Summer Is Officially Here!

I went on my usual 45 minute bicycle ride yesterday and the day before that I did a 35 minute run on the treadmill. Both felt pretty good, even the run! The only interesting thing that happened was running into a flock of 20 Canadian geese on my bike ride near Lake of the Isles. Groups of them were gathered on either sides of the path, and I had to cycle through the gamut. I fully expected one of them to snake its head around and snap at my legs, but luckily rider and birds kept to themselves. One would think that this much exercise would be enough for me, and I would spend the rest of the time eating chips and watching Law & Order re-runs, but I have been surprisingly active otherwise.


As promised, here is a picture of the Greenway, my route to school. Riding to work two days a
week gives me an additional 24 miles of road time and time to improve upon my RPMs (revolutions per minute). I have been able to maintain 80 RPMs pretty easily, but getting closer to 90 has been a little difficult. I'm supposed to be between 80 and 100 RPMs, so 80 is by no means a failure, but with a higher RPM I would obviously increase my speed as well.




Today's activities involved a canoe trip to Lake Nokomis with Erin, Caleb, Sogn (the golden retriever) and Jihone. The lake was pretty empty and we found ourselves a nice secluded spot on the beach. At one point, Jihone and I took the canoe out on a little adventure to explore the other areas of the lake. Long story short, after jumping out to swim, he attempted to get back in the canoe...and we flipped. Ha! The canoe filled partially with water, and on our attempt to get back in, the canoe flipped again and filled COMPLETELY with water. Onlookers from the shore began to gather and watch as Jihone and I laughed our heads off and wondered whether this canoe was going to sink to the bottom of the lake. After getting a good laugh in, Erin came to our rescue and helped us swim the canoe to the shore so we could dump it and paddle back to our original location. All's well that ends well right?

Back in the Pool

I drove directly from work to the gym last night to get some laps in before meeting friends at the fabulous Tin Fish for dinner on Lake Calhoun. Normally I swim much later in the evening, and for some odd reason, the compulsive planner in me did not check the lap pool schedule for the earlier times in the day.

I had just finished the work out portion of swimming and had started on my cool down laps, when something happened...swim practice. These little brats took up every lane, and I was forced to dogg it out in the open water portion of the pool. Luckily I only had 200 meters left, so it really wasn't that bad.

Swimming has by far been my favorite portion of training, and I think the biggest reason for that is because I don't sweat. Well, to clarify, I do sweat. It is a cardio workout, people. But I'm not sweaty because I'm underwater. Very unlike the experiences I have running or biking where when I begin to sweat, I quickly start to hate the fact that I have clothes on, or skin, or the world in general. Like today on my bike ride to work. My head was so warm, and I only can push the helmet back so far off my brow until I start to feel guilty and slam it back into place! AND speaking of, I FINALLY remembered to bring my camera, so I'll post a couple pictures of the Greenway tonight.

Rainstorm!

I rode my bicycle home in a complete downpour today. I'm talking all out thunder, lightning, and rain the entire 7 miles. At one point, I was crossing the Stone Arch Bridge when lightning lit up the sky, and I could see clearly (maybe a little too clearly) how fast the water was rushing below.

I usually hate the rain on all occasions, and that is because it's always raining when I need to reach a destination for an event. Example, riding my bike to meet someone for happy hour and it starts raining. Then I show up with crazy hair, generally feeling angry at the world. However, on rare occasions when the only place I am riding is home, I LOVE the rain. I think bicycling in the rain is exciting. I roar through as many puddles as possible, relish in being soaked down to my underwear, and generally just enjoy the overall experience. Tonight's experience was topped off by the fact that I had the foresight to bring my new Cannondale jacket, purchased from the REI Outlet and it was AWESOME. It kept my upper half completely dry and protected from the wind. My arms did feel a little warm, but I think that had a lot to do with the fact that I was wearing a tank top and my bare skin was sweating against the fabric.

I was supposed to run 37 minutes today as part of training. After that ride, I quickly changed (it was 9:15 and my gym closes at 10), drove to the gym in the storm, and ran for eh, 20 minutes before I said eff this I'm tired. I only feel sorta bad for skimping on the run because I did so much bicycling today. But I'm justifying my laziness, which needs to stop immediately. As much as I thought I had fixed my mental block about running, it is still the activity that I dread the most out of the three.

First Transition Workout

So for any of you who don't live in Minneapolis, it was about 90 degrees outside and HUMID. Not exactly the best weather for exercising, but riding a bicycle outdoors is so much different ie, better, than riding a trainer inside, that I waited for the sun to begin to set and headed out on my bike around 7:30.

