**UPDATE** 6/19/2009
Day 13. Woo hoo - today is a rest day. It felt really nice to sleep in for once. Not much else to talk about today, so I will tell you a funny story from last night. So, since I bought new pedals and shoes for my bike this week, I thought it would be a good idea to try practicing getting in and out of them without killing myself. The guys at the bike shop recommended just proping myself up in between a hallway and then just practice in the house. So, that's what I did - I got in a few times, no problem - I thought this was going to be a cinch. Well, I started to get a little cocky and try some more advanced moves (i.e. clipping in and out with both feet) - next thing I know, the bike is moving forward as I tip over to my left side on to my porcelain tile floor. Alright - one fall down - maybe that's all I need to get use to this new process! :) The bike shop owner said that there are two types of people: 1) people who have fallen off their bike and 2) people who will fall of their bike. It looks like I have crossed over to #1. :) I really hope I don't fall tomorrow at the group practice - that would be pretty embarrassing.
**UPDATE** 6/18/2009
Day 12. Another 5:30am coach-led swim. The day started as I woke up at 4:30am to a huge thunderstorm. I slowly got my stuff together and headed out the door into the downpour. Right as I stepped off the curb into my parking spot, I was nearly up to my ankles in water. I was not thrilled at this point - thankfully I had flip flops on. I get to the gym with the hope that practice was not cancelled due to weather, but thankfully the pool is grounded therefore we don't have to get out of the water when it is storming. There were significantly less people at practice today. It started well as my fellow teammate, Matt, struggled with getting his swim cap on. This amused me for a few minutes. :) After that, the torture began. We did alot of kicking drills - which were killer. I did get quite a bit of feedback about my breathing today - which will help alot. I guess I was over rotating therefore slowing me down alot. I will also invest in a pair of nose plugs so I can focus on my breathing and form and not about the water rushing up my nose and burning. After swim practice, I slept like a baby - best sleep I have had in a week for sure. Woo hoo for the day off tomorrow! I think I am going to practice clipping in and out of my new pedals tonight, so I don't bite it in front of everyone on Saturday. Wish me luck!
**UPDATE** 6/17/2009
Day 11. Today was a nice 40 minute bike ride. I was a little bummed that it was raining this morning, so instead of taking my bike out - I had to go to the gym and bike there. I think I am hitting the bike shop tonight to do a little upgrade.
Oh, I should've added to yesterday's post that I had the worse stomach pains yesterday! I think I ate my ClifBar to close to running - lesson learned! It was so bad that I even left work early. After taking a nap and being in the fetal position for awhile, I was feeling ok a few hours later.
**UPDATE** 6/16/2009
Day 10. On the docket today, running and swimming. I was pretty exhausted when I got up today at 6:15am. I think the schedule might be catching up with my finally. I guess they do say it takes 20 days to become a habit, woo only 10 more days to go. The run was decent, my legs didn't hurt as much as before. The swim wasn't too bad. I can tell my endurance is getting better, but I still need some work on my breathing. There were quite a few kicking drills today and boy do my legs feel like jello now. It's going to be a long day, better get to work now.
**UPDATE** 6/15/2009
Day 9. So, the schedule starts to repeat. 25 min on the bike and 150 crunches. I had to do a small tune up on my bike, since the brake was rubbing - but problem solved with the help of my roomie and an allen wrench. I'm glad I'm learning all these little issues, so I know how to fix them come race day. While I was riding around the neighborhood, my bike is so quiet that I almost hit a squirrel. I would really hope a squirrel wouldn't cause my first fall on the bike. But I avoided it at the last minute. Not too much exciting about this workout. I went to the bike shop to look at getting new pedals and cycling shoes. I might go back on Thursday to purchase.
**UPDATE** 6/14/2009
Day 8. It was another day at the pool today. On the schedule, was the same training plan that I did on Tuesday and Thursday with the group. So, I ended up going to the pool with my friend Michelle who used to be on a swim team and did some coaching in the past. She had some good pointers to help me practice and answered my silly questions. The surprising part was that I was able to get through the entire 975 m swim plan where on Tuesday I was only able to get through half of it! I'm so excited to see how much I am improving in such a small amount of time. The other great thing - is that today I am offically more than half way to my goal of raising $2400! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated!
**UPDATE** 6/13/2009
Day 7. Today was my first group Saturday workout. It is setup that we will do a bike and run (known as a 'brick' in the triathlon world) as a group. But, since today was the first day, we just did a run. Since I was a previous marathoner, I thought I could handle running with the level 2 group. Boy was I wrong - I didn't know level 2 meant that you ran like 8 minute/miles. Anyhow, I ran the same time as them, just not as fast. :) One of the mentors, Nancy, was really cool and slowed down to run with me. After the brutal run on the Custis Trail (with some sick hills), we had a bike clinic and a tri 101 clinic. At the bike clinic, they talked about what kind of bike to buy (but I've already bought mine) and what are the necessary accessories. I think I will end up changing my pedals to the clip in kind and get a pair of bike shoes. I will probably research that more this week. The tri 101 clinic showed what clothes you wear and what you put on and take off at the transition areas. They joked around about people putting their helmets on over their swim caps or forgetting to take their helmet off before starting the run. I hope that doesn't happen to me. :) All in all, a good time and met a few new people.
