Strength Training

Last December, I decided I needed a more structured weight training program.  Just kind of doing everything rather spontaneous and with whatever effort I felt like is better than nothing!  But it isn't going to get me the results I desire.  There are two books I consulted with:

I used Joe Friel's book to sketch an annual training plan and learn how to structure my training better.  There's a short section on weight training and I liked it okay, but I really felt like I needed something deeper especially since I was coming off of illness (and losing >10lbs of muscle due to illness).  So I turned to Patrick Hagerman's book.

I read and reread Hagerman's book and kept cross referencing with Friel's.  Finally I decided to create three groups of exercises, or "3 Days," and follow a 12 week series.  The three groups are mostly made up of suggestions from the book, but I also included some that Doc recommends for physical therapy reasons.

Yeah.  A lot of shoulder work is there.  However, that is where a lot of my injury is and Doc needs me to strengthen what he's repaired.  Plus upper body fatigue is a race killer in all three sports.

I found a pre-made 12 week program in the Strength Training for Triathletes and kind of based what I'm doing off that.  My goal was so improve my sprint times to 1:10:00-1:20:00 range.  Preferable around 1:15:00.  Then I wanted to go head first into the olympic distance with doing the best time I can do.  Granted...  I never did an actual olympic race last year.  First one had bad storms, so they cancelled the swim.  The second one is a long story, but let's just say I never made it there to start.  So I figured if I did something more for the olympic, then it would obviously help my sprint game tremendously.

So I took the 12 week periodization plan found on page 84, and modified it.  I kind of threw in some of Friel's perspective.  If I totally bombed this, I'll find out after 12 weeks; I'm on week 8, and I'm seeing quite a lot of results already.

So when I mentioned I was on Week 8, that means I'm on "Mesocycle 2: Week 2."  Today was Day 1 of 3.  I started adding more core work today just to see if I can.  I started second guessing myself on whether I was doing enough core.  God knows it helps with my back injuries, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad to add some more.

I will say, it sure is nice not to have to grab the 5 & 8 lb dumbbells anymore.  I'm using 12-40 lb dumbbells.  Makes me feel rather... Confident. :)  Yeah....  We like this idea of confidence.

Peachtree International Triathlon -- Constant Rinse Cycle

It was raining non-stop in central Georgia on Friday, Friday night and Saturday morning.  This made for very miserable racing conditions.  I made peace with myself about the weather; it is out of my hands.  My boyfriend and I drove down to Peachtree City Friday evening and stayed over night.  Race started at 7AM and transition closed at 6:45AM, so that made for a very morning.

Got up and it was raining -- surprise surprise.  We get to the park around 5:45.  This is usually enough time to pick up my packet, get body marked, set up transition and chill until the start.  The body marking line was so freakin' long, which is highly unusual.  It was probably close to 1/4 mile long.  Rain is still coming down.  We've been hearing thunder and seeing lightning here and there for over an hour.  One of the race workers came down the line and announced that the swim had been cancelled due to the storms; it was being turned into a biathlon.

The transition area is a big grassy mud hole.  Lucky for me, my little spot was more grass than mud.  One thing I like about this race is that everyone has an assigned transition spot based on race number.  You are also told which way to point your bike, this is based on your race number as well.

I noticed LOTS of people leaving.  The start was moved to 7:15AM.  As that time came closer, even MORE people packed up and left.  I heard someone say it was because they had never ridden in the rain before and were scared to "give it a go" that day.  I'll get more into this topic on a later post.

I originally wanted to finish the tri in 3 hours, if possible; so I had to change my goal.  My new goal was 2:30:00.  I was really bummed about the swim being cancelled; it felt like that was my "rite of passage" within the triathlon world.  I was trying to break out from sprint races into the olympic/international world.  That swim is astronomically so much longer than a sprint race.  The bike and run are nearly doubled, but not the swim.  I felt that was my barrier in doing long course races in the future, but alas -- I had to settle for a biathlon instead.  I figured I could still learn some valuable information from the experience.



