Triathlon #2

Downtown Orlando Triathlon
1/4 mile swim, 11.7 mile bike, 3.9 mile run.

I almost didnt show up - I was on vacation 2 weeks ago, the past week I was at a corporate training so not a whole lot of working out was done. I ran 2 or 3 days on vacation, then ran 2 days while at training....so i didnt feel really really prepared.

Swim:
So start with the swim.....in Lake Underhill....GROSS! We had to tread water before starting....not fun. Then the lake is filled with lake weed. You couldnt avoid it. And you got tangled in it so that wasnt fun.

Triathlon 1 Results 14:37
Triathlon 2 Results 12:27

2 mins and 10 seconds faster this time around!! Yippeeeeee

Transition 1 Swim to Bike
Triathlon 1 Time 5:10
Triathlon 2 Time 2:14

Almost a 3 min improvement. So cool!!


Bike:
What a horrible ride. Get onto my bike - start riding and probably somewhere in mile 3, I hit a pot hole because of some stupid lady on my left wanting to fly by me so I had to move back over quickly instead of avoiding the hole. So that means my tire gets a pinch flat. I'm not happy because I have to ride slower to finish or I have to stop and quit the race. So for the whole rest of the bike ride I'm kinda just strolling along but I finished it so thats the best part.

Triathlon 1 Results 12.4 Miles - 49:14
Triathlon 2 Results 11.7 Miles - 49:19

5 second difference between Race 1 and Race 2. I really wish I could know my "real" time if I would have been able to ride on a fully inflated tire.

Transition 2 Bike to Run
Triathlon 1 Time - 1:18
Triathlon 2 Time - 1:36

Run:
Boy was I tired starting this run. It was all along side local roads so there wasnt a lot of shade so it was really hot. I did get the company of Brett and our dog Kady at about the 1/2 way point. He took her running 3 miles then ran down the road I'd be coming up on to spy on me to make sure I was really running. The poor dog, she looked like she was going to die b/c at this point she had ran about 4 miles. So at the water station I grabbed water for me and then stopped and gave a cup to Brett to give to Kady.
Though it was great to see them - I was so upset with the bike ride that I couldnt focus on the run and was having horrible cramps so I was walking a lot more than usual. I'm pretty sure I ran the last mile entirely and its such a great feeling when you cross that finish line.

Triathlon 1 Results 2.75 miles - 35:26
Triathlon 2 Results 3.90 miles - 53:13

Final Results:
Triathlon 1 - 1:45:47
Triathlon 2 - 1:58:47

The week of August 18th

What a wonderful way to start the week. A tropical storm to become a Hurricane! Looks like running/swimming outside is going to be rather difficult on tues/wednesday.

Monday August 18th - Could have ran, could have swam, but the weather was so sketchy that I didnt do anything. Boo for me I know.

Tuesday August 19th - Rain Rain go away.....wait that actually worked??? It was raining and extremely windy when I got up...then it was nice and sunny during work hours but then it rained all through the night, SOoo today was slacker day # 2.

Wednesday August 20th - What an ugly day this morning - Hoping tonight is rain free.

Thursday August 21st - This is what i've delt with ALLLLLL day. Fay is a fat slowpoke. She has spent too much time in the central florida area and i'm sick of her. So 630am, get up look outside, yep its raining, sleep until 7, check again even more rain. So no morning run no morning swim for me. Head to work - hoping I can go outside tonight, nope, there's the doppler at 1030pm its still raining and we have wind gusts of 40-50mph. Lets HOPE shes gone tomorrow.

The Week of August 11th

Ok so Monday August 11th I was lucky enough to get a root canal. So monday and tuesday were a little rough for me but I still did something active because we are keeping the dog with us this entire week. So that means lots and lots of walk/runs for her.

So Monday August 11 - 2 mile walk (kady had a 2 mile run with Brett)
Tuesday August 12 - 2 mile walk (another 2 mile run with Brett)
Wednesday - 1 mile walk or was it 2?? I dont remember oops
Thursday - 1 mile run with Kady, 2 mile walk and a 600 yard swim that night.
Friday - 4 mile walk, 1 mile run. and at the time of this posting...might do another swim tonight - not sure yet but i'll update the results.

So overall it was a good week with 12 miles of running and walking and a decent swim. Kady killed it though with 16 miles. I highly recommend a doberman for a dog if you want to get in shape.

