Spinning on my Own

Tonight's workout was either spin class or a 20 min warm up; 10x 1 min hard, 1 min easy; 20 min cooldown. I can talk myself out of pretty much any individual workout, so I was a little worried about today. There was no spin class available for me (at least not one that actually fits in my schedule... must put in a note at the gym to have a Thursday night class!), so the other workout it would be.

There was a guy in the spin room when I first got there who had also just gotten there. He stayed for about 20 minutes. Slacka. ;) Another guy came in as guy #1 was wrapping up. He also only stayed for 20 minutes. Apparently, today was a short workout day for them both. It helped having 2 other people in the room... even if it was only for the first 40 min of my workout.

I powered through everything and got to the end. I'm so glad I did! I felt awesome after and that's what it's all really about...

Swim

This morning was another swim workout. This time, I was smart enough to ask before getting in the pool what I should be doing instead of trying to do the swim Coach L sent out.

I managed to do it without drowning, always a positive. My stroke's slowly improving. I've been told it'll take time, so I'll just keep working on it. I have to really concentrate on keeping my head down and body up. It'll come... right?

Total time: 45 min
Total distance: 1275m

Cold Weather Running

How is it March 29 and only 27 degrees outside at 5am?! This morning's run was COLD. Only three of us showed up... of course a good number of them did run the Nation's Half Marathon last weekend.

Today we did a 15 min warmup run followed by 5x2 min tempo, 1 min rest. It felt good to be outside again - even if it's cold. It's been so long since I've been regularly running outside that I forgot how good it really does feel.

Talking with Coach L, she was asking how fast my race pace was... It made me realize I haven't raced since the MCM 10k in 2009. It's so sad. I'm so much faster now and am definitely looking forward to April 9 and the Brambleton Step-Sisters 5k. Hoping to set a PR (and be sub-30).

Tonight, spin... I think.

Week 2 Looks Exhausting

I think the title of this post says it all. I got my schedule from Coach L last night. This week looks EXHAUSTING! Please pray that I'm still standing come next Monday. Thankfully it's cardio week from TNT.

Here's the schedule as it stands (we'll see what I actually do!):

Monday - rest

Tuesday - Track

Wednesday - Swim

Thursday - Bike

Friday - Swim
Run

Saturday - Bootcamp (I'll likely be skipping this)

Sunday - Brick: Bike 90 min, Run 30 min

Swim on Your Own

So, today was my first swim on your own day. It was supposed to be the broken mile. That just sounds intimidating to me. After Wednesday's performance in the pool, I knew there was no way I'd be able to do that, so I needed something else. But, for those who are curious, here's the broken mile that was planned:

Swim - wu with drills and swim
Broken mile (11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 laps) with 10-15 sec rest in between

Knowing that was a crazy workout, I was supposed to email Coach L earlier this week. However, I forgot until about 2pm. Instead of hoping she'd get back to me in an hour, I looked on www.beginnertriathlete.com for some ideas. I love the internet! One of the threads had a wonderful suggestion of www.swimplan.com. So, I headed over there and registered for an account, hoping I could get what I needed. Sure enough, I did!

Warm up

8 x 25m Any Stroke (even pace), rest 0:10 / 25m

Swim your choice of stroke at a steady pace.

Build up (repeat 4 times)

1 x 25m Streamline Kicking, rest 0:10 / 25m

Freestyle kick with arms held out front in a streamlined position. Fingers overlap with one thumb lightly gripping the opposite hand. Lift your chin above the water to breath without turning your head.

1 x 25m Single Arm (arm by side) 6 x left, 6 x right, 6 x full stroke, rest 0:10 / 25m

Freestyle using one arm at a time, focusing on shoulder and hip rotation. Complete 6 arm strokes with the left arm followed by 6 strokes with the right arm. The non-stroking arm is held loosely by your side.

Core

2 x 100m Freestyle Swim, rest 0:20 / 100m

4 x 50m 50/50 Freestyle + Breaststroke, rest 0:20 / 50m

Swim alternate lengths of Freestyle and Breaststroke. If you prefer, you can split longer distances by units instead of pool lengths e.g. Swim 100 Freestyle followed by 100 Breaststroke.

4 x 50m Freestyle DPS, rest 0:20 / 50m

Freestyle swim with maximum Distance Per Stroke (DPS). Concentrate on long, efficient strokes and a high streamlined body position to reduce drag in the water. Count your strokes per lap and try to reduce.

Warm down

8 x 25m Easy Any Stroke, rest 0:10 / 25m

Swim your choice of stroke, at a slow, relaxed pace.

