This Week

Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Swim 40 min, Bike 30 min
Wednesday: Run 35 min
Thursday: Bike 1 hour
Friday: Swim 40 min, Run 30 min
Saturday: Run 30 min (strides)
Sunday: Bike 1 hour +

After my disasterous swim at the triathlon I decided it was time to get serious about swimming. I have the Total Immersion book but after doing some looking I found that it was somewhat out of date and the TI guy has changed a lot of the drills and techniques so I purchased a dvd--Freestyle Made Easy, and a book--Triathlon Swimming Made Easy.




Yeah, I know, ha ha --"What ya gonna do, take a tv to the pool?" ha ha ha.
Ha.
No, I am going to watch the dvd at home and read the book at home, and then go to the pool and try to remember what to do. Then I am going to go home and rewatch and read to see if I did it and if not, fix it the next time. Wiseacre.

So anyway, I am doubling up on the swim days because the drills are very slow and easy and I would like a little more of a cardio workout--hence the extra bike or run.

Things went pretty well this morning. I was able to get balanced, which was the point of the first lesson. Hopefully, I will be swimming like a fish in no time at all.

Race Day

I woke up at 6:15 Sunday morning to this:



I went back to bed. The End.






Just kidding.

We got to Albany at about 7:30am. Still snowing pretty hard. Got my race bag (tshirt and a few fliers) and then went out and put up my bike. Because of the weather the transition area was inside so I set up my bag with all my bike clothes and shoes, etc.


My heat started at 9am so I had a little while to hang around. I was a little too nervous to do anything but stand and watch the other swimmers. A few minutes before 9 I got into the pool and met the other ladies in my lane. I learned that I would be starting first (they had 3-4 people per lane with each person starting about 5 seconds apart). The buzzer sounded and off I went.


I am a pretty slow swimmer, and I have never been so aware of that fact until faced with so many other faster swimmers. The lady behind me passed me right away, but the other lady in my lane was even slower than me so I ended up passing her a few times. Swim time for 750 meters: 19:38. Pathetically slow--out of 120 or so racers total it was the 8th slowest time.

At the end of the 30 lengths I heaved myself out of the pool (literally, since the middle bulkhead was higher than my head and it made a lovely scene, I am sure, when I tried to get out of the pool--my husband snapped a picture of me that will NEVER see the light of day) and trotted to my transition area to put on my bike clothes. Originally I had planned to slip on my bike shorts, light shirt, and socks and shoes, but even though the snow stopped, it was cold out! So I put on my long pants, shirt, jacket, gloves, hat, socks and shoes before I hurried out to my bike. I threw on my helmet and took off.



I was so excited at this point--I was having so much fun! I never thought it would be so fun. I thought I would be cursing the day I decided to do a triathlon.

The bike route was 12.5 miles of country roads. Only a few minor hills and lots of long, lonely flat roads. I was passed by 2 men and that is all. Bike time: 57:09 (this included transition from swim to bike); not bad, not good.

Once I made it back to the race area on my bike, all I had to do was ditch the bike and helmet and take off running. In theory, anyway. In reality, I couldn't feel my legs (numb from riding) or my feet (numb from cold). So I kind of shuffled/stumbled/trotted my way down the road.



I think I "ran" at pretty much the same pace the entire 3.1 miles. I tried SO HARD to go faster but my legs completely ignored me. I was passed by one man and passed a lady that was running even slower than me. Couldn't get much slower without walking, but she was doing it. The route went out through a residential area and back to finish with a half lap or so on the high school track. Final run time: 33:55 (this includes the transition from bike to run).

Total time: 1:50:42. Out of 6 ladies in the 35-39 age group this was good for 5th place--4th place was only 5 seconds away. Not a stellar performance but this was my first time and I finished the race still glad I had started! Lots of room for improvement in all areas but especially SWIMMING.

I have come to the conclusion that wanting to be a triathlete was not some crazy notion but something that I am really, really glad I chose to do. I can't wait to do it again...

Final Countdown

Well, not final, maybe, but the final countdown to this weekend anyway.
This week:
Monday: Ran
Tuesday: Biked
Wednesday: Ran
Thursday: Bike
Friday: Swim
Saturday: Rest? Short run?
Sunday: Race

I have been sick so, honestly, if I am still not feeling better by Saturday or so I may not go. It just isn't any fun at all getting out when my stomach is feeling so awful. No I am not pregnant. But it kind of feels like that--a constant queasiness and icky feeling. Constant. But 3 of my little boys are feeling the same way. So there.

