Wednesday, September 30, 2009

500m swim

Got kicked out of my lane b/c there was swimming lessons!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

10k w/ Mark @ 6:00min/km - 59:59

Monday, September 28, 2009

Weekend fun w/ Mark :)

Friday
5.0km Recovery Run | 33:15

HRM Stats
309kcals burned (40% from fat)
MHR 167 (85% max)
AHR 153 (78% max)

Saturday
50.02km Bike | 1:46:43 | 28.1km/hr

HRM Stats
1011kcals burned (45% from fat)
MHR 181 (92% max)
AHR 135 (71% max)

Sunday
16km Long Run w/ 5km @ race pace

1 | 6:09
2 | 6:17
3 | 5:55
4 | 6:07
5 | 6:08
6 | 6:15
7 | 6:08
8 | 6:09
9 | 5:23
10| 5:17
11| 5:16
12| 5:26
13| 5:27
14| 6:18
15| 6:17
16| 6:13
16.0km | 1:34:48 | 5:55min/km

HRM Stats
1016kcals burned (30% from fat)
MHR 183 (93% max)
AHR 166 (84% max)

Friday, September 25, 2009

5k Recovery Run
33:15
309kcals burned (40% from fat)
MHR 167 (85% max)
AHR 153 (78% max)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

1 | 6:02
2 | 6:12
3 | 6:02
4 | 5:57
5 | 6:06
6 | 6:09
7 | 6:08
8 | 6:05
9 | 6:16
10| 6:13
10.0km | 1:01:16 | 6:08min/km

HRM stats:
637kcals burned (30% from fat)
MHR 183 (93% max)
AHR 164 (83% max)

Post-run fuel: 250ml skim milk

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

12K General Aerobic & Speed (12K w/ 6 x 100m strides)

1 | 6:07 [stoplight]
2 | 5:54
3 | 6:06
4 | 6:09
5 | 6:53 [really long stop at stoplight. >2 mins, ran fast
6 | 5:47 [making up for lost time]
7 | 6:00
8 | 5:42 [strides at SMU track]
9 | 6:17
10| 6:07
11| 6:29
12| 6:06
12.0km | 1:13:39 | 6:08min/km

HRM Stats:
752kcals burned (25% from fat)
MHR 177 (90% max)
AHR 163 (83% max)

Run fuel: nadda - ate bfast prior to running
Post-run fuel: 250ml skim milk

Monday, September 21, 2009

Recovery Swim

12 x 100m freestyle

Each 100m was about 2:15-2:30min w/ 30 seconds rest in between.

Feeling great after yesterday's run. No soreness, should be ready to run again tomorrow.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

18km Long Run!

1 | 6:09
2 | 6:08
3 | 6:04
4 | 6:20 [traffic light]
5 | 6:46 [again]
6 | 6:45 [again.. frustrating!]
7 | 6:17
8 | 6:47
9 | 6:13
10| 5:58
11| 6:18
12| 6:12
13| 6:17
14| 6:05
15| 6:38 [dodging people on busy street]
16| 6:05
17| 6:29 [traffic light]
18| 8:07 [worst side stitch of LIFE!]
18.0km | 1:55:31 | 6:25min/km

This is my first long run this summer/fall that felt GOOD. I felt really strong and in control until the last 700m when I got the most painful side stitch that forced me to walk the rest of the run. Traffic lights and side stitch aside, this 18k was 5 minutes faster than my last 18k and felt MUCH better. A recovery week really does one a world of good!

Run fuel: 7 jujubes (170kcal) + 300ml Gatorade/water dillution
Post-run recovery fuel: 250ml skim milk

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Yesterday:

Recovery Swim
1 x 100m w/u
1 x 400m pull buoy
1 x 200m kick w/ fins
1 x 100m free
1 x 100m free

Today:

Recovery Bike
22km @ 25.8km/hr pace

Beautiful bike ride tonight out Peggy's Cove Road. Nova Scotia is really beautiful out that way with its bays, lakes, and harbours that contrast its yellowing forest and granite rock. Very pretty. There were some cops doing a road check and one of them jokingly told me to slow down when I breezed by them haha.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Tuesday: 6.0km recovery run

Today:
1 | 6:20
2 | 6:05
3 | 5:45
4 | 5:52
5 | 5:54
6 | 6:26
7 | 6:07
8 | 5:23
9 | 6:04
10| 6:39
10.0km | 1:00:37 | 6:04min/km

Ran from my place to Point Pleasant and back. City running is so annoying- lots of stopping at traffic lights (time is included in my splits). I felt weightless when I ran today.. must be recovered from Sunday's tri. I did my usual steep hill climb in the park and did 400m fast (4:00min/km pace) at the SMU track on the way home.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

My First Triathlon: Race Report

I will start off by saying that I FINISHED! Whoop! :) That was my first goal. My second goal was not to hang on to a kayak during the swim (also accomplished) and my third was not to take any walk breaks during the run (check!). It was tough not having Mark there for support (ironically he is currently in Australia at the ITU Triathlon World Championships as an Age Grouper). Some of his tri friends were spectating though and were a great cheer squad for me! I finished 63/113 overall and 7/17 in my age group. I think with a lot of work on the swim this winter I could be a contender in my age group next season.