They did a time trial start (like they would have done for the swim): 2 riders every 5 seconds. Otherwise releasing 600+ racers would have been chaos -- it was supposed to be 1000 people, but some never showed up and a few hundred left because they didn't want to ride in the rain. I was number 405, so it was a while before I got to go.
Because I didn't swim, my body wasn't warmed up for the bike. Same with everyone else. We all started cold. So the beginning was a little stiff for me. I used the first 10 minutes to warm-up and laughed at people who tried to blow right by me within the first 3 miles. I saw most of them again at about mile 10; they were toast. Ha ha ha.
I had to modify my hydration/nutrition plan because of the voided swim. Looking back, I would have done a couple things slightly different. The hills around my house were definitely WAY harder than anything on that course.

The rain was relentless. I had a Cannondale rain jacket on, but it got soaked through. However, it did help a lot for my mental state. While the air temp wasn't cold (66*), then rain itself was. My legs didn't care, but my arms and torso get cold so easily, so I would have defeated myself if I didn't have that jacket. The rain did make it difficult to see things to avoid in the road and I couldn't take turns as fast/hard as I usually do. I saw a few people cross that threshold and fell/slid across the road in turns.

Two huge bowling balls starting growing in the back of my shoulders on the back half of the ride. I tried to charge up hills, but towards the end, my legs would collapse and I'd fall back in my seat. Then 5 seconds later, I'd try again. Cycling is my weakest sport at the moment and it showed.

On the way back to the transition area, we had a no-pass zone behind the courthouse where there were some nasty speed bumps. Most of us went between them. One guy wasn't paying attention and endoed down into a gully where there was a deep creek; poor guy.

It was wet and nasty, but I did it without spilling my guts all over the pavement. Lol.

If I had to do this over again, I would have brought a second pair of socks to run in. Not because the ones I wore gave me blisters or anything. More like because I had to put my soaking wet socks into nice dry sneakers. Instant puddles for my toes. Lol. Oh well. Something to remember for next time.

No jelly legs again! YES! The last 2 years I've struggled with really bad jelly legs and I have not had this problem at all this year in training or races. Score!

BTW, I have not run more than 5 miles since early 2009 (used to run 8 miles on trails regularly in 2007-early 2009); so I have no idea what my normal 10K time would be. Needless to say, I am pleased with my time on this.

On Thursday, I told Doc about my plan to run 9 min and walk 1 min for the 10K. He asked where the aide stations were (beginning, 1.5, 3, 3.5, 5ish) and said, "Just walk through the water stations. You'll be fine." So I went with his plan. Worked rather well. Although, it was more of a running-walk than anything. As usual, mile 2 and mile 4 were my hardest to push through. Always happens for every run! Very annoying.
The run course was on Peachtree City's famous golf cart paths. For those of you who don't realize it, they aren't like little roads. The terrain and style is more like trails in the woods, but they're paved instead of dirt. Constant ups and downs, twists, dodge a tree, etc. Very scenic. The path we used went alongside the back end of the lake; the water was about a foot away from the edge of the lake -- much closer than years past due to the excessive amount of rain this year.

I checked my watch whenever I saw a mile marker sign, but there were only 4 of them. Here were my times that I saw: 1 - 8:16, 2 - 16:40, 3 - 24:08, 4 - 35:55 (WTF?), and finish 52:39.

When we got back to the main road, there was .25 miles left. I had been behind a chick for a while who was obviously fighting quad cramps, but always managed to stay just ahead of me. I didn't really feel like I had anything left in me, but I somehow sped up and passed her (she said, "You make me look like I'm walking!") and I heard her slow to a walk behind me. Didn't mean to demoralize her -- just wanted to pass her. I gave it all I had for the final 50 yards.

My whole body started breaking down the last 1.5 miles or so. Lower back. Psoas. Chest pains. The whole bit. My lower back was fried all day yesterday as a result; even after a hot salt bath, heat packs, Aleve, and a nap, I couldn't walk at all Saturday.

