It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I've been training really hard and it's coming down the to wire. It's time for me to start tapering off a little. I've really been pushing it the last couple of weeks. I hope it pays off.
We had a nice indoor training ride and watched the 2006 Wildflower video. It was fun to watch. It seems like the event will be really great. The training session just kicked my rear end but that's a good thing. I always feel great after working really hard. 2 days later we did a moderately hilly ride with the Tahoe team and my legs felt it a bit but that didn't really hold me back.
The training session in the pool was excellent. Tim put us through the ringer so to speak. He wanted us to work on the start of the race so he had 4 of us in one lane struggling for room and he had a kick board and was making waves and splashing us in the face the whole time. We worked on looking up when we swim in order to stay on line so we don't stray too far off course and we also worked at swimming with our head completely out of the water just in case we choke or something that we'll be able to keep swimming and not get run over. Overall some good learning experiences.
I was happy with my running last week. I did 5 miles of a hill repeater. I found a hill that's a half mile long. It goes from the towpath parking lot on Rockside and up the hill to Independence. I checked it out on Map My Ride and there are sections that are a 20% grade. I was pleasantly surprised that I was not only able to run up it once but 5 times. Now I understand that running downhill is SOOOO much easier than up (I've had issues with that in the past). My knees held up fabulously on the run and have been doing well in general. Now the only issue is they started to burn a little last Thursday while I was running to work so I have to be careful, make sure to stretch and ice my shins after I run and I should be fine. I've been resting a little and will probably head to the gym in the next week or so and work a bit on the elliptical the keep my legs in shape and avoid all the pounding. I am so ready to get there and get this done. I know I have another week and a half but I feel good. My legs are starting to recover from the extreme activity that I've put them through over the last week.
On Sunday I went for a group ride with the Tahoe team. The coaches have been extremely gracious and allowing us to ride along with them. My legs were so tired to start the ride. It was raining and windy and cold. None of that really bothered me though. I just wanted to keep the legs pumping. I have issues with my left thigh if I don't remember to warm it up and stretch it really good before we start and of course I forgot. So I had some problems until about mile 25 once I was really "warmed" up. Poor Jan had a flat tire. I'm not surprised. We hit some pretty rough roads. I'm surprised I didn't have a flat. We had some issues in getting the tire changed but managed well enough. It's better that he had the flat yesterday than at Wildflower. My legs were really tired when we finished but I still felt like I could run afterward. I wish I could've run with Jan but I had to go meet with my parent's then head to my brother's for my niece's birthday. My feet were frozen by the time we finished and I actually wore my shoe covers.
I took yesterday off as a rest day. (still did some running to work, lol always late).
Yesterday we dropped of our bikes to be shipped out today. Kadence is now on her way to California. Of course I had issues. We have to remove the pedals from our bikes and my left pedal just refused to come off. We tried everything. We ended up partially stripping the bolt on there and we tried removing it with the allen wrench but it wouldn't budge. I think we even partially stripped the wrench itself. Tim said he was going to stop by this morning and see if he could get it off after we let some lube soak in. If not, she's going with one pedal. I rode to work this morning and I can't believe the difference between bikes. It felt so weird to ride my old bike. As usual I felt great when i got in to work this morning. I love to ride :)
Heroes
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
4/6/10
My legs are a little tingly today. Had a nice brisk ride to work this morning. The training the last few days has been good. We rode with the Tahoe team again last Saturday and it was a blast. It was a hilly ride and I had so much fun. I rode 43.5 miles then we decided to run after our ride and we managed to run 3 miles afterward but we were all beat and decided to stop after 3. I would've liked to go farther than that but I was gassed. I had nothing left in the tank. I need to eat more while riding so I have something left for the run.
Yesterday I was going to swim after work and but when I got off work I was extremely tired. I was determined to at least get in the pool yesterday. After all it was the only chance I'd get this week to swim and I don't think I can really afford to take a week off at this point in my training and so close to the event. So I trudged to the gym. I got into my suit then the shower and I was already cold. Just didn't feel like swimming. I went to the pool and all the lanes were taken. Bummer. I was going to wait till a lane opened but by the time I hung up my towel there was an open lane. Good for me :)
I started my swim thinking I would do 3 sets of 500 yards followed by a 200 yard cool down. As I got swimming, I felt pretty good. The longer I swam the more of a rhythm I go into. The pool length is 20 yards so I figured 25 laps and I would take a brief respite. Then I began to think that I'd do 50 laps then rest. But as I got closer to 50 I though why not just swim 75 laps and that would be my 3 500's. The more I thought about it (and believe me there's plenty opportunity to think while swimming back and forth in a pool) the more I tried to figure out how many laps would make a mile . I came up with 88 laps. 88 laps??? That wasn't really that much farther than the 75 I had already set my sights on. What's 13 more laps? I managed to swim those 88 laps in 50 minutes. Earlier in the year Tim had us time ourselves in 10 minutes of swimming. I swam 14 laps in 10 minutes. Yesterday at an easy pace I swam 17.6 laps in 10 minutes. Not bad I'd say. Especially for someone who up till now swam purely to stay alive. When I got out of the pool I felt a little wobbly but I'll take it. I felt good after I had dinner. I slept really well last night that's for sure. Bry kept me up late all weekend and we got up early both Saturday and Sunday.
Managed to drag myself out of bed early this morning and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. I would've liked to run more but I just don't have enough time in the morning. I'll start running after work now. I need to get used to running after I ride my bike.
So far I've lost 7 lbs over the last three weeks. It seems that the weather has turned and that's always when I start losing. I don't know what it is but I can never seem to lose/maintain my weight over the winter.
Yesterday I was going to swim after work and but when I got off work I was extremely tired. I was determined to at least get in the pool yesterday. After all it was the only chance I'd get this week to swim and I don't think I can really afford to take a week off at this point in my training and so close to the event. So I trudged to the gym. I got into my suit then the shower and I was already cold. Just didn't feel like swimming. I went to the pool and all the lanes were taken. Bummer. I was going to wait till a lane opened but by the time I hung up my towel there was an open lane. Good for me :)
I started my swim thinking I would do 3 sets of 500 yards followed by a 200 yard cool down. As I got swimming, I felt pretty good. The longer I swam the more of a rhythm I go into. The pool length is 20 yards so I figured 25 laps and I would take a brief respite. Then I began to think that I'd do 50 laps then rest. But as I got closer to 50 I though why not just swim 75 laps and that would be my 3 500's. The more I thought about it (and believe me there's plenty opportunity to think while swimming back and forth in a pool) the more I tried to figure out how many laps would make a mile . I came up with 88 laps. 88 laps??? That wasn't really that much farther than the 75 I had already set my sights on. What's 13 more laps? I managed to swim those 88 laps in 50 minutes. Earlier in the year Tim had us time ourselves in 10 minutes of swimming. I swam 14 laps in 10 minutes. Yesterday at an easy pace I swam 17.6 laps in 10 minutes. Not bad I'd say. Especially for someone who up till now swam purely to stay alive. When I got out of the pool I felt a little wobbly but I'll take it. I felt good after I had dinner. I slept really well last night that's for sure. Bry kept me up late all weekend and we got up early both Saturday and Sunday.
Managed to drag myself out of bed early this morning and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. I would've liked to run more but I just don't have enough time in the morning. I'll start running after work now. I need to get used to running after I ride my bike.
So far I've lost 7 lbs over the last three weeks. It seems that the weather has turned and that's always when I start losing. I don't know what it is but I can never seem to lose/maintain my weight over the winter.
