HELP! The tri bug is after me!!!!

I don’t know why, but the race bug has been chewing on me all day. Last year I did not participate in a single triathlon, which is very unlike me. This year I have 4 on the books. The first one for the season is Tri for the Cure (Sprint distance – 500m swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run) and I found out last week that the Weight Watchers leader will be doing that tri too, this will be her very first tri (so excited for her!). Then I have a weekend of races, Rattlesnake Crazy Back to Back – I will do an Olympic (1500m swim, 40k bike, 10k run) on Saturday and a sprint on Sunday. My last one the Harvest Moon Long Course, which will be my second half ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).

The last time I toed the line for the Rattlesnake I was doing the Olympic Distance and my sister was doing to the Sprint Distance. Well, things didn’t quite work out! At the time I did not have a wet suite, no big deal, but that day it was so cold. I was grateful when I got I the water! I completed my swim and froze my way to my bike, I was not going to quit! It had been raining the majority of the morning, shoot, for the better part of the day before! Because it was so cold my sister only had one kid with her to cheer me on and my other kid was at the hotel with my parents. On the bike I could have sworn it was haling at times, but I kept going. At that point I was not learned how to use bike shoes so I was in my running shoes and they were soaked! I kept going. As I headed towards the turnaround point people who had just passed me were coming back the other way, I knew I was not that close to the turn around, they started shouting ‘race is cancelled, turn around’. After a few people said that, I turned around right into the wind. I was a country block away from transition area between cars and I hydroplaned, ON MY BIKE! Luckily the cars were paying VERY close attention and man was I grateful not to be clipped to my bike. I finally made it back to the transition area and there were people everywhere. For those of you who are not triathletes or have never been to a triathlon – non racers are not permitted into the transition area. That day everyone was permitted in to help collect stuff before it got washed away. I was so ecstatic to find out that my sister had loaded my stuff into the truck, had it turned on with the heater going full blast. Turns out she was one of the ones out there trying to save everyone’s stuff. The lightening had started so they had no choice but to cancel the race. The race director was very apologetic about not being able to return money but he did offer everyone some goodies. My sister ended up not doing the sprint the next day because it was still way to cold. It took me a few hours to warm back up. Anyway, hopefully the weather will behave a little better this year for the race weekend!

I am really excited about my tri schedule this year. I have done Tri for the Cure and there is this stupid hill that I thought I would not make it up the first time I did it, once you get up it there is an amazing view. The second time I got up it with little to no troubles and when I made it to the top I slowed down so I could enjoy the views! Harvest Moon is in the same location as the Rattlesnake Tri, I know the area pretty well. The course looks relatively flat and it will be nice to have another half ironman under my belt. All this excitement doesn’t start until August and will be over in September. As I look at my races all I can see is CDA next year. As each day ticks down the more focused I seem to get and I still have well over a year to go!

This Sunday, assuming the weather is good I plan on taking Baby out for her first ride in over a year. I have new shoes that I need to make sure are up to par so I will spend some time riding around the Air Force Academy, an out and back along the main road is 11 miles – good starting point!

Here is to the tri bug!

Mismatched shoes, no towel...

For the most part over the past week I had been really good on the training and eating front. I was pretty excited to go to my Weight Watcher’s meeting last night. Once again, I had a 2.4 pound loss goal set when I walked in.

Wednesday started off kind of sluggish. I knew I was not going to be able to get my workout in until after work, but that meant I would have close to two hours of swimming if I wanted! On the books was 45 – 60 minutes of cross training. Well, my running stuff was in the laundry (to include my workout bras) so getting on the bike was out the window and quite frankly a nice swim sounded so good! So, the pool it was!

Week 2	Miles Scheduled	Miles Completed	Comments
Monday	3 – 3.5	3.5
Tuesday	3 – 3.5	3.5
Wednesday	45 – 60 min cross	40 Minutes
Thursday	4
Friday	45 – 60 min cross
Saturday	5 – 6		St. Patrick’s 5K
Sunday	Rest

I have to say when it comes to workouts this week, things have been a little backwards. Monday was wear mismatched shoes and yesterday was go swimming without a towel! And, no, not having a towel did not stop me! To make matters even more entertaining the guy in the lane next to me, I guess, decided I needed tri swimming practice and hit me every time we swam by me. If it were the guy in the same lane as me, I could understand but not the a$$ hole in the lane next to me! I love Tyr swimsuits, but their goggle suck! Mine kept leaking. But hey, I did a mile in 40 minutes even with all those issues, so I am not to unhappy (that was the first mile I have swam in a while).

