Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Halfway through 2009

Wow! Where the heck did the first half of 2009 go? Here's a look at this past month's statistics!

June Stats:
Swim - 18,000M
................ 6,700M in May
Bike - 127.78 miles.......... 92.09 miles in May
Run - 30.31 miles.......... 31.54 miles in May



Some other random stats...
  • 7 rest days
  • 11 days of volleyball - about 16.5 hours
  • 3 days of softball - about 6 hours
  • 1 game of soccer - almost 2 hours

Given the fact that I thought I had another near knee injury, my running looks pretty decent. And considering that I nearly tripled my swim stats and bumped up my bike miles by 35, I am pretty pleased all around!

It kind of bugs me that I have only done 2 events in 2009, a 5K & and the Tour De Cure, but at the same time I am very thankful that I am injury free and prepping for my first outdoor triathon in a week and a half! And, I am making the most of my summer, enjoying the nice weather with volleyball, softball, and a bit of soccer as well!

How was June for you?

Me Jane, You Tarzan?

It was hard to get up for swim practice this morning, knowing that I didn't have to go to work right afterwards. It was really chilly this morning and any time your face or arms were out of the water the wind was brutal.

Here's what today's workout looked like:

600M: Freestyle Swim
10x50M: 25 Drill/25 Choice - I chose to swim freestyle.
4x200M: Freestyle Swim, "tarzan" across the lines - Basically what this looked like was swimming freestyle, and when we got to the horizontal lines in the pool (approximately 20M in length), we had to swim "tarzan" style, with our head above the water. I absolutely despised doing this, but knew it would probably be helpful for open water swim.
6x150M: Kick 50/Swim 100 - This is pretty self-explanatory.

Total Swim: 2800M

Only one more day of swim practice left. I haven't decided yet if I am going to join the next session, which starts next Tuesday morning. I will miss one day for sure while I am in NYC, but I can't imagine going back indoors to swim just yet, when the weather is so nice outside!

Happy Tuesday, y'all!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

9 done, 2 to go!

Another week of training is in the books. Geez, I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Here's this past week's training, and then some...


Week 9 of Triathlon Training:
Monday:
Run - 4.75 miles, 58:00, 12:12/mi. avg.

Volleyball

Tuesday:
Adult Swim Team: 2400M Total
4x200M w/:10RI (1. Free, 2. Kick, 3. 50Drill/50swim, 4. Free)
4x400M w/:30RI (1. Breathing every 3 strokes, 2. Sprinting over lines, 3. 50's - alternating between breathing on every 3rd stroke and every 5th stroke, 4. Sprinting over lines)

Volleyball

Wednesday:
Bike 15.2 miles

Thursday:
Adult Swim Team: Total 2400M
1000M: Mix
12x50's: Choice (building)
4x200: odds - pull bouy and paddles, evens - freestyle

Volleyball

Friday:
REST

Saturday:
Run - 2.5 miles, 27:00, 10:48/mi. avg.

Soccer

Sunday:
Bike - 12.81 miles
Run - 1.72 mile


Looking back on all of my training, I am a bit disappointed that I haven't got in many brick workouts. I know that I will do fine in each discipline on it's own, it's just putting the three together that start to make me a wee bit anxious!


Other than training, I played sand volleyball three nights this past week. I am on two different teams, and subbed in on thursday night as well. All three nights the weather was great - sunny, super warm, and not really windy! No softball this past week, it was a bye week.


Yesterday I got talked into playing soccer. A friend of mine that I play volleyball with has been trying to get a group together to play some casual soccer. I have never played in my life and was a bit hesitant with my knee. There were about 12 of us, both men and women, and we just went out there and had some fun. Some players have been playing for a while, and there were a handful of us that had never played before. I had a lot of fun, and even scored 2 goals! I might have to play again sometime!
I will leave you with a few pictures from some of interesting weather yesterday. It would be sunny one minute, and the next it was down-pouring. Actually, when we were playing soccer some nastly clouds were rolling in. We left when the lightening started to appear and on the ride home we drove through torrential rain and hail. It was nasty. But it left behind a pretty nice full rainbow!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Beating the weather and a Swim practice

Ask anyone who knows me personally and they will tell you I am obsessed with the weather. My Dad is my biggest "critic" but I think it takes a weather obsessor to recognize another. I pay attention to everything from what it's like outside right now, what it will be like when I go to bed, what it will be like when I awake, how humid is it, what the UV index is, to what kind of rain we are going to get over the next 10 days.

