31 December 2013
21 March 2013
triathlon club - 100th mile!
i just realized that during the practice beaver freezer, i ran my 100th training mile! of course, i'm sure i've run more than that in my life time, but since october when i started training in earnest, i've run (now) over 100 miles!
a milestone i'm somewhat proud of!
a milestone i'm somewhat proud of!
17 March 2013
triathlon club - PRACTICE RACE WRITEUP
PRACTICE BEAVER FREEZER!
wake up time: 7am
breakfast: tigers milk bar, banana, chai tea
chatted with friends on facebook till 8.
apply aveeno baby to chafe prone areas
put my socks on to stretch them out slightly, making them easier to get on at the race.
filled my water bottle / gatorade bottle
got 3 ziplock baggies
1st bag
warm clothes: warm hat, warm gloves, warm headband, neck tube
2nd bag
swim items: swim cap, 2 sets swim goggles, small towel
3rd bag
bike/run clothes: 2 long sleeve performance shirts (1 w/zipper pocket in back), spandex shorts, bandana, headband, bike gloves, run gloves, sunglasses
in the backpack itself:
garbage bag, tights, water bottle, pouch w/ID, phone, cash
wore:
bathing suit, sweatpants, sweatshirt, windbreaker w/chapstick, throat drops, powerbar in pocket [i will open the powerbar next time], socks, sneakers, fleece gloves, watch, silver turtle necklace
on the bike:
water bottle w/gatorade, bike pouch w/tubes, CO2 adapter & canister, bike tool, gumby
leave house at 8:45am
get to dixon before 9am
stand around while people try to figure out what is needed and what they're doing
other racers arrive - brandon, jason, will
after bike rack and canopy get set up, we set our bikes on the rack facing out, dangling by the reflectors. we then get a speech by taz (our coach) on the flow of the race and how things are going to go. also some tips on setting up our transition zone, like putting down a towel and putting things out in the order you're going to put them on: shirt/tights, socks/shoes, gloves/hat/neckwarmer, windbreaker, sunglasses, helmet, run things (bandana). [i will bring a larger towel or maybe 2 next time]
the sequence will be: go into the pool, swim, run out the side door and down the sidewalk to the bikes, put on your clothes over your swimsuit, put on your helmet and head off on the bike, bike the course, come back, set the bike on the rack, take off helmet, grab run stuff, do run course, finish.
we go into the pool and the pool coordinator tells us how it will go. line up in the lane in terms of who will go fastest to slowest. if the person behind you taps you 2-3 times on the foot, when you get to the wall, let them pass. this is important to talk about before you get in. know your time and know that others are going to lie about theirs.
we do some warming up in the pool, about 5 minutes. this is good because i wasn't sure we would have this on race day. still not sure if we will. but was good to have it. i hadn't swam in several weeks with any regularity so i was a bit nervous that i wasn't going to be very good at the swimming. i was already feeling out of breath with the warmup, but i think part of it was nerves. i was nervous despite knowing that this wasn't a race and no one was judging me and it was all just to get the experience.
we get to the deep end and the swim coordinator says, on your mark, go! and the first people go. i was in the second group that left 5 seconds later. i would say that i thought i felt like i was drafting, but that maybe lasted for 30 seconds and then i realized that i was going to be plenty far behind this guy for the whole time.
i noticed that i started out too fast, because by the 3rd lap i was thinking to myself, "i might not be able to do this without stopping. i might have to stop and breathe." and i think around the 4th lap i let my lanemate pass me. at that point i said to myself, "you can do this. just take it one lap at a time. one lap at a time." so from then on, i said the lap number out loud when i got to the deep end wall. touch the wall, say, "six" then take off again. at this point i was able to let myself relax a tiny bit and try to work on my breathing first. i was breathing every other stroke which is uncommon for me at this point. i have gotten very comfortable with breathing every 3rd stroke, alternating sides. once i got that back on track, i started thinking about my stroke and the technical aspects. i spent a little time making sure i slid my hands straight ahead on the train tracks and tried not to cross in front of my face. i also spent some time pulling back with my elbow up if i could. and then i saw the blue kickboard waving in my face and i had one length to go. got to the end of the pool, climbed out, and everyone was pointing to the door. so i ran (carefully) for it.
at this point i take off my swim cap and goggles and get outside and it's 40something degrees and i'm wet and wearing only a bathing suit and running down the sidewalk barefoot. i don't notice pain or anything other than the sidewalk is cold and there are people. i say, "excuse me" and go past them. i can't imagine what they are thinking, other than they might have just seen the other 3 people run by in their bathing suits.
get to the bike, realize it is cold and i am shaking - from cold or swimming exertion i don't know - dry off my feet and legs, put on my tights but not well - i think they are hanging off my butt but i don't care. put on my shirt. put on my socks and one feels bunchy but not bad, get my shoes on, put on my windbreaker and get my helmet and sunglasses on. taz says, "zip your coat" so i do it. i choose the warm/run gloves over the padded gloves and hop on the bike and take off.
the first few pedal strokes i'm getting my feet into the toe cages. then i'm climbing up 26th to campus way. the first part of the bike is pretty easy and i know the way as it was part of what i rode during the week as practice. i get to MLK park pretty quickly and think "hey this isn't so bad." i'm glad i'm wearing everything i'm wearing. i see the others go by on their bikes. they are cruising. i hope i'll be cruising soon. i am going up a slight hill and hope to be going faster when i turn around and come back down the hill, but after the turnaround i don't really notice any significant speed increase which is disappointing. i get to the next turn and make it, and then go past where i've been before into uncharted territory, at least on bike. i have driven to oak creek many times but haven't biked out that far before. it was not TOO far but 2 miles out and back from where i'd been before so 1/3 of the race.
at some point i see some people ahead and realize one of the racers is stopped and is getting helped. apparently one of his pedals just came clear off his bike, with his foot clipped into it. they seemed fine so i rode on, got to the turnaround, and headed back. but there was one place where i envisioned i should turn left but actually i was supposed to go straight. so i got tied up a little at that light since i was in the wrong lane. nothing too bad.
got back to campus and put the bike on the rack, took off my helmet and glasses (didn't need them at all - wasn't sunny and was misting a tiny bit) but kept on the gloves, put on my tie dye headband, yanked up my pants a little, took off running.
realized right away that i was going to have that funny leg feeling people talked about in the blogs. they suggest that you do your training where you bike awhile then go for a jog afterwards to get used to the feeling. had i done that? no. so i had the weird leg feeling where it felt like i was running in super slow motion. but the people from the club were along the route cheering for me and telling me i could do it. along campus way my first time, 2 of the guys passed me and we cheered a little and did high fives. by the 1/2 mile mark i felt a little relieved of the weirdness and the 2 girls who were on the course were screaming at me "you can do it! whoo yeah first place girl in the race! yeah!" and i realized, yeah, i was the only girl in this race, so i was going to be the first (and only) girl to finish. came around the corner to jefferson and there was the hill by the library. i sprinted up it (best i could) as we had in practice, but when i got to the top i was seriously out of breath. i used the whole rest of the straightaway to catch my breath and battle a little cramp i was getting. i think this is where the 3rd guy passed me. the first lap i did in about 10 minutes.
at that point i felt pretty tired and thought maybe i will have to walk. but i said to myself, "one lap at a time, you can do this, just get around one more time." so that's what i did. on the second lap i really focused on letting my legs do the work on the very slight decline. i tried to think about being a little kid and just letting your legs go as you go down a big hill. it wasn't that dramatic, but i tried to not think about using my legs so much so they could get a tiny relief. and when i tried to sprint up the hill the second time, it wasn't much of a sprint at all. but i did see pat and marylin breen at that time, which was a nice little distraction. the second lap i finished in around 10 minutes.
by the third lap i realized everyone was done or was going to be done soon. i felt a little bad that they were all going to have to stand around in their shorts and wait for me to finish this last lap, which would likely take 10 minutes, but what can you do. they all had each other. i was going to finish this last lap. let my legs go on the last decline, tried to breathe to get rid of the cramp, attempted to sprint the hill which was a failure, recovered a little, and then karl came out of some driveway and started riding with me and cheering me on. he told me to relax my arms away from my body. keep breathing. almost there. at the third mile mark, i was just under 10 minutes. last push. when i got to the sharp corner i hadn't realized just how sharp the corner was and went wide, but was able to sprint to the finish, where everyone who was waiting made a tunnel for me to run through.
i did it!
there was cheering and jubilation and then someone talked about swim lap times and we figured out that i did my swim in around 10 minutes. which is slower than i did in practice (8:58) but that was probably a month ago and in the middle of practice when i was very warmed up and comfortable and breathing easy. taz was really supportive of all of us, telling us how great we did and how we learned some things (one guy forgot his swim goggles so he borrowed mine, then there was the pedal coming off...) and we were now ready for our first real tri! we even got beer glasses to prove we'd done this race - since we won't be able to do it in real time because we have to work it as a fundraiser.
swim time: 500 yards - 10:05
bike time: 12 miles - 46:49
run time: 3.1 miles - 30:04
overall, a pretty good day! i saw myself in the mirror when i went back into the gym to get my warm clothes and my face was red all over. but that is common for me.
it got me thinking i really need to see someone about the possibility of exercise induced asthma. but i digress.
that night i got in the hot tub even though it wasn't hot. and the next day, the only thing that really hurt were my shoulders and neck a little. oh, and that blister between my big and next toe. but overall, i would say i could probably do it again. so maybe i will!
ps. happy st patricks day!
