Triathlon Training

2010 Season Begins!

2010-01-08T11:31:00.003-06:00

Ok, so its barely double-digits here in Minnesota (below zero if you consider the windchill, but who's counting!) so I won't be out on the bike any time soon, but I'm at least mentally preparing for the season- and finishing off the Christmas cookies in a last-ditch effort to absorb as much chocolate as possible before the actual season kickoff on February 6th when I'll have to actually watch what I eat (swimming with a gob of chocolate in your belly is not fun- this I learned from experience).

This year I will be competing in the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon on July 10. Also, my role with TNT has shifted a bit- this year I have the pleasure of volunteering as a team mentor. I've taken on the responsibility of helping ensure success for a group of about 12 TNT'ers. What that means is, that although I won't be asking for donations directly; there will be several fundraising opportunities around the town between now and July I would LOVE to see you at. Details TBA! Financial contributions wont be turned away, though- contact me to find out how you can help.

Happy training!

Better late than never- the race report!

2009-07-06T20:02:00.003-05:00

At long last, the exciting report you've all been waiting for.

Night Before
Headed to the pre-race meeting, where I was pleased to hear that due to cooler normal water temperatures for the time of year (61 degrees), the swim might be cut back 1-200 yards. SCORE! This gave me something hopeful for my night's sleep.

After the meeting, I headed to Bonefish Grill in Loveland with some of the team for some grub. They had the most amazing sounding specials, but too rich for the night before a race. Calamari, crab cakes, and fish tacos also tempted my palete. I opted for something more practical: grilled salmon with garlic mashed potatoes.

After dinner I headed to the hotel to re-inventory all my race supplies and laid out clothes, breakfast, etc. for the morning. I hadn't really been nervous about anything up until this point, but I suddenly felt I had a lot to remember. I ended up putting on my timing chip and sleeping with it on (goes around the ankle ona plastic band), I figured if everything else went wrong, at least I'd still have a race time.

Lights out was at 10:00 PM. I think I woke up every hour, almost on the hour- and checked the time. I had the craziest dreams too- one was that my timing chip fell off overnight, and I left it in the hotel room sheets. Another was that I kept entering and leaving the transition areas the wrong way.

Race Morning
4:00 am... was the time my alarm was scheduled to go of. I actually got up at 3:50 AM, because I was awake. I went through my instant oatmeal and water routine, skipped the banana- got dressed, and headed out the door.

5:00 am... arrived at transition, and assembled my bike. I had both wheels and the seat off so it would fit in my hatchback and not be visible in my car overnight. At this point, I realized assembling everything right before the race was a stupid idea- not much time to fix anything that went wrong. Fortunately, all went well- I affixed my race numbers to my helmet, bike, race jersey... and was off.

5:30 am... Transition area opened, and I picked out a sweet spot right by the bike starting line. A few of my TNT teammates managed to get a spot nearby, also.

6:10 am... got a warm-up jog and some stretching in, stuffed myself into my wet suit, and am down by the water doing a few warm-up laps. Water felt pretty good- not as cold as they said friday night, so unfortunately I was in for the full 1500m swim. :(

Swim! (1500 m, or .9 miles)
6:35 am I was in the second wave swimming my little arms off (waves are predetermined groups for the starting line, usually a few different age groups matched up for equal-sized starts. They were a few minutes apart, and there were several waves behind me. Each wave is given a different color swim cap so you know approximately who you are racing against). Despite my apprehensions about the swim, it wasn't so bad! I wasn't swimming fast by any means, but when I'd turn my head to breathe I could see others around me with white swim caps- so I knew I wasn't the slowest! I did see swimmers from two different waves behind me pass me, and it was a bit of a rush when the wave behind would come flying past.

I SHOULD have looked closer at the course for the swim because I thought I had one more turn to go, when in fact I was almost to the finish line, and probably would have pushed a bit harder to the finish. Lesson learned!

Transition 1: Swim to Bike
Coming out of the water I could see my cheerleading squad on shore (thanks, friends!!) which was a huge motivation. I took off running (we had a .25 mile jog back to transition) when the world started spinning, and I had to walk it. Unfortunately this little jog/walk adventure was tacked onto my swim time.

Transition went fairly smooth, I had no problem getting out of the wet suit- but I did have a problem getting my race singlet on. Based on the recommendation of other racers, I opted not to wear it in for the swim(they were supposedly not true race singlets and didn't dry very well)- Plus, I didn't have a race belt (to hold my race number for the run) so I tacked the number to my jersey, and was afraid it would tear if wet. I had a problem getting it on over my WET self. Another lesson learned!

Bike (30 mi)
This was the moment I'd been waiting for! I had ridden the race route the week before, and not only is it incredibly scenic, but just hilly enough to be FUN. I had already decided no matter ho choppy the water was, or how badly my swim went, I was so excited to get to the bike ride nothing would stop me.

