Tri Tuesday: Week 14 The Finale

Today marks the last installment of training recaps for my first triatholon :)  The week was really pretty easy since it was a taper.

Monday 8/6/12 - Scheduled OFF - Completed Swim 0:20 for about 600 yards.  The thought of only working out 2 days this week made me get in the pool for an easy swim.

Tuesday 8/7/12 - Scheduled Bike/Run Brick (0:30/0:10) - Completed Bike/Run Brick.  I biked 7 miles in 29 minutes and then ran an uber fast (for me) 9:46 mile for the Shrinking Jeans Virtual Olympics 4 x 4 mile relay (my team took GOLD - but I think we were the only ones who entered - LOL).  It felt so badass to know I still could crank out some speed for at least short distances.

Wednesday 8/8/12 - Scheduled OFF - Completed OFF

Thursday 8/9/12 - Scheduled Swim/Bike Brick (0:10/0:20) - Completed Swim/Bike Brick (0:12/0:23) I really pushed on the bike and finally got some speed back up there, averaging about 13.8 mph.

Friday 8/10/12 - Scheduled OFF - Completed OFF and packet pick up :)

Saturday 8/11/12 - Millennium Triathlon Day!!! I finished a 500m swim, 14.8 mile bike ride, and 5k run in 1:52:56.  You can read all about it here!

So, what did I learn from this little endeavor into the world of triathlons?

• I really do like swimming :)  My technique may not be the best, but I don't completely suck at it either.  I even think my swimming ability improved along with my endurance. Having specific workouts and drills really breaks up the boredom of just swimming laps.
• Biking is really scary at faster speeds but I LOVE my Trek Lexa.  I have friends who are REALLY fast on their bikes and the thought of going 25 mph on a regular basis, not just when zooming down hills, scares the crap out of me.  That being said, I don't plan on upgrading from the road bike I bought this year any time soon.  Now, maybe cycling shoes, new pedals, and a trainer from Santa for Christmas might be nice. (Granted this would also slow down my T2 time since I'd need to swap shoes, but I can work on that.)
• My running is still no where close to where it needs to be (or where it used to be).  I'm still having some achiness in my injury site that I think I just need to accept is going to be there unless I want to quit running completely, which I don't want to do.  The real test for my recovery will be to see how the shins behave as I ramp up my mileage and start doing speed work for the Wine and Dine Half in November.
• Triathletes are really nice people.  Even with all the jostling in the water, people were saying "sorry" when they hit you :)  A couple of ladies that I passed on the bike were super encouraging and then I returned the favor and kudos when they blew me away on the run.  Golden Rule certainly applies.
• Practicing your transitions is necessary.  I wouldn't have been nearly as fast in transition if I'd been worrying about where all my stuff was and what order to swap everything out.
• Biking and swimming are great for cross training.  I hope to keep them up as long as I can (which is why I need a trainer at some point because I'm not going back to riding those awful stationary bikes at the gym and will NEVER ride my bike in the snow).
• Stretching and foam rolling are still important.  I did neither all weekend, then did a decent 2 mile run on Monday and I'm paying for it today.  Ouch.
• ANYONE can TRI.  There were people of all shapes, sizes and ages at Saturday's race (and I got my ass handed to me by a ton of people older and bigger than me - so high 5s to them - they freaking ROCK!).  Plus, if I can do it, you can too!

There you have it, folks.  I'm now a triathlete and I fully plan to do more of these.  Hopefully my running improves enough that I feel comfortable registering for the September tri I have my eye on.  It's longer: 880m swim, 18 mile bike, 5 mile run and REALLY hilly.  Plus, it'll be a wetsuit swim for sure because the lake will have cooled way down  by then.  Apples to oranges in comparison to Millennium but I want to give it a shot.

Now I want some feedback from you.  Have you liked reading these recaps?  Should I keep them up for November's half or would you like to see a different type of post in their place?  Leave me some ideas in the comments, please.

