the rage week 5 recap.

hello week 5! you were apparently meant to kick my butt physically and emotionally. you were meant to knock my confidence a little and make me wonder what i was doing. you also showed me what it means to get back up and finish the week strong. and the value of a training plan.

sunday~rest.

rest

the only time i even ventured out of the house, after getting up after 2p, was to the grocery store. i love rest days:)

monday~600m am swim. 4-5 mile pm run.

1000m master swim =  105:35 pace

4.72 miles = 43:10 minutes/9:08min/mile

i stepped up to the big leagues and went to a master swim class. after i realized i was the new girl and way over my head i just tried to get through. i did learn a few things about breathing and stroke. i also learned that if your not a swimmer, they dont always take to you kindly in this group. read about it here in case you havent.

so super glad i got to go to my runner group after a tough morning. derrick made sure to let me know they were mean to him too. and the support i got through the day with people who really know me made me determined to not let it get the best of me. plus we were back to t-shirt weather for our group run! 

tuesday~1200m swim.

1200m swim = 73:45 pace

after a not inspiring swim monday morning i was not going to let that define my whole week. so i pulled myself out of bed when i didnt want to and hopped in the pool at the gym. it seemed to take a little longer even if the meters ticked by pretty quick, but i felt good after. i worked on my breathing and the things i had learned from the day before. wow i almost made it to the meters for the race!

wednesday~spin.

6am spin class

this week went wayyy smoother than the week before. i was on a different side of the room and not sure if thats what i needed, but it was a good change. the class was packed and so was the whole gym. we have 1 warm day and everybody remembers they arent quite in beach shape yet lol. but the best part of the day was meeting my parents for dinner because it was my moms birthday! i was definitely glad to see them after a tough week.

it was soooo yummy!

thursday~500m swim. body pump. 

600m swim = 80:28 pace

6am body pump class

the night before i had gotten some great advice from a friend that works with my mom about swimming/breathing and was actually kind of excited to try it out. she used to be a swim coach for kids and broke it down in smaller pieces for me. i was about 400 meters into my swim thursday when i saw derrick sittin on the side of the pool. after feeling better about my breathing he was able to hop in and really watch me helping with my hips and give me some tips. i found out im not rotating them enough or not kicking my legs with them enough either. now that i know these things i know why i am not being efficient when i swim. basically im wasting too much energy, it actually makes total sense in my head:)

i had to leave derrick after only a few tips so i could go get ready for body pump and he needed to get his own laps in. having a good swim and then hard class was going to make me very sore the rest of the day, but i was ready. very successful training morning.

friday~15 mile bike.

15.01 miles bike = 1:12:46 minutes/12.4 mph

3.3 miles run = 30:57 minutes/9:22 min/mile

i actually felt good on this ride! and very accomplished. this is the farthest mileage i have ever had in a training cycle and i didnt die afterward. the hills were tougher this week since i rode more miles before getting to them, but i conquered those suckers! and was frozen like a popsicle:)

my original plans were to meet a friend at starbucks after work and go for a run then have some coffee. but her allergies were going a bit crazy with all the wind we had this week so i ran on my own and met her afterward. running at 1230p is way different, i got to wear a running skirt for the first time in months! i felt good, a little slower than i wanted to but i wasnt going for time at all. my downfall was not putting on sunscreen and then sitting outside with courtney for almost 2 hours. my bra straps are still scrapping my sunburn at every chance they get!

well hello friday! man i was glad to see you.
and wear jeans and a t-shirt to work :)

saturday~4-6 miles.

