I’ve been pretty bad about updating my blog lately. It’s a combination of busyness, laziness, and reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck (fabulous book!). But I have been working out!

Last weekend, I went deer hunting with Travis. I didn’t have a tag, nor did I want to hunt anything, so I just went along to keep him company (or else he would’ve gone by himself). We hiked up the mountains and around the ridges for a good 2-3 hours and then walked an easier trail for another 45 minutes. It was a pretty good workout–anything that takes the breath out of me after 50 feet is good. 

I’ve been exercising mostly in the late evenings recently because I don’t get to bed early enough to workout in the mornings, I have to come home to feed Katy and let her outside after work (not to mention the Rec is a zoo at that hour!), then there’s dinner. So it’s usually 8 or 8:30 when I’m heading to the Rec. It’s been working fine–I end up getting to bed even later than what late usually is–but in a couple of weeks (once Katy is better from her heartworm treatment), I’m going to start working out in the mornings again. Plus, then I’ll have daylight savings time on my side too.

This week, I did Pilates on Monday, 30 Day Shred Level 1 on Tuesday, nothing yesterday, and then a 3 mile run tonight. The Halloween 10K isn’t happening BUT Travis and I did just register today to do our first-ever Turkey Trot through Washington Park in Denver on Thanksgiving. My parents are flying out for that weekend so it will be fun for me (and hopefully for them too!) to have them see me race. 

I’m  hoping that my pace improves by then. I’ve been trying to run regularly (only opting to do strengthening exercises as an alternative) so that I regain some of the progress I had made but it doesn’t seem to be working very well so far. It’s really weird–my legs feel great, like I could run a 9:30 pace no problem. My breathing is slow and even–I don’t feel like I’m gasping for air. Yet breathing is sort of painful, like my chest is really tight. I just had a physical last week so it doesn’t seem like I should have a heart condition. I have 2 theories that I’m going to test out: it may be acid reflux (I had acidic food for dinner both nights I experienced this) or it may that I’m going out too hard (starting off at a 9:51 pace and ending up at a 11:00 pace). So I’m going to not eat acidic food for dinner and go out slow and see if that helps.

I haven’t mustered up the motivation to get in the pool to practice my front crawl yet. It really feels like the last thing I’m interested in doing at this point but it has to happen sometime… Oh and I’ve only ridden a bike once (and that was a stationary one!) since the tri back in Sept. I just can’t get excited about biking in the winter AND biking on my POS. Hopefully I’ll get a new job early part of next year and start training again then.

So I finally started exercising again this week after getting sick the last week of September. That took me out for about a week (I got the flu) and then Travis’ family was here part of last week and this week for elk hunting.

I got back out running on Monday–did 3.04 miles in 33:52. Not a great pace (11:07) and the run didn’t feel good. Tuesday, I did a pilates video at home called Burn N Firm Pilates with Ellen Barrett. In 45 minutes, I burned 350 calories! Not bad for Pilates! (The video incorporates a lot of squats and lunges so that’s why it’s so high.) Wednesday, I took off because Travis and his family were back from the mountains. Then yesterday, I ran 4 .1 miles in 46:23, a 11:19 pace. Still incredibly slow but my legs felt great.

So I find myself back to square one with my running due to my pathetically small VO2 max. I had gotten a lot better when training for the first tri this year because I was doing speed work and hills. I went from topping out at 10 minute miles to comfortably running 9:30s. But holy cow, now I’m back to over 11s!!! That’s the pace I ran the half marathon 1.5 years ago but after I did a 10K in 62:36, I pretty much stayed around 10s. It’s a major bummer that I’m slow again.

But nothing that I can’t reclaim. So D and I are going to go run stairs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre tomorrow morning. I am also going to try to incorporate some speed work into my workouts 1-2x a week. I can’t decide whether or not the 10K on Halloween is still a go or not. No one has fully committed to running it with me (though Travis said he will if I want him to) and getting sick totally derailed my training plan. I had already cut 3 weeks out of it as it was and then I lost an additional two. I’m sure that I could run the whole 10K, just not sure I could beat my last time.

And who wants to come in slower than they did before? Not me.

I decided to go with Hal Higdon’s Intermediate 10K training plan instead of creating my own–partly because I was too lazy to type mine out in Excel and partly because I’m pretty sure his is better.

Since his plan is an 8-week plan and I only have 5 weeks to train, I had to cut 3 weeks out of it–weeks 4, 5, and 7. No matter! I’d like to better than the 10K I ran last year (62:36) but I’m not out to win a medal or anything (mostly because I know I’ll never be a fast enough runner to win one regardless of how much I train).

I’m excited for the run! Travis is thinking about doing it, though he said last night he doesn’t have time to train for it. D is also thinking about doing it and is going to ask her hubbie, Doug, if he wants to. I hope they do! Even if they don’t, though, I’m going to!

