2012 Challenge

Okay...so we are already in April and I'm thinking challenges. I'm slow - leave me alone!

So, I was surfing around for a picture to post here and as I was going through the photos on Google Images the following pic caught my eye...

Let's face it, I like the word Challenge - granted my last effort kind of flopped, the whole, I think I'll try to run a half-marathon didn't happen - the reality is that running isn't my everyday passion, but that's a different post.

Three years ago I challenged my self to do a DUATHLON and did it. Also, in the same year I decided to that I wanted to RIDE A CENTURY. When you think about it just one crazy hard event in a year is not enough...which reminds me, Robin and I did the ALL WOMENS EVENT that same year as well. Oh...that was the year that we got our first taste of TIME TRIALING (thanks Vancouver Bicycle Club).

Oh yes, I better get back on track here...

So I'm looking around for a picture and find the one above and the word Challenge just gets me a little curious. Of course I have to check out what this craziness could be...it's basically a fundraising thing in the UK where participants choose their activity of choice or several activities and cover 2012 KM - I'm guessing in a certain time period, like a year, maybe? That's like 1250.198 miles...a long ways to go if you are an average-don't-do-much-in-the-way-of-exercise type person.

So starting today, April 5, 2012 I'm going to make it my CHALLENGE to do at least 2012 KM or 1250.198 miles this year doing running, riding, swimming and other miscellaneous equipment that measures distance. With there being 271 days left in 2012 that equals 4.61 miles a day. That's doable right? We'll I guess that will be determined.

I'm already half way done with my daily quota...just need another 2.52 miles to be done for the day. This morning I got into the pool, hopped on the elliptical and then the bike! This might be a quick ride around the neighborhood deal just to get it done!

With this fun new challenge for the year, I'll try to post here more often with my daily activity and what thoughts I may have had during those activities...hopefully.

WHY do I have to like Challenges?

New Goals

A triathlon in June may not be in the cards this year...I'm making my peace with that, but I am continuing with my quest to improve my swimming! As I was at the gym and getting ready to leave to go home an acquaintance from my former hair salon came in and was getting ready to swim. We chatted a bit and she mentioned something about the Roy Webster Cross-Channel swim that happens during the Labor Day weekend every year.

Being slightly foolish, I decided to take a look at this particular event. It starts at the marina in Hood River, but participants are "ferried" over to the Washington side via the Sternwheeler. Once on the other side swimmers jump into the river and swim back to Hood River.

That's like a mile across...I think...OMG...CRAZY?!

Maybe, but like I have mentioned before, I like a challenge and if a triathlon isn't my future, maybe just a mile long swim...across a river...the Mighty Columbia...

I was informed that this is a low stress swim and relaxed event. Well, my acquaintance doesn't realize that I'm not THAT great of a swimmer and that anything that spans more than a quarter mile just might be a stressful thing for a novice swimmer such as myself ;) BUT - now that I have that fancy-dancy wetsuit, maybe I should consider this swim. There wouldn't be any buoys to go around (thankfully) and it is a straight shot across the river.

Hmmm...well, I do have a few months to get into shape for this swim. Maybe I should find someone who wants to swim it with me...

Here's to crazy sounding events!

Swim, Swim, Swim!

I feel like this some days - trying to keep my head above water!

The past couple of mornings I have gotten into the pool. Yesterday's swim was not good at all. I could tell right away that things would not go well. I only managed 4 laps yesterday...ugh! Today was much better and I was able to do 6 laps! I stopped after six because I didn't want to scare away my swimming mojo...going back tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I'll do 50% more! Working on distance right now, time will have to come later.

Right now I want to get into the pool as much as possible to get back into the routine of going to the gym in the morning again. My goal is to get to the gym as much as I can - there are triathlons to do!

With the daylight lasting a little longer into the evenings, it will be easier to get out for runs on the road. I am not a fan of the treadmill - I may have mentioned that a time or two, so I'll be getting out on the road after work. If for some reason my schedule doesn't allow that I'll have to run on the treadmill at work :(

After I get home from work today Tom and I are going to get out for a run. I don't know what to expect - it may not be good or I might be surprised and have a spectacular run. Maybe I should run in my new shoes...hmmm...

106 Days.

Registering

I have decided to mail in my registration for Stumptown - the processing fee is $6.20!!!!That's a lot of coffee money in my eyes...they don't need any more of my money!

I've got Open Water swim on the brain today...maybe I'll get out and get into Klineline (shudder)...I need the practice!