8-9-2008

Another 2 mile run around the lake today. The Hubs was with me. SO thankful for him pushing me though i'm so hardheaded and hate him when we run I love him so much afterwards. awwww right? LoL

Forgot to get a stop watch so not sure how fast today was but wow there were too many people out tonight. They were all over the place so a lot of weaving had to be done. BOO people who dont know how to walk one one side and who dont know to move out of you way when they see you running.

And Yeah speaking of BOO moments - guy walking his pitbull who obviously doesnt like people because we come running by him and his dog (like face to face, not coming up behind him) and the dog lunges at us barking. Talk about scary!!

8-3-2008

2 Mile Run! Yippeeee. Now I have ran a 5K, and just recently ran 2.75 miles in my last triathlon so there shouldnt be some huge celebration with running 2 miles right? Wrong....

I hate running. I hate running long distances with a passion. My Husband loves to run, he was training for a marathon and was up into the 22-23 mile range before his body couldnt take it any longer. So running with him isnt the easiest of things because he has a bigger stride thus a quicker pace than slow poke me.

OK so anyways today 3pm Brett says lets go run. Deep down inside I dont want to go, but I say yes. We go to Lake Eola and find a new starting point (i'm so mental with where the start/end points are) so we take off running with Brett leading and I follow. It is HOT! Dang its hot outside, but I complete 1 mile and feel great. We keep going 1.5 miles yayay! 1.75 miles my calves are killing me but I push through it and finish! I think tomorrow will be a swim day.

8-2-2008

I am horrible at updating this. sorry

so ran the other night with the hubbs 1.5 miles. I hate running outside, the treadmill is so much easier. But its good to have someone to run with and Brett is right - its better to run outside than inside on a treadmill.

Ok so yesterday was a 14 mile ride. I <3 my bike. My coworker and I went up the street to a neighborhood and did a new course ride. It was SO hard because this neighborhood has hills so the whole climbing thing was killing my legs. But as my coworker said after a few more times I'll gain more strength and wont notice the hills.

During the ride i was talking to him about how to improve my time for the next tri. Which according to my daily mile count down is oh 41 days! eeek. So he said i should look into bike ride group on weekends so i'll start that search today. :)

7-19-2008

Triathlon Day!!!!

Ok yes I suck at updating but there's always 2nd,3rd and 4th chances in life right?

Ok so My First Triathlon day came and went and WOW so much fun. The adreneline rush you get is amazing. This was such a great experience as this event was also titled My First Triathlon and there were a Ton of us 1st timers who were standing around with our pink or orange swim caps on scared to death.

So the event today was a 1/4 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike, and a 2.75 mile run.

I finished it in 1 hour 45 mins and 47 seconds.

Out of my age group I finished 6th. Some people view this as good some as bad.

I went into the day with the mindsent of I'm finishing this event. I'm not going to be # 1, I'm not going for the fastest time in 1 event. I want to complete and learn and have fun. Which is what I did.

My swim time was 14:37
My bike time was 49:15
My run time was 35:26

Great numbers for a starting point.

So I'm signing up for another triathlon in September. I'm starting to swim more, run more and bike more to decrease those times. But I need to learn how to transition a little quicker too (Like buy a race belt rather than having to pin my number on my shirt after the swim).

So in addition to bettering my time i'm going to try to be better at updating this blog :)

5-13-2008

Today is the swim - Whenever I think of swimming I think of the Freestylin song but I dont know the artist or the actual song name.

Today's schedule says 10X50 (30") which means:
swim 10, 50 yard laps (usually down and back in a 25 yard pool) and rest 30 seconds inbetween.

I love swimming but oh my gosh it has been since Highschool swim team days since i've really "swam" and it feels good - well actually sore right now - but I forgot how much I've missed the pool. I cant wait to get my stamina back. OH and another thing - the pool here is FREEZING! I hate when you get one foot in the pool and you get goosebumps because the water is that cold. I really hope the water temp warms up within the next week.

5-12-2008

So from the Masters-Athlete magazine there was an article about training in 6 weeks for a Sprint Triathlon (which is the shortest of the types of Tri's - 500 yard swim, 13 mile bike and 3.1 mile run).

