Thursday, June 28, 2012

Oh! Sweet Baby Jesus!

Old Girl sniffing the flowers!

I got home yesterday a bit early from work and after taking the old girl for a walk I headed out for a short bike ride. Short is not what happened. Two hours and 22.5 miles later I pulled back into my drive. It was a great ride! I did get lost for a hot second, got terrified by traffic and climbed a hill I was not expecting but still, good times! (I also got a "Hey! Baby! I love you," from a random gardener.)

Um, yeah. Not so great this morning. I headed out for what was supposed to be a 4.5 mile run but ended up being 2. This is due to the fact that while I was in bed for 7.5 hours last night I only got ~5 hours of sleep. (Thank you neighbors, I hope the basketball game was worth it.) And, 2 miles was all I had time for after sleeping in 1.5 hours later than I would have normally.

After chugging along for a bit I felt pretty good. My legs were a little fatigued but I felt I was making great progress. Then I looked at my Garmin. 13:43/mile! That is not chugging along. That is walking! After seeing that my pace got marginally better but still never broke 12:00. And that's with  couple of actual walk breaks. So disappointing.

Turns out I've set up my training wrong, according to Friel. I should never do a hard bike followed by a run unless I'm doing a brick. And, even then it's set up a bit differently.

The Triathlete's Training Bible, Joe Friel
SO..... new training plan!

Subject to change
P.S. I just realized Marathon training starts Monday!!
P.PS. I might die the first couple of weeks in August!
P.P.PS. Don't run out and by this book. It's very confusing and this is the only useful thing I've found so far.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Going The Distance

Last night I went to the pool for lap swim. It's a really nice 25m pool and at 5:30pm the kick out all the kids. Not just from the pool but from the ENTIRE pool area. The adults have an hour to do lap swim or float around in the diving pool. Yesterday was a bit cool and windy here and under normal circumstances I probably wouldn't have gone swimming. But, given my last experience in the pool, I figured most people would stay away and I'd get all the lanes to myself. Not entirely true. I didn't have the the pool to myself but I only had to share with other dedicated swimmers. They all were doing laps and wonder of wonders they stayed in their lanes!

I did three sets of 13, 12, and 11 laps, giving me a total of 36 laps. Since each lap is 50 meters, I ended up with 1800 meters. This equates to 1.1~ miles. I am almost at my goal distance of 1.2 miles!! Now, I just need to work on time. It took me 50 minutes yesterday and my goal is 30 minutes. This is completely doable as my time in the Cleveland Triathlon last year for swimming (.4miles) was 8:22. Extrapolated out this gives me a time of 25:39 for the 1.2 miles. In the pool I swim lazily and my time last year astonished me! I was expecting 20 minutes or so based on my pool training. I, apparently, thrive in race conditions. OR, it's getting scratched on the ankles that spurs me on!

Since I know I can do the distance, I think I'm going to add some speed work. Tuesday swims will be for distance and Thursday swims will be for speed.
 *I tried putting a picture in here but the site is acting up. Sorry!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Out of the Valley

Down a little bit more!
My workout schedule has firmed up a bit. I run Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings with Saturday being my long run. I do a bike ride Sunday, Monday and Wednesday evenings with Sunday being a long ride. I then fill in swim laps after work depending on weather. Marathon training starts in a week or two and my legs need to get with the program. I'm still not sure what is going on with them. They feel very fatigued after a mile or two. Saturdays long run was 3 miles, not the long run I was expecting. I'm hoping to build it up, though.

On the brightside, I did a 31 mile bike ride Sunday. I got up relatively early and headed out towards the Chagrin Valley and rode through Chagrin Falls. CF is a beautiful town and if I get hitched and pop out a kid I think that's where I'd move. The last time I rode into the valley I had to walk myself out! The incline out of that place is insane! It's a 200 foot change over a little more than a half mile. This time I rode the whole way out. I did stop 3xs to give my legs a breather but there was no walking. I will forever judge my fitness on that incline!


This was what I came home to after my ride!
I just got my 2 week notice on the Muncie 1/2 Iron Man. I'm not competing but volunteering. I figured it would be a great way to see how the race works and get some tips for the Poconos. Plus, I volunteered for body marking! I have to be there super early but I get to mark hot athletic men! Or, that's what I'm hoping for. I'll probably get stuck with all girls!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Meet My New Man!

Leroy!!
His name is Leroy. He's bad and lightening quick! He's also KING if you spell it Le Roi (that's French). And, he'll have his own theme song! Bad, Bad Leroy  Brown. Sure, he dies at the end of the song but he goes out fighting! I'm talking about my bike of course!! It's obviously male (think about it) and deserves a strong male name. I think Leroy is perfect!! I'm taking him out tonight for our first date.


Speaking of dates I had a first date Tuesday with a very nice gentleman named Josh. He works in the financial sector, is in the National Guard and served in the Army. He runs marathons and has done triathlons. We met up for wings and beer and the date went very well. It ended with a hug, as most of mine do, and we are still chatting. No plans for a second date but it is out there.

I also had plans to go out on a second date with Trusty Dan yesterday. But, when it came right down to it I canceled. I just couldn't bare sitting there listening to him, even if I got a free martini or two. I also had better things to do.

Like SWIMMIMG!!!

Note to random large guy in pool:

I know you're "swimming" because your doctor told you it would be good exercise and I commend you for making an effort. But I think s/he meant  actual swimming, not this float to the bottom and push back up stuff. You're not even moving your legs! And, if you come into my lane one more time I will not hesitate to hit you. Apparently, the hissy fit I threw behind you did not tip you off because you floated into my lane again and later sat against the wall exactly where I flip around.
Sincerely, the girl who will kick your a$$.


