Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Life Gets in the Way

Monday 1.75 mi run
20 min swim
55 min spinning

Tuesday 3.2 mi run
30 min swim 1500

I've decided to try and put my workouts on here so I can see how I improve over time. This week was not a great one in terms of training. I developed a nasty cold over the weekend and took three days off from training. In the past this is the type of thing that would derail my efforts, but Sunday night I received a message from the universe to keep going.  I demanded Chinese takeout for dinner on Sunday because I had very little sense of smell or taste and I thought the spicy food would help.  While driving home from the restaurant I decided to snack on my fortune cookie and this is what it said:


My cosmic sign from the universe to keep training.


This sport is definitely more expensive than sitting on the couch watching television. That cap is another 8 or so dollars down the tubes. My suit is also starting to show signs of wear. If I don't get a new one soon I will be exposing more than my skills in the pool!

Last week when I got in to swim my favorite Spin instructor Erin came to join me. She always tells me that she is last out of the water on all of her triathlons and so I invited her to swim with me so I could take a look at her stroke. I'm not an expert but I did coach for several years and I did have good training as a kid. I watched her swim a few laps, and then I went under the water and watched her stroke from below. I will never understand why coaches don't get in the water with their kids more because its so much easier to tell what they are doing wrong from below. After a bit I gave her a quick recommendation about her stroke and did a little demo to illustrate my point. A few laps later she stopped me to tell me I was awesome and that her stroke felt more natural and faster. She was surprised because she had had several people look at her stroke over the years and none of them (including coaches) had given her the advice that I did.

This was a such a boost for me because Erin has given me so much help in running and spinning. I was so happy to have a chance to give something back to her. It did make me long for my coaching days because I miss that rewarding sense of helping someone else.

Sadly that same day my swim cap ripped. I was mad because I spent extra dollars on a fancy silicone one for long hair. Apparently the product was not designed for my amount of long hair.
The sad remains of my specialized long hair silicone swim
cap - may it rest in peace.  After swimming without a cap
today I realized that I must get to Kast-a-way soon and
get a new one ASAP.  My hair was a wreck.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Overcoming Disappointment

Wednesday is my weigh in day. Last week I had a big loss so I was worried about this week. My concerns were well founded and one of those pounds I had lost came back. Given my current workout regiment I was surprised and disheartened. I was so down that I decided I needed a fun morning. I skipped my regular spin class and instead took Charlotte to Starbucks and the library. She had a great time at toddler story time so it was worth it.
After picking Liam up from school we headed to El Picante with Maren. I enjoyed some tasty fajitas and indulged in too many chips. I felt too full all afternoon.
Liam had a friend over and Charlotte took a good nap so I had time to make some tasty Chicken Kale Quinoa soup from scratch. Feeling proud of my wholesome dinner I felt a little better and decided to checkout the evening class schedule. After Bill came home I threw on my gear, grabbed my fancy shoes, and headed to spin class.
It was a good hour class and now I have some exercise calories to offset that lunch! I was proud of me because I have a really hard time finding energy after 5 o'clock.
My super satisfying and super healthy dinner!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Bricks

Apparently in the triathlon world a brick workout is one where you bike and then run. This past month I've discovered why. Sunday I biked 14 miles on a hill program at the gym and then hopped on the treadmill for a quick run - or what turned out to be a slow and painful run.  After biking for an hour my legs definitely felt like   bricks on the treadmill.  It was another one of those, "oh I definitely will not be able to do this in a race" moments.  Self doubt is a very close friend of mine.  I gave up after a mile and a half and hit the pool to do laps.  If only these races were done in the correct order.  Why swim first?  It makes no sense to get all wet in the pool and then go for a bike ride.  It is much nicer to cool off in the pool after a hard run.  I am glad that I have until May to try and build my endurance because I have a really hard time running a 5k right now, and I know it is not going to be easier after swimming 700 meters and biking 13 miles.

My triathlon buddy and I have tentatively agreed to sign up for the Tri For Joe event at Coney Island at the end of May.  The great part about this race is that it is in a pool (chlorinated water without fish!) and the course is supposed to be really flat (hills are not my friend).  The bad part is the water is on average around 65 degrees.  This raises the question of a triathlon wetsuit.  Since I am not a real triathlete, evidenced by the fact that I do not currently own a bike, I do not own a wetsuit.  Apparently you can rent them for around $40 a race.  Looking at the size chart I'm sure many of these rental places would love to inform me that I a) am not in good enough shape for a triathlon b) am definitely too large to be considered a female triathlete or c) that I should try finding a nice moo moo made out of neoprene.  Purchasing one for the fair market value of $200-$300 seems insane.  Who knew this sport could be so expensive!  I've already shelled out for the fancy gear shown below:

My super amazing cycling shoes that will someday clip in to the road bike I do not currently own, but in the meantime serve me well in spin class.
My Polar watch that works with a chest strap to record my heart rate and calorie burn during workouts!  This is necessary for extremely nerdy tracking of workout minutes and speeds.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Necessary Expense

Gel Nimbus! I used a DSW reward and coupon and they were 30% off. I will many miles on these and hopefully I can break these shoes in without messing up my SI Joint. The more I run the more that I recognize that good shoes are a necessary expense.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

I blame Erin.

I blame Erin.  She is a spin instructor at my gym.  I started taking some of her classes and we started talking about running one day after class.  I admitted that I had limped through two 5k races in my life and hope to do more, but that its not really my thing because I'm not a runner.  "I'm a swimmer" I stupidly commented.  Her ears perked up and she uttered the amazing phrase "you should do a triathlon!"

Why on earth did this appeal to me?  Perhaps it was amazing to me that someone would look at me and think that there was some possible way that I could complete a triathlon.  More likely its because when faced with a crazy challenge that most people think I can't do I generally become stubborn enough to complete it.  Also, there was the book.  While searching for bike shorts Amazon alerted me that I may also be interested in 

Slow Fat Triathlete: Live Your Athletic Dreams in the Body You Have Now.  That smart Amazon, it really does know me.  So Bill reserved it from the library for me and off I went reading about another overweight thirty something woman that started doing triathlons and all of her smart advice.


So here I am.  Training for a triathlon.  Its hard even to type as it seems so implausible.  To be fair to anyone who stumbles across this I actually started several weeks ago but took some time off over the holidays.  Today I experience what may have been my first "runner's high" as I lasted an entire hour on the treadmill and ran close to 5 miles.  I am a really slow runner.  Its really not running but more of jogging interspersed with periods of walking.  

What's worse than running is my lack of cycling experience.  Triathlons are full of buff people in fancy matching spandex outfits with really expensive bikes.  Right now I do not own a bike, but I do own fancy clipless cycling shoes.  I have started spinning at the gym in the hopes of getting some cycling muscles, but these will do me no good if I don't buy a bike.  Things to do this week?  Seriously look in to buying a bike.  What holds me back?  Then I am committed....