About a mile in when I got my pace going, I slowed for half a powerbar. As I was gulping that down, one of the race photographers on the course snaped a shot. Crap!

Nothing too eventful to report from the bike ride. Some really impressive riders out there- and many people on Mountain Bikes probably doing their first triathlon. I did pass several riders in my age group, and got into a bit of a heat with a girl in my age group the last few miles. I tried not to get too competitive as I didn't want to burn my legs out for the run- but I did come in ahead of her :)

Transition 2: Bike to Run
This transition was easy... xcept for some reason it wasn't too fast. I think it took me longer to get my socks on than I anicipated, but I wasn't going to buy sockles shoes for my first race. Oh well.

Run - 10k (6.2 mi)
As I started on the rn (.5 miles in?) there was a park restroom- and I elected to spend the 1 minute to run in and out than risk having to go on the race course. Plus, that minute wasn't going to cost me a win, anyway.

The run was an out and back , ut about a half mile longer on the "back" part. There were aidstations (water and gatorade) just about every mile. I skipped the first one, because I had a pretty good groove going. Tried to get a little water down at all of them. About a quarter-mile after the turn-around, I started having to take little powerwalk brakes, as my legs were starting to lock up. I started counting strides, and every 50 strides I'd walk 5. Mostly I was using this system to make myself keep running, but also get a bit of a break in. At what I thought was the second to last aid station, I decided to grab a gatorade intead of water - bad idea - - this was THE strongest gatorade I have tasted in my entire life. It must hve been 2x the recommended potency,and nearly made me gag. Too late, I'd already run past that station- and unfortunately it was the last (not second to last). I had to finish the race with that horrible flavor in my mouth. UGH!

Either way, I finished with a smile on my face, and feeling pretty good!

Reflection
Training for this event, I was looking forward to finishing the race, and fulfilling the promise I made to those who pledged support for me. There were a few moments during the race (especially the swim) where my motivation to push a little harder and go a little faster came from the patients themselves- people I don't even know. They go through so much pain and suffering- just to live, a few months of training and a few hours racing is absolutely nothing compared to that. I have made not only met a personal goal by becoming a triathlete this summer, but been a part of an important mission: to eradicate blood cancer. With your help, over $100,000.00 was raised just in the Rocky Mountain Chapter.

Results
Clock Time 03:21:47
Overall Place 453 / 623
Gender Place 146 / 259
Division Place 26 / 38
Swim 00:36:18
Trans1 00:02:37
Bike 01:41:16
Trans2 00:02:16
Run 00:59:19
Swmrnk 479
Bkrnk 427
Mph 17.7
Rnrnk 466
Pace 00:09:34

Questions from "fans"

2009-06-09T11:18:00.004-05:00

How is the training?
Is that a trick question? :) Its been a lot of fun. Without the motivation of a good cause and support of my team, friends and family it would have been a much longer road.

How many hours per day are you training?
Depending on the activity, anywhere from an hour to a couple hours (on brick or "bike/run" or "bike/swim" days.) Training has been 6 days a week. Some days are hard workout days, others are "recovery" or light work-out days.

Is it now consuming you?
Yes!

What will you eat the morning of the event?
I'll tell you my secret training fuel: Oatmeal with broken walnuts and dried cranberries, and a banana. Also, big glass of water!

How much food will you try to consume for fuel that day?
The race begins at about 7 AM, so my oatmeal and banana is all I will eat before the event. During the event I will be drinking Gu20 (basically like gatorade), consuming a few energy gels, and probably a powerbar while on my bike. To keep my energy level up, I need to consume about 200 calories per hour during the race. The race will take about three hours.

How long a recovery period is there following the race?
Well, that's a good question, I'm not really sure how I will feel after the race. Probably pretty exhausted on Saturday, and sore/muscle fatigued on Sunday.

As many of you know (or if you don't know- you will now!) I'm moving back to Minnesota the end of the month. So, I plan on relaxing on Sunday following the race, and hitting the road on Monday. I think I'll probably be pretty busy during the following week, but am considering getting back to training and doing another (shorter distance) triathlon this fall.

Final Training Week!

2009-06-09T11:08:00.003-05:00

This is my final week to do any serious training. Next week leading up to the race, I'll primarily be doing light work-outs to keep my muscles active and lose. Since its the last week, I almost feel inclined to over-train (kind of like cramming for a test!) as I know its my last chance to make any improvements before race day. I know that's a bad idea, though...

Practice Triathlon
Last saturday our team had a practice triathlon:
500m swim
15 mi bike
2 mi run

complete with a transition area, and times. I'm sorry to say I do not know what my final time was - BUT, I can tell you I felt pretty good. We did have wind gusts of 20-30 miles an hour, so the bike ride was pretty brutal in some spots, but swimming in the open water was surprisingly okay. I think the wind may have actually worked in my favor a bit on the bike ride, as my average was a bit faster than the same route the previous week.

