Oh! What fun lies ahead???

I saw this and I instantly thought FUN! I am so doing this. It's going on my 5 year plan (soon to be published along with the 1st 30 years of life reflections)

What is the Burrito Union Triathalon you ask??

Go ahead. Click on that picture to read more. Ha! What a challange!

Kickoff Week

This is week one of ten in training for the TC 10. I train for one week per mile. Sounds about right. Last night was my first "official" run.

I felt so good, it felt so right. The sun had set but was still light outside which meant it was the perfect temperature. Even the humidity had somehow gone away. I was rested and hydrated and fed. Should have been stellar.

It was less than. I could have sworn I was going so fast but my avg. pace ended up being 11:01.

Mile 1: 10:48
Mile 2: 10:53
Mile 3 11:19

I still think something might be broken, yet I count it amongst the good runs because:

1. I never contemplated stopping
2. My legs felt fresh
3. I was able to slow down and breath through some side aches without stopping
4. I enjoyed the night.

Torchlight 5K and beyond

Last night was the Torchlight 5k downtown. It's a great run down Hennepin and across the river. Stacks of people in sometimes unbelievable heat and humidity, although last night was quite pleasant. The race itself I loved. I ran a pretty fast first mile (my friend said 9:40 something??) and then we parted ways. I had a side cramp from running faster than usual and that is normal for her so she kept going. I don't know how far or fast I ran because my garmin was off on the mileage. All I know is that I ran a "5K" in 33:40, but according to many other sources it was probably more like 3.4 or 3.5 miles. I logged it as 3.25 and called it good. Which means I ran a not bad race. I liked it anyway. The after race party is a whole other story. I dislike this portion of the race so much that I might just take my cousins to the parade instead next year and watch the runners go by. 5,000 people are crammed into a ridiculously small area all trying to get to water. Not fun. It was a positive experience though.

The beyond part is that my friend and I have for the past two weeks been doing Jillian workouts at 6AM M-Th. (If you've never heard me RAVE about Jillian - LOVE her workouts. Tough, but fair) By Thursday every part of my body aches and I am oh so tired. You can trust that! Last week (Week 1) it took me 3 full days to recover and even on the 3rd day I wasn't 100% ache free. I wouldn't say that I've been feeling exhilarated about doing this, but I feel like I am achieving something. I'm usually left pretty spent by 9PM. I was hoping that by the end of the 2nd week I would be getting into some sort of routine. Actually, I do wake up easier at 5:30 now, but I'm still run through a million excuses as to why I can't go this morning, or how I will make it up later. When will I accept that there is no out. This is what I am doing? Do I need 2 more weeks? Three maybe? I hope to continue running in the mornings when the weight lifting is over so I hope I ditch the excuses because I'll be on my own then; no friend to rely on to make me get going.

Training for the TC 10 begins again next week. I'm pretty excited for it.

Photo Recap - With Commentary

What? Is this the poster of Bo Derek from the movie "10"? No - it's me finishing the swim!







Leaving Transition 1.
I keep hearing the theme from the Wicked Witch of the West here. I feel like I am on a Sunday cruise here on my cross bike while everyone else was hunched in the aerodynamic position on their $5000 Tri Bikes.

Notice how I totally just blew by the guy on crutches! Yeah - and he was doing the Olympic distance. But I caught him!!

Feelin' strong. Almost there......

And the big finish. While I find this picture a tad bit revealing, I'm posting it anyway because hey, that's life. I can't be concerned with making sure my shirt is pulled down in the proper control top position. The shorts are very unforgiving with the muffin top I found out also. But as I said. I was finishing in the zone with a final burst of juice. So all I see is focus and determination and a big fat heart!

There. Now I think I am done reliving the moment.

I Tri-ed!

I Tri-ed and I liked!

I can't tell you how nervous I was before the race and I can't even say why. Maybe it was because the books were talking about placing your shoes in this exact location, and your socks precisely here, and do this just so. And then the announcer lady in the transition area mentioned how much the triathletes have to think about this morning like putting their bike in the gear they want to start in. You've got to be kidding me right??? I skipped that little bit of advice.

We got to the race area about 5:30. This is what Minneapolis looks like at 5:30. A bueat huh?

This is my swim. Out to that buoy way out there between the other buoys.

Not so bad I thought comparing it to the Olympic distance. And speaking of the Olympics, I saw Olympiads racing!! How cool is that! I saw Sarah Haskins and some guy representing Canada, but I won't be cheering for him for obvious reasons. It's going to be mighty fun watching them in Beijing in August.

Right up to the swim I kept thinking "I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe it." In fact until I was up to my neck in water and started to swim I was thinking that. But then, it all went so fast.


The swim left room for much improvement. Mostly I could have swam better, longer but there were so many times where I had to putz around and plan a strategy of how I would get around other swimmers. Plus I could improve my swimming over all. For my next (yes, I said next) I will be working on swimming the most.

The bike was great. I passed a lot of people and was feeling really strong. In fact, my placement in the swim was probably like 79th percentile and for the bike it was like 52nd percentile (or something like that) so I feel confident in that area.

On the run, I told myself to just run for 10 minutes like in training and if you still feel weird, just walk. I made it way past 10 minutes. I walked through the 2nd water stop which was about 1.25 miles in, and then blew through the last one. I ran 10:31 minute miles after all that! I figure that means that I am totally NOT reaching my potential when I run just regular. Sad. I figure I should never be over 11 minute miles unless it is extra hot or I am coming off a particularly grueling run.