4.2 miles = 38:16 minutes/9:08 min/mile

this run took a long time (in my head) for me to get into. my stomach was not feeling the greatest but i decided to head out anyway. after about a mile and a half i was finally feeling good and strong. i kept a great pace regardless and am still sooo glad i get to end my week with a run:)

total for the week = 2,800m swam+35.01mi biked+12.22mi ran

i remembered this week to ride the ups and downs of training. and i dont know what i would have done if i didnt have a schedule to keep. i probably would have skipped my swim tuesday and felt like i was playing catch up all week after. and getting down on myself about the missed workouts. instead, no matter how i felt, i got up and swam that 12oo meters on tuesday. this week only made me stronger. and remember what a fantastic support system i have around me:)

40 days till the rage triathlon!!!    

the haters.

haters. we all have them. the ones you know that dont like you because of your hair, your clothes, or the way you laugh. the ones you dont know that are nice to you in the moment and do nothing but talk trash behind your back. the ones who wont even talk to you no matter how hard you try to be nice. but the worst ones of them all are the ones that flat out say you cant do something. 

source

i have been swimming at the las vegas athletic club in a short 25 meter pool that is 4 feet deep. so i have spent the last month putting in the meters there and building up my comfort level. i knew eventually i would have to move up to the big pool that was at least 7 feet deep and 50 meters. i decided march was the month to make that happen.


a very good friend told me i should hook up with the master swim group that meets a couple times during the week. it would give me a great workout, new people, and push me differently. after learning the great value of my runner group, she didnt have to push me hard. last week i emailed the coach because i wasnt sure if i could just show up. it took 3 days for him to reply and it wasnt the most helpful. but i decided i was going anyway and hope that i didnt drown. 


monday morning i made the next step up to the recreational center pool. i wasnt really nervous until the night before when i realized i was really going to have to get up and go. the alarm went off terribly early in the morning. i put on my suit and sweatpants because it was freezing outside and headed to the pool. i arrived about 5 minutes early and seeked out the coach to introduce myself. now to do that of course i had to walk in front of everyone and got lots of stink-eyes. it was very clear i was the new girl and they had all been together a very long time. i finally found coach frank, introduced myself, and told him what i was training for. then he asked the 1st hard question, what are you runnin 100s in these days. i should have known i was in trouble then.

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after telling him i had no idea he put me a lane with the only nice person i met all day, a guy named nicky. coach frank instructed us to warm up with a couple hundreds then we would start the workout. i felt good on the warmup and was ready to try the workout. he came over and started talking in some language i would never understand and only after demonstrating what he meant i got a hold of it. i only made it down the pool and back before he was back standing above me with new instructions. he told me we needed to work on my stroke, i asked why, because it sucks?! he just kinda looked at me and i said because it does, which is why im here! so he gave me a kickboard and talked about what we would do to fix it. i told him that was great, but not the problem. the issue was my breathing. i dont know how to get it all in and out while still efficiently moving forward. he looked at me and said ooohhh. so he gave me so drills to do instead.


im not sure exactly how many meters i swam that day. but i do know that my legs have never hurt worse after a swim. using the kickboard with my arms, it was all legs. once finally finished an hour later we were all headed out of the pool. i felt a little foolish because i was the only one that had to go to the side and use the steps/handlebars to get out. but wore it the best i could. i was feeling pretty good and comfortable after the workout. i headed back to my stuff ready to get out of there, but not before running into coach frank. he asked if i had actually signed up for the race. i said yes, proudly, weeks ago. he gave me this very heavy look and said well this is going to take a lot of work, your going to need to be here a lot. after that i couldnt get out of there fast enough.

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while driving home and getting ready for the day i couldnt help but feel totally defeated. i was feeling sooo good at the end of my training last week with where i was. i knew i wasnt close to ready, but for 4 weeks in i was feeling great. after his last comment i couldnt help but wonder what i was doing. did i jump the gun too soon? could i really do this? am i going to drown in that lake?


i started to remember all the people before that told me i couldnt do something. my soccer coach that put me on the "b" team when i moved to vegas and told me that i would never play competitive soccer. a few years later i was playing on a state cup team. the "friends" that told me i would never make it at nau and i would be home in less than a year. i still graduated in 4 years after transferring. when i signed up for my masters people told me i would probably have to scale back on the 1/2 marathons so i could finish all my homework on time. i completed 3 1/2s in 16 weeks.

that night i went to my runner group after posting something about my experience on facebook and dailymile. richard was the 1st to post his full support, along with a few other amazing people to boost my spirit that really knew me. when i walked in derrick checked on me and told me he had a very similar experience and never went back. i found some serious comfort in all of their encouragement and support. those guys didnt know me or know what ive done. these people do. tuesday morning, i got up and went to the pool. i pulled myself out of bed when i didnt want to because i was sore and my confidence was shaken. but i did. and hopped in that pool and knocked out my 1200 meters. and wednesday morning i went to spin. just like the training plan said.