Despite having been a fair-weather person in the past, I've trained in some pretty ugly conditions this season, and feel like I'm ready for about anything that comes at me on race day.

By the time I got to the run, my legs were a bit tired, and I kept wondering how I'll feel after I have swam 3x as far, and biked 2x as far... unfortunately I won't be able to "do" the tri before I actually do it, so it will be a bit of a surprise!!

Sunday morning I am planning to head up to Loveland and bike the race route, so I'll have an idea what it looks like.

Thanks to...
Nate B
Donna Z
for your generous contributions this week!

Chatfield Reservoir Swim

2009-05-27T22:58:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning was time for our first open water swim!

After a bit of a pep talk from the coaches, I started feeling kind of nervous. Going into the day, I wasn't nervous at all, feeling pretty confident in my swimming skills. I hadn't really considered that there is no line on the bottom of the lake telling me which direction is "straight" and when I'm almost to the turn.

The first couple hundred yards I was having a really difficult time sighting (looking ahead when I breathe), and it was difficult seeing in the water, and I kept running into people. I eventually relaxed into my stroke, though. I never did get the swimming straight part down very well. Sighting seems to take a lot of extra energy and disrupts the flow of my stroke and breath. Hopefully a few more open water swims (we have 2) and some practice sighting in the pool will help. Swimming in little "S" curves is taking a lot of extra meters, too!

The coaches had us do a couple practice race starts, and in one round I took an elbow pretty hard to the eye. Fortunately, no black eye, though! It did get pretty vicious out there around the turns. Although I had "heard" what an open water swim was like, I'm really thankful we have the opportunity to get out there a few times and see what its really like. If I'd had my first open water swim at the triathlon, I probably would have drowned from shock!

The reservoir was just under 60 degrees, thank goodness for wetsuits! After the initial rush of water into my suit warmed up, it was actually a fine temperature for our swim!

Wrapping things up
Yesterday we received our final schedule for the season: we have two more weeks of hard training, one week of taper (light activity leading up to the event, just enough to keep your muscles active and lose), and its officially RACE DAY!

I'm still enjoying training, learning and gaining a lot- but 6 days a week (10-15 hours a week) of training is starting to wear on me. I'm looking forward to competing in another triathlon this season while I'm still so active- but probably a sprint distance (about half the distance of the one I'm doing). That seems to be a happy medium between an achievable distance for my usual level of activity, yet still a challenge.

Thanks To...
Audra R
for your contribution!

Time Flies!

2009-05-20T08:54:00.001-05:00

Wow! I can't believe that I'm already in week 15 of training. Only 4 more weeks to go, and it will be competition time!

I've been truly amazed at the outpouring of support, both financial and emotional.

I am really starting to feel prepared. Most Saturdays we have been having brick workouts (bike + run), which is good training for the hardest transition in a triathlon: the bike to run. The beginning of June we'll have a practice triathlon: swim, bike, run to practice our transitions.

If you're unfamiliar, in a triathlon "transition" refers to the preparation between legs of the race. As you are timed from the start of the swim to the end of the run, time that is spent putting on running shoes, getting on the bike, etc. is all clocked as race time. The idea is to have as quick and smooth of transition as possible.

My mom asked me an interesting question the other day- something to the effect of how do you change/what do you wear? Well, you wear the same thing for the entire race. "Tri" shorts and top, which are made from a quick-drying material. You wear this under your wet suit, on the bike, and on the run.

Wetsuits are In!
Last week we picked up our wetsuits, and I took it for a lap in the pool. What an amazing difference it makes with buoyancy. It does feel a bit "tight" around the shoulders and arms, so I suppose the energy you save in one aspect you expend in another.

This Saturday we have our first open water swim at the reservoir in Chatfield Park. Water is going to be cold! Hope to snap some pics of this training for an update.

Thanks to...
Stenseth & Samuelson, Ltd.
Noodles & Company

Where have I been?

2009-05-05T17:01:00.005-05:00

Stepped away from the blogging world to pursue some serious training!

At the end of May we'll start open water swims- waters will still be cold, but we will be braving it with wetsuits! Maybe some fuel to swim a little faster and keep warm?

A few weeks ago we had our first brick workout (bike + run) that consisted of: 14 mile bike, 2 mile run, 14 mile bike, 2 mile run. The weather was drizzly and chilly, but we braved it anyway! It seems it has been about 2 months since we have had nice weather on a Saturday, and unfortunately those are our longest training days.

I continue to feel more confident every day, both in my abilities and team-wide accomplishments. So many great ideas and people have pulled together to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, its really amazing. Dog washes, garage sales, online auctions, Rockies Ticket sales, and much more. I'm pleased to announce that the Rocky Mountain Chapter is nearing the $100,000 fundraising mark!

Where is it going?
As of June 2008, LLS was supporting 388 research projects and 9 research contracts in the U.S., Canada, and 14 other countries. LLS also provides financial assistance to patients; sponsors scientific conferences around the country; produces educational materials and videos; and runs dozens of Family Support Groups nationwide. Because we receive no federal funding, we depend on you for continued support of these needed programs.

