Sweet, glorious DAY OFF!

This one couldn't have come at a better time.

Saturday was an hour run with the team. I led the 8 minute run, 2 minute walk group. This ended up working out really well for me. I think I may use that to build endurance. I have yet to map it out on sanoodi, but I think it was about 5 miles.

Sunday I went on a bike ride with Scott and Kim. It was my first long ride on my new bike. I definitely need to get fitted to the bike. The first 35 miles were fine, but then my left knee started hurting. It got continually worse for the last 15 miles. It is still hurting today. :(

I was going to workout today, since I took off on Friday, but in light of the way my knee is feeling today, I think I will let it rest today. Depending on how I feel tomorrow morning, I will hopefully run, but possibly swim. In the afternoon, again depending on how I feel, I'll try to get in a bike ride along with some weights.

Today, though, today I rest. Sweet, glorious rest. Ahhhhh....

The Elegant Art of Donning a Wetsuit

Putting on a wetsuit is not as simple as one would think it is. It's not just a matter of pulling it up and on. There are difficulties. You can't pull too hard or you may rip the wetsuit. You have to gently coax the material up your leg...



Did I say GENTLY??



Once you get it up over your butt (with the help of a wedgy or two)...



It's on to the arms. Again, one would think this was easy, but it sometimes takes a little help from a friend...



okay, sometimes it takes a LOT of help from a friend...



Even the coaches have problems with this area



But once you get it on and you take that first step into the freezing cold Pacific water, all your efforts and struggles are worth it. Besides, it's like an extra warmup/workout getting it on!

Grrrr...

I can't seem to get my act together this week. It's not that I'm not doing anything. I'm just not doing as much as I should. Hmmmm....
Monday -- 9 mile bike ride (testing out the new wheels)
Tuesday -- 40 minutes running
Wednesday -- 1 hour swimming (but a good hour!)
Thursday -- I had grand schemes for today. We'll see what all I end up doing.

It's supposed to rain this weekend which may mess up my riding plans. :(

Training Nov. 26 - Dec. 2

Monday -- Run in morning
1.5 hours weights in afternoon
Tuesday -- Swim 1 hour am
Bike afternoon (20 miles)
Wednesday -- Swim 1 hour am, Swim 1 hour pm
Thursday -- Left for Salt Lake City
Friday -- 30 minutes elliptical/cross-country ski machine, Abdominals/yoga
Saturday -- 43 minutes running, treadmill
15 minutes stationary bike
Abdominals/Yoga
(This is the day I broke Josh. He vows to never workout with me again -- haha. We shall see!)
Sunday -- Drive home from Salt Lake City, put together my new bike (soooo purty)

Training Nov. 19 - 25

Last week was draining in sooo many ways -- I cannot even tell you. That's just it though, isn't it? Life happens, and eventually you have to keep going. Thank you, E, for helping me through.

Tuesday -- 1 1/2 hours of weights
Wednesday -- 20 min fast run, 20 min walk, 1 hour swim
Thursday -- 30 min run/walk (soooo full from tofurky and pie)
Friday -- LAZY BONES JONES
Saturday -- 20 mile bike
Sunday -- 23 mile bike, 9 of which was all uphill (where is my new, light bike!?!?!)

This morning, I ran 50 minutes. It was a struggle today, though. I had to walk three separate times, which is unusual. Perhaps it is the lack of sleep. I am guaranteed to have bad days, and I am learning to accept them, embrace them and learn from them. I have a long road ahead of me, but fortunately, I also have great friends and a team supporting me.

Training Nov. 14 - 18

Since I last posted,

I swam for about an hour on Wednesday. Thursday, I did a bit of weights, hurt my shoulder, and took the rest of the day off (LAZY bones!), Friday did hill training on my run... up and down, up and down, about 40 minutes. Saturday, 10 miles on bike (lazy bones, again), and Sunday... 34 miles on bike, including a 4 mile constant uphill climb.