Klineline doesn't look so bad from this side ;)

Open Water Swim

A beautiful body of water(?)

Yesterday was to be a open water group swim session with a group that swims with the Tornadoes coaches at Klineline Park.

Since I didn't see any swim type people in wetsuits and all, I decided since we paid the $3 fee to park, I should probably put my wetsuit on and go for it. I did see another guy and later found out he was just swimming on his own. So, after donning my suit, I made my way into the water and gave it a go.

At first when I started to swim, I immediately stopped...it seemed like I didn't have my goggles on, but I did. The swim wasn't all bad, but it is different being in an open environment. Also, there was a lot of plants growing in the pond. There was a spongy spot that just was plain icky. Note to self, aqua shoes...a must when swimming at Klineline!

After I swam out to a pylon, not too far out a couple of times, I decided to call it good. Definitely felt like $3 worth of swimming.

Even though it wasn't a great swim, once I got out and thought about it a while, I decided that I liked it. I'm looking forward to the next open swim session on Tuesday...looking to practice and get some more endurance and to actually learn how to swim in open water properly.

Now What?

I have spent the better part of the last year thinking, preparing and training for my first triathlon. Now that it is done, I've been thinking, "Do I want to do another?" I was pretty pleased with the fact that I actually did the Novice Tri and that I finished that my answer to that question is YES!

Not that I'm totally in LOVE with Triathlon, but because I want to continue improving my swimming, riding and running. I did enjoy the experience very much, that much I can say with confidence. I just keep thinking that I can do much better in the swim. With the Blue Lake event in late spring, I have realized that open water swimming without a wetsuit really isn't that smart. I get cold just thinking about it, what with the average temps this past Spring hovering in the low to mid 50s for the past month or so. Also, without a wetsuit, I could not participate in the local swim club's open water clinic a couple of weeks ago or the clinic that was at Blue Lake. Probably won't be getting in on the clinic at Lacamas Lake either.

That problem will be solved come my birthday...I have decided that I would like a wetsuit for my birthday and started researching what my options are. So many different models and prices to match! So far the one that has caught my eye would be the Orca S3...

This suit is a bargain at $199.00 and has received excellent reviews.

I thought I might want to save up for this, but Tom had asked if I might want a wetsuit for my birthday. At first I said no, but after some thought, I could get out into open water more often with a wetsuit and practice more for my next Triathlon. I had thought about going to the Ocean Shore tri, but I'm thinking that will be out this year. Too much to do in July with Cycle Oregon Weekend ride coming up and then All Womens event. I think it will be time to research what other events will be coming up later this summer and shoot for one of those.


It took a couple of days of reflecting on my Blue Lake experience. It would be really nice to actually do the Sprint distance next time!


In the mean time, I have decided to focus a lot on running (which still sucks) and my swimming. The bike, even though I need to ride to improve in that area, isn't as critical as my really poor areas...swimming and running. Rest first, start a new running plan and swimming when I don't run!

There is no rest for the weary!

Less Than Three Weeks...

Blue Lake here we come! Actually, registering for the event would be good...especially since this event is very popular. Maybe tomorrow...

Have been pretty diligent at following the training plan after doing the Shamrock Run and somehow I have been able to keep up with MOST of the training. Somewhere along the line, I lost a week of training (that would be within the last month) and now I'm down to the final three weeks.

I think I have had another break through with my swimming. All of a sudden I'm feeling pretty good about it, maybe knowing that the wetsuit will make the swim not so terrible is in the back of my mind...hmmm. Today I actually followed the workout as written and it was pretty much the best swim workout in weeks! Started out by swimming 100 yards and then resting briefly and then swimming 25 yards at a moderate pace with a brief rest at the wall...a total of 4 times. Then swimming the length of the pool and resting at the wall for the remaining time. It was sooo good! I've been feeling more confident the past few days - I'm so looking forward to June 11!

Also, last week I bought some ear plugs to help keep the water out of my ears, and those things are AWESOME! Not much water getting in, so no more water fluttering about in my ear.

Swim, Ride, RUN!

Wetsuits goooood....

Took the next step in my triathlon quest and got fitted for a wetsuit today. I studied up a little bit on how to don one of these...it's not that easy, that's for sure, but with the help of a plastic bag was good. At first I thought I was going to hurt myself trying to pull it on while being careful not to damage the suit. I damage I buy...THAT would be bad!

So, I got the wetsuit on and popped out and got someone's attention - looking a little confused usually helps. It fit really well and my goodness, NOTHING moves! I jumped around and no jiggling anywhere...hahaha!

