Post-vacation slump

Vacation was, in a word, awesome.   The Traverse City region of Michigan is beautiful, with tons of great outdoor activities.   We hiked the sand dunes, wandered around on the shore of Lake Michigan, went fishing, kayaked and generally had a fantastic time.

In the midst of all this, I even managed to get a couple runs in with my lovely friend Nana.   Being the early risers of the group, we headed out before the others woke (and generally got back before that as well).   The first day my cell phone was dead so we just ran straight run/walk intervals, but we actually went for nearly an hour, with a little trail running thrown in for good measure.   The next day my cell was charged so it was back to C25k.  We were a little slow, but in our defense we had climbed a massive dune the day before.  

I will say running with a friend was great fun.   It will be sort of sad to go back to running solo.   Well, I guess that is just inspiration to improve my running so I can go out with the local runners.   If that goes anywhere near as well as riding with the local group goes, I should have a fantastic view of the back of lots of people.   Sometimes I swear I recognize the local riders better from behind than in front.  

In case you haven't noticed, I'm having a bit of a pity party.   This is mostly because I can't seem to make any progress in the group rides.   Regardless of conditions, group makeup, or star positioning I seem to be firmly entrenched in the rear position.   Of course, I know the remedy to this...intervals.   But if I want to ride intervals, I need to stop being such a lazy rider and get out on my overly numerous rest days and do it.

Workout:  No run today (so tired), but I did ride 25 miles with a 16.5 mph average.   Much better than my ride yesterday, which was 18 miles in the 95 degree heat and humidity.  Heart rate monitors are great for showing you just how close to the line you are riding, and yesterday was ugly.  


And to close, a lovely picture from vacation:

!!!

I wasn't going to post today (since the only person who knows about this blog will be on vacation with me shortly), but I wanted to put this out here.

Workout:  1.8 miles / 5.1 mph!!

Crazy increase in average speed from one day to the next.  Though it probably explains why the last hill was a doozy.

Pre-vacation post

I am leaving on vacation tomorrow, so this is just a brief update.   As a side note, I don't understand how I can manage to pack so much stuff for a four night trip.   Good grief.

Anyhow, on the training front, I did my first 5:30AM run today.  It also happened to be the first day of week 3.   The run went very well, if I do say so myself.   I actually found myself thinking that the workout was too easy, which is a nice change from gasping for air every time the computer says "Start running".   I feel like I could have run harder, but I'm trying for that balance between going all out and actually being able to finish the workout without hating life.   

The workout:  1.8 miles / 4.3 mph

While on vacation, I hope to get some runs in with my friend Nana.   It will be interesting to see how having someone else to run changes things.   Updates when I get back!

Study Day

The book and DVD on the Total Immersion swimming system came in today, so after tri practice was cancelled due to high winds and general "blah" I started working my way through the book.    I've made it through the introduction and overview of the system, and just started getting into the drills.   As it turns out, I know this system, as our Masters' swimming coach from this past winter was using many of the drills and methods outlined in the book.  However, for me, it makes it click so much clearer in my head to read the descriptions and rationale behind the movements.   I feel as though I could take to the pool tomorrow and start making new headway on improving my skills.   Whether or not that actually translates is, of course, another story.

My workout plan for today was to go to St. Olaf lake with the tri group folks and do some swimming and running.   Sadly, the wind was more than a little extreme, and Ann wisely (I think) cancelled.   No matter how awesome I might think I am in the water (which is not very), the fact remains that my swimming skills are basic at best and my body composition changes have made my old standby of "take a deep breath and float" not work as well as it used to.   Actually, it doesn't work very well at all, as I discovered to my chagrin at the pool last night.   So, no workout this evening, which was okay as it allowed me to get caught up on some things that need to be done before my trip to Michigan.

Sadly, tomorrow doesn't look good, either, as T-storms are supposed to be moving in.  I think I will try and get to bed early and wake up to run, or at least check and see if running is an option.   I'm ready to start week 3 of the C25k program, and I was browsing through the rest of the weeks and started to get sort of excited about running again.   I think it will go a lot smoother once I can actually put in what I consider to be a good workout.   30 minutes just doesn't cut it for me.    