So I finished in 2:27:00.  Now I want to see if I can get my 10K under 50 minutes.  My bike is what sucks the most.  I haven't really made any progress on this sport in the last couple of years.  I need to raise my average mph from 16.2 to 17.  To reach my goal of finishing a race of this distance in 3 hours, I figure I need to shave at least 7 minutes off my bike/run time.  I have 5 weeks to do this.  We'll see what happens.

Well the worst is over



Setting up in Transition -- Listening to Tunes


Well...  At least that's I'm choosing to believe!

Doc helped a ton on Thursday, but he's still rather frustrated.  He said he was going to Dallas over the weekend and asked if he could relay my case to the other doctors.  I said sure he can share anything he'd like.  He's hoping that a fresh perspective might lead somewhere.

Saturday was my first race of the season.  I wasn't sure what I could expect.  I HOPED for a 13:30 swim and to finish the race in 90 minutes.  I guess I hoped too much.

As I went to go get my race packet, an official made an announcement that the water was 68 degrees to wetsuits were legal.  I yelled "BRILLIANT!  That sounds like a swell time!"  He laughed at me as I walked by.  Then I got to thinking:  Dude!  That's freakin' COLD!  After I picked up my stuff, I had to pee REAL bad.  A lady in the restroom made a comment that "68 degrees isn't that bad.  It's actually a perfect wetsuit temperature."  SHE WAS ON CRACK!  Lol.  No one else I encountered said the same.  The consensus seemed to be that everyone was dreading the swim.  Myself included.

I got my wetsuit on and went to the beach to go warm-up for about 10 minutes.  It felt like I was climbing into an ice bath.  Ugh!  Wetsuits don't block that kind of cold.  Lol.  I went to put my face in the water and the breath got knocked out of me.  Not to mention the cold factor just shocked the hell out of me.  I couldn't keep my face in the water.  I kept trying over and over and over again.  Just couldn't do it.  When they started the national anthem, prayer, etc I got out to go line up.  My bf wrapped me in a big towel and tried to convince me that I'd be acclimated by the time I got to the first buoy.  I hoped he was right.

And that never happened.  Once again, I couldn't keep my face in the water.  AND I started getting the burps.  Can't get any air.  Burping.  Frigid water.  Oh yeah!  And my goggles flooded 5 times!  It was great.

I did a series of backstroke & breaststroke then an attempt at freestyle.  I could never find the rhythm in my freestyle like I always do normally.  Somehow I did mange to pass some people, but not many.  I just wanted out of there so bad.  The third time I tried to use freestyle, my left shoulder twinged a lot.  Fantastic!  What a great start to a miserable day!



Not my best performance, but definitely happy to be done



I finally made it out of the water.  I had to put on a long sleeve jersey since it was pretty chilly out and I was soaking wet.  Took me a while and broke my concentration a bit.  I got it on and hopped on the bike.  Since I haven't trained much on the bike this year, I knew it'd kind of suck.  Lol.  My shoulder didn't allow me to get comfortable, but that was ok.  I just wanted to get through it with a similar time as last September (which I did!).



I got off the bike, tore off the jersey, squished my feet into my Mizuno Wave Inspire 8 shoes and took off like a bat out of hell.  Within the first few steps, I noticed my lower back had flared up.  The pain was at about a 9.5.  So I went through my usual steps to try and relieve it while on the go.  None of it worked.  It was just shot.  A half mile had gone by and I noticed that while the pain was still there, it didn't get worse.  So I made a pact with myself that if the pain got worse -- quit, pack up , and go to a hospital.  If it stayed where it was -- even though it was excruciating -- keep going.  So I did.



I was trying to get my shorts from being bunched.  I swear.



So I kept going with tears pouring down my face. I just wanted it to be over. I figured -- the faster I ran, the sooner it would be over. I got to the 1 Mile marker and glanced at my watch. 7 minutes had passed. Holy shit!

As usual, between mile 1 and 2 is where I struggle the most. This happens on any run, but especially during a tri. Didn't help that between mile 1 and 2 are long steep-ass hills. My legs felt like anchors from an oil tanker. I never stopped pumping my knees. I actually had to convince other runners to keep going. I got within sight of the turnaround cone and I started yelling at a guy I was passing, "Dude! The turn around is right there! Pick your ass up and run!" He did. I think he used me to pace off of until the finish too.