This week is going to be a little crazy because I may have to go out of town. I have to have to have to start incorporating more weights into my training. That is my goal this week -- at least two hours of weights (along with everything else -- haha).

Triathlon Training is SERIOUS Business!

As you can tell by these pictures from our second run practice...



We had a costume contest for the participants, but the staff was much more gung ho about it. Keep in mind, this is at about 7:45am in Griffith Park on a Saturday morning.

I just couldn't resist the temptation...



And in case you're wondering...



... I did actually run in my Wonderwoman outfit! Just picture it! You're driving through Griffith Park, and Wonderwoman runs across the street! HAHA! Good times!

Training Days

Okay, starting today (4.5 months away from Lavaman and 7.5 months away from Ironman) I am going to try to post every day (or at least several times a week) what I actually do each day to train.

This morning, I ran 43 minutes, 4.4 miles (slow out, faster coming back). Tonight, I go to Power Yoga for 1.5 hours.

Okay seriously...

How in the world can you not fall in love with this kid?



This is Evan, dressed up for Halloween as a germophobiac nerd. How stinking cute is he?? Even as a nerd! HAHA.

For those of you who don't know, this is who I'm racing and fundraising for right now. Go to: http://www.active.com/donate/tntgla/Joy4EvantheWarrior
if you want to help! (Most likely if you're reading this, you already have helped -- which I GREATLY appreciate!)

I have also dedicated my first (and perhaps last) Ironman to Evan. Yes, he is THAT much of an inspiration to me. I mean, come on... just look at that picture. How could you NOT be inspired. Tee hee hee!

Surprisingly...

nothing (not even my butt) is aching today. Does this mean, I'm getting more fit or does this mean my body is just used to the abuse?? Hmmm....

1/2 Century?

HA! I wanted to go on a long bike ride this morning out at my momma's in Bakersfield. 3 hours and 50.4 miles later, I think I accomplished that. It's funny cuz I actually finished 43 miles in 2.5 hours, and the last 7.4 miles were done at a leisurely pace while looking for my sister on the path. I feel fine. I'm a little tired, and my lungs hurt from the crappy crappy air up here, but I feel good. Granted, there were no hills and I hadn't swam or run, but considering I have 5 more months to Lavaman an 8 more months to Ironman, I think it's a good start. I hope my butt is okay tomorrow!

Feeling it....

Well, we're about to finish my third week of training for Lavaman. I can feel my body getting stronger (cardiovascularly). I had a rough run on Tuesday, but I think that was because I had to go to the bathroom SOOOOO bad (at least I hope that was the problem). My swims on Thursday and Friday were also kind of rough. It's funny. Last Friday, my swim was so amazing, and then it was like starting all over again for some reason. I guess I hadn't grasped the newness of the stroke, breathing as well as I had. I'll get it though. I know I will. I just need to keep on it.

On Friday, I went for a loooong swim. I think I was in the pool about an hour and a half. I wasn't tried, but I was struggling with technique.

Tomorrow - I will be riding my bike up by my mom's house in Bakersfield. I'm hoping to ride for a couple of hours -- try to get in at least 40 miles, if not more.

You may be wondering why I'm trying to go so far, considering Lavaman is only a 25 mile bike ride. Well, here's the thing... and I've probably lost my mind, but it's done now. I registered this morning for the Ironman in Nice, France. Yep, it's official -- I have my registration number and everything. So now, I'm training for both Lavaman and Ironman, although I suppose by April, Lavaman will be like a short workout for me. Haha. I've got a GREAT team of people going to France with me. It's going to be a wild 8 months!

LAVAMAN... and IRONMAN????

Well, I am just finishing up my second week of training for Lavaman. I had a breakthru in the pool this morning. I switched the way I was doing my stroke and what a difference it has made. No more pain in my shoulder/elbow and WAY faster. It's made me very excited to do another race and test out how fast I go. :)

The fires put a little bit of a stint on my training this week. I was supposed to run yesterday, but with the air quality out here being as poor as it is, I opted to stay indoors and just ride the spinner bike for a bit of time.

