Twas the morning of race day...

'Twas the morning of race day and all through the year
Muscles had ached, loads of cash spent on gear;
The bikes were racked in transition with care,
In hopes that post swim we’d eventually be there;
Helmets and shoes were nestled all snug in their place,
While we prayed we’d finish this gawd awful race;

With us in our spandex, wetsuits and swim cap,
‘Twas the first open water swim, we must avoid mishap,
When out on the lake there arose such a clatter,
Was too late to worry now, ‘cuz it really didn’t matter.
Down to the beach we marched -- nay we trudged,
Knowing today our efforts would fully be judged.

The sun on the lake, shining off the buoys out far,
Would challenge me for sure, but not you, you’re a swim star!
When, what to our wondering eyes should appear,
But a whole lot of “pros”, with some pretty fancy gear.
With super fast bikes, that would make them ride quick,
Thank goodness we’d planned and done a good brick.

As quick as lactic acid these racers they came,
We were focused and nervous but determined all the same;
"Now, Faster! now, Quicker! no, whining or quittin’!
On, pace! on form! on, spandex tightly fittin’!
To the top of the hill! Without hitting the wall!
Now swim away! Bike away! Run away all!"

As I finished the swim and rubbed water from my eyes,
I saw that these wetsuits aren’t flattering on one’s thighs.
So up to transition I practically flew,
Knowing there might be a chance I could catch up with you.
And then, in a flash, you were gone on your bike
still one more sport left, ‘til the one you really don’t like.
As you put on your helmet, and were turning around,
You looked down the path and cursed something profound.
You were dressed all in gear, from your head to your foot,
Now if only your helmet would stay where it’s put;



The bundle of food you had put in your pack,
Would provide you with an important mid-race power snack.
Gatorade and water, were strapped to your chassis,
and I kid you not, you were looking real classy!
Three laps you would take and up a small hill,
that saddle rash was more effective than a contraceptive pill.
Before you knew it, you were back for T2,
you couldn’t bonk now, you had to pull through.
Out on the trail, you kept a good pace,
You may have stopped twice, but only to tie your shoelace.

You worked so hard, you deserve a gold medal,
You never gave up, even when it was SO hard to pedal.
You’re always so chipper with words of encouragement,
You should be so proud that you never “hit” the pavement.
With always a joke, but willing to work,
And endured all the time; while not being a jerk,
And even while getting water up your nose,
And trying out training tips with a very odd stretching pose.
You sprang to your bike, to your dog gave a whistle,
And away you both flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard you exclaim, ere you went out of sight,
"Happy training to all, it’s been a true delight."

Hunkering down....

Into week 2 of my structured/coached training, and clearly deep into winter!
This a.m. -38 with a windchill of -49 Celsius. That's just freakishly cold!!! Spending a lot of time indoors.

Yesterday's swim was pretty good, even though I was swimming solo (Stacey had something going on). In total 1000m. Today is a 50 min ride, which I'll be doing this afternoon. Have the day off, doing some "other" work, but will squeeze the ride in on the trainer a bit later. I had planned to do it this a.m. but when I woke up at 5:45 and saw it was -38 I voted to stay in my warm bed knowing I could do it later. Tomorrow is an easy run, resting up for our testing on Thursday.

Last night was Brynn's ballet performance. I volunteered during the first show and then was able to watch the 2nd. It was super cute and all the girls did an excellent job! The photo is pretty bad quality, but that's our little ballerina on the right, really cute mouse ears :)

Well I better get at it! I'll do an update once my workout is done.

UPDATE:
I'd planned to do my bike ride at 2, and then go get the kids. Of course it didn't happen. So, went to get the kids from school, had a few extra in tow (so cute!!!). After going to the post office and store, I put supper in the oven and then got on my gear and headed down for my ride (in the basement). At first I was kind of dreading it, as it can be so boring on the trainer. But Shawn had us doing all kinds of different combinations so the time actually went pretty quick. I was sweating like crazy, so was happy when my boy came down to check things out, got him to toss me a towel. "Thanks Babe" I got frustrated with the single leg drills.... I really need to get clippless pedals. I have the regular clips, but it's just so clunky and choppy doing the single leg drills. I could really see how much better my cadence was when I focused on pulling up and not just pushing down. When I finished my ride I finished up making supper, and we had a nice family dinner. Meat loaf, potatoes, broccoli and spinach salad. Funny, I had made salmon for myself, but just couldn't resist the meatloaf. It was homemade meatloaf, so at least I knew what was in it.

