Felled by the Death Cold and Shin Splints!

Argh!!! December has NOT been my month. First after a long ride, we went on a run. I felt horrible on the run as my legs were not in shape for running after biking but I tried to keep up with the others. I ran in a rain gutter (to allow the person I was running with to run on flat ground). Big mistake. Unfortunately doing that meant I exacerbated a previous injury from two years ago and according to Dr. Rabbetz I have shin splints!! Ugh. I am not the biggest fan of running but when you can't run, you miss it. (Always want what you can't have. :-)

Then I got the death cold. Two weeks later I went back to the gym for the first time. Impressive feat I must say. First time I ever hit a max heart rate doing lunges! Here is to hoping January will be a healthier month all around!

Cycling in December

December already and two months of training down. Today was a 2.5 hour bike ride lead by Coach Alex around the San Pablo Reservoir. It was a beautiful ride and thanks to the skills and patience of Mr. Doug Li who has been taking such good care of my bike and all of the components that go along with it, I had a smooth ride with only two instances of the chain falling off. (Unfortunately since Doug just brought the bike to the shop to get tuned up, I could no longer blame the chain falling off to anything but operator error). And, even more impressive, no problem getting my feet in or out of the clips!

After riding up gently sloping and slightly grueling hills (which I am sure I will look back at and laugh at in the spring after many more bike practices), we had hill repeats. This comprised of riding up and down a hill until the last person of our riding group caught up to us. This meant I went up and down about 5 times. Throughout the trips up and down I noticed my speed decreasing with each additional climb until the last one when we saw the last person of the group which was a beautiful sight and gave me an extra burst of energy to quickly climb the hill. One thing I noticed is that I need to learn is how to go downhill. It sounds easy...just point your bike downhill and go. But unfortunately for me, there appears to be some skill involved which I need to learn since I can climb well but as for the downhill, not so impressive.

Tomorrow is our first bay swim. Heard the water was a nice 54 degrees!

Week of Rest...sort of

We are on our week of rest this week which basically means that practices are a bit "easier" this week than the prior one. After this week we will start ramping up again! Of course, this week is also coinciding with the fall's first dose of cold weather which should make this weekend's first swim in Aquatic Park extra fun! Due to the oil spill though I am not sure if this swim will still be happening...

Right now it is all about learning to balance work and workouts. Work is getting busier and the hours are getting a bit longer as well. I normally work out in the mornings but sometimes it is hard to get everything in I need to and when you add in the evening track workouts and winter colds (ugh)...a little bit of juggling needs to happen. I am thinking I will get this juggling down soon.

This weekend it is all about learning how to fix our bikes and eat right while we are training. As a swimmer, I never ate while practicing or racing. That would have made for some interesting times. Of course with a 14+ hour race ahead of me, I am going to need to learn how to properly fuel my body so I don't crash during it (or get the dreaded stomach cramps...).

And next weekend...fundraising workshop. Something I truly need help with!

Back on the Bike, in the Pool and Running Outside

It is the start of Week 3 of IronTeam training and I am loving it. My team is awesome and so helpful and friendly and the coaches are wonderful as well. Training with the team has reintroduced me to the fun of exercising outside. The only hard thing for me right now is to not overtrain which is hard for me since although I am working out with the team I still want to do the weights in the gym too. "Luckily" a recent cold has kept me from working out as hard as I would like.

Yesterday we had an "On Your Own" bike ride. Some of the mentors led a bike ride and it was the first time I had been on my bike really since the Wildflower half Ironman tri in May 2005. We rode from the Presidio, across the Golden Gate Bridge, through Sausolito, and back. It was a great ride (though some of the more experienced bike riders probably felt it was more of a cruise than a ride but for me, it was more of a workout than a cruise). Afterward I did a little shopping and finally bought a bike helmet (goodbye bucket style one that I found in my mom's garage a few years back), lights for my bike, new cheap goggles (since I am always losing them), a speedometer for my bike, and a waterproof watch (the first watch I have worn since graduating from college). I wore the new watch and goggles this morning at swim practice and it was great not having to squint at the pace clock! Afterward we had about 30-40 minutes of core work and than we came back to the city.

This upcoming week will be a bit different in terms of training. We don't have track practice since it will be Halloween but I am still planning on going on runs with Emily, my awesome run partner. Keeping up with biking, getting back in the pool during the week now that my cold is going away and running on my own is on my agenda this week. That and working on fundraising ideas. Eeek!

Louisville Here I Come??

