MapMyRun.com - Training Log for quembelle

MapMyRun.com - Training Log for quembelle

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Competition runs strong...

So, I just completed Week 8, Day 1 of the couch to 5k program, which was a 28 minute run. Since I worked out pretty hard yesterday I decided not to push it and stick with the program, and I'm glad I did. It actually felt really good to run. I think I actually enjoyed it. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of fireflies that were out!

One of my husband's best friends is rooting on me for this triathlon and playing up the competition between Joe and I. This is the nature of their friendship. Sometimes I try and trick myself into believing that this friend actually is cheering for me rather than just cheering against Joe. Of course, its all in fun and I know that deep down he really does support both of us :-D Anyway, in the spirit of competition, he posted these quotes on our respective facebooks:

On Joe's: Here is an inspirational quote from Lao Tzu to think about while training:"Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."

On mine: Here is an inspirational quote from Vince Lombardi to think about while training: “A person can be as great as they want to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.”

Thanks, Dave! You've made it into my blog, congratulations! (the picture is from 2007 of Dave, myself and Joe in Atlantic City outside the Casbah... we're rockin', can you tell?)

In actuality, Joe is not really training for the triathlon. He hasn't withdrawn yet, however we got the prognosis for his shoulder injury: he broke his clavicle about a centimeter from the joint. So, he can't swim or bike and he has to take it easy when he runs - keeping it to a jog since you use your arms a lot when you run faster than that. He goes back to see the doc in August, and he'll have about a month before the race to train in swimming and biking if the doc clears him. Its a bummer, but we're just grateful he doesn't need surgery or physical therapy or anything like that.

Tomorrow is sort of a rest day, however I'm going to bike to the metro, head over to a friend's place, and we're going to wander around in DC for a while and get dinner at the Pita Pit! Look out Chicken Souvlaki Pita...

First swimming class

So, I actually made it to class this time! The bike ride was a little easier and a little faster, also, although when I took it up to the 7th gear (the highest) it didn't seem to catch. So I'll have to check that out. Otherwise, the ride there went well.

My class is at the rec center closest to my house (about 3 miles away). I've taken classes at two others in the area, and I have to say this one is the nicest. The locker rooms smell the least like pee than the others, and the pool was just really nice, too. They have all levels of diving boards and a platform which is cool: I was there a little early and got to watch some of the divers.

I really hate my swimming cap: I have one of the cheap latex ones and I think I need to go and get one of the better silicone ones. I did get paid today....

My instructor (didn't catch his name, blast me for being shy) is this nice looking, early 20-something guy, he's patient (he had been teaching a kids class prior to mine) and explained things well. I guess Monday's classes are more instruction where as Wednesdays are more of a straight work out. This class there were 4 of us. This is what he had us do:

Warm Up
75 Freestyle
75 Backstroke

Work-Out
3 x 150 Freestyle (the middle 50 of each was a drill: fingertip drag (when your arms come out of the water, you walk your fingers on top of the water up to the top), hand catch-up (the back hand comes up to meet the front hand before the power stroke) , and kicks (apparently, I was kicking too big and too much from my knees)
3 x 150 Backstroke (drills: thumb up pinky in (thumb comes out of the water and the arm twists to put the pinky in the water), hips up (basically tilting your pelvis and contracting the abs so your torso stays on top of the water... Thanks Pilates!!!) , and kicks (again, my knees were too bent and my kicks too deep. when I tried to correct though I gave myself some leg cramps... oops)

I actually did more like, 3 X (150 freestyle, 150 back) and I accidentally did and extra 50 free.

2 x 200 Free
2 x 100 Back

I only did 1 x of each because I ran out of time

Cool Down
3 x 50 your choice with a 15-20 second rest (I only did 50 Breaststroke)

In total, I swam 1450m, which is about .9 miles. not too shabby.

Then, I did the 3 miles biking back home. Which went OK except it was pretty dark out which made me nervous. But yesterday was a beautiful day!! So it felt really good to ride home.