Thanks to...
Aaron W
Mary & David M

Fuji Professionl 2.0 Review

2009-05-05T16:58:00.002-05:00

By Lauren from Denver, CO on 5/5/2009
Your rating: 4 stars
Headline: Great ride!

Pros : Comfortable, Fast, Responsive, Lightweight, Good Geometry, Handles Well
Cons : Uncomfortable Seat
Best Uses : Serious Training, Exercising
Describe Yourself : Avid Cyclist

I'm a 5' tall female, and purchased the 44cm. After comparing the geometry to a WSD bike I owned, the differences were insignificant, and the few parts I needed to swap out were not a big deal, considering the value I got here for the money.

I do not find much of a performance or comfort difference on 700 versus 650 wheels on a bike in this small size, and am pleased to have a bike with more wheel options.

My Review of Nike+ Women's Air Pegasus 25 Running Shoe

2009-05-05T16:48:00.001-05:00

The Sports Authority

The Nike®+ Air Pegasus 25 is a women's running shoe designed specifically for women. The shoe features a women's crash pad and women's Fitsole, ensuring an exceptionally comfortable, cushioned ride. 360° overlays in the mesh construction deliver stability and support, while th...

2 seasons on this shoe so far...

Lauren Denver, CO 5/5/2009

Sizing: Feels true to size

Width: Feels true to width

Pros: Durable, Comfortable, Flexible, Lightweight, Absorbs Shock, Attractive Design

Best Uses: Running, Pavement, Endurance Training

Describe Yourself: Competitive Athlete

Arch Type: Low Arch

This is my second season running with this shoe. I am a very mild pronator, but it offers just enough support without throwing my knees out of whack (which is a frequent issue I have had with shoes with specific pronator support).

I have narrow feet, and am able to cinch it down comfortably.

I will say that being a cushion-y shoe, it takes some breaking in (wearing down) of the padding, that causes slight tingling/numbness in the toes until you get a few miles in them. Gradually incorporate them, and you'll be fine!

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My Review of Pearl Izumi Infinity Jacket - Women's - '07 Closeout

2009-05-05T16:41:00.003-05:00

REI

The women's Pearl Izumi Infinity jacket offers excellent performance for cool-weather aerobic activities.

Best gear I got this season!

laurenr Denver, CO 5/5/2009

Gift: No

Sizing: Feels full size too small

Pros: Lightweight, Stylish, Comfortable

Cons: Doesn't Breathe

Best Uses: Running, Cycling

Describe Yourself: Conditioning Exerciser

Best purchase I made to add to my cycling gear this season. Its light weight for warmer but breezy days, yet doesn't let a lot of wind through on cooler ones (works great with a base layer).

It doesn't breathe well, so expect a lot of condensation if its warm enough you're working up a sweat.

I would say it runs about a size small, but has a great fit once you find the right size.

Bloggable

2009-04-08T15:49:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday the forecast was for 12" of snow by day's end. When I woke up for my practice, the ground was a bit wet, not much falling from the sky, and overall it looked ok. I set out on an adventure to the meet-up point, and by the time I arrived... SURPRISE! Freezing sleet pelting my face.

Out of the (60?) athletes between TnT and another club we train with, there were 7 people who actually ran that day, and I was one of them. I will never, ever, ever.... run on ice again. It was basically a 1-hour trot, where I only covered about 4 miles. I'm happy to say, I didn't fall.

I can say I'm getting over my dislike of training in bad weather, after all-- 27 degrees and sleet in the face is a big step in that direction.

GREAT NEWS!
I have reached and exceeded my 35% goal for re-commitment (35% of funds must be raised by 4/14 in order to continue with Team in Training. Why? Because I'm an expense of time and other resources in terms of completing the Tri, so I need to keep up with my commitment.)

I am, in fact, at 55% of funds raised!

Thanks this week to Andy S., who is a total rockstar!!

Tonight, I have a fundraiser with a local Noodles & CO (25% of proceeds benefit the cause) and am optimistic it will be a success.

Its a battlefield out there!

2009-04-03T13:56:00.002-05:00

Last night I had my midpoint in training swim assessment, 750m, or 15 full laps.

There were quite a few people being assessed, and the lane was packed- bumper to bumper swimmers. It was really difficult to get my rhythm down, and with that many people, I was really getting some water sloshed in the mouth when I was breathing. Welcome to what a triathlon will feel like, except nobody was pawing over drowning me.

At one point, another swimmer jumped in the lane in front of me- and was the slowest ever. Now, I know I'm not a fast swimmer- far from claiming to be. But after following for about 4 laps (and stalling at the wall a bit- which is bad etiquette) I could not possibly swim that slow and hold my form. No matter how much lead I gave, I still ended up swimming on their feet.