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this is not my first tough road. this is not the hardest thing ive ever done (although i think it might be damn close). this is another thing for me to overcome and stop the haters. they will always be there, always hating. and on april 21st i will be standing across the finish line smiling. i may have crawled across it with tears streaming down my face in pain. but i will cross it. and i will silence at least 1 hater.

the rage week 4 recap.

this week marked march 1st on the calendar officially saying that my triathlon is next month!! omg. its still a little hard to believe that i am going to be completing one so soon. not that there isnt a lot of training that has to happen between now and then to really feel ready!

sunday~rest.

rest

i didnt do a darn thing all day and only wore pjs all day. best rest days:)

 

monday~500m am swim. 4-5 miles pm swim.

600m swim = 59:00 pace

4.72 miles = 42:41 minutes/9:02 min/mile

the pool was actually empty when i got there 1st which was great. then a few bigger/serious guys got in the lanes and totally knocked my confidence. it was good practice for race day i guess being surrounded by other people. i tried taking less breaks in between meters and concentrated on that instead.

it was only kevin and i this week for my runner group. he took off and so i listened to my ipod for the 1st time in quite a few weeks. the rain started early but quit early, the wind however was around me the whole time! yuck. i felt good though.

tuesday~1000m swim.

1000m swim = 67:35 pace

i hit 1000 meters!!! holy crap. it felt good, i was definitely tired at the end. kept out of my head (funny how much better you do when that happens) and just focused on the swim. i tried working on my breathing and being continuous, both which actually might be coming along. cant believe i hit it!!

wednesday~spin.

6am spin class

we finally had a new playlist! which i didnt really think was possible, but meant more sweat. omg. i did start thinking about the value of spin and that i may need to change that up when i get back from england. hmmm, we'll see!

soaking up my last day of ice cream:)

thursday~500m swim. body pump.

600m swim = 61:41 pace

6am body pump class

happy 1st day of march! things ran smooth, almost like clockwork, almost. the meters ticked by pretty quick and it was time for body pump pretty fast. i did learned while in the pool that my ear plugs only last about 3 weeks before new ones are needed haha!  

i think i actually might be getting the hang of the back-to-backs! quick rinse off, eat some gu, drink some water, off to body pump. then about 2/3rds of the way through class i was starving! the bicep track kicked my butt and i was definitely sore throughout the day.

i started the #marchphotoaday challenge
with my "up" times on thursdays!

friday~12 mile bike.

13.45 miles bike = 1:10:17 minutes/11.10 mph

2.03 miles ran = 17:23 minutes/8:33 min/mile

i had my 1st successful bike ride!! the cars werent as scary, i readjusted so my back didnt hurt as bad, the hills were tough and i powered through, plus i was able to figure out the gears. other than being frozen like a popsicle for a long time after i felt great!

i was determined to try the run afterward again. i was literally with in 5 seconds of my pace last week! figured out i need to take small strides in the beginning till my body untightens after the bike. well on my way to figuring it all out:)

saturday~4-6 miles.

5.2 miles = 47:45 minutes/9:10 min/mile

this was the best run in a really long time! i felt so strong and my body felt amazing. i got enough sleep the night before and had some pasta on the side for dinner friday night to get some extra carbs. i think my body actually might be adjusting:)

total for the week = 2,200m swam+33.75mi biked+11.95mi run

this week felt good. i realized at the end of last week that i needed to take my training one day at a time. i was stressing myself out and making things out so much bigger than i needed it to be. so i had to take a step back and again remind myself to take it one day at a time. once i did that i was able to concentrate on that days training and make the most of it! i also realized that thursdays and fridays are destined to be my hungry days. i literally want 1 of everything i am so hungry!