wake up time: 7am
breakfast: tigers milk bar, banana, chai tea
chatted with friends on facebook till 8.
apply aveeno baby to chafe prone areas
put my socks on to stretch them out slightly, making them easier to get on at the race.
filled my water bottle / gatorade bottle
got 3 ziplock baggies
1st bag
warm clothes: warm hat, warm gloves, warm headband, neck tube
2nd bag
swim items: swim cap, 2 sets swim goggles, small towel
3rd bag
bike/run clothes: 2 long sleeve performance shirts (1 w/zipper pocket in back), spandex shorts, bandana, headband, bike gloves, run gloves, sunglasses
in the backpack itself:
garbage bag, tights, water bottle, pouch w/ID, phone, cash
wore:
bathing suit, sweatpants, sweatshirt, windbreaker w/chapstick, throat drops, powerbar in pocket [i will open the powerbar next time], socks, sneakers, fleece gloves, watch, silver turtle necklace
on the bike:
water bottle w/gatorade, bike pouch w/tubes, CO2 adapter & canister, bike tool, gumby
leave house at 8:45am
get to dixon before 9am
stand around while people try to figure out what is needed and what they're doing
other racers arrive - brandon, jason, will
after bike rack and canopy get set up, we set our bikes on the rack facing out, dangling by the reflectors. we then get a speech by taz (our coach) on the flow of the race and how things are going to go. also some tips on setting up our transition zone, like putting down a towel and putting things out in the order you're going to put them on: shirt/tights, socks/shoes, gloves/hat/neckwarmer, windbreaker, sunglasses, helmet, run things (bandana). [i will bring a larger towel or maybe 2 next time]
the sequence will be: go into the pool, swim, run out the side door and down the sidewalk to the bikes, put on your clothes over your swimsuit, put on your helmet and head off on the bike, bike the course, come back, set the bike on the rack, take off helmet, grab run stuff, do run course, finish.
we go into the pool and the pool coordinator tells us how it will go. line up in the lane in terms of who will go fastest to slowest. if the person behind you taps you 2-3 times on the foot, when you get to the wall, let them pass. this is important to talk about before you get in. know your time and know that others are going to lie about theirs.
we do some warming up in the pool, about 5 minutes. this is good because i wasn't sure we would have this on race day. still not sure if we will. but was good to have it. i hadn't swam in several weeks with any regularity so i was a bit nervous that i wasn't going to be very good at the swimming. i was already feeling out of breath with the warmup, but i think part of it was nerves. i was nervous despite knowing that this wasn't a race and no one was judging me and it was all just to get the experience.
we get to the deep end and the swim coordinator says, on your mark, go! and the first people go. i was in the second group that left 5 seconds later. i would say that i thought i felt like i was drafting, but that maybe lasted for 30 seconds and then i realized that i was going to be plenty far behind this guy for the whole time.
i noticed that i started out too fast, because by the 3rd lap i was thinking to myself, "i might not be able to do this without stopping. i might have to stop and breathe." and i think around the 4th lap i let my lanemate pass me. at that point i said to myself, "you can do this. just take it one lap at a time. one lap at a time." so from then on, i said the lap number out loud when i got to the deep end wall. touch the wall, say, "six" then take off again. at this point i was able to let myself relax a tiny bit and try to work on my breathing first. i was breathing every other stroke which is uncommon for me at this point. i have gotten very comfortable with breathing every 3rd stroke, alternating sides. once i got that back on track, i started thinking about my stroke and the technical aspects. i spent a little time making sure i slid my hands straight ahead on the train tracks and tried not to cross in front of my face. i also spent some time pulling back with my elbow up if i could. and then i saw the blue kickboard waving in my face and i had one length to go. got to the end of the pool, climbed out, and everyone was pointing to the door. so i ran (carefully) for it.
at this point i take off my swim cap and goggles and get outside and it's 40something degrees and i'm wet and wearing only a bathing suit and running down the sidewalk barefoot. i don't notice pain or anything other than the sidewalk is cold and there are people. i say, "excuse me" and go past them. i can't imagine what they are thinking, other than they might have just seen the other 3 people run by in their bathing suits.
get to the bike, realize it is cold and i am shaking - from cold or swimming exertion i don't know - dry off my feet and legs, put on my tights but not well - i think they are hanging off my butt but i don't care. put on my shirt. put on my socks and one feels bunchy but not bad, get my shoes on, put on my windbreaker and get my helmet and sunglasses on. taz says, "zip your coat" so i do it. i choose the warm/run gloves over the padded gloves and hop on the bike and take off.
the first few pedal strokes i'm getting my feet into the toe cages. then i'm climbing up 26th to campus way. the first part of the bike is pretty easy and i know the way as it was part of what i rode during the week as practice. i get to MLK park pretty quickly and think "hey this isn't so bad." i'm glad i'm wearing everything i'm wearing. i see the others go by on their bikes. they are cruising. i hope i'll be cruising soon. i am going up a slight hill and hope to be going faster when i turn around and come back down the hill, but after the turnaround i don't really notice any significant speed increase which is disappointing. i get to the next turn and make it, and then go past where i've been before into uncharted territory, at least on bike. i have driven to oak creek many times but haven't biked out that far before. it was not TOO far but 2 miles out and back from where i'd been before so 1/3 of the race.
at some point i see some people ahead and realize one of the racers is stopped and is getting helped. apparently one of his pedals just came clear off his bike, with his foot clipped into it. they seemed fine so i rode on, got to the turnaround, and headed back. but there was one place where i envisioned i should turn left but actually i was supposed to go straight. so i got tied up a little at that light since i was in the wrong lane. nothing too bad.
got back to campus and put the bike on the rack, took off my helmet and glasses (didn't need them at all - wasn't sunny and was misting a tiny bit) but kept on the gloves, put on my tie dye headband, yanked up my pants a little, took off running.
realized right away that i was going to have that funny leg feeling people talked about in the blogs. they suggest that you do your training where you bike awhile then go for a jog afterwards to get used to the feeling. had i done that? no. so i had the weird leg feeling where it felt like i was running in super slow motion. but the people from the club were along the route cheering for me and telling me i could do it. along campus way my first time, 2 of the guys passed me and we cheered a little and did high fives. by the 1/2 mile mark i felt a little relieved of the weirdness and the 2 girls who were on the course were screaming at me "you can do it! whoo yeah first place girl in the race! yeah!" and i realized, yeah, i was the only girl in this race, so i was going to be the first (and only) girl to finish. came around the corner to jefferson and there was the hill by the library. i sprinted up it (best i could) as we had in practice, but when i got to the top i was seriously out of breath. i used the whole rest of the straightaway to catch my breath and battle a little cramp i was getting. i think this is where the 3rd guy passed me. the first lap i did in about 10 minutes.
at that point i felt pretty tired and thought maybe i will have to walk. but i said to myself, "one lap at a time, you can do this, just get around one more time." so that's what i did. on the second lap i really focused on letting my legs do the work on the very slight decline. i tried to think about being a little kid and just letting your legs go as you go down a big hill. it wasn't that dramatic, but i tried to not think about using my legs so much so they could get a tiny relief. and when i tried to sprint up the hill the second time, it wasn't much of a sprint at all. but i did see pat and marylin breen at that time, which was a nice little distraction. the second lap i finished in around 10 minutes.
by the third lap i realized everyone was done or was going to be done soon. i felt a little bad that they were all going to have to stand around in their shorts and wait for me to finish this last lap, which would likely take 10 minutes, but what can you do. they all had each other. i was going to finish this last lap. let my legs go on the last decline, tried to breathe to get rid of the cramp, attempted to sprint the hill which was a failure, recovered a little, and then karl came out of some driveway and started riding with me and cheering me on. he told me to relax my arms away from my body. keep breathing. almost there. at the third mile mark, i was just under 10 minutes. last push. when i got to the sharp corner i hadn't realized just how sharp the corner was and went wide, but was able to sprint to the finish, where everyone who was waiting made a tunnel for me to run through.
i did it!
there was cheering and jubilation and then someone talked about swim lap times and we figured out that i did my swim in around 10 minutes. which is slower than i did in practice (8:58) but that was probably a month ago and in the middle of practice when i was very warmed up and comfortable and breathing easy. taz was really supportive of all of us, telling us how great we did and how we learned some things (one guy forgot his swim goggles so he borrowed mine, then there was the pedal coming off...) and we were now ready for our first real tri! we even got beer glasses to prove we'd done this race - since we won't be able to do it in real time because we have to work it as a fundraiser.
swim time: 500 yards - 10:05
bike time: 12 miles - 46:49
run time: 3.1 miles - 30:04
overall, a pretty good day! i saw myself in the mirror when i went back into the gym to get my warm clothes and my face was red all over. but that is common for me.
it got me thinking i really need to see someone about the possibility of exercise induced asthma. but i digress.
that night i got in the hot tub even though it wasn't hot. and the next day, the only thing that really hurt were my shoulders and neck a little. oh, and that blister between my big and next toe. but overall, i would say i could probably do it again. so maybe i will!
ps. happy st patricks day!