I was so frustrated, I passed in the middle of a lap- also BAD etiquette, and a BAD idea... I pushed pretty hard to pull past him, which was a success! But, it burnt me out pretty good for a couple laps after that. Ah well, now I know.

Fortunately many of the swimmers were assessing for a shorter race- and only doing 400m, so about half-way through they cleared out.

I managed to do 90% of the assessment freestyle (front crawl) and only back-stroked for a recovery for about two lengths. Not bad, for me.

I'm excited to say, despite all my fretting about the assessment I did fine! Needed a bit of recovery after, and keeping up with the crowd for the rest of practice was a bit of a struggle on tired arms, but its a huge accomplishment, and just more fuel for my fire to keep on working hard- its paying off!

I'm sad to say I didn't time it, so I don't have a good sense of my speed on the swim yet, but the point is- I'm having a good time.

Thanks to...
Sarah L
Don S
Karen & Doug S.

I'm proud to say I am almost half way toward my fundraising goal thanks to your generous support.

Group Fundraising Ideas
I'm sad to say I have had three corporate sponsored fundraising ideas shot down, and one for my Team in Training mentor group canceled. I think the economy is getting the better of some companies that would otherwise be able to support my organization. If you have any great ideas about a group idea I could do in my community or at work, please let me know!

CAUTION: Men at work.

2009-03-27T08:34:00.001-05:00

Yesterday the city of Denver was in a blizzard warning. I didn't see anything come down that resembled a blizzard- just a lot of snow. In fact, for the first half of the day, the snow wasn't even sticking to the ground. (It eventually did, which caused a bit of an ice beneath the snow, but hey-- that's winter!)

Being from the midwest, I'm pretty accustomed to getting dumped on with snow, and dealing with it.

The city of Denver... PANICS! At 1:00 I left my office intending to go to a tax appointment (canceled), then work the afternoon from home to beat the snowy rush hour. Little did I know, the entire city of Denver had the same idea. It took me 2 hours, 45 minutes to get home, simply because there were so many cars on the road, and a few were stuck. I was stuck in a solid jam for an hour (only went .5 miles from work) and couldn't even turn around to go back, because it was bumper-to-bumper in all directions.

Why am I giving you a weather and traffic report?
Because I tried, really tried to be good and get my training in yesterday (despite our group swim being canceled)-- to no avail. After getting some work done at home, I ventured back out to go to a nearby rec center and get some much needed swimming in. As I suspected, CLOSED due to weather. So, I turned to reliable "24-hour fitness"-- CLOSED due to weather. (At this point, it hadn't hardly snowed in several hours- frustrating!). So, my third and final attempt: to go to the gym at my apartment complex and at least get a few miles on the treadmill.

.... My gym card didn't work (after having received not one, but TWO replacements from the management). After waiting by the door hoping someone would come in or out, I went home.

I ended my day with ice cream and Grey's Anatomy.

Men At Work
The alarm rang at 5:45 AM today. I immediately called 24-Hour Fitness to see if they had re-opened. Indeed! Grabbed my suit, and off to the gym.

I was pleased to see only 3 cars in the parking lot- and had the entire pool to myself!

But, wait.. the frustration never ends. About 15 minutes into my swim, a maintenance guy came through to clean the women's locker room, and put up a "Caution: Men at Work" sign. After 45 minutes (when my swim practice was over!) there was still a worker in there (frankly, 6-7am seems to be a very inconvenient time to clean the locker room, considering the pre-work gym crowd). As I contemplated if I should just go in and do my thing (gotta get to work!) I threw on a few more laps, and decided to hop in the sauna to dry off, so I could just through on my sweats and go home without changing.

When I finally got into the locker room, there were several women-- no worker guy to be found.

What?!

But, its going well.
At risk of sounding completely cranky about the last few days, swim is going really well. Just going to keep making those sets longer, and keep my fingers crossed for the assessment next week!

Swim Assessment

2009-03-23T09:42:00.005-05:00

750m in two weeks?!
Well, I goofed. I could have had three weeks from now to prepare for my swim assessment (a mid-point in training where our swim skills are assessed, and could possibly be moved to a shorter distance event if performance is sub-par!). I goofed because I booked a flight to Minneapolis on April 9th right after work, which is the second of two weeks I could have done the assessment, so I only have two weeks from now instead of three..

The assessment is 750m (16 laps down and back) which is half the distance (1500m) I will need to complete for the triathlon in June.

Breaking bad habits.
After last Thursday's group swim, I felt like the pieces were finally coming together. I've essentially been re-learning to swim (I already had the basics down- kicking the legs, moving the arms, breathing), only now I'm learning to do it with proper form to improve function.