On Friday I had a meeting with a physiotherapist (for my job) and it was great because I knew he was into triathlons as I've seen him race. So we spent the first 10-15 minutes chatting about triathlons. (He was my physiotherapist for rehabing my shoulder after my surgery in '07.) What got me really excited was that I can book a 1 hour bike session with him, and he'll do the full work up, strength, power blah blah and a proper fit! I am especially excited about the proper fit, especially to see if he'll make any compensation for my shoulder. Although it hasn't really affected me, I can tell it is weaker, and when I'm riding for long periods of time it sometimes aches. He was quite amazed how far I've come with my range of motion in my shoulder, especially since it is such an "old" injury (20 years ago was the original "incident").

Going to go relax and stretch, before heading to bed. I have tomorrow as a work from home day too, but I learned my lesson today and will get my run out of the way first thing :)

First week with a coach

The first week of coaching is almost over!
So far so good :)
Swim workout on Tuesday was ubber hard for me, and as I tired I could feel my form getting progressively worse. I tried not to let it get me down (that was tough), but I am worried about the coached swim tomorrow morning. First I'll have to get up at 5:30 a.m. to make it, plus I worry about how bad I suck! But I know you are supposed to spend more time on your weakest sport, so I'm trying to view it as an opportunity. Was pleasantly surprised by my cycle session, as it was my first on the indoor trainer in months and months (seriously, since a late night catch up session in June!). I haven't had a lot of rides in on my new bike, so I was happy that I felt comfy. However, I am reminded how much I really want to get clipless pedal system ASAP.

Winter has arrived, so I'm accepting my "sentence" of running indoors. I'll try and get a few in on the indoor track, that should provide some interest :) The last few mornings I've really enjoyed listening to podcasts, they make the time fly!!! This week was the AgeGrouper and Milkthecowbaby, and I see that Kelownagurl has put up a new one. Always interesting stuff!!

OK, better get back to work, and oh yeah.... eat some lunch. Tilapia and salad yummy!

Trauma and Insanity

Yes, perhaps a little dramatic for a title, but let me explain.
On Saturday my son complained that his tooth hurt. So I had a quick look and to my horror it looked awful! There was literally a hole in it, so I could only assume a filling had come out. I've had this happen before so I knew it could be painful. First thing this morning we called the dentist to get him in. At 2:15 he went in, at 2:35 I had a call saying he had an infected tooth and they couldn't save the tooth, it would have to be pulled :( Shortly later, Lar called and I could hear Eamon in the background crying for me. He was literally hysterical! Poor kid, it took 4 times the regular dosage of Novocain and he was still in terrible pain. The only way to settle him for the 30 minute drive home was for me to sing him a lullaby that I sang to him when he was a baby.

My day was pretty hectic all around, and for some reason my ipod alarm didn't go off (I think I had turned the volume off.... doh! such a love hate relationship) so I didn't get in my a.m. workout. How about lunchtime? Nope, had to run a noon hour workshop... are you kidding me?!?!?! Sigh.

But on the training note, we met with our coach on Friday morning. How exciting. He's only giving us the 1st week of training, because we go for our fitness testing next week. Then after the "honeymoon" stage we'll be getting our training plans monthly, but will be meeting up for coached swimming sessions. Did I mention he's a fabulous swimmer?!?!?! I believe he was 2nd out of the water for Ironman Canada 2009. Just a bit intimidating. But ego aside, it can't hurt to get some help in the pool. Tomorrow is a swim day, by ourselves and then again Friday morning nice and early at 6:30.