Lavaman is going to be much more difficult than my last Olympic tri. It's much more hilly on both the bike and the run. Also, we'll be running over lava rocks at one point and sand at another point. Not to mention that the course is part of the World Championship Ironman course -- EEK!

Speaking of Ironman... I think I may have lost my mind, but I'm going to register for one in 2008. A couple of people from last season's team are going to do it as well. Now we just have to pick the one we want to do. Unfortunately all of the US Ironmans are sold out for 2008. We are looking at doing either Nice or the UK. Nice is the end of June (SOOOO soon - ahhh). The UK is the end of August. The only problem with the UK is that one of our "team" cannot do that one. Nice would be pretty, but the bike ride is INTENSE. All through the little villages up in the mountains. At one point there is a 21km climb. So I would have to train EXTRA hard because hills are my weakness. I can't even believe I'm thinking about this. LOL It's SO insane! I'll let you know when I'm officially registered. We're making a final decision this week.

Life is so exciting!

Official Times

If you'd like to see the breakdown of my official times, go here:

http://www.tricalifornia.com/pgtri/2007/results/olydvf30-39.cfm

I'm number 43. Pretty sweet!

Sweet Success!

Race day!

My alarm clock went off at 4:30am, and the first thought that went through my head was the freezing water I was in the day before and "what was I thinking?!?!"

I dragged myself out of bed, put on my tri clothes, ate breakfast with one of my coaches, grabbed my bag and my bike and went down to the lobby of the hotel to meet the rest of my team. We all checked in, hopped on our bikes and biked down to the event site. The nerves were beginning to kick in along with a bit of fear and doubt. Could I really do this?

I set up my transition area, went over everything three times, then had one of my coaches go over everything because that nagging feeling that I was forgetting something just wouldn't leave me.

At 7:30am, we were to meet up as a team to go on a warm-up jog. All I could think was that I was already going to have to run 6 miles in a couple of hours. Why in the world would my coaches be so evil to make me run even more? Haha. It was nice though to run togther and stretch together. All too soon it was time to tug my wetsuit on and head down to the water to await our warm up time in the water (10 minutes before we were to start).

I was sad to discover that the water wasn't any warmer than the day before -- in fact it was colder. I forced myself to stay in for the full amount of time we were allowed. I even got another woman to do a headstand with me just to lighten the mood. We looked like synchronized swimmers -- haha.



There we are, getting "warmed up." We were the first female wave to start which made it even more exciting. We were also the biggest wave to start.



All of our caps huddled together. There was cheering and dancing and hugging and threatening the jellyfish that may be awaiting us in the depths of the water. All too soon the start horn sounded, and ready or not, we were off:



I don't know which one I am in that picture. The swim was difficult with so many people around. I was kicked, smacked, stuck behind people. It was frustrating at times, but I just tried to stay focused and keep my technique as solid as possible despite the bodies pressing in all around me. Eventually I managed to break away enough to not have to battle too many people. I finished the swim in 40 minutes and ran up the path to my transition area. It wasn't until I got to transition and bent down to pick up my bike shoes that I realized I was far more dizzy than I thought. My first transition took a little over 4 minutes because I was trying not to fall over the entire time. I managed to not forget anything, and I was off on the bike before I even realized it.



I raced around that course like nobody's business, passing some of the boys who had started 15 minutes before me. I probably pushed myself too hard, cuz when I finished the bike part of the race an hour and 26 minutes later, my legs were tired. I knew the run wasn't going to be fun. Not that running is ever fun for me -- haha. After 25 miles on the bike, it's even less fun. I ran pretty much the entire first two miles with a couple of 30 second breaks. I ran/walked the last 4 miles. Here I am, struggling through mile 3:



I finished the 6 miles in 1 hour and 9 minutes. My average pace was 11 minutes, 8 seconds per mile, so I don't think I walked as much as I thought I did. I think it just seemed like I was walking more because it was more than I had wanted to be walking.

I made it across the finish line 3 hours, 24 minutes, and 49 seconds after I started.