As promised, here is my new toy:

I wasn't exactly planning on buying a road bike yet but I came across a deal that I could not pass up. So here it is. Now I get to learn how to use the clipless pedals without breaking every bone in my body. If I ride this bike in the race this weekend I will be using my regular shoes since I am so smart and purchased dual sided pedals--one side with the clips (cliplesses?) and the other side regular.

For those of you who missed it...

Here is my daughter's awesome beam routine that won her first place.




The lady in blue all the way to the right of the screen is her coach, Linda. Midway through the routine, she stood up...I assume because my daughter was getting to the part where she sometimes falls off and it was making Linda nervous. Heh heh.

Roads I Have Traveled: Final Edition

Until next year, that is.




Last weekend we traveled to a town 3 hours south to the Oregon Gymnastics Optionals State Meet. My daughter had an ok season; it was hard to tell how she would stack up against other Oregon teams since so many of her meets were out of state this year, so we were just hoping for a good meet with no big mistakes.

Here she is:



That little smile isn't giving anything away, is it. What is that around her neck? Take a closer look:



Looks like a medal to me. Ahh, beam. She does pretty well on beam if she can stay on it.



First place. She is the Oregon State Level 7 Age 12b Beam Champion. Not only is she the beam CHAMPION (had to say it again) BEAM CHAMPION CHAMPION CHAMPION
ahem
Not only is she the age 12b CHAMPION(they divided the 12 year olds into 2 age groups) but since she scored a 9.725 she had the highest score in the entire session (50 some girls) and the entire previous session (another 50 some girls). There was only one other score higher (9.875 OMG) in the last session (50 some girls). There are no special awards for that, but there should be. Hmpf.

Her bars score was 8.95--tied her season best. Floor: 9.35 (5th place), Vault 9.05. All Around: 37.075, an all time personal best. It was good for 4th place out of about 18 girls in her age group. No place on bars or vault since they only went out to 6th place, but she got 7th or so on vault and maybe 8th on bars. All around a very good meet.

This Week

Monday: ran 30 min
Tuesday: swam 1400 yd; 40 or so minutes
Wednesday: Bike 1 hr
Thursday: Run 30 min
Friday: Swim however long it takes me to go 1400 yd
Saturday: Bike 1 hr
Sunday: Rest or run, I can't decide.

I signed up for the Albany Sprint Triathlon on April 20. So it really is going to happen. I am trying not to get nervous. What if I get a flat tire? What if somebody kicks me in the face in the pool? What if I look like a total dummy and make people mad at me because I don't know the unspoken rules? What if I knock over my bike in the transition line and it starts a domino effect? What if...I. Can't. Finish.

I got something new today and I can't wait to show it off...nope, not going to tell. Wait and see.

Week whatever, traveling roads, and other boring stuff

Gymnastics meets:

First of all, we did make it back from Idaho. Then we had another meet here, then we traveled to Sacramento, CA. I just felt stupid taking pictures of the road. I was riding with another mom from the gym and I just felt dumb. This weekend we have the state meet, and then possibly one more in Spokane at the end of the month. The last one is optional and more for fun than anything else. I am thinking of going just because it will give me an excuse to stop on the way and see a friend that I haven't seen in a long time.

Workouts:

Well. Here's the story. We had a huge meet here that is put on by our gym. It is a very long, exhausting weekend, especially for those of us that are in charge of one thing or another. So I didn't work out at all during the days of the meet, and then during the clean up I hurt my toe. I stubbed my poor toe very hard and it hurt so bad I cried. If it had been any toe but my big toe, I am sure it would have been broken. I am really not so sure something isn't injured in there as it is, because I keep re-hurting it.



Disregard the ugly polish and that unsightly bump on the side of my foot. The bump is something that I inherited from my mother, not from injuring my toe. Anyway, I can run, etc. but I keep hurting it again doing other things so working out has been pretty sporadic.

Which brings me to another thing. I am sorry, but 4:30 in the morning is just way too early in the morning to be getting up and going swimming, even for an early riser like me. So I am going to change my swimming time here soon. If I could get to bed at a decent hour it would be one thing, but that doesn't happen very often.

Triathlon:

I am signing up for my first triathlon today. It is 3 weeks or so away, so I am going to be working hard to get ready. I may be running a 5k at the beginning of May, and doing another triathlon at the end of May. Yay!