I'm starting week 1 this week. To warm up I rode 15 mins on the bike and did 5.5 miles. I then went to the treadmill and started running 30 mins at my easy pace of 4.5 mph.

As you can see there are only 2 intensities - easy and medium - to clarify the medium pace is your "race day " pace.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's swim results

5-9-2008

Ok so I've been slacking on this blog lately.

This weekend I'll post updates - I Promise!

4-28-2008

What a night tonight. I get home from work, quick change into my new nike workout clothes, and after I eat some Key Lime Yogurt, Jourdan and I go and walk 2 miles around Lake Eola.
We barely missed the rain.

So we get back and I head to the gym and bike 6 miles in 15 mins, then ran a mile on the treadmill. Afterwards I did a little weight training - just arms.

Lets see some songs tonight on the husbands iPod I thought were good include
Elevator featuring Timberland
Laff at Em by Timberland featuring Justin Timberlake
Stronger by Kanye West (I think this is the best running song)

4-24-2008

Tonight is the Insurance Office of America's 5K. I'm running. Which I find quite funny as I dont think I'm really ready for this but we'll see what happens tonight.

A fun fact about tonight is that its the biggest run ever with 10,600 people signed up!
Its going to be crazy!

Well I did it! I ran the entire 5K in 33 mins 10 seconds. I am happy! Last year I ran/walked but this year I did a consistent pace and ran the entire thing.

Now I just have to better that time for the Tri in July.

4-23-2008

Tonight I was a tad bit lazy. My BFF works down the street from my place so I change and run down to where she works. Yes RUN the entire way which is probably - well nevermind its not a mile away. But I have a problem with running outside because I dont know how to pace myself very well, so by the time I got to her i'm huffing and puffing which she found quite amusing.



So we have decided now after work were going to meet up and walk around Lake Eola which is 1 mile around. Tonight we did 3 miles. Its really nice the lake is pretty, there are tons of black and white swans swimming around, ducks, birds etc. Plus we get lots of chatting time in. So I was telling her all about my Triathlon I've signed up for and TRIED to get her to train with me and sign up too but yeah the whole signing up thing isnt happening. oh well no biggie. I still have her for a walking/running/tennis partner :-)

4-22-2008

I did it. I signed up for my first Triathlon today. I am SO excited. But also nervous because I know I need to set up a better program to work out.

This great website http://www.trifind.com/ breaks out Triathlon's by state, so today while searching around I found the PERFECT race. Its here in Orlando and is called "My First Triathlon" and will be a .25 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike and 2.75 mile run. Yippeeee

I've been biking and running, but now I really really need to go get a new swim suit and cap.

Tonight is another tennis night, but afterwards I'm going to hit up the treadmill.

4-19-2008

Coworker Bikeride day haha - today was very interesting

Last time I went out, we first went on his tandem bike and I used my clip in shoes. Kinda similar to the ones shown here - the toe has a metal plate wheic you clip into a pedal. To get your foot out of the pedal you click your heel to the right or left and viola you're not clipped in.

Well today I had my coworker change out my regular pedals to the Shimano clip in pedals I got with my bike. After a quick trial run we were off for our ride to the state park. To get to the park we have to cross a fairly busy road. So I unclip my right foot and keep my left clipped in. Well we're waiting for a clearing to go across the road and we see a truck coming to our right (which was a ways away) with a blinker on - well my coworker said ok lets go so he crosses the road then I try to start pedaling with 1 foot and this truck gets closer so i veer off to not kill myself. Well i TOTALLY forget my feet are clipped into the pedal so when I go to put my left foot on the ground - yep you guessed it - I fall over off my bike, scrape my knee & palm of my hand.

kinda looked similar to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ntc9lK1syE

I'm ok - so after that I decide I'm going to keep the pedals but instead unclip my left foot so I can pedal with my right with more power in those types of situations.

So we get to the park I pay my $1 to get in and we ride a total of 8.5 miles that day.

4-17-08

Tennis Thursdays!!

The husband and I played tennis for about an hour tonight. The lights on the court wouldnt come on and it was getting dark so we stopped and packed up. Once we shut the gate to the court wouldnt ya know the lights decide to come on. PFFT whatever. stupid lights

so we went to the gym and I started out on the bike and did my usual 10 min / 4 mile warm up
then onto the treadmill....