SWIM (23:06):

Wow, all I can do is laugh! hahaha I was SO nervous this morning that I thought I might get sick. All of my training went out the window when I arrived at the lake. There were 120 participants in the sprint triathlon and they all looked like SWIMMERS to me! Unlike them, I did not have a wetsuit and would instead be sporting my swimsuit with some tri shorts.

My friend Lisa assured me she would hold my hand out there and I likewise assured her that I would stick by her side. Having another novice to race with made the world of difference out on that lake. The men started 5 minutes before us, and the next thing I knew they were counting down the seconds to our start. That first buoy looked so far away. The buoy that Lisa and I would swim to in training (which we too great pride in accomplishing!) was only about half as far out as the first triathlon buoy. We knew it would be tough but the horn blew and we were off. I started near the back, to the side to give myself room. It didn't matter, nothing could have calmed me from the anxiety that would ensue. It is like I completely forgot how to swim. The water was freezing and I couldn't get any good, deep breaths so I did maybe 5-10 strokes freestyle and started side stroking. Hahaha Lisa stopped and we agreed to do 10 breaths of freestyle, then break. I did less than that and ended up side stroking my way to that first buoy. I couldn't feel my feet because of a) the cold or b) all of my stopping and not keeping my body horizontal.

We chatted with other ladies around us who were also side or breaststroking, and eventually I calmed down, noting that boats and kayaks were close by. It wasn't far from the 1st buoy to the 2nd- maybe 150-200m, and I did my best to freestyle to it. Then we headed for home! Again, more side stroke and breaststroke but before I knew it, I was touching bottom!! Yeah!!! Ran out across the timing mat, and up the hill to the transition area!

T1/BIKE (45:29)
Still no feeling in my feet so running over some gravel to get to my bike didn't matter. I put my helmet on first, as bf had suggested, decided not to wear shades because it was cloudy, threw on my socks & shoes and ran for the mount line. I passed quite a few people on the bike which made me feel good. It was a rolling course with lots of hills- tough stuff! I really wanted a sub-40 bike +T1 but I checked the results and didn't feel bad after seeing that only the top 6 finishers achieved that. Overall, I was 28/113 on the bike and 2/17 in my age group (by 7 seconds). Not bad for a first timer! The time flew and before I knew it, I was dismounting and heading for the bike rack.

T2/RUN (30:53)
In T2 I was greeted by some of Mark's friends, which was nice. I grabbed a few sips of water, ditched the helmet for a hat, and the bike shoes for my sneakers. Off I went!

I normally run 5k's in about 25 minutes so my run time was hard to swallow. My boyfriend and I had done some 3k runs off the bike in training and it was easy for me to stay at a 5min/km pace. But this run was not like my training runs! It was through the trail system at the campground where the tri was based out of. The turf was gravel and the running technical- lots of steep inclines and declines, very little flat. I stopped twice to ask volunteers where the timing mat was to start the run because every time I watched my bf do a triathlon, transition time was clocked and there was a mat at the dismount line AND a mat at the beginning of the run. Not the case here, but nobody was able to give me an answer so I just went for it. This stopping probably cost me 30 or so valuable seconds.

I ran along the out and back route, legs feeling wobbly at first, and kept telling myself to take it easy. I would quicken cadence and count my steps going up the hills to take my mind off the difficulty. Grabbed some water at the turnaround, and I knew I had it in the bag with only 2.5k left. It felt good to be passing some of the sprint men who started 5 minutes ahead of me!

The return run was uneventful, other than getting a little lost at a corner where there should have been a volunteer. I'm still not sure if we went the right way but the 5 or so people behind me followed my lead and we ended up at the finish line. :)

TOTAL TIME: 1:39:27!!! I am really happy with that!! I didn't have a specific goal in mind but sub-1:40 sounds good to me!

Friday, September 11, 2009

We conquered the buoy!

Thursday, September 10:

SWIM:

Fourth trip to Lake Charles, again with Lisa. We swam 5 x 3.5 min intervals to different points around the lake including "THE bouy"! Yeah yeahhh! So it ended up that there are some really large rocks by the buoy and we were able to stand up by it! Pretty crazy. If I had've known all along that it would be possible to stand up and take a break at the buoy I probably wouldn't have been so freaked out. We swam the whole way back in to shore from the buoy which only took 5 mins but seemed long. I felt even better after this swim and officially registered for the triathlon today.

