Bike Adventure

Today was the first day in a LONG time that riding outside was possible.  A dear friend of mine, Mary Sunshine, planned an afternoon ride from Miami Whitewater Forest with a few cycling buddies, and I really wanted to tag along!  But I also had to go downtown to the Flying Pig Expo to pick up my race packet for Sunday's half marathon.  If I drove to the park, rode for a couple hours, then drove downtown, parked, went through the expo, and drove home in rush hour traffic, I figured that I would have wasted 2 hours in the car and nearly 3 gallons of gas.  So instead, I plotted a route and rode my bike downtown to the expo.  It was quite an adventure!

I headed south and west to Glendale first, so I could return some laces to Bob Roncker's Running Spot, something I've been meaning to do for months.  From there, I rode down to my old stomping grounds in Hartwell and picked up on the Monday Night Recovery Ride route, which I've ridden several times with the Cincinnati Cycle Club.  I knew the roads were less congested, and I really enjoyed the portion of my ride on Este and Spring Grove.  Getting into downtown was easy, too, and I loved that I could just hop up on the sidewalk if I needed to go the opposite direction on a one-way road. :-)

As soon as I got into the convention center, a lady at the first packet pick-up table offered to watch my bike if I wanted to leave it there by her table.  Perfect!  I walked through the expo, picked up my bib number and timing chip, got a few free goodies and some info on other races, then headed across town to meet Derek.  It worked out perfectly that the bag they gave out this year was a backpack: it was a piece of cake to ride over to Derek's office building.  It was fun to visit with him for a few minutes, and nice that I didn't have to carry my bag of goodies all the way home.

To get home, I decided to just head straight up Reading Rd./Rt. 42.  It was a straight shot, but it took me through a few not-no-nice neighborhoods, and there were a lot more cars on that road and at that time (2:30-3:30ish).  Oh well, I won't be intimidated.  I made it home safely, and really enjoyed my little adventure.  I also calculated that I saved about $15 today by not driving all over town, plus it was a great workout.  Win-win-win!

Thwarted Again!

The plan tonight was to run four miles with my Fleet Feet group, then maybe hit the gym for a quick mile or mile-and-a-half swim since I picked up a shift and couldn't go earlier in the day.  But...  It was storming again and no one wanted to run in the rain.  I stood around and socialized with some friends at the store, and eventually it stopped raining long enough for three of us to get a short 2.2-mile run in before the rain picked back up.  Most people had already left, though, or didn't feel like risking it with the storm clouds still looming.  I'm glad I ran, even if it was only 25 minutes, especially because I gave up on the swim after waiting around so long.  Oh, well.  Embrace the taper!

Spin and Lift

Too much rain!!!  Riding outdoors hasn't been possible lately, and swimming is hit or miss depending on what storms are blowing through.  So tonight I hit the gym for a spin class, followed by lifting upper body and abs.  It was crowded!  I got one of the last few spin bikes, in the back row, though I usually prefer the front.  Then, since there weren't any benches available in the free weight section, I brought over a stability ball to do my lifting on.  It worked well, and I'm glad I did it, even though I really didn't feel like staying after spinning.

Tapering

So, the Flying Pig isn't my main event by any means, but I've been training for it with an awesome group at Fleet Feet Cincinnati.  Mostly, I signed up for the training program to hold me accountable for running three times a week, which it has.  It also makes running a lot more fun.

Recently, we began our taper leading up to this Sunday's race.  But since I'm only running the half marathon, which isn't very intimidating since I just did one in March, I've mostly used this "taper" period to add more cycling and swimming.  Maybe that's not the intended purpose of the taper, but I'm loving it!

Tonight, we only ran about 3.5 miles, which feels like nothing after all the training we've been doing.  But it's nice to still feel fresh when we're finished and to get home a bit earlier!

Late Swim

Glad I got it in, even if it was a late night!

Warm-up
1 x 400     Free - loosen
3 x 200     Pull - B-3, 4, 5, 6 x 50

Main set
1 x 400     Free - build x 100
1 x 400     Kick w/fins
2 x 200     Free - build x 50
2 x 200     Kick w/fins
4 x 100     Free - build x 25

Warm-down
1 x 200     Easy

Total: 3200 m (2 mi) in 1:15

Only 79 Miles

I've been planning for days to wrap up my week with a post titled "81 Miles," but alas, I have fallen short.  I never did get my second 2-mile swim in, so I only logged 79 total swim, bike, and run miles.  Not too shabby!  But when I think about the fact that I have to go nearly twice that far in ONE DAY come November 5, I get a little worried and start wondering again exactly what I've gotten myself into...

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It was storming all night, and still raining at 6:30 this morning when my alarm went off for my run with Fleet Feet.  I wasn't looking forward to running in the rain, but even more than that, I was just too exhausted to get up then since I stayed up too late reading last night.  So I slept in, and planned to run and/or swim later in the morning or early afternoon.  When I got up, I curled up with my book and just read.  Finally, at 1:00, I forced myself to go out for a run.  It wasn't really raining at that point, though the clouds still looked ominous and I knew more rain was coming.  I only needed a little more than 1 hour for my 6-mile run, though, so I was hopeful when I headed out.  I ran from my condo down to the trail around the lake at Sharon Woods, then around the lake twice and home.  6.2 miles I believe, in 1:13.  I was pretty wet by the time I got back, partially from sweating in the 100%-humidity, 70-degree weather, but also because it started raining again halfway around the lake the second time.  Oh, well.  The run (and the rain) actually felt pretty good!  And I'm glad I got my workout in. :-)

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to swim to make up for missing Friday, but with more storms in the forecast, I'm not sure if it'll happen or not...

