Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Crosstraining

Cross training is a good thing.

That's why multi-sports are great, because it forces you to cross train if it's not a natural thing for you.

So yesterday my temperature on my car read 97 when I went to the park to ride at 5pm. Actually, it didn't really feel that bad. It was only bad when I was riding up the hills, but really it was fine. There's no way I can run in that heat, but I can bike or swim in it, so I never have an excuse for not working out.

Excuses : Cross training Solution

Hip hurts : Swim
Storming out side : Swim
Don't want to get wet : Run or Bike
Don't have a lot of time : Short Run
Hot out : Bike or Swim
Cold out : Anything Inside
Bored : Get over it! ;)

I'm sure there are many other excuses, these are just a few.

You should take time off for rest for sure. But if you're planning to work out a particular day and don't feel like anything and you can't make the workout up later in the week, my general rule is to at least start something and go for at least 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, if you're just not feeling it, then go ahead and quit, but 99% of the time, once you're into it, you'll finish your workout.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Back at it

Well, I took last week for the most part off after my first triathlon. I did swim on Wednesday and Bike on Saturday, but that was pretty much it. But it was funny because ALL week I felt lethargic and guilty for not working out. Isn't that ridiculous? I also gained 2 pounds. Not too worried about it, but it just goes to show you when you stop working out, you need to cut back on your eating!

But this week I'm back at it. I started yesterday with an "easy" 12 mile hilly ride and 2 miles of sprinting. Today is swimming and running. I'm glad to be back at it, I have so much more energy when I work out, however my body needs rest, so I have to force myself to do it.

Sunday, June 3, 2007

I did it!!!

Well, it's done! My very first outdoor triathlon under my belt and it feels AWESOME! I am officially a triathlete. Oh by the way, I didn't even wear the wet suit. The water was too warm!!! So that means I'll have to keep doing them to get my use out of it. ;)

I finished in 1:34 minutes, a time I am very happy with. Just as a recap, it was a 400M swim, 16K bike, 5K run.

My goal was to finish, not get injured and not be last. My stretch goal was to finish in about 1 1/2 hours. I met all goals! And a bonus, I was *not* last in my age group! Yay!!

I thoroughly enjoyed myself today. I was a little nervous last night and didn't sleep really very sound, but when I got up and got ready (at 4:45 am!!!) I was feeling good.

The swim wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but it was a beach start, so you could walk some of it in and out. But I finished the swim in under 12 minutes, which I was pretty happy about.

I felt the best on the bike. It was a little windy, but i think that was my best leg of the race.

I was slow on the run. It took me about 38 minutes (4 minutes slower than I generally run if I run only a 5k). But I ran the whole thing, which I was *very* happy about.

I feel great. After my indoor tri in the winter, I was kinda down on myself, but I don't even care anymore what "place" I get. I just want to meet my goals I set for myself, be healthy and have fun. I am looking forward to Kensington, though it is a much hard triathlon than this one. It's a 800m swim, 20k very hilly bike and 5k very hilly run. But I have 7 weeks to continue preparation. This week, I am going to take it a little easy, and then next week it's out to the park and work my ass off!

One more thing. My husband is incredible. He got up at 4:45 and drove me to Lansing just to encourage me and take these awesome pictures. Here they are:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69742387@N00/sets/72157600953718025/