The workout wasn't easy, but it wasn't too hard. Always a good sign. I just realized that I was supposed to do the build up 4 times... oops. I thought I was missing something. Ah well, so instead of 1200m total, I did 1050m. Still a good bit.

Next week, I need to remember to email Coach L earlier in the week for different (lesser) swim workouts for both Wednesday and Friday.

Body Fat Checks

Tonight was TNT, including mid-session weigh ins and body fat checks. I did a 20 minute yoga workout before TNT to stretch out a bit (my hamstrings are soooo tight right now!). Weigh in and body fat went well. Weighed in at 130.0, right on target. My body fat is 20%, which is right where it was 6 weeks ago and is pretty good for a woman.

TNT was good. Abs were a little tough because of the few exercises that involved lifting our legs. Like I said, my hammies are tight! The rest of the workout was good.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I get to sleep in (5:15) and don't have a single workout planned. Ahhh... rest day!

Swiming, swiming, in a swimming pool...

This morning's workout was a crazy long swim (for me anyhow). Total of 1650m. About twice as long as I've ever swam... IN MY LIFE.

Here's what I ended up doing:

Total of 1250m. About 450m longer than my normal swims.

I've learned a couple of things about my swimming today.
1) I need to keep my chin tucked in towards my chest.
2) I need to bring my chest up more.
3) I need to learn to do my freestyle in a manner that uses the power in my forearms and shoulders. Note to self: find swimming videos on you tube and watch for instructions on how to freestyle more effciently.

Tonight I have TNT and another 30 min of light cardio. We've also got weigh-ins and body fat measurements tonight. Wooo hooo!

Run Like the Wind

Ok seriously, who in their right mind gets up at 4:15 to do a 5:15 run? Triathletes and marathoners, that's who. Today, we did a track workout. We did a warmup followed by some speed work, and wrapped up with a 6 minute cooldown run.

Our speed work?

10x 30 seconds - full sprint; 1 min - "rest".

Our rest could be a jog, walk, or full stop. Most of us walked all of the "rests". A couple of the ladies did full stops for the later recoveries. The sprints were full on efforts. I actually have no idea when I last ran that fast. It felt good, but my hamstrings are begging for mercy.

I was supposed to go to spin class tonight, but I decided to come home and rest instead. I figured I have no clue what tomorrow's swim will be like, so for this week, just see how it goes.

I feel good about today's effort and that's all that really matters to me this week. :)

TNT

Today's a TNT (weight lifting) day. It also means 30 minutes of cardio. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and then a great TNT workout. Good stuff. :)

I have a difficult decision to make about TNT - stay at my current gym or switch to one closer to home. I need to decide for the May - July session. On one hand, it makes total sense to move closer to home. I'll beat traffic, won't have to burn time between work and TNT, and will generally be easier on me. On the other hand, I've been with this group of ladies for 4 and a half years and it's hard to give that up. Even though I've "lost" one trainer, I've gained another really great one. The guy I'd be moving to is good, it's just hard to make that switch. Still deciding...

Tri Group & First Workout

I started training in January and was doing pretty well, hit a couple of road blocks (mental ones) in February, and decided that I really needed to join a tri team. I did a good bit of research and decided to go with Tri 4 Women. I started my workouts with them on a Saturday.

My first workout was a bootcamp style workout. I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a great workout!

5 rounds of the following:
200m run
10 knee to elbows
10 wall balls
10 dumbbell swings
20 walking lunges (10 on each leg)

I finished the workout in 19:52 (just behind the #1 chick, who did it in 19:41). A pretty good first performance if you ask me! Coach L told me that I have great body awareness and form, which she was very pleased about.

The Beginning

In 2008, I ran a few 5ks, my first half marathon, and my first marathon. When I crossed the finished line of the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM), I said I'd never do it again. I lied.

I went on to run a few other races. During the GW Parkway Classic, I pulled my AT, but didn't think much of it. I tried to stay off of it as much as possible and 8 weeks later began training for my second MCM. I should've listened to myself and not done it again. In late August/early September, I pulled my AT again... for real this time. If I ran shorter distances, it didn't bother me, so I ran the 10k instead of the marathon. I PR'd that day... but couldn't walk without wincing in pain for the next 2 days.

I couldn't run at all. I could barely walk on it without pain. So, I started cross training. Riding the stationary bike and starting to dabble in swimming. You can only do the elliptical for so long before you go crazy. I started going to spin class to ease the boredom and fell in love.

13 months and a few pounds gained and then lost later, I got back on the treadmill and started the Couch to 5k (C25k) program. I was running faster than ever and it felt great! I had a few virtual training partners to keep me on track, which definitely helped. Some time during the C25k program, I decided to (finally) give triathlons a try. My trainer's only been working on me for about 3 years now.