47 days till the rage triathlon!!!

 

the march photo a day challenge.

i saw people participating in this challenge last month and decided way too late i should have joined. i thought it was a 1 time thing, so when i saw a friend on twitter talk about the march photos i was wayyy excited! i love instagram. seriously i do. its so fun and pretty much how i take all my pictures with my phone these days. friends have even hopped on the train with me in using it. besides who doesnt love filters and borders on photos:)

the (insert the month here) photo a day challenge was created by fat mum slim in sydney, australia! she started it in january and had a huge success that people just kept asking for more months. straight from her latest post...

here's how to play:
♥ starting on march 1st take a photo each day with inspiration from the prompt. for example prompt 1 is 'up', so take a photo looking up. or of the word 'up'. or something that lifts your mood 'up'. it is totally up to you how you want to interpret it.

♥ once you've taken your photo you can share it on instagram, facebook {on your own profile or business page}, twitter, flickr, your blog, pinterest, tumblr or even just keep them in a folder on your desktop. if you're sharing on twitter or instagram add the hashtag #marchphotoaday so others can find your photos too.

note: for day 20 you'll see that it says 'before / after'. again, you can interpret this however you like. i thought it would be cool for people to use an app like picframe to show two photos in one. it could be a meal before eating and the plate after. it could be anything! if you don't have any iphone or don't want to buy an app - just use your imagination and either take two photos or work it into just one.

i will post mine on facebook and twitter (which you can follow on the links). here is also the link to view the photos online. im super excited about this new fun challenge!! plus it involves photos, i am so in :) heres my first one...


my up time on thursdays!
#marchphotoaday

the february training recap.

total mileage: 146.56 miles <- holy crap!!! woohoo ;)

# of runs/mileage: 9/42.35 miles

# of rides/mileage: 6/97.24 miles

# of swim/meters: 10/6,550 meters
highest weekly mileage: 41.12 miles
# rest days: 7

favorite run: hands down the color run! it was the funnest run i have ever done. plus i got to do it with my love and he was amazing. crossing that finish line with him was soo cool!

most hardcore run: the love on the run 10k. it was the 1^st week of my tri-training and i think i jumped the gun about a week too early. the sad part is, it was only hard in my head. i had an awesome time 56:31, that’s a 7 minute pr from my last 10k!

current reads: everything triathlon. websites, magazines, blogs, all of it. i do realize that’s not a book, but it’s the best i got haha.

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: the internet. i don’t think i have done this much googling ever. traveling, racing, triathlon tips, england things i need or want to do, seriously whoa.



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current obsession: keeping myself full haha. with 2-a-days, harder workouts, new sports, and an extra day i am even more hungry all the time. the hard part is the balance. you cant just fill up on pizza and beer, it needs to be good things.

current drink: gatorade! i don’t think ive drank this much in a month in a long time. gotta get in those electro-lytes :)

current song: drink on it by blake shelton. love, love him!

current wish-list: more time in the day. seriously, with all this training and trying to fit life, school, work, and sleeping into 1 week is kicking my butt.

current need: to start gathering all my things for england. i have made a list, step in the right direction, time to start purchasing! plug converters, wedding gift, new book, etc.

current triumph: making it ¼ way through this cycle! it’s a little triumph, but its huge to me :)

current bane of my existence: not being good at swimming or biking for that matter. i mean i knew they would be hard, but dang, not this hard.

current goal: to personally feel that i am getting good at swimming and biking. yes there is a learning curve, but i want to feel comfortable walking my bike down the stairs before i get it on it or when i hop in the pool.

current indulgence: ice cream! i know its silly, but i have been eating it like crazy:)

current excitement: the countdown to england is getting soooo small. we are under 20 days people. i cant wait to celebrate love and hop the pond to my next adventure:)

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the color run recap 2012.

a few months ago my friend sandy told me about this crazy race she heard about, but wouldnt tell me much more other than go visit this site http://www.thecolorrun.com/. it seriously took 1 click on the video to have me hooked and wanting to have everyone i know join on my team. i posted it on richards facebook hoping he would think it was cool enough for him to sign up. and i called my parents, after my mom stopped complaining about me signing her up for another race she watched it too and convinced my dad. we made a team the color bandits and sandy joined us too!