15 March 2013
triathlon club: pre-practice race preparations
i haven't written in awhile.
not because of lack of interest, because i do have an interest in sharing my experience. maybe this is something every blog writer goes through at one point or another.
first things first, i was sick from thanksgiving through most of february. that is a long time to be sick. not the same illness...the first wave went from thanksgiving, through christmas, then let up mid-january. and i thought, "hooray! it's over!" i got to breathe clearly for 2 days before i got all the symptoms again. so i went through it a second time. during this bout, i found it harder to get up early and go to swim practice because the congestion was worse than the first time. i also thought maybe it was the swimming and pushing myself to the extreme that was making me get sick over and over again. so i let up on the swimming and just tried to do the spinning and running practices as i could. i got over the second illness and got hit with a weird cramping in my abdomen, which i thought might have been female cramping (sorry guys) but i'd just had that the week before and this was more intense and more frequent. i put up with it for a weekend but i was very uncomfortable and exhausted from feeling ill for 3 straight days. i went to the dr and she told me it was probably bladder spasms, and that i was dehydrated and that i should drink a lot more water, every day, for the rest of my life. gee, thanks lady for breaking it to me lightly.
however i took her advice and really pumped up the water drinking and that has seemed to lessen the symptoms a bit, though i'm still not sure what the cause of the spasms was. but i digress.
it was good for me to get all full of water as i had my practice triathlon coming up!
one more problem presented itself: i did not have a road bike to ride for this race. so my #1 priority for the week before the race became to find the perfect bike for me (in this town of bike shops on every corner) and perhaps purchase it. this became a big stressor in my life until i realized i could possibly rent a bike for a day if i didn't find the right bike for me. still, the pressure was on and i felt a lot of anxiety about finding a bike.
i was semi-nervous about being sized for a bike, as i imagined it to be a sort of intimate measuring session, with some person measuring my exact leg length and the distance between the floor and my sit bones...so there was that. i asked a friend about it and she said it was totally fine, and that they would measure me and give me a printout. i thought that sounded pretty good so i went in to get measured.
i went to the first store, which is also our club sponsor, and said i needed to get sized for a bike. the guys in the shop were clueless and said, "what size?" and i said, "i don't know, that's why i'm here. i need to buy a bike and i need to find out what size i am." he then pointed me to another person in the store who could perhaps help me with this, as he had greasy hands and looked too busy to do any customer service.
the guy i got was nice and he showed me the bikes and asked what price range i was looking for. i said i wasn't sure but i didn't need the primo of the primo bikes, and probably could do with a midrange bike. we talked about what makes certain bikes better, and components, and he looked at my height and said he thought a 54cm would be too small for me but maybe a 56-57cm would be better. i sat on a few women's bikes before he adjust the seats and let me go out for a spin. i had not ridden a road bike in a very long time. it was strange to be sitting so far forward and have some pressure on my shoulders and also my neck. but the gear shifting was nice and i was able to go FAST!
i will mention here that there was no actual measuring that went on at all. i have no idea how long my legs actually are, and no attempt was made to measure my actual body. this was done totally by "how does this bike feel to you?" trial and error method. which i guess was OK but i thought there would be more of a scientific procedure. and i never got a printout.
i went back the store and tried out some higher line women's bikes, then some men's bikes, and then a carbon fiber bike which was out of my price range but since i was there...i didn't notice a ton of difference, but then again, this was my first time out on a road bike; i don't have the experience of how bikes feel on the road like people who have been biking for years and years. i probably rode 6 bikes up and down the bike path, zooming along, yelling out "on your left" or "on your right" to all the pedestrians out for a stroll. the nice thing about this day was that it was cloudy and cool. that changed the next day (...to be continued...)
then i said i'd like to take a demo bike out for a longer ride and try out some hills (as the bike path doesn't lend itself to hills, and i was trying to figure out if i wanted the 3rd gear wheel up front or not). so he got out 2 demo bikes and i got to ride them - they were both nice bikes but one was supposedly $5000?! that's crazy. i didn't need that kind of stress on me if something happened to it, so i signed up to take the lesser bike the next day.
that night i went home and did a little research about bikes and sizes and prices and other bikes in that range that might be available to me.
the next day, before i went and picked up my demo bike, i went to a second bike store, that isn't the club sponsor, but i've always had good luck there and i consider them my "preferred" bike store in corvallis - THE CORVALLIS CYCLERY. i told them that i would like to try out 2 of their models that i'd looked up the previous day. riding this day was a little more challenging because the weather was so nice, there were people all over the place on the bike path and i really couldn't go as fast as i wanted to. i tried them out and they were both really nice rides, and then the salesman said, "would you like to try the women's 56cm bike?" and i said, "yes i would" and he brought it around and i was like, "yeah!" it was great from the moment i saw it. and when i rode it around, i noticed that i could almost not feel the seat beneath my butt. i decided that this was the bike for me. and it had the 3rd gear wheel up front.
i still wanted to try out the demo bike so i asked them to hold this bike for me and i would come back the next day. then i picked up the demo bike and took it for a longer ride. as expected, i needed the tiny gear wheel for going up hills. unlike most people, i'm wimpy at hills and need as low a gear as i can get. so i was totally happy that i got the chance to try out this demo bike, but i knew i was going to get the other one. so i took the demo bike back and said, "thanks guys!" and then went to the other store and got the women's bike.
keep in mind this is the thurs/friday before the saturday race.
on friday i picked up the bike and my new accessories - helmet, light, lock, gloves, tire repair kit - and headed home to try to figure out the rest of the preparations.
meanwhile, throughout the week, every night i was looking up something else about triathlons. i really had no concept as to how one would go from swimming to biking. was there changing involved? showering? do you really do the race covered in chlorine? where do we put our clothes? will someone watch our wet stuff? the transition zone concept had not really entered my mind, as all the videos i saw only showed one bike and how to do things more quickly like tape your sunglasses to your frame or put your shoes on the pedals and slip into them as you start to ride.
but i did find a website that let you make your own list of things to pack and it had all the things listed. i was glad i found this because it made packing easier that night. here's what i came up with:
morning of race: check weather / temperature
swim:
swimsuit
2 sets of goggles
swim cap
bike:
bike
helmetshirt
spandex
tights
wind breaker
socks
sneakers
bike gloves
warm gloves
sunglasses
water bottle (1/2 gatorade, 1/2 water)
repair kit - extra tube, CO2 adapter, CO2 canister, bike tool
repair kit bag
run:
headband / bandana
other:
backpack
aveeno baby
energy bar
chapstick
throat drops
watch
towel to dry off your feet
post race dry clothes
extra water bottle for after race
on top of all this, i decided that i needed to check out the bike and run courses for the race before the actual day of the race. so when i went on the bike demo ride, i rode part of the bike course. it was mostly flat so i was happy about that, though there was one part i didn't do that was slightly hilly but definitely low hills - no exceptional climbs. on monday i had gone to spin practice and i watched my bike computer, and i noticed that at 20km (12miles) that i was at 47 minutes.
and for the run, we did the whole course on wednesday at running practice, so i got the feel for how it was going to go. i think i finished most of the course in 28 minutes, and that was on fresh legs. i was figuring on 30 minutes for the run.
(did i mention that i basically didn't get any work done this week? good thing there wasn't high pressure for me to get things done because i simply didn't have time with all this preparation!)
with all that in mind, i ate a late dinner, chugged 2L of water, and put out my breakfast so that i could get up early-ish on saturday (7am) and get my food eaten by 8am so i'd be digested by 10am.
wish me luck!
not because of lack of interest, because i do have an interest in sharing my experience. maybe this is something every blog writer goes through at one point or another.
first things first, i was sick from thanksgiving through most of february. that is a long time to be sick. not the same illness...the first wave went from thanksgiving, through christmas, then let up mid-january. and i thought, "hooray! it's over!" i got to breathe clearly for 2 days before i got all the symptoms again. so i went through it a second time. during this bout, i found it harder to get up early and go to swim practice because the congestion was worse than the first time. i also thought maybe it was the swimming and pushing myself to the extreme that was making me get sick over and over again. so i let up on the swimming and just tried to do the spinning and running practices as i could. i got over the second illness and got hit with a weird cramping in my abdomen, which i thought might have been female cramping (sorry guys) but i'd just had that the week before and this was more intense and more frequent. i put up with it for a weekend but i was very uncomfortable and exhausted from feeling ill for 3 straight days. i went to the dr and she told me it was probably bladder spasms, and that i was dehydrated and that i should drink a lot more water, every day, for the rest of my life. gee, thanks lady for breaking it to me lightly.
however i took her advice and really pumped up the water drinking and that has seemed to lessen the symptoms a bit, though i'm still not sure what the cause of the spasms was. but i digress.
it was good for me to get all full of water as i had my practice triathlon coming up!
one more problem presented itself: i did not have a road bike to ride for this race. so my #1 priority for the week before the race became to find the perfect bike for me (in this town of bike shops on every corner) and perhaps purchase it. this became a big stressor in my life until i realized i could possibly rent a bike for a day if i didn't find the right bike for me. still, the pressure was on and i felt a lot of anxiety about finding a bike.
i was semi-nervous about being sized for a bike, as i imagined it to be a sort of intimate measuring session, with some person measuring my exact leg length and the distance between the floor and my sit bones...so there was that. i asked a friend about it and she said it was totally fine, and that they would measure me and give me a printout. i thought that sounded pretty good so i went in to get measured.
i went to the first store, which is also our club sponsor, and said i needed to get sized for a bike. the guys in the shop were clueless and said, "what size?" and i said, "i don't know, that's why i'm here. i need to buy a bike and i need to find out what size i am." he then pointed me to another person in the store who could perhaps help me with this, as he had greasy hands and looked too busy to do any customer service.
