determined to be "fast". Negative split the second half...not too shabby!
Reward meal earned! (Taco salad, chips & salsa, plus a pop, but the pop was gross)
Sunday: Father's Day. I had SwimKid and we did the church thing then came home for a nap. At 6pm, we had to get in a hike (her request), go grocery shopping, do dinner, a bath, and I needed that final bike trainer ride. All in 4 hours. Yikes! Luckily I rushed her along in the hike and when we went grocery shopping she asked if she could pick out a snack. I was reluctant because we had froyo for lunch, but I said sure. And wouldn't you know it - that kid picked out a banana as a treat. Without prompting from me. Are we even related? She had eggs, broccoli, and a banana for dinner. I had leftovers of some pasta and garlic bread. Her meal wins! I got 10 mins of bike riding in while she was in the bath, then 40 more after she was out. Then I was exhausted and it was past my bedtime, so I scraped the remaining 25 minutes. Oh well! :)
June 16-22. Need swim x 2, run 50/55 mins, ride 90 mins, ride 90mins+10 min transition run.
Monday: 90 minute bike trainer ride. Felt good to have one crossed off the list right off the bat.
Tuesday: AM swims (maps/yards were all over the place), PM yoga.
Wednesday: 55 min run on the indoor track as it was storming out. Then bowling w/my small group.
Thursday: There was like 1 bolt of lightning at 6am, so they closed the pool. I decided to do my other run, as I was going to do it after work anyway. It was a gorgeous morning, albeit humid!
Not awful for having run 12 hours prior.
I was going to do a swim in the evening, but it was storming (again). So I just went home and will tack it on to the next week.
Friday: Worked a conference. Childcare burns a lot more calories than sitting at my desk all day. #hungry
Saturday: Same conference.
Sunday: Half day at the conference. Came home, ate, text people about biking. No one was in, so I took a hardcore nap. I did a 90 minute ride later that evening with a 10 minute transition run. SwimKid was with me, so she was running in her pjs and flip flops, so my pace was far from stellar. At least I got it done!
June 23-29. Need Swim x 3 (1 makeup from last week), run 55/60 mins, bike 90 mins x 2.
Monday: 90 min bike trainer ride. Finished Sherlock season 3. Really, BBC? Not a fan of that ending. I'm a huge fan of the books and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have done something like that.
Tuesday: AM swim. Very threatening clouds, but no lightning! Yoga was cancelled due to tornado warnings!
Planned: Wednesday: 60 min run w/small group from church
Thursday: AM swim, PM nails done - yeah!
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Triathlon! 600 yd swim, 14 mile bike, 3.7 mile run. yeah, I'm counting this as 1 swim, 1 bike, and 1 run. I may ride a little Wednesday or Thursday because I haven't ridden outside since the beginning of the month!
Whew, just typing all that made me tired.
I am not enjoying tri training as much as I did last year. This month has been hard because I've had a lot to do and my tri group from the Y has a very different training schedule than last year. Definitely excuses, but it is annoying. Last summer I had 1 activity every day and I was training for a sprint tri which meant 1 a day was good enough and whatever the group did was good enough. This Olympic tri means more training and this summer a lot of it is by myself. Wahhhhh....
I don't know how people train for Ironman races!
Food has been okay except for this last week. Let's take today for example. Breakfast was breakfast sandwich and veggies (decent), lunch was baked chicken and veggies (good!), I came home and had 2 breadsticks + marinara sauce, chips & hummus, half a hershey's bar, and more chips (freaking awful!). Sigh. Planning would be a good thing to do!
Sorry for a lack of real pics! My phone had so many amazing pics for this post, but it died on Sunday and I am not able to recover ANYTHING!!! Boooooo....
A gold star for anyone who actually finished this post. Let me know where to mail it :)
All charts brought to you by Bia Sport! So happy that I backed their Kickstarter campaign. This is my first GPS watch, so there may be some user error involved!
Workouts have been really consistent due to my Olympic triathlon training. My weeks are basically swim, bike, run x 2 for 6 workouts a week. I missed a ride over Memorial Day weekend, so I tacked it on to the first week in June. I have been running on a Monday-Sunday training week (aka my "week"starts on Monday)
June 2-8. Need: 2 swims, 45 min bike x 2, 35 min run x 2. + 60 min bike from previous week. (this was a scaled back week in training).