However, yesterday was a different story. The sun was shining when I left summer school at noon, and it was a beautiful 83 degrees with barely any wind. Two hours later I left my tutoring session thinking the sun was still shining and not a cloud in the sky. That, my friends, was not the case.

I left the library and noticed it had just rained. The sun was shining but there were clouds rolling in from the South, again. And they weren't pretty. I hauled a** home, checked the weather, changed into my cycling gear, and left for a 10-15 mile ride. There was only a 45% chance of rain over the next couple of hours.

Two minutes into my ride it started sprinking. I knew I could handle the sprinkles and possibly more than that. But, mentally, I wasn't ready for a down pour. I chose to go north and stay away from the storm as it was passing through.

The weather was nice and cool. Everything else about the ride was so-so. I think I ate about 3 bugs, and they weren't small. Towards the end of my ride, as I was coming to a red light, I wasn't able to get my left foot out of the clipless pedal. This is the foot I usually release first. I had to think fast, as I was breaking, and was able to get my right foot out instead. It was close. I had to pull off to the side of the road and tighten that bottom piece on my shoe. It was scary and I was glad I knew what caused the difficulty. Thankfully, I only had another mile before getting home, because I was done.



This morning it was beautiful and 63 degrees outside when I hit the pool. I was really dragging and kind of had a bad attitude about swim practice. But, after getting in the water, warming up, and slowly watching the sun rise throughout practice, I felt much better.

Today's Swim workout:

1000M Mix: Exactly that. We were able to do whatever we desired for the first 1000M. I chose to just do freestyle, trying to build my speed. However, I started to think about the triathlon that is two weeks from now, and the 1000M I will be swimming in the Damn and I started to get anxious. That will be my first open water swim. Am I ready for it?

12x50M: During these 50's, Coach M wanted us swim freestyle, starting out slow, and building speed as we finished, and then take a 15 second rest break. About 1/2 way through I thought I was going to be naseaus from pushing myself so hard. I have never had that feeling in the pool, but when all was said and done it felt good.

4x200M: On the odds we were using the pull bouys and the paddles to swim. On the evens we were swimming freestyle. This was supposed to be 6x200M but I ran out of time. I really like using the pull bouys and paddles. I think it helps me focus on my form and how I pull my arms through the water.

Total Swim: 2400M

When I finished shortly after 7am, the sun was starting to share some heat and I was wishing we had later practice. But, it sure was a great way to start the day! There's a "Under the Lights" swim meet July 8th, that I am contemplating doing the 50M freestyle. I think it would be fun and something different to try. We'll see.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

What a workout

Today's swim practice was just what I needed. I woke this morning to 69 degrees with 70% humidity, partly cloudy skies and some foggy patches. It almost had an eerie look to it.

I jumped in the pool shortly before 6am and went on my way. Coach S was in charge of the triathletes today and gave us a run for our money. Here's what I did:

4x200M w/:10 RI (10 sec rest intervals):
#1 - Freestyle
#2 - Kick, using kickboard
#3 - 50M Drill/50M Swim, repeat 2x - This is the drill we did last Thursday. It's still new to me and quite a workout. Basically, our coach calls it a side fluttler (alternating sides). If you check out the video link below, it is about 2:23 into the clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OsfFjdnzGc
#4 - Choice (I chose freestyle)