Friday, April 2, 2010
4/2/2010
We got our new wetsuits! I feel like Steve Martin in "The Jerk" "The phonebook is here! The phonebook is here!..." Yes it would seem that this isn't a reason to get all worked up about but I took it to our group swim session to make sure it fit and holy cow! What a difference!!!. I swam 1700 yards in less than an hour and it didn't feel like I hardly got started when it was time to finish. Of course it took me 10 minutes to get into the suit but once I figured it out it was no big deal. I couldn't believe how much easier it was to swim in the wetsuit. I feel really good about the triathlon now. I feel confident that I'll be able to do the swim it's just how quickly I can get through it. The the bike ride is going to be tough. I really need to get my hill work in. The run is going to be equally as tough maybe tougher because it's really hilly. Again I need to get my hill work in. So now my training pretty much looks like run, run, run, swim, ride, ride, run, ride, swim, run, run ....LOL run as much as I can, ride as much as I can, and swim as much as I can and sleep in there at one point or another.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
3/31/10
D Day!!! OK it looks like my Shave To Save Lives campaign has been a success! My goal was to raise $1000 during the month of March to go towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and as of right now (and there's still 14 hours left) I've received $2110 in donations ranging from $5 to $150! That just goes to show you that every little bit counts! I am definitely going to be shaving my head for a very worthy cause. I was in the shower this morning and noticed I was running out of shampoo and made a mental note to buy more. Then I realized that after today I won't need any shampoo! LOL
We had a group ride last night that was supposed to be a brick but as usual I was not able to get my run in. We rode 25 miles and it had some nice hills. I really love riding the hills. We were going along and I had no idea where we were going. I heard Jan telling Darryl where we were going and heard him mention something about County Line road. We were climbing a decent hill and I was pretty far ahead of Jan and I saw county line road about a tenth of a mile before the crest of the hill. I didn't know which way to turn on County Line road so I just kept going up the hill with the intention of reaching the crest and heading back down to follow Jan whichever way he turned. It worked out pretty well. I made it to the top and turned around and met Jan at the turn. That ride made me remember how much I like hills. That being said, I still need to get in a lot of hill work before the event. I plan to get at least 3 hill rides in a week before I go. Something that I'll start tonight on my way home. I'll circle around Rockside and up Granger hill which is the steepest hill I can find around here. I figure if I can make it up that hill on a regular basis I should be able to handle the first hill at Wildflower and likely "the Nasty". Now all I have to do is to continue to train like a maniac. I only have one month left!
When we got back to our cars we thought about running but it was already getting a little dark and my feet were frozen (didn't bring the shoe covers again! Perhaps I'll learn one day!). So we decided to nix the run. I realized on my way home that it was Tuesday and I forgot to record my favorite show (Biggest Loser) so when I got home at 9:00 I got changed, got under a blanket and watched the rest of the show. I felt a little funky when I got up (as in not well not as in James Brown) this morning so i didn't run this morning either. That's what's on my plate for this evening. I will get a hill ride in. Then shave my head and I'd like to do about 5 miles tonight. Yes there will be pictures to follow.
We had a group ride last night that was supposed to be a brick but as usual I was not able to get my run in. We rode 25 miles and it had some nice hills. I really love riding the hills. We were going along and I had no idea where we were going. I heard Jan telling Darryl where we were going and heard him mention something about County Line road. We were climbing a decent hill and I was pretty far ahead of Jan and I saw county line road about a tenth of a mile before the crest of the hill. I didn't know which way to turn on County Line road so I just kept going up the hill with the intention of reaching the crest and heading back down to follow Jan whichever way he turned. It worked out pretty well. I made it to the top and turned around and met Jan at the turn. That ride made me remember how much I like hills. That being said, I still need to get in a lot of hill work before the event. I plan to get at least 3 hill rides in a week before I go. Something that I'll start tonight on my way home. I'll circle around Rockside and up Granger hill which is the steepest hill I can find around here. I figure if I can make it up that hill on a regular basis I should be able to handle the first hill at Wildflower and likely "the Nasty". Now all I have to do is to continue to train like a maniac. I only have one month left!
When we got back to our cars we thought about running but it was already getting a little dark and my feet were frozen (didn't bring the shoe covers again! Perhaps I'll learn one day!). So we decided to nix the run. I realized on my way home that it was Tuesday and I forgot to record my favorite show (Biggest Loser) so when I got home at 9:00 I got changed, got under a blanket and watched the rest of the show. I felt a little funky when I got up (as in not well not as in James Brown) this morning so i didn't run this morning either. That's what's on my plate for this evening. I will get a hill ride in. Then shave my head and I'd like to do about 5 miles tonight. Yes there will be pictures to follow.
Monday, March 29, 2010
3/29/10
I had a pretty good week of training. I haven't been able to get out and run as much as I would've liked so I'm really going to focus on running primarily then swimming then of course riding. I'm going to have to start training on two different disciplines each day to get in as much work as I would like. That's not much of a problem for me considering I ride my bike to work whenever possible. So all I need to do is to run or swim after work and I've got my "brick" in for the day.
I showed up last week at our indoor bike training session and I swear I'm lucky I brought my head with me because I forgot everything else! I'm certain I had my trainer in hand as I was walking out the door. When I got to the LLS office I brought my bike inside and realized I didn't bring any towels. I was grumbling about it and Mike asked me if I had my trainer. I told him yes it was in my truck. I went out to the truck and looked for the trainer and no go. I left it at home. I couldn't believe it. I had it in my hand as I was walking out. I must've set it down when I went to get some socks out of the dryer. That's the only thing I can think of. At least I had my socks. :) I went and got changed into my biking clothes. Tim was gracious enough to let me use his trainer. (Which was a huge sacrifice because he just got his new tri bike and hadn't even had the chance to ride it yet) I got ready to get on my bike and sure enough, I forgot my shoes! UUUGGGHH!!!! I managed to get a decent ride in even without my shoes, towels, and trainer.
I really wanted to run this weekend but there seemed to be all sorts of things that came up that prevented me from going. I ended up practicing my French horn most of the day and also playing guitar. I decided not to run because I was going to do a brick with the team on Sunday afternoon. We had planned to go Sunday because the weather outlook at the beginning of the week was better on Sunday. Well it poured rain and Tim got sick so we decided not to go. I didn't get to do my brick on Sunday. I went to Rick's house and we watched basketball all day. Had some beers and subs. Had a really good time. I planned to run when I got home but realized I had to replace the brake shoes on my bike for my ride today. Of course I had all kinds of issues putting these simple little things on my bike and as usual it involved breaking a small part on my bike that will now have to be replaced causing more damage most likely. LOL So it goes. Well I got the shoes on anyhow and was able to ride to work this morning. Really windy today. Can't wait for the ride home when the wind is at my back. :) I ran on the treadmill for a half hour this morning. I felt really good. I could've run much longer but didn't have enough time. I was a little late to work as it is. Gonna head to the pool tonight and get some swim time in.
I showed up last week at our indoor bike training session and I swear I'm lucky I brought my head with me because I forgot everything else! I'm certain I had my trainer in hand as I was walking out the door. When I got to the LLS office I brought my bike inside and realized I didn't bring any towels. I was grumbling about it and Mike asked me if I had my trainer. I told him yes it was in my truck. I went out to the truck and looked for the trainer and no go. I left it at home. I couldn't believe it. I had it in my hand as I was walking out. I must've set it down when I went to get some socks out of the dryer. That's the only thing I can think of. At least I had my socks. :) I went and got changed into my biking clothes. Tim was gracious enough to let me use his trainer. (Which was a huge sacrifice because he just got his new tri bike and hadn't even had the chance to ride it yet) I got ready to get on my bike and sure enough, I forgot my shoes! UUUGGGHH!!!! I managed to get a decent ride in even without my shoes, towels, and trainer.
I really wanted to run this weekend but there seemed to be all sorts of things that came up that prevented me from going. I ended up practicing my French horn most of the day and also playing guitar. I decided not to run because I was going to do a brick with the team on Sunday afternoon. We had planned to go Sunday because the weather outlook at the beginning of the week was better on Sunday. Well it poured rain and Tim got sick so we decided not to go. I didn't get to do my brick on Sunday. I went to Rick's house and we watched basketball all day. Had some beers and subs. Had a really good time. I planned to run when I got home but realized I had to replace the brake shoes on my bike for my ride today. Of course I had all kinds of issues putting these simple little things on my bike and as usual it involved breaking a small part on my bike that will now have to be replaced causing more damage most likely. LOL So it goes. Well I got the shoes on anyhow and was able to ride to work this morning. Really windy today. Can't wait for the ride home when the wind is at my back. :) I ran on the treadmill for a half hour this morning. I felt really good. I could've run much longer but didn't have enough time. I was a little late to work as it is. Gonna head to the pool tonight and get some swim time in.
Monday, March 22, 2010
3/22/10
My dear friend Deidra received some bad news about her brother. He's been suffering form leukemia since last year and the doctors say that it's extremely aggressive and don't see the need for any more treatment. Prayers to her and her family. This is definitely the reason I've been working so hard with fundraising and training. It just makes me sick to think that anybody has to go through that much pain and suffering. The sooner we can find a cure the sooner great people like Deidra and her family won't have to suffer through these heart wrenching situations.
