tax refund = races

i already got my tax refund! i already spent my tax refund! it went to a good purpose, though: my race entry fees for the year. (i have an expensive hobby...)

so here is my race calendar so far.

• Shamrock Shuffle March 30 in Chicago, IL: 8k run = 5 miles
• Galena Triathlon May 17 in Galena, IL: Sprint Triathlon: 660 yd swim, 16.8 mile bike, 4.3 mile run - hilly!
• Quad Cities Triathlon June 14 in Davenport, IA: Sprint Triathlon: 600yd swim, 15 mile bike, 5k/3.1mile run
• Tri-ing For Children's Triathlon July 27 at Kettle Moraine State Park, WI: Olympic Distance Triathlon: 1.5k swim, 40k bike (approx 25 miles), 10k run (6.2 miles)
• Accenture Chicago Triathlon August 24 in Chicago, IL: The biggest triathlon in the world!: Olympic Distance Triathlon (same distances as the WI race above)
  

i might also do the following races, depending on scheduling, etc:

• Race to Wrigley April 13 in Chicago, IL (5k run that ends inside Wrigley Field - Fun!)
• Run for the Zoo June 1 (?) in Chicago, IL (10k run that goes through Lincoln Park Zoo and along the Lakeshore)
• Lifetime Fitness Triathlon July 12 in Minneapolis, MN (Olympic Distance Triathlon)
• Muddy Buddy August 3 in Elgin, IL (Fun race that Heath did last year - we might do it together this year)

i finally made it back to the gym today after a week of being sick with a horrible cold. i struggled on the treadmill, but expect to be back on track shortly. this will be the most triathlons i've done in a season, so i'm really excited to see how much i can improve over my previous races!

Week 3 Recap

None, nada, nothing. I just flat out didn't feel like working out this week. I intended to several evenings, but just couldn't make it. Part of it was that I had some really long days at work last week, and was completely wiped out by the time I even got in my car to head home. Yeah, I probably would've felt more energized if I exercised, but I didn't. And I'm okay with that. I'm headed to the gym tonight to run and swim. Back on the horse.

Week 2 Recap

I've completed week 2 of my 20 week winter maintenance/base program. I did 7 of the 9 workouts and feel quite good about that, especially considering that we went to a snowboarding clinic on Thursday night and left town right after work Friday to spend the weekend in Wisconsin. I missed 2 of my 3 swim workouts, but will try extra hard to get all three of them in this week. I was very proud of myself for getting up both Saturday and Sunday to workout in the hotel "fitness center." I didn't have a very good workout yesterday because of too much beer and fried foods on Saturday, but I still stuck it out for the whole time.

Getting Better

I'm getting better as far as sticking to my training. I finally exercised in the morning today! Went for 35 minutes on my bike on the trainer. Wasn't going very fast, but that's okay. I have to cut myself some slack since I've been off the bike for so long. My butt needs to get used to the saddle again. Last night I went to the gym after work and ran 30 minutes and biked 15. Again, did the "slave to the HR monitor" thing. I felt pretty good, but it started to drift especially in the last 10 minutes. I just have to continue to be patient with this and remind myself that my fitness levels will come back and improve in time. I just have to stay focused on the right goals and not worry about pace/speed on the run at this point. I intended to swim last night, too, but wasn't feeling great on the bike (even cut that short due to not feeling well), and it was getting late and I had some things I needed to get done at home. So, I missed that 800 yard swim workout. I'm not going to try to make it up, I'm just going to accept that I wasn't able to get to it and be okay with it. Goal for tomorrow is to get up early early and run and swim before work. The catch is I want to be into work super early so I can leave work early and head out of town as soon as possible... that mean's getting to the gym super super early!

Late Riser

Ok, getting up to exercise in the morning is still not happening. I didn't even bother trying to today. Monday, I made it over to the gym after work and ran 20 minutes (went farther in the same amount of time while keeping my HR in check = improving my fitness!), then swam 400. I really focused on my swim form and felt quite good in the water. I rushed my butt off in "transition" so that I could get the whole thing done (parking, changing, running, changing, swimming, showering, dressing, validating my parking ticket) in under 60 minutes so I wouldn't have to pay to park. I'm cheap, I know. But I made it, with three minutes to spare. Whoo hoo me!

