I am a land dwelling mammal

Well, it's been decided by me. Yes, I'm going to die in the water on my first triathlon try. Which again has been decided by me that may or may not be this year.*

Last night, I went over to Luke's city to try out his gym. He got a few guest passes for me so that we can work out together. On his suggestion, we ate first, waited an hour and then swam. Maybe I can blame that for my lack of breathing abilities? I wanted to swim right away and then eat (and pig out!)

Anyway, his gym is this swanky place. Yay for suburbs. :-/ Like it's actually part of the hospital over there or at least has the same name as it and so I felt like I was walking in one and told him as much.

The lockers rooms themselves have flat screens. Has a whirlpool and sauna. They're carpeted. Oh and they have fancy lockers that you actually can pick your own lock code and everything! Towel service is free too. COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DIFFERENT THAN MY YMCA. Did I mention that every single treadmill had a TV screen hooked up to the front of it?! But then again, once I asked him how much it is per month, I realised why. Eep!

He said that he can do 20 laps without stopping. When I found this out, I was thinking of course you can. While I'm stuck at 5 laps a set and feeling like I'm faltering and going to drown on my last laps. Later on I decided that I would blame his long arms and legs.

Our swimming night was a set of 6. Then a second set of 7 and then a final set of 5. That's all we did since we were running out of time. The 5th lap of the second set, I actually had to turn around a quarter of the way through and do the backstroke to give my poor arms a break. And even though we were taking a considerable amount of a break between sets, I was still getting tired sooner and sooner.

The only thing that I did better than Luke on swimming (!!!) was that I knew how to breathe through my strokes. He didn't. He did it for the first few laps but then he didn't after that. And he actually said that I looked like a swimmer doing that. I was extremely happy to hear that! Like very proud! Oh and then on the third set we were actually head for head for the 5 laps. I thought he was being nice and slowing down but come to find out he wasn't.

Next up to learn: flip turns. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I've been talking to my friend Rob who used to swim competitively in high school (until age 19) and been picking his brain about swimming, breathing, turns, working out, etc. He even asked if Luke could film me and then he could see my stroke as well. I'm going to get this thing down pat!

After the pool, we have half hour left of the gym so we did a few sit-ups and poor Luke tried doing chin-ups. He barely got 10 out, where he can usually pound out 10 easily. He said that after swimming, he never works out. Just showers and heads home. So that was a first for him. I told him to try running after swimming! That's an interesting feeling of the legs!

But I will also say that at the end of our 3rd set of laps, I was completely out of breath and gasping for air and my abs were working hard and my arms were sore and my legs were wobbly. And you know what? I loved it. I looked at Luke and I was telling him that I loved this feeling, that I was going to die, that I gave it my all that I had no more to give.

But I'm sure I'm not the only one out there right?

*Skirt Chaser 5k is the day before the Triathlon in June. I pick up my packet from 10am-4pm on Saturday, run the Skirt Chaser 5k that evening and then go to a hotel in Naperville for my triathlon on Sunday; a 750m swim, 14mi bike and 5k run. Can we say stupid?!

Categories: Luke, sprint tri, swimming

Take It and Run Thursday: Relays, Ultras and Tri's, Oh My!

I'm writing my first Take It and Run Thursday blog! Woo!!! Today's theme is Relay's, Ultras and Tri's. Which is perfect since I was going to write about my first triathlon. :-)

Relays:
There's only 2 relay's that I would like to do. First is the River to River Relay in southern Illinois. It goes from Mississippi River to the Ohio River across the Shawnee National Forest. Our fmr governor Blagojevich ran it one year. It takes place around the middle of April. Stats are as follows:

Teams of eight runners compete on an 80-mile course. Each runner completes three sections that range in length from 2.5 to 4 miles. Teams are started in groups every 30 minutes beginning at 6:15am and continuing until the last group is started at 8:45am. The finish line closes at exactly 8:00pm.

There's another one called the Bourbon Chase in Kentucky. This is a weekend/overnight event so it's a big longer. I doubt I'll ever be able to do this. But it's still an interesting thought! Info:

The Bourbon Chase will take place October 9-10, 2009, with the starting times staggered based upon each team's estimated finish time. Beginning near the Jim Beam American Outpost & Homestead, the first flight of teams will start the 200 mile course at 8am. During the next 12 hours, every 15 minutes a new set of teams will begin their overnight journey through the Bluegrass State. Teams are made up of 6 or 12 person teams. Each member of the team will run three legs over distances varying from 3 – 7 miles. Each team will provide two support vans to drop off and pick up runners at designated exchange points along the 200-mile route.

Ultras:
On Twitter someone completed a 50k in 6 hours and 13 minutes on May 30th. After reading all the talk back and forth about 50k, I decided that in my 31st year of birth (2011) I'll run a 50k! Which is 31 miles. Sounds perfect to me right!