Other than some pain in my left kneecap, I felt fine. I was proud of my time. I thought it was going to take me much longer than that. I guess when you have people inspiring you,

things seem a lot easier. Everyone on my team did stellar that day. I am so proud of all of us and so grateful to our coaches and mentors for pushing us the past four months. I have done something I didn't think I could do, and I did it well. I can shamelessly say that I am proud of myself.

Thank you all for you support -- financially and emotionally.

This experience has been challenging and inspiring in so many ways.

There was one experience that was particularly inspiring. It happened on July 22, 2007 when a few members of the team went to visit the Los Angeles Children's Hospital. It was there that I met the most amazing 8 year old boy. His name is Evan, and he is fighting leukemia right now. Meeting him has inspired me to sign up for the Lavaman triathlon on April 6. I will be doing this triathlon with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training again. I will be doing it in honor of Evan and the life he is fighting for. Of course, I need all of your support again for this one! Actually, I'll need even more support for this one because the course is VERY hilly (which I'm no good at), and I'm trying to raise even more money this time for Evan and the thousands of other kids and adults like him. If you want to be inspired by him, visit my website:
Joy4EvantheWarrior

He truly is amazing!

Thank you again!

Pre-race jitters!

The triathlon was on Saturday. I drove up to Monterey on Thursday evening, checked into my lovely hotel room, and chilled out that evening.

Friday was full of business. The team met in the hotel lobby at 11am to bike the 2.5 miles to the event site. We met with Dave Scott (6 time Ironman Champion) who gave us last minute tips and support.

After the meeting it was time to get into our wetsuits and test out the Pacific Grove waters for the first time. It was COLD COLD COLD. My feet went numb and my hands were stinging from the cold. We "warmed up" in the water for 5 minutes and then set off for a swim of one loop of the course. The kelp was INSANE. It was sooo thick, I was literally crawling over it at points. It was draining and a little creepy. We eventually made our way out around the first buoy, only to discover a bunch of jellyfish swimming out there with us. I didn't mind as much as some of the other swimmers who began to panic a bit. On the way back in, I looked back to see how they were, only to discover a seal swimming with us about 30 feet behind. I was so excited. The two other girls were not as happy as me. I guess some people don't appreciate being close to nature. We were invading the animals' home, so from my point of view, we really didn't have any right to be upset.

After the swim, we went to the expo center to pick up our race packets. After a bit of searching, I found my race number. We each received timing chips which you wear around your angle during the race. We had to check these chips in by scanning them and making sure all the information that popped up on the computer was correct. It mistakenly had my age as 30 which I was very quick to correct that I still had another month in my 20s. The man behind the computer said "well, they do it based on the year of the race." I simply informed him that "for my mental health, I thought he should know that I wasn't 30 yet." He looked at me, confused, for a second or two before he laughed. Myla (one of our team's mentors) grabbed my arm and pulled me away before I could protest more.

After we were all situated with our race packets, we then biked one loop of the bike course (6 miles) before we biked the 2.5 miles back to our hotel. My mother and stepfather visited me in my room for a bit before I made my way over to our big pasta party where we were greeted by a line of people making so much noise with cowbells, new year's noisemakers, etc... that my head swayed. We had a lovely dinner, heard some very motivational people speak, and then took the time to recognize everyone's participation in raising $1.4 million for this triathlon alone.

I went back to the hotel, packed my triathlon bag for the next day, put all my race numbers on my bike and helmet and jersey. Then it was time to try to go to sleep... which eventually happened. Which is exactly what I need to do right now. I will post some pics and the race day tomorrow. (I know, I know, the suspense is KILLING you).

And the doubt begins to creep in...

Today is four days before my race. I went for a quick 3 mile run this morning. I thought it was going to be quick, anyway. I had such a hard time with it. I barely ran two miles before I had to walk for a bit. I don't know what happened or why it was so stinking hard, but of course it now has me worried that I couldn't even run three miles without having swam or biked. EEK.

I'm chalking it up to a rough day. I have to shake it off. I'll be fine.

