Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Gettin' my bike groove on!
I have been having fun finding new 'pump up' music for my iPod to get me going when we spend hours spinning on our bike trainers. My latest favorite that always gets me to ramp up my RPM, is with one of my all time favorite DJs; TIESTO!! (Along with a chubby rapper, a dude with a sweet grill, and another dude with some stylin' shades...)
Two weeks down, 34 to go!
What an awesome couple of weeks it has been. Two weeks into training and I am feeling really good! The team is great, a lot of nice people, and the Coach is fantastic. I already think I did a really good thing by going this route on finding a team and a Coach that'll help me reach my goal.
I'm having a blast training everyday. Coach has a good point that if you take two complete rest days a week, you are missing out on 3+ months of training that year. I'll take all the advantages I can get this year, so training everyday has become my new norm. Rest days for me are basically the days I swim. Swimming is so relaxing for me, even if I'm doing some harder sets; it's still so nice to have a no impact workout. I hope I can transform my body some too by training everyday. First to get the Christmas cookie weight off, then to get it more toned prior to the race in September. :)
The first week came out to total about 12.5 hours. Tri training was about 11.5, then that Sunday I decided to meet a friend for some cross country skiing so that added another hour that I'll consider 'training'. Little did I know skiing wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I was so tired! I didn't feel that tired really, it was just that my legs didn't want to ski. I am not a very good skier to begin with, so that was probably most of the problem.
This last week was 12.5 hours of training. 3 hours swimming, 6 hours biking, and 3.5 hours running. Every Sunday we do a triathlon, all three sports. 4 out of the 7 days we are doing at least two sports or 'brick' workouts. I am really impressed with Coach's training schedule and I am very excited to see what this kind of training will mean to my racing this year.
Even though it's only been two weeks I am feeling so much better on my bike. Last year was my first year with a tri bike and I managed fine for the few races I raced with it, but I didn't train on the bike last year nearly as much as I should have. Biking now 5-6 days out of the week is getting me so much more comfortable on it and I am enjoying biking more than I ever have before. The only negative about biking this much is that it hurts! The only thing that gets your sensitive 'butt area' used to biking is T.I.T.S. ("Time In The Saddle" you sickos!) so after a couple of weeks, it has gotten better. I did also find a miracle cream, 'Udderly Smooth Chamois Cream', that has been just great. I would recommend it to any female riders out there. And no, they aren't paying me to say this. :) It has really helped save my a**, literally, these last couple of weeks.
So overall, so far, so good... but we are still so far from the big day. I know there will be lots of hills and valleys between now and then, but in the meantime, I am just trying to go with the flow and stay consistent in my training. I am already aware work is going to throw a few wrenches into my schedule this next month; being on call for a week, and a trip to Philadelphia. All I can do it take it all in stride. What more can you do?
Right now, I can thank my lucky stars I am not a resident of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. My heart and prayers go out to everyone involved in the rescue efforts and the rescuees and those who have lost loved ones. What a horribly devastating and sad event.
In more fun/uplifting news... I am so proud of our MN Vikings for pulling off a HUGE victory over the Cowboys on Sunday, which now brings us to the NFC Championship game in New Orleans!!! I cannot wait!
PURPLE PRIDE BABY!
I'm having a blast training everyday. Coach has a good point that if you take two complete rest days a week, you are missing out on 3+ months of training that year. I'll take all the advantages I can get this year, so training everyday has become my new norm. Rest days for me are basically the days I swim. Swimming is so relaxing for me, even if I'm doing some harder sets; it's still so nice to have a no impact workout. I hope I can transform my body some too by training everyday. First to get the Christmas cookie weight off, then to get it more toned prior to the race in September. :)
The first week came out to total about 12.5 hours. Tri training was about 11.5, then that Sunday I decided to meet a friend for some cross country skiing so that added another hour that I'll consider 'training'. Little did I know skiing wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I was so tired! I didn't feel that tired really, it was just that my legs didn't want to ski. I am not a very good skier to begin with, so that was probably most of the problem.