Thanks for all the support the past 14 weeks, too :)  I wouldn't be able to stick with this and do what I do without your encouragement.  ((hugs)) and *kisses*

Millennium Triathlon Race Report

So, this past weekend I finally completed my first (yes, I said "first") sprint triathlon, Grand Rapids Millennium Triathlon!  I am officially a triathlete :)  I went into the weekend in a horrible funk.  The weather had gotten really nasty (read COLD and RAINY) and I was so freaked out about the possibility of biking in the rain.  Thanks to the beauty of Twitter and my friends who have been there before, I had some great advice and went to bed feeling a little bit better about the whole situation.  Luckily, it ended up not even being an issue because the weather turned out pretty freaking great - overcast and low 60s with not a drop of rain in sight.

Packet Pickup
Packet pickup Friday afternoon was really easy.  I met my friend, Mindy (who was also doing her first tri), at the downtown Y and we easily found our numbers and got our packets. There wasn't much expo to speak of, just a couple booths selling other Millennium Triathlon gear. Swag included a nice, long-sleeve wicking shirt and a fun lidded tumbler.  We didn't really know what to do with all the extra numbers in our packet so we asked a couple of the volunteers (one of whom I knew through another friend of mine) and they both set us straight on how to mark our bikes and helmets, as well as how to wear our timing chips.

Race Day!
Race morning I woke up around 3:30, which REALLY sucked, and I didn't fall back to sleep until sometime after 4:30.  Then the damn alarm went off at 5:30. Ugh. That's early.  Luckily the race is only about 8 miles from home so I didn't need to be up any earlier than that.  I had my usual breakfast of oatmeal and some coffee, woke up the husband, and we were off to Millennium Park.  (If you ever have a chance to come to Grand Rapids, I highly recommend a visit here - it's beautiful.)  Parking was easy (although a bit muddy - had to carry my bike from the car) and there were tons of volunteers to direct the athletes to the transition area.  The bike racks were organized by number (I was in the last wave & waves were by gender and age group) so it was easy to find where I needed to rack my bike.  Did you know if you are really short and ride a tiny bike it might not touch the ground when you hang it on the rack?  Now you do! I had to use my shoes to keep it from spinning around :)

I got myself body marked and then scoped out the beach area and the bike in/out and run out areas.  I loved reading the tweets from my friends all over the twitterverse - they really helped get me hyped up and excited! While checking things out I ran into Mindy and her roommate so we hung out together and waited for our heats to start.  (She's just a baby so she started in the 1st women's heat!)  Before long they called for the green caps and we lined up at the edge of the lake.  I was trying to bounce around a little because it was still REALLY cold and I didn't want to hit the cold water (we were told 74* and they made wetsuits legal at the last minute) with cold muscles.  Somehow I ended up near the front but off to the outside. I caught a glimpse of M with the camera and made like a fool :)

The Swim: 500m in 13:22 (rank 310/445)
The guy starting each heat counted us down and we were off.  The water was COLD but it was warmer than the air. Still, putting my face in sort of took my breath away. So weird.  I tried to keep my head down and just swim but there were so many people jostling for position.  I don't know how many times I got kicked or had to stop and tread water because I was trapped.  I realized early on that I was a better swimmer than a lot of the other women but I couldn't figure out how to get around them.  I actually made my way to the inside which was probably more crowded but people were swimming faster here.  It wasn't until I made it almost to the 2nd buoy that I really felt like I was in a decent swimming groove.  My breathing was all over the place - 3 strokes, 5 strokes, every stroke, head out of the water, head down with good form - but I never switched strokes (unless you count needing to tread water because I couldn't go anywhere & I'm not counting that). The water gets really shallow and weedy (EWWW) near the exit and a lot of us started to walk but then it dropped off again.  I decided to swim until my hands hit bottom and then I got up and ran out of the water. I am THRILLED with how well I did in the swim.  M said I was out of the water in about 12 minutes (the time is longer than that because you have to run up the beach and sidewalk a ways before hitting the timing mat).  I thought my swim time would be closer to 15 minutes so this shows me that I really pushed myself in that lake.  I even think I could've gone faster if there weren't all those other women in my way!

T1 Swim to Bike: 3:00
I headed into the transition area and had a momentary brain fart when I realized we came into the area from the opposite side than I had gone in to set up. The bonus was that my bike was closer, but that meant I had to run farther with my bike, too.  I had a small towel to sit on, so I plopped down, quickly threw on my socks and shoes without really drying my feet (this would cause them to become VERY icy on the bike), pulled on my skirt and race number, my helmet, shades & my gloves.  The gloves gave me fits because my hands were still really wet and dummy me kept wiping them on my ALSO WET shorts. DUH. I unhooked my bike and trotted out to where we were allowed to get on them.  It was really far - or at least it seemed like it.  I feel like I should've run faster here, but overall my transition seemed to go pretty smoothly.