So life with the kids is busy, pre-school snack day tomorrow, Eamon's 8th bday party on Friday (taking the boys to the climbing wall), and ballet recital next week, plus Christmas bake sale to get ready for. I'm also doing a few last minute contract projects (yes yes I do extra work on top of my full time job?!?!?! tsk tsk), and all the other things in life are keeping me on my toes.
Wish I could just train, it'd be hard but simple :)

On the road again....

Tomorrow I head out of town for a few days, should be fun though as I get to travel with a co-worker, that also happens to be my training partner. Coincidence? I think not :) Wondering how much training chat we can squeeze into the first 2 hours of our drive tomorrow! And also plan to get some Christmas shopping in.

For the first time in a long while, I managed to drag my butt out of bed this a.m. for an early morning workout! I know it's important to cross train, so I did my own mini circuit workout with skipping rope, pushups, crunches, lunges, squats etc. I'll pay for it later no doubt. By lunch time I was starving, but otherwise my energy level has been really good! So great to get it done and out of the way! And such a beautiful day today, hard to believe it is late November!

So for the rest of this week . . . should be able to get in a swim tomorrow, as for Wed/Thurs. hard to say, although both hotels have exercise facilities, but maybe a run on Wed. or Thurs.
Friday, meeting with Shawn to start training planning :)
Have I selected my races?!?!?! Yup.
May 2010: Splash Pedal Gasp
June 13, 2010: Wasa Lake Tri [open water]
July 2010: Swam the Dam (Magrath Tri)[open water]
August 2010: Lake Chaparral (Calgary)[open water]

Sept or October, 1/2 marathon, haven't yet selected.

I've also called to schedule the fitness testing, just waiting to hear back. I hope I don't throw up, Lar keeps mentioning how the pro hockey players are just puking their guts out after their V02max testing!!!

Cleaning House

Confession. I paid to have my house cleaned.
How is it that I can take something as wonderful as coming home to a nicely cleaned house (that I didn't have to do), and feel guilty about it??? The inner monologue was something like "I suck, I can't even do my own house cleaning". So, I was feeling a bit like a failure yesterday and to top it off my run was also crap :( I set out for my long run yesterday and had to cut it shorter because my left hamstring is really tight and sore and it just wasn't "working" itself out. GRRR I hate stopping a workout, even if I know I should. But I did find a cheaper alternative to massage therapy .... having my son walk on my sore hamstring :) He thought it was fun, and I thought it felt great :) I'm also full swing into a cold, so my sinuses are waging war. Sigh. Sniffle. Sniffle.

I've confirmed a meeting time with Shawn to set up my training plan (next Friday) and have the go ahead to set up my fitness testing. Hope my attitude is better by then. Reminds me of lyrics to "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus (yeah a teenie bopper song, but great lyrics). "A little voice inside my head, saying, you'll never make it".

One of my assignments before meeting with Shawn is to decide on some goal races. Should be fun :) Will be traveling for work next week, so I'll have a fair bit of time to plan that out and think it through. Oh, and yesterday I was chatting with two people I know that are going to be doing Calgary Ironman 70.3, it was so exciting! I told them I'd be volunteering so I'd watch for them on the course. I think it's awesome how many people are crazy about triathlons.

Well off to drive home, get supper and get the kids off to their activities...have to admit, it'll be great to go home to a nicely cleaned house :)
Feeling better already ;)

The road to hell....

...is paved with good intentions. I thought that would be a fitting title for my blog today. I had planned to get up at 5:50 this a.m. to do a cardio circuit (skipping, pushups etc.). I had my workout clothes all set, my freshly synced iPod, water bottle etc. It's almost funny, because I've joked before that if my kids are going to get sick, it always happens at 4:00 a.m.

No word of a lie, at 3:59 Brynn comes in because she wasn't feeling well (and when I saw the time, I actually laughed). After a short while she went back to bed without incident. I had a hard time going to sleep in the first place (my head wouldn't turn off) I even listened to all of the newest "Milkthecowbaby Triathlon" podcast, and I think by then it was 11:40 p.m. :( Still couldn't sleep! Needless to say, I shut the early alarm off!

