Does Santa Do Yoga?

Well everyone, week eight is over and we now have an updated countdown of 29 weeks!  Every once in a while I realize what I have undertaken and it freaks me out!  Helene has reminded me to trust her and the training she is providing.  Some days I want to do more and others I dont want to train at all, but I have stuck with what she says and things are going well.

In honor of the Christmas holiday tomorrow I found the image below of Santa doing yoga.  I will certainly miss the weekly stretching/strengthening yoga class at the WTF tomorrow.  I bought a yoga mat today so I can have one under my bike trainer and one to take with me for Bridget's class.  :)  I look forward to using it on New Years day after the Resolution Run.

This past week on Wednesday I rode on a computrainer at a local bike shop.  It was a nine mile race for women.  It was some ride and I got to practice my climbing skills!  I ended up in third place out of six riders (till Saturday when my roommate did the ride and  slaughtered my time).

Sunday I did my first brick workout! It went well, but I ran too fast and Helene told me to remember to run at the pace she assigns if it is specified in my workout log. :)  Another brick coming at the end of this week... and many many more in the upcoming 29 weeks!

Today we started week nine - a speed week.  I had a dvd trainer ride focusing on power.  It was not easy and my legs felt like jelly when I got done!  Ha ha!  Tomorrow I am going to run in the neighborhood where I grew up.  Should be a nice run in the snow.

Merry Christmas Friends!
Goggles On

This was your idea....

Well, week seven is over and we are on to week eight.  Seven was a distance focused week and I am grateful now for the recovery week ahead.  I have two scheduled days "off" from training and they both fall on days that I work open to close at the store.

The week was pretty uneventful as a whole, though I did actually skip a workout in its entirety for the first time.  Thursday afternoon I got a text from my sister-in-law saying they bought me a ticket to see the midnight showing of "The Hobbit" with them.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am NOT a late night person.  I enjoyed the movie but I was TIRED.  I slept as late as I could the next morning but felt very run down and after work I was supposed to do a long swim.  It didnt happen... the store closed late and I was exhausted.  Helene said it sounded like I made the right decision and I know I did.  There was not guilt, I just wouldnt have physically been able to do that workout.  After some sleep the next night I was fine and finished out the week with a good bike and run.

Sunday night KC and I had our Christmas/Holiday celebration with Helene and Andy.  It was a night where we were allowed to "cheat" and eat anything we wanted (the only cheat day for the whole month of December).  Now I must digress here slightly.... I knew Sunday would be our cheat day so for lunch I bought Kettle baked potato chips and a Dr. Pepper.  LOL  Now, going forward, we can have one "treat" per day.  So one cookie or piece of chocolate etc.... I think I can manage that.  Because of the discipline and accountability of this whole training thing, I have managed to lose 42 lbs!  It is SLOW but looking at before photos the difference is incredible in both KC and myself.

Most of the gifting centered around triathlon.  KC made me a sign that says... well "Goggles On" of course!  She also wrote up a bunch of motivational quotes and put them in a jar.  The jar idea is from pintrest.  You are supposed to write memories and phrases and put them in the jar.  At the end of a year, you read through the entries you have dropped in the jar.  Its pretty cool.  Take a look:

It was so fun.  This journey is going to be long and I am grateful to be taking it with people I care about!  Thanks to everyone who is helping along the way.  Oh, and KC made sure to remind me that this was my idea!  What was I thinking?

Goggles On!

Highlights from week 6

So, week six of training is now complete...

I am glad its over and that it ended on a positive note, because when it started things were a little rough!  (Tuesday's swim is chronicled in my last post and yoga was great).  Wednesday this week, I got on the bike in the evening to spin and as soon as I got past my warm up I got a massive cramp in my side.  I tried pushing through it but didnt have any energy and it was very painful.  I actually got off my bike and sat down at the kitchen table to figure out what I should do when Helene texted me about something else.  I told her what was going on and she said to not get back on the bike, but instead to rest that night, drink lots of water and move on with workouts  the next day.

The next day I had a run scheduled with Helene.  We ran a warm up and then a series of one minute speed intervals where we worked on my running form and speed (of course) followed by two minutes of recovery running.  I forgot to use my inhaler before we ran so I was especially winded after each interval.  Ever since I ran my 5K at the 10min pace, my run paces have been specified for each workout by Helene and the speed pace for these intervals was much faster than I usually run.  She also pushed me in the last few intervals to gain speed every 15 seconds instead of tapering off when I got tired.  I thought I was going to puke but I did it. A winning run!

Friday was a bad day personally for me.... I got up to go to the gym and swim.  When I got to the Y near my house there was only one lap lane open and it was occupied by several swimmers with more waiting on deck.  I left and went home.  I figured I could swim after work at the other Y.  I knew Friday nights there were always quiet.  On my way to work I was cut off by another driver and swerved into the curb trying to avoid him broadsiding my car.  No impact occurred but I got a flat tire from the curb.  Missed an hour of work and had to pay for a new tire.  That night at the Y I swam with friends so the day did end well.

I  had to do 25 yard sprints and joked before hand that I had my Garmin .00001 with me (a paper and pen inside a ziplock gallon bag).  Kim took my picture holding the bag and pen up after the swim was done!

Saturdays bike was uneventful.  Today I ran with Cold Feet.  Three miles in less than 31 minutes was the goal.... my time?  Well, see below:

Yep.... definitely ONE SECOND over my goal!  Oh well... the run was good and I did pause for a car to cross so I really did meet the goal.  That counts right?  :)

So, there you have it my friends.... this week in a nutshell! Next week looks like a good one - building distance.  One day at a time and always with...Goggles On!

Ugggh...

Today was one of those days... This week is scheduled to work on building speed.  I had a swim workout scheduled - 100 yard fast repeats.  I got to the pool around 10:30 this morning.  

I felt fine as I got into the pool, but within the first few 100's I realized I wasnt feeling great.  Usually I get my rhythm after a few hundred yards, but today I felt, well, like this....

I couldnt get my body to do what I wanted it to do, what I know I can do.  I felt like I was flailing through the water in slow motion.  Slow it was too... a lot slower than I wanted to go.  I wanted to just give up.  I considered it... but I decided quickly that no matter how much the swim sucked stunk, I wanted to finish it.  Quitting something when it gets hard isnt going to do me any good.  Its not the legacy I want to leave in this endeavor or any other in life.  So, I continued.... 

I also fought to maintain a positve attitude.  I was successful and can laugh about today's sad little workout.  I realize that training is going to be hard.  I am going to have bad days.  I am going to have days where I fail.  I will have days where I want to quit and wonder why I decided to do this in the first place.  But I need to remember that it will be worth it... it IS worth it. 

So, today I will try one more time to redeem my athletic self and head to Tri-Yoga at the WTF.  Bridget if I topple over during class, dont laugh too hard at me!   One of these days I will get it together!  Until I do, Goggles on!