**UPDATE** 6/12/2009
Day 6. My training plan is set up so that we have every Friday off from training. So, it was pretty pleasant not having to wake up early to go to the gym or trail to do some training. I have a group run tomorrow and some training clinics, so I'm sure there will be plenty to blog about tomorrow. As for tonight, it's time to cheer on my Red Wings and hopefully bring another cup back to Detroit!
**UPDATE** 6/11/2009
Day 5. Today was the dreaded 5:30am swim practice. But surprisingly, it was not that hard to wake up at 4:30 am - especially since I went to bed around 9 pm. :) So, it was a little daunting seeing everyone in their race swim suits and this pool in front of us. Noone seemed to want to be the first one in - I thought they were going to have to push some people in. :) I don't know what changed today, but this was my BEST swim day by FAR! I was putting my head in the water and I was breathing somewhat correctly so I wasn't huffing and puffing at the walls. I was not even close to being the worse swimmer there! I wonder if I just had to see other people doing it - to push me to do it or what. So I was way more comfortable in the water than before. I was swimming with the level 1 group, but I think in a week or two, I might be able to advance to the level 2 group. So, I'm started to get more excited about the swim rather than to dread it as my weakest sport. I have even scheduled a massage for tonight - I think every other Thursday I will do that - just to reward myself a bit for all this hard training. Time for work....
**UPDATE** 6/10/2009
Day 4. Today I biked 13 miles. It felt pretty good, but boy was I sweaty - might have been due to being inside at the gym rather than outside on the trail. I didn't want to chance the weather - since it seems to rain daily around here now. I also went to a Swim Equipment Clinic. It was pretty helpful to explain fitting for bathing suits and goggles. It was also sweet to get a pretty nice discount. I'm fully going to take advantage of those - just incase I decide to do another triathlon. I'm pretty much dreading getting up at 4:30am tomorrow to get to the group swim training. Wish me luck - I better get to bed now.
**UPDATE** 6/9/2009
Day 3. Today started at a crazy 5:30am. I ran for 2 miles and then had to hit the dreaded pool [play scary music here]. It was a swim on your own day - with a schedule we were supposed to try to follow but to stop when it was too much. I got about half way through it before it was too much for me. I really need to get used to putting my face in the water and breathing right. I think once they coach me on those, I'll be pretty good at swimming. Anyhow, I'm exhausted and it's time for a nap before my dr. appt and work. They say sleep is one of the most important things to maintain while triathlon training - don't want to skip on that one. :)
**UPDATE** 6/8/2009
Day 2. Well, I thought the hardest part of today was going to be getting up early to work out. That definitely was the easiest part I must say. I had to do a 25 minute bike and a strength workout. The bike was nice - just rode around my neighborhood rather than taking up more time driving to the trail. The strength workout was tough. I thought this was going to consist of short weight lifting exercises - oh no - it equated to 150 crunches of various pain. :) I guess if I want those rock hard abs, I better get used to them. Rock Hard abs pictures to follow. :)
**UPDATE** 6/7/2009
First off, I have had yet another large donation from an Anonymous donor. So, thank you so much for that. I have raised $775 in one week - I am super excited about that - hopefully it will continue on that trend. :)
I attended the Team in Training Kick Off Meeting yesterday in Bethesda. It was very cool to meet some other teammates who live near me. We are all newbies to triathlon, so that put me at ease. I also met some of the coaches and mentors for the program - ofcourse everyone was nice and super peppy for 8 am on a Saturday.
Today was my very first day of training! Woo hoo! I had to go running and I put in a respectable 2.5 miles. I now realize that I should have gone earlier in the day before it got too hot - the first lesson of triathlon training I guess. :) My left knee hurt a bit to start, but it went away after about 10 minutes. It's amazing that I ran a marathon in January and now my body has completely forgotten how to run again. Oh well - I will be training it soon enough! :)
**UPDATE** 6/3/2009
I am now competing in honor of a friend's husband, Brad Waldron. Brad is a survivor of almost 12 years - thanks to an experimental treatment that they gave him when it was first discovered he had Leukemia. That treatment has now become the standard for people with his type of Leukemia. Without it, the doctors said he wouldn't be here today. I'm hoping that my donations will go on to develop more experimental treatments such as Brad's. I will be posting Brad's picture shortly.
**UPDATE** 6/2/2009
I would like to send a huge thank you to Mr. / Mrs. Anonymous and their gracious donation of $100! I wish I knew who you were so I could send you a personal thank you. So, I'm not going to lie and say that this isn't driving me nuts wondering who it is. Either way - I really appreciate you supporting me along with the rest of my donors at this point!
I have my kick off meeting on Saturday to receive my training plans, meet my coaches and fellow teammates. So, Sunday will be my first day of training. Woo hoo! I'm excited to get started!
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