This last week was 12.5 hours of training. 3 hours swimming, 6 hours biking, and 3.5 hours running. Every Sunday we do a triathlon, all three sports. 4 out of the 7 days we are doing at least two sports or 'brick' workouts. I am really impressed with Coach's training schedule and I am very excited to see what this kind of training will mean to my racing this year.
Even though it's only been two weeks I am feeling so much better on my bike. Last year was my first year with a tri bike and I managed fine for the few races I raced with it, but I didn't train on the bike last year nearly as much as I should have. Biking now 5-6 days out of the week is getting me so much more comfortable on it and I am enjoying biking more than I ever have before. The only negative about biking this much is that it hurts! The only thing that gets your sensitive 'butt area' used to biking is T.I.T.S. ("Time In The Saddle" you sickos!) so after a couple of weeks, it has gotten better. I did also find a miracle cream, 'Udderly Smooth Chamois Cream', that has been just great. I would recommend it to any female riders out there. And no, they aren't paying me to say this. :) It has really helped save my a**, literally, these last couple of weeks.
So overall, so far, so good... but we are still so far from the big day. I know there will be lots of hills and valleys between now and then, but in the meantime, I am just trying to go with the flow and stay consistent in my training. I am already aware work is going to throw a few wrenches into my schedule this next month; being on call for a week, and a trip to Philadelphia. All I can do it take it all in stride. What more can you do?
Right now, I can thank my lucky stars I am not a resident of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. My heart and prayers go out to everyone involved in the rescue efforts and the rescuees and those who have lost loved ones. What a horribly devastating and sad event.
In more fun/uplifting news... I am so proud of our MN Vikings for pulling off a HUGE victory over the Cowboys on Sunday, which now brings us to the NFC Championship game in New Orleans!!! I cannot wait!
PURPLE PRIDE BABY!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Here we go!
Well, today is the day I start my journey. I am looking forward to meeting my 'coach' and 'team' tonight! I am also somewhat nervous, because me just "going on a run" tonight means more than just any old run. This is it. This is the beginning of the road to Ironman. (Or, maybe it's the first turn off that road... as the first road was signing up for it... anyway... I digress.) :)
We'll also be race planning tonight, so I should know exactly what my race schedule will look like from now through September.
I did start off the New Year by running the Polar Dash 10K on Friday and what a cold dash it was! My toes were frozen for the first 2.5 miles until they started to thaw out. The sun was out though and overall it was a nice New Year's Day for a race. I have a couple of friends who were crazy enough to run that day as well!
Here's the super cool medal we got and a shot of us after the race!
I used this last weekend to relax and try and get myself organized so I can ease into my daily training and try to not feel overwhelmed. Saturday and Sunday I took off from working out, then last night I got in a nice relaxing swim of 2500 yards. Here is roughly what my first week will entail:
Monday: Swim 45 min.
Tuesday: Run for 1.25 hours
Wed: Bike for 1.5 hours
Thurs: Bike for 1.25 hours, Run for 15 minutes
Fri: Swim 60 min.
Sat: Run 1.25 hours, Bike 1.25 hours
Sun: Swim 1 hour, Bike 1.5 hours, Run 30 minutes
Total - 11.5 hours
Over the long weekend I was able to clean my house, fix a computer, stock up on groceries, and make sure I had some meals cooked. I was also able to do some shopping, watch a couple of movies, and we went to the Vikings game on Sunday to watch them nearly shutout the NY Giants!! My first time seeing Brett Favre LIVE, which was awesome!
Hopefully my planning ahead will now let me be able to spend some time snuggling on the couch with my little Ella these next few nights when I get home from training, versus having to clean or cook or do anything. I know I am going to be tired. There is just something about winter training too. I always feel more tired when I get done winter evenings versus evenings in the spring and summer. It could be because I have to build up a 'base' this time of year and by the time summer comes around, I've already built it. Or more likely it's due to the fact that by the time I get off of work, it's dark. By the time I start my workout, its dark, and by the time I'm done with my workout, it feels like it should be bedtime it's been dark for so long! Nonetheless, here's to being organized and hoping this first week goes well.
