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?

One Off the List

So training has been bad lately, but hockey playoffs/postseason will do that to me - too much time working, not enough time doing anything else. Seriously. I haven't even done my taxes yet.

In any case, I did get one thing that should help my transitions down - a two-piece tri suit (tank and shorts). Granted, one goal for this year was figure out a way to chop transitions down WITHOUT buying a tri suit, but I got a good deal on the stuff. We had a coupon and a dividend to use at REI, so I ended up getting $125 worth of crap for just under $60. I'll take that. Top's a little small, but I'm also a little pudgy right now. I also felt that going one size up wouldn't support my small boobs well enough when running. In any case, I figure I have until August to worry about it. ;)

Happy training, everyone!

I Am Training.

Since I have another workout blog going I probably won't be updating this all that much, but I'll try when I do tri-related training. That, or a weekly/bi-monthly update. Something like that.

In any case, I'm starting to run again, as difficult as it might be. I'm sticking with it, knowing that it was a pain in the ass getting into running last year and if I just stick with it, I'll be good. I haven't swam in a few weeks, but I hope to sometime this week - perhaps tomorrow. We'll see. As for the cycling portion ... well, I still haven't done anything with my mangled bike and don't bike much at the gym except for my usual 10 minute warm-up on the recumbent bike. Still, since I know I need to bike more, I hopped on the stationary today for 20 minutes (7.2 miles) instead. Go me!

Granted, the level was lower than what I was doing last spring/summer, but I'm easing myself back into it.

In other things related to the 2008 Tri for the Cure, Gen has recruited a few more people to race with us TAG girls, so we'll have a big ol' party. :) Hopefully I can direct some of them over to ze blog ...

T Is Back In

Well, I'm registered once again. At least, I should be if the stupid site loads.

Now, on to training!

Tri 2008

Well, they've announced the 2008 Tri for the Cure and it looks like TAG is signing up for it again. I know Amber already has signed up, Gen's planning on it and I will as soon as I get some money (so hopefully by the end of this month).

I've been off the horse lately from working out, but as the February training schedule is up on the official site, I may just start doing that instead of the random "I'll do whatever I want" thing when I'm at the gym. I'll probably do different weights than what their schedule says because I've got my own, different regimen (that i like better), but y'know.

Goals for this year:
- Chop 17:22 off my time to finish in 1:30:00. This is the ideal; if I get anywhere close to this I'll be happy.
- Get a new bike. I <3 my bike, but really, I'd like a better tri bike.
- Get my swimming OODLES better. That was my weak point last year.
- Build up endurance.
- Figure out a way to have faster transitions without buying a tri suit.

The Breakdown

Okay, now that the race results are officially in, I can share my breakdown (and, i'll also share amber's and gen's since they SUCK and never update this).

So, me:
1430th overall
95th in my age group (20-24)
21:06 swim (1781st overall)
7:07 first transition
43:19 bike (1357th overall; 15.7 mph)
3:41 second transition
32:07 run (1069th overall; 10:21 splits)
1:47:22 overall.

Amber:
2178th overall
127th in the age group (same)
17:34 swim (876th overall ... i hate her ... just kidding!)
8:16 first transition
54:22 bike (2391st overall; 12.5 mph)
5:46 second transition
39:14 run (1968th overall; 12:39 splits)
2:05:15 overall

Gen:
2398th overall
137th in the age group (same)
33:23 swim (2586th overall)
8:33 first transition
48:13 bike (2017th overall; 14.1 mph)
4:35 second transition
42:11 run (2207th overall; 13:36 splits)
2:16:56 overall

We. Are. Awesome! :)

WOOOOOO!!!!!

Oh. My. God. That was totally freaking awesome! Finishing that race was the biggest endorphin rush EVER.

*takes a deep breath*

Okay. So we'll start out from last night. My brother just moved into a new house so he had a little party (obviously the night before i have a race. figures ...). I went, being the good sister that I am, though I avoided the beer that was calling out to me. My original intention was to only stay about a half-hour.

Riiiight. Three hours later, I'm heading home. I figure that going to bed by 11:30 wasn't all that bad because that's what I usually do. Therefore, keeping with routine, right? That's what I thought.

Anyway, finally rolled out of bed this morning at 4:30ish, ate breakfast, got my stuff all together ... and learned that Gen and I were not carpooling together. This was an issue because my bike really doesn't fit in my car. I somehow got the wheels off and the bike jammed in my car, but when I got to the parking lot, I couldn't get my back wheel back on or my brakes to go back together (both small little issues). Some kind souls in the car next to me got my back wheel back on (getting hands full of chain grease for their trouble; i felt bad), I somehow got my back brake connected again ... but my stupid front brake wasn't going back together. By this point, I'd been at the parking lot for about 45 minutes and really should have been setting up my spot in the transition zone.

When Gen and her boyfriend John finally arrived, I met up with them and John thankfully was able to put my front brake back together. I quickly hopped on the bike, it seemed to work - good enough for me. Met up with Amber in the transition zone, squashed my stuff next to hers, warmed up ... I felt ready to go after that stupid bike fiasco.

At 8:20am, Amber and I went in our heat (gen was 4 minutes earlier). First up: swimming. For next time, I know that THIS is something I need to work on. It's fun being kicked every now and then, but you can't really get away from the person kicking you without getting too far off course or stopping yourself. I also ended up doing the breaststroke pretty much the entire way, keeping my head above water (so totally not how i had practiced). Had to stop and use the swim angels once to clear out my goggles (seeing is good), though I almost stopped one other time because I was having a mini asthma/anxiety attack. Still, survived the swim (in supposedly, i found out later, 21 minutes ... though i kinda don't believe it (championchip be damned)).

After a long (7 minute!) transition, I hopped on the bike for the shortened (stupid construction - cut the bike course by a mile) bike course. I ended up making up a lot of ground on the bike course, feeling good enough to scream and yell support at pretty much everyone I passed (yeah, i'm that crazy kid). I was a little concerned 'cuz my bike was squeaking something fierce, but I got through it totally fine. My legs burned at a few points, but overall, it was an easier 11.4 miles than I had been doing on the C/E-470 trail. Still, my poor bike gets a tune-up this week just to be safe.

Next up: 3.1 mile run ... which by itself wouldn't be so bad for me right now, but after all that other crap? Yeeeah, I ended up walking probably half of it. I did have an advantage by not having bike shoes though - much quicker transition. Though I put my watch on after the swim, I never really looked at it until I was on the running course. At that point, I realized that I was still on pace for my goal of finishing under two hours. As I just mentioned like two sentences ago, I ended up walking probably about half (made sure i alternated), although it probably would have been less had it not been for my feet (stupid blisters). Still, I had enough in the tank for a nice sprint finish and apparently a time of 1:47:22! WOOOO!

My entire body was covered in sweat and I was totally nasty and disgusting, but damn that was awesome.

I don't know if I'm now hooked on triathlons, but doing this race (or a similar one) is definitely something I'll consider again.