Today I got in the pool and attempted a swim lesson for a friend of mine from church. I fear I was more hindering than helpful. I have bad habits (my "coach" tells me he wants to cut off my left arm because I can't enter the water correctly on that side) and I am really slow, but I am also far from denying a friend assistance. I figure perhaps in my whirlwind of information there might be a piece of wisdom in there.
I got into the water and it was like a dream! I was surrounded by fellow triathletes (which ALWAYS get the motivation flowing) and the swim team had forgotten to take down their lane lines, so we had 4 lanes!!! It was awesome! I didn't do much of my own working out but I had fun doing some drills!
So basically I just told her to how to use the pull buoys, the swim paddles and how to roll to breathe. It was HOPEFULLY productive, but at least we had fun :)
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
The Pit of Despair
Today was a pretty fun/intense ride. I went with a friend and she has a hybrid bike, so we paced it pretty slow, but let me paint a mental picture ( I might go out and photograph this place soon just b/c it's sooooo pretty)...
You go to a fairly unassuming road that has almost a 2% decline, ride about 200 yards and then your decline starts to DECLINE! You're thinking "crap! How far down are we going?! And can I get back out??!!" . You come to the bottom of this first downhill after about 1/8 of a mile and cross a really pretty wooden bridge that crosses a beautiful little creek...however...you never see the creek b/c you become immediately distracted by the seemingly 900% grade on the hill in front of you! And did I mention that there is very little speed to be made from the giant downhill due to TWO hair pins at the bottom of the road?
I'd go on, but I can see that this will become a VERY long story and so I'll cut to the meat and potatoes... The ride goes like that for 3 miles to the end and then 3 miles back out (there are NO shortcuts), well we thought we'd be rock stars and do that stinkin' thing twice. For the mathematically impaired, that's 12 miles total. You're thinking, "12 miles, HA! I could do that in 30 minutes!" It took us over an HOUR!!!! Now I mentioned she was on a heavier bike, but I'm not gonna lie, I think the ol' heart-rate was peaking on my end for sure! I didn't count the hills, so I need to do that. I'm also going to bring my Garmin when I go again to see the grade percentage and what the heck my poor heart is doing, and that speed thing would be interesting too, but the crazy turns back it almost impossible to start the uphills off a down. I might bring Mike so we can PR it and see how long it takes at a race pace. I'm pretty sure tomorrow is an off or light day :)
You go to a fairly unassuming road that has almost a 2% decline, ride about 200 yards and then your decline starts to DECLINE! You're thinking "crap! How far down are we going?! And can I get back out??!!" . You come to the bottom of this first downhill after about 1/8 of a mile and cross a really pretty wooden bridge that crosses a beautiful little creek...however...you never see the creek b/c you become immediately distracted by the seemingly 900% grade on the hill in front of you! And did I mention that there is very little speed to be made from the giant downhill due to TWO hair pins at the bottom of the road?
I'd go on, but I can see that this will become a VERY long story and so I'll cut to the meat and potatoes... The ride goes like that for 3 miles to the end and then 3 miles back out (there are NO shortcuts), well we thought we'd be rock stars and do that stinkin' thing twice. For the mathematically impaired, that's 12 miles total. You're thinking, "12 miles, HA! I could do that in 30 minutes!" It took us over an HOUR!!!! Now I mentioned she was on a heavier bike, but I'm not gonna lie, I think the ol' heart-rate was peaking on my end for sure! I didn't count the hills, so I need to do that. I'm also going to bring my Garmin when I go again to see the grade percentage and what the heck my poor heart is doing, and that speed thing would be interesting too, but the crazy turns back it almost impossible to start the uphills off a down. I might bring Mike so we can PR it and see how long it takes at a race pace. I'm pretty sure tomorrow is an off or light day :)
Monday, October 25, 2010
Swimmin'
Did a pretty decent swim today. It's amazing how quickly you can get a full workout it with no one around to talk to you (I have a love hate with this). I did this:
200m warm up
200m paddles
200m pull buoy with paddles
200m pull buoy only
100m kick board (b/c I HATE this)
6 x 200m race pace with 1-2 min rest between each 200
I've got a hand problem I'm trying to work on right now, so I do a lot with the paddles. I'm putting my hand in heel first. I'm starting to feel like a golfer when I work on fine tuning stuff like this. I'm not seeing any vast improvements, but I'm working. Tomorrow my friend Andrea and I are hoping to get outside for a pretty rough (but beautiful) bike ride that will total 12 + miles but is littered with hills designed by the devil himself! More on that tomorrow hopefully!