Only a few more days...

til the big race day. I can't believe it's here already! This summer FLEW by so fast. Thanks to everyone for helping me reach my fundraising goal! Now all I have to do is focus on the race and finishing with the best of my ability.

This week is pretty relaxed. I just have a 30 minute ride tomorrow, 3 mile run on Tuesday, and one last swim practice on Wednesday. Thursday, I travel up to Monterey. Friday we have a day of activities. We will ride the bike course loop once, we will have a practice swim so that we can get used to not only the water temperature, but also the creepy, slimy kelp that we'll be swimming through. I also have to pick up my race packet on Friday. We're having a big pasta dinner celebration Friday night. Then it's to bed early (even though I know I won't be able to sleep - haha). Race day, I have to be up around 5am to eat breakfast and bike down to the course, set up my transition area, and get ready for the swim. The race begins at 7:15am, although, the Team in Training wave won't be going until last, so I probably won't start until closer to 9am. I'm hoping to be done by 1pm.

I just practiced changing my bike tire, and that went okay. Hopefully I won't get a flat during the race, but if I do, I cannot have anyone help me or else I will be disqualified. I'm glad I got a practice in.

I feel fairly prepared with my transitions and what I'll be eating/drinking. I just have to remind myself to continue nourishing during the race. It's easy to forget and then it can be too late to fully recover. Physically, I think I'm okay. I worry about the run, but if all else fails, I walk. I'll finish.

It's funny because I've been saying this whole time that I'll finish even if I have to crawl across the finish line. The other day, I decided I should read the US Triathlon Association rules, and believe it or not it actually says that crawling is not allowed. HAHA.

I'll let you all know what happens!!

Practice Tri Results

Well, I wasn't lying when I said this past weekend was going to be hard. haha

On Saturday, we had our mock triathlon. It was pretty much a real race, just slightly shorter than the actual one I'll be doing. We did a .5 mile swim, 18 mile hilly bike, and a 5 mile run. I finished in 2 hours, 25 minutes. My swim was about 20 minutes, my bike slightly over an hour, and the run slightly under an hour.

The guys started 5 minutes before the ladies, and I finished a few minutes before a handful of the guys. I surprised myself, as well as my mentor, coaches and other teammates. It made me feel much more at ease about the big race.

I ended up not doing the triathlon on Sunday. I damaged my toe on Saturday from all the running last week. So I woke up at 4am on Sunday morning, put on my running shoes, jogged around a bit to see how I felt, and decided it just wasn't worth damaging it anymore to do another practice triathlon. So instead, I rode 26 miles with some of my teammates.

I have taken two days off of training, and today I get to hop back into it with my favorite thing -- swimming!

3 WEEKS -- Eek!!!!

Wow -- time is just FLYING by right now. It's pretty intense.

After Sunday, I only have three weeks left of trainging, and then it's the big race! I'm scared and excited and nervous. Every time I think of crossing the finish line, I get a huge bubble of excitement. But then I start thinking about the preparation and transitions and forgetting my bike or something equally ridiculous, and I get nervous. And then I think about getting off the bike after 25 miles and having to run 6 miles (which is hard enough on its own) and I get scared.

I ran 7 miles last night. I would have never even thought that possible for me. I HATE running. I'm HORRIBLE at it. My body was not meant for it, but I managed (somehow) to run 7 miles last night. I'm still a bit in shock.

This weekend is going to be very hard for me. A while ago, a couple of teammates and myself signed up for a triathlon sprint at Hansen Dam on Aug. 19 just for practice. We're not really racing. Our team was supposed to be having our practice "mini-triathlon" (which is actually a long sprint triathlon; .5 mile swim, 18mile bike, 4 mile run) on Aug. 25. Well, the team triathlon was bumped up to Aug. 18. So, now I have a triathlon to do tomorrow early in the morning, and another one on Sunday early in the morning. And I've never even done one yet. I'm going to be dead to the world on Sunday evening. Hopefully I will survive both tris. I'll let you know.

Thanks for all the support!