We also biked the course so...

BIKE:

20.1km @ 21.5km/hr

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

SWIM:

Lake swim with Lisa. My third trip to Lake Charles where the triathlon takes place on Sunday. We tried to swim out to a buoy but waters were choppy. We made it 3/4 of the way then turned and swam to a dock, then back to shore. We then practiced more sighting by swimming to a rock on the other side of the lake, then another rock, and another, and suddenly we were just about at the buoy we were trying to swim to in the first place. We then swam back into shore (maybe 150-200m). I felt much better about swimming in the lake and about sighting after this trip. I think I will swim there again tomorrow and maybe Friday. I started to relax and enjoy myself once we had been in the water for a while. Great to have a swimming buddy at the same level as me!

RUN:

1 | 5:50
2 | 6:13
3 | 6:22
4 | 6:16
5 | 6:02
6 | 6:44
7 | 6:07
8 | 6:37
9 | 6:23
10| 6:35
10.0km | 1:03:14 | 6:19min/km

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

SWIM:

W/U - 1 x 100m free, 2 x 100m single arm drill
Main Set - 500m
C/D - 1 x 50m kick, 1 x 100m free

BIKE:

20.0km @ 29.7km/hr (40:32)

Monday, September 07, 2009

Short swim at Lake Charles (maybe 10 minutes) practicing sighting.

7km of trails at Shubie campground:

1 | 6:42
2 | 6:03
3 | 6:29
4 | 6:36
5 | 6:24
6 | 7:38 (got lost trying to find my way out of the trails)
7 | 7:01 (same)
7.07km | 47:30 | 6:43min/km

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Victorious.

Today I had a break through pool session! I finally swam 750 meters consecutively! Yeaaahhh!!! I fixed my pull a bit so that I was cupping my hand and pushing the water back with my forearm as well as my hand. That made for much better glide, less strokes, and better breaths. With this minor technique adjustment, freestyle no longer seems so bad.

SWIM:

W/U 1 x 50m + 1 x 100m
100m drill (one arm)
200m freestyle
Main Set - 750m freestyle (19:57)
C/D 50m kick

RUN:

1 | 6:12
2 | 6:10
3 | 6:10
4 | 6:10
5 | 6:10
6 | 6:15
7 | 6:20
8 | 6:23
9 | 6:32
10| 6:13
11| 6:21
12| 6:19
13| 6:26
14| 6:28
15| 6:14
16| 6:26
16.0km | 1:40:52 | 6:18min/km

Running Log Updates
September 3 - 10km (1:05:59 - 6:31min/km pace)
September 1 - 2.73km (14:59 - 5:30min/km pace) [off the bike]
August 30 - 18.0km (2:01:56 - 6:46min/km pace)
August 28 - 3.0km (15:00 - 5:00min/km pace) [off the bike]
August 27 - 6.12km (38:49 - 6:21min/km pace)
August 25 - 14.0km (1:27:43 - 6:16min/km pace)
August 22 - 4.0km (23:37 - 5:52min/km pace) [w/ Mark in NH]
August 20 - 4.73km (30:00 - 6:20min/km pace) [w/ Mark after 8 hrs in the car driving to Maine]

Biking Log Updates
September 1 - 36km @ 26.8km/hr pace
August 31 - 47km @ 23.6km/hr pace
August 28 - 20km @ 30km/hr pace [time trial]
August 27 - 20.64km @ 25.5km/hr pace
August 26 - 30.32km @ 26.9km/hr pace
August 23 - 16.5km @ 27.0km/hr pace [in NH]
August 22 - 27.0km @ 26km/hr pace [w/ Mark in NH]

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

To triathlon or not to triathlon... is that really a question?

Two open water swims with Mark this week. Today and Monday. I panicked both times. I have no explanation for the anxiety with lakes other than unfamiliarity. Will I look up to see a giant, ugly fish in my face? Will I be unable to complete the swim? Will I choke on a gulp of water? No, no, NO.

I know I can bike. I know I can run. It's the swim that is playing with my head. If anything, I need to follow through just to prove to myself what I'm capable of. 750meters. That is nothing on pavement! 25 minutes in the water, max. I can so do this. I will keep a steady momentum and rythm, and I will do it. Reach, catch, pull, push, recovery, reach, catch, pull, push, recovery, side breath, repeat.

Today's swimming:

13 minutes in the lake (felt like eternity). Maybe 350-400m with lots of stopping. To redeem myself I went to the pool and did...

100m pull buoy w/u
1 x 50m
2 x 100m
2 x 200m
2 x 100m
1 x 50m kick
100m pull buoy c/d