4x400M w/:30RI:
#1 - Freestyle - focus on alternating breathes to every 3rd stroke. (This I already do, so it was a ncie and easy 400M.
#2 - Sprints - During this set of 400M, we were told to sprint over the lines that ran horizontally across the 50M pool. Basically what we would end up doing is starting at the wall, swimming at a normal pace for about 15M, sprint for 20M, and then back to normal pace for the last 15M.
#3 - Freestyle - breathing every 3 strokes for 50M, and then breathing every 5 strokes from 50M. Repeat 4 times. Breathing every 5 strokes wasn't as difficult as I was afraid it was going to be. It was a nice workout for the lungs.
#4 - Sprints - Same as #2. During this time I was trying to build my sprints each time.


After completing the first two sets of workouts on the white-board, Coach S asked if I was going to try any of the 50's (on the 3rd set of workotus) but there just wasn't enough time. I think I was more disappointed then she was. If I remember correctly, it was 12 sets of 50's w/:30RI, increasing speed with each 50M.


All in all, 2400M done and done!


Today's Song: The Offspring - You're Gonna Go Far, Kid
This was one of my new downloads and I enjoy listening to it during my runs. I forgot how much I like their music! (video clip is also in sidebar)

Monday, June 22, 2009

When the going gets good....


... the good keeps going?



Today I went to the gym after work and knew that I needed to do some running. I have been pretty easy on my knee for the past two weeks with this darn issue. I swear, if it's not one thing, it's another.

Today's run was glorious! I was able to kick out a mere 5 miles and felt strong. It's one of those things that when it's going good, why stop?! A part of me wanted to keep going, finishing with 5 miles, but I knew I didn't want to push it. I still had a lot of my TriPower workout to do, as well as some stretching and PT exercises. Plus, I had to save some energy for volleyball tonight!

The results?! No knee pain, no stiffness, no soreness. Glorious! Like I said, this so-called-injury is the weirdest thing ever. It doesn't really bother me on the treadmill, and only bothers me on a rare occasion when walking. Sometimes I will rotate it funning and it will pinch. However, I will keep up with some strengthening and stretching, as well as rollin' around with the foam roller and hope it continues to get better.

Tomorrow morning I have swim practice if the weather cooperates. It just seems like all we are getting up here is rain for 3-4 days and then a day of sun, and repeat. Oh well, if we don't have outdoor practice, I have already written up a 2000M workout plan for at the Y. Gotta have plan B!

If you haven't checked out my previous post, I put up some pictures from the Tour De Cure this past Saturday! Once again, thanks for all the support!

Happy Monday, y'all!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Swim Practice, Tour De Cure, and Tri Training

Now that I waited 4 days before posting about Thursday's Swim practice, I cant remember what we did. Sorry! However, the temp was in the low 60's, cloudy and I learned a new drill. All in all, I swam 2200M that morning!



Saturday morning was the Tour De Cure ride for Diabetes.

Check-in time was 8am and we left around 9:00am for the 32 mile joy ride! When we took off it was about 70 degrees, sunny, and not a single breeze. There were about 30 some riders that rode the 32 mile route. I finished in about 2:15:00, about 14mph speed. It was pretty slow, but a very enjoyable ride.

I want to thank EVERYONE for all the donations and wondeful comments! It was a great ride! Here are some pics from that day....


Week 8 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
REST
Volleyball
Tuesday:
Adult Swim Team - 2200M Total
4x200M (Free/Kick/Free/Kick)
4x300M w/:30RI (using pull bouy & swim paddles)
200M c/d
Wednesday:
Run - 1.27 miles
Bike - 5.07 miles
Run - 1.75 miles
Thursday:
Adult Swim Team - 2200M total
Friday:
Run - 2.6 miles
Saturday:
Tour De Cure - Bike -32 miles, 2:15:00, 14.22mph
Sunday:
REST


Pretty decent week. Knee is doing better, but still not 100%. I'm telling you, it's super weird.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Just thinking out loud...

If you haven't check out my post from yesterday about my 2nd swim practice, you can do so here. Like I said, I have and will be adding all of my swim practice workouts to the sidebar if anyone is interested or looking for a workout to do in the pool!