Things I need to remember for next time:

-Get a new swim cap
-bring a water bottle in with me - its easy to forget to stay hydrated when swimming
-get a flasher thingy for my backpack/back of my bike for riding at night
-get a horn/bell for my bike
-find out cute instructor's name
-bring underwear and a bra to wear on the ride home. Not that riding in my swimsuit was bad and really, I should get used to it since I'll be riding in it for the triathlon, but still.
-wear HRM.

Well, i went biking....

So, I got everything packed up for swimming. My goggles and swim cap, flip flops, a towel, my wallet and phone and bike lock, all put in my backpack. I wore my swimsuit under a t-shirt and sweats, filled up my water bottle and headed out the door. I made it to the community center in 20 minutes, pulled in to lock my bike and realized that I'd left my backpack on the chair in the livingroom. Doh!

So, I biked back. At this point, I would have been late for swimming class so I just bought a new bathing suit online instead from Athleta.com, at about half price thanks to the Gap rewards I've been racking up.

But, it was a decent 35 minute bike workout if nothing else and I learned a few things about my bike:

1. I need either new handle bar pads or biking gloves. My hands and wrists really took a beating going over bumps and stuff. On top of this I need to learn to relax my arms and shoulders a bit, too.
2. My new water bottle rattles a lot. its just a little too small for the holder, and the holder is metal and so is the bottle. I'm thinking a beer coozy might help.
3. I really need to install the bike lock holder onto the bike. If I'd had the lock there, I could have at least gone inside and asked to make a phone call or something
4. I should keep an emergency information card somewhere on my bike, if its a sticker or something. I could have called Joe at home, but I don't have our house phone memorized (only our cell phones)
5. I need to register my bike: there is some national database or something
6. Get used to going fast down hills. Maybe this will help my skiing also!

Pacemakers 5k Completed

Yesterday, Joe and I got up super early (6am!!) to drive out to Warrenton, VA to run in the Pacemakers 5k which supports the Fauquier County Free Clinic. Since I am only on week 7 of my 9 week training program, and Joe hurt his shoulder, we weren't sure how it was going to go, but it was a nice day out and we figured if we had to walk, fine.

Neither of us had to walk. At all. My goal was to just do it without walking, and I did! It was a beautiful day and the setting was really lovely: it was at the Airlie Center. I saw a deer! (Also, I'm #2 in the picture. Joe was #3 and you can see his elbow and foot a few paces in front of me)

I finished with a time of 33:11, which was almost 3 minutes faster than my last time (at the Turkey Trot in 2007). Joe finished in 28:43.

I'm glad we signed up for this race. It was a good motivator, and now we're gearing up for the triathlon in 11ish weeks. I start swimming tonight, and I'm going to bike the 3 miles to the gym!

Pacing Myself? Whodathunk?

So, I finished my week 6 couch to 5k training on Monday. I'm a little behind but since I'm not feeling the pressure of the 5k I'm running on Sunday the 21st since I was already behind anyway. But, this session was a straight 25 minute run without stopping. Considering how hard the last day was, I decided that it didn't matter how slow I went or how far I got, but that I would not stop running. I think possibly I could have walked faster at some points, but I did it! I paced myself, and kept an eye on my heart rate monitor so I didn't get up too high.

Week 7 (which starts today) are all 25 minute runs. So I should be used to it by the end of the week, and it just happens that the 5K falls on one of my training days (assuming I get in my runs today and friday), so rather than competing, I think I'm just going to do my 25 minutes (plus the 5 minute warm up and cool down) and not really worry too much about my time. My focus is on the Triathlon, this was just a "training goal". I missed it by a bit, but its helped keep me working at it which is what is really important.