The woman (who was wearing a m-dot pendant) was quite helpful and told me after a quick once over that things looked good and that it was a good fit. Thank goodness for that, I don't think that I would want to try on any others...them suckers are HOT! After a quick tutorial on how to unpeel the wetsuit we were on our way!

So this wetsuit is going to make swimming easier...yay! I wonder what would make running easier...hmmmm.

I'm REALLY excited now and after looking at the training schedule, I somehow got off track. I lost a week somewhere...it's all good though. I'm not going for any records here, just want to finish. I would also like to enjoy my first triathlon, for I may want to do more this summer!

Swimmin', Ridin' and Runnin' BAY-BEE!

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Lots Of Good Things This Week...

This week I have experienced a really good swim session and a really good run session. I don't know what gives, but I'll take it! Also other things are falling into place. I'm a happy camper!

Got into the pool yesterday and did 400 yards - not without stopping, but with brief rests at the end of each lap and really brief stops after each length. It gives me hope that I'll be able to swim the quarter mile in June without too much trouble. The next challenge would be swimming a 1/2 mile total. We'll tackle that after the Blue Lake event June.

Really good run after 3 not so great run days - one day last week I forgot my socks, on Saturday I had planned to do a long run, but my asthma decided to make my run difficult and this week on Tuesday I forgot my sports bra. I was better prepared today, mostly. Today I only forgot to grab a water bottle, which is fine because I figure I could run for 30 minutes without having to take a sip of water and I would just hydrate all afternoon anyway. My run felt REALLY good. I went a little on the slower end of the spectrum at 1% incline and did 2.22 miles and I feel pretty good about that. I'll try another 5k this Saturday - which is doable, just need to run early instead of later and stay away from all the stinky cars. Early in our run on Saturday I inhaled a bunch of diesel exhaust which was not helpful at all.

The other exciting thing is that the Vancouver Bicycle Club posted that the  Time Trials start on April 21st!!!! Okay, so that is still a couple of months away, but I have been looking forward to the TT's starting up since they ended last September. I'm a sad little person...not really!

Shamrock Team is shaping up, as of today we only need one more participant. I have been assured that this will be done before the deadline. Next year I'll have to re-think how to handle getting the team together - I may move to do the mail-in registration which would also save us the $2.22 processing fee. Now that we are 99% there all I can hope for is NO RAIN! I can do cold (to a point), but rain is just plain miserable.

I'm so looking forward to all the events that we are planning to participate in. In some ways it has made this winter go by just a little quicker as we have been running and spinning and getting into the pool and splashing around.

Swim, Ride, Run - Baby!

Different

Yeah so I did my leg maintenance and went to the gym for my swim workout. The difference between my swim yesterday and the one from earlier this week was less drag...less drag and less sinking feeling. So, I will have to keep up on the shaving during the cool winter months...which I suppose is a good thing.

The not so good thing...there were several people milling about the pool and in the hot tub area. It was enough to make me feel intimidated - mostly because of the 4 people in the pool, only two of us were actually swimming. The two teen-age goofballs in one of the lanes were just goofing around. Then there was a woman waiting IN the pool for a lane to open up so she could get a headstart on her non-swim workout (Aquafit) so that wasn't helping my nerves any. Swimming after 5pm is very different than swimming in the early morning hours.

If I had an extra 10 grand laying around (HA!) I would figure out a way to get one of these...

 

Endless Pool -  Fastlane set-up

 

 

 

A girl can dream...although if I were to dream big my choice would be a full size pool in my house. That seems to be an unlikely dream, so it's LA Fitness and the goofballs forever!

Psycho...

...logical.

Yeah, so I have noticed for the last 3 or 4 swims that I have not been "gliding" through the water as easily as when I was shaving my legs all the time during the summer for cycling season. I've gotten lazy in the last week since there haven't been many days to get out on the bike and wear shorts...thus sporting smooth legs. For some reason I am feeling definite drag in the pool as I'm swimming - could it be a psychological thing or ???

It's hard to say, but I think I will do a little leg maintenance tomorrow and see if there is a difference on Wednesday.

I'll report later this week....should be interesting.

Time To Get Serious

The last couple three weeks or so I have been a slacker - sort of. I haven't run at all, did the very minimal amount of anything and got back into spin class. Just lazy I guess.