the guy i got was nice and he showed me the bikes and asked what price range i was looking for. i said i wasn't sure but i didn't need the primo of the primo bikes, and probably could do with a midrange bike. we talked about what makes certain bikes better, and components, and he looked at my height and said he thought a 54cm would be too small for me but maybe a 56-57cm would be better. i sat on a few women's bikes before he adjust the seats and let me go out for a spin. i had not ridden a road bike in a very long time. it was strange to be sitting so far forward and have some pressure on my shoulders and also my neck. but the gear shifting was nice and i was able to go FAST!
i will mention here that there was no actual measuring that went on at all. i have no idea how long my legs actually are, and no attempt was made to measure my actual body. this was done totally by "how does this bike feel to you?" trial and error method. which i guess was OK but i thought there would be more of a scientific procedure. and i never got a printout.
i went back the store and tried out some higher line women's bikes, then some men's bikes, and then a carbon fiber bike which was out of my price range but since i was there...i didn't notice a ton of difference, but then again, this was my first time out on a road bike; i don't have the experience of how bikes feel on the road like people who have been biking for years and years. i probably rode 6 bikes up and down the bike path, zooming along, yelling out "on your left" or "on your right" to all the pedestrians out for a stroll. the nice thing about this day was that it was cloudy and cool. that changed the next day (...to be continued...)
then i said i'd like to take a demo bike out for a longer ride and try out some hills (as the bike path doesn't lend itself to hills, and i was trying to figure out if i wanted the 3rd gear wheel up front or not). so he got out 2 demo bikes and i got to ride them - they were both nice bikes but one was supposedly $5000?! that's crazy. i didn't need that kind of stress on me if something happened to it, so i signed up to take the lesser bike the next day.
that night i went home and did a little research about bikes and sizes and prices and other bikes in that range that might be available to me.
the next day, before i went and picked up my demo bike, i went to a second bike store, that isn't the club sponsor, but i've always had good luck there and i consider them my "preferred" bike store in corvallis - THE CORVALLIS CYCLERY. i told them that i would like to try out 2 of their models that i'd looked up the previous day. riding this day was a little more challenging because the weather was so nice, there were people all over the place on the bike path and i really couldn't go as fast as i wanted to. i tried them out and they were both really nice rides, and then the salesman said, "would you like to try the women's 56cm bike?" and i said, "yes i would" and he brought it around and i was like, "yeah!" it was great from the moment i saw it. and when i rode it around, i noticed that i could almost not feel the seat beneath my butt. i decided that this was the bike for me. and it had the 3rd gear wheel up front.
i still wanted to try out the demo bike so i asked them to hold this bike for me and i would come back the next day. then i picked up the demo bike and took it for a longer ride. as expected, i needed the tiny gear wheel for going up hills. unlike most people, i'm wimpy at hills and need as low a gear as i can get. so i was totally happy that i got the chance to try out this demo bike, but i knew i was going to get the other one. so i took the demo bike back and said, "thanks guys!" and then went to the other store and got the women's bike.
keep in mind this is the thurs/friday before the saturday race.
on friday i picked up the bike and my new accessories - helmet, light, lock, gloves, tire repair kit - and headed home to try to figure out the rest of the preparations.
meanwhile, throughout the week, every night i was looking up something else about triathlons. i really had no concept as to how one would go from swimming to biking. was there changing involved? showering? do you really do the race covered in chlorine? where do we put our clothes? will someone watch our wet stuff? the transition zone concept had not really entered my mind, as all the videos i saw only showed one bike and how to do things more quickly like tape your sunglasses to your frame or put your shoes on the pedals and slip into them as you start to ride.
but i did find a website that let you make your own list of things to pack and it had all the things listed. i was glad i found this because it made packing easier that night. here's what i came up with:
morning of race: check weather / temperature
swim:
swimsuit
2 sets of goggles
swim cap
bike:
bike
helmetshirt
spandex
tights
wind breaker
socks
sneakers
bike gloves
warm gloves
sunglasses
water bottle (1/2 gatorade, 1/2 water)
repair kit - extra tube, CO2 adapter, CO2 canister, bike tool
repair kit bag
run:
headband / bandana
other:
backpack
aveeno baby
energy bar
chapstick
throat drops
watch
towel to dry off your feet
post race dry clothes
extra water bottle for after race
on top of all this, i decided that i needed to check out the bike and run courses for the race before the actual day of the race. so when i went on the bike demo ride, i rode part of the bike course. it was mostly flat so i was happy about that, though there was one part i didn't do that was slightly hilly but definitely low hills - no exceptional climbs. on monday i had gone to spin practice and i watched my bike computer, and i noticed that at 20km (12miles) that i was at 47 minutes.
and for the run, we did the whole course on wednesday at running practice, so i got the feel for how it was going to go. i think i finished most of the course in 28 minutes, and that was on fresh legs. i was figuring on 30 minutes for the run.
(did i mention that i basically didn't get any work done this week? good thing there wasn't high pressure for me to get things done because i simply didn't have time with all this preparation!)
with all that in mind, i ate a late dinner, chugged 2L of water, and put out my breakfast so that i could get up early-ish on saturday (7am) and get my food eaten by 8am so i'd be digested by 10am.
wish me luck!
25 February 2013
observations on life (not triathlon related) #2
i was going through some old blog posts for fun, and i found this:
from 25 august 2005
states i've YET to visit (13):alabama / alaska / arkansas / hawaii / kansas / louisiana / michigan / mississippi / missouri / new mexico / oklahoma / tennessee / washington
i realize i can remove some of those! here's the current new list of states i've still not visited:
alabama / arkansas / kansas / louisiana /michigan / mississippi / missouri / new mexico / oklahoma
only 9! pretty cool! although i have no reason to ever go to the deep south, i wouldn't mind going to missouri to visit my friends kurt and maria in st louis, new mexico to visit rosie and danny...and oklahoma and michigan can't be that bad...i just haven't found a reason to go there yet.
------------------
related to travel, but more related to rugby...
i went to last vegas a few weekends ago to visit with my old rugby team, the minneapolis menagerie. we went for the las vegas invitational, which - since it is february - would be a pre-pre season game for the ladies on the team. i was going as a sub, and was happy that i got a little bit of playing time and no major injuries. i was also happy that i wasn't incredibly sore the next day (thanks triathlon training!) though, i didn't play wing like i usually end up doing, so i didn't have to do a ton of sprinting or open field tackling, which i think have been the major culprits of my soreness in the past.
but i digress. what bothered me about this trip, versus all other tours i've gone on with them, is that i felt really isolated from the team on the whole. and was surprised to find out that the whole team was sitting together on saturday while i was off with a splinter group, oblivious to the fact that everyone else was sitting together. and that made me feel really sad, that i lost a whole day with those people i would have preferred to sit with. and all because no one communicated with me about who was going where or anything like that. true, i did get to the pitch late and on my own because i'd stayed out late the night before and realized i needed to do some packing for my flight the next day. but i felt like no one reached out to me, no one took the initiative to call me or try to figure out what i was doing. just felt really isolated and alone. and that's no good. for future reference, i will have more people's phone numbers and hopefully others will try to seek me out to do things with them as well. otherwise, what's the point?
also, what's the deal with going to vegas in february and it's 50 degrees, windy, and cold? where's my fun in the sun?!
from 25 august 2005
states i've YET to visit (13):alabama / alaska / arkansas / hawaii / kansas / louisiana / michigan / mississippi / missouri / new mexico / oklahoma / tennessee / washington
i realize i can remove some of those! here's the current new list of states i've still not visited:
alabama / arkansas / kansas / louisiana /michigan / mississippi / missouri / new mexico / oklahoma
only 9! pretty cool! although i have no reason to ever go to the deep south, i wouldn't mind going to missouri to visit my friends kurt and maria in st louis, new mexico to visit rosie and danny...and oklahoma and michigan can't be that bad...i just haven't found a reason to go there yet.
------------------
related to travel, but more related to rugby...
i went to last vegas a few weekends ago to visit with my old rugby team, the minneapolis menagerie. we went for the las vegas invitational, which - since it is february - would be a pre-pre season game for the ladies on the team. i was going as a sub, and was happy that i got a little bit of playing time and no major injuries. i was also happy that i wasn't incredibly sore the next day (thanks triathlon training!) though, i didn't play wing like i usually end up doing, so i didn't have to do a ton of sprinting or open field tackling, which i think have been the major culprits of my soreness in the past.
but i digress. what bothered me about this trip, versus all other tours i've gone on with them, is that i felt really isolated from the team on the whole. and was surprised to find out that the whole team was sitting together on saturday while i was off with a splinter group, oblivious to the fact that everyone else was sitting together. and that made me feel really sad, that i lost a whole day with those people i would have preferred to sit with. and all because no one communicated with me about who was going where or anything like that. true, i did get to the pitch late and on my own because i'd stayed out late the night before and realized i needed to do some packing for my flight the next day. but i felt like no one reached out to me, no one took the initiative to call me or try to figure out what i was doing. just felt really isolated and alone. and that's no good. for future reference, i will have more people's phone numbers and hopefully others will try to seek me out to do things with them as well. otherwise, what's the point?
also, what's the deal with going to vegas in february and it's 50 degrees, windy, and cold? where's my fun in the sun?!