HIGH FIVE MEOW for me!

So, I dragged my butt out of bed at 5:30 this morning so that I could get in a run and a swim today. Our swim practice was cancelled last night because someone pooped in the pool! So, I went running this morning, and then I'm meeting up with one of our mentors later this afternoon to swim.

My run this morning was amazing and I'm so proud of myself. I ran about 4.25 miles straight, without stopping to walk even once. That is the longest I've ever run in my life, I think! And I did it in okay time, too. I mean, I'm slow, but I could have been slower. Just under 12 minutes/mile. SO this is a pretty amazing feat for me, although some of you might not understand it or think it's that impressive. I suppose my new running shoes (instead of my two year old cross-trainers) probably had something to do with it, along with my new running belt that holds 20oz of water and the fresh morning cool air.

I even forgot my ipod, and I think that might have surprisingly made it all easier. There's something really sweet about running along a dirt path with trees overhead but the freeway right on the other side of the trees crowded with people hurrying to work and you're just running along with only the thought of the next foot in front of the other. It was almost like the respite I find in the pool -- but not quite as super duper (oh yeah, we're bringing that back!).

YAY!! I'm getting there, slowly but surely. I am getting there!

Training Schedule Week #9

Well, we are officially halfway done with training. I thought some of you may be interested in my training schedule. Here it is for this week.

Monday -- DAY OFF :)
Tuesday -- Bike 22 miles in hilly terrain.
Wednesday -- Coached swim 8-9pm
Thursday -- Run/Walk 6 miles in hilly terrain.
Friday -- Swim 2000 yards (drills and laps)
Saturday -- Coached run 8am
Sunday -- Bike 20 miles

There it is! If you want to join me for any of this, just let me know! :)

Exhausted!

We had our camping training weekend this weekend. The three teams of LA (South Bay, Westside, and Eastside) gathered up by Lake Piru bright and early on Saturday to start our training. After setting up camp, we headed off for training at 10am.

First we went swimming in the Lake. I had a hard time of it for a few minutes. The water was so cold I couldn't get my breathing right which made my technique go out the window at first. Plus it was VERY different having a ton of people around you. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, and that wasn't even close to the number of people that are going to be at the actual triathlon. Eventually, my breathing calmed down, and I started to get into my rhythm. Unfortunately, that rhythm was constantly interrupted by the fact that there were feet in my face, a body brushing up against me, or the simple fact that I kept getting off course. I need to work on my sighting. Despite all of the new challenges that the open water added, I did very well. I swam four laps of our course, and I could have kept going, but they made us move on. I am feeling very confident with the swimming.

Next was biking and running. We were alternating loops with these. I ran one loop, then biked a loop, then ran a loop, then biked a loop. It was extraordinarily hot during this. One girl's bike thermometer said that the road temperature was 114. Now the air temp wasn't as hot, but that 114 was bouncing off the road onto us as we were riding/running. As I prepared to head off for my third loop of running, Jessica (our campaign manager) stopped me saying they were cutting people off. It was too hot to train. So I ran back to the water and swam a bit more.

After training, we went back to camp and hung out, eating lunch. The coaches and mentors made us dinner that evening. A small group of us walked down to the lake again and jumped in (in our clothes -- haha).

We went to sleep around 12am on the hard, cool ground. I woke up at about 5:30am to a VERY loud bird call. I dragged myself out of "bed" and started taking apart my camp. I figured I wouldn't want to do it after we got back from our morning run. I got everything packed up just in time for us to head out. It was 8am and already hot. I ran 3 miles and walked one. 4 miles by 8:45 am -- nice way to start the day. I drove away sweaty and exhausted.

Today is my day off (whew!). I have a bunch of stuff to do. I desperately need new running shoes. I've had a blister the size of a quarter on my big toe since I started training. It's causing problems with my ankle from over-compensation. I also need to get my sister's bike fixed. Plus I have a lot of fundraising things to do today. No time for exhaustion!

I'm not selling girl scout cookies...