After my swim had fun getting dressed while soaking wet, I pulled on some running pants and a t-shirt and headed over to Weight Watchers. I made sure I got the lead (she is so sweet) and found out that she, too, will be doing Tri for the Cure this summer. It is her first triathlon, I am so excited for her! Oh, yea, my weight. Well, I didn’t lose the 2.4 I had hoped for but I did lose 1.4 so I am happy!

Because of the 5K on Saturday I need to move some sessions around. I figured today’s 4-miler will be the 5K (I am sure I can get in an extra .9 on Saturday!), so today I think I will hit the weights (so Friday’s session moves to today). The 6-miler will either need to be tomorrow after work OR on Sunday. Either way I will be able to hit the trails, which is always nice!

Two shoes… a left shoe and a right shoe!

I realized when I am hurting I get more emotional about the whole lupus/RA thing. Saturday afternoon I had to take a nap. I did 5 miles during the group run, felt great; had to make an emergency trip to my eye place because my boys managed to royally screw up my glass; went to my second favorite running store to pick up a few things (picked up more than I had planned); got lunch… normal Saturday activities. We were going to make a few more stops but my body made it very clear I needed to stop. So we went home, I laid down to take a nap and the boys watched CSI, New York. I started hurting while I was sleeping. After about an hour and a half I got up, not feeling great, and headed out to finish up our stops. Sunday morning I had to wear my knee brace. I was so tired and I didn’t feel right. I realized as I was poking around Walmart when I am not feeling right the more emotional I get about my diagnosis. I try not to, but I can’t help it. My sister and I went and saw Beastly while my boys hung out with my parents. It was a great movie, but I almost fell asleep a few times! Oops. Got home and again had to take a nap. We have a cold front moving in and I am thinking that is what is hitting me so hard.

As I said, I did the group run on Saturday, I did a whopping 5 miles! Ooooooo! I took it a lot easier than I needed, but part of me is glad I did. I really enjoyed it (I didn’t have my knee band, so I was a little worried if I had pushed it to hard I would be hurting really bad!). I did my one mile loop, then on to my three mile ‘P’ and then my one mile loop. I have to say, it must have been dogs off leash day. There were so many dogs running all over the place it wasn’t even funny! Some of them earned their off leash privilege, others… not only should they have been on leash their owners should have too!

A reminder to bike riders there are those of us who are cyclists who do not appreciate the fact that you give us a bad name. We behave so cars do not bully us off the street. If you are on a two lane street that has a bike lane GET IN THE BIKE LANE AND DO NOT RIDE TWO ABREAST! I was trying to pass a group of bikers and they were just la-te-da where ever they wanted on the street (with a bike lane). My sister said VERY loudly out the window ‘bike lane!’. Shortly thereafter we had to pass a cyclist (on a very curvy road). I had seen him, before we started wiggling. He changed lanes in front of me, not a big deal I was paying attention. My sister was about to make a comment then I explained he needed to turn and that was probably the only semi straight way he was going to get before the turn (and I was right!).

Two shoes… one left, one right. I know, odd title, that is until I tell you about my run today. As I said I went into my second favorite running store this weekend and had to pick up a few things. My boys royally messed up my glasses (I had them sitting in front of my TV and they knocked them down without paying attention, my glasses fell into a laundry bag and my boys stepped on the bag!). Once my nice vision place fixed them my sister and I decided we needed to go get a better case (one that my sunglasses actually fits into, as well). We went to Boulder Running Company and picked up a Sherpani glasses case (by the way both my normal glasses and my sun glasses can fit in at the same time!!!!!!!). I wondered around a little and found some t-shirts on clearance and a pair of running tights (with pink on them!!) so I picked up a little more than I had planned. Being the amazing kids that they are my boys packed my running bag for me last night. Running bottom – check! Running socks – check! Running booby holder – check! Running shirt – check! Running shoes –Left – check! Right – check! We’re good!