I packed my gym bag and plan to do some speed work at the track during lunch. Speaking of that, I just wanted to say how lucky I am. Here at work we have a brilliant athletic facility!!! Huge weight room with lots of cardio equipment, an indoor climbing wall and a 200m indoor track!! Love it. Plus, with a locker and towel service, it's quite convenient. Errr maybe too convenient when the alarm rings so early, although I do prefer to do my workouts in the a.m. as then I have more time, plus it starts the day off great.

Will report back when I'm done .... snack time first.

So I'm back. Great workout, was a bit pressed for time at the end and would have liked to get in more stretching because my left hamstring is bugging me a bit. I did a slow warm up, and it was SO hard, others on the track were trotting quite well, and it took almost all I had in me to not start off running :( Silly competitive nature (s'okay, got to blow past some runners when I was doing my sprints). I did a 5 minute quick walking warm up (sigh), then did a moderate 1km, then I did 200m of super quick sprints (of course a relative term) and then 200m of walk, and I did that 5 times, and then a 1km cool down, followed by some stretching and rolling on a foam roller. I LOVE that thing!!! So hey "Santa" I really really really want one for xmas.
I was thinking I might do a "Dear Santa" blog post, with photos :) hehehe

iPod killer???

I think that's going to be my new nickname. To say the least Lar has already declared "you realize you can't use my ipod, right?". I'm not sure what is up... my iTouch pooched on Wednesday, so I reclaimed my nano that I'd passed on to my son. Today, the screen went blank!?!?!?!? What gives? The only similarities . . . I used it running and was listening to a podcast, now both screens are white?!?!?! At least I can return the iTouch. Sigh.

Went for another long run today, not sure if that was too good with only 2 days in between my last long run! Of course the ipod quit on me with about 2.5 kms still to go, oh well, need to get used to running without it eventually :) I felt pretty good, it was a beautiful day for a run. At first it was lightly snowing but then it just was gorgeous blue skies and hardly any wind. I could feel my left hamstring tightening up :( I'll be sure to stretch it nice and good and will likely take tomorrow as a rest day, since I've done 6 consecutive days this week (Mon., run, Tues. swim, Wed,. long run, Thursday swim, Friday 30 min spin and some stretching).

So here are the details . . .
10.52 kms
1 hour 15 mins including a 5 min warm up walk, and a circle back to house to get headband/ear warmers (my ears were getting cold).
It was a pretty basic run, my usual back road route, but lengthened out some. I loved that I had enough energy to go quicker for the last km, makes me wonder how fast I could do it if I knew how to pace myself correctly *grin*

Good news, I'll be speaking to Shawn via telephone on Monday to set up our first meeting time :) Yay... I don't want that triathlete Training Journal to go to waste.

Lar started his Martial Arts class today :) Yay! I'm pretty sure he really liked it, despite almost passing out and almost throwing up!!! I asked him if he wanted some ibuprofin for his aches and he declined saying he earned the hurt so he was going to "enjoy" it, and then he went for a good soak in the hot tub. Too funny! We'll see if he changes his tune tomorrow!

Also, something cool happened last night. I was re-watching the Ironman Canada and since I was pretty tired I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I actually saw Erin337 (from erinleetriathlon.com and Tri n Reality podcast). I wasn't sure so I checked out her race number on her blog, and yep it was her. I found that pretty cool, especially since she looked so happy, when she was racing.

Anyways, I'm off to play with the kids, Brynn is currently snapping the little spring door stopper on my office door, I think that's her hint... not that she's usually subtle about her hints. And Eamon has just recently returned from playing road hockey with the neighbours, so much fun!!! Really what I want to do is crawl up and take a nap, guess that'll have to wait for about 90 minutes (read =>>> bedtime!).

Theme song for the day . ...

There's a bit of irony in my title today. First, because my itouch died last night so I didn't have any music.
But really I was thinking that I should select a theme song for today. It was a strange day, because at work it felt like a Monday (with the holiday yesterday) but I was super high energy, so I kept thinking of zippy and quick songs. Could it be my mind was playing my workout playlist as a tribute to my fallen itouch?!?!? Whatever the reason I felt GREAT today. My legs were tired from my run yesterday but I just felt overall good. Even though I left my beautifully crafted coffee on the counter this morning, even though my water bottle leaked in my bag, even though it was a swim day. Actually I enjoyed my swim today, right after I get over the shock of plunging into the cool water of the university pool.