09 December 2012
triathlon club - week 10
this is my 200th post (actually, i guess i have a few in draft form that i've never published, but still). i've had this blog since june 2005. thanks internet, for saving my thoughts through all these years.
also, i cannot believe that it has been 10 weeks since i started my tri training.
improvements i have noticed:
i am still kind of annoyed, because i know that obese people can drop weight just by doing something. anything. i'm doing A LOT of something, and some VERY HIGH intensity something, and still no loss. i was sure that i would not have to modify my diet that much, seeing as i don't eat large portions of anything, especially not fatty foods or pasta or bread or dessert. it would seem that if the input was less and the output was more, then there should be a net loss. not in this body. big sigh.
mon 12/3/2012 - bodypump and swimming
bodypump
it was, as usual, the teacher telling us to hurry up and get ready so we can "get everything in". this bothers me because it used to be you could get your fit pass 30 minutes before class, which gave you enough time to change and get set up. however, this was bias against people who couldn't get there 30 minutes before class.
so they changed it to giving out the passes 15 minutes before the class, but often there isn't someone there to do the card swiping at 15 minutes before class, so it turns into 10 minutes before class, and then - if you haven't already gotten dressed, you're screwed - you have to run upstairs and assemble all the necessary accoutrements for class - including a bench with risers, a mat, a bar, some screws to hold weights on your bar, and a variety of weights both with extra space holes in them and without, to put on the bar. all this takes time, and there are other people trying to do it at the same time as you.
add onto that the teacher saying, "let's get going, let's get going, we need to get it all in!" and there's no real feeling of calm before you blast into this class. in fact, it feels rather frantic and uncomfortable. maybe that's the point.
nightswimming
since there is no late night spin class tonight, i've decided to do the swim workout at night instead of in the morning (also i did not feel great this morning when i woke up). the pool is dark at night, as they turn off all the overhead lights and just have the lights in the pool on to illuminate you while you swim. it's a nice ambiance, and i didn't think it affected my swimming either positively or negatively. i did notice, at one point, that my untrained swimming friend from a week ago's swim on sunday was once again in the pool in the lane next to me. i could feel him eying me, possibly working up the courage to ask how to swim again. i realized my inability to teach him, and decided not to engage him in conversation.
after the workout i went to the hot tub, where probably 10 guys were sitting in there, sort of spread out, not leaving a lot of room for newcomers. i sat on the steps until 2 guys left, and then i went over to the corner to get my below the neck soak on, at which point 2 more guys showed up and i had to sit up again. overall not a very rewarding experience. i prefer tubbing alone or with people i want to talk to. not all these random students who are just sitting in there cause it looks cool.
tues 12/4/2012 - spinning and weights
spinning
this was the last spinning class of the term with laurie, and it turned out to be SUPER popular that the only 2 seats left in the place that were TOGETHER were in the back corner. there was no breeze from the fans back there - so there was a lot of sweating going on, but laurie got the bike that lets you feel awesome about yourself when 12 is your base gear. i felt like i worked hard, and again we had a different teacher as the other one had a final or something. this girl didn't let us take any breaks at all between sets, so we were pedaling hard the entire time. many times i was very out of breath. she kept saying things like, "this should feel uncomfortable" and "keeping yourself in the discomfort zone is how you build your fitness". i suppose she is right, though it is definitely NOT comfortable.
average rpm - 84
average watts - 145
total kilocalories - 330
total distance - 15 km
total time - 35 minutes
weights
today at the gym there weren't as many people as there usually are. i also went a bit earlier (5pm) so i could get out of there by 6 and home to have pizza with my labmates as our "happy holidays, have a good break" dinner. there are 2 stations where you can sit and do military press with an overhead rack so you can place the bar there. since i only use a 30lb bar with rounded weights on the end of it, i usually set it in my lap so i don't use the overhead rack. anyway there's one guy parked at one of the stations, looks like he'll be there for awhile. behind the second station is a guy playing on his phone.
me: are you using this?
him: what?
me: are you using this?
him: yes, i'm using it.
he doesn't seem to be actively using it as he is playing on his phone. i should have asked if i could swap in, since i wouldn't need to change the weights on his bar or anything and i am fast (well, i'm lightning speed compared to this guy!). instead, i skulk off and watch him while i do some shrugs. he literally sits behind the station for another several minutes, not using it. then, he sits down, does about 3 presses, and then goes to sit behind the station again. more texting or playing on his phone or whatever. he sits there for several more minutes, and then does 5 more presses, and then calls it good. i am steaming with annoyance at this guy, but maybe i need to make my motives more clear next time. instead, i went to find an adjustable bench so i could do both the military press, the pullover, and the tricep bench press all in one place. and i did. and i was happy with that.
wed 12/5/2012 - swimming and contra
i did manage to wake up to go swimming this morning, though the waking up was challenging. i got up at 5:30, grabbed my banana and milk that i had put together last night, and put on my suit and headed out the door. i had to drive today because i need to head to portland tonight. so this would be my first adventure in parking outside of dixon at 6am. turns out, there were plenty of spots and i need not have worried about not getting one. but, one has to worry about these things :)
swimming was lightly attended this morning, but unfortunately for me, the speedy guy in the slow lane was back so i had to share with him. he is fast and can do the "sprints" in a sprint like fashion, whereas when i try to do it, my legs go to jelly and i can't catch my breath. he lapped me so many times that i mostly gave up and just did a bunch of swimming at the end once he'd gotten out of the pool. sprinting still feels very hard to me. sort of like running hard. very uncomfortable.
contra dance
thankfully the band was a little peppier than the one last saturday, and i actually worked up a sweat a few times dancing to these guys. thanks joyride!
thur 12/6/2012 - sickness
this morning while i was driving back from portland, i was hit with waves of exhaustion, and also cramps. i ended up stopping at a rest area north of town and resting for over an hour. still not feeling much better, i managed to drive home and email work to say i wasn't coming in. and then slept for 5 more hours.
had a restful early evening and things were starting to get better (thanks decongestant!) when i got a call from a friend who needed to go to the ER stat. so i rushed over and got her and we went to the hospital. luckily it was not life threatening, just very uncomfortable. the diagnosis? vertigo.
sometimes our bodies are cruel to us.
fri 12/7/2012 -swimming
seeing as i was up until past midnight at the ER, and slept very restlessly (thanks decongestant!) i decided i was not up for swimming this morning. also the cough is slowly descending and i'm not sure if it's in my lungs or what. but the thought of swimming this morning did not excite. so i attempted to sleep, which was also not great.
sat 12/8/2012 - contra dance
leaving portland on saturday afternoon, i did not feel great. we went to bend and i slept most of the way. we got to our host's house and i slept some more. then i think i looked like death slightly warmed over, but went to the dance anyway. still didn't feel great. saw some friends there, sat out, talked a bit, danced a little, monitored the sound for the band, and by the end of the night i felt slightly better but not much. i would not say i had an athletic dance experience, to say the least.
sun 12/9/2012 - day of rest
after sleeping well saturday night, people said i looked better. i slept most of the drive back to portland on sunday, and was able to enjoy some of the wintry scenery as we drove past mt hood. such beauty in snow covered trees! i was then reminded that some scenery is so breathtaking that you remember it the rest of your life. for me, the one that comes to mind first and foremost is driving to the field site in california, for my first day of field work there, and going up this mountain and the fog rolling in through the trees. it was magical. and it never happened again, in the 3 years i worked there.
also, i cannot believe that it has been 10 weeks since i started my tri training.
improvements i have noticed:
- gasping less at swimming
- better body roll at swimming
- can run 5 miles without too much difficulty
- ran 9 minute mile last week!
- less ankle pain with ankle braces while running
- legs seem to be able to handle more resistance for longer distance at spinning
- increased weight while lifting
- able to hold plank for 30 seconds without too much shaking
- get faster at swimming
- get faster at running
- get faster at cycling
- actually cycle on a bike outside
- weight loss
i am still kind of annoyed, because i know that obese people can drop weight just by doing something. anything. i'm doing A LOT of something, and some VERY HIGH intensity something, and still no loss. i was sure that i would not have to modify my diet that much, seeing as i don't eat large portions of anything, especially not fatty foods or pasta or bread or dessert. it would seem that if the input was less and the output was more, then there should be a net loss. not in this body. big sigh.
mon 12/3/2012 - bodypump and swimming
bodypump
it was, as usual, the teacher telling us to hurry up and get ready so we can "get everything in". this bothers me because it used to be you could get your fit pass 30 minutes before class, which gave you enough time to change and get set up. however, this was bias against people who couldn't get there 30 minutes before class.
so they changed it to giving out the passes 15 minutes before the class, but often there isn't someone there to do the card swiping at 15 minutes before class, so it turns into 10 minutes before class, and then - if you haven't already gotten dressed, you're screwed - you have to run upstairs and assemble all the necessary accoutrements for class - including a bench with risers, a mat, a bar, some screws to hold weights on your bar, and a variety of weights both with extra space holes in them and without, to put on the bar. all this takes time, and there are other people trying to do it at the same time as you.
add onto that the teacher saying, "let's get going, let's get going, we need to get it all in!" and there's no real feeling of calm before you blast into this class. in fact, it feels rather frantic and uncomfortable. maybe that's the point.
nightswimming
since there is no late night spin class tonight, i've decided to do the swim workout at night instead of in the morning (also i did not feel great this morning when i woke up). the pool is dark at night, as they turn off all the overhead lights and just have the lights in the pool on to illuminate you while you swim. it's a nice ambiance, and i didn't think it affected my swimming either positively or negatively. i did notice, at one point, that my untrained swimming friend from a week ago's swim on sunday was once again in the pool in the lane next to me. i could feel him eying me, possibly working up the courage to ask how to swim again. i realized my inability to teach him, and decided not to engage him in conversation.