The Bike: 14.8 miles in 57:58 (15.3 mph rank 374/445)
I had ridden the bike course once in training and it also follows a lot of the Grand Rapids Marathon and 5/3 Riverbank Run 25k route, so I knew what to expect.  Hills.  Lots of small, rolling hills.  Nothing too crazy but enough that I had to work.  I got passed on the bike right away by several people, but I also passed 6 or 7 myself - including a few I took going up hills.  This made me happy. What I wasn't prepared for was the wind.  Holy moly the wind was strong and there was a headwind for a good portion of the ride.  I was tired and kept switching from small to large gear and then downshifting into easier gears, but I was thankful for a nice bike that could take it.  I hadn't inflated my tires the night before since I was anticipating biking on wet pavement and I would quickly regret this.  They felt a little soft the whole ride and I just prayed over and over that I wasn't getting a flat.  Being in the last heat and having most of the fastest people long done before I even got out there made for a lonely bike ride for most of the route.  My inner mean girl kept trying to tell me I was last but I just told her to STFU.  I had passed at least a few people and I even took a couple girls right at the end of the nearly 15 mile ride. My feet were FROZEN and numb during the entire ride and I felt a little cold but not as cold as I thought I would.  Not unbearable but not entirely pleasant either. I know I didn't drink enough on the ride - only about 1/2 my bottle of Nuun.  I'm sure I finished the bike course pretty dehydrated but the temperature made me feel like I wasn't sweating. Learning experience - drink even if you don't feel like you need the fluids. I commented on twitter that I really felt like I left it all out on the course.  This was hard. The wind was hard.  I felt like I was going sooo slow but I finished and I beat my sub-1 hour bike goal by over 2 minutes!

T2 Bike to Run: 1:23
Nothing much to report here.  I came in REALLY fast around the curves in the parking area and was *thisclose* to wiping out, so I probably slowed down before I really should have.  In any case, I managed to stop before the red line, hop off my bike and sorta run to my transition area.  My frozen feet were NOT happy.  I quickly ditched the gloves and swapped my helmet for a hat and off I went.

The Run: 3.1 miles in 37:11 (12 m/m rank 400/445)
This, in a word, SUCKED.  All my bricks in training were done in warm weather and weren't quite this long. Plus, they didn't have hills right at the beginning of the run.  Note to self: run more hills.  My feet were still so cold and stiff from the bike ride that I felt like I was running on rocks.  Also, my left calf/achilles cramped up right away.  I had it in my head that I was NOT going to walk today - I mean, it's only 3 freaking miles! but I couldn't do it. Mentally it was really hard to push through.  I kept worrying that I was going to re-injure myself because my muscles were so cold and I probably walked 4 times in the first mile. I kept leapfrogging this poor girl who was running the entire time. I've been that girl and I know how it sucks to have someone run/walk and pass you. It's hard.  By around 1.5 miles my legs had loosened up a little but were still in pain.  I just started counting my steps.  I can't tell you how many times I counted to 60 - telling myself I needed to do at least 5 counts before I walked again. It worked though. I made it to the aid station at mile 2 and then only walked 1 more little hill before the finish.  As we were coming into the parking lot and about 1/4 mile from the end, I saw a girl ahead of me in my age group (the beauty of having our ages written on our legs).  I made it my mission to beat her and I did with about 25 yards to spare.  Can you tell I was happy to be done? I believe I should have been able to finish this run at an 11 m/m pace at the very worst.  In my head I even had a goal of 33 minutes - maybe foolish, but there you go, so running a 12 m/m really disappoints me. I wonder if I'd had my Garmin if I would've run better.  If I'd seen how badly my time was sucking maybe that would've made me push through the pain and helped me suck it up.  Who knows. I know I gave it my all and I finished with a very strong kick at the end (I really wish I knew what THAT pace was).  Just shows me that A) I completely suck at judging my pace, and B) my running is no where close to where it needs to be for my half in November.  I have a ton of work to do.

