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!

Oh yeah....

So, remember when I said that I'd have to run faster intervals now that my 5K time shows I can sustain a faster pace?  I was RIGHT!  Today's run assignment from Helene was to run a little over 4 miles.  The first mile at a 11 min pace, the second at 10:30 pace, the third at 11 min and the fourth at 10:30.... Then a short 5 min cool down.

My friend/co-worker Megan ran with me at the parkway and it was a GORGEOUS morning.  A little cold and windy by the lake, but sunny (and very bright as you can see me squinting below)!

We ran and by the end of the first mile my sweater was tied around my waist!  The headband stayed around my ears until about 3 miles in - it was still a little chilly even while running.  What a great run... not easy but felt ok and I used my sister's Garmin 305 for the first time so I could see pace real time.  The first few miles we were all over as far as pace but the last mile at 10:30 I was able to run a consistant pace and overall that mile was 10:31!  My knee got tight the last 1/4 mile but the most discomfort I had was in my hips just from the last few days.

Monday - Day off workout wise but I went to see Jamie at a local bike shop to play with the bike shoes issue.  He set me up with a different shoe and cleat to try.

Tuesday - Swim: Met Kim at the Y at 5:45AM and did a ladder workout.  Then, after work went to a Yoga class at the Winter Training Facility (WTF) for the CNY Tri club.  AWESOME.  The instructor is going to be training with Helene as well and made me feel very comfortable.  A lot of people I knew from summer triathlon activities were there and the workout was great.

Wednesday - Bike: Assigned to workout at the WTF with the Spinnervals class.  Well, they had an instructor so it wasnt a Spinnerval DVD workout but instead we simulated the first hour of the Syracuse 70.3 course.  Now, if you know the Syracuse 70.3 course at all you will realize that the first 8-10 MILES are UPHILL.  It was an intense workout.  One thing the instructor said was "Dont cheat yourself out of a good workout."  I love that... Oh, and the bike shoes were better.  I think we are on the right track and that makes me SO HAPPY!

One other thing I got to do this week was have breakfast with my friend Carrie.

Carrie is a journalist.  She has a blog called Fitness and Frozen Grapes which I highly recommend.  I am so excited to watch her grow in her own triathlon aspirations.  She will definitely be someone to watch on the tri scene the next few years!  I have asked her to guest blog here sometime in the next month, so watch for her post!

All in all it has been a great week!  The intesity in training has been raised and I am amazed at what Helene's coaching has produced... Some days I actually FEEL like an athlete.

Goggles On!

Run!

Last week Helene scheduled me to run 3 miles on Thanksgiving day.  My Dad, sister and a cousin wanted to do a 5K that morning before we had our big dinner so I signed up with them for the Pie and Glove Run in Corning, NY.  

I had to get up at 4:30 on Thanksgiving morning in order to get down to Horseheads in time to leave for the race with everyone.  I stretched and used my Trigger Point rollers the night before to get my muscles ready and was really excited to run.  The weather was cold and sunny.  We got there with enough time to get a good warm up run in before the race started.  When I run I get pretty warm so I typically dont wear gloves and if I have a jacket it ends up around my waist.  I didnt want to run with anything extra this time so I opted for a long sleeve running base layer and a tech T over it.  I ditched the gloves before the race start as well.  

There were over 1400 runners/walkers in the race and I was up near the front of the line when the race started.  My goal from Helene was to run the 5K in 35 minutes which was a personal record and just a little faster than what I had been running in my other training runs.  I set my watch and HR monitor so I could hit start when I crossed the starting mat and noticed that my foot pod wasnt reading.  Grateful that I knew what the distance was and could figure out my speed after the race anyway, I set the watch for HR and time and pretty much ignored it once the gun went off and the race got underway.

What I wore turned out to be perfect and I felt good in the pack where I was.  I pushed a little harder than I usually run and passed a few people as we ran up and over an overpass and around the corner down some streets and to a park for the turn around.  My Dad had decided to race the race and I saw him shortly before I got to the park on his way back.  When I got to the park I looked at my watch and saw that I had only been running 15 minutes... I dismissed it and kept going.  The last mile was uphill but I kept going and ran around a few people that slowed to walk.  At the top of the overpass you could see the finish and I spotted my Dad cheering.  I crossed the finishline and hit my watch to stop the time.  

Seriously, I couldnt believe the time I saw.  My official race time was 31:14.... that meant my overall mile pace was just over 10 minutes per mile.  FAR faster than I have EVER run.  Thanks Helene for the spin workouts getting my legs used to turning over faster, also for those run intervals that I love so much (uggg)!  Only four weeks of training and I can already see improvement.  I know that things will level out, but right now it is so rewarding to see the improvments!  I was/am so proud of myself.  Several years of running and I finally hit the 10 min mile.  

Oh, and my Dad won 2nd in his age-group!  He is an amazing runner!

Goggles on my friends!

Committed

Well friends, its official.  I have committed to my race!  On Thursday last week, I woke up early and the first thought on my mind was "I am signing up today"!  Thus early that morning, before the day really got started, I completed registration for my goal race in July!

The registration site had a feature where you could share with friends that you had signed up for the race and I put my coach's information in to receive an email.  Her response? I quote: "Woo Hoo."

I am grateful for a "recovery" week this week (week 4).  Yesterday I swam a short hard swim and spent some time practicing flip turns. Today I have a bike workout on the trainer and tomorrow I am running a pre-Thanksgiving dinner 5K with my dad while my sister and a cousin walk it.  :)  Looking forward to participating in a race!  I worked a local 5K this weekend and remembered just how much I love the excitement and environment of the running/athletic community.

So, that said -  you should lace up your shoes and go for a run this week!  

Goggles On!