I keep meaning to stick my camera in the back pocket of my jersey to take some pictures along my ride, and I really wish I would have remembered today! There were a ton of sailboats on Lake Calhoun and cute ducks waddling around everywhere. Plus I saw a family of Canadian geese, little fuzzy yellow babies and all. And some straight-up-off-the-chain-people-watching. Old guy riding his bike without a shirt, stop it. Your nipples are scaring everyone. So, if you can, just imagine that scene, and I promise I'll start remembering to bring my camera on future rides!

Bicycling felt great. I did my usual 45 minute ride around the Chain of the Lakes and then headed home. I stashed my bicycle in my apartment, exchanged my helmet for a headband and was out the door again for a 10 minute run! Running was...eh...not so fun. By this point I had literally sweated through my tank top and was feeling the heat. But I ran for 10 minutes and completed the workout. From what I understand, the running portion was meant to be focused more on becoming comfortable transitioning activities, as opposed to experiencing a great running workout. I have really enjoyed the various workouts in this week's plan, and I'm looking forward to turning up the intensity dial next week.

And, if any of you were wondering, I succumbed to the evil Comcast giant and signed up for internet at my apartment. Downside: no longer sticking it to the man. Upside: regular blog posts!

Days 3, 4, & 5

Friday, Day 3, consisted of a 45 minute bicycle ride around the Chain of Lakes. It was a cool, overcast evening so the trails weren't crowded. After a quick shower, I spent the rest of the evening working on my upper body strength with three games of bowling at Memory Lanes. I could barely shift gears on the drive home, but it worked somehow.

On Saturday, Day 4, I swam laps again, adding one more lap to the warm up and changing the workout to 6 x 100. It was a windy day, so I wore my new jacket on my bike ride to the gym. Sidenote, I didn't buy that jacket from that website, I got it from REI. A totally normal store.

Anyway, swimming felt pretty good. I am still working on bilateral breathing. I breath on my left side, so transitioning to my right has been difficult. But the books I've read have suggested bilateral breathing, because it allows you to sight better when in the water so you don't go off course, which adds time to the swimming phase. Right now I'm adding time because I keep sucking down pool water every time I try to breath on the right side. I'm hoping balance will happen at some point soon. Also, chlorine makes my hair feel like sheep wool. Solutions?

Today was Day 5, and guess what I did today? Nothing! Day 5 was a resting day. Pfffff. This triathlon training is going to be a freaking breeze. I am the best at resting. I had brunch with some awesome friends at the Herkimer and drank wonderful beer brewed by Gustavo. Then I watched 30 Rock and The Office, and THEN went to Rachael's house and ate delicious grilled cheeseburgers. Day 5 resting - check!

And, as a special treat for reading until the end of this post, here is a picture of my new favorite dinosaur: Protosaurus. Photographed at the Field Museum in Chicago.

Day 2: Not so great of a run

Today's training regiment called for 30 minutes of running. Piece of cake, I thought to myself. A quick run around Lake Calhoun, and I'll call it a day. Yeah, right.

It was hot. It was humid. A bug got in my eye. My crappy shorts that I've had since high school kept riding up. And I kept getting stomach craps, which I know are a direct result of not drinking enough water today, for which I can only blame myself. Augh. Not enjoyable. I thought I would be over these sorts of things by now, but today was just proof that I still have a long way to go before August 22nd. I stopped to walk 3 times, but then forced myself to run the hills on my way home, so I think it evened out.

But you know what, readers? This will NOT get me down. First of all, today was also the first day of my summer job, and I had an absolutely wonderful day and am so happy to be working there this summer. Second of all, I had an even better hair day! And yes, having a great hair day really is THAT big of a deal for me. So bring on the challenges triathlon gods! I am owning this summer.

First Official Day of Training

It begins today: Week 1, Day 1, of the 12 week training program I am following to prepare for the triathlon. I'm really excited to begin a strict training regiment, because I think it will provide structure to what has been a very unstructured work out routine.

I swam laps today and did the following work out:
4 x 50 warm up
6 x 75 workout
6 x 25 cool down

Swimming felt great! I was able to keep a nice pace and finished the workout in about the twenty minute time span that the book indicated. My arms are a little sore, but I think that will wear off by tomorrow.

And best of all, I managed to get to the pool at a time when there weren't a lot of other lap swimmers, and I got my own lane! I know, I know, I should be prepared for swimming in a group seeing as how I will be swimming en mass in Lake Phalen during the triathlon, but I'm just not ready for human contact yet. When I am swimming and someone brushes against my arm, I tend to use my former lifeguarding skills to knock them unconscious in an effort to survive. Nevermind that we're in a lap lane no deeper than 12 feet, I'm fighting for my life here people! So as you can imagine, its better for everyone when I get my own lane.