Tuesday Funday

Ok, not really. But I did feel better today on the Cabrillo ride. And I learned a little bit about bike maintenance.

Yesterday I got some chain cleaner and lube. I followed the directions...and it worked! :) Go figure. That was half the battle. My shifters have been acting up lately, and I figured it was something with my cables. My chain fell off my big ring on the ride today; JT was nice enough to stop and help me put it back on. And then he looked at my bike after in his shop. And tightened my cables. But apparently I need new casing and cables. Hmm; maybe a new bike instead? haha

Last night I swam with the masters team right after work. Normally I swim in the morning but I was tired...and figured I'd go after since I only work till 6pm on Mondays. It was awesome! I swam in lane 1, and it was a sprinting workout, which oddly enough they haven't had since I've joined the team. Two times: (4x25 kick, 8x100, 100 easy) The 100s were on pace+5sec, so we went on 1:20. I went a 1:06 on the first one, and almost said oops when I came into the wall. But I was able to hold the pace all the way through the set! We did a bunch of 25s after working on breakouts and sprinting. Wow, it was odd; memories of college were spilling back. Brick workout: I tried to run 15 min after. Hmm, not so fun.

Last week: oh yeah! Aquathon! What a beautiful day. I left work at 4pm (normally work till 7pm on Thursday) and spent my evening at the shores of La Jolla. MMmmm. Smiles. The race was: hard. The swim was supposedly 1000m, but my time was 9:59, obviously the course was a little short. And yet I was I tired. I got kicked and pulled and whacked. And I sprinted the entire way to the first buoy. Then I swam with the same boy the entire way. We held a pretty quick pace, but there were still others in front of us. Transition - breathing heavy. Run - 1st lap = a jog. I couldn't get my legs going. I didn't feel good until the last 1/4th. I did go 2 min faster in the back half. So at least I descended. But descending from a 30min pace to a 28 min finish time just isn't going to cut it. :) I used my new zoot shoes which are ok. I'm not in love with them, but I have to put on some more miles to truly give them a rating. I ran sunday, tues, wed, and thursday in the aquathon last week...4 times! woot!

Friday I got to leave work early again! (yeah for winning contests) It ended up working out great, Mare flew in at 2:00 so I went to pick her up. We went to La Jolla for the friday night cove swim. Again, it was warm enough to not wear a wet suit. It's nice to have swimmer friend company! haha, thanks for coming out Mare, I hope you enjoyed it. We swam to the half mile buoy and back, as well as a little "snorkeling" in the actual caves with my neighbor beforehand (where I nearly lost my $100 earplugs). Then we went to the brewhouse after...and had a little too much fun! It was a hot weekend in San Diego and we had a little fun.

brick

My goal this month (before the next tri club race) is to get more brick workouts in. Trial day #1 went ok. It's Tuesday, which is the Cabrillo bike day from Moment Cycle. The ride is 14-20 miles, depending on how many laps we do down to the tidepools...and back up! It's a tough ride, but well worth the effort. Moment is pretty close to my house, so I bike to and from the ride. Today was 18 miles round trip for me, with 2 laps up the hill. Then I did a 25 min run loop from my house to dog beach to sea world dr and home.

I was tired, and my mood wasn't the usual excitement. Sunday I did a 30 min run and Monday I went to Pilaties at the Y and got my butt kicked! (I think that'll become a part of my regular routine). I haven't been sleeping well lately and I've been getting pretty tired mid-day at work. I really need to shut my eyes sooner in the evening...but with West Coast TV time zones, come on! Jon and Kate plus 8 isn't on until 10pm! :) Hmm, think I need to watch less TV.

Wednesday is masters and a quick run aferwards and Thursday is the aquathon! I'm looking forward to this tri club race at La Jolla Shores on Thursday evening. I'm taking off a couple hours of work. It should be fun; this is my first race with a surf entry. I was a swim buddy at the Encinatis Triathlon, which also had a pretty big surf entry, so I'm confident I'll make it through.

**Visitor note! Yeah! My friend Mare is coming into town this weekend. She is lucky enough to have a pilot for a husband. I was thinking of bringing her to the La Jolla cove swim on Friday night and surfing in OB on Saturday.

June Club Race 08

Hmm, well better than expected. :)
-dropped 4.5 min from last month (not official results)
-most of which was on the bike
-suffered more on the run
-are my back issues back?
-delusional in transition

Swim-mass start oh how I love you. Weed report: hurray! high tide so I didn't touch one weed the entire race. Draft report: a girl was on my a$$ the entire swim and I didn't notice until the last 100 yards...no wonder I felt different. However, my lungs felt great the entire race. My right quad felt tight, which I'm sure I can equate with being a beginner runner-more to come. My left shoulder blade, which has troubled me for 8 years, is starting to bother me again. I think I need to find a chiropractor/massage therapist. The swim finished strong however, and my breathing was under control.

