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.  :)