I can't believe it! Race Week is HERE!
Got an email from the race organizers tonight and it has me totally pumped for Saturday.
Swam in my wetsuit for the first time on Tuesday, will get another practice swim in it today. Feels very different! Buoyancy is wild, much easier to keep good body position. I think it was cutting 4 seconds off of every 25 yards, that's pretty significant over the course of 820 yards.
Actually looking forward to the swim portion of the race. It still isn't my best event by any stretch but I feel like I have made the most improvement there so am excited to be "tested" by the race conditions.
Will be posting how things go on race day, I hope, here and on FB. Phone is synced to both of them so will depend on how busy Heather is with the kids.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Cool App and a Good Run
Heather has a cooler phone than I do.
I can admit it. My manliness isn't threatened by it.
I am just glad she lets me play with it once in a while.
Her phone, the Droid, has lots and lots of apps that can be downloaded and used on the phone. I was looking around on it for something that could log my runs using the GPS. Success! JogTracker!
Took it with me and found out a route I was enjoying running was 4.4 miles. Good to know.
Now I just have to convince her to let me take it with me more often.
Wish me luck!
I can admit it. My manliness isn't threatened by it.
I am just glad she lets me play with it once in a while.
Her phone, the Droid, has lots and lots of apps that can be downloaded and used on the phone. I was looking around on it for something that could log my runs using the GPS. Success! JogTracker!
Took it with me and found out a route I was enjoying running was 4.4 miles. Good to know.
Now I just have to convince her to let me take it with me more often.
Wish me luck!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
That Dog Won't Hunt!
So, I have a dog. Australian shepherd to be exact. 5 years old. Overweight. And mentally ill.
You think I'm kidding? Exaggerating, maybe? Au contraire. My groomer thinks he is too. Lucky for me it is the good kind of mentally ill. Oh, there is a good kind, make no mistake. Anyway, the virtues of my mentally ill canine are for another time. What happened today, however, shocked me.
Max is an Australian Shepherd, as I mentioned. These are working dogs that love to run and play and have fun. Despite his mental illness, Max likes these things too. Normally, I get the leash out and it is all I can do to calm him down enough to get the darn thing on his collar. Today, not so much. So, we get out the door and head to the woods. Max LOVES the woods. Lots to pee on in the woods. TONS to pee on in the woods. He is happiest when he is peeing on things so the woods are Disneyland. When we are in the woods, he is off leash. He pees, then catches up. (He may be fat but he is still and Aussie and can run faster than spit in a tornado.) This works fine and I can run as fast as I want and know that he will not be far behind.
Today, for whatever reason, he decides that running through the woods isn't his thing. From the get-go he wasn't keeping up. But I ran on, called him, and he came. We saw some people in the woods and he wouldn't go past them. Sigh, there's that mental illness I was talking about. We get past that huge obstacle in his psyche and head out again. Get to our first creek crossing and he won't cross. Finally, after squatting down and making that sickly sweet baby voice you use when you really want your dog to behave, he came. I put him on leash and he ran right next to me the rest of the run. Slowed me down in the woods cuz the trail is really on person wide but other than that, didn't really resist running. It was weird! I had never seen Max act that way about going for a run before. He is normally so enthusiastic.
Maybe he remembered the other day when, at the end of the run, he was wheezing and hacking far worse than I was. I did say he was fat, right? I can't always take him with me on my runs so he doesn't get the exercise he needs, but we are working on that. I love having him with me on my runs and hope that we don't have a repeat of today. I love having him running through the woods ahead of me or behind me, off leash, just the two fat guys in the family out pounding it out.
You think I'm kidding? Exaggerating, maybe? Au contraire. My groomer thinks he is too. Lucky for me it is the good kind of mentally ill. Oh, there is a good kind, make no mistake. Anyway, the virtues of my mentally ill canine are for another time. What happened today, however, shocked me.
Max is an Australian Shepherd, as I mentioned. These are working dogs that love to run and play and have fun. Despite his mental illness, Max likes these things too. Normally, I get the leash out and it is all I can do to calm him down enough to get the darn thing on his collar. Today, not so much. So, we get out the door and head to the woods. Max LOVES the woods. Lots to pee on in the woods. TONS to pee on in the woods. He is happiest when he is peeing on things so the woods are Disneyland. When we are in the woods, he is off leash. He pees, then catches up. (He may be fat but he is still and Aussie and can run faster than spit in a tornado.) This works fine and I can run as fast as I want and know that he will not be far behind.