200m warm up
200m paddles
200m pull buoy with paddles
200m pull buoy only
100m kick board (b/c I HATE this)
6 x 200m race pace with 1-2 min rest between each 200
I've got a hand problem I'm trying to work on right now, so I do a lot with the paddles. I'm putting my hand in heel first. I'm starting to feel like a golfer when I work on fine tuning stuff like this. I'm not seeing any vast improvements, but I'm working. Tomorrow my friend Andrea and I are hoping to get outside for a pretty rough (but beautiful) bike ride that will total 12 + miles but is littered with hills designed by the devil himself! More on that tomorrow hopefully!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Seriously?! Seriously?!
So I guess we're going to up the game....
My husband has done only sprint distance triathlons (as have I). Well I was hanging around the gym chit chatting (which I'm exceptionally good at, btw) and a friend of ours asked if I would be interested in doing a half iron distance...IN MAY!!! What??!!!! Okay, well, that was my reaction, my husband's reaction was, "heck yeah!". So he's in I guess. They're doing White Lake in NC in May. I'm pretty sure that neither one of us knows how to get him ready, but someone is going to get a lot of money in bike components from the Evans!
I'm just hoping to get through my first Olympic distance by the end of the season! I'm also hoping to finally get through my first half marathon too.
Well the USAT Triathlon magazine informed me that my two day a week swims "aren't cutting it". My question is how on earth do I fit these 3 sports into one already jam packed week? I'm waiting to find this secret. If I were a better athlete I'd consider hiring a program coach, but they're too expensive and I'm too old.
Here is what I'm hoping to get through this week:
3-4 swims with drills (that I'm hoping to find on the internet)
1 outdoor bike ride
1 spin class
1 upper body and 1 lower body weight training work out.
Now, if I throw in some rest days, ugh, I'm looking at a hard core week.
My husband has done only sprint distance triathlons (as have I). Well I was hanging around the gym chit chatting (which I'm exceptionally good at, btw) and a friend of ours asked if I would be interested in doing a half iron distance...IN MAY!!! What??!!!! Okay, well, that was my reaction, my husband's reaction was, "heck yeah!". So he's in I guess. They're doing White Lake in NC in May. I'm pretty sure that neither one of us knows how to get him ready, but someone is going to get a lot of money in bike components from the Evans!
I'm just hoping to get through my first Olympic distance by the end of the season! I'm also hoping to finally get through my first half marathon too.
Well the USAT Triathlon magazine informed me that my two day a week swims "aren't cutting it". My question is how on earth do I fit these 3 sports into one already jam packed week? I'm waiting to find this secret. If I were a better athlete I'd consider hiring a program coach, but they're too expensive and I'm too old.
Here is what I'm hoping to get through this week:
3-4 swims with drills (that I'm hoping to find on the internet)
1 outdoor bike ride
1 spin class
1 upper body and 1 lower body weight training work out.
Now, if I throw in some rest days, ugh, I'm looking at a hard core week.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Tri TV
It's been over a week since I posted and seriously, not much has changed. There was this little race in Kona over the weekend, may have heard of it. I was so excited to watch it and then ended up in Nashville, TN venue shopping for my sisters wedding instead. That's okay. It's going to come on TV in TWO MONTHS??!!!! What is that about??? Haven't we triathletes earned televised coverage yet? Seriously! It's like waaaaaayyyyy harder than football, basketball, baseball, and soccer COMBINED! These people are super human and yet we're watching guys with muffin tops hit each other for 2-4 seconds at a time...ugh! Okay, I do like football, but I'm having a sour moment about it taking up tri-time.
Well I'm still sorta sick. I'm very weak right now, my knee is shot and I'm just choosing not to worry about it. I'll get back in the game. I've got goals....Olympic distance goals....!!!! I've also decided that should I get through another season or two I might entertain the idea of a 1/2 iron. Hmmm.... guess we'll see about that. :)
Well I'm still sorta sick. I'm very weak right now, my knee is shot and I'm just choosing not to worry about it. I'll get back in the game. I've got goals....Olympic distance goals....!!!! I've also decided that should I get through another season or two I might entertain the idea of a 1/2 iron. Hmmm.... guess we'll see about that. :)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Beckley 5K Race Report
Beckley Half Marathon - 5K Race Oct. 2, 2010
Woke up this morning and although I was highly depressed and didn't want to get out of bed because I was SUPPOSE to be doing a Half Marathon, I got up and did the 5K and went out to support my husband in his venture into his first Half.