Monday: supposed to run w/group. got rained out. Put in 30 min on the treadmill, 30 min on stationary bike at YMCA.
Tuesday: AM swim, PM yoga
Wednesday: Morning ride. Radar showed rain a ways off. It wasn't raining when I woke up. I got out the door and it started sprinkling. I wasn't going to let rain show me up! However, it was steady enough for me to only go a mile from home and ride some repeats down my favorite street. Only got 30 minutes in until the lightning/thunder got close and I had to bail!
Forgot to start my watch until I was halfway through!
Thursday: AM swim with the new coach. Eh. I just wanted my coach who knows me and can push me. It was okay and pretty easy. PM 40 Min run. Felt awful. Legs were heavy, lungs were tight. Decent pace, though!
Saturday: Garage sales :) ha!
Sunday: 90 min bike trainer ride. I had those two 45 min bike rides to get in, so I just combined them. I got to space out on the bike trainer and it went pretty fast. Why didn't I use this more in winter?
June 9-15 Needed: Swim x 2, run 50/45 mins, Bike 75 min x 2.
Monday: 45 min run. Slower pace once I hit trails instead of pavement.
Tuesday: 75 min bike trainer ride.
Wednesday: Morning swim. Swam outdoors in a 50meter pool. Tried the GPS watch for kicks. I swam "a mile" 1500m (a swimmer's mile). The time was right and the distance was pretty darn close. (1500m=0.93 miles). But that GPS map! LOL
Thursday: Rest (AKA BOUGHT A CAR!!!)
Friday: Rest.
Saturday: 1 mile open water swimming race! A few posts ago I said I was doing this one, but could have done a longer one 50 minutes away. I'm glad I stuck to this one! It was great! It was about 2 hours away, but the drive wasn't that bad. I got to registration and got my stuff. Did the sunscreen thing, and then was hanging out near the beach. The race isn't huge, but the race director coming over and introducing himself was very nice. I warmed up and wasn't super confident because everyone looked so fast! But the water was a perfect temperature and remarkably clear. We had our pre-race meeting and I was off before I knew it!
I only got kicked on the last turn. There were about 4 of us turning at the same time at the buoy and I turned and then did 2 breastroke strokes to make sure I had sight of the buoy at the end. In that moment, the people behind me kept doing freestyle and my legs were under someone when I tried to kick and I got kicked as well. It was amusing to me! We got to the end and I had wanted to make it under 1/2 hour, but I knew i was probably over. I swam the best pace I could and the race ended on the beach. I swam till 2 strokes hit the sand, stood up, and jogged over the finish mat. And wouldn't you know it, that sneaky little bastard that I had been next to and was ahead of at the end SPRINTED out of the water and crossed 2 seconds before me? Rude. haha!
I took off my timing chip, handed it to a volunteer and was promptly greeted by a congratulatory handshake from the race director. What?!? Small race in small town America - can't beat it! I felt awful and dehydrated, so I downed a gatorade and hung out near the finish. The race was supposed to cut off at an hour, but the last person was a few minutes over. Do you really think this nice race director would pull the oldest competitor out of the water because of the time limit? No! When she crossed the finish line, there was as much cheering for her as, I imagine, the winner. Made me happy! They got through the awards and door prizes - I didn't win any (I was hoping for a door prize!). I went to look at the results and found the sheet for women's results. I look down at the bottom half of the list..um..not there...kept going up and - holy smokes! I got 5/18! I was VERY happy with that. I wasn't anywhere close to the top 3, but was about 45 seconds behind 4th place. And the kicker - I recognized a girl's name I used to race against in high school...I beat her by a lot! :)
Now, I was TIRED. And I knew I needed to run. I didn't see any good routes close to this lake. And if I got in the car and went to my dad's, I know I definitely wouldn't run. And I skipped the run today, I wouldn't do it tomorrow. But, if I did it today, in this town, I could get one of my favorite lunches that we don't have in the city! A light bulb went off! The people who did the timing was a running company from that town. I asked them for suggestions and they suggested a park with plenty of greenways 10 minutes away. Perfect!