2 out of 3

I started my run today with a wet t-shirt.  Not all the way wet, mind, just the bottom, from where I had dunked it in the river the day before.  I debated wearing a dry t-shirt, but I only had one left with me, and I wanted to wear it later.  So, wet t-shirt.   Normally, something like that would have bugged me, but it did not today, for a couple of reasons:  1) it was going to rain anyhow, so really, I was just getting a jump on things 2) it sorta made me look like I had been running really hard before, so I figured maybe I would not look so pathetic panting while "running" at 4 mph and 3) it was 77 degrees @ 7:45 AM, so a little extra cooling power was just fine by me.  

The run went well, for the most part.  I missed the first run section, so I ended up doing a walk section as a run (!), and then just picked up the second half of the next run section...so basically 3 min of running.  I kept my head up and chest out, as I mentioned yesterday, and the shoulder pain was noticeably better.   I did learn an important lesson though...NO FOOD.   Even with my puny amount of running I was ready to hork up the cereal bar I had eaten prior to the run.

The workout:  2.01 miles/4.3 mph

Then, just to be cool, this evening I went swimming at the OCC.   No, I'm not a member, but one of the guys in the bike club has set up a good deal with the OCC were we can come lap swim for an hour free of charge.  Not sure how that works, but it's pretty awesome as it's the only time I can really make it out for lap swims.   As far as the workout goes...well, it was pretty sad.  I've lost a lot of ground from this winter, actually, an astonishing amount.   Still, I'm not super worried about the swimming just yet.   Lots of people are bad at the swim, and I will have all winter to worry about that.   In the meantime, I'll be happy to get in the occasional workout.   

Tomorrow...tomorrow I'm going to try running before work.   I'm not super thrilled about it, but quite frankly, this morning showed me that morning runs are probably going to be my best bet if I want to get serious about this.  

Scratch that...it's 10:12PM and I'm no where near being asleep.   As I need to be in bed by at least 9:30 to make working up at 5 or 5:30 work...no.   

C25K

As a general rule, it seems that Couch to 5k is considered the be all end all of learning to run.   Ages ago I installed the app on my phone with the notion that I would use running as my cross training activity.   For a while I was pretty good...and by a while, I mean about two weeks.   After that, well, there was swimming and biking and pretty much anything other than doing this running thing.

However, now that I have decided to do a triathlon, learning to run more than a couple feet as taken on a new urgency.  So, this morning I put on my running knickers (love them!), slipped on my Buff and headed out the door.   Since I dislike restarting things, even when it makes sense, I ran C25K Week 2, day 2.

Good news:  I'm in better shape than I thought.   While I wasn't going to tell the little voice "no" when she said to start walking, I'm pretty sure I could have kept going.   Also, I covered a fair bit of ground.
Actual stats:  2.03 mi / 4.01mph avg

Bad news:  I still can't quite shake the shoulder pain I seem to get whenever I run.  As with most of my pains, though, I'm 99% certain it's bad form.  I need to focus on chin up, shoulders back, I think.

All in all, a successful outing, but I will say it's a good thing I have an abundance of ego, or I would have slunk away quietly when passed by the approximately 800 fit and fast people out running this morning as well.

Still, like the sign says:

Bookish

Well, it's official.  My knee, which I injured cycling from what I imagine was probably a combination of poor fit and poorer decision making, is still injured.   Last night's 33 mile ride left it sore and generally unhappy today, despite a higher cadence gear selection.   I suspect Katie at my LBS may be right, and I really need to just give it a week or so off.   Fortunately, I am going on vacation next week, which should prove to be the perfect opportunity to do just that (after putting in a few more rides, of course).  

Whilst waiting for my knee to sort itself out, I have checked out a book on training for triathlons from the library.   As a naturally bookish sort, I like to gather all the information available to me, and then decide to do something completely different.   It's...informed trail-blazing.  

Workout status:  No biking or running today, thanks to the knee.   I did a bunch of push ups (modified), planks and some squats.   Just trying to get back into the swing of things.   Well, actually, I did run...from the library home in the midst of a downpour.   Not sure that counts though.  

