Wednesday, September 30, 2009

TODAY ROCKED! It was a running day so we went to the gym (we’re doing it on the treadmills until after the Indoor Tri on Saturday) and we ran for 30 minutes. I did a full 5k and NO SIDE STITCH! It came the minute before I was going to finish anyway, but the whole time I felt better than I’ve ever felt running before. I LOVED IT. I was so happy. I ran the full 20 minutes, then stopped and walked for 1 minute, then did the last 10 minutes. Every 10 minutes I was speeding up to, so I went from 9.5k/h to 11 at the end. So awesome. Then while Ben went and showered, I biked 5k in 10 minutes. Going SUPER fast. For the Indoor Tri, I want to be able to do the 10k in 20 minutes so it was good to feel the speed I’ll have to go. My legs were sure tired…it’s going to be rough and then having to swim after, but I can’t wait!!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

6:30am came way too early this morning and we did NOT feel like getting up. But alas, we did. We sprint-ran for 20 minutes (well, Ben did. I only sprinted for maybe 5 because I’m not a sprinter). Then we swam for 45 minutes. We moved up to 20 laps today which was good, it felt good and wasn’t too exhausting. Then we did drills, breaststroke, kicking (wow the burn), racing freestyle, and cool down. It was a good day! We find out today if we got in for the Indoor Tri!!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Yesterday was fast Sunday and guess what I fasted about?? THAT MY STITCH WOULD GO AWAY! I was feeling so discouraged and down on Saturday because I couldn’t run more than 2 miles straight because it not only came, but it was worse than it’s ever been. I’ve been drinking tons of water, stretching, and breathing with my diaphragm. I have no idea what’s wrong.

The Indoor Triathlon at Virgin Active is this Saturday and I need to work most on running. Biking will be a sinch and swimming 12 laps will be good too. So I went to the gym and ran 10 minutes straight, had to stop because of the stitch for 1 minute, than ran 10 more minutes, walked 2 minutes and then ran 5 minutes. So a total of about 4k. But stitch still came. We’ll see. As long as it doesn’t plaque me on the race day, I’ll be happy.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

We slept in today and had a wonderful cereal breakfast, which was super nice. Then we walked (3k) to the gym at about 11am. We started with a 4-5k run but it was so frustrating and discouraging…my stitch is unbelievable. I thought I had it under control and was so excited, but it’s back and won’t go away no matter what I do. So Ben was able to run 5k in 25 minutes and I only did 3.5k in 23 minutes. Then we did a cool-down on the bike, and jumped in the totally empty pool! It was so awesome! We each got our own lane and it made a big difference. We started with 18 laps (450meters) and then did breaststroke, kicking, breathing, and sprinting drills. We also did some racing with breaststroke and free style...I was ahead on both of the first 25 meters but then we tied on the breaststroke and Ben beat me on the free. It was a tiring, but great workout day.

Friday, September 25, 2009

DAY OFF!

We couldn't make ourselves run and bike today with Ben's day off. Also, I'm still trying to recover from a sore throat and don't feel 100%. We just wanted to relax and refresh and chill and shop and eat and nap and watch movies and chill and relax. That's all. So we're charging up today for our big brick workout tomorrow.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Today was a great swim day. We swam about 45 minutes, doing 16 laps, then 14, then 14, then 2 breaststroke, 2 sprint, and 2 cool down. If Ben had it his way, we’d be done after the first 16…good thing for Sergeant Garrison! It felt really good today and I can finally see progress. My quads and shoulders get really tired though…

So here are some things I've noticed when training for a triathlon:

--I always smell like chlorine
--Hungry all the time
--Exhausted and ready for bed at 9:30pm
--I eat a LOT
--Carbs are my friend
--Walking up any amount of stairs burns my legs
--I'm always short on clean gym clothes
--I now have to shower every day
--Hungry all the time
--I don't drink enough water. I need to work on that
--Can wake up between 6:30-7:30am every morning and not die
--Happier, healthier, fitter!
--Oh and hungry all the time

