I'm a bit overdue for this blog but honestly, don't have much to say at this point. I had one helluva week personally & just didn't have the time to blog...let alone take some time for myself. I guess my training IS my time for myself these days...LOL How did THAT happen? I'm still not working full-time, but working part time doing some inside sales and finding that I'm loving it...and loving being back amongst the working :)
I do want to thank a few of my friends who noticed me having a rough morning on Saturday. I guess it showed & nothing like a big bear hug & kiss on the cheek with a "now go have a good workout" from a friend's husband...sometimes it's the little things that make you smile. Not sure if he'll read this but thanks Nick!!! You made the girls at the front desk very jealous...LOL And Jen C, oops, Jen S, your pep talk about training & your Ironman experiences truly did help. Loved your suggestions & really, it came at the perfect time. I hope you can find the time, if not to come to Madison, to track my progress on Sept 9th! I still have your trainer too, thank you!
Other than that, pretty much status quo. My right leg/shin/calf is pissing me off right now so I'm taking this week off of running. Nothing major, calf feels very tight & the stretching & foam rolling doesn't seem to be helping. I have a huge bruise on my inner shin on the same leg & that has been causing me a bit of grief this past week...so resting it. Biking is good, swimming is good (relatively speaking, of course) and life is (sorta) good!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Morning girl here...
OK, truth be told, I am a morning person. As much as I HATE getting up at 5:30am, or 5am, or, as I did at least once last week, 4:45am...I am a morning person. I like to workout in the morning. Take one shower & I'm done. Get it done before my day goes berserk or I just "don't feel like it" later on. The hardest part for me is just getting out of bed. But once I'm up, I'm loving my morning workouts. These past few weeks, back at the gym at the crack of dawn, I felt at home...and I even think I had better workouts then when I was being a bum and going in late morning.
So now I'm starting to struggle. My workouts are getting longer & at some point (this week?) I just won't be able to get the full workout in in the morning. I have to figure out just how early is my breaking point...before I have to give in and split up the workouts. UGH...how is it that I totally did not think about this before signing up for an Ironman? I HATE working out in the evening...hate is a strong word, but it's truly how I feel. Yes, I swam Masters for a few years...liked Masters, hated the fact that I had to come back at night. No doubt I skipped a few just because I didn't feel like working out again.
So, any veteran Ironmen reading this ever struggle with the same thing? Am I going to ultimately have to work out twice a day? I do realize there are probably some workouts where I'll need recovery time (again, wasn't thinking about this prior to signing up)...but I really am dreading it. God help me when I find a full-time job & have to be at work at 8 or 9am...maybe I'll start playing the Lotto ;)
So now I'm starting to struggle. My workouts are getting longer & at some point (this week?) I just won't be able to get the full workout in in the morning. I have to figure out just how early is my breaking point...before I have to give in and split up the workouts. UGH...how is it that I totally did not think about this before signing up for an Ironman? I HATE working out in the evening...hate is a strong word, but it's truly how I feel. Yes, I swam Masters for a few years...liked Masters, hated the fact that I had to come back at night. No doubt I skipped a few just because I didn't feel like working out again.
So, any veteran Ironmen reading this ever struggle with the same thing? Am I going to ultimately have to work out twice a day? I do realize there are probably some workouts where I'll need recovery time (again, wasn't thinking about this prior to signing up)...but I really am dreading it. God help me when I find a full-time job & have to be at work at 8 or 9am...maybe I'll start playing the Lotto ;)
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Who would've thought?
...that I'd be sitting out on my deck at 5:30pm on March 11th...wearing shorts & a long sleeve tee shirt...as I write this blog? What a great weekend!! It seems like everyone was outside today. I'm actually a little bummed I didn't carry insurance on my motorcycle through this winter...how fun that would've been to go for a ride in mid-March!! Ha! And just now I got a text from a fellow tri friend who said "first moto ride of 2012 done"! Nice Joe...I'm jealous!!
