You want to push yourself? Join a group! Better yet, join one with a coach!

Today was my long swim day. Here was our workout

300m warmup
200m kick (with fins)
25m pull (left) swim out the rest (25m) x2
25m pull (right) swim out the rest (25m) x2
25m pull (3 left, 3 right) swim out the rest (25m) x2
25m skully, swim out the rest (25m) x2
100m boey, 100m paddles (x3)

whew! that was hard I might be missing a few drills – her total was 2500 but she knocked off a few hundred for the slower folks. Great workout though!

I had always heard that spin classes are the best way to train inside for cycling. Well that may be true, but not until you have tried compu cycle training. The coach I swim with told me about this class so she could teach me some things, and boy did I learn a lot.

I showed up around 5am, though nobody was there. After a 30 minutes drive I was certainly getting nervous I’d gotten up at 4:20 for nothing. Within a few minutes the instructor showed up and we headed in with our bikes. It was an amazing little “tri” workout center. They have several trainers where you setup your bike and hook it into a magnet that transmits to a computer. The computer runs a series of hills. Each hill was one mile long, with a flat and then a downhill. My goal was to keep my RPM at 90 on the up hill, 100 on the flat, and go easy on the downhill. I had always done the opposite. I went slow on the hills, and fast on the downhills. I also had a few issues with my form, I rock my shoulders, point my toes down when I fatigue and don’t keep a very smooth circle with my feet. Apparently these are all things I can learn.

We went 12 miles and each hill she gave me something new to focus on, the computer measured how hard I was pushing, how much effort I was using and so forth. I was definitely tired by the end of the ride but I did my 12 miles in an hour which is great for me. I need to get out and get myself a computer. Its all about the cadence!

In exactly one week we will be doing our triathlon. I’m comfortable with the swim (I did it in less than 10 minutes this week) – Yes I know that’s slow The bike will be fine but slow and we’ll walk / run as best we can. I know that I CAN do it. Its just a matter of how long its going to take.

I got the rules sent to me by email this week. A few interesting things popped out. First you aren’t allowed to draft. I figured I’d be so far back nobody would care, but I get it, its unfair. Second we can’t ride side by side. So Nikki and I will just have to meet up on the run. If we can’t talk whats the point? Another bad rule, no headphones. I usually just keep in one for safety but still, no music to keep me going? Ah well.

i’m honestly more prepared for my tri in Sept. which is slightly shorter. I’m also amazed how many people I am meeting training for their first tri’s. I didn’t know it was so popular!

On a side note my diet is going great. I am still doing weight watchers and have lost about 3 lbs in 2-3 weeks. Heres to summer!

People keep telling me I have to do bricks while preparing for my triathlon. Step 1 – figure out what a brick is. A brick is where you stack your workouts and do two different workouts back to back. In other words, swim then run, bike then run, swim then bike, whatever your heart desires. In these past few weeks I have come to learn that I like biking. So I figured my first brick could be biking then running.

I use an awesome app called mapmyride (which is free btw) and I just turn it on and head out. Our neighborhood is VERY hilly which is awesome because you get ups and downs. I completed about 9.5 miles and then headed out for my run. I felt really good and think I could have done a longer bike ride. My goal with my rides is slow and steady. I dont want to injure myself by trying to go too fast or use too high of a gear. Plus I’m still really getting the feel for it. With my runs I am using the couch to 5k. Again my goal is to not injure myself (I have bad knees) so I run 30 seconds and walk 90 for a total of 30 minutes which gets me through 3 miles.

Tomorrow is spin class and wednesday is my swim day and yoga day. Swimming is slow and steady, I’m improving each time but its definitely my weakness still!

Well we had a few days off due to some fun travels but here we are, 6 weeks before the race. I went swimming today – I worked on trying to keep going. At first I did the breast stroke to warm up and then alternated freestyle and backstroke. The backstroke allows me to catch my breath. I did 7 laps this time which is 350m. Just shy of my 400 goal. I have learned a few things and am getting more relaxed in the water which is helping tremendously.

Humming while breathing out really helps me control my breath more. Also taking my time breathing in seems to help. I know this takes practice and I’m going to do my best to go 3 times per week. I need to do my long bike but I have another busy weekend so I dont know when I will do it. I need my schedule to clear so I can spend my time training!

I’m still sick so the thought of putting my face in the water and blowing just seemed, gross, and stupid. I opted to NOT do that. Instead I got some good advice from a nice neighbor who is a good swimmer – kick board! I did 30 minutes using the just the kick board. Apparently there is a right and wrong way to use one. The old days of just grabbing something are gone. I found a few you tube videos that talked about training the kick properly.

Apparently you are supposed to kick from your hip flexor and keep your butt high. Then you will notice your back is arched, not good either. So push the kick board into the water using your lats – after a while this starts to burn a bit too!

I did it, 30 minutes worth. I lost count of my laps. Another good tip (again from my neighbor) is to use silly bands to keep track – just move them from one arm to the next. I hope that I am clear enough to actually swim next time!

On to yoga tonight

Nikki was hurt, I have been sick but here we are, less than two months from our tri. I found an 8 week training schedule I’m going to do my BEST to stick to. Here it is if anyone wants it

I’ve had a nasty nasty cold. Today was my first workout since I had that. I have a nice new bike my husband was sweet enough to let me buy but its been sitting in my garage for over a week. So today I decided I need to learn to use it – that means learning the shifters and clip in pedals. It was all pretty simple, but biking on the road is harder than biking on a stationary bike. So Nikki – you gotta get out there!

Today was a 20 minute bike ride, I was tired but it helped clear out my sinuses LOL. Tomorrow is swimming and yoga (strength). Wish me luck

I am working as hard as I can to NOT injure myself while training for this tri. I had a little low back issue last week– I did some TurboFire one morning and my back muscles spazzed out. The only other issues is my achilles. It freaks out when I run. Dad says it’s Plantar Facitis, which I think is what did his running career in. A quick Google search confirmed that I need supports in my shoes, so I’m on the search for a new product. Anyone have recommendations?

Oh, I forgot the shoulder pain. (I know I know, I’m so OLD!!!) I have been taking a triathlon swim prep class, which has basically thrown out everything I knew about swimming (which isn’t a lot– I’m self-taught), and they’re teaching me freestyle from scratch. When my arm is fresh, I can swim for about 20 minutes (with my “new” swimming technique) before my shoulder pains start up. I’m optimistic that if I’ll just stop lifting with my left arm for a while, and with careful swimming, I can conquer this.

But, if I have to doggy paddle the 400m swim, and walk the 3 mile run, I’ll be okay with that.

Having said all of that, I am definitely, definitely convinced that I need to work on building muscles (with proper form) to protect my body from injury… with lots of nice stretching too. Can you say P90X?

I was first introduced to the idea of deep stretch by P90x. I wont lie, I usually skipped it. Sitting a stretching just didn’t seem like a work out or at all important.

I have since discovered yoga, and in my yoga practice, they offer a deep stretch by one of my favorite instructors, so I went to try it out today. I had no idea my shoulders were SO tight. I loved the stretch class and had a wonderful time – it was so great to feel areas of my body that were tight that were able to relax. This is definitely something I have to recommend. Even my husband commented that I was no longer complaining about my back.

For my triathlon training, I did my run and bike this weekend. Spin classes are set for Tuesday mornings and I have to figure out when i’m going to swim still!