Pictured: Oatmeal with fresh strawberries, raspberries, and homemade triple berry jam! (I would have captioned the pic but it was so long it threw off the spacing.)

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Pulled The Trigger

I ordered my bike!! The super amazing shiny one that had better get me at least one medal! The only downside to this is that I am an instant gratification girl and the wait is killing me. I want to go for a bike ride but my old bike seems terrible since I've been to heaven and back. The shop assures me it will be in in 4-5 days and will call me after they've put it together.

Now, on to a side note. WTF!? A bike that costs the same as a kidney does not come with pedals? I feel taken! (not really, I had my suspicions, but still.)

Day one: 191.2
Day six: 190.4, down 0.8 pounds.
I guess I won't have that huge chocolate cupcake downstairs. It has blueberries on it, though!

Friday, June 15, 2012

LUSTING


Old
I made the mistake (or best decision of my life) of going to the bike shop around the corner from me. I've been in there about month ago. My Vilano road bike wasn't cutting it on the road, the front brake wasn't hooked up and it was making a weird noise. All this before it even had hit pavement. The shop was able to fix everything for me and at a reasonable price too. I've now taken the bike out for four rides and it's worked great! But, my arms and shoulders ached a bit and I felt that Tri bars might help, especially if I have to do 56 miles. I also wanted to put clips on. Turns out I can't put Tri bars on my bike because of where the shifters are located. We even had one of the bike mechanics look at it, nothing! He also said the bike was too big for me (I already knew this) and that it was subpar for any type of racing.

The salesman, possible owner, showed me a bike on the low end ($600) when I asked to see what he would suggest I buy if I was to buy a bike. He showed me the bike below. I got to sit on it and ride it around the store. It fit beautifully and I was in love at hello.
Middling

Upon further discussion the owner/sales guy found out that I was planning a 1/2IM and several tris. I think he assumed I was hardcore, and I like to think I am. He showed me a bike one step up on the computer. "OH!! SHINY!!" Don't worry, I said it in my head. I didn't get to try it but I assume if the $600 one felt like heaven this one would be like heaven with Ryan Gosling on my arm. As he pointed out I can make do with the cheap one I have and I can get away with the $600 one. But he's pretty sure, and so am I, that I'll be back in a year for the SHINY one.
SHINY

He's going to give me the promotional pricing of $1200 until the bike is no longer in stock. I'd like to make the decision by Monday. I'm hoping I can sell my old one for almost what I paid for it. I'm also hoping my parents might be willing to do an early early Christmas gift. Cause now I'm in full LUSTING stage for this bike!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Be Very Brave Day 1

Day one weight
I'm going to do something that I have never done before. I'm going to post my weight, percent body fat, and percent water (not sure why water). I would love to drop 20 pounds by the Iron Man (ultimately, 50). I'll be faster. Recover quicker. And, look better in pics and my wetsuit! This goal is hard on it's own and I think being responsible to the internet will make me work harder. Although, that wasn't so true for the last marathon, so, we'll see.







Day one % water
I purchased my first scale last night. I've always gone on fit of clothes or by the doctor's scale. It's a Taylor scale that will store user info, age, height, male/female. It also has a setting for Normal or Athlete. They define an athlete as someone who works out 3 times a week for 2 hours at a time. Now, that's a total of 6 hours a week. I work out for 6 hours a week but over 4-6 days. Am I an athlete? I said yes and set it to Athlete. I'm not really sure how this will change my readings.

Day one % body fat
This idea inspired by Ben Does Life. He does a weigh a day. Not sure I'm going to do that. Maybe, I'll just put a little widget on here that'll keep track of it.

According to Wikipedia I should be in the 20-29% range. Um, I've got some work to do!


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Dating Update

I have now re-opened my profiles o POF and Match. I took a blow the first day of Match when I discovered Tex in my mix and he had been active within 24hours. "Shake it off, Marathoner! Shake it off!"

It's been a mixed bag. POF has been predictable with the high quantity but low quality. Match has just the opposite pickings. My problem is I can't seem to get myself to write the emails. I feel so BLAH to whole thing (a carry over from my training, I suspect). I don't really want to make the effort but I also don't want to be bored, doing nothing. It's a double edged sword.

I have been out on two dates, though. The first was with Hot Cop Tom. As you can tell from his name he is HOT and he is a cop. The date went well and we talked almost the whole time. I'm not sure he's quiet my type but it was fun and I think it could have been fun for awhile. I got the impression that while his profile said he was "looking for a serious relationship," that wasn't exactly the relationship he had in mind. An impression that was confirmed when I received an unsolicited junk pic.  I still don't understand why guys send these. Your junk is not attractive and unless you put a ruler next to it, not impressive either. We have not talked really since that.

My second date was with Trusty Dan. I'm not sure if I've ever introduced you to Trusty Keith but I dated him for about a month and as his name would imply, he was trusty. He kind of loped and moseyed along. And, you knew you would get a call every 2 days. You didn't have to worry about an attack from him out of nowhere. But also he had no passion. There was never any spark. Trusty Dan, I feel, is going to be the same way. The date was boring and he seemed upset with women in general. His pic was fuzzy, so I wasn't surprised by what walked in Starbucks door. He just has this goofy feel. I have agreed to a second date just to see if my first impressions are correct. I'm not going to pursue the date but if he does ask I'll go. I can always use a drink and a good story!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Down Low

Hi y'all!
I'm just taking some down time before training for a fall marathon begins again in July. I've been riding some and desperately wish I had put tri bars on my bike. I'm going to have to see if the local bike shop can fanaggle something. My arms are tired after just 10 miles! Running has been hit or miss lately and I'm ok with that. I want to still love it and just need sometime off to do that. The pool I use in the summer for training opens this weekend and I can't wait to get back out there!