There are two options for me to run. Chicago Lakefront 50k at the end of October or the Rock Cut Hobo Run 10k, 25k and 50k (pdf) in September. I already plan on doing the 10k and 25k run in September of this year. The 10k is on Friday night, the 25k on Saturday and the 50k on Sunday. I'll probably go for the Hobo Run because it's in Rockford and it's a trail run. Sounds like fun!!! Plus, I can walk and not feel bad. :-)

Tris:
I've always thought about doing one. Nothing big or long, just a sprint tri. I knew of one called HRMS in August that was not that far away from me in Naperville, IL. This was a definite doable race. And had decided on trying it in 2010.

But then I received an email from the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) stating that OCRF is the Official Charity of the US Women's Triathlon Series. Then they went on to mention that they have a triathlon on June 14 in Naperville, IL!! When I clicked on the link to take me to their website, I found out that this is a Sprint Tri! Sprint Competition - 750m swim - 22.8k (14.1mi) bike - 5k run. Awesome! So I can raise money for Ovarian Cancer and some of you may know how it's important to me! So I think I'll be doing that next June! Problem is... how do I train for a tri during the spring?? But now it's time to start looking for a triathlon suit and a swimming cap.

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So in a similar thought of the triathlon, I found a pretty easy way of getting a 'brick' workout in. I found a 10.5 mile bike ride route that starts from my house so that when I get back, I can go out for a run immediately afterwards!

Today I did this ride. I got all dressed for my ride and then I realise that I don't have my helmet! I left it in Kevin's car back on Memorial Day but hadn't received it yet in the mail. Come to find out he mailed it out yesterday. But I decided to go out and ride anyway. DON'T EVER DO THAT! I'm gonna head out tonight to buy a new one so I can go on my ride on Sunday.

I dressed too warmly for today though. I had my winter running pants on over biking shorts and a lightweight rain jacket on. I warmed up on both top and bottom. But it was a fun ride nonetheless. I even wore my Garmin! Just to see how it would be out on TOMRV next weekend. So here are my stats from the bike ride.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 889 ft Location: Sycamore, IL Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 06/04/09 Up/Downhill: [+190/-190] Time: 05:30 PM Difficulty: 2.5 / 5.0 Weather: Fair with Haze 68 F temp; 17% humidity 68 F heat index; winds N 5 Performance Distance: 10.41 miles Time: 0:44:48 Speed: 13.9 mph Pace: 4' 19 /mi Calories: 472 Map Elevation (ft) Speed (mph)

Posted from bimactive.com

Categories: biking, DeKalb/Sycamore Trail, relay, sprint tri, Take It and Run Thursday, triathlon, ultra

Farkers rock!

I totally kicked arse on swimming tonight. Rob gave me his googles and sure enough, they helped so much! I managed to do 4 laps in a row and then a quick breather and then started up again. Towards the end I even managed to change the way I was putting my head back in the water and it helped even more, so at the end of my 40 minutes, I was still doing laps in a row even though I was tired and totally out of breath. I also did 4 laps of arm exercises or whatever and 6 laps of just kicking.

I bought a new bike on Tuesday. It's a Trek 4300, a mountain bike. Weird thing is that it's a men's bike. Once I found that out I was like um, but I'm a girl? Tobie said that I would be too big for a Women's 18" and my knees would be hitting the handlebars. It feels weird to think of the fact that I'm riding a man's. I mean, I'm already guy-ish enough, do I really have to ride a guys bike too? I took it for a spin that night and went 9.5 miles. How do I know that? I bought an odometer that same night. Pain in the ass to install it though. But also very exciting! Since I plan on doing RAGBRAI next year, I bought better tires for road biking that will fit that frame. Now just need a good pair of padded shorts. My ass hurt after a Sunday ride and then a Tuesday ride!

I might be getting runner's knee again in my right knee. During my ride on Sunday, I felt it getting painful. Then on Monday, even while walking it hurt. Of course I ran that night but then iced my knee down. Then today I noticed that my right hip was hurting too (the same one in which was causing my problems last year) and I was limping. Once I took advil everything was fine but that's just a quick fix, not a permanent solution. Only solution is 6 weeks off with NO EXERCISE, not even swimming! Then once that 6 weeks is done, then I can start with swimming, go to biking and later treadmill. We'll see what I do with only 3 days of running though which is what my half marathon regimem

I have a new running partner. Well, kinda. Some guy I work with said that he wants to go rollerblading with me while I run. I told him that my long runs are on Saturday morning around 9a. He said call me this Saturday. Should be interesting! Then another friend said that he can bike with me while I run. It's so good to hear that people are at least interested in doing this with me, even if they don't follow through, at least they're asking about it! I warned them that I'm not incredibly fast; I don't want to be. I just want to get things done.

I was going to take my new mountain bike for a spin in Rock Cut yesterday but that got cancelled. Did do my speed work that morning at the Sycamore High School track but ended up doing it at 11am. Not the smartest idea with the 76% humidity we had that day. First speedwork ever was a complete bust. Completed 1 mile warmup and then 1 mile of my 2 mile workout at 8:17/mi with 1/2 mile jogs between. I hate speed workouts. Tempo runs I can do just not speed. I'm not fast.