I got my bike set up with the special training tire (that thing is a PAIN to install), so I can ride on the trainer at home. I meant to last night, but was cold and tired and didn't do it. Tonight, I'm going back to the gym to run for 30 minutes, bike for 25 minutes, and swim 800. I will end up paying to park, but it's my punishment for not dragging my booty out of bed and exercising in the morning. My goal is to ride my bike on the trainer tomorrow morning, and then swim and run on Friday morning, since Heath and I are going out of town this weekend and I won't be able to work out after work on Friday. We'll see how well I stick to my goals!

Progress

I did end up going to the gym on Friday after work and doing the following: Run 20 minutes, Bike 20 minutes, Swim 400 yards. I was pretty pleased with how much I got done and wasn't too tired. I did notice that my back isn't as strong as it used to be, as it started to get very tired during the last part of my swim. For the week's training, I was under my planned training by 50 min for biking and 800 yards for swimming, but was over my planned running by a whopping 2 minutes. Given that I'm just getting back into training, I'm not going to be too hard on myself. I did an hour of pilates (plus running to and from the gym) on Saturday. Friday night, I also rode the mountain bike alongside Heath while he ran for about 2 miles.

My struggle right now is admitting how poor my cardiovascular health is for running. I can keep up a really good speed on the bike while maintaining an aerobic heart rate, but when I run, my heart rate spikes up really high. I am forcing myself to be a slave to my HR Monitor for this winter training. I have it set such that the treadmill will adjust in speed and incline to make sure my heart rate stays in an aerobic zone. This means (ugh) that by the end of my 20 minute run, I was going super duper slow. This is frustrating to say the least, but I'm hoping that if I train right and make sure I'm training aerobically, I'll get to a point where I can go quite a bit faster and still keep my HR in check. This will help me considerably going forward. I've been running my 5Ks at an anaerobic rate, which means I can't keep it up much longer than 30-45 minutes. I've never taken the time to make sure I'm aerobically fit for running. My legs and joints and everything are fine with me going faster than my heart wants to. I need to be okay with slowing down, so I'm going to suck it up and do that for the next while and hope that it pays off in the long run.

Today, I'm headed back to the gym for 20 minutes of running and another 400 yards of swimming. My overall goals for this week is to stick to the training plan volume and stay in the proper heart rate zones.

Slow Start

So, yeah. I didn't get any workouts in. I have a million excuses and none of them good enough. I knew it was going to be a challenge to get going again. I'm motivated, but haven't been good about making myself do what I need to do. I brought my gym bag to work with me. I have to make sure I go straight to the gym right after work and get my exercise in. I know I'll feel better if I just go and do it. Once I get into the habit, it will be easier, but I'm having a hard time right now because I've let it slide so much. Fortunately, I'm still in decent shape so it won't be too bad to get back into it. I have to remember how much it will pay off next summer in making me faster and better in my races. I think that if I work hard and stick with the training, I could potentially place in the Time Trial Series that ABD puts on. I was close to doing it last year without having really a clue of what I was doing. This year, I might be in a really good position to place. Most important to me is beating my times from last year. That is a good motivation for me. I'll post an update after I go to the gym tonight!

1 Nov

Today's workout: 20 minutes on the bike. I'll do this on the trainer at home tonight, since I didn't get up and get to the gym this morning. My sleep schedule is off. Early to bed tonight because...

Tomorrow's workout: 10 minutes running and 400 yards swimming (but I may bump that up to 600 to make up for not swimming on Monday or Wednesday).

I'll check in tomorrow to update my progress.

It's Alive!

Time to raise this blog from the dead... Okay. It's been about two and a half months since I've posted here. That was my post-season break. It's November 1 and I wanted to look back on last season's races and training and think about where I want to go from here.

Triathlons

I only did two triathlons this year: Quad Cities and Steelhead. I definitely would like to do more races than that next year. I think the pressure of the 70.3 made it hard for me to enjoy my training as much. I'd like to avoid that going forward, so I want to focus on shorter races in 2008.

As of right now, I'm planning on Accenture Chicago being my "A" race. It's the biggest triathlon in the world and since I live right here, how can I NOT do it at some point. It's likely one of the best chances I'll have to race alongside (okay, behind) professionals, so I'm excited about giving it a shot. It's olympic distance (1500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run), so it's a reasonable distance to train for, but will still be a good challenge.

Other races I'm considering are Galena (May), which is hilly and challenging, a long sprint distance, and a good early season race. I'd like to try to do the Quad Cities Tri again to beat my pretty awful performance from last year. There is also a triathlon in Waukegan that would be good since it's so close to home.

