Our first anniversary

Saturday was rainy so I was delaying on getting my exercise in, but I ended up going to the gym and running 5 miles and swimming 1600 yards.  Sunday was gorgeous out and DH and I went for a 25 mile bike ride with a couple that we met at swim lessons.  We ended up going to the end of the bike path and then riding around Concord past some cows and up and down some big hills.  I was definitely struggling on the hills, both going up, and being confident going fast down the hills.  I had a great time on our ride and then we went out for drinks and brunch so by the time we got back from hanging out with them it was about 4:30pm I was so exhausted, but we went out to dinner because it was our 1^st wedding anniversary.  Needless to say I fell asleep on the couch around 9:30pm.

Marathon Monday

I have 4 months left before my race and I am at a point where I need to be more serious about my commitment to achieving my goal.  I struggle to get in the workouts that I know I should be doing, for example this weekend I ended up doing a bunch of work on the house, but didn’t mentally prepare myself for the fact that I also needed to get in the workouts and I didn’t do my long-swim and long-bike ride.  Preparing for the race is such a long-term goal and now it is getting down to crunch time.  I think it would help to break down the goal to monthly, weekly and daily goals so I don’t push off my long-rides/long-runs.  This weekend I am committing to a 25 mile bike and swim a 1600.

Last weekend I had a good run because I did the Groton Road Race.  I walked/jogged the 5k with my mother-in-law and ran the 10k in 55 minutes. Today is the Boston Marathon so I’m inspired to run 10 miles, 4.5 miles at lunch and 5.5 miles home.

Training

I’m still working out the kinks in my training plan.  Yesterday I went for a run with Rudy before work, but I didn’t stick to the plan and go swimming at night.  Today I did a spin class and felt some improvement in my ability to push on the “hills”.  The intensity of the class is a lot higher then I should be doing for base training, but my fitness level is improving and I’m getting a feel for a high cadence so I'm not worried. 

This weekend I’m going home for my mom’s birthday so I need to work up the motivation to do an 8 mile run Saturday morning and get a swim in on Sunday.  I was also thinking it would be good to do the P90x plyometrics workout on Sunday so I can get a little cross training in, or if the weather is nice maybe I will take out my bike and go for a ride.  We still have a few snow banks in the shade so I won’t ride my bike to work and it’s too cold. I’m holding out for perfect conditions and mid 50s.

Naps

This weekend I went out on a short run with DH and our dog, it was DH’s and the dog’s first run of the year. DH is going to be following the Triathlon Training in 4 hours a week plan for 8 weeks so he can get ready for the sprint. I was surprised how out of shape the dog is, I like to take him for runs with me but now that I am already up to 7 miles I feel bad taking him that far.  After our run I went for a 1400 yard swim.  When I got home I took a nap.  Sunday I managed the motivation to go for a 7 mile run around the lake, it is a really nice run with hills and good vistas.  I had a late night on Saturday and combined with the run I ended up taking a 2 hour nap. I have a feeling naps are going to become more of a habit. 

Bikes and Book

I worked from home yesterday so I was able to get a morning workout in before the day officially started.  I did five miles on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the elliptical with a little mix of weights. Today I did a spin class and picked up the Triathlete’s Training Bible at Borders, thanks to a 40% off coupon it was only $15.  I plan to make some time to read the sections on planning your workout this weekend.  I’m worried after looking at a 20 week plan on Beginner Triathlete that I don’t have enough detail in my plan and it is too “easy”.  Yesterday I also signed up for a free seminar from Endurance Nation on training for a half ironman that I hope will help. 

I got an email from my cousin that I couldn’t borrow her road bike because she is also doing a triathlon and will be riding her bike to school (she is a P.E. teacher) so I need to figure out how I am going to get some road bike experience before I make my big purchase. I think the best plan is to rent a bike from the store that does the 50 mile rides in town and get comfortable on that.  While looking at bikes I realized the bike the guy was showing me at the store was the unisex CAAD 10 and not the women’s version.  Right now I’d rather a women’s bike that is designed for my small hands and large derrière.  There was a good string of forum posts on Team Estrogen comparing Orbea, Cannondale, and Felt which are the companies that the two bike stores I’ve looked actually carry. 

Sneakers and Bike

Somewhere in Massachusetts is a lonely pair of sneakers.  A couple weeks ago I lost my best pair of sneakers so I had to replace them.  I was fitted at a running store about 5 years ago for a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS and ever since then that is all I buy.  They are fantastic sneakers that have moderate stability support and I’ve never had a complaint about any version I’ve bought. There are typically good deals on Sierra Trading Post or REI, but this year I ended up getting them right from the Brooks website, they had last year’s model at 33% off.  I have issues with buying anything at full price.

Yesterday I managed to do my long-run, I ended up doing it on the treadmill because it was snowing out. I split the run up and did 3 miles and then got off and lifted for 10 minutes and then did 3 more miles. My ipod battery was dead so I ended up listening to Sunday Morning on CBS and then My Super Sweet 16 Bash on MTV. I’m finding having my training schedule planned out and on paper a good motivator. I was a little under the weather on Saturday after festivities on Friday night, so I didn’t get any exercise and I felt pretty guilty.  

