I think from now on, my titles will just be the number of days left.
In any case, I've decided on a few major things as far as the tri goes:
1.) I'm getting a road bike. The parents have agreed to chip in with me on one as an EARLY birthday present (getting it on my b-day would give me only a mere 29 days to get used to training on it as opposed to the hopeful 77). The lucky winner looks to be the gorgeous (and economical!) Trek 1.2 WSD. Isn't it pretty? I also, you know, enjoy the ride and the feel to it. At one bike store to get a feel for size I tried out the Specialized Ruby Elite which was AWESOME, but just a tad out of my price range in that it was DOUBLE what I'm looking to spend. Erg.
2.) I've made a radical decision in terms of my swimming. Last time I swam, Thursday, I did a total of 500 meters. The first 400 were alternating between freestyle crawl and breaststroke (so training like last year), with the first 125 done without stopping ... well, except for the pauses at each end of the pool 'cuz I can't do flip turns. ANYWAY, I also decided to do the last 150m breaststroke and without stopping - which ended up being a lot easier than the first 125m, despite it being at the end of my pool time.
Therefore, I came to a dilemna that ended up being detailed in my other workout blog that basically came down to ... since I ended up doing last year's tri swim almost entirely with breaststroke, do I train with that since it's my stronger stroke even though it's technically less efficient, or do I continue attempting to get stronger with the crawl?
In discussions with the boyfriend, we decided that, given that time is a factor (those 78 days and everything), I'm going to train primarily swimming breaststroke to get stronger and gain more endurance with that stroke (important!) - something I really wasn't getting with the alternating stroke training method. Part of that was because it's kind of difficult to switch strokes in the middle of a body of water - especially one you're not quite sure of when it comes to its depth. So, if I swim three days a week (goal), two days will be entirely breaststroke while day three will involve both strokes. Then, after the tri, I can try to improve on my freestyle crawl for the next race.
Happy training, everyone ...
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Reality Check
So in my late-night ponderings last night, I came to a scary realization in that this year's tri is about two and a half months away.
Two. and. a. half. months. To be exact, 80 days away.
80.
Days.
Scary, isn't it? I'm trying to think of my progress now from where I was at this point last year and it's not all that comforting. I can swim better than I could last year at this point, but I also don't swim nearly enough. I'm going tonight which is good and hopefully I can start going two to three times a week, varying up the workouts I do while I'm in the pool.
I'm regularly running more now than I was last year (thanks, boyfriend!), but in terms of pace, I'm actually slower. I completed a 5K on May 11, running the whole way, but my time was a good 2 minutes slower than it was during the 5K I ran all the way last year on May 5. Still, given that I'm running more at this point than I was last year gives me a lot of hope.
In terms of cycling, this is where I might be screwed ... in part because I don't have a functional bike (thanks, gen's boyfriend). I'd really like to get a road bike for my birthday, but if I get it then, I'll only have 29 days until the tri to get used to it and train hard on it - MUCH later than I'd prefer. Which means, get my old bike fixed and hope it doesn't take too long. And hope that wheels aren't that expensive. Erg. That, or hope John's still willing to fork out some dough for it. Either way ...
I also want to lift a lot more this year than I did last year - I wasn't lifting that much during training - just pure cardio. While that isn't technically the worst thing to do, I think lifting more will aid me as well.
Really, all I think I need to do is tell myself to breathe. My boyfriend, Brandon, (whom i also share my other blog with) is moving out here and says he'll become my training buddy and push me - which I really need. Hopefully I can coordinate some time with Amber to go on some rides (or find a bike for brandon to use) and we should be good ... right?
Two. and. a. half. months. To be exact, 80 days away.
80.
Days.
Scary, isn't it? I'm trying to think of my progress now from where I was at this point last year and it's not all that comforting. I can swim better than I could last year at this point, but I also don't swim nearly enough. I'm going tonight which is good and hopefully I can start going two to three times a week, varying up the workouts I do while I'm in the pool.
I'm regularly running more now than I was last year (thanks, boyfriend!), but in terms of pace, I'm actually slower. I completed a 5K on May 11, running the whole way, but my time was a good 2 minutes slower than it was during the 5K I ran all the way last year on May 5. Still, given that I'm running more at this point than I was last year gives me a lot of hope.
In terms of cycling, this is where I might be screwed ... in part because I don't have a functional bike (thanks, gen's boyfriend). I'd really like to get a road bike for my birthday, but if I get it then, I'll only have 29 days until the tri to get used to it and train hard on it - MUCH later than I'd prefer. Which means, get my old bike fixed and hope it doesn't take too long. And hope that wheels aren't that expensive. Erg. That, or hope John's still willing to fork out some dough for it. Either way ...
I also want to lift a lot more this year than I did last year - I wasn't lifting that much during training - just pure cardio. While that isn't technically the worst thing to do, I think lifting more will aid me as well.
Really, all I think I need to do is tell myself to breathe. My boyfriend, Brandon, (whom i also share my other blog with) is moving out here and says he'll become my training buddy and push me - which I really need. Hopefully I can coordinate some time with Amber to go on some rides (or find a bike for brandon to use) and we should be good ... right?
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