News Flash: I still hate running

Oh hey, what's up lazies? Guess who woke up at 7 am this morning to RUN? No, not you. Yep, this lunatic. I was out there with all my friends, the gnats and the moms. First of all, let me stress how much I hate working out in the morning. A lot. Add in 45 minutes of running before I've had my morning cup of tea and voila! One pissed Irish girl ready to kick babies, yell obscenities at old people and stop at nothing until she gets a shower.

So that was me this morning, running to, around, and back from Lake Harriet. Lucky for me, Minne the Lake Creature is back to lurking around the waters, and I get a cruel kind of satisfaction at watching innocent bystanders round the corner and jump when they see the lake monster smiling sweetly through the tree limbs.

Today was the last week of week 5 and the workouts are increasing in intensity again. I did a 70 minute bike ride to Hopkins, MN and back last night. It was a beautiful outside, around 85 degrees, and my ipod was doing this awesome thing where it kept playing Johnny Cash followed by hip hop, then back to Cash again. I'm not sure how the technology fairy knew how to do that and that it would actually sound appealing to my ears, but I didn't question it.

I elected not to work out on Saturday, choosing instead of get over my Friday night hangover by making these cupcakes and shopping at the outlets. Yum, raspberry coconut cupcakes with cream cheese frosting are manna for a triathlete's soul.

REI Wonderful

So, as you might have inferred from my prior posts, I'm kinda obsessed with REI. Reasons why:
#1. Salespeople there are always nice to me (including the times when I have an attitude)
#2. Products are guaranteed for life
#3. They accept returns on anything
#4. The stores are pretty inside
#5. The stores are never crowded (even in MN, where people are actually willing to spend a lot of money on camping gear)
#6. Good Amazing sales (do I even need to tell you about the one time I got Uggs there for like $20?!)

Ok, those are just a few of the reasons that immediately came to mind. I bet that if I thought about it for a bit more, I could come up with even more reasons I <3 REI (like how the guys that work there are oh, so ruggedly handsome). But ANYWAY, the point of this ramble is that I returned my swimsuit and got a smaller size today. I'm not sure if my suit was no longer fitting well because it stretched, or because I lost weight, but you know what, I didn't even have to fully contemplate the "why" in this scenario, because REI takes back products, no matter what.

Oh, and what is that you say? The store didn't have a smaller size in stock? No problem! They ordered it for me, had it sent to the store, and then I show up a week later, give them the old suit, get a brand new one, and I'm on my way to the pool. Niiiiice! I'm happy to report the new swimsuit fits perfectly, and I had a great pool workout. This week's workouts are increasing again, so today I swam a total of 1,350 meters.

It felt really good to get in the pool and have a solid workout. I let my training fall by the wayside this past weekend and opted for nights out on the town, comedy shows, and beer festivals. But today was the first day of Week 5, and my excitement/anxiety about the race is beginning to grow!

Sky Rats

I was riding my bicycle to work this morning along the Greenway, minding my own beeswax, when I heard the evil screech of a sky rat above me! Pedaling faster to no avail, I soon felt a wet drip on my calf. Yes, that's right readers, your faithful triathlete was shat upon this morning by a maniacal sky rat.

Oh wait, but then what happened? "Spice Up Your Life" came on my ipod, and I instantly forgot the doings of the sky rat and proceeded to have an awesome ride to work. And yes, I still listen to the Spice Girls, and I LOVE IT. Shat was wiped off immediately upon entering the building and making it to the nearest restroom.

Above is a drawing of the sky rat in action.

"I stopped riding bicycles when they stopped making seats big enough for my rear end."

The title of this post derives itself from a comment made by an older gentleman I work with when I mentioned that I was going on a bicycle ride after work. I instantly thought "Oh I've seen people way bigger than you on bicycles," but something kept me from spouting that out, and in retrospect I'm happy that I just laughed nervously instead and returned to my desk. People are so weird.

I completed a quick 35 minute bicycle ride on the Greenway, and honestly, I am having a problem adjusting to this recovery week. After riding for over a hour last week on my bike, 35 minutes seemed so short that I felt vaguely unfulfilled at the end of the ride. But I'm far from an expert on triathlon training, so I'm sticking to this 12 week program come hell or high water. As long as my butt continues to fit in the saddle that is.

Recovery Week

I didn't mention this yesterday, but it was the first day of week 4 in training. Weeks 1-3 flew by, and after the completion of this week, I will be a third of the way to the triathlon! The book calls this week a "recovery week," meaning all my routines decrease in intensity and duration for one week. Today's swim routine decreased to 800 meters, which is 500 meters less than what I swam last week. It felt very easy, and I was in and out of the pool in no time.

On the way out of the gym, I stopped to ask two important questions: when does my current membership expire, and can I go to other YMCA locations with my membership? I need to remember to renew by July 17th, and I found out that I'll be able to work out at the YMCA in PA when I am home over the 4th of July. Awesome!

New Design

And, what do you think of this new blog design? I love that a bicycle design was available!

Sub 30 minute 5K!

Hey there readers! Guess who's favorite triathlete ran her first sub 30 minute 5K this evening? YOURS TRULY! I guess the trick to running faster is to head to Lake Calhoun, alone, around 8:30 pm just as the sun is setting, and then halfway around the lake remember that there was a shooting there just a couple weeks ago. Oh shit. Run faster. Claw the eyes out of anyone who approaches.