Running

I did a few running races this year including the Shamrock Shuffle, the Corporate Challenge, the Race Against Hate, and just recently the Trick or Treat Trot. I plan on doing the 8k Rudolph Ramble the second weekend in December, and possibly a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot. I'd like to do more running again next year, possibly working up to a half marathon. I'll certainly do the Shamrock Shuffle and a few others again next year. I'll have to see if Heath is up for a New Year's Day run, like I did last Jan 1st. The running races I haven't thought out as much as the triathlons, so I'll be doing more researching on those coming up. I'd also like to do the Muddy Buddy, which isn't a tri, but a sort of adventure race.

Cycling

Last year I did the Indoor Time Trial series, and was very pleased with my results, especially since I was (and still am) such a cycling newbie. It makes me excited to think about how well I could do if I really turn on the training this off-season. I'd like to do that series again (though it's a bit farther away now that I live in Evanston - probably worth the drive, though). I'd also like to a few more outdoor time trial races as these will help with my triathlon cycling. The races range from the 10k indoor races, to 16k to 40k outdoor races. They're not very expensive, but they tend to be kind of far away.

My big challenge will be to schedule my races such that I don't feel like I have an obligation every weekend. I want to have a good balance so that I feel like I can relax and/or go camping or visit friends and family without feeling like I'm constantly on the go.

Overall, I'm really excited to think about how much I can improve for next year. I figure if I can do as well as I did this year on really inadequate training (have to be honest with myself here - there is no way I should have been able to finish Steelhead like I did.), just imagine how fast and fit I could be if I put in a more solid commitment. My new training plan starts today. I signed up for a winter maintenance/base building training program through beginnertriathlete.com, which is a great resource for triathletes of all levels. They have forums, training programs, training logs, articles, and all sorts of features that build a kind of DYI triathlon community. I don't have the $ to plunk down on a personal coach, so the online resources are great. Once I get my online training log set up, I'll link to it, so I can be accountable for sticking with my program.

My main initial goal is to get into a routine where I exercise in the mornings before work, rather than after work, when I'm burned out from the day and my commute and don't have the energy to exercise. Once I get into that habit, I should be able to manage the training quite well.

Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon Race Report

This is a copy of the post on my other blog. Things have been super busy lately, so I failed to keep up on my regular blogging here. Oops!

Okay, I think keeping everybody waiting for over a week is long enough. Just a warning, this is going to be a long post…extremely long…

Overall, this race went better than I could’ve ever imagined. I’d be lying if I said I was anywhere near 100% compliant with my training regimen, but I still managed to make it through the race without too much difficulty. Yes, I walked good portions of the run, but I’m okay with that, since the most important thing to me was just to finish the race, and I did that with plenty of time to spare.

The week leading up to the race, I tried to really focus on telling myself that I could cover the distance. The bike ride, was, after all, only a ten mile bike ride done 5 and a half times or so, right? And the run? That was merely doing a 10K run twice, plus some change. The swim, just swim till you get to the end. Easy. So, I basically convinced myself that 70.3 miles, was, in fact, not really all that far to go. It was good because it helped me get through the race, but now, after more than a week, it is just sinking in just how far that really was, and it sort of freaks me out a little that I was able to do it.

The 1.2 Mile Swim:

I was running a little late getting to the swim start (whoops!), but managed to line up and get my wetsuit on and zipped up with a few minutes to spare before they called my wave: Wave #5, red swimcaps, leaving at 7:15. It was probably best that I didn’t have a ton of time to stand there and stew and get nervous. I walked up to the edge of the water and waited for the horn. We all splashed our way in, some girls diving in when it was still too shallow, then getting up and running some more before re-diving in. Once it got to about thigh deep, I started doing the dolphin dives, where you dive in to go forward, then stand up and dive in again. Once it got deep enough, I started to actually swim. This was the ONLY time during the race that I felt like quitting. I don’t know if it was the wetsuit, or my nerves finally catching up with me, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe. No matter how much I tried to calm myself down, I felt like I was gasping for air. I unzipped the top of my wetsuit a couple inches, and did the breast stroke for a bit. I looked for a kayak or sea-doo or somebody to rescue me. It’s probably good there were none around, or I might have quit. Instead I just kept going. I abandoned the dual-sided breathing technique I had worked so hard for, and breathed every other stroke, always breathing to the right, where I could sight the buoys and the shoreline (which seemed forever away). The swim went South to North, with the sun in our eyes as it rose above the treeline. I got into a rhythm and noticed I started passing some of the people in my wave (red caps). I was being passed, too, but that was okay, since I knew stronger groups were behind me and that was inevitable. I ended up losing track of time in the water. I just went buoy to buoy until I got to the end. It could’ve been 10 minutes or 2 hours, I had no idea how long I’d been swimming. I figured though, that due to my problems at the beginning, I was probably way off my pace. I was okay with that, and just wanted to get through the swim. After massaging out a calf cramp after the last buoy on the last stretch into shore (ouch!), I made my way onto the beach, walking up toward transition. I glanced at my watch, and it was somewhere around 50 minutes, which is not as far off my pace as I feared. It gave me a boost for getting on the bike. I didn’t let myself think about how much I had yet to go ahead of me.