As soon as I got around that cone, the anchors fell off. I FLEW back down the road, gravel road and small trail leading back to the park. As soon as I could see the final stretch leading to the finish line, I just gave it all I had. I spotted a chick a ways ahead (turned out she was 43 -- at first I thought her leg said 34) and I said, "I'm passing you..." And I did about 4 seconds before I crossed the finish line.

My lower back was pissed as hell, but I was so happy I was done.



Want to know something even cooler?  I was 14 seconds off my PR for a 5K!  My best 5K time was in March 2011 (Ashley 5K Run in Powder Springs, GA) at 24:25. I just did a 5K run after a nasty-ass swim and crappy bike in 24:39 -- with severe pains! Lol. I guess that could be considered a silver lining...



 So I looked at the results sheet and realized that if I had hit my target swim and had "normal" transition times, I would have placed 3rd in my age group.  DAMN!  That's ok I guess.  I have at least 2 more sprints this year.  Not to mention one of those is this same race in September.  Perfect time to kick ass!







That awkward moment when...  ;)



Is there such a thing...

As too many goals?  Lol.  Last March I decided that I wanted to try and run 280 miles from Jan to Sept 30.  Sounded reasonable.  It's Aug 1 and I've only covered 172 miles.  Not where I need to be to stay on track.  Oops.  I still plan on giving my best shot though.  Lol.

Then there is my goal of finishing a sprint distance triathlon in under 90 minutes.  However, there is no deadline on that one.  But I was hoping to hit that this year.  :)

Now I've gone and signed up for a ride to help fundraise for a charity.  It's called Cycle for Life and it benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  I really want to try the 60 mile route.  I have never gone that far before.  I plan on starting to train for it after my triathlon on Aug 5.  In order to participate in the event there is a minimum to raise: $165.  I have a goal posted for $500, but I really would like to raise $750.

An online buddy chipped in today and I put in some also.  I plan on doing a mini craft sale & music party at my house in October-ish.  Surely, I can find 100 pele to donate $5?  You would think so.  Lol.

My Cycle for Life Home Page   Check it out!

We're a go for today

Well I feel up for training today.  :)  That's good.  Physically my body feels ready to go and I feel rather strong today.  I hope I don't accidentally push it too far.  Lol.

Today's plan:  Swim (300 yard warm-up, 400-500 yard swim), bike (short route around the block), and run.  I haven't figured out what the run distance will be just yet...  Depends on how I feel really.  But I gotta get some cycling in since I signed up for the GA 400 Hospitality Highway ride in July.  I'm only doing the 23 mile route.  I don't have the mileage under my belt to try anything longer.  Lol.

I'm hoping my buddy, Susan B., will be well enough for a duo ride this weekend.  :)  I'll probably be trying out those new shoes and pedals this weekend.

Well I'm off!

My own road bike

So I'm finally getting my own road bike.  For the last year, I've been borrowing Dave's K2 mountain bike with slick tires on it.  However, because he is significantly taller than me, the bike is too big for me.  I've been fighting shoulder pain, neck pain, and crotch-bone pain for the last year.  Just all around awkward.  Lol.

Since I've decided that I really enjoy doing triathlons, I've decided to invest in a bike of my own.  I could have bought one a couple of months ago, but I decided to spend that money on swim lessons instead (very wise investment!).  Swim is getting better and I put a chunk of money into running; now it's time to put a chunk of money into the bike part.

I think I may enjoy the bike part more if I had some proper equipment.  I'd be more motivated to find groups to ride with and I'd be willing to spend a few more hours a week training on the thing.  I have severe issues doing physical activity in the heat as I am very susceptible to heat stroke.  This makes running in the summer very difficult.  I've heard that swimming can help cycling and cycling helps running.  Last year I noticed that I can handle cycling in the heat okay, unlike running.  After this weekend, I have triathlons in August and September.  I need to double check the dates.  I'd like to squeeze another one in before it gets too cold in the fall.  :)  Or maybe I'll just do a cyclocross event or two instead.