On Thursday last week we went for our swim session and I just wasn't in the right frame of mind. I was frustrated that I don't seem to be getting better (although i swam pretty much the whole hour and didn't really have any problems doing it.) Tim keeps trying to help me get better but i felt like it's just no use. I hate it when I get that way. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong and it frustrates me. I felt better once we really got into the session and was fine by the time we finished. We all went out to the Winking Lizard afterward to clarify plans for the Wildflower trip. We will be camping and there are a few of us that are vegetarians and we all wanted to make sure that we have enough food for everyone on the trip.
Went for another training ride with the Tahoe team. It was really fun. Most of the Wildflower team went too so it was a good turnout. My Teammate Jan and I went out ahead and we proceeded in typical Bill fashion in missing turns and taking the wrong turns so we managed to pick up some bonus miles in turning a 34 mile bike ride into a 40 mile bike ride. No worries though. It was windy so every time we headed North we got a nice cool blast of wind off of lake Erie. Thanks goodness I remembered to bring my shoe covers this week! :) Poor Jan, he wore shorts and no shoe covers and just a long sleeve shirt. He was a little chilled when we got back. I actually saw Deidra on her training run. She's a Sea Gull teammate and will be running the Cleveland Marathon in honor of her brother among others. A couple of my teammates from the Sea Gull ride provided SAG for the ride. It was nice to see them again. Melissa brought muffins, pretzels, cookies and bananas all were much appreciated. Andy and Ty were there too and they provided bagels and cream cheese which also hit the spot. I'm very appreciative to all the people that came out and come out to help for our training sessions. It makes all the difference. Thanks Andy, Ty, Deb, Melissa, Charley and anyone else who is supporting this worthy cause!
I managed to run 5 miles on Sunday and did so with no significant problems. I'm very pleased that the stretching seems to be doing its job. I haven't really had problems with the knees since I started stretching. They still get a little sore but no more than I would expect. I can even walk up and down stairs. :) I really want to get going on the running now. I feel like I'm a little behind but I'm glad that I can kick it into gear now. I'm still a little worried about putting the three events together but I still have a month and a half to get myself there.
As a reminder if you were thinking about donating, my fundraising deadline is April 16th. You can donate by clicking on this link:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/wildtri10/whaddix
On Thursday last week we went for our swim session and I just wasn't in the right frame of mind. I was frustrated that I don't seem to be getting better (although i swam pretty much the whole hour and didn't really have any problems doing it.) Tim keeps trying to help me get better but i felt like it's just no use. I hate it when I get that way. I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong and it frustrates me. I felt better once we really got into the session and was fine by the time we finished. We all went out to the Winking Lizard afterward to clarify plans for the Wildflower trip. We will be camping and there are a few of us that are vegetarians and we all wanted to make sure that we have enough food for everyone on the trip.
Went for another training ride with the Tahoe team. It was really fun. Most of the Wildflower team went too so it was a good turnout. My Teammate Jan and I went out ahead and we proceeded in typical Bill fashion in missing turns and taking the wrong turns so we managed to pick up some bonus miles in turning a 34 mile bike ride into a 40 mile bike ride. No worries though. It was windy so every time we headed North we got a nice cool blast of wind off of lake Erie. Thanks goodness I remembered to bring my shoe covers this week! :) Poor Jan, he wore shorts and no shoe covers and just a long sleeve shirt. He was a little chilled when we got back. I actually saw Deidra on her training run. She's a Sea Gull teammate and will be running the Cleveland Marathon in honor of her brother among others. A couple of my teammates from the Sea Gull ride provided SAG for the ride. It was nice to see them again. Melissa brought muffins, pretzels, cookies and bananas all were much appreciated. Andy and Ty were there too and they provided bagels and cream cheese which also hit the spot. I'm very appreciative to all the people that came out and come out to help for our training sessions. It makes all the difference. Thanks Andy, Ty, Deb, Melissa, Charley and anyone else who is supporting this worthy cause!
I managed to run 5 miles on Sunday and did so with no significant problems. I'm very pleased that the stretching seems to be doing its job. I haven't really had problems with the knees since I started stretching. They still get a little sore but no more than I would expect. I can even walk up and down stairs. :) I really want to get going on the running now. I feel like I'm a little behind but I'm glad that I can kick it into gear now. I'm still a little worried about putting the three events together but I still have a month and a half to get myself there.
As a reminder if you were thinking about donating, my fundraising deadline is April 16th. You can donate by clicking on this link:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/wildtri10/whaddix
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
3/16/10
Went for a training ride with the Tahoe team on Saturday morning. The forecast was for rain and 50s. Well it rained... I was considering what I should wear to prepare for the ride and thought that since the forecast was in the 50s that I'd wear my bike shorts. When I got out of the shower I was a little cold and so I wore my long pants and a long sleeve shirt. I also brought my raincoat. When we got there and got our stuff together I noticed that it was really cold. I only brought my fingerless riding gloves but was lucky enough to find some winter gloves in my truck to wear. I only had a pair of short breathable socks and my bike shoes. Which are both designed to keep your feet cool in hot weather. Not much help on Saturday.
I rode 20 miles. I think a couple people rode farther than that but I had to turn around. I have a very dear friend that was watching my son for me and was pressed for time to get back so she could take her son to a birthday party. When I turned around I noticed the reason that the ride thus far had been free and easy. WIND!!! So it was pouring rain, 17-22 mph wind in my face and the temperature was 41. I should've brought my shoe covers because my feet froze. I managed to make it back just in time. When I got off my bike I could hardly walk because my feet were so cold. I turned the heater on in my truck and had the hot air blowing on my feet. It took an hour before my feet felt normal again. With all that said, I had a blast. I realized how much I missed riding with a group. Indoor training is fun but there nothing like riding outside with the wind at your back (or in your face for that matter!).
I'll get to do plenty of riding in the next couple of weeks. Now I need to find time to get some running and swimming in. I'm going to start to do bricks. Where I ride and run or ride and swim in succession. The weather is finally getting warmer can't wait for summer, I always seem to be re-charged by the sun.
I volunteered to help out at Dino Palmieri on Sunday. They do a fundraiser every year to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It seemed like a huge success to me. All of the hair stylists donated their time and tips to LLS. They had a DJ playing music and they offered a hair cut/ style for $15. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me. If I weren't shaving my head to raise funds I would've had them do my hair. Spending the day talking with people and sharing in their stories was a wonderful experience. I met a man who has been in remission for almost 5 years from lymphoma. He was extremely proud and happy to be alive. He showed me pictures and newspaper articles from when he was undergoing treatment. He said his weight dropped to 145 lbs. I would say that he was about 5'10 and weighed close to 200 lbs. What a wonderful success story. Watching the people getting their hair done was amazing. I never understood why a woman would pay $60+ to get their hair done. Now I understand. These women were transformed. I couldn't believe the difference in their looks as they left. They all looked like a million bucks. What a talented group of stylists. If you need your hair done I would highly recommend Dino Palmieri. They do great work and talk about giving back to your community. Job well done Karen and John!
I rode 20 miles. I think a couple people rode farther than that but I had to turn around. I have a very dear friend that was watching my son for me and was pressed for time to get back so she could take her son to a birthday party. When I turned around I noticed the reason that the ride thus far had been free and easy. WIND!!! So it was pouring rain, 17-22 mph wind in my face and the temperature was 41. I should've brought my shoe covers because my feet froze. I managed to make it back just in time. When I got off my bike I could hardly walk because my feet were so cold. I turned the heater on in my truck and had the hot air blowing on my feet. It took an hour before my feet felt normal again. With all that said, I had a blast. I realized how much I missed riding with a group. Indoor training is fun but there nothing like riding outside with the wind at your back (or in your face for that matter!).
I'll get to do plenty of riding in the next couple of weeks. Now I need to find time to get some running and swimming in. I'm going to start to do bricks. Where I ride and run or ride and swim in succession. The weather is finally getting warmer can't wait for summer, I always seem to be re-charged by the sun.