after the workout i went to the hot tub, where probably 10 guys were sitting in there, sort of spread out, not leaving a lot of room for newcomers. i sat on the steps until 2 guys left, and then i went over to the corner to get my below the neck soak on, at which point 2 more guys showed up and i had to sit up again. overall not a very rewarding experience. i prefer tubbing alone or with people i want to talk to. not all these random students who are just sitting in there cause it looks cool.
| 200 swim | |
| 100 drill | 300 |
| 3x150 en1 | 450 |
| 6x50 drill | 300 |
| 2x150 ns | 300 |
| 6x50 drill | 300 |
| 1x150 fast | 150 |
| 6x50 EZ | 300 |
| total | 2100 |
tues 12/4/2012 - spinning and weights
spinning
this was the last spinning class of the term with laurie, and it turned out to be SUPER popular that the only 2 seats left in the place that were TOGETHER were in the back corner. there was no breeze from the fans back there - so there was a lot of sweating going on, but laurie got the bike that lets you feel awesome about yourself when 12 is your base gear. i felt like i worked hard, and again we had a different teacher as the other one had a final or something. this girl didn't let us take any breaks at all between sets, so we were pedaling hard the entire time. many times i was very out of breath. she kept saying things like, "this should feel uncomfortable" and "keeping yourself in the discomfort zone is how you build your fitness". i suppose she is right, though it is definitely NOT comfortable.
average rpm - 84
average watts - 145
total kilocalories - 330
total distance - 15 km
total time - 35 minutes
weights
today at the gym there weren't as many people as there usually are. i also went a bit earlier (5pm) so i could get out of there by 6 and home to have pizza with my labmates as our "happy holidays, have a good break" dinner. there are 2 stations where you can sit and do military press with an overhead rack so you can place the bar there. since i only use a 30lb bar with rounded weights on the end of it, i usually set it in my lap so i don't use the overhead rack. anyway there's one guy parked at one of the stations, looks like he'll be there for awhile. behind the second station is a guy playing on his phone.
me: are you using this?
him: what?
me: are you using this?
him: yes, i'm using it.
he doesn't seem to be actively using it as he is playing on his phone. i should have asked if i could swap in, since i wouldn't need to change the weights on his bar or anything and i am fast (well, i'm lightning speed compared to this guy!). instead, i skulk off and watch him while i do some shrugs. he literally sits behind the station for another several minutes, not using it. then, he sits down, does about 3 presses, and then goes to sit behind the station again. more texting or playing on his phone or whatever. he sits there for several more minutes, and then does 5 more presses, and then calls it good. i am steaming with annoyance at this guy, but maybe i need to make my motives more clear next time. instead, i went to find an adjustable bench so i could do both the military press, the pullover, and the tricep bench press all in one place. and i did. and i was happy with that.
| bicep curl | 30lb bar | 3x10 |
| deadlift | 30lb bar | 3x10 |
| bent over row | 30lb bar | 3x10 |
| fly: T/I/Y | 5lb each | 2x10 ea |
| lat pulldown | 50/62.5lb | 3x10 |
| shrug | 30lb each | 3x10 |
| military press | 30lb bar | 3x10 |
| pullover | 20lb bar | 3x10 |
| tricep bench press | 20lb bar | 3x10 |
| abs: | ||
| crunch | 30 | |
| alt toe touches | 30 | |
| plank | 2x30 sec | |
| 100s | 2x | |
| flutter | 30 | |
| supermans | 30 | |
| bridge | 30 | |
| situps | 30 | |
| crunch w/5 pulses | 10 |
wed 12/5/2012 - swimming and contra
i did manage to wake up to go swimming this morning, though the waking up was challenging. i got up at 5:30, grabbed my banana and milk that i had put together last night, and put on my suit and headed out the door. i had to drive today because i need to head to portland tonight. so this would be my first adventure in parking outside of dixon at 6am. turns out, there were plenty of spots and i need not have worried about not getting one. but, one has to worry about these things :)
swimming was lightly attended this morning, but unfortunately for me, the speedy guy in the slow lane was back so i had to share with him. he is fast and can do the "sprints" in a sprint like fashion, whereas when i try to do it, my legs go to jelly and i can't catch my breath. he lapped me so many times that i mostly gave up and just did a bunch of swimming at the end once he'd gotten out of the pool. sprinting still feels very hard to me. sort of like running hard. very uncomfortable.
| 200 swim | 200 |
| 1 x 50 drill | 50 |
| 1 x 75 en1 | 75 |
| 1 x 25 sprint | 25 |
| 2 x 50 sprint | 100 |
| 1 x 100 fast | 100 |
| 2 x 75 EZ | 150 |
| 2 x 50 sprint | 100 |
| 1 x 50 fast | 50 |
| 1 x 50 drill | 50 |
| 1 x 50 en1 | 50 |
| 1 x 50 sprint | 50 |
| 2 x 100 fast | 200 |
| 2 x 50 EZ | 100 |
| 1 x 50 sprint | 50 |
| 1 x 200 fast | 200 |
| 500 EZ (includes one 50 sprint) | 500 |
| total | 2050 |
contra dance
thankfully the band was a little peppier than the one last saturday, and i actually worked up a sweat a few times dancing to these guys. thanks joyride!
thur 12/6/2012 - sickness
this morning while i was driving back from portland, i was hit with waves of exhaustion, and also cramps. i ended up stopping at a rest area north of town and resting for over an hour. still not feeling much better, i managed to drive home and email work to say i wasn't coming in. and then slept for 5 more hours.
had a restful early evening and things were starting to get better (thanks decongestant!) when i got a call from a friend who needed to go to the ER stat. so i rushed over and got her and we went to the hospital. luckily it was not life threatening, just very uncomfortable. the diagnosis? vertigo.
sometimes our bodies are cruel to us.
fri 12/7/2012 -
seeing as i was up until past midnight at the ER, and slept very restlessly (thanks decongestant!) i decided i was not up for swimming this morning. also the cough is slowly descending and i'm not sure if it's in my lungs or what. but the thought of swimming this morning did not excite. so i attempted to sleep, which was also not great.
sat 12/8/2012 - contra dance
leaving portland on saturday afternoon, i did not feel great. we went to bend and i slept most of the way. we got to our host's house and i slept some more. then i think i looked like death slightly warmed over, but went to the dance anyway. still didn't feel great. saw some friends there, sat out, talked a bit, danced a little, monitored the sound for the band, and by the end of the night i felt slightly better but not much. i would not say i had an athletic dance experience, to say the least.
sun 12/9/2012 - day of rest
after sleeping well saturday night, people said i looked better. i slept most of the drive back to portland on sunday, and was able to enjoy some of the wintry scenery as we drove past mt hood. such beauty in snow covered trees! i was then reminded that some scenery is so breathtaking that you remember it the rest of your life. for me, the one that comes to mind first and foremost is driving to the field site in california, for my first day of field work there, and going up this mountain and the fog rolling in through the trees. it was magical. and it never happened again, in the 3 years i worked there.
28 November 2012
triathlon club - week 9
monday 11/26/2012 - swimming, bodypump, spinning
swimming
i was well rested this morning for swim practice, having gone to bed at like, 1045pm or some crazy early hour. getting up was no problem at all! and, having swam on sunday, i thought my muscles would be pretty loose.
i was in a lane with someone who was faster than me this morning, but it wasn't too bad, and he "finished" way before i did so i was able to complete "make up" laps without the pressure of him being right on my toes.
bodypump
laurie and i decided to do bodypump at noon because i would be spinning at night and she wasn't feeling the spinning. this time we were both there early and got primo spots in the front row where we like to be. this class has very little moving around (unlike zumba or kickboxing) so once you claim your spot, you're there for the duration of the class with very little chance of bumping into other people. also, very little coordination needed in this class other than just doing the exercises.
the format of the class is something like this:
8x "down 2 up 2"
8x "down 3 up 1"
8-16x "singles!"
8x "stay low" or "in the basement" or "small movements"
average rpm - 90
average watts - 142
total kilocalories - 480
total distance - 24km
total time - 52 minutes
tuesday 11/27/2012 - zumba and weights
zumba
zumba with laurie is just fun. i'm ridiculously uncoordinated. but our running man rocks!
weights
i almost talked myself out of going to do weights tonight. knowing that people were coming over for dinner and i didn't have dinner ready, and alex wasn't feeling well and wasn't going to make it, and i'd done bodypump just yesterday, i thought, "i don't need to do this, i should rest." but then i thought, "if i don't make myself do it, no one will. this is about me!" so, i dragged myself over to the gym but decided to set myself a time limit of being done BY 6pm. success!
this week i decided to up the weights and decrease the reps. for certain things, the 30lb bar wasn't hard (deadlift, bent over row) but it was harder for the bicep curls and the military press.
wednesday 11/28/2012 - swimming and running
an epic day!
swimming
this morning, waking up was a little more challenging than it should have been, since i didn't get to sleep early (after spending the night with my girls [and housemates] eating delicious food and watching an "interesting" movie about an australian tribal story, oh, and eating popcorn). but i got up and got a move on, and was able to get to work and get my swim stuff and still get to the gym a tiny bit early.
sometimes, i experience some frustration at swim practice. usually i'm able to deal with the fact that i'm the slowest by just falling in behind the last person in the lane. however, there is one person on the team that is new-ish (i guess) who is just a FAST swimmer. why he is in the slow lane - well, i know why he's in that lane, his technique is garbage - but still, he's fast enough to be in the next fastest lane. and yet, there he is in my lane.
and all that would be fine except that when he goes fast and gets done with something, coach stops me from finishing my set because he doesn't want the other guy to wait around too much. i mean, i get it, why punish the fast by making them wait for the slow person. but don't i have a right, as much as anyone else, to complete the amount of swimming that is assigned to us each day? i have just as much right to get in the yardage as the fast people.
especially because i'm really focusing on my technique and trying to really burn it in correctly. plus, i like to write down the workout that *i* do (versus the one that's on the board; they are often not the same) and it's hard to always remember what i've done, how many 50s i didn't do, etc. but, it's a good game of memory.
things i worked on today: reaching out instead of across my body, staying long, sticking the hand in and keeping the elbow high to pull the body past, remembering to kick, trying not to turn my head out of the water so much to breathe. this last part is very difficult with congestion in my head because it feels like i'm often choking on mucous, and then i'm choking on water; it's very disruptive to my flow.
anyway, to make up for the yards that i didn't finish during the drill and main set, i did 200 extra on the EZ at the end.