Inner Peace vs. Inner Turmoil

The memorial service for Goose was good.  The Marine honor guard was great, but very haunting.  Tons of tears were shed during the service, but lots of laughs were shared during the reception afterward.

Goose's death brings a lot of emotional turmoil for me.  Training seems to help quiet it down temporarily.  Friday I trained for my upcoming race.  I did a 550 yard swim (two segments: 350 & 200), bike for 9 miles, and run for 2+ miles.  I kept the effort level pretty low overall and still had better times than I did at last year's race.  I find this amusing in some ways.

I noticed that each time I trained during the week, I found a lot of inner peace.  It was a nice break from the sudden tears that seem to attack me randomly.  I didn't get to swim much since my last lesson, but when I did I found myself more focused than usual.  It was nice.  I had a lesson yesterday; prior to it, I thought I might be unprepared for it.  Bill said it best as we were getting ready to start: "Ready to focus only on swimming?"

When I'm not training, playing music, or writing, I'm pretty scatter-brained and spaced out these days.  I don't know how to grieve.  My depression and anxiety problems make me timid to have an emotional breakdown so I usually "suck it up" instead of having a good cry.

Needless to say, the lesson with Bill was great.  My concentration faltered a little here and there, but he kept me on point.  When we were finished I felt pretty woozy (blood sugar was low) and my shoulders tingled with pain, but I don't mind.  The wooziness and pain is reminder that I am still alive -- of this I am very thankful.

My First Duathlon

I completed my first duathlon!  Yay!

I participated in the Cartersville Duathlon.  It consisted of a Run/Bike/Run: 5K - 17 miles - 5K.

About a month ago I spent a Sunday seeing if this were doable for me.  I ran 2.3 miles, cycled 8 miles, and ran 2 miles.  Then I did some weight training.  I felt great!  I figured that I could finish this event.  So I set a new goal: Complete said race in 2 hours.

Did I finish?  Yes.  Did I meet my goal?  Close enough!  I finished in 2:01:32.  I could have made the first transition a little faster, but other than that I could not have put more effort into it and still finish.  I finished the first 5K in 26:16 (not bad...) and the second 5K in 26:50.  I was actually prouder of the second time because I was fighting all sorts of issues during that second run.  It all started in the bike part.

When I read that a course has rolling hills, I think of tame hills where the downhills help propel you up the uphill.  You can see the end of the ascent and the descent is gradual but noticeable.  That's the image I have in my head.  Yeah....  Those weren't "rolling hills" yesterday.  I'm not sure what I'd call them though.  There weren't any steep climbs (like up near Lake Lanier - oy).  The ascents lasted anywhere from .5 mile - 2 miles.  Most of the time you couldn't see where the uphills ended (which is demoralizing).  The grade of the ascent would increase slightly as you kept climbing (once again - demoralizing).  The uphills were a bitch.  Pardon the lingo.

Enough about the uphills for the moment....  Now the downhills were a different story.  When you have a long-ass climb, you would expect something similar for a descent.  Nope.  Not yesterday.  The downhills were very tame, gradual and very short.  Boooooo!  There was some flat areas which was nice.  But I really could have gone for some more descents.  At one point in the race (around mile..... 13 maybe?), I had been climbing for at least a mile and noticed that the flaggers were telling us to make a very tight right turn.  It was an exit off of a major highway that clover-leafed around a very steep decline and immediately turned left at the bottom.  So we had to brake around this super tight loop on a long-awaited descent and turn left at the bottom.  Bummer.  Here's the bigger bummer: We had another hill climb immediately after we turned left.  Boooo!  Lol.  Very demoralizing.

There were good points to the bike-leg of the race.  At mile 11, there was an unbelievable view.  To the right of the road was a farm that looked as though it came out of a painting.  It was the perfect looking farm.  Called "Three Bears Farm."  I couldn't stop staring.  Thankfully the view lasted for quite a while.  Of course the "lovely" smell of farm came right after I passed the entrance.  Ha.  Definitely a farm.  Actually that was the best of the bike course....