So, this past Saturday since I was thinking about swimming so much that I decided that after leaving Jenni's house (PartyLite gathering) I would go to the gym before going home. The gym isn't exactly on the way home from Jenni's but I thought that more swimming isn't a bad thing. So, 20 minutes and eight and a half laps later I went home and felt pretty good about my extra swim for the week!

This week I am getting back into my 8-5 work schedule and just to get on track I brought my running clothes/shoes and went upstairs and got on the treadmill. No running just yet, just walking for 30 minutes right now and watching a little TV so that the time goes a little quicker.

It's time to get intentional about everything - running, spinning and swimming. Especially swimming and running since I don't do either all that well, but I am seeing more improvement with swimming all the time. I suppose if I kept at running as I should I would see improvement there too - Go figure.

Now all I have to do is work on my nutrition...ugh. Let's save that for another day.

Here's looking forward to Blue Lake 2011 and other events!

just swimmin' and spinnin'

Haven't been running at all these last couple of weeks. My knee was hurting during the Peach on Sunday so I took it easy.

POOL TIME
Got into the pool on M-W-F and did alright. Getting better each time. I am amazed that I can do 2 laps in a row only stopping to turn around...2 laps!!! Doing FREESTYLE!! A year ago I was the goof-ball trying to get to the other end of the pool swimming any ol' stroke that would keep me going. Now I'm actually getting back into swimming and able to swim a total of 7-8 laps - MOSTLY FREESTYLE. I'm a little excited :) Now all I need to do is swim at least a dozen more laps to make up a half mile distance...swim, Swim, SWIM!

LACTATE THRESHOLD
Good ol' John was supposed to have done a Lactate Threshold Field Test on Wednesday, but he ended up oversleeping and getting to the gym too late. So now we are hoping he doesn't oversleep NEXT Wednesday! It should be interested to find out what my heart rate zone is...John says it is a good training tool. He should know, he's a trainer of sorts, so when John says anything it's free training tidbits! Check him out HERE or HERE.

TUNE-UP
I took my bike into the shop on Monday for a tune-up and it would be my luck that this would have been the best week to do some bike commuting to work. Oh well...when I get my bike back later today Tom and I will have to go for a quick ride to make sure all is well. A new chain and brake pads - cool beans!

So yeah, a sprint tri in 2011 maybe even two, but not one of these -

Swimming is...

not so bad afterall :)

Okay, so this swimming thing is REALLY starting to stick! After reading my post of almost a year ago, I can't believe how much improvement I have made just by being consistent with getting into the pool! Check out my post from September 2009 and my attempt to start swimming...HERE

My swim drill for the week (and probably next week) has been to start my swim by swimming as far as I can and then resting for one minute at the wall before continuing on with the workout. I have to be honest, I have been stopping after one lap even though I think I could probably do more. I am going to change that next week and do exactly what the workout is wanting me to do. The really cool thing is that when I stop, I'm not as breathless as I have been in the past - I no longer am gasping for air! Now for me having exercise induced asthma that's not so bad. Although today I did run on the treadmill so my lungs got a pretty good workout before I even jumped into the water. So, what I have read is true - it DOES take about 6 weeks to notice improvements!

My first tri will be a reality, I can feel it, but first...Open Water Swimming! I'm pretty sure it won't be like this video...

Vacation Time...

This week has been a vacation week for me, but not as far as my workouts are concerned. Still have been running & swimming because I need to work on both of those the most.

Tonight is the VBC Time Trial - woo hoo! Last week the wind was so bad, fierce...WICKED! Even so, my time wasn't too much more than the week before when I posted my fastest time of the season. My attitude last week was to go out and enjoy the ride, but the wind...ugh. That sort of killed my desire to enjoy the next 30+ minutes. However, the tailwind was like no other I have ever experienced before, so it was easy to make up some time and still ride a decent Time Trial.

It will be a warmer day today so tonight should be a good ride....NO WIND! Or less wind please-oh-please...

One more TT and we are done for the year. Then we start counting down for next spring and the start of yet another season of time trialing - WOO HOO!

Vrooom!

Pre-Training For My First Tri

My Book Du Jour

I have been contemplating doing a tri for over a year now. The first time I kind of thought of it was when Tom and I were in Albany to do our first Covered Bridge Bicycle Tour last year and we were walking through a shopping center and for no particular reason either Tom or I asked the other about swimming and trying to do a Triathlon. I'm pretty sure Tom brought up the subject and I'm pretty sure that I replied that I had been thinking about it. So, being fashion forward about things I started to hunt around for a swim suit - finally found one that I liked (which fit) on TeamEstrogen.com and even got a couple of accessories too.