Usually after a race, I’m so relieved and excited for it (and the training schedule!) to be over that I can’t even think about doing another race for a good 8 months. This 2nd tri has been the one exception, not only because it followed 2 months after my first but also because I am excited to do more races! It might also have something to do with timing that 5K with D and just being around the race culture.

At any rate, I scoped out races and have decided (almost for sure) that I’m going to do a 10K on Halloween morning (and dress up in a costume!). That gives me about 5 weeks to train. In training for the tri, I got up to 4.5 miles so I’m going to concentrate less on distance (though I need that too) and more on speed.

So this is my plan: 3 days of running per week–1 day of speedwork, 1 day of hills, and 1 day of slow distance–interspersed with weight lifting and yoga/pilates 2 days and 2 rest days (probably on Mondays and Wednesdays, because of House and church meetings respectively). If I think that’s too much training, I’ll cut back but that’s what I’ll start with next week.

I did a 3 mile run today, first one since the tri. I had wanted to go on Tuesday night but it was gross outside and then I totally ran out of time with having to go grocery shopping, make dinner, make soup for Weds night, and make zucchini bread (delicious!). I think my legs are still weak from the tri because even though the run started strong, about halfway through, I just felt like I didn’t have the leg muscles to propel my body forward (one reason why I want to get back into weight lifting).

Anyway, that’s what’s new with me! I’m trying to convince Travis to do the 10K with me. And if we don’t go anywhere for Thanksgiving, I think I might do a 5K that morning (I’ve never done a 5K OR one on Thanksgiving! I think it would be fun!)

I did really well (for me) at the race yesterday–I came in 1:01 under my goal time (1:45:00). The weather was perfect: sunny, warm but not hot, and no wind (meaning the water was smooth). I drove up to Longmont with D and Doug (D’s husband). We got to the reservoir around 6:30, picked up our packets, and then grabbed our transition spot. We stayed closer to the swim in again this time, which I really like. Our bikes were easy to find and we didn’t have to run across tons of asphalt with bare feet.

I was a little nervous leading up to the race but I felt more confident than before the last one because I wasn’t wearing my wetsuit. It really was just like swimming in the pool.

Getting ready to get wet--the water was 74 degrees

And my swim went great. If I started getting slightly out of breath, I slowed down and relaxed. There was one girl doing the backstroke near me who was pretty much in my way the whole time (as she couldn’t sight and go straight) but other than that, it was one of the best swims I’ve had. I got out of the water after 750 meters in 19:00 (1 minute under my goal time).

Getting out of the water after the swim (I'm the one without a wetsuit!)

My T1 took 3:11…but it took me a full minute just to get from the beach to my bike! And I was jogging–not running but not putzing either. My T1 went fairly well. I jumped in the water buckets to get the sand off my feet but ended up getting more on them on the way to my bike so I had to douse my feet with water anyway. Then I put on my socks, shoes, race belt, sunglasses, and helmet and away I went.

The bike went well considering I beat my goal time by 3:26. But for the first 4 miles or so, it did not feel good. My legs felt tired and weak, like they had during my training rides over the past month or so. But about halfway through the 12.4 mile bike, my legs started feeling better and I ended the bike on a good note, making sure to take the last leg easy and let my heart rate come down some so I didn’t start the run being totally and completely out of breath like I did back in July. I finished the bike in 46:34.

Coming back in after the bike

My T2 was uneventful. I racked my bike, took off my helmet and sunglasses, and put on my hat. I walked to the run start just to collect myself and get ready for the next leg. T2 took me 1:09.

The run, unfortunately, was pretty bad. I never got my running legs or stride. It was out of sheer willpower that I ran the whole thing, albeit at a VERY slow pace. My calves were so tired! I really felt like I could not propel myself any faster. But I ran the whole thing, which I am proud of. Many people around me were walking. I finished the 5K in 34:07 but I crossed the finish line strong. And when I looked at my watch, it said 1:43:58, 1:02 under my goal time (my official time was 1:43:59).

Coming in strong

Mine definitely wasn’t the fastest pace out there but it made me happy to achieve my goal. And I knew going into it that I wouldn’t be very competitive, doing the breaststroke for the swim, biking on a crappy mountain bike, and not having trained for the run a ton in the past month or so.

My overall ranking was:

224 of 288 overall

116 of 172 of females

20 of 27 in age group (25-29)

1st in personal best

It was a great experience though and I definitely will be doing at least one triathlon next year (depending on what I decide about the marathon)!!

And since I won’t be doing another triathlon in 2009, I have changed the name of my blog. Check it out!

To say that I don’t feel prepared for Sunday would be an understatement. I’m trying to remind myself that I just did the whole course on August 29th so I can physically DO it. But man, am I going to be slow!!! I looked at the race results from this course earlier this year and not surprisingly, if all stays the same, I will be the last in my age group and about 10th from last place period.