I think I "bonked."  I've never done so, but I think I did bonk.  Very unusual feeling.  Happened about mile 10.  It was right when I planned on using an energy gel so I went ahead and took it with some water.  Felt better a few minutes later.  The original plan to take another one at about mile 15 and I didn't.  That cost me later.

Remember those uphills I just bitched about?  Those came with a side-effect for me.  Because my feet are attached to the pedals, I was pulling up on the pedals as well as pushing down with the opposite foot.  While I haven't mastered this technique, I do find that it is my saving grace on hill-climbs.  So all the pulling on the pedals resulted in some severe pain in my shin by the end of the bike course.  Didn't think anything of it at the time.

So the second transition was quick-ish.  I kept running, never stopping to walk and plowed on ahead to the run course again.  I was so focused on pushing through the "jelly legs" that I ignored my feet and shins.  When my quads were still screaming but started functioning again, I noticed that my feet were pretty much numb.  This is from the chilly air from the bike course I figured because what I could feel in my lower extremities was cold.  Once I started getting feeling back in my feet I then noticed that I had an agonizing pain in my shins.  It felt like tennis balls were growing in the upper half of my shin.  Then I thought, "Are these shinsplints?"  I've never had them before so I didn't really know.  So I focused on getting my ankles to relax, which helped some.

All this happened within the first mile and a half.  Yay!  So while I'm managing the pain I realize I was passing a ton of people, most of whom passed me during the bike course.  So I pushed through the pain some more.  I wanted to walk sooooooooooooooo bad.  Then Uncle Bill flashed through my mind so I kept running.  About mile 2, I felt like total.... utter.... crap.  I felt absolutely awful.  Remember that energy gel I skipped?  Yeah...  Not doing that again -- ever.  There was an aid station right about the same time so I slowed down and took in some water.  Still felt like complete crap, but I figured I had one more mile to go.  What's one more mile when you've already gone 22.1 miles?  Lol.

At the entrance to the park, I dug super deep and tried to speed up.  I passed a few more people who cheered me on.  I could barely hear them.  I rounded the last corner and a volunteer said, "You can see the finish line!  Go!"  I realized that I couldn't see it.  I knew it was there, but I couldn't see it.  My vision was very blurred and spotty.  I stopped when there was a wall of people within my sight.  Lol.

So I finished and met my goal.  I put in 250% effort overall.  I made a couple of mistakes, but I see them as learning points (like don't skip out on an energy gel -- you'll pay for it later).  I also learned a few things about myself.  The biggest thing I am amazed at is....  Even when my body was screaming at me to quit and that it couldn't give me anymore, I kept at it -- kept going.  I had to dig deeper than I ever have to do it, but I pushed my body well beyond any limits I have ever reached.  I'm rather stunned actually.  It does prove to me that I can accomplish much more than I ever planned.

Dave says I have shinsplints.  They hurt....  A lot.  I get numbness in my left foot from time to time.  He says it's from the swelling.  Makes sense.  I figure I don't really need a doctor.  Dave's been helping me treat the shinsplints.  I have a swim lesson tomorrow with Bill.  This should prove interesting.

I have a lot of pain at the moment: hip flexors, butt, quads, hamstrings, calves, shinsplints, neck and shoulders.  But man.....  I feel like I just conquered Brasstown Bald.  :)

Karma proves to be useful :)

This morning I had some serious stomach and lower abdominal pains.  The plan was to go to the pool around 10AM this morning.  I couldn't make it happen.  My stomach was too upset.  About 2PM, I felt good enough to go.  I took the bicycle there and back; found out it takes about the same amount of time as driving the car.  I'll probably make a habit out of this.

Man swimming is SO MUCH EASIER!  Lol.  Only one lesson and swimming is actually enjoyable and productive.  I spend so much less energy and actually move faster in the water.  I haven't gotten to an all out swim yet either.  I can't wait for my lesson on Saturday.  I hope Bill is pleased with what I've done so far.  I have no clue where I should be.  He said that I'm a fast learner.  But I still don't know if I'm on track, moving ahead too soon, etc.