Finished in 1:52:56

388/445 overall

143/186 women

19/26 in my age group

Overall, I am very pleased with my first triathlon. I obviously have room for improvement (especially in the run) but I beat my A (just finish) and B (finish in under 2 hours) goals by a landslide.  The race was well organized and the course is fun.  My one big complaint is the lack of a finisher's medal.  The water bottle and towel are nice, but this self-professed bling whore wants her medals!  Apparently medals are more of a running thing.  Guess I'll just be adding a charm to my running necklace instead :)  I'm already looking ahead at a tri in September, but the run is 5 miles and I want to see how my leg holds up over the next few weeks as Wine and Dine Half Marathon training starts Tuesday!

Fitness Friday: @trammisms ?: My Favorite Gear!

Back when I was had my 3rd bloggiversary post and requested questions, Sara at Domestically Challenged asked what some of my favorite running gear, clothes and accessories are (and since she's a teacher she'll probably correct my horrible grammar on that sentence). It's the eve of my first triathlon so I figured now was as good a time as any to answer her question :)

I'll start with some of my favorite running clothes:  

I pretty much live in the long bra tops from Nike.  I like them really tight to smush down the girls which means my daughter and I wear the same size (which is completely crazy, but whatever).  My favorite bra

is from Under Armor and they are really hard to find in colors other than white.  This hot pink one is AWESOME but really old.  As for bottoms, I'm also a big fan of Nike's long shorts and their capris.

I had the hardest time finding tri gear that didn't make me feel like a total cow.  I like my running clothes tight, but these things take tight to an entirely new level.  (For reference, my Nike gear is all a size small and my tri gear is either medium or large.) After trying on about 30 different things, this outfit from Pearl Izumi has become one of my favorite running outfits as well.  Even thought the shorts are shorter than I normally wear, the grippies shut up, it's totally a word at the bottom keep them from riding up.  Plus, the bottoms are lower cut in the front which is really awesome and super comfy. (This is what I'll be sporting at my tri tomorrow!) I need to check their website for running-specific clothes since I'd love some more shorts without the chamois liner inside. 

Shoes! I can't talk about running gear without giving a shout-out to my Asics GT-2170's :)  I've worn this model of shoes for several years now.  I thought about trying to switch to a lighter, more minimalist shoe after my whole stress fracture/reaction mess but every doctor and running store I talked to said not until I'm 100% healed.  They said stick with these, so that's what I'm doing.

Here are just a few of the accessories I can't live without:

Zensah compression sleeves, a hat (I have several), race number belt (this one is from One More Mile and is actually my daughter's but I love the WTF), my Garmin Forerunner 205, Body Glide, Nuun, Shot Bloks, RoadID (you can get one by clicking that link over there --->) and a great pair of running sunglasses.

Last but not least, some of my favorite accessories/clothing items EVER are my Team Sparkle skirts. Every major race I've done since my marathon last year has been run in a sparkle skirt (Grand Rapids Marathon, Tinkerbell Half, Knoxville Half, Down and Dirty Mud Run).  I've worn other skirts before, but I get so many compliments every time I wear a sparkle skirt and on those rare occasions when I chick a guy, I think, "yeah, you just got passed by a girl in a skirt!".  The blue one will be making it's debut at the Disney Wine and Dine Half in November - I can't wait to show you all my outfit for that race. It's going to be so fun!

I'm undecided whether I'll wear a sparkle skirt tomorrow for the tri.  How about you all vote.  Should I wear the lime green skirt for the bike and run?  (I haven't done any biking in it, but at this point with the rain in the forecast it might actually brighten the day).  

Leave a comment - yes or no - should I sparkle at tomorrow's tri?

Disclaimer - all opinions are mine and so is the gear - I just love this stuff, no one paid me to talk about it :)

Tri Training: Week 13 The Home Stretch!

The 14 week tri-plan I've been following had 2 weeks of taper at the end, which seemed a bit silly for a sprint tri.  I decided to go "off plan" again this week and make up another peak week from training (so what I'm reporting is the week I repeated).  The week went well and I hit about 43 total miles.  It's no wonder I was tired by Sunday night!

Monday 7/30/12 - Scheduled OFF - Completed OFF.  After the previous weekend's long bricks - I needed this.