The first three bad habits I'm working to break:

Lifting my head too high to breathe. I need to get used to only lifting it high enough to take a breath out of half my mouth. This is a strange feeling, with water splashing up on half your face/a bit in your mouth, and giving a quick feeling of "omg! I'm drowning!"
Kicking too fast. I do drills with swim fins on, to help me focus on stroke/prevent me from tiring out too quickly. Once I take the swim fins off, I seem to kick twice as fast, trying to "keep up", which tires me out quickly.
Cross-over stroke. When I learned to swim (front-crawl) I was taught to bring my arms toward the center of my head when entering the water. This is acutally an un-natural extension of the arm. I should be entering the water with my arm directly above the shoulder (like you raise your hand in class). This is more natural, and gives more power to the stroke.

Once I get more of a handle on the above, I'll be working to improve my breath control. Currently I'm rotating between having to breathe every three and sometimes every other stroke. I really suck at breathing on my right-hand side, so I'm working on that too. If I need a breath, I shouldn't be waiting till my stroke comes around to take a breath on the left.

The next 2 weeks I'll be foregoing most of my other workouts (except the group ones) to get in the pool 3-4 times a week, and after that 2-3 times for the rest of the season to keep improving.

The biggest thing keeping me out of the pool now is not apprehension about my performance, but rather, my fitness center has only two lanes which are usually busy, and people are a bit snippy about sharing a lane. It's real discouraging.

Saturday morning I skipped the group ride in Boulder (I'm getting over a cold), slept in, and in the afternoon I braved the pool- and to my amazement, found it pretty empty. I got in a solid 20 minutes of drills/warm-up- then swam 400m (8 laps, down and back) without stopping! WOO HOO! I'm excited to have a good base to work off of. A little over half-way through, I did have to back stroke 25m, though. 400m took me about 15 minutes, which isn't a bad starting point. I ended the day with another 15 minutes of drills.

March Madness

2009-03-12T21:51:00.001-05:00

So now that March is here, I've had a jam packed schedule full of visitors (getting in their last-minute skiing before the mountains thaw!) and its been difficult for me to get much training in, let a lone focus to update my blog.

I feel a little guilty, like I should be getting up at 5am and hitting the gym to leave my evenings free for fun & adventures with guests, but putting in a bit later hours socializing leaves me tired in the morning!

Its a struggle some weeks to achieve a healthy balance between life and training (and the season has barely begun!). Being healthy is already a part of my lifestyle, but making sure I am putting in the time to really succeed is entirely different. Hat's off to people who are training harder, longer, and accomplishing even more than I!

Despite feeling a little guilty, I realize the importance of achieving a healthy life/training balance, and despite being a motivated, dedicated person by nature (i.e. not a quitter!) I want to make sure I don't burn-out.

Swim Days
Last Thursday marked the first swim day with the group. As you keep hearing, I was pretty apprehensive. After having an hour to train with the team and learn some drills (have I mentioned how fabulous my coaches are?!) I feel equipped with tools for success. I'm basically re-learning to swim, and kicking some life-long bad habits. I feel that may be more difficult than breath control and increasing endurance.

I have to say, though- with daylight savings time now, its so difficult to get out of bed when its incredibly dark- and jumping in a cold pool is one of the last things on my mind! I'm finding that a half hour here and there after an evening workout is working well. As I increase my abilities and time in the pool, I'll have to work something else out.

THANKS to...
Brenner S.
Caldwell's
Deb & Hal
Libby V.
Sawyer's
Frank N.
Grandma & Grandpa
Jan H.

I'm proud to say, my total fund raising so far is just over the $1,000 mark! Almost half-way there!
If you mailed in a check, it will take a few days to register on-line.

A Frozen Bike Ride

2009-03-02T08:07:00.003-06:00

Saturday morning was our first group ride. We met at Cherry Creek State Park just south of Denver, and it was approximately 29 degrees (but fortunately sunny) when we took off.

I haven't invested in a lot of cold-weather gear (winter is my ski season, not bike season!), so I bundled up with what I had. When I got to the park, I discovered it wasn't quite enough... and opted to wear my fleece over everything, despite looking a little "Fred" with it flapping in the breeze and causing some major wind resistance.

The recommended riding time was 45 minutes for short course triathletes (me) or 60 for long-course participants. After 45 minutes, I wasn't burnt out by any means- but with feet frozen solid, I packed it up and called it a day. I've decided that temps below 40 degrees on my bike are NOT for me!!

Leader of the Pack
My average speed for the day was only 15.5 mph, and I wasn't pushing my hardest- astoundingly, I was leading the entire group. I started out toward the back, and just kept passing people until I found myself at the front of the group (having little clue where I was going). There was one other guy at the front with me, (a team coach) and we were several lengths in front of the next-fastest riders. I have been working hard at spin classes and keeping my legs strong throughout the winter but I have to say, I was completely dumbfounded. It was only a 12-ish mile ride, and I am NOT a pack-leader. Either way-- I'll take it!

Cherry Creek State park was absolutely beautiful! It was a sunny and clear day, and one of the most amazing views of the Rockies I have seen since I've been in Denver. I didn't have my camera that day, but nabbed this photo off the 'net to give you an idea of the scenery.