On my way home I stopped by Costco to return my itouch, but I'd forgotten the ear buds, silly me. But I'm glad that I'll be able to return it. Drove home, without my podcasts *sigh*, quickly made supper (wraps, nice and easy). Now we're just headed out to AWANA with the kids.

I'm not sure if it's the return to "training" that's got me in a good mood, but I'll take it and I'll even get up tomorrow at 5:50 a.m. to do a circuit. Well that's the plan anyway!

So happy pseudo-Monday, but I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.

Lest we forget

Today is Remembrance Day, and it was a nice break in the middle of the week, and we took full advantage. Slept in (well until 8:25) took the kids to a movie, hit Starbucks and then I went for a nice 10 km run!!!!

On the way back home from the movie (we live about 40 kms outside of the city) I noticed a road I hadn't really paid much attention to, but it was country paved and looked like a good running route. So, even though it was blustery windy out and cool, I headed out on a new route. Yay, the Garmin was all charged up. I walked the first 5 minutes to warm up my knees because I knew my knee was a bit sore. And off I went....remember it was super windy! I started off to the north and then headed east, which kept me from running straight into the wind. At about 5 km I dropped one of my gloves and had to turn around a bit to fetch it, and HOLY crap the wind was brutal. It was pretty clear that the return portion of my run would suck. Luckily I had my cell phone so I decided that I would run until I reached 8 km then would call Lar to come fetch me :) What a guy . . . . he calls me back and says, are you sure you gave me the right directions because I've driven a long way... hehehehe. It was starting to get a dark and so he flashed his lights and I said I could see him. So by the time I'd gotten in the car I was just shy of 10km.

It was a really good run and I was happy to go as far as I did.
Here's what it looked like . .
9.91 km
1:09:17, not too bad since I walked the first 5 minutes.
Average HR 139 (is that too low???), or is that good for a long run.
Max HR 153
785 calories



Exciting thing on Larry's radar . . . he's thinking of joining a martial arts class. I think it'll be great for him :)

As for me, I'm still wanting to complete at least 4 tris this coming summer, and a 1/2 marathon in the Fall. After today's 10 km run, I'm pretty sure I can do the 1/2 marathon with the right training plan.

Think I'll email Shawn tomorrow ;)

From zero to two

From no posts, to two in one day :)
I was super excited to leave work a bit early so I could hit the road and get in a run. It's been a long time, and wow could I tell. I felt pretty good today, just a slight headache and a lot more energy.
It always amazes me how a short hiatus can come back to haunt you. It was super windy and quite a slog, but I made it through and felt good just knowing I'd actually gone out! Started off rough, as the Garmin decided it wasn't going to work (lost all it's battery charge). So I just headed out on my usual 5 km route. I missed having the constant reminder to maintain pace.

Tomorrow is a swim day at noon, and Stacey's not been feeling too well, so I hope she'll join me. I'm not really following a training schedule right now other than trying to get 2 of each (swim, bike, run) per week and maybe a circuit too. I'm hoping to sit down with Shawn soon and set out a training plan :)

Next season's goals . . . .
4 tri's
1/2 marathon (in the Fall)

Off to put my son to bed! Then a bit of R&R.

Where to begin?

I see my last post was a long long time ago.
Have I given up on Triathlon? Have I completely dropped off the face of the earth?
Nope, but wow I've been busy since my last post, including 3 races :)

Recently I've taken up listening to podcasts during my travel to work (1 hour daily commute) and for work (various trips about)! They're great! I've really taken to "The Age Grouper" and "Erin337" and through this I can definitely see the value in keeping a "log" of how things are going with the training. Plus it's just down right entertaining and inspiring!

Recently, I contacted a local triathlete, an Ironman and owner of a local run shop. I had recently received my "Triathlon Training Diary" by Joe Friel, and am not really certain how to go about setting myself up for next season. He's graciously agreed to help (yipee!!!!!) and has even suggested getting some testing done (such as VO2 max etc.).