So, I had this pretty amazing, eye-opening experience this past Saturday.

We train as a team two times a week -- Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Well, at Saturday's practice, our honored teammate was there. This is the person the team is doing the triathlon for (individually, I am also competing in honor of my Aunt Ginny, Uncle Joe, and Mrs. Ju). Her name is Eileen. She told us her story:

She's 43 years old, and two years ago she was diagnosed with Lymphoma. She had been having symptoms for a while, but she just thought is was stress with work and her parents passing away. One day she found a lump in her armpit, so she went to the doctor. They removed it and called to tell her she had cancer. The doctor told her she is stage 4. He said there's good news and bad news. "There are two types of this cancer, aggressive and non-aggressive. You have the non-aggressive type. The bad news is that there is no treatment for it. If I had diagnosed you four years ago, I would have told you that you had 3 - 5 years to live. This is four years later though." (We can all do the math here.) He continues, "There is a new drug out now that has extended the life expectancy to 8 - 10 years. We're going to put you on that." (Again, we can all do the math.) "You should live like you're going to live. We're getting closer everyday to finding a cure, so keep up your hopes and live your life like you're going to live."

After she tells us all of this, she looks at us and says, "Thank you guys for doing what you're doing. You're not selling girlscout cookies so that I can go to camp. You're raising money so that I can live. Thank you."

This hit me hard. Don't get me wrong, I knew I was doing this for a cause. It's one thing to have this idea, but it's another thing to have someone who's dying of cancer telling you thank you for trying to save my life. Hits home a little bit more -- the responsibility (outside of training) in doing this thing.

So I just want to thank you again for supporting me in this endeavour. Thank you for helping me to save Eileen's life! It's amazing the little things that mean so so so much.

So sorry so long...

My apologies for not posting for so long. I was out of town for two weeks and then sick last week.

I am now in my 6th week of training. The running is frustrating me to no end, but the biking and swimming are coming along well. Wow -- I can't believe it's been 6 weeks already. It's going by so fast.

The running is definitely going to be the hardest for me. Fortunately, it's the last thing. I figure even if I can't run the full 6 miles, I can definitely at least walk it! I've done that before -- walked 6 miles! No problem. So I'm not too worried, and I know it will improve over the next ten weeks we have left. Speaking of running, I have to do that tonight after work.

The great thing about training is that I've been finding different places in LA and even Bakersfield that are perfect spots to train and be outside versus the gym. And swimming is the best thing in the world, I've decided. You hop in the pool and the day melts away. For some reason, I can stop my mind while swimming and only focus on that. I can't do that with running or biking. It's like meditation for me. For an hour, two times a week, my mind is calm at rest. It's awesome. Although I do have a tendency to be so focused on stroking and turning and kicking that I tend to forget to breathe. I'll go 10 strokes and then all of sudden have to gasp for air at the surface cuz I forgot to breathe after the third, sixth and ninth stroke.

Yesterday, we were running drills and somehow I managed to cut everyone off as I swam sideways across the pool instead of down the lane. I'm still not sure how it happened, but when I hit the wall, I thought to myself "my goodness, I made it all the way across already." Then I stood up only to realize that I had hit the side wall instead of the opposite wall. The girl who I had just cut off was standing up right behind me and asked "do you just want to stay in this lane?" My coach was standing where we had started laughing at me and wondering what I was doing.

So, all in all, things are going good right now, despite my frustration with running.

Injury #1 (ALREADY!!)

Ha -- So last night, I went out for my run. Remember how I said they were teaching me a new way to run. Well, on Saturday, I had started a pretty nasty blister on my big toe from running. I don't know if it is from my shoe or this new way of running.

Anyway, I had hoped that the blister had calloused over in time for my run last night. Unfortunately, it had not. My left foot was compensating to the side in order not to irritate the blister. My leg was uncomfortable during the run, but I just thought it was muscles adapting, etc..., so I kept right on running, trying to get in the time assigned to us. Well, five minutes short of that time, I realized that the discomfort in my leg just wasn't dissipating at all. The injury prevention clinic we had on Saturday came to mind, and I decided that despite my "5 minutes to go," I should probably stop and assess the situation. I found myself barely able to walk with pain streaking up and down the side of my calf and ankle.