I haven't run since Friday, been sick, to the doctor (blood work, the whole nine yards), and been depressed and stressed since I found out I couldn't run. Well I got my clothes on, butt in the truck and didn't even care that I forgot my Garmin...it was only 3 MILES! I got a little better attitude when I saw the other racers, but still felt like a goober because I was in the group with a bunch of runners and walkers and then had to stand on the sideline for the Half Marathoners to start. Ugh! Torture! Well we lined up 5 minutes after the racers of the Half took off. I was in the front because I felt like it and didn't want to be playing tag getting around walkers. I stayed toward the front as the race began, but inevitably there's always the group that starts off sprinting and they, of course, passed me. About 200 yards into the race the fact that it was 37 degrees started catching up with me. I COULDN'T MOVE! It was awful! I couldn't get my legs to go any faster than a jog, literally! It was weird. I thought that feeling would wear off and it did NOT! I got a teensy bit looser by about mile 2, but still felt bad. I felt a little better about the fact that I was now passing the "starting line sprinters" by the 10's, but I was at about mile 2 1/4 and this thug-kid wouldn't let me pass him, seriously, the little sh&# was swerving and looking back to make sure I couldn't! You almost got to see a 32 year old woman knock out a 15 year old kid (Mike says I should have kicked his shoe to throw his pace, LOL!)! Little booger needs to learn some racing rules. Oh! He was also spitting....if that had hit me I'd have probably spanked him! So I got to 1/4 mile out (knee hurting, body still recovering from being sick) and decided I wouldn't sprint. The finish was downhill and I was NOT going to do that to my knee, so I said "so be it" and just paced myself into the finish...this cost me the 1st place in my age group title.
Moral of the story is...don't suck. I don't know what's wrong with my knee, why I was sick, and why I can't find motivation under any of the rocks I'm flipping over. I wasn't into this race today. I can't believe I've dignified this with a blog, but I need to remember these. I need to learn from them. I need to figure out what the heck is wrong with my knee.
My pitiful, non-PR stat was 25:33 for a 5K. Ugh!
Woke up this morning and although I was highly depressed and didn't want to get out of bed because I was SUPPOSE to be doing a Half Marathon, I got up and did the 5K and went out to support my husband in his venture into his first Half.
I haven't run since Friday, been sick, to the doctor (blood work, the whole nine yards), and been depressed and stressed since I found out I couldn't run. Well I got my clothes on, butt in the truck and didn't even care that I forgot my Garmin...it was only 3 MILES! I got a little better attitude when I saw the other racers, but still felt like a goober because I was in the group with a bunch of runners and walkers and then had to stand on the sideline for the Half Marathoners to start. Ugh! Torture! Well we lined up 5 minutes after the racers of the Half took off. I was in the front because I felt like it and didn't want to be playing tag getting around walkers. I stayed toward the front as the race began, but inevitably there's always the group that starts off sprinting and they, of course, passed me. About 200 yards into the race the fact that it was 37 degrees started catching up with me. I COULDN'T MOVE! It was awful! I couldn't get my legs to go any faster than a jog, literally! It was weird. I thought that feeling would wear off and it did NOT! I got a teensy bit looser by about mile 2, but still felt bad. I felt a little better about the fact that I was now passing the "starting line sprinters" by the 10's, but I was at about mile 2 1/4 and this thug-kid wouldn't let me pass him, seriously, the little sh&# was swerving and looking back to make sure I couldn't! You almost got to see a 32 year old woman knock out a 15 year old kid (Mike says I should have kicked his shoe to throw his pace, LOL!)! Little booger needs to learn some racing rules. Oh! He was also spitting....if that had hit me I'd have probably spanked him! So I got to 1/4 mile out (knee hurting, body still recovering from being sick) and decided I wouldn't sprint. The finish was downhill and I was NOT going to do that to my knee, so I said "so be it" and just paced myself into the finish...this cost me the 1st place in my age group title.
Moral of the story is...don't suck. I don't know what's wrong with my knee, why I was sick, and why I can't find motivation under any of the rocks I'm flipping over. I wasn't into this race today. I can't believe I've dignified this with a blog, but I need to remember these. I need to learn from them. I need to figure out what the heck is wrong with my knee.
My pitiful, non-PR stat was 25:33 for a 5K. Ugh!
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