Seriously though, I spent the entire day yesterday outside. If you didn't know, I volunteer at PACT Humane Society at the Petco in Bloomingdale. And I know I've posted a pic, but I'm fostering a lab/terrier mix named Erin. She often runs with me, but not always. This is her :) I'm watching her race from one side of my yard to the other right now, back & forth. There must be dogs or kids on bikes walking by...she loves to chase! If she were a cat, she would've lost 2 lives today!!!
We had a dog adoption event yesterday & I figured it out...not counting all my time INSIDE the shelter doing whatever, I spent over 3 hours walking dogs. A few times I just sat down in a grassy area & let them play or roll around in the grass like dogs like to. It was so nice out I didn't care that by the end of the day, my feet hurt & I actually had blisters! Never had a blister from running, but yesterday I got 2 walking dogs.
Oh, I suppose I should admit though, I did not ride outside yesterday. Admittedly, I can do it, but I'm not good at changing the back tire (or front for that matter) on my bike. And I'm not ready to take my trainer tire off until I know for a fact the weather will be consistently warm. Plus, I had to be at the shelter early so at 7:45am when I hopped on my trainer, it was still winter cold outside ;)
And on my run today, everyone was outside. Kids playing in shorts, motorcycles everywhere, bikes...the only thing I didn't see (or smell) was a backyard BBQ!! Might've been tempted to stop if I had...LOL I mean, it's MARCH!! We know how bad March usually is...heck, the cold & unpredictable weather is the main reason I never run the Shamrock Shuffle (although isn't this the 2nd year it's been moved to April?)...I digress. I mean, I remember seeing it on TV a few years ago & it was snowing...slushy, wet snow. Yukko! Not me! So this weekend I was a happy camper! Now let's hope that rain that's predicted for this week misses us...and here's to Spring which is right around the corner!
Seriously though, I spent the entire day yesterday outside. If you didn't know, I volunteer at PACT Humane Society at the Petco in Bloomingdale. And I know I've posted a pic, but I'm fostering a lab/terrier mix named Erin. She often runs with me, but not always. This is her :) I'm watching her race from one side of my yard to the other right now, back & forth. There must be dogs or kids on bikes walking by...she loves to chase! If she were a cat, she would've lost 2 lives today!!!
Oh, I suppose I should admit though, I did not ride outside yesterday. Admittedly, I can do it, but I'm not good at changing the back tire (or front for that matter) on my bike. And I'm not ready to take my trainer tire off until I know for a fact the weather will be consistently warm. Plus, I had to be at the shelter early so at 7:45am when I hopped on my trainer, it was still winter cold outside ;)
And on my run today, everyone was outside. Kids playing in shorts, motorcycles everywhere, bikes...the only thing I didn't see (or smell) was a backyard BBQ!! Might've been tempted to stop if I had...LOL I mean, it's MARCH!! We know how bad March usually is...heck, the cold & unpredictable weather is the main reason I never run the Shamrock Shuffle (although isn't this the 2nd year it's been moved to April?)...I digress. I mean, I remember seeing it on TV a few years ago & it was snowing...slushy, wet snow. Yukko! Not me! So this weekend I was a happy camper! Now let's hope that rain that's predicted for this week misses us...and here's to Spring which is right around the corner!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Getting back to normal...
So this was the week! This was the week I was going to start getting up early again and getting back to my "routine". For months, although I'm still working out in the mornings, I've been sleeping later & later, working out later & later, the "business" part of my days has been starting later & later. Don't get me wrong, I've thoroughly enjoyed sleeping 9+ hours each night! But something's been missing. It's a totally different crowd at the gym at 9am vs. 6am. I've missed my friends...I've been wanting to start going back early again but just never did it.
So this week was it! I was going to ease into it though...would I need to be dragged ouf of bed this early?
I didn't know...maybe?
Monday I made myself get up at 7am. Yes, that's early for me...and it was my rest day on top of it. Woo hoo...success! Tuesday, 6:30. Another success, and yet still, a trainer workout so didn't even go to the gym. Yesterday...6am. It's getting easier. And I got to the gym & saw a bunch of old friends. Saw lots of surprised faces, got a few "welcome back to the real world" comments. It felt good. And surprisingly, wasn't that difficult to get up. Then there was today... the dreaded 5:30am wake up. Go figure, 5am I'm wide awake. By 5:25, after laying in bed for 25 minutes, I said screw it & got up. At the gym working out by 6:30 (yes, having the foster dog adds 30 minutes to my morning routine). This one felt great!!