Note: I'm not a runner - I enjoy running at an easy pace but dont like to run for a super fast time nor long distance (ie Marathons).

not sure what got into me tonight, I dont know if it was the husband running next to me that made me more motivated or that MTV was playing and update on people who have been on true life but I ran 2.1 miles. CRAZY i know, since i've just been doing a mile or 1.25 of a mile lately.

Next week I have a 5K - we'll see what happens I'm just trying to better my last year time of 35 mins.

4-16-2008

Nothing like getting up at 7am for an early morning workout before work.

I'm lucky this week in which I get to walk to work in the mornings since I'm in the office and not at the client SO with that being said I'd figure I'd try getting up and working out rather than at night.

So the alarm was set for 645 but I didnt get up until 7

Down to the gym I went and did a 10 min warm up on the bike. Went 4 miles then after a quick stretch got on the treadmill.
Walked .2 of a mile ran a mile then did a .05 "cooldown" for a total of 1.25 miles on the treadmill.

The worst thing happened - the new hubby and I bought some songs off iTunes and put them on his ipod so while hes still in bed I grab his iPod thinking this is great I'll get to work out and listen to the songs we just bought. WRONG -the foolish thing was dead.
So needless to say my workout was rather boring but I did think about starting to post either my workout song of the day, or what I listed to on my ipod or maybe starting some type of poll in regards to music...

4-9-08

Finally a new post right!??! All kinds of stuff going on so I didnt get back into the gym until tonight.

Ok so tonight warm up on the bike 10 mins and went 4 miles. Stretched then to the treadmill.

When I run I always put a towel over the information so I dont know what lap i'm on, how many miles I've gone etc. So i'm running and running and had little shin splits, nothing to stop at - just pressed through them and have to say I LOVE my new running shoes.

::puts computer down to go get the make and model of my shoe:::

They are Asics GT-2130. They are great running shoes especially for people like me who barely have an arch.

Ok so back to the treadmill....Ran 1.25 miles tonight. Whoo hoo me! I think my previous

conclusions about the shoes killing my feet were

due to breaking them in because I was pain free tonight.

Ok so an added note - I think the pool at my condo is heated or at least somewhat warm because there was a girl tonight swimming. And she looked like she has been on a swim team b/c she was in a 1 piece, swim cap, the whole 9 yards.

SO i'm excited. I gotta go get me a new suit and cap but I cant wait to get back into the pool.

hahah. thats going to be a fun one when that happens. 2 laps and ill be done. hahah j/k or am I?

4-5-2008

My first "real" ride. I need to nickname my bike... I'll have to enlist the husband on this one.

So 9:00am this morning I arrived at my coworkers house. Like I've said before this guy is the guru of triathlons and has done at least 50+. Florida is 99%, well the central florida area is probably 99% flat in my opinion. BUT the neighborhood where I was had has some small hills, so for me to use my Shimano clip in shoes and to learn about gears and which to be in for hills, he though it would be a good idea to ride with him on his Tandem bike. Yes, a tandem bike, aka bicycle built for 2, but this is like a triathlon bicycle built for 2. IT was weird at first being on a bike behind my cowoker who's 30+ years older than me, looking at his butt, but after a few minutes you kinda forget. Though when we would see people and have people drive by I would LOVE to know what they were thinking.

So after I want to say riding 2 miles on the tandem all around the neighborhood we came back to his house and got our individual bikes to go to the local state park and ride 6 miles.

I really had a good time and learned a lot about my bike today. I understood before how to shift up and down but now riding and having to encounter a few hills I know which gear to be in to better use my energy.

I have to say bike riding is more work than I thought - my legs were definately tired after my 8+ mile bike ride this morning and right now at this moment are somewhat sore. But its a good sore, its a I did something to better my health sore. Lets hope I have the same opinion tomorrow. haha

4-4-2008

Today - no workout for me. Yes I'm slacking - tomorrow is my workout day I promise.

So let me go back to when I first started this blog. I explained how I came up with the great idea of training for a triathlon. Well after making friends with the office guru of triathlons he explained to me the type of bike I would need if I was wanting to eventually take part in a competition, so being clueless he told me that we needed to go to the local bike store Orange Cycle (see http://www.orangecycleorlando.com/) so I could figure out my "bike size". Yes I had no idea bikes had sizes, (I also had NO idea about how expensive bikes were). While at Orange Cycle the bike I was sized to was a 48cm 2008 Specialized Ruby Elite.