I get down stairs, I get changed, I grab my shoes and off I go to the gymlet (a little yuck to run outside). I put one shoe and as I put the other shoe on I realize they are not a pair! I have two shoes, one left shoe and one right shoe! So yes, I did my 3.5 miles in mismatched shoes!

Adjustments…

As a single mom of two special needs kids, I have to say, I MUST stay flexible! Marathon training is no different!
Sunday I got my 10 miles in (I got to hit my favorite trail and my old Nikes did not let me down). After Saturday’s run I decided I would pass on the P90X workout (Kenpo) for the time being. Once my running legs return to me I might consider adding it back in. Wednesdays are pretty hectic, so I really can’t do my mid-week long run on that day, so that has to be moved. This week running my schedule looks like:
Monday – cross (4 miles)
Tuesday – 3 miles (0)
Wednesday – 5 miles (4 miles)
Thursday – 3 miles (3 miles)
Friday – Rest (rest)
Saturday – 5 miles (5.5 miles [the route I take is about 5.56 miles)
Sunday – 11 miles (11 miles)
I already hit the treadmill today and I am thinking if I am going to get miles in on Mondays I will hit the elliptical machine instead of the treadmill. Next week is a recovery week (surprisingly) for both P90X AND marathon training so I will be hitting play on Saturday and enjoying YogaX, but that is next week!
The P90X training schedule this week is:
Monday – Chest and Back, plus Ab Ripper X (Chest and Back)
Tuesday – Plyometrics (YogaX)
Wednesday – Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X (Shoulders and Arms)
Thursday – YogaX (Plyometrics)
Friday – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X (Legs and Back)
Saturday – Kenpo X (rest or stretch)
Sunday – Rest or X Stretch (rest)
I have to shift my schedule around until the end of October when soccer season has to end. Which of course is the entire first half of training! Excitingly I will be done with this round of P90X by the end of November.
All in all I am happy with how Week 1 turned out. 1 week down, 17 to go! I CAN’T WAIT!!!!

Rubin hold the meat

Last night was an insane night! My older son had a cross country meet and his grade was supposed to start at 4:00 pm, which I have to admit made me a little sad (I don’t get off until 4). I went flying out of work cussing up a storm the entire way since I had NO idea where I was going. I finally get there, and after circling around the parking lot a few times a found a spot! Then I had to figure out where all the kids were! After a nice stroll I not only found them, I also found out that they were running behind! YAY! I get to see my son run. An hour and a half after they were supposed to start. I am very proud of how he did on such a hilly course. As we were leaving he made a comment about hating hills, I told him the reason he feels that way is because he sucks at them, and quite frankly, I hate hills too! So we will start working hills together!
While I was at the meet, I had to call my sister so she could pick up my younger money and bring him to soccer. Being a single mom with two kids in two different activities can be VERY difficult at times! He did make it to practice, he was a few minutes late, but hey, he made it!
After Tyler’s meet we went zooming down the interstate, I WAS going to my Wight Watchers meeting and I WAS going to get weighed! I was to close to my goal not to go! We made it, OK, we were a little late, but we made it! I got on the scale and I could help but “YIPPEE!!!!!” and hop off the scale. Ladies and gentlemen, not only do I get my yoga mat, I get another pair of running socks! I have now lost 10.6 pounds! I have 8.56 pounds until I hit MY next goal (yes, Weight Watchers sets their goals, but I am working off of my goals). After the meeting was over, Kiddo #1 and I headed home (Kiddo #2 and my sister were still at soccer) and I popped in my Day 3 of P90X and away I went.
Knowing I have very weak shoulders (not to mention my neck/shoulder issue) I set up my lightest band and hit play. I did 15 reps of the majority of the exercises, the bicep work I moved up to my 50 pound band, the straight arm lifts I had to get my cheap, I have no idea what weight, band. My goal is Week 3 to be able to use my 30 pound band for those. Once again, I only did 10 reps during the abs. I know next week I will be ready to move up to 15. I realize I will not get the same results as others but starting with a low number of reps, but I am working this program for me!
After that we went to dinner and I just HAD to have a Rubin (without the meat)!!!!! I enjoyed every last bite of it! Today, is elliptical machine (or maybe the bike) and P90X Yoga!
OH! I put in three miles yesterday on the treadmill in my new Asics, I wasn’t as lucky as I had been with my Mizunos. I will give them one more chance before I kick them to the curb (OK, I will wear them as regular street shoes).
Looking back through my blog, according to Weight Watchers my next reward is a new pair of jeans!