As for my training, to be honest it's been a bit "slow". Seems I've been fighting some kind of cold, and my energy level has been pretty low, and I spent most of last week traveling for work (Saskatoon, Calgary and Fort McMurray). That means, during the last 3 weeks I've only fit in 2 swims. I'm going to get in a run today, and I feel motivated and excited to do it!

I'm going to try and "back date" a few posts so I can have a personal record of my 3 races this past season. Will see how that goes!!!

Swam the Dam 09

I swam the dam . . . July 18, 09. The picture to the left is my daughter proudly wearing my "I swam the Dam" tattoo! So cute.

Up until the night before I wasn't certain I would do the race. I'd signed up in the post race rush of the Wasa Lake Tri, but realistically with my work/travel (race was on a Saturday, we returned from our trip on Thursday) schedule I wasn't getting in the training. That was reason number one. Secondly, our good friends from BC were visiting and staying with us, so I felt a bit bad about ditching everyone to go to the race. However, a few things were in my mind. I'd purchased my wetsuit and I felt like I'd be "quitting" on myself if I didn't do it, and what kind of message would that be sending to my kids. I would be doing this race "solo" as Stacey had proclaimed earlier "I'm out, it's golf season". Totally cool, I was glad to have had her join me in the two earlier races.

I had really loved the open water swim of the Wasa

ooop I'll be back to finish

Wasa Lake Tri

This was it, my "A" race for the season. It was amazing! Although my performance wasn't stellar, overall the experience was so great that I know I'm hooked!

The race was on Sunday, June 14th (my brother's bday.... happy birthday bro!).
We traveled out to Wasa Lake the Friday before and were able to stay at a beautiful place within walking distance to transition, we'll have to try and stay there again next year :)
So, Larry, the kids and I headed out in our vehicle, and Stacey in hers.
I told my kids, "listen, Stacey doesn't have kids yet, so you be good, you don't want her to change her mind forever!". We stopped in Fernie to grab some dinner and some food at the grocery store.

The weather was gorgeous and Stacey, the kids and I checked out the transition area as well as the beach. On Saturday we watched the kids race, so cute! Later on Stacey and I headed into Cranbrook for our race pack pickup and the mandatory race meeting. Between pickup and the meeting, Stacey and I had a lovely coffee in the cute town of Cranbrook. After the meeting we headed back to Wasa Lake and took a quick ride on the bike course, just a single loop. Then headed back for a nice spaghetti dinner with salad.

When we were checking out the transition area it was pretty clear this race was the "real deal" and that it was going to be very exciting and fun. Real sponsors, really fancy bikes etc.
Headed to bed about 11 p.m., should have gone earlier, but was a bit excited still!
Set alarm for 6, since we were able to walk to transition.

Got up, had a quick bite and some coffee (oh what a disaster this was, ended up buying a new coffee maker for our hosts!). For breakfast I had a peanut butter "sandwich" with rice cakes and added some raisins. I had planned to also have a gu (chocolate mint, my fave!!!!! only available at xmas time.) right before the swim, and I had some more raisins and pecans while we were waiting around for the start. I also had some gatorade in my bike water bottle and a few packs of gu in my bento bag on the bike (which I planned to take when I was about 3/4 finished the bike).
This picture of me is pretending I was still sleeping :)

I was feeling pretty good, but a healthy nervousness, in particular with the open water swim. We'd done a practice open water swim, which was just "okay" and I was pretty uncertain. But my plan was to stick to the back of the group and draft like crazy :)

So here' s a pic of Stacey and I before the race! It was pretty early, so thanks to Lar for being up to take the picture! She looks so calm :)

We ended up knowing a few other participants that jokingly mocked us as we stretched on our wetsuits, but they called us "triathletes" and that was just cool.


The Sprint group was to head out 15 minutes before the Olympic distance.
So here's a picture of me coming out of the water looking very confused. Have to say though, it wasn't so bad, in fact I have to say that after a few minutes of adjustments, I actually really liked the open water swimming. You can see the Olympic group ready to go. Wait, that means I finished in less than 15 minutes!!! Woot Woot! Oh yeah, found out later the course was 200 m less than was expected. Sigh. Oh well. It was still great.