Dang.

But you know, instead of pulling out and wasting $100, I’m just going to go out there and try to have fun. (Wait, I’m doing a triathlon…is that even possible?!?!? )

The reason why I’m feeling so bummed is my workouts this week did absolutely nothing to reassure me. My 12.14 mile bike ride on Monday took me 54:48…not that much slower than I normally ride but it FELT like my legs were pixie sticks.

My swim yesterday morning was decent…750 meters in 19:11 doing the breast stroke. But when I got out of the water, my legs felt like jello…which is weird because they’ve never felt like that before.

Then my run this afternoon was pathetic. My legs felt SO weak and slow! I did 3.04 miles in 33:24, about a 10:59 pace. Ugh.

My only reassurance is that I actually have better runs overall after I bike than when I just go out cold.

But I guess finishing slowly is better than not competing at all.

My friend D who is doing this race too is feeling the same way. Her swim time has actually increased since the last race (which was her 2nd) and she can’t figure out why. But she’s going to kick butt on the bike and the run so I don’t feel too bad for her.

Anyway, I’m just trying to stay hydrated and be smart about what I eat tomorrow and Saturday. And then Sunday morning, I’ll just say,

Here goes nothing!

Where has the time gone? Judging by my lack of blog posting and the fact that we’ve made it almost halfway through September without me noticing that my calendar was still displaying August, I’d guess that I’ve been pretty busy.

But I have a good excuse… Travis and I left on Sept 2nd to go back to Minnesota for 5 days. We had a lot of fun…did some tubing, swimming, boating, lounging, reading, campfiring, eating. I finally got a tan (first one all summer!) I had hoped to do more swimming while we were there and while I was in the water plenty (getting used to those freezing temps as the water was only about 72 degrees), I only “actually” swam once. The reason being, it’s very rocky terrain up where his family’s cabin is and the water was really low. So there was a good chance I could’ve ran straight into a rock that no one ever knew was there because it had never been so close to the surface.

Since we got back Tuesday morning (and practically headed straight to work from the airport), I’ve felt really busy (at least busy enough to prevent me from blogging…and training!). Tuesday night, I went grocery shopping and made vegetarian chili for dinner Wednesday night. Wednesday, I had to finish the soup right after work, then we had dinner and care group at a friends’ house. Thursday was a chill night…totally necessary. But I still tidied the house (long overdue), made dinner and did the dishes and laundry. Last night, we helped out with the youth group at our church from 6-8:30 and then watched a movie.

Today we got to sleep in, which was lovely (despite Katy waking me up at 6:30 to eat and go on a walk–which she can’t do for the next 2-3 months, due to being treated for heartworm). I went to Starbuck’s and read for a while. Then came home and read even more. And I have yet to find the motivation to go bike and run, even though I haven’t exercised since Sept 1st and the tri is next Sunday.

Yep, well I should probably just buck up and go put my workout clothes on. It’s abnormally cold here today…just in the upper 50s. To put it in perspective, earlier this week, it was in the upper 80s. So I’ll have to bundle up. But here I go!

My mock tri with D today went really well so I just paid the $91 to sign up for the race (crazy how much these events cost!!) But I’m officially doing it. And the best part is, I’m feeling pretty excited about it.

We got up to Union Reservoir in Longmont around 9:00, got in the water by 9:25. I didn’t wear my wetsuit again today and it’s amazing what a difference that makes. Union Res has 3 lifeguards on duty during the open water swim times (1 on the beach, 2 in kayaks) so that helped calm my nerves as well. The 3 buoys set up were altogether just a little under 400 yards, the lifeguards told us. We swam 2 laps so about 750 yards, so a little less than race distance. (We initially had assumed they measured in meters or we probably would’ve swam a little bit farther to compensate). I swam the distance in 19:05, so I’m really hoping that I can finish the swim in under 20 minutes.

Then the bike is about a 4-mile loop 3 times (there is a little distance to and from the loop to make it 12.4). It’s pretty flat, which is great for D but for me and my mountain bike, it isn’t as big of an advantage (you can only go so fast on a mountain bike). We did 12.1 miles in 48:38 (we couldn’t figure out the real in and out so we just winged it and only ended up doing 12.1).

Then the run. Man! What is it with triathlons putting the runs on hills!?!? At least the beginning of this one is flat. It’s an out and back on a county road out in the middle of corn fields. After the first mile or so, though, there is a giant hill. Not incredibly steep but decent and LONG. It must be 1/4 mile long. And that’s just the way out. On the way back, from the turnaround point to about a 1/2 mile back, it’s ALL uphill. Needless to say, it’s a doozy. We ran the 3.1 miles in 32:34. Not horrible but not great.