the color run is a 5k in which every kilometer you get dusted with a new color. everybody wears white t-shirts and at the end they give everybody their own packet of color to throw at the finish line festival that goes off every 15 minutes. its not timed and i have never seen such a huge range of ages participate. we saw people pushing strollers, dogs, old people, little kids, people in jeans, runners, spectators, everything seriously. it sold out about 2 months ago and as it got closer more people started to think how fun it sounded and not crazy like they thought when i first told them.

before the color fun.

race morning richard and i headed downtown to park and wait for the rest of our team. i picked up the packets and still had my parents. we brought extra water and towels to apply tattoos on everybody and were decked out in our white t-shirts ready to run! my parents, sandy and her daughter cameron werent far behind us and we headed to start line much before the 9am start. we gathered in the 2nd corral and just people watched for awhile. soon it was time to go! for a few weeks richard was very particular that we would run together by ourselves. now i knew sandy would smoke us (she is seriously fast!) and my parents were walking so it would be fine.

look at all the people lined up!

we started out down las vegas blvd toward the 1st kilometer and the yellow zone. there was a high color zone on the outsides and the low color zone down the middle. sandy stuck with us the first part as we weaved through the people and got doused with yellow dust! it was instantly everywhere and we couldnt wait till the next color! richard has never run more than a mile and realized pretty quickly the stamina for a 3 mile race was very different. he kept taking off then walking, then taking off again, then walking. we hit the green color zone next and made sure it was on our right side to even out our shirts. and hair. and shoes.

the purple was up next after the water stop and richard realized the value of water stops in a race:) purple was the messiest and got in my ears and mouth. it doesnt taste bad, just not a good feeling either haha. for awhile after i was actually spitting purple to get it all out of mouth! the craziest thing is you have nooo idea what you look like or where it is on you! we continued on to pink, my favorite and knew we were almost done. the pink people werent as liberal with their color as the other stops and i think richard was ready, we had slowed down quite a bit.

told you the purple got everywhere!
not my finest moment haha.

we hit the finish line and crossed it together! there were people everywhere and it had warmed up so i was ready for some water. i ran into my friend rich from our monday night runner group that i hadnt seen in awhile! his wife and daughter were running and i think he was glad to be on the other side of the barrier so my color didnt jump on him ;) we found sandy and her daughter, she smoked us just like i thought and was colored from head to toe just like us. we waited for my parents before going into the finish line festival. cameron had held our color while we ran, awesome spectator!

me and sandy!



finishers!

 my parents crossed the line with a huge smile on their faces and we found each other easily. the 5 of us grabbed our color and headed to the festival. i had pink and everyone else had turquoise. we were a little worried we were all going to end up with the same color, but there were so many people around us with different colors it didnt matter. finally they counted us down and we all jumped around throwing color everywhere!!! OMG it was sooo cool. we had sooo many colors on us now. afterward sandy went to grab cameron and we stayed for one more throw just for a little extra color:)

the finish line festival!



the color bandits!

 somehow we lost sandy and cameron but headed back to the cars to see if we could find them. turns out they had somewhere to be so the 4 of us headed to breakfast at hash house a-go-go. thats right in our color and all! we got lots of stares and questions and werent the only ones there with color. one of the funniest moments of the whole day was taking a shower after and having the color all over the tub trying to drain down. it was literally everywhere!

this was the funnnnest race i have ever done and seriously will recommend it to anyone! runner or not, this is something to participate in. richard is now a 5ker and has a new understanding of what i do, which is pretty cool to me. and a new understanding of the hunger level i feel all the time haha. i cant wait for this race to come back to vegas next year!!

the rage week 3 recap.

this week marks 1/4 of the way through training! now i know that doesnt sound like a lot, but i promise you it is. im learning a lot about this kind of training which is totally different than anything i have ever done and how my body is really going to react. this is the cool part about training for something new, you find out so many things about your body and yourself.

sunday~rest.

rest

i literally did not leave the house and the only time i got out of my pjs was to take a shower and put a different pair on. last week kicked my ass in a major way and my 12+ hours of sleep was the only cure :)

monday~500m am swim. 4-5 mile pm run.