....The knee issue is still present, barely noticeable but still ... present.



.... it's not so much that I am in pain .... it's just a weird tweak that isn't going away.



..... It's almost as if something is pinching and I can't figure out where or why.



..... Most of the time it's just feels like a dull ache; kind of like a growing pain, maybe?! Not only was I noticing it in my knee, but it felt as if it was running down my leg.



.... However, on occasion, when I would turn or rotate my knee, every once and a while a pinching behind the knee would happen. And that hurt. A cracking noise would follow. (Almost like when a person cracks their nuckles).



.... Tuesday afternoon, while driving, it seemed as if the dull pain was more prominent while in sitting position. I could feel a slight sting in my hip as well.



.... This is when I started to wonder if something was going on with my hip.



Rewind.



.... For the past week or two, I would occasionally feel as if something was pinching in my right hip, but I just couldn't figure out what or how to stretch it properly. I probably only noticed it less than a few times, but I wonder if this has anything to do with my knee.



....on the positive side .... it was much to my benefit that late yesterday afternoon, storm clouds rolled in and not only was volleyball cancelled, but so was the 2 hours of softball to follow. Too bad this was after I already contacted my captains to tell them that I wasn't going to make it... and felt like a goon for bailing. I kinda felt like a quitter.


Fast forward.


.... Today I got in a run/bike/run combo. It's wasn't painful, but it wasn't spectacular either.



.... All of this "so-called-injury" crap is really annoying. It's nothing like the difficulties of the injury I experienced this winter, nor near the pain, but it sure is annoying because I don't know how to make it better.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Swim Practice Numero Dos

This morning marked the 2nd day of outdoor swim practice with the coaches! As much as I dreaded getting out of bed, I was happy to see it wasn't raining and the temperature was warmer than the 44 degrees last Thursday!

(Just a FYI...I will be posting my regular swim workouts given by the coaches and linking to them in the sidebar if anyone is looking for ideas to change up their swim workouts.)



Wake-up Time: 5:15am
Swim Practice Time: 550am - 700am
Location: Outoor Pool (50M)
Air Temperature: 66 degrees and cloudy, slight breeze
Pool Temperature: felt cooler than the air temp


Practice Group: The 3 coaches rotated today. Our lead coach, Coach T was in charge of the Triathlon group. I didn't have to think twice about joining that group.


Workout:

  • 4x200M - Set 1 - 200M freestyle, Set 2 - 200M kick, Set 3 - swimmers choice, and Set 4 - freestyle. I after the first 400M of this drill I forgot I was in a 50M pool and lost track of my swimming. Thus, I did 200M free, 200M kick, 100M free, 100M kick, 200M free. A little ass-backwards, but I got in the 800M!
  • 4x300M Free w/:30 RI - This was part of a ladder workout* that I didn't get to complete due to limited time. During these 300M sets, we used pull bouys and swim paddles. I had never used swim paddles and it was an adjustment; maybe a sure sign that something wasn't right with my form?! After my first 100M, Coach T pulled me asside and explained to me what I was doing wrong with my stroke. I was so happy that she noticed and before I got a chance to ask her. That's why I am paying the bucks, right? She said that I was crossing my hands over my body as I was pulling and proceeded to show me correct form! After 1200M of using the pull bouys and swim paddles I felt that I was well on my way to improving my stroke!
  • 200M c/d - pretty self explanitory. Felt pretty strong after 1200M of pulling. This was a nice cool down before hitting the showers and heading to work. I probably could have snuck in another 200M, but wanted to make sure I had enough time to shower and get to work on time.
Total Swim: 2200M


I thought this session went just as well as the first, if not better. There's just something about being able to get out there and swim before work, all while enjoying the fresh air and sun rising!