I volunteered to help out at Dino Palmieri on Sunday. They do a fundraiser every year to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It seemed like a huge success to me. All of the hair stylists donated their time and tips to LLS. They had a DJ playing music and they offered a hair cut/ style for $15. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me. If I weren't shaving my head to raise funds I would've had them do my hair. Spending the day talking with people and sharing in their stories was a wonderful experience. I met a man who has been in remission for almost 5 years from lymphoma. He was extremely proud and happy to be alive. He showed me pictures and newspaper articles from when he was undergoing treatment. He said his weight dropped to 145 lbs. I would say that he was about 5'10 and weighed close to 200 lbs. What a wonderful success story. Watching the people getting their hair done was amazing. I never understood why a woman would pay $60+ to get their hair done. Now I understand. These women were transformed. I couldn't believe the difference in their looks as they left. They all looked like a million bucks. What a talented group of stylists. If you need your hair done I would highly recommend Dino Palmieri. They do great work and talk about giving back to your community. Job well done Karen and John!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
3/11/10
Good news,
I went to see an orthopedic doctor and she says that the x-rays of my knee look rather normal. I have some slight bone spurs but she says that isn't really a problem. In checking out my legs and knees she complimented Fleet Feet for getting me into the right shoes and orthotics ( a very comforting thought). She said that my knee issues have been caused by the fact that my hamstrings and thigh muscles are extremely tight and I need to get into a good stretching routine. She's recommended me to a physical therapist to show me the right things to do. She said that once I'm able to loosen the muscles in my legs, the knee problems should go away. (Another relief!) It's amazing how something as simple as stretching (or not) can cause so many problems.
I actually had a good run the morning I went to see the doctor. Then I rode my bike to/from work and made amazing time. I was very pleased with myself. The training is coming around. We got together for a buddy ride on Saturday and poor Michael rode for the first time on his high-end bike with very skinny racing tires. Let's say he struggle a little. He only fell 3 times trying to get un-clipped from his pedals. Once he almost took me with him. I made sure to ride right behind him in case he needed help. He did fine once we got going. It's the starting and stopping that's always the issue. :) I got some good riding in this week. Yesterday the wind was blowing in my face and I had an uphill climb to get home and I was happy to be out hammering again. Tonight we have an indoor group training ride then we're supposed to do a group run afterward. Just keep strrrrreeeeetching :)
I went to see an orthopedic doctor and she says that the x-rays of my knee look rather normal. I have some slight bone spurs but she says that isn't really a problem. In checking out my legs and knees she complimented Fleet Feet for getting me into the right shoes and orthotics ( a very comforting thought). She said that my knee issues have been caused by the fact that my hamstrings and thigh muscles are extremely tight and I need to get into a good stretching routine. She's recommended me to a physical therapist to show me the right things to do. She said that once I'm able to loosen the muscles in my legs, the knee problems should go away. (Another relief!) It's amazing how something as simple as stretching (or not) can cause so many problems.
I actually had a good run the morning I went to see the doctor. Then I rode my bike to/from work and made amazing time. I was very pleased with myself. The training is coming around. We got together for a buddy ride on Saturday and poor Michael rode for the first time on his high-end bike with very skinny racing tires. Let's say he struggle a little. He only fell 3 times trying to get un-clipped from his pedals. Once he almost took me with him. I made sure to ride right behind him in case he needed help. He did fine once we got going. It's the starting and stopping that's always the issue. :) I got some good riding in this week. Yesterday the wind was blowing in my face and I had an uphill climb to get home and I was happy to be out hammering again. Tonight we have an indoor group training ride then we're supposed to do a group run afterward. Just keep strrrrreeeeetching :)
Friday, March 5, 2010
3/5/10
Had another good swim session last night. I might actually be getting used to this working out thing :) We started with a 200 yd warm up then swam 50, 100, 150, 200, 150, 100, 50 with 15 seconds rest between. The we did 2 drills of 50 yds then we were supposed to do another 2 sets of 50 with pull buoys but we were running out of time so we just swam another 250 yards then went to the hot tub. Overall a good session.
Got to ride my bike to work again today. I love riding to work. I always feel so refreshed. I was a little late heading out to work today so I pushed myself to try to make up that time. Unfortunately it seems like I hit every red light along the way and the was a wind this morning coming out of the Northwest which is precisely the direction I travel to work. no problems, I was a little late but it makes for a much nicer day when I ride. I felt great when I got here. There have been times where I wonder about my ability to run after I ride my bike. Today I not only felt like I could run but I really felt LIKE running after I got to work. (And not necessarily out of the office, down the street and home!). The weather should be nice this weekend, can't wait to get outside.
One small note. I've been sending out a lot of messages to people for fundraisers (like shaving my head) and it's becoming increasingly more apparent to me how many people are affected by leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. A friend told me she's lost 3 members of the youth group she works with to these dreaded cancers. It must be stopped. Please take some time to look at the people pictured above. You can donate at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/wildtri10/whaddix
Got to ride my bike to work again today. I love riding to work. I always feel so refreshed. I was a little late heading out to work today so I pushed myself to try to make up that time. Unfortunately it seems like I hit every red light along the way and the was a wind this morning coming out of the Northwest which is precisely the direction I travel to work. no problems, I was a little late but it makes for a much nicer day when I ride. I felt great when I got here. There have been times where I wonder about my ability to run after I ride my bike. Today I not only felt like I could run but I really felt LIKE running after I got to work. (And not necessarily out of the office, down the street and home!). The weather should be nice this weekend, can't wait to get outside.
One small note. I've been sending out a lot of messages to people for fundraisers (like shaving my head) and it's becoming increasingly more apparent to me how many people are affected by leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. A friend told me she's lost 3 members of the youth group she works with to these dreaded cancers. It must be stopped. Please take some time to look at the people pictured above. You can donate at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/wildtri10/whaddix
Thursday, March 4, 2010
3/4/10
I'm really starting to get excited. I rode my bike to work yesterday! I know, not a huge deal but I've been so looking forward to riding my bike outside again. There has just been too much snow on the roads to risk it. The cold doesn't bother me but I won't ride with snow on the roads. I had an extremely pleasant ride to work in the morning. Mostly green lights and I really didn't feel pressed at all. I made it to work in about 35-40 minutes. Not bad considering I had 15-22mph wind in my face. Funny it seems like 30-40 minutes on the bike now is like blinking. I always feel so refreshed when I ride to work in the morning. I had a nice ride home too. There was an incident though. I was riding past a hospital up a small hill toward a school. I was about 30 feet from the school entrance when a pick up truck went around me then turned into the entrance. I stopped barely in time to miss hitting the truck and the driver of the truck slammed on her brakes on proceeded to yell at me for almost hitting her truck. I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe the nerve. This is the type of person that will kill somebody someday because she has no respect for other people on the road. Well at least it got my blood pumping so the remainder of the ride home went swimmingly.
I ran on the treadmill last night. No real problems (other than being bored out of my mind). I've been following the advice of my coach who says not to try to do too much too soon. I've been concentrating on my running mechanics and it seems to be working. I might actually start to like running if this keeps up :). I ran 2 miles last night then another 2 miles this morning. Then of course I left late for work and ended up running another .5 miles from the parking lot and made it just on time :) Not bad considering I carry a 10-15 lb bag with me. I felt really good when I got to work this morning. We have another group swim tonight really looking forward to it. The Macedonia Rec center is so much nicer than the pool at my gym. Our coach Tim won't be able to make it so we'll really have to put forth our best efforts because we won't have the watchful eye of Big Brother on us :)
I ran on the treadmill last night. No real problems (other than being bored out of my mind). I've been following the advice of my coach who says not to try to do too much too soon. I've been concentrating on my running mechanics and it seems to be working. I might actually start to like running if this keeps up :). I ran 2 miles last night then another 2 miles this morning. Then of course I left late for work and ended up running another .5 miles from the parking lot and made it just on time :) Not bad considering I carry a 10-15 lb bag with me. I felt really good when I got to work this morning. We have another group swim tonight really looking forward to it. The Macedonia Rec center is so much nicer than the pool at my gym. Our coach Tim won't be able to make it so we'll really have to put forth our best efforts because we won't have the watchful eye of Big Brother on us :)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
2/25/2010
I got the courage to get back on the treadmill yesterday morning and did pretty well. My knees were a little grumpy but nothing that I couldn't handle. I actually worked a little harder at increasing my pace so I can actually finish the event during daylight hours. :) Last night I had a really good swim session. I added some more to my training regimen and really felt good the whole time. I took 20 second rests between sets but ended up swimming 1860 yards in about an hour and a half. My knees didn't give me too many problems last night. I felt really good when I finished then went to the hot tub to relax. I spent about 10 minutes in the hot tub and when I got out I was exhausted! I went and took a shower then went home to have dinner. I managed to watch a little of the Olympics (watched Apollo Ohno win his heat) then shuffled off to bed. I have another event coming up this weekend. A bowling party. It looks like we'll have close to 30 people there including kids. The more money we can raise to fight these cancers the better. I came up with another fundraising idea last night and I'll see if I have the guts to pull it off a little later. I have a feeling I'll need a lot of help to pull off this idea. We shall see....