The bike course was AWESOME and I loved it, mostly flat, one slight hill near the end of the loop (3 loops for the distance). I did have some mechanical issues, as my bike seat loosened up and started to uncomfortably tilt up, way up! :( Good lesson for next time.

Run was pretty good, by then it was starting to warm up, but I kept running the entire distance, even the aid stations. Yippee!
The volunteers were great, some people had sprinklers set up to cool us off and then there were the group of "pirates" with their water guns.
Steve King was the announcer and it was so great to have to run past transition during the latter part of the run, as you could just feel the excitement in the air!!!
With about 200 m to go in the run, I gave it all I had left and sprinted over the line. I was done and it felt GREAT!
The best prize of all, a victory hug from my youngest fan.

So for actual numbers . . . . (I'll try not to be embarrased)
Swim: 13:56
Bike: 50:38
Run: 32:07
Total: 1:36:39

So yes, I'm hooked, already signed up for next year (when post was written in November 09). But I have heftier goals for 2010. Now I know I can do it, now it's how fast!!!

Splash Pedal Gasp May 09

Will include details soon.
May 10, 2009

Who knew how important eating was?!?!?!

Yes, I know it sounds silly. Even as I sit here looking at the title I know it makes no sense. Of course we all know how important it is to eat. But really?!?!?! It wasn't until this week when I seriously couldn't eat that I realized how LOW energy I was. Not to mention dehydrated.

I will try to not dwell on it, but I'm really trying to get my energy up so I can get back to my training. WAAAAAAA

And, I just got my winter bike trainer on the weekend and haven't been able to use it :(

I'm having my snack now (almonds, thought they'd be pretty bland) and there's only minimal cramping so that's good right?!?!?!

I'm hoping for a mild workout tomorrow, maybe a "gentle" spin. Time will tell.

14 weeks and counting!!!!

I had a frantic look at my calendar yesterday just to see how many weeks until the big day! How cute that the event is on Mother's Day :)

Yesterday was bike day!
Found a cool def'n:

velocitize: (vuh.LAWS.i.tyz) v. To cause a person to become used to a fast speed. —velocitization n

So I took my heart rate monitor to make sure I was velocitizing and I started counting rotations so I could see how I was doing. About 80-84 rotations per minute. Not sure if that is good, considering the chart below. Maybe I need to lower the resistance on the spin bike??

You can see a definite up/drop at about 25 minutes, no doubt that was my blood pressure rising as I was SO annoyed that the seat on the spin bike kept moving back, then I hopped off to adjust it!!! argggg I must have looked psycho because I was VERY annoyed, had to do it just after the 10 minute mark too!!! I basically hopped off, sweat spilling from everywhere, reefed on the knob and then with a look of indignation, hopped back on.
It will be good to get out on the road to ride, so I can actually see my speed (from the Gamin).

Very exciting news, I ordered a treadmill :) Hoping the happy delivery arrives before the start of week 12 (prior to race day). This will help with getting in my long runs since it is still winter outside.

My only concern is getting it down to the basement. Oh well, I'll worry about that when the time arrives!!!!

Today is swimming day and I plan to really work on my kick . . . can't let Ron's advice go to waste! Will see how that goes!

Really?!?

Yup, so true. I finally had what I felt was a productive training session in the pool!!!!
I'm sure it has to be my new found desire to not hate it so much! Swimming is such a technical sport, and in a way that really should be something I like . . . . a challenge! I'm stubborn, so you'd think I'd be enjoying the chance to be neurotic about itsy bitsy details. Trouble is, it's SO technical that it's difficult for me to manage all the thoughts in my head at once!

Well, it was just my luck that I got some really great tips from a retired Professor I know. I suppose it's true, some people really have a gift for teaching, even outside their discipline :) So thanks Ron for the tips! I'm going to try out the new skills during my next swim. One of my major challenges is that my rear end drags through the water! Talk about drag! So Ron evaluated and then gave me some corrections for my kick (or really told me I was doing it completely wrong, and then re-taught me)! He told me to "shake my bootie!". I'm not kidding.
I was surprised how odd it felt, so I'll be needing to work on it a great deal so that it becomes more natural, as "natural" as a land animal can feel in water.

