Posts filed under 'fitness/health'
I conducted a little science experiment last night, and I must say, the results are promising. As many of you know, I’ve had trouble with my left knee and a little condition called ITB tendonitis ever since my half marathon last November. That was 10 months ago. How depressing! In August, I turned 26, and I resolved to run a marathon in this my 26th year. After the triathlon, I gave myself a week off and a trip to Chicago and came back ready and raring to train.
Last Friday was my first scheduled long run of seven miles. On Saturday, I actually set off to do this run around 11 AM, but about two miles into the run, my knee started hurting. Crap!
Continue Reading September 9th, 2008
So it’s Take It and Run Thursday over at Runner’s Lounge, and the title of this week’s writing assignment is “Run. Rest and Recover. Repeat.” I’m supposed to be sharing my secrets for recovery after long runs or hard races, but instead I’m going to share four you shouldn’t do. Let’s take a look:
Continue Reading August 28th, 2008
Sunday I shared with you all my experience with my first triathlon, and today I want to tell you a bit more about the race itself and give you (and its organizers) some feedback about how I thought it went. Let’s get some key stuff out of the way:
* Race Name: Republic Tiger Triathlon
* Years Held: Two
* Distances: 300 yard swim, 12 mile bike, 3.1 mile run
* Sponsors/Organizers: Republic Parks & Recreation, Ozarks Multisport Club, Sunshine Bike Shop, Ultramax Events
Continue Reading August 27th, 2008
I finally sorted through all the pictures Chris took at the triathlon, and here’s a link to the album. Once proofs from the race photographers are posted, I’ll link to those, too. (Please forgive me of the atrocious bathing suit. I promise to get a one piece for the next race.)
August 25th, 2008
2:03:26. The official I-completed-a-triathlon-and-didn’t-die time. I thought I was going to die–several times. I have several post-triathlon posts up my sleeve, but today’s will cover my experience at the Republic Tiger Tri (and how much it sucked). OK. I’m being melodramatic. I’ve been finished with the race for about 34 hours, and in retrospect, I am very proud of myself. I’m a triathlete now! Yikes! Thirty-four hours ago, though, it was a different story. Here’s how everything went down:
Continue Reading August 24th, 2008
Well, I finished. I have no idea what my time(s) is because when I finished the race, I just didn’t care. You’ll get those times when I get them. I know some of you are dying to here about the race, so here are some initial thoughts:
Continue Reading August 23rd, 2008
Can you believe my race is less than two weeks away? I can’t! It’s crazy how fast this summer has flown by. I can tell you, though, that sprint triathlon training is a heckuva lot better than marathon training in July/August because you get to spend time in the pool (water in the face) and on a bike (wind in the face). Here’s what I’ve been up to:
Monday, July 28, 2008
- Workout type. Running
- Route. Forest Park 3
- Feeling.
- Time. 33 minutes
- Distance. 3 miles
- Pace per mile. 11:00
- Additional notes. Again, another normal run around my neighborhood. I wouldn’t mind some new routes, but I often run after dark, and I like to stick to side streets that are well lit.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
- Workout type. Brick
- Route. Forest Park 3 x 4 + Pembrooke 2
- Feeling.
- Time. 66 minutes (46 + 2)
- Distance. 11 minutes (9 + 2)
- Pace per mile. 6:00 (5:06 + 11:00)
- Additional notes. First ride with the helmet, and I think it will work just fine. At first, my forehead itched, but after a few rides, I don’t notice it anymore. Will have to practice transitioning from “swim cap” hair to “helmet” hair to “visor” hair. Maybe I should shave my head…
Thursday, July 31, 2008
- Workout type. Brick
- Route. Forest Park 3 x 5
- Feeling. Surprisingly
- Time. 90 minutes (60 + 30)
- Distance. 15 miles (12 + 3)
- Pace per mile. 6:00 (5:00 + 10)
- Additional notes. Holy crap! Did you see my 3-mile time? That’s faster than my 5K PR! OK, now granted I’m not running with a stopwatch, so I don’t know minutes and seconds, but that was a pretty awesome run! If I can do this on race day, this puts me on track for a 1:45:00 triathlon. And that would be neat!
Friday, August 1, 2008
- Workout type. Lap swim
- Route. YMCA pool
- Feeling.
- Time. 60 minutes
- Distance. 1800 m
- Pace per mile. N/A
- Additional notes. Well, I finally got back in the pool. I know I can finish the swim in the race, but I’m not sure how quickly I’ll do it. For sure, I want (need) to finish in less than 10 minutes if I’m doing this in 1:45:00.
For week nine, I planned to take it easy. Instead, I took the week off. The hubby and I had a hard weekend of meetings, design, and editing, so I intentionally took Monday off. Tuesday it was blistering. Wednesday it threatened rain. Thursday was the So You Think You Can Dance finale. I finally hit the road on Sunday night for my longest bike ride thus far.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
- Workout type. Cycling
- Route. Forest Park 3 x 5
- Feeling.
- Time. 73 minutes
- Distance. 15 miles
- Pace per mile. 4:50
- Additional notes. Another ride around my neighborhood. This one got me thinking about marathon training for a December marathon and how I might work in cycling. For sure, I’ll have to do some cross training during training because I tell the difference in my knee and how much it flares up. I might do a preliminary 7 or 8 mile run this week to see how the knee holds up.
And with that, I have 12 days until my race. YIKES! I know I’m ready, but I can’t believe it’s soon!
August 11th, 2008
Another good week of training. I got caught up in the weekend, so I didn’t get in any workouts Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Oh, yeah, and it’s miserable outside, so who wants to work out outside? I bought a helmet on Friday, so now I can ride both safely and in style, but I haven’t taken it on the road yet. I’ll keep you posted. In the mean time, here’s what I did last week:
Continue Reading July 28th, 2008
Wow! Last week was so much more productive than the previous two combined! Of course, I’m pretty sure my increased motivation came from an increasing number on my bathroom scale. I haven’t checked my body fat percentage in a long time, but I’m hoping the few pounds I’ve gained are a result of increased muscle mass rather than an increase in body fat. I certainly haven’t increased in inches anywhere, and my clothes still fit fine. We just happen to live in a “vanity number” society, and even though we’re healthy as horses, we hate the scales to reach certain numbers (and I’m getting a little too close for comfort to my vanity number).
Continue Reading July 23rd, 2008
I just realized I haven’t updated you all on the triathlon training in a few weeks. Two weeks ago I was on vacation, so I was pretty lazy, and last week was my first week back, and I slacked off. Even though I haven’t been over-the-top dedicated to training, I still feel good about the race.
Continue Reading July 14th, 2008
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