Memorial Day Weekend

All weekends should be 3 day weekends. I feel like I had a fairly productive 3 days off. I probably should have ran yesterday but instead I went Sailing with my brother for the second day in a row and it kicked my butt. I just counted and I have 10 bumps and bruises on my left knee alone. I'm literally beating myself up. All the activity between Friday night and now has left me looking forward to my pillow tonight.

So here's what we did before I fall asleep and forget to catalog it. Saturday morning after rolling out of bed at around 10:00, and feeling like I could have slept til 2:00, I ran about a mile/ mile and half... running in hot weather is going to be difficult, I'll have to get an earlier start from now on. I'm going to have to start pushing myself to run longer distances or I'll never make it to a 5K.

Sunday I was a bump on a log after sailing again but I did finally sign up at a gym with a pool so at least I'll get swimming again.

This morning Angela and I did 14.5 mile bike ride up and over 500 hills. Or at least it felt like 500 hills. My knees and thighs hurt so bad I actually had to reconsider how many times I had to climb the stairs in my house. I'm still glad we seem to be making progress on the biking. We both decided that if we survive the Tri maybe we'll give a bike race a try someday. I think it's both of our favorites out of the three sports.



Finally got my bike rack!!! and then a bird crapped all over it before I even used it.



I need to remember sunblock every time I go out from now on... I've had one too many sunburns already this year!

Angela in Action

not bad for holding the camera behind my back!

Biker Chicks

Angela on her Mountain Bike

Beaver Fever

My week started out with a fever, a sinus infection and a really crappy run. By Thursday I finally decided I wasn't going blind, the antibiotics started to kick in and aside from a sore throat I'd say I'm closer to 100% than I have been for awhile.

On to today's bike ride... according to my odometer Angela and I did 16.2 miles today! Hilly miles I might add.

We extended our normal route and wound up further out than we expected. The ride wasn't too bad, although a few of those hills took some time to recover from. Oh and I almost rode into a ditch and came about 3 feet from running over someone's house cat. Turns out no matter how many bugs are pelting you in the face you should always look where you're going. It was a big ditch too.

Ok on to exciting news... on our way back we stopped along the roadside to give a look out for our beaver/ possible otter friend... and sure enough... it was a Beaver, only a few feet away splashing his tail around probably warning us not to get too close. It's not every day you get to see a beaver in it's natural habitat... I was pretty happy I finally remembered my camera!

Cyclists are People too

Today I did a 14.5 mile bike trek over the generally quiet country back roads in rural Oswego. I had a few moments in which I would have liked to come face to face with more than one idiot motorist. As a driver I know I have the responsibility of looking out for everyone who shares the road ways. Apparently not everyone is aware that just because cars are bigger they haven't earned the right for a free for all. As I was climbing a giant hill towards the end of my ride today I was completely on the shoulder of the road, not even swerving and some jack ass comes flying by and lays on his horn... I just about fell off my bike I jumped so bad. After swearing in my head for the next mile or so I tried to let it go, hoping the jerk would get a flat tire and I could ride by and laugh. Once I got back into the city I got beeped at a few more times despite obeying the rules of the road... The world is just full of too many mean people.

I tried Shot Bloks today... they weren't bad, I might get a camel pak to carry more water... one water bottle is not enough for a hot day!

Just Keep Swimming

I finally made it to the pool this week.
It was a rude awakening.
I haven't been in a pool since my high school track practices 10 years ago. I have 11 weeks to turn my ability to swim one half lap into an 800m swim (or roughly 32 times the length I can do now).

The life guard laughed at me today.
He asked me if I was ok... I think he was under the impression that I was about to drown in a pool that is 4 and a half feet deep. That's how pathetic I am.
I haven't lost all hope yet, during my second swim today I think I improved on my breathing technique a bit. If I can keep up with swimming at least 3 times a week I think I will start to see improvements... I better or else I hope they have a good life guard on duty the day of the Tri.

In other training news, my running has been improving while my knees are slowly but surely crying out in protest. Angela and I rode our 9 mile massive-hill-Lake route and ran a little bit after. Another successful brick. We also saw an otter I believe. Wildlife sightings are always a bonus for me as is the chocolate covered frozen banana I got directly afterward. Overall a very good week for Tri training.

Listening to: Just Keep Swimming/ Dory the fish from Finding Nemo

Brick

This morning Angela and I went for a 9 mile hilly bike ride directly followed by about 30 minutes of run/walking. It was another chilly windy day, with what seemed like an almost constant head wind. I feel like a sail on my bike trying to move against the wind. Hopefully the day of the Tri will be a bit warmer and a lot less windy.

We hit 30 mph today, maybe not that impressive to most cyclists, but considering 20 mph scared me a few weeks ago I felt pretty good about hitting 30.

All that exercise takes a lot out of me, I came home and fell asleep for three hours. Normally I'm a serious napper, I could fall asleep at any given hour of the day, but a good workout almost guarantees a long afternoon nap. I might go into a coma after the actual race.

I'm not sure if it's the wind, diet, allergies, dehydration or over training that is holding me back from improving but the last two bike rides have been really hard. I'm going to start measuring my water intake and just started allergy meds yesterday, so hopefully I'll see some improvements.

For our first Brick workout I thought it went well. My knees hurt a bit and my legs felt like jello for the first few minutes. It was nice to know I still had some energy in reserve after biking... who knows what it'll be like after swimming... guess I'll get a better idea after Monday morning, my first swim work out, I finally found a gym!

Listening to The Getaway/Athlete

Not my Favorite Thing

Went for a run today, it was rough as usual... running is not my favorite thing, I very rarely enjoy it. Today was no exception. In an effort to entice myself to do it sometimes I convince myself that running with my dog will help. Inevitably he drags me, trips me and just generally makes me look like an idiot and a completely inept pack leader. At least the hoodlum teenage boys are less likely to make a snide comment when I run with my wild hyena of a dog. Boomer gets a few bonus points there.

I'd guess I did about a mile all together today, I feel pathetic really. I'm thinking my negative attitude is mostly to blame for my poor running skills. I never expected this to be easy but I had hoped I would be making progress by now. I'm having trouble with working my way up gradually. I want to be able to run a 5K yesterday and at the rate I'm going it feels like possibly early next year would be a more likely goal.

I wrote down a few quotes that when I first started I thought might be helpful to keep in mind...

Man imposes his own limitations, don't set any -Anthony Bailey

Cowards die many times before their deaths,
the valiant never taste death but once - Julius Caesar

All it takes is all you got - Marc Davis

and my favorite...

Little by little one travels far -JRRT

So for now I'm going to try and channel my inner hobbit and see where it gets me.

Listening to : One/ U2

First Tri

Today is 13 weeks until I compete in, or maybe I should say, hopefully complete my first triathlon. This whole thing started in January when a friend from work, Elyssa said we should sign up for the Iron Girl Triathlon that was taking place August 7th of this year. I believe my initial reaction was hell no, a sentiment I sometimes wish I would have stuck with. After about a month of deliberation I decided that the race being far off in the future, would be a good fitness goal and I'd have plenty of time to work up to the level of physical prowess I would need to accomplish my goal. I signed up and managed to talk my friend Angela in to singing away almost six months of leisure time as well. Fast forward to today, 13 weeks out and Elyssa, Angela and I seem to be in for one hell of a summer, training, learning and a whole lot of tri-ing.

I decided to start this blog to chronicle our triumphs and setbacks, record our progress and keep a record of the biggest physical challenge I've ever taken on.