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