In other triathlon related news, I finally bought a bike! Its nothing fancy, cost me around $300 bucks (I had him put on a kickstand and a water bottle thingy plus I had to get a lock for it) Its only got 7 speeds, and its a hybrid rather than a road bike. I figure I'm not a serious racer. I might do one race a year. Otherwise, I'd be riding my bike around town, and on some trails probably. So I didn't want to shell out big bucks for a bike with features I wasn't going to use. I just went to Dick's Sporting Goods and was able to walk out of there with this bike. I tried a couple others: one that had shocks in the front, but that felt really unstable to me. As we get closer to the race I'll probably add a few more things (maybe a different seat, some kind of bag or basket of some kind, a patch kit, etc). Also, I still need to figure out what I'm going to wear, but those are all issues for a different paycheck.

Cherries

So, yesterday's run was tough. 5 minute warm-up, 10 minute run, 3 minute walk, 10 minute run, and then walking the rest of the way home. Took me about 42 minutes to go 3.1 miles.

I'm trying really hard to take it slow. my goal is to be able to run the 5k without stopping, no matter how slow i go. Maybe not the one on the 21st, but certainly at the end of the triathlon.

Joe and I go running "together" which really means that we do our 5 minute walk together, and then he loops back around at the end of his run (he's on week 7 which are all 25 minute runs) and we walk the rest of the way together. For a couple weeks he tried it where he'd loop around more often, but i would get so angry when he would come up behind me and pass me. But the past few times, i just let him go, and that seems to work better. The route we run has enough circles that i can still see him, and he actually doesn't get too far ahead of me, maybe a few blocks at the most.

Anyway, sometimes when i'm running i get into the groove and it feels good. sometimes, it is hell. yesterday, the only thing that kept me going for the last 4 minutes of my last run was thinking about all the cherries i would eat when i got home. And i did eat a lot of cherries.

I'm trying to become more aware of what i'm eating, also. I managed to not give into the peanut M&M's at work, we had a good dinner (tilapia with garlic and dill, a big baked potato with greek yogurt, and steamed zucchini and summer squash with rosemary and a little bit of butter). I had cherries with greek yogurt and a little bit of honey for dessert.

I feel like i slept pretty well, though i need to get in the habit of waking up with my alarm instead of snoozing. Breakfast this morning was a PBJ on whole wheat and some OJ, and i took my vitamins also. Today i need to find out if yoga class is still going on, i've missed 3 or 4 in a row. If so, i'll go in and ride the bike for a bit before class.

Now a week behind...

So, the 20 minute run went pretty well. And then, we started week 6. I was so determined to keep up with Joe - the competitive bug bit me really hard - and so I started running harder than I normally would. And then, my knee started hurting. Bad enough that I had to walk the rest of the time and take a week off. I'm not very good at the cross training thing, or the idea of "active recovery". So i pretty much didn't do anything all week.

I've been feeling so exhausted lately and I was fighting off something also (my glands were swollen and everything). Come Thursday and Friday my headaches were so bad, I thought I was getting migraines (which, I don't get). They were tension headaches, but I also think a lot of it was caffeine and sugar withdraw. I had been drinking a lot of coffee and soda the past couple of weeks because of my lack of sleep and the show. Its bad when a coke helps your headache. I figured I needed the week of rest though.

Yesterday, I got back on track. I ate really well, started week 6 over again (Joe is now a week ahead of me, oh well) and I told Joe I was thinking about seeing a nutritionist, to make sure that I'm eating enough and getting the right amount of protein etc etc, and I've also started taking my vitamins again. I felt really great!

And then I get into work and have a donut and a piece of birthday cake. :headdesk:

I'm trying to forgive myself, accept it, and move on with my day. Knowing I slipped up a bit means that I just need to watch it the rest of the day. Hopefully I can get out for a walk at lunch.

Tomorrow's run is two 10 minute runs with a 5 minute walk in between. Then, comes four straight sessions of 25 minute runs.

I get paid on Wednesday so I'm thinking it might be time to get a bike, also. And I need to start resistance training also. I think all this cardio without weight training isn't good for me.