RAINBOWCHARMER's SparkPeople Blog

2nd Triathlon Results

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:29:47 EST

The triathlon on Sunday was a lot of fun, and VERY crowded. There were somewhere around 900 people in the race, and 43 or so in my age group. I came in 8th, which I was very pleased with.

My times were really good. My swim was under 10 min, I averaged 20 mph in the biking portion, and 9 minute miles in the run. So I was very happy with my finish time of 1:01:12! I had aimed for 60 min or less and got real close to it!!

I did get lost in transition briefly when we came ...

Update 6/12/13 and Triathlon pictures! Lots of them!!

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:29:27 EST

Only a few more days until my 2nd triathlon!

Last night we swam, and tonight we're running and swimming. Tomorrow is another swim, and Friday is biking and swimming.

Lots and lots of swimming going on!!!

I was super proud of myself last night - I swam about 2/3 of the 1/4 mile at a front crawl! I'm getting more and more able to swim at that more efficient stroke! One day soon I'll be able to do the whole thing! And when that happens, my time is gonna be sup...

My First Triathlon!!

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:55:27 EST

I will post pictures later (they're on my computer at home), but wanted to update about my first triathlon.

It was SO much fun!!

I PLACED THIRD!!! in my age group (out of 29 women!!), which was AMAZING. I was SO pumped about that!!

My swim (plus the 1/4 mile run to transition) was just over 12 minutes, my bike was just over 41 minutes, and my run was just over 27 minutes. Those were all awesome times for me!! That's a PR for my run!! I've never run a 5k in...

Countdown to Triathlon - 1 day!!!!!

Fri, 7 Jun 2013 14:51:35 EST

Tomorrow morning is the race!!

I *think* I am ready!!

This week has been somewhat of a resting week with swimming and yoga being my main forms of training, plus some Jillian Michael's weight lifting Monday and Wednesday.

I went to yoga class last night and my instructor was nice enough to do LOTS of IT band stretching poses for my knee. I feel like I'm about as prepared as I can be.

My transition bag is packed. My bike is in the car. I checked t...

Countdown to Triathlon - 5 Days

Mon, 3 Jun 2013 11:32:22 EST

Well, the dry run (is it really dry if you swim??) went really well. I swam the route in 11 minutes, the bike route took me 46.5 minutes, and the run took me under 29 minutes (!!!). I've NEVER run a 5K in under 29 minutes. Ever. My best run was a 30 minute finish... I'm not sure what happened?? And while I did push myself a lot harder in the bike portion than I have previously (beat my old time by almost 3 minutes), I did not push that hard in the run, or at least I didn't think I was pushing...

Countdown to Triathlon - 8 Days

Fri, 31 May 2013 12:46:30 EST

A week from tomorrow!! Yikes!!!

So the brick session last night went really well. I finished the 13 mile bike ride in 49 minutes, and I only stopped briefly at the turn-around point to wait for the light to change so I could get back on the road. Then the run took us about 35 minutes, which was fine. I wasn't pushing my pace on the run - partly because my knee was feeling a little funky, and partly because I didn't want to run alone. I'm not worried about the run anyhow. I've been...

Countdown to Triathlon - 9 Days

Thu, 30 May 2013 08:26:02 EST

Tuesday's run was shorter than planned, but went OK. Yoga class was good.

Yesterday I did Jillian's Kickboxing workout in the AM, walked the dogs, and then last night did my first swim in the lake. Which was a little scarier than I expected...

I don't like not being able to see where I'm going in the water, and we were out far enough that there was nowhere to stop and rest if something happened, so that was a little frightening too. But I did it... I am not 100% sure t...

Countdown to Triathlon - 11 Days

Tue, 28 May 2013 09:34:47 EST

Slacking on the blog updates apparently...

Anyhow, on Friday I did 60 minutes on my bike trainer before walking the dogs for 45 minutes, and then did an hour of yoga outdoors on the square Friday evening, which was incredibly fun. I've never taken an outdoor yoga class before, and I thoroughly enjoyed that!

Followed that with dinner and great company with friends - just a very nice evening.

Saturday we did a brick at the tri route, which went OK. The bike r...

Countdown to Triathlon - 16 days

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:16:34 EST

Last night we swam at the aquatic center, but it was a little busier than usual so we were sharing the lane with other people, which made things a little slower than I would have liked since I could not just turn around and keep going after each lap. I had to wait for people to get out of the way. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing for me to have to deal with, but it did burn fewer calories than I had intended on.

Still though, this is probably a good thing for me since I'm still...