* Here's the Ladder Workout in complete:
4x300M Free w/:30 RI (Rest Intervals) - using swim paddles and pull bouys
4x200M Free w/:15 RI (Building - increasing speed on each set)
4x100M Sprints w/:10 RI - your choice of swim (free, back, butterfly, breast)

Monday, June 15, 2009

blogger shout out!

The first day of summer school followed by 2 hours of tutoring ... in the bag. Both went pretty smooth and the time went by fast. However, I didn't really prepare my nutrition properly, only eating breakfast and a CLIF Zbar between the hours of 6am and 4pm. Not a good plan. Lesson learned and my breakfast, snack, and lunch is already packed for tomorrow.

Today I had volleyball. I was anxious to see how well my knee felt during and afterwards. The concensious? No change really. I didn't expect it to be better, but I was at least hoping it wouldn't get worse. It's almost like a pain behind my knee, possibly at the ITband and I noticed that it kind of runs down my leg to my ankle. So, I got home popped a couple ibuprofens and iced the back and front of my knee. I still haven't decided if I am going to do volleyball AND softball tomorrow night. Part of me hopes the rain expected tomorrow night cancels both, so I don't have to throw in the towel.

I have swim practice tomorrow at 6am. I hope the weather cooperates. Now, tomorrow it's supposed to be 61* (compared to 44* last Thursday), but we have 50% chance of rain.... hopefully it won't get moved indoors. If so, they hold practice at one of the high schools that is too far out of the way and I wouldn't be able to get to work on time. If practice gets moved, I will just plan to do my own workout at the Y. Always gotta have a plan B!

On a completely different note.... if you haven't checked out Steve's blog yet, you must! He's geniune midwestern guy that is not only hilarious, but willing to post about almost anything and everything! If you don't believe, check it out for yourself! He's a rockstar!

I hope y'all had a wonderful Monday!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

A little of this and a LOT of that

This past week has been a busy one. I have lots to catch up on!

Tour De Cure: This is my last week of fundraising for the Tour De Cure. Thanks to ALL OF YOU who have donated thus far! It TRULY means A LOT to me! If you are interested in donating, please check out my website here! This coming Saturday I will be riding 32 miles. I am hoping for some wonderful weather like today!

Work related: Despite the fact that school has been out for the past 2 weeks, I spent a lot of time back at work this past week. Between a couple meetings Monday/Tuesday mornings, tutoring Monday and Tuesday (which will be Monday-Thursday usually), and prepping for the start of summer school Wednesday-Friday... I was BUSY! But, I am excited to start teaching summer school tomorrow! 2nd graders, here I come!

Triathlon Training: For the most part this week was pretty successful. However, Tuesday night at softball my right knee started acting up. Shooting pains were running down the front of my knee when I would stand in a locked knee position. I think I might have rotated it funny while running around in the outfield. Let me remind you, I was playing softball after 1.5 hours of sand-volleyball.

Thus, I have been babying my knee, and things are starting to look better. It doesn't bother me when walking or running, but I don't want to over-do it. Every once and a while it will just act up. Weird. Here's this past weeks training....



Week 7 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
Run - 6x400M Sprints (3.2 miles overall)
Volleyball
Tuesday:
Swim - 1400M, 25:00, 2:05/100M
Volleyball
Softball
Wednesday:
REST -yoga
Thursday:
Adult Swim Team - 2000M total;
800M w/u
16x50M w/:15RI - 2 kick/2 freestyle
4x100M Sprints w/:30RI
Friday:
Bike - 24 miles (trainer ride)
Saturday:
Run - 2.3 miles
Sunday:
Bike - 10.7 miles
Run - 1.1 miles

I had my first outdoor Brick today. Oy. First of all, it was my first ride of 2009 outdoors and I have a lot of work to do. After 10 miles, only, I got home changed quickly and set out for my short run. oy oy. It was ugly, people. My legs felt like lead and I felt like I was going in slow motion. There is definitely room for a lot of improvment!




