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.

Duathlon

The triathlon ended up being a duathlon of the run and swim portions only - 3k and 400m respectively. It was a COLD morning of only about 12 degrees at the start line, and there was still plenty of ice and snow on the track that we ran around. It was a really small race with only about 50 participants, if that, and I was bringing up the rear nearly the whole way. By the time I warmed up it was time to head back into the building for the swim - all the while my snot had already frozen inside of my nostrils. I looked down at my watch and saw that I was just over 20 minutes in - not bad considering running isn't my strong suit.

I spent MAYBE 2 minutes in transition as I had my trisuit on underneath my running clothes, so it was just a matter of peeling layers, taking a quick drink of water, and then crossing the mat and jumping into the ultra-warm water of hte pool.

I was pretty well exhausted by this point, and 75 meters in I got a nice big mouthful of water which stopped me in my tracks and I spent the next 30 seconds or so hacking and coughing halfway down the lane. That hampered my moral a little bit, but I was soon back at it and, arms tired and out of breath, I managed to swim on.

I got about 3/4 of the way done and passed a guy who had been backstroking. At the end of that lane, I finally caught up with Alicia (my tri partner) who had been at least 2-4 minutes ahead of me during the running portion. Alicia looked exhausted and said "I'm done." "You're not done, girl . C'mon" and with that I was freestyling again.

During all of this, the man and wife team of Kelly and Jeff Miller who own VO2 Multisport in Louisville, and who also put together the triathlon training for the Knoxville Oly in May, were cheering us from the side-lines. It was a tremendous help to see them at the end of the lanes as I popped up to head back down and heard "Great job" "You're looking good" etc. It really kept me going.

I got near the end of the swim and saw some steps to the side. I stood up and was about to walk out when I heard "Touch the wall, you have to swim to the wall!" Duh. Another step, and one huge swimming leap, and I was done!

I forgot to hit stop on my watch, but Alicia seems to think we finished in about 32 minutes - we both started at the same time, and she did remember to hit stop, about 30 seconds after we finished up.

It was a great experience, and even though it was exhausting, I had tons of fun! I'm a little nervous about the next one three weeks from now when we will be doing all three events (weather pending), and the swim will still be last at that point due to the season. Not sure how I'm gonna keep up my endurance for that, but we got our training workout from the Oly coach today, so that'll keep us working out like we need to and hopefully survive this next event!

Well - spin and swim tomorrow, should be good times!

T-minus 12 hours and counting...

Been keeping up the training pretty regularly this week, and in approximately 12 hours I will be competing in my first sprint-tri of the year! The bike portion has been cancelled since we got some snow last night, but the run is on and the indoor swim as well.

Had my third spin class this morning and I feel like it's getting easier as far as me being able to keep up with the class, and I love the way I feel afterwards! I also did a swim after class a few days ago, but that kicked my butt since I was exhausted - but so worth it!

So.... 3k run at 8:30 a.m. with a 400m swim afterwards - here I come!

Spinning!

Had my first ever spin class last night and, man, that was tough! Five minutes in I was already watching the clock and it must've been the longest 45 minutes of my life! I clipped in with my new cycling shoes for the first time, and tried getting used to those as well. Everyone around me was kicking my but as she told us to "stand, run it out!" "jump" and "turn up the resistance." I don't think I did even half of what she told us to do, but sat there cycling most of the time. I was dripping sweat the entire time. Afterwards though, I felt great and slept like a rock. Tomorrow, the plan is a morning swim before work, then a meeting at local multi-sport store about triathlon training and an upcoming oly in May in Knoxville. I'm really hoping Alicia will go for it - it's an open-water swim and the longest length we will have ever competed in. YIPPEEEE!