I found it funny that yesterday, on the morning show I listen to, they were talking about New Year's resolutions and how everyone usually fails on theirs within the first couple of weeks. The host made some comment regarding everyone’s failed resolution "it's not like you should make a resolution to quit your job and train for an Ironman". As if the only people who train for Ironman quit their job. It made me laugh because that is exactly one of the challenges of this. Who could or would quit their job to train? If you have that luxury, be my guest, but I bet the majority of IM prospects work 45-50 hours like the rest of the world PLUS add on the hours needed of training. I like my job and what I do and the whole reason I have the opportunity at this point in my life to do Ironman is because of my job. Triathlon training, tri gear, races, oh and not to mention... Tri bikes... are not cheap. So... I'll keep working, and I'll keep training, and I know I'll be short on time this year, and I'll have to give up time going out with friends, and I'll be giving up some of my monthly trips to Duluth, but this will all be worth it come September.
It will ALL be worth it.
Here's hoping by September 12th of this year my butt will be nice enough to have closeups taken of it...
We'll also be race planning tonight, so I should know exactly what my race schedule will look like from now through September.
I did start off the New Year by running the Polar Dash 10K on Friday and what a cold dash it was! My toes were frozen for the first 2.5 miles until they started to thaw out. The sun was out though and overall it was a nice New Year's Day for a race. I have a couple of friends who were crazy enough to run that day as well!
Here's the super cool medal we got and a shot of us after the race!
I used this last weekend to relax and try and get myself organized so I can ease into my daily training and try to not feel overwhelmed. Saturday and Sunday I took off from working out, then last night I got in a nice relaxing swim of 2500 yards. Here is roughly what my first week will entail:
Monday: Swim 45 min.
Tuesday: Run for 1.25 hours
Wed: Bike for 1.5 hours
Thurs: Bike for 1.25 hours, Run for 15 minutes
Fri: Swim 60 min.
Sat: Run 1.25 hours, Bike 1.25 hours
Sun: Swim 1 hour, Bike 1.5 hours, Run 30 minutes
Total - 11.5 hours
Over the long weekend I was able to clean my house, fix a computer, stock up on groceries, and make sure I had some meals cooked. I was also able to do some shopping, watch a couple of movies, and we went to the Vikings game on Sunday to watch them nearly shutout the NY Giants!! My first time seeing Brett Favre LIVE, which was awesome!
Hopefully my planning ahead will now let me be able to spend some time snuggling on the couch with my little Ella these next few nights when I get home from training, versus having to clean or cook or do anything. I know I am going to be tired. There is just something about winter training too. I always feel more tired when I get done winter evenings versus evenings in the spring and summer. It could be because I have to build up a 'base' this time of year and by the time summer comes around, I've already built it. Or more likely it's due to the fact that by the time I get off of work, it's dark. By the time I start my workout, its dark, and by the time I'm done with my workout, it feels like it should be bedtime it's been dark for so long! Nonetheless, here's to being organized and hoping this first week goes well.
I found it funny that yesterday, on the morning show I listen to, they were talking about New Year's resolutions and how everyone usually fails on theirs within the first couple of weeks. The host made some comment regarding everyone’s failed resolution "it's not like you should make a resolution to quit your job and train for an Ironman". As if the only people who train for Ironman quit their job. It made me laugh because that is exactly one of the challenges of this. Who could or would quit their job to train? If you have that luxury, be my guest, but I bet the majority of IM prospects work 45-50 hours like the rest of the world PLUS add on the hours needed of training. I like my job and what I do and the whole reason I have the opportunity at this point in my life to do Ironman is because of my job. Triathlon training, tri gear, races, oh and not to mention... Tri bikes... are not cheap. So... I'll keep working, and I'll keep training, and I know I'll be short on time this year, and I'll have to give up time going out with friends, and I'll be giving up some of my monthly trips to Duluth, but this will all be worth it come September.
It will ALL be worth it.
Here's hoping by September 12th of this year my butt will be nice enough to have closeups taken of it...
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