Operation Organize: I am in the process of trying to organize my house. It drives me crazy when things don't have a place and I am trying to fix that. Between my two trips to Target in 3 days, and spending tons of money, and I am on to a good start. Yesterday I spent a good hour putting together a couple of book shelves for the living room. Basement living room is super clean, and the spare bedroom for the renter is completely cleaned out. There are so many more things on the list, but I am tackling one at a time!

Sunday yard work: I had a long list of things to take care of with the yard that I have been putting off far too long. To make it more enjoyable, I had the radio cranked in the garage, listening to the Twins game. It definitely reminded me of the days we would help Dad outside with some chores. In a matter of an hour or so, I got two dead maple trees and two dead lilac bushes dug up. I hand pulled a lot of weeds and grass along the fence of my backyard. I think it's time to splurge and buy a weed-wacker. I struggled with digging up the dead rose bush, cussed at it a bit, and gave up. I will save it for another sunny day. I also got the lawn fertilized and watered. To top it off, I organized the garage a little bit, found a nice spot for my bike, and swept the garage floor! I was hoping to wash my car, but I was pooped out. I will try and tackle that some sunny afternoon this coming week.


I know that a lot of you were out racing this weekend, so I look forward to all of the wonderful race reports!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Swim Practice Number 1, 2nd attempt

After Tuesday morning's fiascal, I was hesitant going into today's swim practice. Day 1 was a bust, and the lack of communication was frustrating. However, I emailed the head coach yesterday and she responded with apologies for the mis-understanding. I had to give her a second chance.

Mark it on the calendars ladies and gentleman! Today was my official Day 1 of swim team practice and I am pretty happy with it!

Here's the run-down on what it looked like:

Wake-up Time: 5:20am
Swim Practice Time: 6am - 715am
Location: Outoor Pool (50M)
Air Temperature: 44 degrees and sun was shining, slight breeze
Pool Temperature: coaches said it was 77 degrees

Practice Group:
There were three groups within the pool, all working on different things. Each group had a coach on deck. The first group was working on strokes and improving their technique, I can't remember what the second group was doing, but the third group consisted of triathletes...doing their thing. I was torn between the first and the third group, but I chose the triathlete group. I don't think you have to stick with the same group, so I might joined the "swim stroke & technique" group 1 or 2 days. Overall, I think there were at least 30 people in the pool!

Workout:
  • Tri 800M - Coach S just wanted us to swim 800M to get used to the water and the 50M pool since most of us were used to using the 25M pool at the Y. It was an adjustment, and the water was cool but not as cool as I would have thought, given the air temp, but it felt good.
  • 16x50M with :15 RI - Coach S wanted us to do 50M kick then 50M freestyle, and repeat, 8 times. Instead of resting after each 50M, I rested after each 100M. It felt good to get the legs burning on the 50M kicks.
  • 4x100M Sprints with :30 RI - Coach S had 10x100M Sprints on the board, but I only had time to do 4. Still felt great!

Total Swim: 2000M!

Overall I am very pleased with this session and can't wait to go back next Tuesday! I am thinking it is really going to help me prepare for this triathlon in 4 weeks!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

First Swim Practice .... was a BUST!

The alarm went off at 520am and was definitely a rude awaking. I haven't been up that early since school's been out and I was NOT happy! It didn't help that the temperature outside was 43 degrees and I was on my way to swim practice, OUTDOORS!

Fast forward 1 hour and you would find 7 of us standing outside of the pool entrance, waiting for "coach" that was supposed to be there for our swim practice at 6am. Needless to say, I was not happy. We walked across the park to the Y to ask where our coach was and the front desk lady knew nothing.

We demanded to use the pool for our swim, as some of my fellow swim team members weren't Y members. The pool was already open for lap swim, so demanding was an exaggeration.

I joined a lane that already had a guy in it. We got to chatting since he asked where everyone came from, and he had said he was signed up to be part of the swim team as well. He got an email this morning saying that when temps are below 50 degrees, we are inside at a local high school. He didn't go because it was too far for him to drive to and get a swim in before work. Of the 6 of us, we didn't get an email. That would have been good to know prior to this morning.