After my run on Sunday I took a nap, and then DH and I went to Quad Cycles; they have a lot of nice new bikes that range from $700 - $10,000.  Of course I would love to have a shiny new bike but, I’m not ready to fork over the money until I actually know what I want.  It is really intimidating for a beginner. They have all these bikes and I can’t tell the difference between them, and without knowing how often I am going to ride after I finish this race I’m not sure what a good price point would be. When the guy was showing me this Cannondale I had to ask him how you shift it because I’ve never even ridden a road bike, let alone understand the difference between the different Shimano drivetrains. The store has rides on the weekend every Saturday and Sunday so if I join those I’m sure the fellow riders will have some suggestions on bikes and prices.  Cycling seems to have a lot higher start-up costs then I was expecting.  Running I need a pair of sneakers, for cycling in order to fit in I feel like you need the clothes, which are weird (bright, graphic, tight) and expensive, then you need an expensive bike, a bike computer, tiny shoes, GPS, heart monitor, bike rack, helmet, etc. 

I wrote out a list of the gear I want to get this year and I plan to surf the internet and clearance racks in order to get it cheap.

• Bike
• Neon full zip bike jersey
• Bike shorts
• Commuter bike basket
• Reflective stuff
• Water bottle
• Running shirts
• Horn for commuter bike

Happy shopping!

Other races for the year

I signed up for a sprint in May it is the same sprint I did 5 years ago, which was my first and only triathlon I’ve ever done.  As a result of a certain amount of arm twisting DH has agreed to do the sprint with me.  It will be his first triathlon.  He typically avoids exercise and I don’t think he likes running, biking or swimming so needless to say I am very proud of him for giving it a try.  I suggested he read the book that got me ready for my triathlon 5 years ago, Eric X’s book Triathlon Training in Four Hours a Week.  The sprint we doing is a 250 yard pool swim, 10 mile bike ride and 3.5 mile run.  When I think back to the race 5 years ago I totally screwed it up. You had to jump in the water and swim 25 yards then swim under the lap lane, and then go up and down the lanes always swimming under the lap lane when you reach the far end of the pool.  Somehow even after standing in line for over an hour watching people swim I failed to notice what was going on and didn’t swim under the lap lane for one of my laps and ended up going the wrong way.  I added an extra lap and added about 1 minute to my swim.  The race was good I remember thinking, “wow that didn’t take long” for all the training I put in the actual race went by really quick.  Even though I did a triathlon I certainly didn’t feel comfortable saying “I am a triathlete” I’ve done a bunch of road races and I would never tell someone “I’m a runner”, I think after I do the HIM I’ll feel more legitimate when I list “triathlon” on my resume under my interests.

In terms of other races, I found a local Olympic distance triathlon.  The hope is that I will get a chance to do my first open water race start and another chance to practice my transitions in preparation for the big race. I’m also thinking about doing a half-marathon in June.

Rough training schedule

Here is the schedule that I have put together for the next 6 months. It isn't perfect, but it gives me a rough idea of the time and distance I need to be putting in. I made it in excel and posted it on my cube at work so I'll be looking at it everyday.

 

Today I did a spin class with a different instructor then I usually have, he had a good playlist and the class really had me working up a sweat. Tomorrow is swim day, which I've found to be the hardest sport to get motivated for especially in the winter. Last week we had one day where it got up to 60 degrees so I took advantage of it and ran home from work, 6 miles.  It felt great to be outside in a tee shirt and shorts, I really can't wait for spring and warmer weather.

Periodization

Over the last couple weeks I have been eating real healthy and going to the gym consistently and the weight seems to be coming off.  For breakfast I have oatmeal with a can of peaches (including the juice) and some coffee.  Then at work I will have a cottage cheese double or yogurt before lunch which is a frozen meal or soup and veggies.  For dinner I've been trying to have lots of veggies and a small portion of grains and meat.

I've been reading the Complete Triathlon Book to figure out my training plan for the spring and summer.  I'm learning about periodization  the base, build and peak phase and doing different steps where you train hard for 3 weeks and on the fourth week dial it back a little so your body can recover. All of this seems to make sense, but there is definitely a learning curve.

Yesterday and today we had a bunch of snow and work was cancelled today. Yay! so I took the bus to the gym this morning and ran 5.5 miles and did some stretching. I'm debating about going swimming later, but our driveway is a sheet of ice.  Swimming is the hardest sport for me to get motivated to practice.  I tried to sign up for swim lessons this week, but they didn't get enough people to sign up, so they didn't run them.  There will be another 8 week series starting mid March so I am going to sign up for them. At least that way I can get some instruction because I am sure I am doing something wrong and I will be motivated to go.

Setting a goal

Not knowing what shape I will really be in 8 months from now I think a reasonable goal for me would be to finish the race in less than 6 hours.  That would be about a 42 minute swim, 3 hour 10 min bike, 1 hour 57 min run, would be a 5:49 race. This would mean I really need to work on my speed on the bike and run.  I have no base on the bike and no idea how fast I go, especially on hills because the course is suppose to be hilly. I’ve done half marathons at a 10 min mile pace and that is definitely something I need to work on.  I really like intervals and I want to have a 9 minute pace for the race. All the planning and dreaming only come to fruition with hard work and commitment, so time to hit the gym.