Countdown to Triathlon - 17 Days

Wed, 22 May 2013 07:54:11 EST

Surprisingly I am not sore this morning from the DVD yesterday. I really thought that my arms might be sore because I felt like the workout was really tough on them. So either it wasn't as hard as I thought it was, or I am in better shape than I expected... not sure which. But I'll be doing that DVD again tomorrow. This morning was yoga and a 2.5 mile walk. Tonight is swimming.

Our run last night was an alternating run/walk so I could stay with my training partner. Mostly because...

Countdown to Triathlon - 18 days

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:05:18 EST

This morning I tried Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30 - week 1 workout. It was ok. I still like her "biggest winner" series better I think. But I'm going to try all 4 workouts before I make a final call on that. For sure my arms are going to be sore - there was a lot of arm strength training in this workout, which should make swimming tomorrow an interesting experience...

Planning to run tonight at the college track, though I need to confirm with my training partner on that.
...

Countdown to Triathlon - 19 Days

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:37:38 EST

It's definitely getting close!!

Friday we did the spin class, and we were the only two people in there, so the instructor modified the class for our road bike training. Which was very cool.

Saturday was supposed to be the tri-ride, but got rained out, so we did a yoga workout instead. Hiked a bit on the way to camping, and then spent a very soggy afternoon/evening/morning at the campground (poured down rain much of the time), and while we had fun, it did put a damper on...

Countdown to Triathlon - 23 days

Thu, 16 May 2013 07:52:57 EST

Swimming went well yesterday. I did 1/4 mile in 10 minutes, and then swam a total of 44 lengths in 30 minutes - 4 lengths more than I've done in the past in that timeframe. So I am definitely getting faster/better. I'm also getting to where I can front crawl more than I was before. I do have to still switch strokes, but I am hoping to eventually get to the place where I can front crawl that whole 1/4 mile without stopping or switching strokes. Maybe not before this triathlon, but that is stil...

Countdown to Triathlon - 24 days

Wed, 15 May 2013 07:49:43 EST

Last night I ran intervals from 5.5 mph to 6.5 mph on the treadmill, and averaged overall a 10 minute mile for 3 miles. I felt actually pretty good even at the 6.5mph speed!

We followed the running with an hour yoga class, which I didn't enjoy as much as I normally enjoy yoga. The instructor at the Y was not great at directing things, and since I do yoga without my glasses on I have to depend on what she says since I can't see what she's doing... which means I struggled to follow ...

Countdown to Triathlon - 25 days

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:56:36 EST

So the weekend was something of a break in the schedule. No workouts. And I did have a high calorie day on Saturday. Sunday was back to a normal calorie day along with a 90 minute massage (aahhhhh), and yesterday I was back to working out. My back was still a little sore yesterday, but seems better this morning. I walked yesterday morning and then we swam for about 30 minutes (38 laps), followed by some time in the sauna and then the jacuzzi (with jets on my back). I stayed in both of those w...

Countdown to Triathlon - 29 days

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:45:17 EST

I've been fighting a knot in the middle of my back since yesterday morning. I think I may have pulled it a little during my workout yesterday morning. There's a move in the video that I did that normally I do the "beginner" version of because it always makes my back a little sore, but I was feeling good and did the more advanced version, and it's been hurting since then. I've done the biofreeze thing a few times with not much relief, so I finally caved and took some ibuprofen this morning. <...

Countdown to Triathlon - 30 days

Thu, 9 May 2013 10:58:35 EST

Sh!ts getting real now!!!

I kind of feel like I'm slacking this week. I am working out, but I'm not doing as much as I have been doing, but that will change next week once my training partner is done with her duathlon and can focus on the tri-training again.

Last night we did ride for a little bit, but it was more of an 'easy' ride so she doesn't get worn out before her race. And that's fine, since I know that next week we're going to be getting a little more kick-butt ...

Countdown to Triathlon - 31 days

Wed, 8 May 2013 11:10:15 EST

Yesterday was something of a break in my training. I walked a couple miles in the morning with the dogs, but that was my only workout yesterday. It was my partner's birthday, so we got dinner after work and watched the latest episode of Once Upon A Time together.

But I'm back at it today. This morning was a Jillian Michael's circuit training DVD, followed by a 2.5 mile walk. And this evening I'm riding with my training partner since it's FINALLY a nice day for riding. I'm so ready...