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SHAVE TO SAVE LIVES
Yes that’s right with your help we've been able to raise $3756.25 to fight these blood cancers. If I can raise $1000 in additional donations before 11:59 p.m. March 31,2010 I will shave my head completely bald (including the goatee). If I can help raise money to make it possible that we can eliminate cancer and cancer patients don’t have to go through the trauma of chemo-therapy and radiation treatment, I can lose my hair so they don’t have to. You can make your donation by visiting my website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/wildtri10/whaddix
Yes that’s right with your help we've been able to raise $3756.25 to fight these blood cancers. If I can raise $1000 in additional donations before 11:59 p.m. March 31,2010 I will shave my head completely bald (including the goatee). If I can help raise money to make it possible that we can eliminate cancer and cancer patients don’t have to go through the trauma of chemo-therapy and radiation treatment, I can lose my hair so they don’t have to. You can make your donation by visiting my website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/wildtri10/whaddix
I will e-mail and post pictures on my Facebook page.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
2/23/10
Michael and I had a good fundraiser on Wednesday. Michael ended up raising over $400 and I raised over $110. It was a good time.
We had a good group swim session together on Thursday. Time just seemed to fly by it didn't seem like we were in the pool for an hour at all. I was ready to keep going. We had some good conversations afterward.
I took Friday off from training and then met up with Deidra and some of the marathon team on Saturday morning. Deidra and I actually ran 10 miles! I would never have believed I could run 10 miles without walking at least some of the time. Many thanks to our good friend Andy who sacrificed his Saturday morning to give some much needed SAG help. Both Deidra and I were ready for some fluids and nutrition when we reached the half way point. I was very excited after the run. It boosted my confidence in the fact that I might actually be able to complete a triathlon. I may have overdone it a little though. I can't figure it out. I'm still having issues with my knee. Now the issue has spread to my other knee as well. I bought new shoes (which cost more than I've ever spent on a pair of shoes in my life) then I still had issues so I got some inserts (which cost the amount I would normally spend on a pair of shoes). I'm still having knee issues. I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the shoe store where I got my shoes. I've heard nothing but good things about them but they didn't really seem to give me the attention I expected. I continue to throw money at my knees where I could've used the old Nike running shoes and had the same amount of pain.
I've been looking on the internet and found some exercises that should help. I also might look into some sort of brace for my knee to see if that helps. I'm going to see an orthopedist to see if they have any suggestions. Maybe they'll find shoes that'll actually do the running for me! :) Who knows? It might not even be the shoes at all. We'll just have to see. If I don't get the issue solved I guess I'll just resign myself to having pain in my knee when I run. It's 13.1 miles. Should take (at my current pace) between 3 to 3-1/2 hours. I can deal with that. After all cancer patients deal with pain everyday and don't get a break from it.
I read somewhere that runner's knee can be caused by weakness in your thighs or by your hamstring being too tight. That makes sense to me. It seems I have at least a little of both of those going on. Whenever I run outside my thighs are always sore the next day which tells me they're not as fit as the rest of my leg. My hamstrings are always tight so I'm going to have to go back to stretching them daily and see if the combination of exercises for my thighs and stretching for my hammies helps alleviate the problem.
My knees were sore yesterday so i didn't do any running or cycling. Monday is my "pool day" so I went to the gym not fully expecting to be able to do much swimming. Normally when my knees hurt, they hurt when I swim too. But i went ahead and swam anyhow. I was pleasantly surprised when I jumped into the pool my knees didn't bother me. I swam for a while trying to follow the workout that Tim lays out for us. I did my 200 warm up then swam for 10 minutes to see how far i could go (a couple weeks ago I swam 12 laps). This time I swam 14 laps. I'm definitely showing improvement. The issue yesterday wasn't my fitness or soreness in my knees. I was trying the swim routine and it's the same one I've been doing for a couple weeks and as my friend Deidra so eloquently put it, and I paraphrase. I get bored stupid doing the same thing over and over. I stopped swimming after about45-50 minutes. I just couldn't take it any longer. I went and sat in the hot tub for a while. Sure felt good on those sore legs :)
We had a good group swim session together on Thursday. Time just seemed to fly by it didn't seem like we were in the pool for an hour at all. I was ready to keep going. We had some good conversations afterward.
I took Friday off from training and then met up with Deidra and some of the marathon team on Saturday morning. Deidra and I actually ran 10 miles! I would never have believed I could run 10 miles without walking at least some of the time. Many thanks to our good friend Andy who sacrificed his Saturday morning to give some much needed SAG help. Both Deidra and I were ready for some fluids and nutrition when we reached the half way point. I was very excited after the run. It boosted my confidence in the fact that I might actually be able to complete a triathlon. I may have overdone it a little though. I can't figure it out. I'm still having issues with my knee. Now the issue has spread to my other knee as well. I bought new shoes (which cost more than I've ever spent on a pair of shoes in my life) then I still had issues so I got some inserts (which cost the amount I would normally spend on a pair of shoes). I'm still having knee issues. I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the shoe store where I got my shoes. I've heard nothing but good things about them but they didn't really seem to give me the attention I expected. I continue to throw money at my knees where I could've used the old Nike running shoes and had the same amount of pain.
I've been looking on the internet and found some exercises that should help. I also might look into some sort of brace for my knee to see if that helps. I'm going to see an orthopedist to see if they have any suggestions. Maybe they'll find shoes that'll actually do the running for me! :) Who knows? It might not even be the shoes at all. We'll just have to see. If I don't get the issue solved I guess I'll just resign myself to having pain in my knee when I run. It's 13.1 miles. Should take (at my current pace) between 3 to 3-1/2 hours. I can deal with that. After all cancer patients deal with pain everyday and don't get a break from it.
I read somewhere that runner's knee can be caused by weakness in your thighs or by your hamstring being too tight. That makes sense to me. It seems I have at least a little of both of those going on. Whenever I run outside my thighs are always sore the next day which tells me they're not as fit as the rest of my leg. My hamstrings are always tight so I'm going to have to go back to stretching them daily and see if the combination of exercises for my thighs and stretching for my hammies helps alleviate the problem.
My knees were sore yesterday so i didn't do any running or cycling. Monday is my "pool day" so I went to the gym not fully expecting to be able to do much swimming. Normally when my knees hurt, they hurt when I swim too. But i went ahead and swam anyhow. I was pleasantly surprised when I jumped into the pool my knees didn't bother me. I swam for a while trying to follow the workout that Tim lays out for us. I did my 200 warm up then swam for 10 minutes to see how far i could go (a couple weeks ago I swam 12 laps). This time I swam 14 laps. I'm definitely showing improvement. The issue yesterday wasn't my fitness or soreness in my knees. I was trying the swim routine and it's the same one I've been doing for a couple weeks and as my friend Deidra so eloquently put it, and I paraphrase. I get bored stupid doing the same thing over and over. I stopped swimming after about45-50 minutes. I just couldn't take it any longer. I went and sat in the hot tub for a while. Sure felt good on those sore legs :)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
2/17/10
Training has been a little slow the last few days. We had a good group ride on the trainers last Thursday and I've done some running since then but haven't really done what i wanted. I've been reading my Bicycling magazine and it has a winter training regimen. It looks pretty good. I'm going to start it ASAP. By my calculations I should finish it by April 23 which would be perfect timing for Wildflower.
I experienced a big setback in my personal life on Sunday. The choir director at our church has accepted a position at another church. I know this doesn't seem to be that big of an issue but she has been a friend, a mentor and really a bright shining light in my life. I can't imagine going to rehearsal without her there. She has really stimulated my growth as a musician and spiritually as well. I'm heartbroken and the rest of the choir is too. We are happy for her because it's something that will be perfect for her and her family but it's going to leave a huge empty hole in our lives. I haven't been as motivated to work out this week. I'm hoping to struggle through this.
I experienced a big setback in my personal life on Sunday. The choir director at our church has accepted a position at another church. I know this doesn't seem to be that big of an issue but she has been a friend, a mentor and really a bright shining light in my life. I can't imagine going to rehearsal without her there. She has really stimulated my growth as a musician and spiritually as well. I'm heartbroken and the rest of the choir is too. We are happy for her because it's something that will be perfect for her and her family but it's going to leave a huge empty hole in our lives. I haven't been as motivated to work out this week. I'm hoping to struggle through this.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Family Bowling
Family Bowling Day
to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Saturday February 27, 2010 2:00p.m
Solon Freeway Lanes
Adults: $20
Children $15
Everyone welcome!