Transition 1

I got into transition, and managed to yank my wetsuit off. I took my time to make sure I had everything. Put on my cycling shoes (after rinsing my feet a bit), put on my helmet and sunglasses, changed my mind and decided to proceed sans gloves. They didn’t want to go on over my wet hand anyhow. I made sure I had enough food and unracked my bike. I failed to notice that I had my cleat covers still on my shoes (doh!), so that made clipping in a bit of a challenge, but I yanked them off and was on my way.

The 56 Mile Bike Ride:

It was shady and smooth for the first portion of the bike section. I settled in right away and felt good. I was in my small chainring (= harder, faster gears) for most of the race (save for some of the hills), and felt great. I got to the 10 mile marker before I knew it and still felt really strong. I lost my chain on a hill between 10 and 15, but got it back on and kept going. At the mile 15 marker, it hit me that I was really going to be able to finish the race. I kind of got a little emotional, and was really excited. Even though I had been telling myself, especially in the week leading up to the race, that I was going to be able to finish, there was that lingering doubt in my mind and it disappeared right then. I felt like I was flying along. I managed to eat enough and hydrate enough, though Gatorade did not taste good at all to me. I was getting passed by lots and lots of guys, who had made up the time gap from their later swim starts. So many people were so friendly as they passed, having brief conversations, telling me I was doing great. That type of support and sportsmanship does wonders. You don’t feel so alone out there, despite it being an individual sport. I tried to remember to take in the scenery. Through the rolling hills, there were lots of fruit farms, and it was such a pleasant day. There were stretches of rougher pavement, which were painful, but then there were stretches that felt like I was just flying on. I was cruising over 20mph without even feeling it. Before I knew it, I was at the halfway point, and still felt great. By the time I got to mile 40, though, my legs started burning. My thighs were getting tired. I ate some more to get some more fast carbs in me, and dealt with the headwind I was suddenly facing. Ugh! And more hills. I got a little discouraged for a stretch. Then I reminded myself: “You are biking 56 miles. It’s SUPPOSED to hurt.” I changed my perspective and realized I should be grateful that I didn’t start hurting until the 40s, when I could have been hurting at mile 20! At this point in the race, I was so close to being done, that I just had to push through. Some of the hills at the end were toughies, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I just kept pedaling. I saw my family cheering for me as I made my way to the bike dismount in front of transition. I had made it through the longest portion in under my goal time of 3 and a half hours.

Transition 2

I took my time in transition 2 so that my legs would feel good on the run. I had stretched on the bike from time to time, keeping the hamstrings and calves as loose as I could. I racked my bike, yanked off the helmet and shades, changed into my running shoes, grabbed some food, and my visor and started the brisk walk to the run exit. I saw my family again as I left for the run.

The 13.1 Mile Run:

I still felt as if I had a ton of energy as I took off on the run. I think part of that is due to not allowing myself to think ahead to how much was left. I just wanted to take one mile at a time. I started out at an easy pace and quickly came to the bottom of a large-ish hill that was quite steep. Knowing that my calves would probably seize up if I tried to run it (which happened in my last triathlon and was horrible!), I decided to walk up it as a warm up. When I got to the top, we were already almost at one mile. I started to jog again and got a sip of water and Gatorade at the first aid station. I just kept going along, trying to enjoy the experience. I would now say that running is my weakest sport of the three. I walked a lot more than I wanted to. The one nice thing about walking was getting to chat with other people that were also walking. I met a number of people out there and everyone I talked to was very friendly. The course winded up some roads and into the Whirlpool corporation campus. The paved path turned through the woods and around and through a marshland type area. It was really pretty and pleasant. I still felt pretty good as I got to the 6.5 mile mark (halfway!) and began my 2^nd loop. I liked that it was looped since then it meant that I knew exactly what to expect for the second half and how much was left. I wound through the paths again. The ice cold sponges at the aid stations were wonderful. The day was slightly overcast, which was great, since I could feel myself really heat up when the sun would come out. My stomach started to give me a little bit of an issue around mile 8, but I had some banana, which seemed to help, and felt a 2^nd (3^rd? 4^th?) wind around mile 9.5. There were some kids with water guns out on the course, which was a lot of fun. They loved squirting us and we appreciated the cool down. By the end of the race, my tri top was soaked, but I think it was as much water as it was sweat. The last couple miles were long. Around mile 11, my legs came to a stop without my permission. It was a weird sensation. I literally felt like they just disobeyed me, “I didn’t tell you you could stop!” It just became a bit more effortful to keep them moving. But I was so close, and I knew we got to run DOWN that big hill (the one I walked up at the beginning). As I turned the corner at the bottom of the hill, I could hear the music and the announcer and it felt so amazing to know how close to the end I was!

The Finish:

One last left turn, and there it all was. Kind of a dune valley, lined on both sides with people cheering, waiting for their friends and loved ones to finally turn that corner. I saw my family as I approached the finish line. 7 hours, 10 minutes, and 32 seconds. It was such a great feeling to get to the end. I had actually finished this race that had been looming since February. This race that a month ago I was terrified of. I got my finisher’s medal, and my towel. They had a bucket of ice cold Berry flavored Gatorade rain, which is my favorite. The guy dunked my towel in the ice bucket for me and I got a cookie and plum from the finisher tent. I saw Sarah (Heath’s friend’s wife, who stayed with the night before) wave to me from the medical tent, where she was working. She later said that I looked a lot better than a lot of people that cross the finish line. She also told us of a few people that had to discontinue due to injury, dehydration, or other reasons. I’m so thankful that I made it through without any of those difficulties. It would be so hard to train for so long only to have something like that derail your race.

After the race:

I found my family after I left that tent, and they all gave me hugs, despite me being so gross and wet. I was still flying high on my adrenaline and endorphins, so I felt really good. We sat in the pavilion and waited for my turn at a massage, which took too long so didn’t happen. I stretched a bit and talked with my family, who had sat there all day waiting for me and being there to see me at every opportunity they could. I got some food, but wasn’t very hungry. Then I started to get tired. You can see in some of the pictures Mindy took how tired my eyes look. I also started to get cold. After a little while, we gathered up, and went back to transition so I could pick up my bike and gear. We walked the mile or so back to the cars, and said our goodbyes. Heath and I headed back to Dan and Sarah’s so I could shower and we could get back on the road to head to Elgin for Heath and Dan to race the extra muddy version of the Muddy Buddy.

In the end I raised $2360 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Being part of Team in Training is really special, and I recommend it to anybody who is thinking about it. There are a wide variety of races that you can train and raise money for. Wearing that uniform made me feel really good about the cause I was doing this for. You are definitely part of a larger community as part of Team, and you have that much more support and fans on the course and cheering from the sidelines. It was great!

Oh, but I had the WORST tan lines EVER!

United Run for the Zoo 10K

I ran in my first 10K race yesterday. I was pleased to run the whole thing. I need to work on my willpower for training. I think that if I had been running by myself, I would've probably walked at a point or two. There was a spot around 4.5 miles that I had to really push through, but was happy I did it. The only walking I did was through the water stations, which, well, I have a hard time drinking while running, so I'm okay with that. I wasn't anywhere near the top of my age group (results here), but maintained my pace throughout: 10.5 minutes per mile. It was a lot of fun, and Heath and I spent a lot of time walking around the zoo since we had never been there. I highly recommend it to Chicago visitors. It's free and there is a lot to see. It's really quite nice and most of the animals were out. The only trick is getting down there - parking can be $$$. We had no sense of time, however, and ended up eating lunch at about 10:15. Whoops!! I'll have pics to post fairly soon (including one of me DURING the race right before the finish line - nicely done, Heath) and will add the link when they're up. Also, BEST RACE T-SHIRTS EVER! Nike Dri-Fit (retail for $40 - race entry was $25 booyah!), stretchy, slight camo pattern to the fabric, cool design, will definitely wear it often!