The pain got worse progressively as the evening wore on. I slept with my foot in the air and took 2 ibuprofen this morning. I'm hoping it's simple a muscle thing and it will clear up in the next couple of days. Fortunately, we are swimming today and tomorrow. I don't have to run again until Saturday. I think I will try to run in a different pair of shoes and see if that helps.

I'll keep you up to date!

Week 1

Well, I survived my first week of training. I feel like I'm relearning how to do everything. They are teaching us a different technique for swimming. It's called total immersion, and it's great for endurance swimming, but it's weird to be relearning how to swim. Same thing with running. Apparently, I've been running from heel and I should be running from the ball of my foot. I'm holding my arms wrong, etc..., so I'm retraining my body from a lifetime of improper technique. It's very difficult and my body feels strange and achy. It will help a lot in the long run though (no pun intended).

I love being in the pool two times a week. It makes me feel like a kid again. I didn't realize how much I miss swimming and just being in the water.

My team is wonderful. The coaches are really great, and the people are a lot of fun. There's definitely not a lack of support amongst the group. It seems like there's so many people around to help out. It's pretty amazing. I'm looking forward to week 2!

Phew!

Well, good news! The new bike seat helps -- alot. My butt will survive to live another day!

On Saturday, we had our big Kick-off day. I met most of the others on our team. We got our official training schedules (which starts out much lighter than I expected). We have our first team training this Wednesday. An hour of swimming. It's a good thing I love the water so much! Today, I have some running to do. Tomorrow is supposed to be an off day, but I think I'll spend a little time on the bike in the morning.

This weekend we have our first run team training in Griffith Park. We're supposed to do our team biking there, too, but we're waiting to see if it will be opened again in time for us to train there. I guess the paths that they normally use are closed right now because of the fire. We shall see.

Solution??

So I found this bike seat randomly in my old apartment. It's a little softer than my sister's seat. I've taken the other one off and put the new one on. I hope it helps! I'll let you know....

Tomorrow is the big Team in Training Kick-Off! I get my official training schedule and everything. Here we go....

And thank you so so so much to all of you who have donated thus far! I'm amazed at how generous you all are!

Note To Self

Must get new seat for my sister's spinning bike!! (Don't worry, Kim, I'll put yours back on when you get back.)

1st Run

Well, my official training does not start out until the kick off day which is this Saturday, May 19, 2007. If anyone would like to join me for the celebration, just let me know.

I have been starting to train on my own, like I said in my first post. I've been running on the treadmill at the gym and riding on my sister's painful spinning bike. Well, yesterday I decided to go to the high school running track to get a little outside exercise. When I run on the treadmill at the gym, I always run on at least a 2 or 2.5 incline because one of the gym trainers told me that makes it equivalent to running outside (frictionally). They lied. I had easily been doing almost 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym (after doing at least 20 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the stairmaster). I ran two miles on the track and I probably could have kept going, but I decided to stop. When I stopped, I realized my legs felt like jello. Boy, do I have a long way to go. But I'm choosing to look at the positive -- I'm 1/3 of the way there, and I haven't even officially started training yet!!! I'll be a rock star in 4 months, right?? ... right? :-)

I did it!

After years of telling myself that someday I'm going to do a triathlon for Team in Training, I FINALLY got off my butt and bit the bullet. I've signed up, paid my registration fee, and have started fundraising to do it! I've also started training for it (barely): jogging on the treadmill and riding my sister's spinner bike (whose seat seriously hurts my butt). I need to do it more though so I can work my way up. Officially, my team training gets kicked-off on May 19, and my first team swimming session is May 23.

I'm very excited and a little bit nervous, but I know I can do it. So, having said all of this, this is going to be my training blog. I will be updating it pretty frequently to let all of my friends, family and contributors know how I'm doing.

Rock on! LOL