So all in all, the mock tri today went REALLY well and gave me the confidence boost I needed to actually put my money down on this race. D liked the course so much that she’s thinking about doing the season opener on this course next year. I don’t like it quite that much…too much city biking for me (it’s through a neighborhood). And I am only planning on doing 1 tri next year, so I’d like it to be one that I haven’t already done (in case I hadn’t mentioned, I plan on training for a marathon next year, after doing a sprint tri in early June. I plan on running the Twin Cities Marathon in Minnesota.)

So my goals for this tri are:

750 meter swim: 20 minutes or less

T1: 1 1/2 minutes or less

12.4 mile bike: 50 minutes or less

T2: 1 1/2 minutes or less

3.1 mile run: 31 minutes or less

TOTAL: 1 hour 45 minutes or less

We’ll see! It’s 22 days away!

I was SO tempted to skip my open water swim yesterday and use it as an excuse for not being able to the tri in Sept. at all. “Maybe I’ll just do a duathlon,” I thought to myself. But I knew that I would feel guilty the whole night (and the entire next month) so I mustered up the motivation and went to Soda Lakes with Travis.

I swam without a wetsuit this time. The water was cold getting in but I got used to it after a while. I couldn’t quite remember what the measured distance there had been but eyeballing it, one length looked to be about 150 yards. Judging by my time (17:50ish), I’m guessing that I swam somewhere around 700 yards (in the pool, I was swimming 825 yards in around 19 minutes).

But not wearing a wetsuit made a HUGE difference! It feels like I’m swimming in the pool. I just feel so in control of my stroke and able to move better. I am definitely not going to wear my wetsuit for this tri. The swim increased my confidence…I CAN do this!! I still haven’t signed up for the tri (because that means I HAVE to do it) but hopefully after this weekend, I’ll have all the confidence I need to commit.

I did my first brick today since the tri (the one I talked about last week didn’t end up happening). I biked 6 miles in 26:11 (on the stationery bike) and then ran 2 miles around the track in 18:59. It felt ok…I could definitely tell that I’ve been slacking on the training lately.

D and I are doing our mock tri  (practicing the tri course) this Saturday up in Longmont. We’ll see how I do with all 3 together! I don’t feel like I’ve lost a TON of strength/endurance but I’ve lost some.

Yeah, so I still haven’t looked for a road bike. And I don’t think I’m going to. Who knows what the future holds? Plus, I don’t think I want to start training on a different bike only a month from the tri (and then tri season is over so my bike will just sit in the garage for the better part of the winter anyway).

Well, that’s about it for now. I am finding it SO HARD to stick with the training but I know that before I know it, the tri will be here, then over, and then I can slack all I want!

This week has been a good week. I have finally fallen into a routine! I get up around 6 AM, read the Bible for 30 minutes while I eat breakfast, then take Katy on a walk for 30 minutes, then shower/do makeup/dress, then pack lunches/make coffee and am to work by 8:15-ish. After work, I run some errands or do some chores, make dinner, do my workout, watch some TVand then go to bed by 10-ish. I’m still getting 8 hours of sleep and I’m getting all the things done that I want/need to get done.

So I’m feeling good!

After Sunday’s disaster swim, I was feeling pretty discouraged about the whole triathlon thing. We’ll see how I feel after swimming without a wetsuit this weekend. But my workouts this week have been encouraging for the most part.

Monday, I swam 2 x 825 yards doing the breast stroke. My times were 18:48 and 19:23 respectively. I think that’s about the best I could do with the breast stroke so I think anything under 20 minutes for my swim would be great.

Tuesday, I just about blew off my run but I didn’t. I was supposed to run 5 miles but I only had time to run 3. I wouldn’t have been able to run all 5 even if I had had the time though, because 1/2 mile into my run, I got acid reflux (no doubt from the spaghetti I ate for dinner…tomatoes are really acidic). But I got new running shoes on Sunday! And I tried them out on my run yesterday. They feel great. They’re pretty much the exact same thing as I had before (Nike Structure Triax), except these are a newer version and are blue/silver instead of orange/off-white. I like them a lot.

Today, I biked 12 miles in 52:43. I was all excited about that time, because it felt like it was a lot faster than I normally bike and about 1/3 the effort. But when I looked back at my older bikes on mapmyrun.com, I was pretty much on pace. Oh well. At least the effort felt like it was less!

Tomorrow, I’m pretty busy after work so I’m just doing weights after work. Friday, I’m going to do my first brick since the tri (yes, I have REALLY been slacking!)–just 6 miles on the bike and 2 running. Should be pretty easy.

Saturday will be a rest day because I have a baby shower in the morning and then a wedding that night. Sunday, I will be journeying to the nearest reservoir for an open water swim.

And that is about all that’s new with me right now!