Thwarted!

Rather than waking up early to go swim this morning, I decided to get some much-needed rest and swim this afternoon instead.  Well, afternoon turned to evening, and by then it was storming pretty good and the pool at the gym was closed.  I called back after the storm had passed, but they said it was closed for the evening.  Boo!  So I missed my first workout of the week, and I'm not sure I can fit it in later this weekend.  We shall see...

Brick-ish

So, today I wanted to try out the next route I'm planning to lead for the Cycle Club at Lifetime Fitness.  I didn't get started till 2:15, and the 33-mile route took me 2 hours and 22 minutes, an average of only 14 mph!  It was a bit cold and windy, and the route was a lot hillier than I expected, but I'm still not sure why it took me quite that long...  Oh, well, it was still a good workout, and I was just glad to be out on the only sunny day in the foreseeable future.

I got home at about 5:30 after a quick stop at Kroger (and Taco Bell, if you must know), then needed to leave for Fleet Feet 30 minutes later.  I wasn't too worried about the run since we've started our taper and were only scheduled to run 4 miles tonight.  I love taper time!  My legs felt a little tired and heavy when we started out, but it wasn't too bad.  Mostly I just liked feeling like a triathlete again with my sort-of brick workout today.

One more swim and one more run till my rest day Easter Sunday...  All sorts of wonderful to look forward to!

It's Working!

I worked hard yesterday.  An hour-long spin class, an hour-long yoga class, an hour plus run, plus I worked for hours writing three articles for Yahoo Sports about running and cycling, which kept me up till past 1 a.m.  Needless to say, I was sleepy this morning.  So after I got Derek off to work, I went back to bed and didn't get up till 10:30 or so.  Nice!  Except that I was supposed to swim early and spend the rest of the day painting our office, the only room left and the only thing keeping me from packing up all the painting supplies and putting our dining room back in order.  But I digress...

Yeah, so I was tired and feeling lazy, plus my upper body and abs were (and still are) sore from my workout yesterday.  I watched T.V. and cuddled with the cat all afternoon, and really didn't feel like going to the gym at all.  But I already announced that I was swimming today, so I made myself go.  And I'm glad I did!  I wasn't feeling it at first, but I felt pretty good after my warm-up.  This was my workout:

Warm-up
1 x 3 x 400     Swim/kick/pull x 400
Main set
3 x 3 x 200     1st - Free pace
                      2nd - Kick w/fins
                      3rd - Free pace
Cool-down
1 x 1 x 200     Easy

Total: 3200 meters (approx. 2 miles) in 1 hour 14 minutes.  Not bad!

Good Start!

I was almost 10 minutes late to my spinning class yesterday, but I still got in a good 50 minutes on the bike.  After that, I headed over to yoga, which seemed a little easier than the last time I went, though I'm definitely sore again today.  Even my abs are sore since I did my little 8-minute abs routine after yoga.  Feels good!  Last night, I also ran with my Fleet Feet group, 6 miles in 1:09.  It was way too warm and humid for me!  Given that, and the fact that I'd already worked out 2 hours earlier, I was quite pleased with our 11:30 min/mi pace.  Anyway, back to bed now before my swim today...

Rest Day

I was actually planning on swimming tonight while the hubby went to the library to work on school stuff, but when he couldn't do what he needed to do there tonight, I used the excuse to just take a rest day instead.  Not that I was really in need of a rest day after a pretty relaxing weekend, but I just wasn't really feeling it.  I'm off work the rest of the week, too, so I have plenty of time to get some good workouts in.  Here's my plan:

Tuesday - Spin and yoga in the morning, run with my Fleet Feet training group in the evening.
Wednesday - Swim early so I can paint our office the rest of the day.
Thursday - Ride outside, weather permitting, in the afternoon, run with Fleet Feet in the evening.
Friday - Swim and yoga in the morning.
Saturday - Run with Fleet Feet early.
Sunday - Rest.

Here's hoping that putting this out there makes me actually do it all!

You WILL Do This

I first saw this video in the fall of 2008, two years before I signed up for the event.  It brought tears to my eyes, and I knew when I watched it that I would one day have to try it for myself.

Committed

Definition 1: "Bound or obligated."  Last November, as I sat watching the Ironman Florida race online, I decided that if I was ever going to do this thing, it would have to be soon.  And so, when the general registration opened the next day, I was poised, credit card in hand, ready to sign the next year of my life away.

Definition 2: "Dedicated, determined."  I know I'll never set any records or anything, but I do want to prove to myself that I can accomplish this grandiose goal.  And I am determined.  When I set my mind to something, I do it.  I could definitely use a more structured training plan, but regardless, I will get there.

Definition 3: "Placed in a mental institution."  Yes, some people will question my sanity in embarking on this adventure.  Heck, I question my own sanity at times!  I mean, this race is going to take me 15+ hours to complete.  And I'm paying THEM to "let me" do it?!?  Crazy...  So, why again?  Basically just to see if I can.

So, I signed up for this thing 5+ months ago.  My plan was to spend the first 3 months losing the weight I need to lose in order to make it a bit easier on my body to go the distance, then really start training more seriously come spring.  Well, spring is here, and unfortunately, so is the weight I wanted to lose.  Time is quickly getting away from me, and I can't put off training any longer.  So I'm doing what I can to fuel my body properly and get more strategic with my training, but it's not easy.  I feel rather lost without a coach or anyone to train with, but I'll have to learn to push myself.  I'm hoping this blog will help motivate me to plan more purposefully and to complete the workouts I schedule, and I think it'll be a valuable tool and memoir as I approach and complete this goal.  Wish me luck!