T1 was ok; they moved the timing mats while we were swimming so I was all confused as to where my setup was and where I was supposed to head out. The drafter was out before me, as she had her shoes preclipped on her bike. I'll have to try that out sometime in practice.

Bike-good. I felt better. I felt like I was actually in a race rather than on my Sunday stroll. It took longer for the mass to start passing me. I rode with my chain in the 3rd (big) gear the entire race. Notes: I need to work on my cadence and power=I need to work on my bike. :) My right quad was acting up and my attempts to keep my legs even were not going well. As I learn to understand my legs I'm sure it will only get faster. I also felt like my seat was too low when I was riding on my aero bars. Hmm, maybe JT is right; it's harder to use aero bars on a road bike. I'll have to play around with that adjustment. -side note, I got stuck at a red light for a while...and I didn't in the last race.

T2-are you kidding me? I had no idea where my stuff was as the confusion of the timing mat movement got me again. I think I dumped my bike, ran in a big circle, and then finally found my tie-die towel (I love that home-made towel; go Sioux Girls!). Bethany had caught up with me by this time (stop light fiasco) and so graciously reminded me (and her) to remove our helmets before heading out on the run.

Run-hmm...brick workouts=necessity. Well, running in general is necessary. Seriously, that first mile is, for lack of a better word, a B****! Short strides, long strides, nothing works. It all hurts. Mile 2, better. Ok, I'm getting used to this. Then I feel skin pain in the back of my right ankle; lovely my timing chip is digging into my Achilles tendon, blood, nice. Stop, bend over, adjust, stand up, dizzy, ok now run. :) In the last mile I only let 1 girl pass me (most of them passed me in the first mile). So I tried out her stride (wow was it long!) but couldn't keep up. I did hear someone at the finish, so I put on the afterburners and no one blew past me at the finish line, thank goodness.

T3-food. yummy. nuf said.

So overall, a better race. I finished somewhere in the 10-15th range (i'm guessing) with a bigger field. (14th last race) I was the 2nd person out of the water, 1st female. I swam at the Cove last night without a wetsuit which was cold at first, but it ended up being a great swim. 5 or so women passed me on the bike, and about 5-10 more on the run. I think my quad was acting up because I ran this Wednesday and Thursday morning after masters. Which wouldn't be an issue for a normal runner, but that was the only running I did since the last race. Hmm; motivation? Yes. I'm still figuring out my workout schedule and I realize that I finally have to put in the pain of running to stop having running pains.

And, for the grand finale----ta da! A new bike trainer! Performance was having a huge sale today so Bethany and I headed over to the shop on Midway and found a great deal on the CycleOps fluid trainer. (normally $320, got it for $195) I got it all set up and I'm excited for my first test ride. I told my mom it's my Christmas present. Thanks Santa!

1st Entry

Literally, as I remember my first entry into triathlons and into that ocean water I knew this was for me. Turning at that first bouy, I was hooked. Running out of T1 in my bike shoes there was no turning back. Crossing that finish line, running, after NOT walking for any part of the race meant the world to me. I had ran twice before the race. It was the Spring Super Sprint 2008. I won my agegroup and got 10th overall. So it looks like May 4th has changed my life.

That's the beginning, but not my introduction to triathlons, per say. I had been a member of a triathlon relay team a couple of summers back in high school (as the swimmer of course) in my hometown's local race in northern MN. My boyfriend back then was getting into tri's hardcore, but I didn't think I'd ever do one. I had this stigma that I'm a swimmer, not a runner. And the thought of running 3 miles after biking 12 was not ok.

I went to college, swam for 4 years, moved to Minneapolis and a year later bought my first road bike, with completing a triathlon this summer in the back of my mind. Then I got this crazy idea to move to San Diego. Which brings me to today. I'm here, enjoying the beautiful weather, training for triathlons, pushing myself harder than I thought.

6 days after competing in my first tri, I completed my 2nd triathlon; the Tri Club San Diego May race. It was twice the distance of the Super Sprint, but felt better?? I know that makes no sence, but I actually had a "kick" at the end of the run.

Here I am...running out of the swim - through weeds!!! Yuck!

Hmm, so with a month of training we'll see where this month brings me at the club race tomorrow.

I look forward to attempting to keep up with this blog, with my training and competing.