It's almost race time!

It's almost here!  After almost three months of training off and on, my first triathlon is almost here.  :)  I say off and on because of course, I've lacked motivation some days, had to work, and felt bad throughout the past few months on occasion. I had to take off most of last week because of my left hip and groin killing me.  I talked to some PT friends and did a lot of exercises and stretching,  icing and even using a TENS unit.  My last PT friend that I consulted suggested that I was hyperflexing my hip because my bicycle seat was too low.  So I took Wednesday through Sunday off, iced often and took Ibuprofen.  I had by bike fit today, raised the seat and moved it forward slightly, it helped a ton, no more hip pain!!!

Yesterday I went to the YMCA to swim.  I swam for about an hour, practicing kicking only with a kick board, not kicking and only using my arms some of the time, and just the plain old freestyle.  I also practiced my open turns and going under the lane ropes without as much delay as before.  I think I'll be alright for the swim.  I may not be the fastest, but I'll survive.

After I had my bike fitted today I went out for a short ride.  I only rode 5 miles, and wasn't gone too long.  My bike is now making a funny squeaky noise in the handlebars.  I'll have to take it back to the shop Thursday before the race.  But I felt good riding, I was up to 22-23mph on flat terrain some of the time and always 20+mph on downhills.  Uphill is a different story, usually 9-11mph.  Just gotta make up for the time on the downhills. 

Just a couple more days of training before the race...then on to the next. :)

Running in the heat

Well today was an awful day for running.  We're used to 70 degree days, sometimes even cooler. Today it jumped up to 90+ degrees!  I waited until 6pm to go running, thinking it would be better.  Wrong...the sun was going down and was just at the level that it blinds you as you look to the top of a hill or the horizon as you run.  I planned to run 8 miles, but the heat was killing me and I had a really tight groin muscle.  So I ended up only going 5.7 miles.  Ran it slow, in 54:21. It was 9:32 min/mile pace.  It was horrible.  I felt awful when I got home so I took a cool bath, chugged a bunch of water and took some Ibuprofen.  I think the slow running made my body feel worse than usual.  There's always tomorrow.

Road Bike!

Saturday, May 11 I bought my very first road bike!  :)  I love it. While I'm not a huge cyclist, I am very intrigued by the sport of triathlons and even though I haven't finished my first race yet, I'm sure there will be more to come.  I like to compete, even if it's just competing with myself to race better/faster each time. 

So I didn't ride on Mother's Day, we were busy.  But I took it out yesterday, around the streets of Herky, and road 10 miles.  I rode slow, in 48:58.  I'm still not super comfortable on the bike, I'll get there eventually.  I was really just out riding around exploring new streets that I hadn't been on before.  Then in the evening I went to the Y and swam.  I swam about 800 meters all together.  I only swam the 150 meter distance once.  I didn't even time myself.  I'm trying to get better at my form.  I can swim 50 meters with my head down without totally giving up.  I practiced doing that a lot.  I want to practice my open turns too.  I usually reach the end, hang on for a second and then push off on top of the water.  An open turn is where you grab the wall, draw up your legs to push off the wall hard, turn and go into a streamline position underwater.  I think this will definitely help, especially with the turns that involve going under the ropes....if I can push off and go under the ropes through the turn I'll have a significantly faster time.  I only have one more day to really train, next Monday. So I guess I better get to the Y and train! 

Thinking of doing another tri in August.  Trying to convince the sis to do it with me.  We'll see, she thinks I'm crazy.  Maybe I am, but it's fun! :)

Edgar Road School 5k

Ran another 5k race this morning. It was pretty hilly and I wish I had worn sunglasses, but overall was a lot of fun. I had to start out a little slower than usual, there were elementary sxhool kids everywhere at the starting line. They took of sprinting at the start. I caught most of them. :) So my goal was sub 24....fail. I ran a 24:48. I ran the second and third mile better than the first I think. Oh well. I'll get there eventually. I'd like to be running 22's by the fall...not likely though. April also ran great...especially since she partied all night. Haha. She went out for a much deserved night with friends and was pretty tired. She still did great andfinished in 34:11. Did I mention she rocks?! Down 35+ pounds...and the real accomplishment, getting healthy.

Stroller running

Pushed the kids in the stroller this morning. I knew I didn't want to have to run up our massive hill pushing that thing, so I went out two miles with the intention to stop once I got back to our subdivision. It was my first time pushing the kids out in Herky...much better than sticking to the subdivision roads. I ran 3.67 miles in 34:28. 9:24 min/mile pace. I'm actually proud of this time. I ran considerably slower yesterday considering I wasn't pushing 100lbs in front of me.  After running I stretched and did some light weight lifting for my wimpy arms. :) 5k tomorrow...gonna push it hard.  Hoping to run under 24 minutes. Wish me luck!!

Running in the rain

Today I went 6.5 miles in 60 minutes.  Not fast, but still fun.  9:14min/mile pace.  I headed out towards the highway, went up Scenic, into Festus, down North Mill, to Festus Main Street and back.  It started misting rain a little, and then some bigger drops started falling on the way back.  I love running in the rain.  Not a thunderstorm, but a good steady rain feels great when you're working hard.  The rain didn't last long, and I got home just in time to stretch on the back deck before it started pouring.  It's hard to keep up a decent pace when you're alone.  I catch myself thinking of things and then realize I've slowed way down.  It also didn't help that I walked about 100 yards up the very top of the hill on North Mill on the way back.  I was dead and just needed to catch my breath.  Miles are miles though, better than sitting on the couch.  We have a 5K Saturday.  April is supposed to be making shirts for the race.  She got her inspiration from a picture my cousin posted on my Facebook page.