---
today i almost forgot what time the soup kitchen started and was a little late getting there after i realized i needed to be there at 11 not 12. all these noon classes have me setting my alarm for 1145, but today i needed to set it for 1045 and didn't.
---
running - map: http://goo.gl/maps/ruZCy
and the track: http://goo.gl/maps/S9D27
one thing that hasn't really progressed for me yet is my rapport with the people on the team. it's not exactly like being invisible, but it's close. i show up, stand on the outside of the circle of people, people occasionally acknowledge my presence (usually the coach), we discuss where to run, and then we go outside and they take off and i fall in my place in the back. when i come in from my run, the team is usually onto something else like drills or running around the track.
today i picked up the pace a little bit and was able to meet up with the team not long after they arrived back. i was pretty proud of myself though i was very, very tired and out of breath by the end. at one point while i was running, i thought, "maybe i have asthma," since sometimes i feel very short of breath right at the beginning of the run. maybe it's the cold air entering my lungs. maybe i take off too fast. maybe i am just not comfortable with being out of breath. who knows.
one of the guys in our running group is a little bit older. maybe he's 50? he has an ironman hat so i guess he did an ironman sometime. anyway, when i describe my place in the running pack to people, i usually describe it like this. "first it's the fastest people - all guys, then it's the second fastest people and all the rest of the girls, then it's the older guys, then me." i should probably find out what this older guy's name is - i think it's gary or greg or something like that, thought i heard him say that to someone. anyway when we are all done with our drills and are getting ready to go run around the track for awhile, he turns to talk to me:
older guy: how are you doing?
me: good. that was my best time so far.
older guy: i could tell. you've lost weight, i can see that.
and we fist bump.
i could take this comment as "you are wearing tights and i've never seen your body before and you are a woman and i like looking at women" or i could take it as a compliment. i won't believe the weight loss until i see the results on the scale. which i have been avoiding since for the first 6 weeks i weighed myself each week and it was always the same. but, maybe it is starting to show a little bit. i put on a pair of pants that were comfortable when i got them in september, and they seem to be a little looser this week. could be 'cause they are stretched out a little, or maybe i've gotten a tiny bit smaller. i'll have to try this theory with other pairs of pants that have been tighter lately.
summary: 3 miles in 27:06 minutes (9:02 min/mile)! then 4 laps (1.6 miles) in 14:12 minutes (8.875 min/mile)
note: something inside me is very emotional tonight. i have been semi-crying for the last hour. not sure what is wrong. could be tired.
thursday 11/29/2012 - spinning and running
spinning - different teacher!
different teacher means different tunes and different workout. this one mostly focused on rolling hills and some "endurance sprints" where you try to stay at a given speed at a medium hard gear, then try to push it 10rpm faster.
average rpm - 88
avereage wattage - 154
total kilocalories - 322
total distance - 14.8 km
total time - about 35 minutes
running - map: http://goo.gl/maps/9Cp9Y
again i get the sensation that i'm almost a nobody. of course, i'm not openly bubbly or super friendly to everyone, but when i arrive at our meeting spot to go running there's only a few of us around. the president is there and he seems to be determining that we won't run for too long 'cause he has to go to work at 6. so we decide 3-4 miles, and when we start talking about where it should be, there's some talk and some confusion and some decision and i am still unclear about where we are going. i try to say i'm not sure where we're going, and someone tries to explain it like it's so elementary, everyone knows where that is. and then someone says, just keep running and when you get back, you're done. i think, 'how helpful.' i tell them i probably won't see them so i'll just wing it i guess, but when i catch up to them at an intersection, i then realize where we are going. so it's no biggie when they really do leave me in the dust.
they didn't actually leave me in to much dust - i saw them a few times as i tried to sprint to a stoplight to catch up with them as they were about to cross the street. and by the time they were really gone, i knew where i was and how to get back.
my pace felt decent at the beginning and i thought maybe they were slowing down to let me keep up. i was able to keep up with them for some amount of time before they pulled away. i didn't have the spring in my step and definitely less power than yesterday. i found myself running more upright at times, instead of hunching over and just trying to get through it. that seemed like a big step to me. but when i got tired i crumpled up again, and i had to remind myself to stand up and breath.
i attempted to use a breathing trick from swimming, which is to not gasp and take large breaths of air, but rather to just take sips of air. i found that when running, as you let the air out, your lungs naturally fill back up again. i thought i was gasping but it turned out i wasn't, so that's not a useful crossover lesson. ah well.
at the very end of the run, i look down at my watch and think that i have forgotten to hit the start button again. darn it, i think, well i can't hit it now because it won't be accurate. turns out, i hadn't forgotten. still, the time is approximate because i pushed it and then walked around a little, catching my breath after the sprint at the end.
summary: 3.4 miles, ~33 minutes
friday 11/30/2012 -swimming and singing
my choir concert was this afternoon. i did not get up for swimming because i was tired and felt i needed extra rest. plus this stuffy nose isn't going away and it's hard to breath properly while swimming with a cruddy nose. concert went well, i thought. aside from the tunes that were very technical and hard to sing anyway.
saturday 12/1/2012 - contra dance
jon and i went to the contra dance tonight but it certainly lacked something that might be called energy. well first of all, i was not in the best of moods because of something someone had emailed me earlier in the day. it was then that my mood changed because i felt the weight of the contra dancing world on my shoulders and almost like it was too much to bear. also i thought maybe that this person didn't like me and that bothered me. and i thought they had been rude and mistreated me. and so i was a bit of an emotional wreck and felt helpless.
luckily my fellow dancers/friends came to my rescue and all was not lost. they comforted and consoled me and let me cry it out. we only stayed at the dance until 10-10:30, and then my headache had still not gone away so we went home.
sunday 12/2/2012 - day of rest
true day of rest. jon went back to portland and i lay around most of the day watching season 1 of glee on DVD. i did a few chores but mostly just rested.
and it's at this junction that i realize that when you're go go go for so many weekends in a row, all you want to do is rest when you get a weekend off. and that leads me to decide that next year i need to go to less things on weekends so i can be home more. this year was ridiculous!
swimming
i was well rested this morning for swim practice, having gone to bed at like, 1045pm or some crazy early hour. getting up was no problem at all! and, having swam on sunday, i thought my muscles would be pretty loose.
i was in a lane with someone who was faster than me this morning, but it wasn't too bad, and he "finished" way before i did so i was able to complete "make up" laps without the pressure of him being right on my toes.
| 200 swim | 200 |
| 2x (12kx3p BP/4x4/CU/hesitation) by 25 | 200 |
| 2x100 | 200 |
| 3x50 drill | 150 |
| 1x200 | 200 |
| 2x100 | 200 |
| 3x50 drill | 150 |
| 1x200 | 200 |
| 2x75 | 150 |
| 3x50 drill | 150 |
| 1x200 | 200 |
| 200 EZ | 200 |
| total | 2200 |
bodypump
laurie and i decided to do bodypump at noon because i would be spinning at night and she wasn't feeling the spinning. this time we were both there early and got primo spots in the front row where we like to be. this class has very little moving around (unlike zumba or kickboxing) so once you claim your spot, you're there for the duration of the class with very little chance of bumping into other people. also, very little coordination needed in this class other than just doing the exercises.
the format of the class is something like this:
- warmup weight: do a few squats, a few overhead press, a few bicep curls
- squat weight: put on the heavy weights "the legs are a big muscle group! you're cheating yourself if you go light." the teacher is always telling us this. i noticed this time that there were 3 guys in the class and while i appreciate their participation in this mostly female class, it does make me feel a little intimidated seeing how much weight they put on their bars.
- shoulder weight: more like warmup weight but also light single hand weights
- lunge weight: put the heavy weights back on! "the legs are a big muscle group!"
- back weight: heavy, but not as heavy as squat/lunch weight, or that heavy if you want. "the back is a big muscle group!"
- tricep weight: more than warmup, around same weight as shoulders, less than legs.
8x "down 2 up 2"
8x "down 3 up 1"
8-16x "singles!"
8x "stay low" or "in the basement" or "small movements"
- for squats, we mostly just do squats, deadlifts, bent over rows
- for shoulders we do flys, something like archery, and overhead press.
- for lunges, we do lots of squats and lunges, along with kicking back, bringing our knee up, and then some people jump up (i don't). somewhere in here we do clean and press.
- for back, we do deadlifts and bent over rows, and wide grip bent over row.