BIG THANKS to...
Barb F
Linda A
Bill & Dorothy J
Cheryl & John S
Mary E
Mary Jo & Jake N
Maureen B
Jason C
For your contributions this past week! Checks that have been mailed in will appear on my account in a few weeks. For those of you wondering where I'm at, approximately $850!

I also want to thank early contributors... before I even started rolling with this blog:
Jon & Anne G
Kelly G
Jesse L
Jon B

Make do with what you have.

2009-02-23T23:08:00.006-06:00

In a typical week (as in, not training for this triathlon) if I forgot something "critical" to my workout, I might just skip the gym (or opt for something like Yoga instead).

A couple weeks ago I forgot my gloves (and it was pretty cold outside).
I also could not find my fleece-lined running tights
On Sunday I forgot my mp3 player, and I was running on the treadmill (icy outside)--It was pretty much 50 minutes of pure, tortured boredom!
Today, I forgot socks again (squishy shoes, ew!). I've also made do several times with dress socks (geeky!)
I also forgot a sweat towel today and went to the hardest spin class in a long time-- it was literally a steam bath in there (we fogged up all the mirrors), and I went through half a dozen paper towels instead.

Fortunately, I haven't forgotten anything really critical, like running shoes for a run day.

My new tactic: to pack up a gym bag with several pairs of socks, towels, sports bras, etc. basically for the week, and hope its all in there. I'll be in big trouble if I start forgetting my swim suit for pool days. Eek!

One thing I have to learn is that you can't always pick the conditions. I don't like running in the rain, the snow, below 30 degrees, or above 75. But, I can't pick the conditions on race-day. It might be 83, pouring rain, and if I forget my sports bra, I guess its going to be a wild ride.

BIG Thanks to...
Signe & Jerry J
Kari S
Helen Z
Linda & Bernie H
Dave & Wendy K
for your contributions!

**donations mailed in by check will appear on my account 2 weeks (or more!) after I've received them.

March is Coming!

2009-02-23T22:59:00.004-06:00

We received the March training schedule today: big pick-up in pace, and a lot I have to learn! In about 2 weeks I'll be jumping in the pool for the first time. I'm excited, and nervous. A little thought in the back of my mind is telling me maybe I'm really good at swimming, I just don't know it yet! Who knows, it could be my un-tapped talent....

Maybe not.

At any rate, there was a slight panic when I received the schedule, as I will have visitors for nearly the first two weeks of March (the 6 - 18!) and will be missing quite a bit of activity. I emailed the coach right away with some changes I made for her to review, and she responded:

"Don't worry about missing some things this early. No problem at all. I would say to focus on your weaknesses when you do have time to work out during that busy 2 weeks. So, decide which sport is really your weakest and make sure you get those workouts in."

Whew, a bit of relief, but I'm still going to do what I can to keep pace.

I would post a sample of the schedule, but it's an 8-page word doc, if that gives you an idea :)

Run, Run, RUN!

2009-02-18T07:54:00.001-06:00

I'm on my second week of base training for TNT, and so far so good. Our weekly schedule includes 3 runs, 2 bike days, and 2 days of rest. I spent my day of rest on Sunday skiing pretty hard at Keystone, which has made my legs a little more burnt out going into this week.

This morning I intended to get up early for spin (alarm rings at 4:50 AM!), but opted to rest up a little longer. I'll be heading in after work, instead. Its typically very difficult to get into the 5:30 AM spin classes at my gym, so its necessary to get there at least a half hour early to get a spot. I prefer getting a morning workout in, which gives me more time after work to relax, cook and eat better food (instead of scrambling for something quick after an evening workout!) and just generally gets my day going on the right foot.

I find that getting up at 4:50 am on Monday makes it easier to do the rest of the week...

So far Tuesday runs have been my favorite. We start with an easy jog, stretching, and 15 minutes or so of polymetrics. After that, we do a 30-45 minute timed interval workout (so far I've been pumping out around 30-40 minutes). I'm not sure I'm completely adjusted to the altitude, and have not been working as hard at staying fit over the winter. Glad I started training early to get a solid base in! My miles have been quite slow (haven't really been timing myself here since I moved from MN). I'm trying to be patient with my body. Come April if things aren't going as I hope, I'll be getting really frustrated!

Corporate Matching
Please check if your employer offers matching donations!

BIG THANKS to...
Mom
Sol M
Sue P
for your donations this week!

Starting off the season!

2009-02-09T08:35:00.001-06:00

The Kick-off Event
Saturday morning I headed downtown for the Denver-area kick off event. There were several hundred participants in the room- with a total fundraising goal of $750,000! That's a pretty phenomenal amount. TNT trains athletes for run/walk events, hiking, biking and triathlon events. By far, the largest group were the run/walk, and the smallest were the hikers. There was one guy on his 12th season with the TNT program, and several on their 5th or more!