So, it took most of the year, but I've actually been getting into the pool at the gym and swimming! Earlier this week there were a herd of people in the pool, each lane with at least two people and some others just hanging out in the hot tub area. It was crazy! Normally, I would probably just turn around and leave, but I actually stayed and swam in one of the over-populated lanes. I think I'm getting serious about this tri stuff! In the last 3 weeks I have gone and swam at least twice a week, sometimes 3 times...that's a good thing!

Running has been pretty slow since All Women's...mostly non-existent. A couple of weeks ago I got on the treadmill again and I remember now why I have not been in the gym to run almost all summer...it's BORING! I know that my time on the road will be limited so I decided it's time to get back on the dreadmill and just do it. I'll be going back to weekend road/trail runs pretty soon so I better make good use of the mills at the gym.

Tonight is the first of the last three time trials at the Port. Last week I beat my fastest time from the beginning of the season. At that time I decided that for the rest of the TT's I would go out and just have a good time and ride hard of course without trying to beat last week's time. I don't know how that will go...we'll see if I ease off and just enjoy the night or not.

My pre-training will consist of following one of the 12-week plans in the book I have been carrying around with me almost always. Then next spring I hope to step up the training and add open water swimming - that's on the condition that I can actually swim the distance without too much trouble. Oh, and open water swimming in the spring...yeah, that doesn't sound good at all. That might just have to wait until right before Blue Lake.

Blue Lake Sprint Tri here I come!

This look makes sense in the water

Thinking about...

starting up training again.

Didn't run all last week, did a big event ride on Sunday and actually swam a couple of days last week. I have the picture above as my wallpaper on my monitor at work as inspiration...that should keep me going to the pool...I hope. More goals abound - a Tri in 2011!

Tomorrow I'll be heading to the gym early with Tom and might get a little treadmill time before changing and meeting Kristen for some swim time. This will be the first time for us meeting to swim at the gym - there were a couple of other attempts, but schedules got in the way.  This will be good though, last week I had every intention of walking on the treadmill until John showed up to lead Tom's class and then get into the pool. That was a great plan, but he never showed up! I walked on the mill all the way until 6:00 and went marching into the spin class to find out what the deal was. I decided it was time to go home - so Tom hopped off the bike and gathered up his stuff and we were out of there!

I'm glad for Kristen though, now I have someone to be accountable to ;) although I'm sure that there will be only a few opportunities to meet at the pool. Should be a good time though, she is so laid back and relaxed and fun to be around. I'm pretty sure I won't feel like a big fat loser - she's looking to do her third tri this summer in a few weeks. 

So, before last week I hadn't been in the pool since the middle of June. I have to admit that it didn't so freaky this time around. Progress maybe? We'll see...I've got a long way to go to get to half a mile, but then I have 10 months to do it...it's seems doable.

Swim, Ride...RUN!

Blue Lake 2011

Will be my first Triathlon!

Swimming has not been in my training routine, so I'm starting to figure out how to fit it in with the running and cycling. I figure that if I at least swim a couple of  times a week that would be better than not swimming at all. My goal is to get as much swimming in as possible between now and when I intend to start a real training program for my first Tri. It will not be easy and I'm fully prepared to be overwhelmed at some point either really soon or in a month or so when we are in the thick of cycling and I'm still trying to run a couple of days a week.

My hope is to recruit some of my FD6 people into doing Blue Lake next year...I know of a couple of the guys who have already done either a sprint distance or a novice distance in the last couple of months, so they will be on my list for sure!

So, today was my first time back into the pool in over a month! This morning I tweaked my neck as I was getting ready to go to the gym - so annoying. Because of that I was not able to do Freestyle, but I was able to swim 400 yards this morning with short breaks in between each length. It will be interesting to see how things go progress. It would be wishful thinking on my part to think that I might be able to do a Tri in September, but I can always work on it...it would be a stretch though.


I can't believe that I'm back in training mode! There truly is no rest for the weary...

Swim(?), Ride, Run bay-bee!

Swim, Swim, Swim!

I'm not that great of a swimmer, but today after work I managed to do one pool length of freestyle - last week I could only manage about 1/2 a length of the pool, my gosh, swimming is hard work! I did other strokes 3 other times, but freestyle is what I'm shooting for. I think that it will take a year and a half to get up to a half mile. That's a lot of laps in the pool at around 100' per length to make up a half mile...oye.

I see a new challenge in my future...keep on swimmin'-swimmin'-swimmin!