600m swim

5.12 miles = 47:12 minutes/9:13 min/mile

the swim was nice and easy before work, much better than last mondays, thank goodness. kept it simple and actually felt a little bit more comfortable. the pool at my gym is 25m so i tried to take smaller breathers at then and make it more like 50m to try and up the distance.

brian finally joined us this week and i got to hear all about he and derricks crazy races coming up on saturday. derrick did the spartan race in miami (an 8 mile obstacle course that sounds insane) and brian was doing a 12 hour race at the state park (see how many miles you can run in 12 hours, person with the most is the winner). having a race (the color run) coming up as well it was cool to just talk about it with the guys. plus i kept them laughing about my 1st day on the bike and what was i thinking signing up for the olympic distance at rage. it was a good run.

tuesday~800m swim.

900m swim

i was suppper late getting up and raced to the gym to hop in the pool before it gets busy. i found my groove pretty easy and the meters just seemed to tick off. i am now over 1/2 way! this is a big deal only 3 weeks in for me:)

wednesday~spin.

6am spin class

we didnt go as far this week as last week and i am sooo excited for new music next week. i am seriously hoping that means a new routine because this one was old and tired. 

after work i went to pick up our team packets for the color run! it was crazy at fleet feet with people everywhere. the store was on the other side of town which meant i had a great excuse to finally visit pita pit near unlv on my way home. i have a slight food obsession with this place since i went to school at nau, its kind of an institution there. literally everytime i roll into town its the 1st place i want to go. i was ecstatic when i heard they opened one in vegas. i have to say not as good, but it filled the craving for now.

yum. yum. yum.

thursday~500m swim. body pump.

600m swim

6am body pump class 

wow a 5am swim is early. i tried working on my breathing, which kind of worked, taking less breaks in between meters. the whole time though it seemed like my legs and arms were quite in sync. but i shaved a few minutes off my time anyway!

class this week was pretty empty, we did have a sub. i keep thinking this release is going to get a little easier and it never does. especially after a swim, dang.

friday~10 mile bike.

10.12 miles biked = 50 minutes/12.1 mph

2.03 miles ran = 17:12 minutes/8:28 min/mile

could not have been a rockier start to this ride. my seat was too high and after stopping and trying to put my foot down to readjust i fell right outside my complex:/ no scrapes or bruises, just a hurt pride and shaken confidence. this meant every time a car even came close i freaked a little more. i took my bike home and lowered the seat just a tiny bit and felt better. took the ride a little slower, played with the gears a little more, and dressed a little warmer this week.

i decided the night before i wanted to try and run afterward just a tiny bit to see how it was. im pretty sure i figure out what sea legs feel like, i was pretty wobbly at first. took it slow, my body made sure of that. cant lie though, i was a little disappointed when i saw my time upon arriving home. however, i thought the loop around our apartment was only 1.5 miles so it was a pleasant surprise to see the 2 pop up on dailymile! made my time feel way better. 

saturday~the color run.

3.1 miles = 32:00 minutes/10:19 min/mile

my friend sandy had told me about this race months ago and it only took 1 video to get richard and my parents on board with us! it would be richards 1st 5k ever i couldnt be more excited. look out tomorrow for all the pictures and fun. but seriously if there is one in your town, or anywhere close go online and register right now!! the most fun i have ever had at a race ever! 

the color bandits before.

the color bandits 3.1 miles later!

totals for the week = 2100m swam+28.12mi biked+10.25mi run

i was really glad this week mixed in some fun and new kinds of racing. its good to mix things up a little bit.  i also started to think about getting some better recovery tools for in between workouts. my body is supposed to be tired and adjusting still, but not this much. time to start researching and looking at my whole schedule (work, school, and life included) in areas to adjust. 

54 days to the rage triathlon!!!