Tuesday 7/31/12 - Scheduled Run 0:30/Strength 0:30 - Completed Run 0:40/Strength 0:15. I switched things up because of the heat/humidity and headed to the gym to do a treadmill ladder workout.  It was challenging and left me in a puddle of sweat at the end.  I had about a .6 mile warm up/cool down (10 minutes) and then 2.8 miles of running during the ladder. I finished with a 15 minute abs workout.  I was toast.

Wednesday 8/1/12 - Scheduled Swim 0:30 - Completed Swim 0:37. Set a new distance record of 1200 meters (or yards, I'm never really sure how the pool is measured). 

Thursday 8/2/12 - Scheduled Bike 0:40/Strength 0:30 - Completed Bike 0:45/Strength 0:30. Rode 11 miles in 45 minutes.  I picked a very hilly, country road route to get used to streets again.  It kicked my ass.  Then I did a 30 minute abs workout that further turned me to goo.

Friday 8/3/12 -  Scheduled Swim/Bike Brick (0:20/1:00) swapped for Saturday due to scheduling - Completed Swim/Bike Brick (0:20/0:53).  The swim was fine - just basic laps in my friend's pool, but I was not feeling this ride.  I went 12.4 miles (about a full mph slower than the hill ride from Thursday) and this route was pretty flat.  It pissed me off that I was biking worse on an easier route.  I think I wasn't well hydrated and I had a migraine during the ride.  Not very confidence building for the last weekend before a race. 

Saturday 8/4/12 - Scheduled OFF - Completed OFF.  Needed to pick up the kids from band camp so my workout consisted of sitting in the car for 3 hours, sitting in a stadium watching marching band shows for 2 hours, and then crashing on the couch when we got home. 

Sunday 8/5/12 - Scheduled Bike/Run Brick (0:55/0:25) - Completed Bike/Run Brick but struggled. I biked 12.74 miles in 0:56 (13.5 mph average) on a slightly hillier course than Saturday.  I woke up early to get this done before church and before the major heat of the day, but I never felt like I got my groove.  It was very humid (85%) and around 75*.  I was surprised how much this affected me on the bike.  I also think I drank too much because I got done with my ride and I had to pee.  Ended up coming in, going to the bathroom, and then watching the top finisher's of the Olympic Women's Marathon.  You'd think watching these women run a full marathon in a much faster time than I can even run a half would motivate me, but it didn't.  The run sucked donkey dongs. 2.06 miles in 22:51 (11:05 pace).  I walked about a bazillion times and yelled at myself for every one.  I mean, seriously, it was ONLY 2 MILES but I couldn't pull it together.  Sucky way to end my week but it happens to the best of us.  Just wish it didn't happen so often to me. Dear God, can I please start loving to run again and feel like I'm getting back to my "old" self? Love, Me.

So, I'm officially into the home stretch. A couple easy brick workouts on the schedule, plus I'm throwing in some extra swimming and biking because that doesn't kill me and I really don't think I need to taper much for this.  Now, if I was doing an Olympic distance or more, you bet your ass I'd be tapering.  For this distance I don't think it's really necessary and neither do my "coaches".  Next week at this time, hopefully you'll be reading a race report :)

Thanks for all the love and comments - I'll definitely be channeling any mojo you can give me next weekend!

Tri Training Week 12 - Almost there!

Since my vacation cut into the biggest weeks of my training, I'm repeating the two peak weeks.  Overall, week 12 was a VERY good week - I hit 51 total miles and boy did I feel it by the end of the weekend.

Monday 7/23/12 - Scheduled OFF - Completed Run 3.15 miles in 34:49. I needed this run - it was my first non-walking run of this distance since I got injured.

Tuesday 7/24/12 - Scheduled Swim 0:30/Strength 0:30 - Completed 1000 yd swim in 29 minutes and a very hard 30 min Nike Training Club workout (this app is awesome if you have an iPhone or iTouch).  The strength workout killed my hamstrings and they hurt all week.

Wednesday 7/25/12 - Scheduled Run 0:30 - Completed 3.15 mile run in 34:11. 

Thursday 7/26/12 - Scheduled Swim 0:30/Strength 0:30 - Completed Bike 10 miles in 44 minutes.  I hadn't been on my bike since before vacation and was itching to ride.