So today while I was getting dressed after my swim, I wondered if I should go a triathalon. Jack thinks I should. Not a full one but a version called sprint. Swim 1/2 mile; bike 13 miles; run 3.1 miles. I'm reading a blog on our sister paper, Quad Cities Times, by a woman that is training for her Sprint Tri. She's 33 and has 2 kids. Apparently most women complete their first tri in their 30's. So here's my new set of goals. Halfmarathon this year; Marathon by the time I'm 30; Sprint Tri by the time I'm 33. They have a Sprint Tri in Naperville but I'm sure that's HUGE. I want to do one that's a bit smaller; like the one out in Iowa (the one that this lady is doing). But I'm waiting until then to figure out how the heck do I train for something like that... swimming and then biking? The transistions?!

Speaking of hurt, I think I figured out why I'm pushing myself to all these challenges but that will be saved for another blog when I get sentimental and detrimental to my pysche.

Categories: aches and pains, biking, friends, goals, speed work, sprint tri, swimming, triathlon

2 hours at the Y tonight

I'm kicking butt at this. I'm dead serious about running. Getting fit. Being toned. I'm obsessed and that's good.
An hour on the weights with Bob and then an hour on the bike. That one was tough but I did it.

Side note, Bob was only there with me until 7:15p. While I was on the bike, I had my eyes closed just listening to the music, ignoring Bob. Then at 7pm, I open my eyes and see Y boy there. Shit. Close my eyes, close my eyes, keep them closed. Then Bob leaves at 7:15p. I'm wondering if Y boy will then come over and talk to me. Not with my headphones on I decide. Then around 7:30p, I see Jack over on the machines. I wave hi, he comes over. I tell him more about my race and the bike and then about my bronchitis (more on that later). I glance over, Y boy is listening to me. I tell Jack that I still have to stretch, then we'll go to dinner. I'm walking around, Y boy is walking around. No contact. I wouldn't even look at him, keep my eyes to the ground.

But here's what I'm thinking. 1) I had on my headphones. 2) I had Bob beside me and then Jack talking to me. 3) I had my eyes closed (which helped me not look at him so much) which may have told him I wasn't interested. But I am almost not interested anymore. I want to do more with my working out. Cross train more. Dating will not fit into my schedule.

Monday: Run outside - just so I can get a feel for my body.
Tuesday: Weights and bike
Wednesday: Treadmill
Thursday: Treadmill
Friday: Weights and bike
Saturday: Speed training.

Soon water will come into this schedule. This will help with my cross training even more. My breathing and muscle training.

It may sound like I'm training for a triathlon but I'm not. Well, maybe. :-) I have a list of exercise goals. The very last one is to do a Sprint Triathlon. Which is MUCH less than a regular triathlon. Swim .6mi, bike 14mi and run 3.1mi. But that'll take a lot more training. Will have to practice the transitions. This will also be a lot more money because of equipment that I'll have to buy. But the bike will be the most $$. You can't use a mountain bike for those things.

I just wish that I could have gotten into shape sooner than at the end of summer. While there are races over the winter time, I'm not really interested in running during the dead of winter. Late fall, November, is pretty much the latest I'll want to run outside. Which means track at the Y for winter, which is B-O-R-I-N-G. Ten laps around is 1 mile. That means 40 laps for 4 miles. Oh. My. Gosh. Geeze.

Now onto my cough. Finally went to the doctor today. Scolded me for self-medicating. Thought it was walking pneumonia. Then took x-rays. A remnant form of bronchitis. Gave me a really strong antibiotic for 5 days. She said that it should take care of my cough. I hope so. I can't even remember what it's like to be able to take a deep breath and not cough afterwards. I can only imagine how much better I'll run once I can breathe again. She actually told me not to run but I can't take 4 days off. I'll lose my training. Even if I do the bike and weights only, I'll still lose some and I can't take that chance. Not now. Not with 4 weeks till my next race.

Tomorrow I'll make an appointment at Unlimited Performance for my hip and foot. Maybe even have them do the Runner's Gait Analysis as well. Then sometime next month will make another appointment at KMA to get several moles removed. I'm all about my health lately. (except for not going to the Dr for this sickness last month. *blush*)

BTW, yesterday Wes said that he's stopped running. He hasn't been for 4 weeks now. HAHAHA, so what did we learn boys and girls? His only motivation was me. Without me around, he had no one to compete with. Instead, I'm now losing weight and he's gained it. Though he got his fair share of competition/beating me yesterday at putt-putt. Though I've never been on that course before and he's been a lot more. Once just last week even. Then at hitting golf balls too. I've never wanted to shake someone as bad as him. Makes me soooo frustrated I could actually SCREAM around him!!!!

Categories: friends, hip, sick, sprint tri, y guy