I got home and checked all of my email accounts. Nothing. Very frustrating.

We'll see what happens Thursday, but I am not very excited to meet the coach after this episode.

I am off to volleyball, followed by softball. Tomorrow is a mandatory REST day, with just a bit of Tri Power strengthening and maybe a quick yoga session to stretch some things out!

Is the weather going to feel like summer anytime soon? I am sick of temps in the 40's/50's, with all this damn wind and rain. It's June 9th and I haven't taken my bike out yet! DON'T YELL AT ME!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Feeling puke-tastic

Today I had my second speed session on the thrillmill. Nothing too exciting, but it sure is a nice change of pace with the running. No pun intended.

I did 6x400M sprints, with an 800M warm-up and 800M cool-down and 1/10 of a mile walk between each sprint. By the time I was done, I seriously thought I was going to puke. But, it felt great.

After yesterday's TriPower assessment, my obliques and abs were a bit sore today. I am thinking this is from trying to hold all those plank positions to the point of passing out. Maybe I should do planks more often!?!

Tomorrow morning kicks off my first swim practice with the adult swim team and coach. I am not as anxious about the swimming as I am about the weather. 6am. 46 degrees. OUTDOORS.


I think I might have made a huge mistake in signing up for this crap.



We'll see if I survive.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

TriPower & Tri Training

I have been encorporating TriPower into my training routine since the end of April. It's been difficult incorporating it into my daily routine, on top of training, but I know that it has helped with my training immensely. I will be honest, there were a handful of days where I didn't get any of my strenthening/core training in, but that's life!

I am still working on Phase 1, which they recommend you do for 2 months. I will keep going through the end of June, and start Phase 2 in July. Today, I did the assessment test to compare my progress to April 26th. I should have done it a couple weeks ago, but didn't. So be it!

Let's compare.....








---April 26
Pre-Assessment

June 7
(after 6 weeks)

June 28
(after 9 weeks)

Push-ups

15

27

-----

Wall Sit

44 seconds

1 min 5 sec

-----

Flex Arm Hang

14 seconds

17 seconds

-----

Side Plank

24 seconds

49 seconds

-----

Side Plank -
Bent Knee

38 seconds

1 min 5 seconds

-----

Prone Plank

41 seconds

55 seconds

-----

Extensor Chain

56 seconds

2 min 17 seconds

-----

Core Strength

60%

80%

-----


I am quite pleased with my results! I can't wait to see where I am at the end of Phase 1! If you want more information on each assessment area, check out this post!

Today I finished week 6 of triathlon training. Only 5 more weeks left people!! Here's what the past week looked like:

Week 6 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:

REST - Volleyball
Tuesday:
Run - 2.27 miles, 25:00, 11:00/mi avg.
Swim - 1200M, 25:00, 2:05/100M
Volleyball
Softball
Wednesday:
Run - 3.55 miles, outdoors - 68* - no time
Thursday:
Swim - 1500M, 28:00, 1:52/100M
Bike - 12 miles
Friday:
Run - 3.3 miles, 38:00, 11:30/mi avg.
Saturday:
REST
Sunday:
Bike - 16 miles

By Wednesday I was completely wiped from training with softball and volleyball thrown into the mix. And, I haven't been doing too well with my nutrition. I know I wasn't fueling my body properly. With school being out, and some later nights out and about, I was sleeping in later and throwing off my days.... We'll see how this coming week goes!

Have a great week, y'all!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Heading Out, Again!

This past week's training has gone super. I am happy with what I have accomplished! Throw in two nights of volleyball and one night of softball and I am one happy camper!

Yesterday, some family came into town and we hit up Rib Fest for some grub before hitting up the Redhawks baseball game. It was in the 80's yesterday, a bit windy, but perfect weather for outdoor fun!