Countdown to Triathlon - 32 days

Tue, 7 May 2013 09:36:18 EST

So the spin class last night was not the same instructor. This one was a woman who apparently has a sadistic desire to climb hills and stand a LOT. Like 3/4 of the class was out of the bike seat. During the class I really really wanted to quit. But I didn't, and I felt really great at the end of it. Then I ran 3.1 miles on the treadmill, so I did a good brick last night, although I do want to do that out of the gym a few times since I know that riding my bike and running on the pavement are d...

Countdown to Triathlon - 33 days

Mon, 6 May 2013 09:09:07 EST

Today is supposed to be a morning run day, but my schedule is a little different than it has been. I'm going to the Y with my training partner tonight and we're going to run for 30 min, then do an hour spin class. So rather than run this morning AND this evening, which would be a real invitation for knee problems, I did yoga this morning, and then walked the dogs.

I am actually really looking forward to the spin class tonight. I'm kinda hoping it's the same "mean" instructor as la...

Countdown to Triathlon - 34 days

Sun, 5 May 2013 07:38:19 EST

This weekend has been something of a recovery weekend for me, which I think I probably needed. I'm down another pound to 120 this morning, which is my absolute minimum that I'm comfortable with, and I think maybe I've just overtrained a little bit??

I didn't sleep great again last night - more anxiety stuff - but I did eat yesterday, mostly. I was around 1200 calories, which again is too low, but without exercise yesterday, it shouldn't make too big of a difference in a calorie def...

Countdown to Triathlon - 35 days

Sat, 4 May 2013 08:17:36 EST

Yikes! That 30 day mark is coming up REAL fast!!

So yesterday I started with a yoga workout in the AM, walked the dogs, and then took my very first spin class after work. I was terrified of the spin class to begin with. I've never done one before, and they've always looked very hard. I was really sure that I was not up to keeping up with a class. Anyhow, my training partner talked me into it, and I'm so glad I went!! It was a really good class, and yes it was hard, but I accomplis...

Countdown to Triathlon - 36 days

Fri, 3 May 2013 08:52:35 EST

Yesterday was a yoga day. I so needed it too!! I have been all stressed out, and I feel a lot better this morning. I went to yoga class last night, and then I did another yoga video this morning before walking the dogs for 40 min. The good news is I'm not feeling the tightness in my chest that I was feeling yesterday. It was totally an anxiety thing, but I couldn't seem to shake it. So between the yoga and a very generous friend who does energy balancing, I am feeling better today.

...

Countdown to Triathlon - 37 days

Thu, 2 May 2013 08:18:43 EST

Yesterday I did another 48 laps in 30 minutes at the pool. I stopped once to de-fog my goggles, but otherwise went non-stop, though I did still conitnue to change strokes each lap.

As of this morning I'm down another pound to 122, and I'm still struggling to get to my minimum calories. I was under by 500 or so yesterday. I'm not exactly under-eating. I mean I had just over 1200 calories yesterday, but based on my exercise and the fact that my goal is to maintain, it's not been eno...

Countdown to Triathlon - 39 days

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 07:48:27 EST

This morning I put in just shy of 30 minutes on the bike trainer, and then walked the dogs for a little over 30 minutes. I may get on the bike again after work and put in another 30-60 minutes. Will see how the day goes. I have to stop at the vet after work to pick up our foster. She got spayed yesterday, and I am hoping hoping hoping that we will start getting applications for her soon because I am so ready to be back to my normal routine with the dogs. Not that she's a problem dog or anythi...

Countdown to Triathlon - 40 days (part 2)

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:12:09 EST

Got to the pool this evening and swam 48 lengths in 30 minutes. Woohoo! I did stop once to put baby shampoo in my goggles because they were fogging so bad, but beyond that I really did not stop. I did switch strokes each length, but I kept going, and I did a lot more crawl stroke than I have in the past. My goal eventually is to get to swimming at least that 1/4 mile amount non-stop at a crawl, but I guess that is going to take a little time to build up to.

Anyhow, I felt like I c...

Countdown to Triathlon - 40 days

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:28:39 EST

So getting down under the 40 day mark is making me anxious. I feel like the time is flying by and I haven't done a lot of the things I want to do ahead of time yet...

I need to do some brick training. And I was really hoping to get a chance at a "dry run" of the whole thing... but I'm not sure where I will squeeze that in yet, especially since my training partner is going to be out of town a couple of times this coming month...

Anyway, this morning I ran for 35 min on ...

Countdown to Triathlon - 41 days

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 10:51:36 EST

Yesterday was my obstacle course race. I did really well, and I was very proud of myself! I came in 2nd in my age group (out of 29) and 87th overall (out of 371). So I was pretty impressed with those results considering I've never done an obstacle run before.