 

Happy running. :)

Swimming

After my run on Monday I went to the YMCA to swim laps.  I swam 150 meters twice for time, and then swam multiple laps for technique. I think I probably swam around 500-600 meters total.  I only had 30 minutes to swim because Jordan had plans to go to the gym also.  Gotta take turns with the kiddos.  I'm better at swimming with my head down and kicking with my legs straight instead of bent knees. But it's hard for me to swim the entire 150 meters with my head down, I get out of breath and feel like I need to turn my head out of the water with each stroke, which is ridiculous.  So I usually give up and just swim with my head out of the water part of the time, slowing me down.  The fact of the matter is, it's only 3 minutes of the race.  Swimming it a whole minute faster isn't going to happen at this point, and I can make up for it later.  I need to start practicing my transitions so I can make up that time there.  I didn't train yesterday because I had to work 12 hours. So hopefully I'll get out there and run today.  :)

Long run

Today I went for a "long run".  Now, this was short in comparison to my long runs in the past.  But I felt pretty good running this far, and hope to continue increasing my long runs each week.  I want to run a 1/2 marathon in October.  I've got plenty of time to build up to it.  Today I ran 5.75 miles in 50:27. 8:47 pace. Felt pretty good doing it too.  Mile 3 was all up hill, from 2 miles to 2.87 miles was an uphill climb in front of Herky High School.  Then I got to run down hill for 0.87 miles.  That was nice. :)  The last 0.3 miles of the run is a pretty steep uphill climb also.  All of my runs end uphill, thanks to the road I live on.  The triathlon ends uphill, so I guess it's good preparation.  Gonna go swim this evening.  Will post about the swim later.

Inspiration

Lately I've been watching videos on YouTube...tutorials on swimming tips, transition set ups, track and field races of incredible runners, etc.  They have all been great.  My husband decided to give me some of his own inspiration today.  This evening he said to me, "Just run until your heart pops babe.  If your legs hurt, run faster."  I laughed and said, "hmmm, okay."  He then responds, "You know how to do that, you've done it before.  I don't know how, I just get tired and quit."  Haha, great inspiration right there.  Obviously he's not a runner.  :)   He is taking off work for my triathlon, upon my request.  We've been married 9 years, he hasn't seen me race one time.  Now, he's seen me run...we went to high school together, he was on the track team with me.  But throughout our married life I've run tons of races, and he's never been to one.  So I'm pretty excited to have a cheering section for once. :) 

Today I had to work but the department was going to be closing early so I brought the bike down to Ste. Gen so I could try out the course for the race.  I got off of work around noon and headed to the community center to train.  It was misting outside, but not too bad.  I knew I was still on call until 7pm so I turned up the volume on my cell phone ringer, and hit the bike path.  I had to take my glasses off halfway through the ride, they were covered in rain drops and I felt like I needed mini windshield wipers to see.  By mile 5 the rain was coming down harder, so I only did the three mile loop twice.  I did each loop in about 13 minutes, so I'm hoping to race in under 40 minutes.  There is a killer hill on the back portion of the loop, and I get to ride it three times, and then hop off and run it once too!  Gotta get some more hills in before race day!  After the ride I put the bike in the car and decided to go for a short run.  I was still on call, but thought I could do 3 miles since I was so close to the hospital still.  (Have to stay within 30 minutes when I'm on call.) I ended up going about a mile, I realized shortly after I started running down the trail that I'd forgotten to lock the car.  My purse, keys, and a very expensive borrowed road bike were there for the taking.  So I headed back.  By the time I got back I wasn't in the running mood anymore, and it was starting to pour rain.  I grabbed my bag and went inside to swim some laps.  I thought biking was my weakness.  Now I'm thinking it's swimming.  I really need to practice.  I swam 150 meters 3 times for time.  3:05, 3:17, and 3:15.  The second and third time I went under the lane ropes, the way I'll have to do for the race.  I'd love to swim it under 3 minutes, but I don't know if I'll improve that much in 3 weeks.  I need a lot of work on my technique. 

At the end of the day, I did all three sports.  I'm tired, and satisfied.  I may not be the fastest triathlete, or even the fastest version of myself...but after having two babies, I'm pretty happy with my current fitness level.  :) 

And a green drink to top off the day.

 

Handful of baby spinach, an apple, a banana, ginger root, strawberries, sliced cucumber, splash of v8 juice, fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 scoops of greens, cinnamon, and some local honey.  Yum yum, talk about vitamins!

Brick

Today I hit the road on my (borrowed) road bike.  I planned to go 9 miles but the odometer stopped during mile 5 and I didn't get it going again until mile 8 so I ended up only going 8.6 miles.  Since the odometer stopped, so did the timer.  :(  But I used my average time from the first 5 miles to figure that it probably took me around 42 minutes or so...maybe faster, I'm not sure.  I am still afraid and extra cautious on my ride.  I average around 14 mph but get up to 22-23 mph going down hill, which feels awesome.  I coast most of the time downhill, trying to NOT brake down the hills. :)  I could kick it into high gear and pedal faster down the hills but I'm weenie. 

After the ride I pushed the bike into the garage, grabbed a sip of water and headed back out to run.  My legs felt like lead, again.  I don't think that feeling will ever go away.  I got the lead out finally around the 1 mile mark.  I ran my first mile in 8:55, I was feeling the warmer weather and my allergies have been horrendous lately.  But no excuses, I should have run faster.  I slacked the second mile, even stopping to catch a breather at the top of a hill.  I finished the run in 29:31.  My last brick was much better.  My problem is I don't have enough days in a row to train. Or at least I make excuses that I can't train.  Jordan works a lot, and I hate to push the kids in the stroller.  But that is going to make me better....a lot better than sitting on the couch. 

So, another day of training completed.  I WILL train tomorrow.  I have to force myself out there.  23 days til race day!