Link to Pictures

New Gear

I placed an order online today for the last few tri-gear things I wanted to get (some of which I actually do NEED).

1. A CO2 pump and some cartridges for if I get a flat out there. Lighter, smaller, and faster than a regular pump. One of those things I hope I don't ever need to use! I went with the genuine innovations microflate. I figure simpler = better and found a favorable review here.
2. A transition bag. This item is riding on the fence of necessity. I could surely get by without one, but certain features of this bag will make things much easier for me, such as, two internal mesh shoe pockets (to hold both my running and cycling shoes for those of you unfamiliar with the multishoe aspect of multisport), an expandable mesh bottom compartment for wetsuit or towel, removable waterproof bag, it zips open to open ALL the way , plus lots of pockets for waterbottles, mp3 player, foodstuffs, cellphone, etc. I went with the TYR bag pictured here. It was a lot less expensive than some of the "triathlon" brand ones and had everything I think I could need. 3. Speed laces. This should be interesting. I'm going to try it out a bit before any races, but I ordered some Yankz! (that is their exclamation point, not mine) laces that allow you to put on and take off your shoes without any tying or untying. In the world of triathlon transition, the tying of shoes is a serious time sucker. I'm pretty slow at the actual sports, so I hope to have the quickest transitions I can to help my times. ;)

Bike Storage

I'm going to need to seriously address the bike storage issue when I move. Currently, I'm able to keep the bike hanging on my wall in the dining room (classy, I know) or on a stand in the office. In my new place, however, it is unlikely that the bike will be able to just be "out." There is evidently a street level bike room in the building, but I didn't remember to ask to see it when looking at the new apartment. There is also ample storage downstairs in the laundry room and possibly enough room in our storage unit, but we'll have to see. Ideally the bike would be part of an elaborate shrine-like display somewhere in the center of the apartment - hah! Seriously, hanging it from a hook somewhere out of the way would be nice so that it is safe in my abode with me, but the aesthetics of the apartment and keeping peace is much more important to me. I'm going to limit myself to my good road bike for the time being (plus the mountain bike that Heath is using for Muddy Buddy), so it's not like I'll need to go so far as to get the Delta Cezanne storage unit below (though maybe someday - gotta admit that is a pretty slick setup!).

Tridiva

Came across this triathlon gear site somehow this morning. They haven't got a ton of stuff, but a lot of what they have is cute. The tri top is adorable (but pricey), and some of the jewelry is nice, particularly compared to some of the other triathlon jewelry I've come across. (Can you say tacky!?!) Maybe after my race I'll reward myself with the Half Ironman necklace (pictured below) that has tags for the distances of each leg. Seems like it would be a nice memento.

JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge

Last night, I ran this in downtown Chicago with Heath. About 23,000 people participated in the 3.5 mile run, so it was pretty packed. I was a bit worried about how I'd do since I've been fighting this awful cold for the past week (ugh a WEEK, get gone already cold), but Heath and I were able to run the whole thing in about 37 min, which is just under 11 min/mile. I'm very happy with that, and Heath met his goal of beating his time from last year (by 8 minutes, how great is that?!).

After the race, the companies had tents set up with food and stuff, so I hung out with Heath at the gigantic BCBS tent (complete with Christmast lights strung around it) for a bit (mooching one of their hot dogs and a beer) before heading over to the relatively quaint Joint Commission tent, which has a better spread, but no beer.

It was a lot of fun, and also reminded me of how helpful it is to run with somebody. It's a lot easier to keep going when you have somebody to talk to and it's nice to motivate each other. Whenever you run, you have points along the run that you don't feel so great and kind of get that pull to walk a bit. But if you are with somebody else, you usually don't both have those moments at the same time, so you take turns keeping each other going. Uh, also I need to recalibrate my heart rate monitor. Evidently, I am able to maintain over 100% of my max HR for an extended amount of time without dying. I'm thinking it underestimated my max HR by just a tad...