I did beat up my knees pretty badly with one of the mud crawls - it was full of rocks and there was just no way around scratching up my knees and legs. The only other obstacle that I didn't enjoy was one of the creek runs. It...

Countdown to Triathlon - 43 days

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:09:25 EST

Whew! Did an awesome bike ride tonight with my training partner. LOVING the whole training buddy thing. It really pushes me to do better when I'm out there.

Anyhow, we did a little over 15.5 miles in 1:11:00, which was a good pace for us. It was definitely challenging with some long uphill climbs, but this is good because my route on the triathlon is definitely hilly. So I need to be practicing that for sure! Next time we're gonna have to increase the distance I think. We had aime...

Countdown to Triathlon - 44 days

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:49:43 EST

Ok, so yesterday I did a Jillian Michael's circuit training video (front side workout), followed by walking the dogs. I was supposed to go to my self defense class Tuesday night, but had an emotional meltdown instead... awesome. Thankfully I had therapy last night and was able to kind of sort out the meltdown... Anyhow, this morning I followed up with a Jillian Michael's backside workout, and then walked the dogs. Tonight is the final self defense class for this session, and I am going. Tonig...

Countdown to Triathlon - 46 days

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:05:35 EST

I did 30 min in the pool yesterday - 38 laps, but I think in a meter pool rather than yards like I've been doing. This was at the YMCA instead of the local county pool, and was... interesting... I think I will probably stick with the local county pool going forward. Less chaos for me. Although like my training partner said... it was probably good experience to have people bumping into me and stuff. I get it. But it made swimming continuous laps really impossible.

My other main com...

Countdown to Triathlon - 47 days

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:32:34 EST

Apparently the route I'll be riding for the triathlon is ridiculously hilly. Who came up with THAT brilliant idea when designing a triathlon for beginners?? Geez.

Anyhow, we rode the route on Saturday in pretty good time, although there were moments when I really wanted to get off the bike and say screw this altogether. LOL

I guess I should be proud of myself for getting done with the course. Although I did finally get off and walk up the last hill. I just couldn't peda...

Countdown to Triathlon - 50 days

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:51:50 EST

So tonight's bike ride got rescheduled to tomorrow. Means I'm combining my bike and swim tomorrow, but in the wrong order. Which is OK too. I did get a 35 min yoga session and a 20 min walk in this morning, so I'm not completely lazy today, but had hoped to burn a few more calories today. Will make up for it tomorrow though. :)

Then Sunday we are riding like 20 miles with a group of friends, which I am a little more anxious about... I was nervous enough about riding the 12 miles to...

Countdown to Triathlon - 51 days

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:34:41 EST

This morning I was feeling like a bike ride rather than a run, so that's what I did. 30 min on the trainer. I did a little bit of practice with flipping the pedals over, but focused more on keeping a steady pace than on pedal issues today. I was a little worried about being sore today from the swim yesterday, but doesn't seem to be the case so far anyhow.

I was a hair short on calories yesterday too - just under my minimum, but not by much. Today I am on target to be more short th...

Countdown to Triathlon - 52 Days

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 21:36:00 EST

So as I mentioned in my earlier blog today, I started with yoga and a walk, and then I went to the pool this evening and cranked out 38 laps (my goal was 36). Whew!! And I did it ALMOST without stopping (I had a few very brief breathers), but not without switching strokes. And very few of the laps were at a front crawl... Mostly breaststroke and back stroke. BUT, I'm still building endurance in the pool and at this point if I swim the whole damn race at a doggie paddle, I'll be happy that I d...

Just say no!!

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:13:11 EST

So I know I'm not exactly on a restricted calorie plan at the moment with the triathlon training and trying to maintain weight rather than lose and all... but I'm still finding that it's better for me to restrain myself in some instances when temptation arises.

Today one of our vendors brought in brightly colored (and delicious looking) cupcakes and chocolate chip cookes from a local grocery store.

First - this store does make really delicious stuff.. I mean, their bir...

Countdown to Triathlon - 53 days

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:18:43 EST

This morning I put in a little over 30 minutes on the road bike on my trainer. I spent a lot of my ride practicing getting my feet into the pedals - they are not the clipless, but are the older style clip (metal toe cage w/ strap), and I am not terribly comfortable getting into them yet. Once they're on, they are fine. But flipping the pedal over to get my foot in while riding I am finding to be really difficult. I have to look down and really focus on what I'm doing to get my feet in, which ...