It's amazing how quickly you fall out of a habit. Hard to form a habit but easy to fall out of it! You hear it all the time...it takes 90 days, 6 weeks, 3 months, whatever...to form a habit but less than 1/2 that time to break it. Exactly what happened to me. But I'm back. And it felt great. And I look forward to being in the pool tomorrow morning at 6:30am. Oh, don't get crazy on me...the excited part is about the 6:30...not excited to be swimming. That's still a ways away ;) And who knows, maybe next week I'll get up at 5am...
So this week was it! I was going to ease into it though...would I need to be dragged ouf of bed this early?
Monday I made myself get up at 7am. Yes, that's early for me...and it was my rest day on top of it. Woo hoo...success! Tuesday, 6:30. Another success, and yet still, a trainer workout so didn't even go to the gym. Yesterday...6am. It's getting easier. And I got to the gym & saw a bunch of old friends. Saw lots of surprised faces, got a few "welcome back to the real world" comments. It felt good. And surprisingly, wasn't that difficult to get up. Then there was today... the dreaded 5:30am wake up. Go figure, 5am I'm wide awake. By 5:25, after laying in bed for 25 minutes, I said screw it & got up. At the gym working out by 6:30 (yes, having the foster dog adds 30 minutes to my morning routine). This one felt great!!
It's amazing how quickly you fall out of a habit. Hard to form a habit but easy to fall out of it! You hear it all the time...it takes 90 days, 6 weeks, 3 months, whatever...to form a habit but less than 1/2 that time to break it. Exactly what happened to me. But I'm back. And it felt great. And I look forward to being in the pool tomorrow morning at 6:30am. Oh, don't get crazy on me...the excited part is about the 6:30...not excited to be swimming. That's still a ways away ;) And who knows, maybe next week I'll get up at 5am...
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Blah blah blah
That pretty much sums up how I've been feeling this week. Just haven't really been "into" anything. Not excited about anything in particular. Saw an old friend at the gym today, hadn't seen him in a while & he asked how I was, what was new, etc. I just sorta looked at him with a puzzled, blah, blah, blah look & shrugged my shoulders. Needless to say, that was a short conversation. I was even approached at the gym by some guy who introduced himself to me about 2 weeks ago...apparently I wasn't smiling while working out like I normally do & he asked if I was ok. I'm now sitting at my computer watching the snow fall, secretly hoping it'll be so bad by 6pm that I will decide to bail on Master's swim...humm, doubt that will happen!
Been very sore this week too. Not sure why (really Jen, can't figure it out). I always warm up before my workouts, always. I always stretch after, always. But this week I'm walking around with very sore quads, lower shins, just achy in general. Foam rolling is not helping! Although, admittedly, when I roll over the sore parts, it hurts, so I decrease the pressure, or stop.
And trust me, feeling like this now is making me think how the heck am I going to do an Ironman?? Really...I'm working out what...11+ hours a week, heck, the Ironman will take me longer than that alone! How on earth do people do this? Surely I can't be the only person who's doubted themselves so early???!!!
So maybe it's the weather. Or the job search that's going nowhere. Whatever it is, that's all I have today. Don't have anything else to say right now...just blah blah blah But I hear the snowflakes that are falling right now are huge...I think I'm going to take Erin outside in the snow. Until next time ;)
Been very sore this week too. Not sure why (really Jen, can't figure it out). I always warm up before my workouts, always. I always stretch after, always. But this week I'm walking around with very sore quads, lower shins, just achy in general. Foam rolling is not helping! Although, admittedly, when I roll over the sore parts, it hurts, so I decrease the pressure, or stop.
And trust me, feeling like this now is making me think how the heck am I going to do an Ironman?? Really...I'm working out what...11+ hours a week, heck, the Ironman will take me longer than that alone! How on earth do people do this? Surely I can't be the only person who's doubted themselves so early???!!!