I am off to the cities again this weekend for a cousin's graduation! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! It's been a while since I have posted any pics so I will leave you with some from the past week or so!
Dinner in Uptown Minneapolis last Sunday... for my sister's birthday! Happy 25th Birthday, Stephi!
The girls sharing a snow cone...
I swear the only thing kids like about going to sporting events is the junk food!

My 10 year old god-daughter... going on 17, but she still likes to cuddle with me...

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Hello Summer Vacay!!

I am into day 3 of my summer vacation and lovin' every bit of it! The past couple days I have kept myself pretty busy with a couple volleyball teams, softball, regular triathlon training, and just overall enjoying the sun on my patio with a good book. Come on people, it's my summer and I am going to enjoy it before summer school starts up!



But, believe you me, I have plenty of things to do around the house. However, I have little motivation! Maybe if I post a handful of things that need to get done, I will be more likely to take care of them!


  • purchase a couple book shelves,
  • hang more photos,
  • organize closet - switching out winter clothes for summer clothes,
  • clean out 2nd spare bedroom so a roommate can move in
  • clean kitchen and reorganize some cupboards
  • kill the weeds in the yard (damn dandilions),
  • mow the lawn (again?!),
  • take grass clippings to the dump
  • dig up two trees and two lilac bushes (thanks to the old owners who planted them too late in the fall)

On the training front.... things are going well. After the past couple of days however, I realized I will need to shuffle some workouts around so I have easy one's on Monday-Wednesday, maybe even a rest day in there. This is because I have volleyball both Monday and Tuesday night, as well as Softball after volleyball on Tuesday nights. Next week I will begin working with the adult swim team at the butt crack of dawn, making Tuesday's exceptionally long, especially when 3 hours of teaching summer school and 2 hours of tutoring is thrown in the mix!


Speaking of volleyball and softball..... my Monday night co-ed VB team played really well. I only knew one of my team members previously, so I am looking forward to getting to know the rest a bit better. Last night we were short a player for VB, but played better than last week. From there we had a bit of time to grab a couple drinks and apps before softball. I didn't play much last night because we have a butt-load of girls (fine by me, I was wiped), but we did have a couple injuries in the second game. Our catcher got hit in the inside of her ankle with a SB at full speed - totally not worth the injury. And our shortstop got nailed just below the inside of his knee in the same inning. He had a huge bump, possibly full of fluid, and left early for the ER. Dangerous sport. :)


Did you all get out and run today? It's Nationall Running Day! I know I did. I took full advantage of the 68 degrees and hit the roads for a few miles! What a way to celebrate!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Time Flies

May has come and gone! Wow! Here's a run-down of what May looked like:

May Stats:

  • Swim - 6,700M ................ 11,000M in April
  • Bike - 92.09 miles.......... 103.00 miles in April
  • Run - 31.54 miles.......... 24.49 miles in April

Not too shabby. I look forward to what June has to offer! I will have more time in my days to get in some longer workouts!

Last week's training was a recovery week and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time, with end of the school year things going on.

Here's what it looked like....

Week 5 of Sprint Tri Training:
Monday:
Run - 3 miles, outdoors - no time
Tuesday:
REST - Volleyball
Wednesday:
Mow lawn
Bike (easy) - 10.5 miles
Thursday:
(AM) Run - 5x400M (2.75 miles total)
(PM) Bike (hills) - 10 miles
Friday:
REST
Saturday:
REST
Sunday:
Run - 2.15 miles (easy)

I had my first "2-a-day" on Thursday. I knew with how busy things were I wasn't going to be able to get up early Friday morning for a bike ride, so I did it Thursday evening. Saturday morning I was hoping to get to the pool for a mile swim, but had a late night celebrating school ending, and had to get on the road early for a trip to the cities.

This week looks a lot busier than last week, and I am trying to figure out my schedule so I can get in all my workouts with being gone again this weekend for a cousin's graduation. Playing volleyball two nights a week and softball one night doesn't help either! Oh well, I have plenty of time in my day to get them all in!

Now, I am off to the gym, but look forward to getting caught up on all of you when I return!