One more week till the Indoor Tri! We find out if we're in on Monday, but I'm pretty sure we are. And it's going to be on TV!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Today was a 45-minute spinning class. It was fun! We didn’t like the teacher at all though; we couldn’t understand a word he was saying, he didn’t pump us up, get excited, loud, push us, etc. He was just boring. Oh well. I’m feeling a little better today, it’s just my throat that hurts and I don’t have as much energy. I feel really good about the biking part. I just need to focus more on swimming and running. STUPID STITCH! I felt like I had it under control with my breathing but this last week it’s been back full-force. So I don’t know what I’m going to do. Can’t wait to swim tomorrow.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I’ve been fighting the flu for the past couple of days. I first felt weird on Sunday, and then yesterday it was getting pretty apparent that it was the flu with all the achiness and sore throat. AH! So frustrating! I don’t have time to be sick. I have 2 weeks till the indoor triathlon and I really need to work on the running. I have to run 4k in 20 minutes, because that’s the limit on the machines. I can only run 3.2k in 20 minutes. Anyway, I took it easy yesterday and was debating what to do today…but I finally MADE myself go swimming. I swam for 30 minutes: 12 laps of free, then did 8 laps of just kicking, then 4 laps of breaststroke, and a 4 lap cool-down. It felt so nice. I still feel achy but I’m fighting hard to stay healthy!!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Today was pretty crappy. It’s that time of month so I’m pretty much out. We were supposed to run 35 minutes and bike 45, but there was no way. So we slept in, Ben went to work and I finally got around to doing the elliptical for 25 minutes. That’s all I could do. I tried to run but stopped after 1.5k about ready to die. Ben has another soccer game tonight so he’ll get a good 45 minutes of running in. Hopefully I’m better tomorrow because this does not make me feel motivated. I guess we’re all allowed a sick-day though right? I mean in the last 5 weeks I’ve only missed 4 days. That’s 26/30 workout days. That makes me feel better.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Today was Ben’s day off so we had more time to train. We went at around 8am and hoped that the pool would be semi-open around 9. We were right! We ran 3k and biked 10km, and then swam 26 laps (14 laps and then 12). It felt great to do all 3! It was the first time we’ve done them all back to back and it was tiring. It’s almost the length of the full-tri, just double the bike and add 2km to the run, and it was 14 laps longer than our indoor tri in 2 weeks. We’re making progress!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Today was awesome. We went to an Ab class (but no teacher showed up, so we did it on our own) for 20 minutes. Then we did a hard core Spinning Class for 45 minutes and then I ran a mile. Hard work, lots of sweat, feels good. I’m wondering how close spinning is to biking outdoors….I hope pretty close because we don’t have a bike until the day of the race!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Today we ran 3k and biked about 8k. The machines at the gym only allow you to do 20 minutes so we did 20 minutes on each. It was a good workout (despite the stitch) and good to know what the indoor tri will feel like. Excited to do all three on Friday!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The swimming pool is always so busy in the morning, we decided to try a random time today, 3pm and see how it was. We were going to run 4k and then swim for 45 minutes. Of course, there was a group of little kids taking up the pool with a class. We asked and I guess they’re there everyday 3-7pm. So that stinks. We’ll just stick to the morning then. We ran a little over 3k, both having a rough time with our stomachs…not really agreeing with the running. We biked 5k and then called it good. The running was good…but it was just an okay-feeling day.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Today was a run 40 minutes day. We don’t like the route we found though because there are just way too many cars, hence lots of exhaust and filth in the air. It’s also a lot of uphill, which makes me super tired. I only ran about 25 of the 40 minutes. We fasted yesterday and had a yucky curry meal that didn’t sit well for either of us, plus we are still tired and sore from the spinning class on Saturday…so it wasn’t the best day for running. It sure didn’t make me feel like I’m making any progress. I wonder if I could ever run more than 3 miles?? Don’t know. We also did 20 minutes of abs and lower back workout. I’m walking 4km with Pumla later today too.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

WOW. Our plan was to do a 45 minute Spinning class at 9:30am and then swim for an hour. It was our first Spinning class and let me just say, it KILLED us. Plus when 35 minutes came along we were giving it our ALL thinking that the cool down was coming only to find out that I was wrong, and it was a 60 MIN class! We still had 20 minutes to go! Quite the surprise. Needless to say, we could barely walk let alone swim so we called it good for the day. HE was a killer instructor and he kicked our butts. I’m usually not a sweater, but today it was dripping off my face. Something I have never experienced before. AWESOME! We’re going to be doing more of these classes for sure!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Rest day. Yes, much needed. I really worked hard this week and I felt tired to the bone. So we’re taking a break and then doing a killer workout tomorrow. Yay for recharging!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Swim day! We got a place in the pool thank goodness and swam for an hour (Ben had played Squash for an hour before). We did 2 sets of 12 laps (lengths) or 250 meters without stopping. It was so tiring but good. Then we did some drills, 50m arms only, 50m sprint, 50m legs only.