Includes 2 games. Shoe rental, 2 slices of pizza and a soft drink.
Please RSVP to Bill Haddix by Friday, February 19 with the number of guests.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
2/10/10
It's been a busy week (or so). We had our regular group swim on Thursday the fourth. I made certain to eat before hand and it seemed to really make things better. I had a couple of boiled potatoes and that seemed to last me through the entire session. I felt much better in the pool but still disappointed with myself. I was able to do most if not all of the swimming but i continue to have issues with cramping. Jan gave me an interesting article about swimmers whose legs cramp and that a possible issue is that I'm clenching my foot in an effort to point my toes. The article says that a relaxed "floppy" ankle is the right way to go about a long swim. Everything else seemed to work ok though.
I've been trying to kick up the training a notch and I really need to. I ran on the treadmill Friday morning then biked for n hour Friday evening. I took Saturday off. I just didn't really feel like doing anything On Saturday. I went for a run on Sunday with Jan and he's a better runner than I am so he really pushed my pace which I view as a good thing but I experienced some issues with my knee towards the end of the run. All in all I think we ran close to four miles. It's strange but I like running uphill more than I like running on a flat or downhill.
I went to the gym for a swim on Monday and did Tim's workout routine and felt great. I actually did more than the sheet and didn't feel like I needed to stop at all. Not even for the planned 20 second breaks. I really want to improve my running and swimming. When I started this training my whole objective was to get to the point where I could finish. (which is still the ultimate goal) Now I feel like I need to set my sights a little higher. I don't have a time goal to finish but i want to be able to finish the swim by going freestyle all the way. I want to be strong on the bike and want to be able to run the entire distance of the half marathon. Lofty goals I know. At this point in my training I'll be lucky to finish the swim without drowning. Looking at the bike ride there's a long decent with a left turn at the bottom. I can definitely see myself flying right off the road on that turn. We'll see how it goes. :)
I ran on the treadmill for a half hour Yesterday afternoon and once again felt great. I didn't really want to stop but I had to get going to choir. I got excited at choir that i actually sold some tickets for the Mongolian BBQ night.
I've been trying to kick up the training a notch and I really need to. I ran on the treadmill Friday morning then biked for n hour Friday evening. I took Saturday off. I just didn't really feel like doing anything On Saturday. I went for a run on Sunday with Jan and he's a better runner than I am so he really pushed my pace which I view as a good thing but I experienced some issues with my knee towards the end of the run. All in all I think we ran close to four miles. It's strange but I like running uphill more than I like running on a flat or downhill.
I went to the gym for a swim on Monday and did Tim's workout routine and felt great. I actually did more than the sheet and didn't feel like I needed to stop at all. Not even for the planned 20 second breaks. I really want to improve my running and swimming. When I started this training my whole objective was to get to the point where I could finish. (which is still the ultimate goal) Now I feel like I need to set my sights a little higher. I don't have a time goal to finish but i want to be able to finish the swim by going freestyle all the way. I want to be strong on the bike and want to be able to run the entire distance of the half marathon. Lofty goals I know. At this point in my training I'll be lucky to finish the swim without drowning. Looking at the bike ride there's a long decent with a left turn at the bottom. I can definitely see myself flying right off the road on that turn. We'll see how it goes. :)
I ran on the treadmill for a half hour Yesterday afternoon and once again felt great. I didn't really want to stop but I had to get going to choir. I got excited at choir that i actually sold some tickets for the Mongolian BBQ night.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
02/02/10
Happy Groundhog's Day! I had a good night last night. I dragged my tail to the gym and actually swam the whole workout that Tim laid out for us. I did come to a disappointing yet not so startling revelation though. I might have mentioned before that it seemed like to pool at the gym is shorter than the one in Macedonia and last night I confirmed that belief. I asked the guy at the desk how long the pool was and he said 20 feet. (LOL so I know it's longer than 20 feet) I asked "It's 20 then?" and he said yes. :( That means I haven't been swimming as far as I thought. But i still managed to do the program Tim had worked out for us at the proper distance this time. It's just a bummer that I have to do an extra lap for every 4 that Tim lays out for us. It's all that turning around that gets me. Of course i won't have to worry too much about that at Wildflower. I watched a video of the "nasty grade" on the bike portion of the triathlon and it gets me all psyched up every time I watch it. Here's the link if you're interested: http://www.veloist.com/video/2010-wildflower-triathlon it makes me want to get out on my bike and tackle every hill I can find. Unfortunately I'm relegated to working out on my trainer for the time being. I really wanted to ride today but the forecast is for snow and I'm not willing to take that risk. We're not supposed to get much snow at the end of the week so maybe I'll get some quality time in on my bike. I think in another week or 2 I'll be able to ride outside a little more regularly.
I have a couple big events coming up for fundraisers. I'm going to be a guest grilller Mongolian Barbeque in Cleveland Heights on Wednesday Feb 17 from 6-8. It's not a bad deal. It's $25 per person, all you can eat stir fry, soft drinks, and a salad. it should be a lot of fun. Kids eat for $10. we'll have a raffle and a silent auction.
The second event will be an afternoon of bowling at Solon freeway Lanes. It's going to be Saturday February 27 from 2-whenever. You get 2 games, shoe rental, 2 slices of pizza and a large soda. Adults are $20 and kids are $15. I haven't worked out all the details for the bowling event but it should be a lot of fun.
I have a couple big events coming up for fundraisers. I'm going to be a guest grilller Mongolian Barbeque in Cleveland Heights on Wednesday Feb 17 from 6-8. It's not a bad deal. It's $25 per person, all you can eat stir fry, soft drinks, and a salad. it should be a lot of fun. Kids eat for $10. we'll have a raffle and a silent auction.
The second event will be an afternoon of bowling at Solon freeway Lanes. It's going to be Saturday February 27 from 2-whenever. You get 2 games, shoe rental, 2 slices of pizza and a large soda. Adults are $20 and kids are $15. I haven't worked out all the details for the bowling event but it should be a lot of fun.
Monday, February 1, 2010
02/01/10
I've been putting in a lot of time training lately and needed to rest a little. I took this weekend and just unwound. I understand that it's important to allow your body rest time to recover and build. My issue is that I'm trying to lose weight and I haven't eating properly enough. I've always followed the philosophy of eating well and exercising my tukus off to try to lose weight. I can't wait till i can start riding my bike to work again. It seems every time I have the opportunity to ride, it snows. So I took this weekend off. I ran on the treadmill on Friday morning and really felt pretty good. I'm finally getting to the point where I feel comfortable by the end of my run. Today I'm heading to the gym after work and plan to swim then run. I hope we don't get a lot of snow this week. If we don't I think I'll ride a few days.
We're having a fundraiser at Mongolian Barbeque n February 17. It should a lot of fun. $25 for adults and $10 for kids.
We're having a fundraiser at Mongolian Barbeque n February 17. It should a lot of fun. $25 for adults and $10 for kids.
Monday, January 25, 2010
1/25/10
Good News! I actually made it through the weekend. :) Friday morning I got up and was thinking about running but opted for 30 minutes on the trainer instead. I had thought about going to the gym after work but I didn't really bet enough sleep last week so I opted to go home and take it easy Friday night. Saturday there were several buddy runs planned but none of them were really very close to my house. I thought about running on the treadmill but figured there's really nothing like running outside so I went out around 11:30 for a planned run of 6 miles. One of my fellow teammates was planning to do a bike ride at 2:30 on Strongsville and I probably would've gone had I been able to get out of my house by 9:00.
I went running on the towpath and made what amounted to a bad decision. I decided i wanted to run on the crushed gravel portion rather than the asphalt portion so I went south instead of north. Much to my dismay I discovered that even though we've had warm weather for the past week here in C-town it hasn't been that warm. The path was covered with ice and slush and where it wasn't it was mud or a puddle. It was quite a challenging run. The towpath was closed for construction but luckily it was closed right after the place where I was to turn around. I made it back to the truck and headed home.
Sunday I had planned to ride on the trainer in the morning then ride again in the evening. It didn't quite work out as planned. I did manage to ride 30 minutes before going to church in the morning. When I returned form church I got a call from my niece just singing her little heart out. I figured she must've been playing with my brother's phone and accidentally called me. I called my brother on his home line and he had called to invite me over to watch some football and she must've hit send when she was playing with his phone. So I ended up going to my brother's for some sloppy joes (made with turkey) and buffalo chicken dip (made with more cheese than you can shake a stick at) stuffed cubanella peppers, and possibly a barley beverage or two. :) When I got home I watched the winning kick of the Vikes/Saints game then headed to bed.
