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! :)

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.

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:

Rockside:

Granger:

"The Nasty":

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!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.