So maybe it's the weather. Or the job search that's going nowhere. Whatever it is, that's all I have today. Don't have anything else to say right now...just blah blah blah But I hear the snowflakes that are falling right now are huge...I think I'm going to take Erin outside in the snow. Until next time ;)
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Training naked...
Did I get your attention? LOL...I just read Kelly Williamson's article on Ironman.com about shutting off the numbers and listening to your body during a race. This got me thinking. Appropriately timed, as I just had a run where I had to go "by feel" and "not look at devices". That run was soooo hard for me to do, purely because I had to force myself NOT to look at my heart rate monitor. I thought to myself, I am a slave to my heart rate monitor. If I am, I wonder how many other people are? Seriously, I wear that thing for every workout. OK, except swim but ONLY because for some reason I lose my heart rate on the watch (displays 00) while swimming. And I hate that. Whether I'm checking it for heart rate, calories burned, time spent exercising, which zone I'm in, that watch is always on my wrist.
I ran a 10k in 2010, the Sycamore Pumpkin Run. Shortly after the race started I looked at my watch & it displayed 00 as the heart rate. I never got it back. Crap, I thought! I knew my heart rate was sky high but the watch pooping out on me forced me to run based on how I felt. Granted, it was a race. And I had Coach Joe's words "10k's are great because they are not too short and just long enough where you can run to the point where you feel like you're going to puke, but don't". That seriously was probably the last time I did any kind of workout without a heart rate monitor!
I lost the computer on my bike this summer...it popped off while riding & was run over by a car (yes, we had gone back to find it on our way back). I haven't replaced it yet. The few outdoor rides I did after that sucked...purely because I had no idea how far or how fast I was riding. Again, slave to the device...
Anyways, this article talked about at times, it's good to run (or whatever) and not look at the devices, just go based on how your body feels. So many things can affect our performance anyways - weather, terrain, how you feel that day, race conditions...so go ahead, I dare you! Turn it off & train naked for a day :)
Here's a link to the article if you didn't see it: http://ironman.com/training/kelly-williamson-offers-some-tips-on-race-day-strategy?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ironman%2Ftopstories+%28Ironman.com+Top+Stories%29#axzz1mUGohF7L
I ran a 10k in 2010, the Sycamore Pumpkin Run. Shortly after the race started I looked at my watch & it displayed 00 as the heart rate. I never got it back. Crap, I thought! I knew my heart rate was sky high but the watch pooping out on me forced me to run based on how I felt. Granted, it was a race. And I had Coach Joe's words "10k's are great because they are not too short and just long enough where you can run to the point where you feel like you're going to puke, but don't". That seriously was probably the last time I did any kind of workout without a heart rate monitor!
I lost the computer on my bike this summer...it popped off while riding & was run over by a car (yes, we had gone back to find it on our way back). I haven't replaced it yet. The few outdoor rides I did after that sucked...purely because I had no idea how far or how fast I was riding. Again, slave to the device...
Anyways, this article talked about at times, it's good to run (or whatever) and not look at the devices, just go based on how your body feels. So many things can affect our performance anyways - weather, terrain, how you feel that day, race conditions...so go ahead, I dare you! Turn it off & train naked for a day :)
Here's a link to the article if you didn't see it: http://ironman.com/training/kelly-williamson-offers-some-tips-on-race-day-strategy?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ironman%2Ftopstories+%28Ironman.com+Top+Stories%29#axzz1mUGohF7L
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Swimmers !!
It's 3:20am as I'm writing this, another night unable to sleep. Figured I may as well make use of this time :) LOL
So I'm calling this one "Swimmers" because I don't consider myself one. Yet? I hope so because 7 months from tomorrow I'm going to have to swim 2.4 miles in open water! So this week I spent a lot of time thinking about swimming, while swimming. After all, what else is there to do while swimming? Oh, I've thought about things I needed to do that day, grocery shopping lists, what to make for dinner, my unsuccessful job hunting these days, the shelter I volunteer at, trying to find Erin, my foster dog, a forever home, you name it, it's crossed my mind while swimming.