There were some great stories shared by people who have or are currently battling forms of blood cancer. I learned about a cancer treatment drug (oral chemotherapy) called Gleevac, which has been developed largely due to the support the Leukemia & Lymphoma society has provided. It's a pill that targets cancer cells (not the good ones!) has fewer side effects and offers a greater quality of life for cancer patients than radiation therapy. It was pretty amazing to hear stories from marathon runners who are taking this drug every day, and living strong.

We are organized into groups of about a dozen people training for the same kind of event (triathlon) with a team mentor to keep us motivated, and help guide us.

I scored my first TNT schwag: a dryfit shirt and some socks. I'm thinking I might e-bay these items, and donate the cash to my cause.

I also turned in 75 fundraising letters to be mailed soon by TNT (so, if you haven't gotten a request for support, don't worry!-- you will soon!). These letters were a serious labor of love! Due to frustrations with my printer, I ended up hand addressing (and return addressing all of them--ouch), and after several occasions upon which I nearly threw my printer off the balcony as well as multiple trips to the ink store, I finally got the letters printed, folded, stuffed, and sealed. Whew!

Training
We received a "pre-season" training schedule to get us up and moving. Ironically, this schedule is less-intense than my current standard workout regime, so I'm started off on a good track.

I feel like I should get in the pool at least once a week for the next few weeks to get ready for our group swims. Starting in March we'll be swimming once a week with the tri group with the guidance of our coaches. (Embarrassingly it's probably been about 6 months since I've jumped in the pool.) I'm so apprehensive about the swim- its never been something I've done for anything besides recreation, and occasionally fitness. I have a feeling I'll have a lot of work to do!

I also picked up a pair of sweet new swim goggles to help encourage me to get in the water.

Below is a sample week (increasing in intensity a bit every week)- click to view it larger. In the left-hand column of my blog you can see my training for the week, so please hound me if you see I'm not meeting these guidelines!! :) Today is the first group run at Washington Park in Denver, I'm excited!

Kick off the season!

2009-02-02T22:36:00.000-06:00

Updates are slowly rolling in: the official TNT kickoff is this Saturday, February 7th in Denver. We'll have a group rally, meet others training for the same event, and get rolling with a training schedule provided by our coaching team.

I had planned to kick of my season on Sunday with a brick workout (bike/run), but unfortunately I had a pretty rough day skiing on Saturday, and only got a short jog in. I think I might have a mild strain, and will be taking it easy this week :(

A huge thank-you to supporters who have made a contribution already. Big thanks, and many hugs. Its going to be a long, tough road ahead both for training and fund raising this summer, and its so encouraging to see people involved already! I realize times are tough- if you can't make a contribution I still need your support! I can never have too many cheerleaders.

What the heck is an "Olympic Tri?"
A few people have asked me this. It is an Olympic distance Triathlon (swim, bike run-- always in that order), consisting of a .9 mile swim, 30 mile bike, and 10k run. You can view the official website for the event here.

Time Goals
A few people have asked me what my goal is for time to complete the event. Being my first triathlon, I'm primarly training just to cross the finish line for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

For those of you that may know, I'm not much of a swimmer. In fact, that's the part of this event I am the most apprehensive about. Mid-April is what TnT calls a "re-commitment date" (requiring 35% of your fundraising goal to be met to continue with the program). At that time, I plan to set a goal for time. The cutoff for the event is 4.5 hours.

Need Your Support!

2009-01-26T23:23:00.000-06:00

As some of you already know, I've signed up for the Loveland Lake to Lake Olympic Triathlon on June 20. Its been a goal of mine to compete an event of this nature for some time, but lacking knowledge (and occasionally motivation!) to get going with training, I joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program. Team In Training is a non-profit organization dedicated to the eradication of blood cancers, including all forms of Leukemia and Lymphoma. They bring together a team of coaches, mentors, and other local team members like myself to help me reach my goal.

In exchange for their support, I made a personal commitment to raise $2,400 prior to the event. All donations are 100% tax deductible-- and my primary reason for selecting this program: 75% of funds raised go directly to research the causes and treatments for blood cancers.

I'm prepared for the challenge ahead- completing a triathlon takes a great deal of time and dedication. I realize my challenge is NOTHING compared to the mental and physical challenge individuals with cancer face every day. I look forward to crossing the finish line for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society-- purple shirt and all. And for those of you who know how much I dislike the color purple, its a big deal I'll be wearing that :)

Stay tuned to my blog for updates on training and fund raising. I can't do this without your enthusiasm, caring, and financial pledge.

Make a Pledge >

Sponsorship
I'd love nothing more than to have a corporate sponsor: someone to match funds raised (it doesn't have to be a 100% match, even up to a certain dollar amount would be AMAZING!). I have a few ideas for how to make your sponsorship worthwhile, including trading some web or graphic design services. Let me know if you're interested.