I got up this morning and ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill. I have to admit I'm still sore from my run on Saturday. This time it's my thighs. It's funny, in many ways training for this event makes me feel much younger than I am but now aspercreme has become a staple of my medicine cabinet. All I know is that it was never there as a youth. Today's run felt much easier than they have before. I might actually be getting into better shape! :)
I went running on the towpath and made what amounted to a bad decision. I decided i wanted to run on the crushed gravel portion rather than the asphalt portion so I went south instead of north. Much to my dismay I discovered that even though we've had warm weather for the past week here in C-town it hasn't been that warm. The path was covered with ice and slush and where it wasn't it was mud or a puddle. It was quite a challenging run. The towpath was closed for construction but luckily it was closed right after the place where I was to turn around. I made it back to the truck and headed home.
Sunday I had planned to ride on the trainer in the morning then ride again in the evening. It didn't quite work out as planned. I did manage to ride 30 minutes before going to church in the morning. When I returned form church I got a call from my niece just singing her little heart out. I figured she must've been playing with my brother's phone and accidentally called me. I called my brother on his home line and he had called to invite me over to watch some football and she must've hit send when she was playing with his phone. So I ended up going to my brother's for some sloppy joes (made with turkey) and buffalo chicken dip (made with more cheese than you can shake a stick at) stuffed cubanella peppers, and possibly a barley beverage or two. :) When I got home I watched the winning kick of the Vikes/Saints game then headed to bed.
I got up this morning and ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill. I have to admit I'm still sore from my run on Saturday. This time it's my thighs. It's funny, in many ways training for this event makes me feel much younger than I am but now aspercreme has become a staple of my medicine cabinet. All I know is that it was never there as a youth. Today's run felt much easier than they have before. I might actually be getting into better shape! :)
Friday, January 22, 2010
1/22/2010
Last night I had a good swim session. I was kind of nervous about going because I didn't have a good session last time. I managed to get there early (I know for those of you who know me that's really an earth shattering event) and of course I was the last one to get there. We did a warm up of 200 yards then did some 4 sets of 2oo yards alternating between leg buoys and freestyle. Then we did some more freestyle then some drills and I can't remember the rest. I've been having some issues with cramping that I just can't figure out. I've been hydrating well. I eat a banana every day and have started drinking some Gatorade every day to try to boost the electrolytes/ potassium in my system. Tim says my swimming has improved 1000% and I have noticed a big difference from 2 weeks ago which is encouraging but I realize I have a long long way to go before I'll really feel comfortable attempting to swim 1.2 miles freestyle.
We swim at the rec center in Macedonia and it's a beautiful facility. I swear that pool is longer than the one at Bally's. It might be an optical illusion but it seems like the rec center is about 5 yards longer than Bally's. I'm going to have to ask the next time I'm at the gym. That would be a dirty trick. The facility is much larger and it might just be a trick of the mind. We'll see. I was happily swimming trying to baby the cramping in my legs but getting by just the same and wouldn't you know it? Only I can manage to injure myself in a swimming pool. OK minor injury at best but still irritating. I was swimming along and I hit the plastic lane marker with my hand and managed to split the fingernail of my ring finger on my right hand. It didn't really hurt too much. Granted it was bleeding. But my hands were water logged. I had been in the pool for an hour already. So I had to be very careful with it once I got out of the pool. Definitely didn't want to snag it on anything. I managed to cut most of it off with some nail clippers when I got home. It's still jagged and is still split but now I have a band aid to keep from snagging it on something so I'm good to go. :)
Doing this event has been an eye opener for me. I've noticed all sorts of aches and pains. My knees, my ankles, my shoulders, my foot, (now my finger! lol), my back, my chest, my knees (yes I know I mentioned them before but they hurt in various different places). I'm not sure if it's just because I'm 42 or if it's because I've never tried to do something like this before or if it's because I'm 42 AND I've never tried to do something like this before! Regardless I'm finding out new things about myself and I just keep an eye on the real reason I do this. I added a new person to my In Memory Of list yesterday. David Ponce. He was a member of my church, in college and had his whole life ahead of him only to be cut short by leukemia. I met his mother last Sunday. I do this to one day find a cure and no longer have stories like my grandfather, David Ponce, Dan Kelsey and David Flarsheim.
We swim at the rec center in Macedonia and it's a beautiful facility. I swear that pool is longer than the one at Bally's. It might be an optical illusion but it seems like the rec center is about 5 yards longer than Bally's. I'm going to have to ask the next time I'm at the gym. That would be a dirty trick. The facility is much larger and it might just be a trick of the mind. We'll see. I was happily swimming trying to baby the cramping in my legs but getting by just the same and wouldn't you know it? Only I can manage to injure myself in a swimming pool. OK minor injury at best but still irritating. I was swimming along and I hit the plastic lane marker with my hand and managed to split the fingernail of my ring finger on my right hand. It didn't really hurt too much. Granted it was bleeding. But my hands were water logged. I had been in the pool for an hour already. So I had to be very careful with it once I got out of the pool. Definitely didn't want to snag it on anything. I managed to cut most of it off with some nail clippers when I got home. It's still jagged and is still split but now I have a band aid to keep from snagging it on something so I'm good to go. :)
Doing this event has been an eye opener for me. I've noticed all sorts of aches and pains. My knees, my ankles, my shoulders, my foot, (now my finger! lol), my back, my chest, my knees (yes I know I mentioned them before but they hurt in various different places). I'm not sure if it's just because I'm 42 or if it's because I've never tried to do something like this before or if it's because I'm 42 AND I've never tried to do something like this before! Regardless I'm finding out new things about myself and I just keep an eye on the real reason I do this. I added a new person to my In Memory Of list yesterday. David Ponce. He was a member of my church, in college and had his whole life ahead of him only to be cut short by leukemia. I met his mother last Sunday. I do this to one day find a cure and no longer have stories like my grandfather, David Ponce, Dan Kelsey and David Flarsheim.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Last night when I got home I felt pretty good. Riding outside (even in 30 degrees or less) feels so much different than riding on a trainer. I usually make the ride to/from work in about 70 minutes total but yesterday it took me 80 minutes. There are so many things that make the ride more interesting (and dangerous) outside. You have, wind, hills, and perhaps some cantankerous drivers. It was so nice to get out yesterday. I can't wait for the weather to turn so I can get out on a more consistent basis. I at least got home before dark yesterday so Spring can't be that far away! :)
I've been reading some blogs from people who have done the Wildflower long course and it kinda scares the cr@p out of me. :) I looked at the portion of the bike ride that's affectionately termed "the nasty". When I first looked at it it said it was a 6% grade over about 2.5 miles. No big deal. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a problem if I was in the same condition as last year when I did Sea Gull. But then I looked further and compared it to a ride that I might be familiar with. Here's what I came up with:
"The Nasty":
I've been reading some blogs from people who have done the Wildflower long course and it kinda scares the cr@p out of me. :) I looked at the portion of the bike ride that's affectionately termed "the nasty". When I first looked at it it said it was a 6% grade over about 2.5 miles. No big deal. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be a problem if I was in the same condition as last year when I did Sea Gull. But then I looked further and compared it to a ride that I might be familiar with. Here's what I came up with:
Rockside:
Granger:
Rockside was the hill I used for my hill ride in training for Sea Gull. I rode that hill many times. It's fun to go down and even more fun to come back up. Granger hill is the first hill I attempted on Kadence and thought my lungs were going to pop by the time I got to the top. I've only been up it once. I see the challenge of this ride as not only the grade of the hill(s) but this falls at about mile 46 out of 56 so it's going to be a real challenge. I have a feeling that I'm going to need to spend a lot of time on Rockside and Granger as well as my trainer in order to get ready for Wildflower. Gonna go on a group swim tonight. I already feel better about swimming. Just have to make sure to eat before I go!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
1/20/2010
It's been a busy few days. I didn't really get a lot of good training in over the weekend. I never do when my son is with me. I ran on the treadmill Friday morning for 30 minutes And I did manage to get on the trainer for some bike riding on Saturday which Bryan thought was unique. I ran again on Sunday morning before church. I'm still waiting for the running part to get easier :) A bit of excitement, I did get my new shoes. I really like them but never in my life did I ever think I would spend that much money on a pair of running shoes. But they're the first "real" running shoes I've ever owned and that includes when I ran track once upon a time at Solon. I've noticed a real difference with the new shoes. My knees don't seem to bother me as much when I run in them but my legs are still getting used to the different feel. I've noticed my shins burning a little and my arches get a little tired after a while.