I went for a run after I got back from the pool.  I ran out of gels, but I found an "Energy Fizz" tablet.  I am not a fan.  It tasted awful and it gave me the burps while I ran.

I planned on going for a shorter run (2.65 miles) so I figured I'd try taking the dog.  I was in my cycling shorts and a sports bra and had no way to carry the house key.  I looked down at my dog and noticed that she had a small split ring holding her ID tag.  What the hell?  Why not?  So I attached the key to my dog's collar.  Lol.

Karma proves that she can be useful  :)

Seemed like a good idea.  Lol.  When I got home, I took her collar off and unlocked the door.  It worked rather well!  It's about time Karma contributed something....  ;)

Karma did good today though.  We held a 8:39 min/mile pace overall.  She plopped on the floor for a long time when we returned, but she mostly kept up.  I only had to tug on the leash a handful of times.  I figure she's good for only about 2 - 2.5 miles.

I added up all the time from the swimming, cycling, and running and it totaled up to 1:01:13.  The distances were similar to the super sprint I'm doing in May.  My goal is to complete it in under 60 minutes.  This shows me that it's doable.  :)  This is a huge step for me considering that I still have 6.5 weeks until the race.  Score!

Unfortunately my stomach pains have returned.  >:/  Not cool...  Midol took the edge off, but it still feels just awful....

Sunday's training was a success

Title says it all.

Like I mentioned before, I'm doing a duathlon in Cartersville, GA. (PT Solutions Cartersville Duathlon) on April 15.  It is a 5K run, 17 mi bike, & 5K run.  Fun fun fun!  It will take me longer to complete it than any of the triathlons I plan on doing this year.  However, I believe it will be harder on my body than a tri.

Last Wednesday I brushed the dust off Dave's bike (that I borrow for these things :) ) and went for a 6+ mile ride around the block and then went for a run.  I was suprised how well that went.  I went 2.32 miles and averaged 8:34 min/mi.  Sweet!  Last year I averaged 10:00+ min/mi on post-cycle runs.  Already found a big improvement there!  Lol.

So Sunday I decided to do a 4 part training session.  Run - Bike - Run - Weights.  So I ran 2.36 miles (9:16 min/mi average), cycle 7.3 miles (didn't really try to go fast, but still ended up at the same pace as all the tris last year), ran 2.03 miles (8:06 mi/mile average), then did upper body weight training.  I took 10-15 minute breaks in between each activity to log it into Runkeeper, take an energy gel (or drink some chocolate milk), drink water and head back out.  Afterwards, I felt like I could do more stuff, but then I started coughing pretty hard -- that's my body's way of saying "I'M DONE!"  Lol.  So I did housework.  :D

So needless to say, I'm confident I can handle that duathlon in.... 3 weeks.  Could have gone further on all activities, but I didn't.  Wanted to test the waters (so to speak).  With some more conditioning, I'll be good for April 15th.  :)

I was rather proud of myself.  Dave and I both figured that it would be wise to rest on Monday.  So I did.  I was ready to go at it again, but I held off.  I wrote in this blog instead.  Lol.

Now it's Tuesday.  I rode the ZX-6R to work today because it's so gorgeous outside.  My spirits are up.  After doing some research and crunching numbers, I'm motivated once again.  More on that later.  :)  I can't wait to get home and do some running this evening.  Plan for tonight is to go running (about 3-3.5 miles) and some weight training.  I've been toying with the idea of going to the pool.  After all I do have "homework" to do.  :P  Guess I'll figure it out when I get home.

I suppose I might be a little unorthodox.  I don't plan workouts week by week.  I tried that last year.  FAILED.  Lol.  I never stuck to any of the plans.  Then I feel guilty later for missing stuff.  So now I just plan which days I will be doing any activity (or activities) and then figure it out on the fly.  Might be a little backwards, but it's kind of working so far -- better than what I tried doing last year!