On a side note . . . holy crap, was I cranky this morning! I had 8 hours sleep, so what gives?!?! Is it possible I was dehydrated from my run yesterday (I know I didn't drink enough yesterday)? So at about mid morning, I forced down a few bottles of water, chomped down a protein bar while working, and then I went for a swim. By the time all that was done I was in a great mood. How bizarre, but I'll take it!

TGIF!

Yup, it was a LONG week.
But I had good workouts everyday this week.

Mon: Bike
Tues: circuit + swim
Wed: run at track (walk 200 X jog 200 X run 200)
Thurs: swim
Fri: run on treadmill 30 min

I'm continuing my trial of the Garmin watch with HRM. Here's what a steady run, with an increase in speed near the end looks like. The first 5 minutes was walking . . ..oh yeah and then I accidentally forgot to turn it off, so then it captured my stroll to the change room!


Today wasn't even supposed to be a running day for me, but I just couldn't resist because I arrived at the gym early and it was the first time all week there were actually treadmills available. My hope was that I could see what speed I would have to maintain in order to do 5km in 30 min. Sadly that's going to be 6.0 Wondering how it would be if I weren't having that pain in my lower back/hips?!?!?!?! But it felt good (when it was all done) and I actually felt good this afternoon!!

The weather is supposed to be +14 on Sunday(what???? are you sure, since it is mid-January), and the thought of taking a bike ride crossed my mind when I drove home since the shoulders are all clear. There's probably a lot of gravel though.

The weekend is here and I'm so ready to do some relaxing and take my "days off".

Sink or Swim

It's not really a secret that my least favourite part of this triathlon training is the swim.
Today we followed our training plan and did:
12X25 w 20 s rest
3X100 w 60 s rest
ended with a few practice kick turns and learned a different style, thanks to the helpful swimmer in the next lane over!

When I looked at the plan, I was thinking . . . .20 seconds that seems like a lot of rest. HA!
Not my best swim by a long shot, but I have a new goal.
Goal ==> being more positive about swimming.
No specific plan for achieving that goal, so I'll have to think on it.
*sigh*

Oh yeah, also booked that appointment with the sport physio for next week.

New found "mojo"

So it's been awhile since I posted, seems like life got a little busy on me and as such I lost some focus. OK, I'll be honest, I completely lost focus.
But good news, I've got my "mojo" back and am stoked again.

What made the difference? Not sure, but back in the Fall I signed up for the "Try a Tri" clinic, and the first one was this past weekend. It was AWESOME! And that's saying something because for me the idea of 2 hours in the pool, is generally not something I'd enjoy.

So I had a "light bulb" moment over the weekend, coincidentally hours after my first triathlon clinic. It came after reading the following quote:

Remember that…
What we look like today…
Is based on decisions that we have made in the past.

Likewise,
What we will look like tomorrow…
Is based on decisions that we start making right now.

It is a classic conflict between short-term pleasure and long-term gain. When you see an elite athlete standing before you, you are looking at the result of tens of thousands of little decisions that they have made over many years.

So this is what I figure, the small things do count, and honestly I'm not getting younger. If I want to reach my peak physical condition, it has got to be now! So deciding to eat "clean" is really just deciding to put myself closer to my goal. Seems to be working for now ;) And I'm feeling really good.

I've got a new toy, a Garmin GPS sport watch with a heart rate monitor. Super cool, and allows me to be even more neurotic about the itty bitty details. But seriously, today I checked out my heart rate graph after a run on the track. It looks like a hilly path!!!! The system was, 200 walk, 200 jog, 200 run (6 times). But it's so obvious when I was running and when I was recovering. Reached a max 170 beats/min.






Sadly, still having some niggly in my lower back :( Just may have to go to the sport physio after all.

So the important dates remain MAY 10, followed by June 14th :)

Goals:
swim 14 min
cycle 45 min
run 30 min