- for triceps, we lay on the bench and do skull crushers, something like bench press, then we stand and do overhead tricep lifts.
average rpm - 90
average watts - 142
total kilocalories - 480
total distance - 24km
total time - 52 minutes
tuesday 11/27/2012 - zumba and weights
zumba
zumba with laurie is just fun. i'm ridiculously uncoordinated. but our running man rocks!
weights
i almost talked myself out of going to do weights tonight. knowing that people were coming over for dinner and i didn't have dinner ready, and alex wasn't feeling well and wasn't going to make it, and i'd done bodypump just yesterday, i thought, "i don't need to do this, i should rest." but then i thought, "if i don't make myself do it, no one will. this is about me!" so, i dragged myself over to the gym but decided to set myself a time limit of being done BY 6pm. success!
this week i decided to up the weights and decrease the reps. for certain things, the 30lb bar wasn't hard (deadlift, bent over row) but it was harder for the bicep curls and the military press.
| bicep curl | 30lb bar | 3x10 |
| deadlift | 30lb bar | 3x10 |
| bent over row | 30lb bar | 3x10 |
| military press | 30lb bar | 3x10 |
| tricep skull crusher | 20lb both | 3x10 |
| shrug | 30lb each | 3x10 |
| seated row | 70lb | 3x10 |
| abs: | ||
| plank | 2x30 sec | |
| crunch | 30 | |
| flutter | 30 | |
| bicycle | 30 | |
| penguin | 30 | |
| side twist w/12lb medicine ball | 30 | |
| 100s | 3x | |
| bridge | 30 | |
| bridge hold | 30 sec |
wednesday 11/28/2012 - swimming and running
an epic day!
swimming
this morning, waking up was a little more challenging than it should have been, since i didn't get to sleep early (after spending the night with my girls [and housemates] eating delicious food and watching an "interesting" movie about an australian tribal story, oh, and eating popcorn). but i got up and got a move on, and was able to get to work and get my swim stuff and still get to the gym a tiny bit early.
sometimes, i experience some frustration at swim practice. usually i'm able to deal with the fact that i'm the slowest by just falling in behind the last person in the lane. however, there is one person on the team that is new-ish (i guess) who is just a FAST swimmer. why he is in the slow lane - well, i know why he's in that lane, his technique is garbage - but still, he's fast enough to be in the next fastest lane. and yet, there he is in my lane.
and all that would be fine except that when he goes fast and gets done with something, coach stops me from finishing my set because he doesn't want the other guy to wait around too much. i mean, i get it, why punish the fast by making them wait for the slow person. but don't i have a right, as much as anyone else, to complete the amount of swimming that is assigned to us each day? i have just as much right to get in the yardage as the fast people.
especially because i'm really focusing on my technique and trying to really burn it in correctly. plus, i like to write down the workout that *i* do (versus the one that's on the board; they are often not the same) and it's hard to always remember what i've done, how many 50s i didn't do, etc. but, it's a good game of memory.
things i worked on today: reaching out instead of across my body, staying long, sticking the hand in and keeping the elbow high to pull the body past, remembering to kick, trying not to turn my head out of the water so much to breathe. this last part is very difficult with congestion in my head because it feels like i'm often choking on mucous, and then i'm choking on water; it's very disruptive to my flow.
anyway, to make up for the yards that i didn't finish during the drill and main set, i did 200 extra on the EZ at the end.
| 200 swim | 200 |
| 150 drill by 25 | 150 |
| drill: zipper, wrist drag, FTD, fist, zipper, wrist | |
| 2x through: | |
| 2x100 | 400 |
| 4x25 (BK/FR) | 200 |
| 1x150 fast | 300 |
| 1x100 fast | 200 |
| 3x50 (BK/FR) / (zipper/FR) | 300 |
| 300 EZ | 300 |
| total | 200 |
---
today i almost forgot what time the soup kitchen started and was a little late getting there after i realized i needed to be there at 11 not 12. all these noon classes have me setting my alarm for 1145, but today i needed to set it for 1045 and didn't.
---
running - map: http://goo.gl/maps/ruZCy
and the track: http://goo.gl/maps/S9D27
one thing that hasn't really progressed for me yet is my rapport with the people on the team. it's not exactly like being invisible, but it's close. i show up, stand on the outside of the circle of people, people occasionally acknowledge my presence (usually the coach), we discuss where to run, and then we go outside and they take off and i fall in my place in the back. when i come in from my run, the team is usually onto something else like drills or running around the track.
today i picked up the pace a little bit and was able to meet up with the team not long after they arrived back. i was pretty proud of myself though i was very, very tired and out of breath by the end. at one point while i was running, i thought, "maybe i have asthma," since sometimes i feel very short of breath right at the beginning of the run. maybe it's the cold air entering my lungs. maybe i take off too fast. maybe i am just not comfortable with being out of breath. who knows.
one of the guys in our running group is a little bit older. maybe he's 50? he has an ironman hat so i guess he did an ironman sometime. anyway, when i describe my place in the running pack to people, i usually describe it like this. "first it's the fastest people - all guys, then it's the second fastest people and all the rest of the girls, then it's the older guys, then me." i should probably find out what this older guy's name is - i think it's gary or greg or something like that, thought i heard him say that to someone. anyway when we are all done with our drills and are getting ready to go run around the track for awhile, he turns to talk to me:
older guy: how are you doing?
me: good. that was my best time so far.
older guy: i could tell. you've lost weight, i can see that.
and we fist bump.
i could take this comment as "you are wearing tights and i've never seen your body before and you are a woman and i like looking at women" or i could take it as a compliment. i won't believe the weight loss until i see the results on the scale. which i have been avoiding since for the first 6 weeks i weighed myself each week and it was always the same. but, maybe it is starting to show a little bit. i put on a pair of pants that were comfortable when i got them in september, and they seem to be a little looser this week. could be 'cause they are stretched out a little, or maybe i've gotten a tiny bit smaller. i'll have to try this theory with other pairs of pants that have been tighter lately.
summary: 3 miles in 27:06 minutes (9:02 min/mile)! then 4 laps (1.6 miles) in 14:12 minutes (8.875 min/mile)
note: something inside me is very emotional tonight. i have been semi-crying for the last hour. not sure what is wrong. could be tired.
thursday 11/29/2012 - spinning and running
spinning - different teacher!
different teacher means different tunes and different workout. this one mostly focused on rolling hills and some "endurance sprints" where you try to stay at a given speed at a medium hard gear, then try to push it 10rpm faster.
average rpm - 88
avereage wattage - 154
total kilocalories - 322
total distance - 14.8 km
total time - about 35 minutes
running - map: http://goo.gl/maps/9Cp9Y
again i get the sensation that i'm almost a nobody. of course, i'm not openly bubbly or super friendly to everyone, but when i arrive at our meeting spot to go running there's only a few of us around. the president is there and he seems to be determining that we won't run for too long 'cause he has to go to work at 6. so we decide 3-4 miles, and when we start talking about where it should be, there's some talk and some confusion and some decision and i am still unclear about where we are going. i try to say i'm not sure where we're going, and someone tries to explain it like it's so elementary, everyone knows where that is. and then someone says, just keep running and when you get back, you're done. i think, 'how helpful.' i tell them i probably won't see them so i'll just wing it i guess, but when i catch up to them at an intersection, i then realize where we are going. so it's no biggie when they really do leave me in the dust.
they didn't actually leave me in to much dust - i saw them a few times as i tried to sprint to a stoplight to catch up with them as they were about to cross the street. and by the time they were really gone, i knew where i was and how to get back.
my pace felt decent at the beginning and i thought maybe they were slowing down to let me keep up. i was able to keep up with them for some amount of time before they pulled away. i didn't have the spring in my step and definitely less power than yesterday. i found myself running more upright at times, instead of hunching over and just trying to get through it. that seemed like a big step to me. but when i got tired i crumpled up again, and i had to remind myself to stand up and breath.
i attempted to use a breathing trick from swimming, which is to not gasp and take large breaths of air, but rather to just take sips of air. i found that when running, as you let the air out, your lungs naturally fill back up again. i thought i was gasping but it turned out i wasn't, so that's not a useful crossover lesson. ah well.
at the very end of the run, i look down at my watch and think that i have forgotten to hit the start button again. darn it, i think, well i can't hit it now because it won't be accurate. turns out, i hadn't forgotten. still, the time is approximate because i pushed it and then walked around a little, catching my breath after the sprint at the end.
summary: 3.4 miles, ~33 minutes
friday 11/30/2012 -
my choir concert was this afternoon. i did not get up for swimming because i was tired and felt i needed extra rest. plus this stuffy nose isn't going away and it's hard to breath properly while swimming with a cruddy nose. concert went well, i thought. aside from the tunes that were very technical and hard to sing anyway.
saturday 12/1/2012 - contra dance
jon and i went to the contra dance tonight but it certainly lacked something that might be called energy. well first of all, i was not in the best of moods because of something someone had emailed me earlier in the day. it was then that my mood changed because i felt the weight of the contra dancing world on my shoulders and almost like it was too much to bear. also i thought maybe that this person didn't like me and that bothered me. and i thought they had been rude and mistreated me. and so i was a bit of an emotional wreck and felt helpless.
luckily my fellow dancers/friends came to my rescue and all was not lost. they comforted and consoled me and let me cry it out. we only stayed at the dance until 10-10:30, and then my headache had still not gone away so we went home.
sunday 12/2/2012 - day of rest
true day of rest. jon went back to portland and i lay around most of the day watching season 1 of glee on DVD. i did a few chores but mostly just rested.
and it's at this junction that i realize that when you're go go go for so many weekends in a row, all you want to do is rest when you get a weekend off. and that leads me to decide that next year i need to go to less things on weekends so i can be home more. this year was ridiculous!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