Modify, modify, modify!

Happy hump day to all! Thank God August is over! This entire year has been on the rough side, but I think August has taken the cake so far. But, this is a new month and everything will be better!
Yesterday I went to my PT appointment, I have to say, my doc is HOT! But that is neither here nor there. He poked and prodded and OUCH! My nerves and muscles are all knotted and stuck together! He was trying to break apart the nerves (or whatever) and I kept seeing spots and talk about a headache! He gave me stretches and I go back on Friday!
On the P90X front… As I was leaving work yesterday, I was heading down the stairs (I try to use them as often as possible) out of the blue my right knee started SCREAMING at me! Very strange. I got home, I still popped in my workout video (plyometrics) and during the warm up we were doing lunges, my knee made it very clear that we won’t be doing to many lunges. Ok, so I modified it. I kept it 95% low impact, my heart rate still got up there, but not as high as I would have liked it to. This morning my knee is fine. I don’t know! If my body starts talking I WILL listen. I am planning on hitting the treadmill today (in my new Asics) for another easy 3 miler, worst case I walk the whole thing. Actually, really worst case scenario I will get on the treadmill and my knee will let me know that this is not happening. Tonight is Day 3 of P90X and I am feel good, ok, fine, my abs are sore, my arms are sore but it feels amazing!
Tonight is Weight Watchers night. Since I am planning on hitting the treadmill during lunch, I will not have to do my run during soccer practice, so I get to go to MY meeting! I am still hoping for a pound or two loss, so here’s to hoping!

I think it is time to hit the 30 Day Challenge again!

1. Sodas out (ok, I had one this morning)
2. Complete atleast 90% of weekly training mileage (marathon training starts this coming Monday)
3. Miss no more than two P90X workouts

Oh! And August brought a 1 pound loss! (Hey, after that month, I am excited that it isn't an increase!)

I love Nike…

I have to say I have been loyal to Nike running shoes most of my adult life. With that said, I have to confess to cheating on them. I mentioned this before, but last weekend one of the local running stores had a HUGE tent sale, since Kiddo is running cross country we stopped by to get him some shoes and I just so happened to get a new pair too. They didn’t have any Nike’s that were my size. I found a Mizuno version of my shoe and it was less than half of what I usually pay for my Nikes, and you know what? We are in a recession here people! Of course I got them. I took them (and Charlie) for a walk last week (forgot to put my inserts in them) and they felt pretty good, but I was walking and I didn’t have MY inserts in them so I couldn’t really judge them properly. Since they weren’t Nikes, I went back this past weekend to get a Nike+ sensor holder thingy and wouldn’t you know it, they still had some shoes on sale! I found a pair of Asics for $35! Yes, I grabbed them too! Hey, Goofy training starts next weekend and that means I am training for TWO races on the same weekend (well, three cause I am doing the 5K with my family). Now, last time I did Goofy I wore my ‘old’ shoes for the half and my ‘new’ shoes for the full. This time I will spend this season breaking in both pairs and have one for the half and one for the full and not worry about ‘old’ and ‘new’.
Today during lunch I hit the treadmill (because of PT Freddie is learning to go without lunch visits) and did a nice easy 3 miles in my Mizunos WITH my inserts in the AND my Nike+ sensor holder thingy and all I can say is ahhhhhhhhh! My feet felt amazing! Those shoes are so comfortable it is not even funny! I plan on my first two long runs will be in my Nikes, after that they will be retired to yard work or whatever else I need them for. Wednesday will be the new Asics on the treadmill (I keep my Nikes with me in case the new shoes don’t work out, that way I have not ruined my whole workout).
Tonight – P90X, Day 1, again!