I had a banana, nutrigrain bar, and some water and I was finally feeling a lot better. My run started by feeling tired, but not impossible. I had bargained that I would do 4:1 run/walk ratios so that I wouldn't beat myself up if I was too tired to run for a very long time. The first mile wasn't amazing, the second mile was pretty slow, the third mile, for some reason, I picked the speed up and I was not impossibly tired, and the final 3/4 of a mile, I was determined to be "fast". Negative split the second half...not too shabby!
Sunday: Father's Day. I had SwimKid and we did the church thing then came home for a nap. At 6pm, we had to get in a hike (her request), go grocery shopping, do dinner, a bath, and I needed that final bike trainer ride. All in 4 hours. Yikes! Luckily I rushed her along in the hike and when we went grocery shopping she asked if she could pick out a snack. I was reluctant because we had froyo for lunch, but I said sure. And wouldn't you know it - that kid picked out a banana as a treat. Without prompting from me. Are we even related? She had eggs, broccoli, and a banana for dinner. I had leftovers of some pasta and garlic bread. Her meal wins! I got 10 mins of bike riding in while she was in the bath, then 40 more after she was out. Then I was exhausted and it was past my bedtime, so I scraped the remaining 25 minutes. Oh well! :)
June 16-22. Need swim x 2, run 50/55 mins, ride 90 mins, ride 90mins+10 min transition run.
Monday: 90 minute bike trainer ride. Felt good to have one crossed off the list right off the bat.
Tuesday: AM swims (maps/yards were all over the place), PM yoga.
Wednesday: 55 min run on the indoor track as it was storming out. Then bowling w/my small group.
Thursday: There was like 1 bolt of lightning at 6am, so they closed the pool. I decided to do my other run, as I was going to do it after work anyway. It was a gorgeous morning, albeit humid!
I was going to do a swim in the evening, but it was storming (again). So I just went home and will tack it on to the next week.
Friday: Worked a conference. Childcare burns a lot more calories than sitting at my desk all day. #hungry
Saturday: Same conference.
Sunday: Half day at the conference. Came home, ate, text people about biking. No one was in, so I took a hardcore nap. I did a 90 minute ride later that evening with a 10 minute transition run. SwimKid was with me, so she was running in her pjs and flip flops, so my pace was far from stellar. At least I got it done!
June 23-29. Need Swim x 3 (1 makeup from last week), run 55/60 mins, bike 90 mins x 2.
Monday: 90 min bike trainer ride. Finished Sherlock season 3. Really, BBC? Not a fan of that ending. I'm a huge fan of the books and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have done something like that.
Tuesday: AM swim. Very threatening clouds, but no lightning! Yoga was cancelled due to tornado warnings!
Planned: Wednesday: 60 min run w/small group from church
Thursday: AM swim, PM nails done - yeah!
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Triathlon! 600 yd swim, 14 mile bike, 3.7 mile run. yeah, I'm counting this as 1 swim, 1 bike, and 1 run. I may ride a little Wednesday or Thursday because I haven't ridden outside since the beginning of the month!
Whew, just typing all that made me tired.
I am not enjoying tri training as much as I did last year. This month has been hard because I've had a lot to do and my tri group from the Y has a very different training schedule than last year. Definitely excuses, but it is annoying. Last summer I had 1 activity every day and I was training for a sprint tri which meant 1 a day was good enough and whatever the group did was good enough. This Olympic tri means more training and this summer a lot of it is by myself. Wahhhhh....
I don't know how people train for Ironman races!
Food has been okay except for this last week. Let's take today for example. Breakfast was breakfast sandwich and veggies (decent), lunch was baked chicken and veggies (good!), I came home and had 2 breadsticks + marinara sauce, chips & hummus, half a hershey's bar, and more chips (freaking awful!). Sigh. Planning would be a good thing to do!
Sorry for a lack of real pics! My phone had so many amazing pics for this post, but it died on Sunday and I am not able to recover ANYTHING!!! Boooooo....
A gold star for anyone who actually finished this post. Let me know where to mail it :)
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