It was so much fun, and the thing is I was right. I think I was in relatively good shape to do this so training was not exceptionally hard. The short course was a great distance too. I didn't get in over my head on my first time out. For as good as I felt doing the .4 swim, 15 mile bike and 3.1 mile run, I was glad to not be doing anymore. I think there are a few more short course tris in my future. Maybe an Olympic distance farther down the line, but I would like to stick to this one again because now that I have the experience I know I could do better. And better is not a slam on this event. I did great. I gave it my all and I didn't give in. I'm very pleased with the outcome.
They said in the morning "You came to this race today as a cross trainer. By the end of the day you will be a triathlete." So there you have it folks. I'm a triathlete.

More pics to come.

Pre-Race Recap

I wasn't going to post it because usually I'm about reaching my goal (sometimes time related) not about the actual finish time, but I'm gonna go ahead and post my tri times anyway.

Triathlon Splits

Swim .4 mile
Time: 18:54.0
Pace: 2:56 /100m

Transition #1
Time:5:00.6

Bike 15 miles
Time: 58:32.6
Pace: 15.4MPH

Transition #2
Time: 3:15.2

Run 3 mile
Time: 31:32.1
Pace: 10:31/M

Total time: 1:57:14
Goal time: 2 hours

Me? Nervous?

I just read some last minute articles about race stategies for beginning triathletes and what to do on race day. There is so much to remember! So much I didn't think about. Dang. This is serious business. It's not like a fun 5k. Which somehow I figured for my first time I could just have fun with it. I'm just trying it out; like babysitting. All the fun and none of the resposibility.

With running it's: Garmin - check. Gu - check. Race number - check. K. GO!

With this (what I'm reading) is it will be: Body markings - check. Bike helmet & bike - check. Shoes - check. Socks - check. Towel - check. Sunscreen, sun glasses, body glide, race number, race number belt, gu, water, kitchin sink - check, check and check.

And that's just the equipment!

It's also remembering to not freak out in the water. Steady and composed reaches the beach. Where did I park? Find my bike. Put my shoes on. Fix my hair (I assume this will bother me a bit) Don't forget the sunscreen and the Garmin and the race number. Faster on the second half. Warm up for the first 5 minutes, hit the first hills standing. Where do I park this thing? Ok - now finally. Run. Ah. Just run. Run how I feel. And this is where my heart comes back into it. don't stop, don't stop. Actually it will be - just keep going, keep running. Because I feel positives are better than negatives.

Maybe I should have a checklist at my transition spot for myself. I am kind of a list girl.

So me? Nervous? Nah. I just feel like this:

The final stretch

Well, here I am in the final week before the race. If by 'taper' they mean put on a few pounds, skip your last combo workout and completely rest then I got this last week nailed. GAH! Terrible, horrible, horrible, terrible week! Apparently I love hot dogs as much as I love fireworks.

Tonight is pretty much a colossal waste (in the workout department), but tomorrow. Ah, tomorrow. The sun will come out tomorrow. I'll run and bike and maybe swim, but I'll space it out so's not to work too hard. I am tapering after all.

Should I be nervous? I don't think so. Just because I haven't been following the plan to the letter doesn't mean I won't finish. Confidence not regret is the key.

4th of July Weekend

Send up a flare if you love the 4th of July!

My one friend likes parades.

My other friend likes pirate.

I love, love, L-O-V-E fireworks.

I love how we used to watch fireworks go up one at a time from our backyard when I was a kid. I love watching huge displays with patriotic music. I love shooting off fireworks myself. As a kid we used to sit on my grandma's porch lighting and throwing black cats one after the other and then beg our parents for $1 to go buy another pack. I was probably only 5 (maybe 8); it's a wonder I still have all my fingers and relatively good hearing. Now a days you can't even buy fireworks unless you are 18. Eh - let em blow off a few fingers....it's all part of the experience I say.

I wish I was going to be around to run a 5K this weekend. Sounds fun. Or maybe it just sounds fun because I know it's not an option. That'll happen sometimes. But I do have a plan. It's good to have a plan. I have a plan on how to enjoy the 4th without being disappointed on the scale. I want to have a good time the whole week. The plan is called workout to eat. If I go running both days that I am gone that will give me some extra wiggle room and help with training. It's a win/win.

So before this glorious weekend begins I need to bike, swim, pack, go to the horse track, bike swim, work, buy a card, pack some more, and

Do the Dishes. Suck.

Happy 4th of July!! Hope it's fun all around!

A Needed Rest??

The two Dwarfs that would describe me best right now are Sleepy and Grumpy. Last night I took a nap from 6-8, thinking I would get up by 7:30 for my workout. Instead of getting up at 7:30 I got up at 8 and crawled into bed and slept until this morning. No explanation. No reason. I feel fine. Maybe I have felt a little run down lately, but certainly not sick. Whatever the reason, I feel much more refreshed today, so maybe I just needed the sleep.

It's hard to accept that it's what my body needed without feeling guilty for missing a workout. I'm doing a good job, I just need to remind myself of that. And a hard workout tonight will feel refreshing and put me back on track. I'm gonna let last night go because life is to short to harbor guilt and regret but oh how I hate the could of, should ofs.

Yesterday concludes my 3 days off - well 2.5 really because I did swim on Sunday. It's back to business.