After a few issues with securing spots for Ironman, Team In Training gave us a few options including signing up for Louisville Ironman in the end of August, Vineman in Napa in the beginning of August or we could wait and see if we were given the Lake Placid or Canada spots. At first I was Vineman all the way but then I found out it wasn't an Ironman sanctioned event. And...to be honest, if I am training all this time I would really like to be able to say "I am an Ironman," not "I am a Vineman." It sort of feels like the difference between playing for the NFL or playing in the Arena Football League. Both are football, but they are NOT the same.



So for right now, Louisville, Kentucky, here I come!

Week One is Done - Swim & Run Practice

1st Practice and We Had Sun!!



Sunday marked the first coached practice with the entire team and it was a beautiful day in Novato. Well, it was AFTER the swim. The team split in half with some of us hopping in the pool and doing drills and a timed swim and the others doing run drills and core work. I was one of the swimmers and got to relive swim practice and the old adverse reaction to cold morning & swim practice. Luckily the water was warm and the people were great. My lane consisted of two alums: Susan and Jen who were awesome to swim with as we were all around the same level. When we did the timed swim in fact, Susan and I were swimming stroke to stroke for much of the swim. One problem: She is taller then me with long legs so once I did a flip turn when she did and totally missed the wall. I guess I thought I had longer legs then I actually do.

After the swim (42 laps in 15"...not bad for not swimming for months and months), we did a 40 minute run. It started off downhill which was awesome except we then had to climb up that hill on the way back. Yeah...I am not a runner...yet. Elaine, another alum, ran with me and it was great listening to her experiences doing Ironman's. She told me to spend time with family and friends now before the practices get too crazy and she assured me that everyone breaks down in late spring, early summer and to expect that. Awesome.


That evening I was tired. Although I work out at the gym almost every day, these are different types of workouts. Luckily Gerard was there for me with Thai food and a movie. Monday is off but back to training on Tuesday!

Getting the Running Legs Back

Joining BootcampSF was an awesome choice. I hate running. Hate it. Yet I like doing it with BootcampSF. Well, like is a strong word but to be honest I don't mind it. I have been doing my normal gym workouts in the morning and then doing bootcamp Mondays-Thursdays in the evening in the Marina. Aside from the bus schedule being such that I either arrive way too early or have the option of arriving way too late, the whole class has been great. The classes are small and our instructor, Jen, is awesome and encouraging. We do running drills and pushups and ab work and get to enjoy the beautiful view and discover different places to run in the Presidio, etc. But best of all, I am getting out there and getting my running legs back. By that I mean, I am slowly building up my endurance. It has only been two weeks of bootcamp but now I am not so sore and my body is remembering how it feels to run. Does my body like it? No, not really but now I have a group that is pushing me and that makes it so much easier to train. For some reason I can make myself go to the gym by myself but I can't make myself go on a run or even a swim. In addition to the workouts being good, I am also meeting a few more people, including one girl who has done the Team In Training Ironteam twice. It has been great hearing her advice. Now on to fundraising...ahhhh!

I'm Registered...Now Time to Polish Off the Bike...

After a few years of contemplating and then talking myself out of signing up for Ironman I have taken the plunge. I have paid my non refundable registration fee and have now committed to Ironman 2008. I am looking forward to to the season and to meeting my team and of course to the race but there are some fears and aspects I am a bit anxious about namely:

1. The bike - not the bike portion but the actual "bike." I LOVED my bike when I first bought it. My ice blue Dolce Elite was so much better on the hills then the mountain bike I had borrowed for my last tri (don't laugh). And since I invested in the triple, hills were no problem. Then I had the issue with the clipless pedals (a total misnomer by the way) and ended up being thrown from my bike a few times and then being stuck upside down, still clipped in. Lovely.
2. The fundraising...Yes this is not an actual part of the race but it is a bit scary for me. $8000. Hopefully people will be as generous this time around as last time I trained with Team In Training. And, if anyone out there has any awesome fundraising ideas, please let me know. Seriously.
3. The run. I have done a marathon before. In a back brace. Now did I precede that marathon with swimming and biking. No. Enough said.

I have taken some things into my own hands such as the running portion. For the next 6 weeks you can see me running around the Marina as part of Bootcamp SF. I knew I couldn't make myself go on runs on my own (yet somehow I can make myself go to the gym every morning...go figure...) so I joined this group after reading and hearing such great things about them. So far I have completed day one out of 24. So good so far. As for the bike...I just need a bit more time.