2nd FULL Triathlon

It's been a minute since I last blogged, but guarantee I've been getting in my workouts and I think they're paying off. Had my second full Tri yesterday (I say "full" because what was supposed to be my second tri turned into a duathlon).

The weather was great, and I actually got a little hot during the run and had to unzip my jacket and take off the gloves during the last mile or so. Again, this was a very small sprint with only 53 participants total, and I was pulling up second-to-last during the 5k run which started off this race - at least up until the half-way point where I caught up with a 49 y/o man who had slowed down for a water break. Normally, I do 6:1 intervals while running (even while training), so running non-stop even for such a short period is somewhat hard for me, but I managed to walk only minimally during this entire run.

I pulled into T1 and am happy to report that I KILLED the other competitors, spending only 28.8 seconds in this area. Of course, most of this is probably due to the fact that the majority of other participants had to change into their cycling shoes, while I biked in my tennis shoes. Although this saved time in T1, I paid for it by being the absolute slowest person to complete the 12 mile bike ride. That's not to say that there weren't a few people behind me (two to be precise) when I made my way to T2, but my 54:35 ride (a 13.3 mph pace) left a little to be desired. Obviously I need to step it up in this area, and I'm thinking (or is it, hoping) that the installation of some clipless pedals will help with that. We'll see.

Spent a little more time in T2 - just about 1:35 minutes, but that is to be expected when you have layers to peel, shoes to tear off, and socks to toss aside - not to mention a 100 foot jog to the indoor pool to start the swim. Intially, I had planned on wearing a swim cap, but after jumping in the pool decided this would take me too much time and threw it aside as I pulled on my goggles and kicked off the side of the pool. Felt great the entire swim, and have continued to breath every 2 strokes rather than 3 which I've found does wonders for my stamina. At one point, a gal in my tri-training group who I had a fairly good lead on during both the run and bike, shot past me during the swim (she swam in college and still had the skills, obviously). I didn't fret however, for half-way through the lanes I spotted my tri-partner/best friend/biggest competitor only one lane ahead of me (note: she kicked my ass in both the run (1.5 minute lead) and bike (2 minute lead). With only 1.5 lanes to go I passed her and came out of the pool with only 3 triathletes behind me. Final approximate finishing time: 1:42:15 for the 5k run, 12 mile bike, and 400m swim.

Now, up until this event I told myself that time and place didn't matter and that I was just in it to finish and to have the experience of having completed a triathlon. After carefully scrutinizing my time against everyone elses however, being the second slowest runner, the slowest cyclist, and near the end of the pack for the swim, I have decided that I must do SOMETHING to get faster/better at these sports. I have been training my ass off so far, and feel that, although there have been improvements, I'm still not where I want to be - especially in comparison to the other participants. I mean - granted, Shelbyville Tri Series is a very small event. But I certainly don't want to be bringing up the rear in larger races, such as the Rev3 Tri in Knoxville in May - which will be my largest (in regards to participants and length) to date.

So.....training starts again tomorrow. Suppose I'll keep on keeping on and have to take a good, hard, long look at my performance and step it up a notch or two.

Great RUN!

Got my sleep-lovin' self out of bed at 7:45 this morning for my 4-miler before work. Had a great run! Legs felt great - real strong. Must be all that spinning I'm doing! Started out running sprints for 1 minute with 1 minute recovery, 6 times. Then did my normal 6:1 interval runs, but then added 2 minutes of all-out sprints after the 1 minute walk portion before another minute recovery and then continuing another 6 minute run. Did this for the entire portion of the run, and went back and forth on whether or not to just make this my 6-miler for the week, but ultimately decided agains it (I'm sure I'll regret this later). Anyhoo - hoping to get in my 90 minute of spin tomorrow night. After that, I'll have 3 days to complete my 6 mile run and a second swim session of 900 meters. Whoo - all this training is hard, but my stomach hasn't been this flat in a while, and I'm nearly under 130 pounds which hasn't happened in the past 2-3 years at least. Feeling great!

Withdrawals

Did a combination of an hour of spin and a 40 minute swim last night after doing a 5 mile run the night before. Took the day off today because I didn't want to overdo it - and the legs are a little achy - but sitting here on the my chair all evening I feel the itch to get up and do something. I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow morning and pull out a 4-miler before heading to work.

JCPS had a snow day today and also tomorrow, which means I'll be getting off at 4:00 rather than 6:00 - YAH! If all goes as planned, I'll have plenty of time to get to the gym and knock out the hour and a half of spin that I'm scheduled to do. I went into spin class 15 minutes early yesterday to get in the full hour that was scheduled - so getting there (and more than likely completing my ride) before class even starts is going to be tough. Keeping the motivation to stay on the bike for that long, not to mention not having someone PUSHING me and TELLING me what moves to do - this should be an interesting experiment. Guess I'll put on my ipod and hope for the best! 1 1/2 weeks til my third triathlon!

Note To Self

I found out the hard way yesterday that I cannot yet do spin class two days in a row. I also found out the hard way this morning, that completing swim lessons the day after the second spin class is also a bad idea. I'm feeling pretty good overall, but a little tired from all the training this week. I never got my runs in, and am supposed to have a 3 and 5 miler done by the end of the week (two days away). I've decided that even though the training log has different events six days per week, I'm going to try to double up on a couple of days and do two events in one day just to get it out of the way. Plus, I feel this will only help when the actual triathlons come around, as the events are back to back to back anyway.

So, here's to hoping I have enough strength and energy to get at least my longer run in tomorrow. Won't feel so bad about missing just a three-miler this week. ;)

Training resumes...

It's three days after the triathlon, and training has continued. 900 meters of swim yesterday, and I got back on the bike for a 50 minute spin class this evening. Feeling pretty good, but can definitely see that I have a ways to go before I'm Oly and Half-Ironman ready - especially the swim portion. I'm still taking swim lessons, and need to continue to work on my form and endurance - just seem to be getting really out of breath lately. It probably wouldn't hurt to do some strength training as well. All of this training will be much easier when I switch to a new position at work at the beginning of March. Will be getting off at least 2 hours earlier than I do now, which will help a lot. Okay - on the agenda for tomorow - a 4 mile run.