Next up: Run for the Zoo on June 3rd -- my first 10K run ever! Also, Quad Cities Triathlon on June 16. Race season is heating up, baby! (Not really. These and my big tri are the only things on my calendar for this summer so far. :P)

I needed some extra motivation to run, so I signed up for the Run for the Zoo 2007. The course winds through Lincoln Park Zoo and I get a nice Dri-Fit t-shirt (and we all know that the t-shirt is what really matters). I bravely signed up for this as my first 10K race, but I should be more than capable of covering 6.2 miles at this point. Small races along the way help to get my butt outside and running.

new frustration. i'm changing the tires between my two bikes since i'm going to be primarily using my "good" bike. i was excited to change to my newer tires on my main wheelset, thinking that the tires were easier to mount than my old tires. but crap. turns out that the problem isn't with the tires, but with the rims. my hands are in huge pain from trying to seat my good tires on my good rims. back to it shortly. ugh.

Where am I?

I'm back from Ireland with an aggravated hamstring injury for starters. I tried to run this morning, but was slowed considerably by it, and it's been bugging me all day just sitting at my desk. Not sure what to do about it, but I'll hang in there and maybe just up the swimming to work on keeping the aerobic fitness up.

In Ireland, I learned that I am able to cover the cycling distance for the triathlon. I also learned that hills are hard! The nice thing is that I covered the 55 miles last Monday with big heavy panniers on my bike, and not really in an aero position. The bad thing is that it was spread out over the whole day. The next step is to work on efficiency and pace, so that I can fly through the 56 mile bike leg!

Swimming had to be on the back burner since there really was no way to swim over there. I'm going to step it back up this week and try to get in the pool at least twice. I'm trying to exercise in the mornings in general, so will be hitting the pool on the mornings I'm not running. Cycling will stay in the afternoons for now, just because that works better for me for the time being. Maybe once I move, I'll shift things around, particularly if I have better (i.e., less trafficy) places to ride.

As far as fundraising goes, I've hit my goal of $2300! My Body Shop party and one more donation put me over the top. I decided to bump my goal up to $2800 to see if I can beat it by $500. I know a few coworkers that still intended to give a bit. Plus, I could always hold another party and get a couple hundred more bucks! The ladies love their bath-y stuffs!

There have been rumblings that my social life has been taking me away from my training a bit. While that is only partly true (my laziness has definitely played a role, too), it needs to be addressed. I've adjusted my training schedule to be more compatible with my social calendar, which is definitely a start. Working out in the mornings should also be helpful. I just need to get into the habit of getting up by 5 to get my workout in. I cheated and didn't get up until 5:30 this morning, but it was a start!

Week 10 ~ ??? ~ $2030

Okay, time to take stock. I've been seriously slacking on my training. Can't lie about it or kid myself about it anymore. I hit some sort of training wall. I wasn't afraid of getting burnt out, but I think I did a little. I haven't slacked so much that I won't be okay for the race, but I need to get my butt in gear. Now. I could blame it on a number of things, but the fact of the matter is that I need to do a better job of committing to my workouts. I've allowed myself to go straight home after work too many times. I've been taking it easy on the weekends and eating a lot more junk. I need to be a lot better about how I'm eating and make sure to bring my exercise clothes with me if I'm away from home here and there. Regardless of what else is going on, I need to make time and make efforts to get out and do my workouts. Hopefully it is easier now that the weather is finally breaking (fingers crossed).

The bottom line is that sometime in the middle of last year, I decided that I wanted my life to be a certain way, and that included living a healthier lifestyle, with better eating habits and regular exercise. I've fallen off that a bit, and need to refocus on ensuring that I'm living a lifestyle I can feel good about. It is apparent to me that my lack of commitment to this part of my life is negatively impacting other aspects of my life, and there is no reason for that to continue.

Fundraising bumped up again. I'm now at 88% of my goal with several months to go. I have a fundraising event next week that will likely put me over my goal. I also have several people that have told me they still want to contribute. Perhaps I'll make my $500 over goal incentive!

Week 9 ~ ??? ~ $1910

This week the ??? = not quite enough. I don't recall exactly how much training I did, but I know it was beneath the training program minimums. Part of that was the fact that I was out of town for the past two weekends, but mostly it was my own laziness and lack of willpower. I'm going to step it up and try to stick to it this week for sure. I'll be on the bike tonight and running tomorrow. Nutrition also needs to improve significantly!

Fundraising is still going well. I'm getting close now, it's hard to believe that I have less than $400 to raise. When I signed up, I was so afraid that I would struggle to reach my goal! I'm confident that I'll get to it now, especially considering that I have until July something to get there and have two more fundraising events scheduled that should each bring in a pretty good chunk of change.