Friday 7/27/12 -  Scheduled OFF - Completed OFF

Saturday 7/28/12 - Scheduled Bike/Run Brick (1:05/0:20) - Completed a great Bike/Run Brick! I biked 15.19 miles in 1:05:22 (13.9 mph average) and then knocked out a 2 mile run in 21:03 (10:31 pace!).  I felt great through this whole workout.

Sunday 7/29/12 - Scheduled Bike/Run Brick (1:00/0:25) - Completed Bike/Run Brick but struggled a little. I biked 14.66 miles in 1:01:30 (14.3 mph average) on a hillier course than Saturday.  I also had a near-miss baby crash where I hit a curb and twisted my foot and ankle a bit getting my foot out of the cage (which I did before I tipped over).  The run after this was also a little hilly and mentally I was not into it.  I ran 2.21 miles in 25 minutes but I had a couple walk breaks and mentally just felt drained.  


Four runs this week, including back-to-back bricks, and nearly crashing on Sunday really knocked me for a loop.  It doesn't help that I haven't been sleeping well (for many reasons and none that I can really do anything about) and I'm starting to feel run down.  Yesterday I was more than willing to respect my rest day and not work out.  This coming week is going to be another hard training week with back-to-back bricks again but the workouts are shorter and one is a swim/bike brick.  


I'm getting excited for my tri, but also nervous.  I still know nothing about transition and I'm starting to stalk weather.com already (so far it looks warm but dry).  Any veteran triathletes have any advice for me?  One thing you wish you had known before your first tri?

Tri Training Week 8

I am now officially over half way through with my Millennium Triathlon training!  How the freak did THAT happen?  Sadly, this also means I'm 1/3 the way through summer vacation, but that's a topic for another blog post. As you can see from the recap, I didn't really follow the plan this week.  I'm still tweaking it to make it a bit harder and starting to add in some extra workouts, but not running as much as I need to be.  Too bad my diet this week sucked or maybe I'd be seeing some results on the scale, too.

Monday 6/25/12 - Plan REST - Completed SWIM 500 yds

Tuesday 6/26/12 - Plan Run :40/Strength :30 - Completed SWIM 1/2 mile open water. Then 30 min Shred DVD.

Wednesday 6/27/12 - Plan Swim :30 - Completed BIKE 12.6 hilly-ass miles in 56:17 (ave 13.4 mph).

Thursday 6/28/12 - Plan Bike 1:00/Strength :30 - RUN/SWIM brick.  Ran 3.25 miles on the hottest day of the year (41:43) and then swam for 22 minutes (maybe 600 yds) in the Millennium lake. The run didn't really bother my leg much at all, but the heat about killed me.

Friday 6/29/12 - Plan REST - Completed 30 min Shred DVD.

Saturday 6/30/12 - Plan Run :40 - Completed 3.2 miles in 36 and change. 1/2 mile walk to warm up (7:xx) then 2.6 mile run in 29..  The run felt ok, but I still couldn't complete the entire distance without some walking. I'm not happy with the walking parts but I'm walking because of the heat, not because my leg hurts.

Sunday 7/1/12 - Plan Swim :30 - Completed BIKE/SWIM brick. BIKED 15.1 miles in 59:10 (15.3 mph) - SQUEEE!!! This was basically the Millennium Tri course and I biked it with a friend. He pushed me and helped me get comfortable riding on the roads.  Lots of hills, too, but not as bad as earlier in the week.  Then SWIM 30 min in Millennium Lake.

Overall, this was a very good training week.  I'm getting more confident in the swims and faster on the bike. The running isn't hurting as much, but as you can see, I'm only running twice a week right now instead of 3 times a week like I should.  I need to add another run in but I want to see how this week goes with a couple 3 mile runs first. I also ended the week with some stomach issues and a lot of fatigue.  I'm going to make sure to include at least 1 rest day this coming week.

PS: In case you missed it, this past weekend was my 3rd Blogiversary!  I have a little giveaway going on over here to celebrate and than you all for sticking with me the past 3 years.  My readers really do mean the world to me, so thank you for being here and commenting. 