Don't worry Mum readers, I made it out of the war zone before it was completely dark and back into the safety of my car. It was then, when I checked my cell phone, that I noticed it was not even 9 pm. I left the car at approximately 8:30 pm and was back by 8:58 pm, which I don't know if you can keep up with the math, but that is less than 30 minutes! My miles thus far have all been around 10 minutes, so this was a really big deal for me. It means that I'm becoming faster and stronger, and I'm going to ANNIHILATE this triathlon and every contestant around me. Ok, I'm getting a little carried away. But really, I am hoping to at least smoke one person, even if that person is 60 years older than me. 70 days until race day!

Bicycle Ride to Hopkins

After work yesterday, I completed a bicycle ride to Hopkins, MN and back. The ride took about 70 minutes, including time spent stopping to take pictures. I wore my bicycle jersey that I purchased at the Microsoft campus when I was in Seattle in March. Actually, Giul and I bought these together - twinsies! As you can see, it's not nerdy at all and obviously something that only very sexy, cool people wear while bicycling.

Anyway, this was the first time I had ridden to Hopkins and back by myself, and I was mildly nervous about getting lost. But with the help of my friend, Lee, I wrote down some detailed directions on a scrap of paper, stuck it in the nifty back pockets of my jersey and was off. I referred to the directions a couple times on the ride, but really they served as a safety blanket, because I was always going the right way and recognized the turns and trail changes from my previous rides.

As evidence of my dedication to this blog, I remembered to bring my camera along for the ride and capture one of my favorite parts. This is a beautiful tunnel on the North Cedar Lake Trail (obviously), and it's a lot of fun to ride a bike through. The temperature drops, you're momentarily sheltered from wind and outside sounds become muffled. It also separates two distinct worlds: the forest you can vaguely see at the other end of the tunnel and a series of baseball fields and starter homes on the other side out of view. The baseball fields were packed last night with kids in uniforms and parents perched on top of coolers. Summer in Minnesota really is one of my favorite times of the year. I mean it's not Christmas or my birthday, but it really is a close third.

Swim swim swimming

My swim workout increased today from 1,100 meters to 1,300 meters, and though the increase was fairly small, I was tired at the end. But not too tired to be eternally grateful that I finished my workout just as a man with a HANDLEBAR mustache and a speedo asked if he could share my lane. Dude, doesn't that thing give you major drag in the water? And I'm not talking about the saggy junk you are so eager to show off.

In other news, I continue to be very satisfied with the training program I'm following in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Triathlon Training. Every time I begin to feel comfortable in a workout, be it running, bicycling, or swimming, the workout increases just enough to bring that challenge back. I love that the workouts are easy to understand, and I trust the authors' advice because they are both Ironmen. In the past, I avoided following workout routines because the instructions were confusing, and I typically forgot what I was supposed to be doing halfway through the workout. That hasn't even happened to me once in the past three weeks of following the 12 week program in this book.

Plus, guess what readers?! In addition to building stamina and muscle, I have also lost weight. I stepped on the scale for the first time since making the decision to sign up for the triathlon, and I have lost seven pounds! It felt awesome to see success in one solid number.

Tomorrow is my "day off" from training. I won't be doing anything in an official capacity, but I'll still ride my bike 12 miles to work and back. I might have to step it up on my ride home to make it to Gigis in time to meet Erin for happy hour. Although, I can't think of many things that are more motivating than a glass of wine with a great friend!

The Night I Won $4

See the horse coming in second? That horse won me four freaking dollars the other night at Canterbury! I know, pretty amazing. I bet you've never heard of anyone cleaning up like that at a race track. Next time I will have to make more of an effort to place bets. Figuring out whether the odds made it worth it to place a bet combined with semi-complicated betting machines made me less than enthusiastic to place bets. Too hard. I just like watching the horses.

I felt vaguely guilty for drinking beer and eating nachos and hotdogs instead of working out that night....nah actually I didn't feel that guilty at all! But I'm back on the path of straight and narrow now. I ran 35 minutes yesterday, and swam laps today. I have been following the swim workouts without adding up the total meter length of each workout, and I realized today that I've been swimming over half a mile already! Horray! A half mile (the length of the swim in the triathlon) is approximately 805 meters. I swam 1,100 meters today, no problem.

Looking back on the workouts from week one, I am already feeling a sense of accomplishment. The first week I swam 800 meters and felt sore and tired. Three weeks and an additional 300 meters later, I'm feeling confident and strong in the pool. I signed up for this triathlon to challenge myself and to have a reason to work out other than being obsessed with losing weight. I still have a long way until race day (78 days!), but I am extremely happy with my decision to sign up and have already seen the positive mental and physical effects of training. It's a good feeling.

The End of Week Two

So today's 40 minute run wrapped up week two of the twelve week training program, and to honest, I was pretty frustrated with my run today. I have felt really comfortable so far progressing with bicycling and swimming, but running continues to be a HUGE hurdle for me, and the hurdle gets bigger as each workout time increases.

I asked Rachael to go running with me today, and I was thrilled when she said yes, because I knew the run would go faster with a friend. Thank god she was there, otherwise I would have stopped a quartile mile in and withered in embarrassment as all the super fit bodies passed me on the running path around Lake Calhoun. I pushed through the workout, and we ended the run stretching in the shade. Stretching is another reason I was grateful for Rachael's company. It feels totally awkward to stretch by myself, vogue-ing it out in front of the rest of the seen-and-be-seen crowd at Calhoun.

Week three begins tomorrow with another 25 minutes in the pool, but that might be prolonged until Friday seeing as how I'm going to Canterbury to bet on horses and drink $3 beers tomorrow after work! And I wonder why I am still having problems running...c'est la vie.



Cheers!