Starting off slow

Well, so far...so far.   I have yet to work up the ambition to start my running program again, as all I think of when I think of running is pain.   This is actually sort of funny as I am sitting here typing this with an ice pack wrapped around my knee due to the 36 mile bike ride I just put in.  But yes, running = pain.  

I did do a small portion of my strength training last night.  I was terribly slow at swimming last winter, and I'm hoping that putting a little more muscle on my arms will help with that.   Well, that and losing another 50-70 lbs.    Along those same lines, I'm trying to increase my cadence while biking (the only part of triathlon that I'm actively doing...hmm).   My theory there is that I must kick faster to go faster, and biking faster is sort of like kicking.  We'll see.

The local bike/tri group has weekly training sessions at a lake near here.   I'm trying to decide if I have the mental fortitude to go to this training when I a) swim very slow and b) run even slower.   Still, I don't have a lot of opportunities to swim, so maybe I could just go and swim whilst everyone else does the whole shebang.  

The biggest step towards doing a tri that I have actually accomplished this week is telling *everyone* I know that I intend to do a triathlon.   I figure if I tell enough people, I pretty much have to, right?

Obligatory Introductory Post

I went to my first triathlon (Trinona, if you are interested) today to cheer on some friends from the local bike club.  Watching all those athletes go through the grueling stages of the race was awe-inspiring.   Having said that, a strange thought crept into my head...I bet I could do that.   It's a strange thought because I'm not used to thinking in those kinds of terms for anything physical.  I am a lifelong bookworm, hopeless at sports and more than a little clumsy.   But, in the last year I have started down a new path, and apparently this path has led me to a point where I watch people cramping in the last 100m of a 10k run and think "Yeah, that might be fun".  

At this point, I feel I should explain my back story a bit.   I'm going to write this as though you are a stranger, though odds are that you aren't.    Still, there's a lot that even my friends may not know about this journey I've been on, so perhaps it will be interesting to those who know me anyhow.  

In late March of 2011, I decided to imitate my best friend and lose some weight.   I'll admit I was more than a little motivated by the thought that if she lost weight, that would leave me as the sole fat friend and somehow that just wasn't cool.   Besides, a number of things had occurred in the year prior to bring to my attention that I was no longer just overweight, but that I had crossed a dangerous line into morbidly obese.    I had reached a point where my weight was limiting what I could do, like buying a kayak or snowshoes, and I was sick of it.   So, I set up an account with Lose It! and set about tracking my calories.    When I recorded my first weight, I entered 320 lbs.   It was a guess, and I later found it was low by about 10 lbs.  

Me at my heaviest 

I bought a bike and set about trying to get fit.    I never suffered from body image issues, and have been blessed with a rather resilient ego.   So, I never could use appearance as a motivator for very long.  On the other hand, I am perhaps overly proud, and being the friend left gasping for air on a hike was a good kick in the bum for my ambition when my enthusiasm began to flag.    My first ride was three miles on flat trail, and I thought I was going to die.   I wanted to ride with the Ladies' Ride my LBS had told me about, but I knew the short ride was about 10 miles.  I was going to have to work to get there.    So, I rode and over time I started to build up endurance.   Eventually I was doing 10 miles and then one day, almost by accident, I did my first 20 mile ride...and nothing has really been the same since.

Nowadays I ride a carbon beauty of a road bike and wear spandex shorts and worry about things like cadence and proper refueling strategies.   I have gone from someone who couldn't walk up the stairs to my apartment without huffing and puffing to being someone who considers a 20 mile ride recovery.   I am over 100 lbs lighter than I was a year ago,and while I have a ways to go before I can be considered a healthy weight, I am fitter than I have ever been in my life and, in the secret parts of my mind, consider myself something of an athlete.

Me in June 2012

And this is where the triathlon comes in.   I have a competitive streak that I can't quite kick, and it has attached itself rather tightly to my cycling.   I'm not very fast, and probably never will be, but I have a tolerance for doing things that rather suck while you are doing them...and I'm pretty sure a triathlon falls firmly into that category.   I'm a passable cyclist, a miserable swimmer, and can't run to save my life.    The person I was a year ago would scoff and walk away, ignoring that niggling thought that maybe just maybe I can do this thing.   Thing is, I'm no longer that person, and I'm pretty sure I want to kick ass.