Tri Training Week 7

It's hard to believe I'm half way through my training for the Millennium Triathlon.  I should probably sign up for it at this point, huh?  These week's training went ok.  Had some good swims and bike rides, but the running was just "eh".  My leg still isn't cooperating like I want it too, with lingering achiness after my runs persisting into the next day.  I'm supposed to increase my run to 2.5 miles this week, but 2 miles on Saturday was really rough.  Not sure what I should do.  Elliptical this week instead and up the run next week?  I know I'll be able to cover the 3.1 miles at the tri, but whether I can run them all is what is in question at this point.

We had a funeral to attend out of town this week so that threw a bit of a wrench into the plans. I had to switch a couple workouts around, but that's how life goes, isn't it.  Anyway, here's the breakdown of this past week's workouts:

Monday 6/18/12 - Plan REST - Completed REST

Tuesday 6/19/12 - Plan Run :35/Strength :30 - Completed 1 hour bike (14 miles). Then 30 min mixed strength training.

Wednesday 6/20/12 - Plan Swim :25 - Completed Swim/Run brick: 1000 yd swim in 22:38 (lots of drills & I didn't time the rest breaks) then 2 mile treadmill run in 20:21.

Thursday 6/21/12 - Plan Bike :55/Strength :30 - Completed a 2 mile bike ride, but rode in the streets.  It was unnerving and I almost crashed once.

Friday 6/22/12 - Plan REST - Completed REST but also spent a little time walking around an outlet mall.

Saturday 6/23/12 - Plan Run :30 - Completed 3.2 miles in 38 and change. 2 mile run in 21:46 and 1.2 mile wu/cd in 17:04.  The run hurt a bit and I felt like I never found my groove.  I couldn't even make it the full 2 miles without a walk break, which pissed me off more than the overall slow pace.

Sunday 6/24/12 - Plan Bike :40 - Completed a 20 mile bike ride (in 1:27 - just shy of a 14 mph average) and did level 1 of the 30 Day Shred (25 min strength). On the bike ride, I rode a lot of it on trails but also quite a bit on actual streets.  Even had to stop at lights and figure out which lane I should be in.  The whole time thinking "please, God, don't let anyone run me over.  My fastest times on the bike (upwards of 20 mph) were on city streets I think because I just wanted to get it over with! It also about killed me to do these things back-to-back. I discovered my shin does NOT like jumping jacks yet and I was just wiped out from the bike ride.  I ended up doing some sort of boxer's jog instead, which was dumb, to try and modify the workout a bit.

I clearly went overboard on the biking this week, but since my running is definitely sub-par I felt I needed to make up for it somewhere.  I think my biggest frustrations at this point are not being able to run as well (or as far, or as often) as I'd like (or in my mind that I think I should be able to run) and that my swimming still feels so weak.  I know it will get better and I can't expect to be a great swimmer right away - there is some element of a learning curve and unlearning some serious bad habits.


In case you missed it, this past weekend was my 3rd Blogiversary!  I have a little giveaway going on over here to celebrate and than you all for sticking with me the past 3 years.  My readers really do mean the world to me, so thank you for being here and commenting.

I love comments - so stop lurking and say something!

Tri-Training Tuesday: Week 2

I've managed to make it through the 2nd week of triathlon training - modified still but I'm making progress and that's what counts.  I even capped off the week with one of the best "race" experiences I've ever had.

Here's how May 14-20, 2012 played out!
Monday: Planned OFF - "Ran" 1.6 miles on the elliptical in 20 minutes!
Tuesday: Planned 20 min run/30 min strength - did chiropractor and 60 min massage.
Wednesday: Planned 20 min swim - completed 800 in 23 minutes
Thursday: Planned 25 min bike/30 min strength - Walked 1.75 miles in 40 min for a field trip for school.
Friday: Planned OFF
Saturday: Planned 20 min run - Walked around IKEA and a ginormous mall north of Chicago instead :)
Sunday: Planned 20 min swim - Finished a 5k mud run (walked it) and completed 13/13 obstacles in probably a little over an hour!!

Obviously, the plan had some tweaking this week with that mud run and a doctor's appointment in there, but I was thrilled to finally "run" on the elliptical!  I've had minimal to no pain in my shin this week (the worst was after the walking on Thursday which was why I skipped the planned workouts).  Not having any shin pain after Sunday's mud run was awesome.  I'm feeling good enough that I might try some actual running this week mixed in with the elliptical.  Wish me luck!