But this week in particular I found myself thinking about my abilities vs. other people. Probably not a good idea to be comparing myself to other swimmers I'm thinking. I told Coach Jen this week I think I have 2 speeds...slow/easy & fast (although, let's be honest, my "fast" is probably moderate to most people). If the plan didn't call for fast, I swam slow & easy. All the time. So this week I decided to consciously try to add in "moderate" while swimming. Now I'm not timing myself, but going off of perceived exercion. And I can feel it. Well I can't tell you how many times I was swimming "moderately" and you know how you can see people in the lanes next to you? You know they're there, not racing you, probably not even paying attention to the fact that you're next to them. But I was paying attention! I can't tell you how many times I thought I was cruising along at a fairly moderate pace & there they went...right past me!! WTF??? How is it that even when I'm swimming moderately, people are STILL passing me? My masters swim coach video taped us last week & emailed me the video with some comments. I still haven't looked at it...she taped me swimming "fast" and when she showed it to me on her camera immediately after, I said "that's me swimming FAST? Can't be...I look so SLOW!!!"
UGH, so I keep at it. Today I didn't even want to go to masters. But I did. And the good news is I'm now doing her hard workout (more distance) because the others are too short for the hour class. I have a ways to go. I may never be fast. I'm just hoping for faster...
Oh, and this is Erin...my foster dog. She's looking for a forever home...She's a lab/terrier mix, about 2-1/2 years old, about 44 lbs. Housebroken, crate trained, graduated obedience class (knows her commands!), loves to run (yes...she was my running partner until I started w/ Coach Jen...she's not happy with me right now as she's not able to run w/ me much anymore), she's very sweet & loves to gives kisses. She is probably better for a home with a fenced in yard, older kids & the only dog in the house. If you know someone who might be interested, please contact me...she deserves a good home...isn't she cute???
So I'm calling this one "Swimmers" because I don't consider myself one. Yet? I hope so because 7 months from tomorrow I'm going to have to swim 2.4 miles in open water! So this week I spent a lot of time thinking about swimming, while swimming. After all, what else is there to do while swimming? Oh, I've thought about things I needed to do that day, grocery shopping lists, what to make for dinner, my unsuccessful job hunting these days, the shelter I volunteer at, trying to find Erin, my foster dog, a forever home, you name it, it's crossed my mind while swimming.
But this week in particular I found myself thinking about my abilities vs. other people. Probably not a good idea to be comparing myself to other swimmers I'm thinking. I told Coach Jen this week I think I have 2 speeds...slow/easy & fast (although, let's be honest, my "fast" is probably moderate to most people). If the plan didn't call for fast, I swam slow & easy. All the time. So this week I decided to consciously try to add in "moderate" while swimming. Now I'm not timing myself, but going off of perceived exercion. And I can feel it. Well I can't tell you how many times I was swimming "moderately" and you know how you can see people in the lanes next to you? You know they're there, not racing you, probably not even paying attention to the fact that you're next to them. But I was paying attention! I can't tell you how many times I thought I was cruising along at a fairly moderate pace & there they went...right past me!! WTF??? How is it that even when I'm swimming moderately, people are STILL passing me? My masters swim coach video taped us last week & emailed me the video with some comments. I still haven't looked at it...she taped me swimming "fast" and when she showed it to me on her camera immediately after, I said "that's me swimming FAST? Can't be...I look so SLOW!!!"
UGH, so I keep at it. Today I didn't even want to go to masters. But I did. And the good news is I'm now doing her hard workout (more distance) because the others are too short for the hour class. I have a ways to go. I may never be fast. I'm just hoping for faster...
Oh, and this is Erin...my foster dog. She's looking for a forever home...She's a lab/terrier mix, about 2-1/2 years old, about 44 lbs. Housebroken, crate trained, graduated obedience class (knows her commands!), loves to run (yes...she was my running partner until I started w/ Coach Jen...she's not happy with me right now as she's not able to run w/ me much anymore), she's very sweet & loves to gives kisses. She is probably better for a home with a fenced in yard, older kids & the only dog in the house. If you know someone who might be interested, please contact me...she deserves a good home...isn't she cute???
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