I actually got to ride my bike this morning. I managed to make it into work with no problems. I like riding to work soooo much. I prefer to ride over driving to work any day. You get an entirely different perspective when you're huffing and puffing to get to work . I find that I'm always in a much better mood when I ride than when I drive. It's a completely different animal than riding on a trainer though. I'm still getting used to Kadence( my bike) so it felt a little weird riding on the road this morning instead of latched to a trainer. I got Kadence at the end of October and haven't really been able to get used to the bike yet. She's so much lighter than my old bike and much more responsive too. Hopefully I'll have enough left to run on the treadmill tonight. I don't anticipate running tomorrow. We have a swim session tomorrow night so I'll probably save a little. It's an hour and a half and I don't usually spend that much time in the pool.
Yesterday I read a blog of somebody that did the Wildflower Triathlon last year and it really lit a fire under me. He was telling about all the things that he was thinking during the race and it made me realize just how much training I still have to do in order to be able to finish on two feet.
I actually got to ride my bike this morning. I managed to make it into work with no problems. I like riding to work soooo much. I prefer to ride over driving to work any day. You get an entirely different perspective when you're huffing and puffing to get to work . I find that I'm always in a much better mood when I ride than when I drive. It's a completely different animal than riding on a trainer though. I'm still getting used to Kadence( my bike) so it felt a little weird riding on the road this morning instead of latched to a trainer. I got Kadence at the end of October and haven't really been able to get used to the bike yet. She's so much lighter than my old bike and much more responsive too. Hopefully I'll have enough left to run on the treadmill tonight. I don't anticipate running tomorrow. We have a swim session tomorrow night so I'll probably save a little. It's an hour and a half and I don't usually spend that much time in the pool.
Yesterday I read a blog of somebody that did the Wildflower Triathlon last year and it really lit a fire under me. He was telling about all the things that he was thinking during the race and it made me realize just how much training I still have to do in order to be able to finish on two feet.
Friday, January 15, 2010
1/15/2010
Last night was just what the doctor ordered. We had a group training session at LLS. We all brought our bicycles and trainers and set them up. Tim, our fearless leader, put us through the ringer. I was sweating up a storm in there. We got a good workout in and I felt great afterward. A little sore today though. After all the struggles I had this week in training this seems to have brought me out of this lull that I've been in. I got up this morning and ran 30 minutes on the treadmill with no problem. I can't wait to get back to the gym to have another go at the pool!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
1/14/2010
Yesterday was a rough day for me. I wanted to run in the morning but didn't get up in time. (I stayed up too late watching Biggest Loser) So I decided during the day that since yesterday was my swim day that I'd run after swimming. So I get in the pool and swam for about 25 minutes. I warmed up swam 200 yards then I'm supposed to keep a weekly training log for how far i swim in 10 minutes. So I swam 12 lengths of the pool in 10 minutes and when I finished I just felt lost. I really didn't know what to do next. I was very dis-heartened. I know that Tim has provided a training routine and I forgot to bring it with me. I just stood there in the pool staring at the water and really felt defeated. It was so much better when I had a distance to work for so I have to get used to some sort of training regimen. So I got out of the pool and sat in the whirlpool for a few minutes to try to relax and not stress so much. It didn't work. So I went home and made dinner and it was all I could do not to go to the cupboard and eat the whole box of cookies I have in there. I thought about running but decided to go to bed and get some rest.
I felt much better this morning. I got up early and went down to run on the treadmill but I had those same thoughts about not being able to do this. I ran for 15 minutes and stopped. got off the treadmill and watched TV for a couple minutes then thought 'what am I doing?' so I got back on the treadmill and ran/walked for another 15 minutes. I seem to be in a training rut. I know this is a mental thing and a couple days of sunshine I think would cure my ills. We're going to meet at LLS tonight and do an indoor group training ride. I look forward to it. It seems that I train much better with other people around. They push me to do better where I wouldn't necessarily do alone. It's interesting with this event. I'm definitely out of my comfort zone and really need to work harder to get to where I want and know I can be. Bring on that sun!
I felt much better this morning. I got up early and went down to run on the treadmill but I had those same thoughts about not being able to do this. I ran for 15 minutes and stopped. got off the treadmill and watched TV for a couple minutes then thought 'what am I doing?' so I got back on the treadmill and ran/walked for another 15 minutes. I seem to be in a training rut. I know this is a mental thing and a couple days of sunshine I think would cure my ills. We're going to meet at LLS tonight and do an indoor group training ride. I look forward to it. It seems that I train much better with other people around. They push me to do better where I wouldn't necessarily do alone. It's interesting with this event. I'm definitely out of my comfort zone and really need to work harder to get to where I want and know I can be. Bring on that sun!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
1/11-12/2010
Ok so last night I was all set to head to the gym and hop in the pool then do some running. When i got out of work I just didn't feel right. I was extremely tired and decided that since I'd been having blood sugar issues this week it was probably best that I go home instead. I felt better after having dinner and thought I would get on my bike (her name is Kadence) for a while. Well..best laid plans.... Apparently I no longer have my cycling legs. I really hit the trainer hard yesterday and the day before so my legs were really tired and i only rode about 10-15 minutes and didn't run at all. So I got up early this morning and ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill. I really have to get on the ball. I absolutely must at least spend 30 minutes on the trainer tonight before or after choir and i would feel much better about myself to run on the treadmill too.
Monday, January 11, 2010
1/11/2010
I went and picked up a trainer at coach Rick's house. I am SOOOOO glad to be back on the bike again. It's been killing me not to be able to at least ride back and forth to work lately. I can't wait for the snow to break so I can at least get some "real" riding in. It's nice to have the trainer though i can at least get some time in while watching some of my favorite TV shows. :) I now need to put together a training regimen to really take off some pounds and to get myself ready for the Big Day. Only 3-1/2 months away now and time is flying!
1/7/2010
Hey starting the new year off right! I ran New Year's morning in the snow and had a nice quiet run. Today we had a shoe fitting clinic at Fleet Feet and of course I had to order my shoes because my feet are so odd that they don't carry my size. Frustrating I REALLY want my new shoes! We had our first group swim afterward and boy did I have my eyes opened. I have been swimming at the gym and thus far the farthest I've gone is 1300 yards but I don't swim freestyle all the way. So my form is totally out of whack and I couldn't swim more that a couple of lengths. Contributiong to the problem was my blood sugar was all out of whack all day and I was worried that my blood sugar was getting way too low. I couldn't do all the swimming with the weather as bad as it was I didn't want to chance having insulin shock on the way home. I was really ticked and frustrated and reallyl felt pretty useless at the time. I'm glad that some of my facebook friends lifted my spirits. Now I have to get back to the gym to reallyl learn how to swim.
12/27/2009
Got together for another "buddy run" with coach Tim and Darryl they were once again nice and held back for me. I reached another personal distance record at 5 miles. It was very snowy so hardly anybody was able to make it to the run. It made for some nice running though. It left a little extra cushion for the feet/legs :). I'm starting to like running more. I can't wait to get some new shoes to see if that alleviates the knee problems.
12/19/2009
I went on another "buddy run." There were a lot more people. (well 6 of us). We ran 4 miles on a path in Strongsville at Mill Run Bonnie park. I was lucky enough to have Darryl run with me. He was extremely kind and help back and ran at my pace. I only had to walk a couple of times and I had ice on my hat where the sweat passed through as I finished. I still felt pretty good but I have a loooong way to go before I get in decent shape to be able to do this thing. I also need to get some decent shoes. This running is killing my knee. (here I thought I HAD decent shoes until I actually tried to run any distance. ) Have to wait till after the new year to get some shoes.
12/5/2009
I had my first "buddy run" with some people from TNT. I decided to ride my bike to meet them. We met in Penninsula OH, about a 14 mile bike ride each way. Unfortunately I had to fight the wind all the way to the run so I got there about 15 minutes late. Maria was kind enough to let me put my bike in the back of her SUV and we hit the trails. I ran 2.5 miles and felt pretty good. I had to walk a couple times but I really like running hilly trails through the woods. So much better than running on a boring (and hard) road or paved trail. Of course i couldn't walk pretty much for the next three days. Especially if I sat for long periods. The ride back home was much nicer I rode on the Towpath so it was pretty flat both ways (it was a very slight upgrade on the way there) so going with the wind and gravity on the way home took me about 20 minutes less than it did to get there.
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