This gorgeous bike is $1,899. I would have LOVED to buy it on the spot but I think the new husband at home would have killed me.

Ok, so now I know the best bike size for me is 47-49cm. The start of craigslist and ebay stalking began. Since this was a while ago, I dont remember how long but it was quick. I got to work and opened up craigslist to see if any new postings listed any bike and thats when I saw it. There was a 2006 47cm Trek bike (another brand -really good) listed on craiglist for $600. I emailed the link to my coworker and asked his opinion and he said it was a great bike! So I emailed the lady offering her $450. I received an email back saying she'd take my offer! I was SO happy. My coworker couldnt believe the deal I got and he even offered to go pick the bike up for me. So he did and this bike was in perfect condition and was rarely used.

This is my 2006 Trek 2200 WSD - I wish I had the pink but instead i have a Ruby Red which is gorgeous. The lady who sold me the bike gave me her Shimano clip in shoes and pedals which again are hardly used.

So now I have a road bike. YESSSS. That weekend was an Orange Cycle garage sale, so me and my coworker went and I got a matching helmet (yes i'm a nerd), bike pump, computer to keep track of my speed, distance, etc.

To date I've only rode my bike around residential neighborhoods.

Tomorrow Saturday April 5th will be my first "real ride" - I'll post all about it tomorrow.

4-2-2008

I was "bad" today. No Gym for me. Tonight was meet your neighbors at The Vue.

The MOST redic thing happened on the way home. I left work at about 530 or so and take I-4 home. WELL two of the 3 lanes were SHUT DOWN, for like a mile or 2... So yep it took me an hour to get home. I was not happy.

So when I finalllllllly get home I realize it was meet the neighbors night so I went thinking there wouldnt be that many people there. I was so wrong. There were over 100 people there. I met a TON, dont remember anyones names but I had a good time.

So Tomorrow- Tomorrow is Gym day. On a positive note I'm going bike riding on Saturday and the local bike store is having a spring sale so i'm going to check that out on friday. yay!

4-1-2008

Happy April Fools Day!!

So far I havent played any pranks on anyone and have yet to be fooled into anything. The day isnt over so we'll see what happens.

Today was day 2 of my workout. I rode 15 mins on the bike and went 5.75 miles then ran .8 miles immediately after on the treadmill. I have been told to do this since running immediately after biking is a strange feeling on your legs. And it is!! Its almost like your legs are spaghetti.
Feet still hurt but not as much as yesterday so I'm going to conclude that its the shoes and part of the breaking in process.

So far so good.

3-31-2008

So I've decided I really need to focus on this Triathlon....

::Screeech::::

Triathlon you ask ? Ok yes I need to back up and start from the beginning.

So as most know I'm a Public Accountant (see http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Auditor). During the Months of January through March is our busy season where 55+ hour work weeks are mandatory.

During this time, roughly the end of January, I decided I needed something to do (Like work wasnt enough! ha). I noticed on facebook a friend had signed up for a Triathlon and thought there it is there's the thing I want to do.

I started looking up websites about Triathlons, became friends with the file room guy who has done 50+ triathlons, began stalking ebay and craigslist for a "road or Tri Bike". I was doing good despite working crazy hours.

Well then what happened? I was assigned to a new client where it took me an hour to get there. So yep you guessed it when it was quitting time, and after driving an hour home I didnt want to do anything except eat and go to bed.

So here we are today. I am back to "regular" 40 hour work weeks and let me tell you leaving today at 5 was the weirdest feeling in the world. It feels as if you left work at 1. It will only be weird for a few days then I'll remember what its like to work 8-5.

Back to the start of this blog... I need to focus on this Triathlon.
I have not officially signed up for one yet. There was a Tri in May I wanted to do at Disney but have since decided against it. The tri I am wanting to compete in is in July in Clearwater Beach. SO today after work and after eating the last piece of birthday cake in the house, I went to the gym with the I'm going to work out and nothings going to stop me attitude! GO me! I rode the bike for 5 miles and then ran a half mile. I was disappointed in not running my usual mile but I just got new shoes so they need a little bit more breaking in so they dont kill my feet.

Good thing Finish Line is offering a 15 day trial period....because these suckers were killing me. I'm hoping its the fact they are new.