We’re hopefully doing another triathlon on October 3rd! It’s put on at Virgin Active and it’s an indoor tri. There were 3 different lengths of events, and we’re doing the middle one which is a 4k run, a 10k bike, and a 250meter swim. We’re stoked! It’s free and it’s first come first serve. We signed up a couple of days ago but we don’t find out if we have a spot until Sept 29th…so we’re going to train like we’re doing it and see what happens! It’ll be really good practice and fun to do all three in a competitive form.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Man today was rough! We woke up at 6am and hurried out the door so we could swim for an hour before Ben had to be to work. When we got there, the second pool where all the classes take place was closed so all the old aerobics people were taking up 3 of the lanes so it was so crowded…we turned around disappointed and went running for 45 minutes instead. We went over 7km and ran probably 5km. Which was great! My legs were super tired though from running hard the last 3 days in a row. We definitely need to swim tomorrow. And I'm walking 4km later with Pumla.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Today we ran 30 minutes (5km) and I was able to really see my progress. We have this hill at the end that stretches for 1km and today I was able to run up it at a good pace and sprint the last 200 meters! Usually the end is when I die and can barely jog…anyway, it was fun to see that I am getting better at this. Thanks to my bud Kelly (Vause), my side stitch was under control and I think I finally know what I need to do to keep it away. It’s all about breathing with the diaphragm, not your chest. It takes a LOT more concentration and is kind of annoying, but the second I stopped focusing on it, it came back. So it’s good advice! Thanks Kellbell!

Monday, September 7, 2009

Today rocked! I wanted to go this morning with Ben, but he got called in early to work so I didn’t end up making myself until 4pm. But it was so good! Today was a “brick workout” so I biked 45 minutes (19.8km!!) and then went outside for a run instead of the treadmill for 30 minutes (with a quick 5 minute stop at Ben’s work to say hi). Days like today make the triathlon seem very possible!

Friday, September 4, 2009

Today was awesome! We swam for an hour. We started with 22 laps, which is the length of the race, stopping after 8, and then 16 for a quick 30-second breather. It was nice to do the full length so that we have an idea of how long it will be. I feel much better about it. It is still stinking hard and I can’t do it without stopping yet, but we’re getting there. We also did a bunch of kicking and breathing drills and breaststroke. I even tried fly again! It’s been so long and it is a HARD stroke. But I love it. My arms and legs are so tired I just blow-dried my hair and my arms couldn’t stay up in the air. Good day. Good day.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Got up this morning to swim and we both couldn’t make ourselves. So we decided to run 30 minutes instead. The only problem was that the evil stitch was so bad I could barely even walk…so we went on a short walk and were done. I went on another 40 minute walk with Pumla at 3pm, which was nice but the stitch was still really bad. This was kind of a lazy week. Just Tues and Thurs at least. Oh well, it’s allowed for one week. We will still get 3 workouts in which is good, but no more dogging out from here on out, that’s for sure! And hopefully no more stitch!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Today kicked my butt but it felt oh so good. Especially since I didn’t do anything yesterday. I biked 18km in 45 minutes (level 2, intervals) and then ran 1.75km in 12 minutes (incline 3.0 and speed 8.5-9). I did some abs too. I can’t believe I have to run 2 more miles than I did today with swimming on top. Wow, glad I have like 7 more weeks to train!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Didn’t work out today!!! AH!! We had a guest, Bronson Smith, from Utah visiting and we left early to go to the Lion Park and I was just too busy to work out. I was supposed to bike 45 and run 10. I’m so down that I didn’t get it in today. Ben has been so busy, he worked till midnight and got up at 6am to do work so he wasn’t able to train today either and probably won’t be able to tomorrow. Oh well, I guess I can’t always get 6 days a week in and I have to be ok with it.