Today, for whatever reason, he decides that running through the woods isn't his thing. From the get-go he wasn't keeping up. But I ran on, called him, and he came. We saw some people in the woods and he wouldn't go past them. Sigh, there's that mental illness I was talking about. We get past that huge obstacle in his psyche and head out again. Get to our first creek crossing and he won't cross. Finally, after squatting down and making that sickly sweet baby voice you use when you really want your dog to behave, he came. I put him on leash and he ran right next to me the rest of the run. Slowed me down in the woods cuz the trail is really on person wide but other than that, didn't really resist running. It was weird! I had never seen Max act that way about going for a run before. He is normally so enthusiastic.
Maybe he remembered the other day when, at the end of the run, he was wheezing and hacking far worse than I was. I did say he was fat, right? I can't always take him with me on my runs so he doesn't get the exercise he needs, but we are working on that. I love having him with me on my runs and hope that we don't have a repeat of today. I love having him running through the woods ahead of me or behind me, off leash, just the two fat guys in the family out pounding it out.
Only picture I had on my laptop but that's Max!
I highly recommend taking a dog along with you on a run. Especially if you can let them off leash to run with you in the woods!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Was that a Fish in the Pool?
Whoa! I don't know what happened. I don't know how it happened. I don't know why it happened. All I know is that it happened. Today, while doing my swim workout, I cranked out 825 yards (approximately 750 meters) in 16:11:49. I couldn't believe it when I looked at my watch. Now, it is possible that I was off by 50 yards and had only done 775 yards. If that were the case then you would need to tack on about a minute to that time. But I don't think I miscounted the laps. The swim felt good today.
I decided to run before getting in the pool so did about 17 minutes (15 min run and 2 min cooldown) on the treadmill before heading into the pool. Did 100 yards of warm-up with a lot of rest (4.5 min) then decided it was time to get it done. Had to so I could be back home to help get the girls off to school. Away I went.
Today was different. I could feel myself pulling myself through the water. I could actually feel some speed at times. Normally I claw my way through the water without feeling like I am really making forward progress. There is lots of movement but not much propulsion, if you know what I mean.
So, overall, things were good! Happy with the swim and looking forward to getting faster these last couple of weeks before the competition. Maybe that 15 min mark during the swim really is within my reach... only time will tell.
I decided to run before getting in the pool so did about 17 minutes (15 min run and 2 min cooldown) on the treadmill before heading into the pool. Did 100 yards of warm-up with a lot of rest (4.5 min) then decided it was time to get it done. Had to so I could be back home to help get the girls off to school. Away I went.
Today was different. I could feel myself pulling myself through the water. I could actually feel some speed at times. Normally I claw my way through the water without feeling like I am really making forward progress. There is lots of movement but not much propulsion, if you know what I mean.
So, overall, things were good! Happy with the swim and looking forward to getting faster these last couple of weeks before the competition. Maybe that 15 min mark during the swim really is within my reach... only time will tell.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Way to Go!
Blaine and Theresa completed their first triathlon on Saturday and both felt great and are looking forward to doing more! Congratulations!!
Woo Hoo!
Woo Hoo!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Back at it!
So, after more than a week of NO training (Yeah, I know, that's just not the way to get ready for a triathlon but it was OM State competition for my oldest and then Spring Break filled with family time. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it!) I was back in training this week. Things feel pretty good and I am really confident that finishing the race is very doable at this point. My new goal is to finish everything in less than 1:45:00. I think that for a first race, that is a good goal. Looking at the standings from last year for the 37 year-old guys, many of them were finishing less than 1:30:00 so I would definitely be at the back of the pack for the age group. The fastest overall time was 1:04:11 and the slowest time was 2:07:05 for the men (ok, one slower than that at 2:34:34 but I consider that an outlier). If I were to get under my time then I would be placing 227 or better according to last year. Current registrations for the race are at about 185 men and some won't show so I am really looking at being one of the last to finish. But, hey, first triathlon, not my last one, so I am going to do my best for under 1:45:00 and call it good.
My sister, Theresa and her husband, Blaine, are competing in their first triathlon this weekend! I am eager to hear how they do and am sending forth good racing vibes for them to do well! Go Theresa and Blaine!!
Oh, and my training log on this page gets updated more than I write a post. That doesn't notify people when it is updated so if you want to check it out, come back often.
My sister, Theresa and her husband, Blaine, are competing in their first triathlon this weekend! I am eager to hear how they do and am sending forth good racing vibes for them to do well! Go Theresa and Blaine!!
Oh, and my training log on this page gets updated more than I write a post. That doesn't notify people when it is updated so if you want to check it out, come back often.
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