Countdown to Triathlon - 53.5 days

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:15:01 EST

This morning I started with a 3 mile run on the treadmill (hill intervals again), and then walked the dogs for a couple miles too.

I am actually still sore this morning from the 5K on Saturday. I think in part because the terrain was different (trail for part of it), and the fact that I push myself faster than usual in a race. I thought that running this morning and then stretching after might reduce the soreness, but so far I'm still feeling about the same as when I got up this m...

Countdown to Triathlon - 54.5 days

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 19:03:09 EST

Oops - forgot to check in apparently.

Thursday - I did 50 minutes on the bike trainer. All went well there. Friday I only walked because I was up most of Thursday night with crazy storms. And I was exhausted. Plus I signed up last minute for a 5K on Saturday with the friend that is doing the triathlon training with me. Or who will be anyhow.

She is definitely stronger than me (for now) in the biking area as she's been doing that for a long time. But I'm stronger/faster...

Triathlon Training - Countdown 58.5 days to the event

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:12:17 EST

So I wanted to update today after my swim.

I was super elated to finish 32 laps, and what I thought was a 1/2 mile distance. Granted, this came with a few breathers and switching strokes since I tire easily it seems. But I did it in 20 minutes, and I was really excited about it!! Then I asked the lady at the front desk to double-check the size of the pool and that it was 25 meters. She's like - yes, it's a 25 meter by 25 yard pool, but the lanes are going in the yards direction. C...

Triathlon Training - Countdown 59 days to event...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:11:15 EST

Yesterday started with a walk with the dogs, and then I rode my bike on the trainer for 40 minutes after I got home from work. I felt good (my butt was a little sore), and like I could have kept going - but it was late, and I had only planned on a 40 minute ride. So I didn't stay on it longer. But on Friday this week I will aim for 50-60 minutes on the trainer and see how I do. Initially I was going to ride with a friend this Friday, but she's unavailable now, so it will be next Friday instea...

Triathlon Training - Day 7

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 08:14:24 EST

Yesterday was my "rest" day, so we went hiking for 3+ hours... LOL

It was not an uber-strenuous hike, although it did involve 400+ stairs to get down to the waterfall and then the same 400+ to get back up... but the rest of the hike wasn't bad at all, and it was a beautiful day. We had a good time, and burned some extra calories, which I then scarfed back down with an ice cream sundae, which I admit I thoroughly enjoyed.

I also got some gardening done yesterday - plante...

Triathlon Training - Day 6

Sat, 6 Apr 2013 15:02:02 EST

Yesterday I figured out how to get my bike to stay on the trainer, and I got in a 30 minute ride (yay!), but it's not as steady as I'd like it to be, so I think I will look into getting a different skewer that will connect a little better on the trainer.

But I guess the good news is that I did get a ride in, and it was more productive than coasting down hills and then trying to ride back up them after turning around at the bottom.

This morning we walked the dogs for ju...

Traithlon Training - Days 3 & 4

Fri, 5 Apr 2013 15:24:02 EST

So yesterday was either run or yoga - I chose yoga because it's actually the only yoga class I'm going to get to this month based on my schedule. :(

Anyhow, my bike trainer also arrived yesterday, but thus far I haven't been able to figure out how to get my bike to stay mounted on it. I think I'm going to have to get a different skewer for the back wheel to make it work... so that was a bummer since I really wanted to start using it.

Today I did a Jillian circuit workou...

Triathlon Training - Day 2

Tue, 2 Apr 2013 19:46:22 EST

WOW.

So apparently biking shape is very different than anything else I've done along the way. I knew I wouldn't make 60 minutes on my first try, but I really expected to go further than I did... I got a little over 2 miles in a little over 11 minutes and called it a night. Sheesh. My butt hurts, and the hills in my neighborhood are evil.

I've never ridden hills before - even when I used to ride all the time as a kid/teen. I grew up in northern Ohio where it's flat. I'm...

Triathlon Training - Day 1

Mon, 1 Apr 2013 11:09:23 EST

So this morning's plan was to treadmill run for 30 minutes and then walk the dogs for 30 minutes.

Day one - Success!

I did a hill interval run on the treadmill with one short sprint at the end, and then took the dogs for their 30 minute walk (about a 13 min mile pace).

Tomorrow the goal is to ride my bike for 60 minutes. And walk the dogs 30 min in the AM. I have a feeling that at least at first, I am not going to be to the 60 minute mark on the bike ride. I...

OMG.... What have I done????

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 18:11:00 EST

Yesterday I officially signed up for "My First Tri" in Buford, GA on June 8.

I have about 10 weeks to get ready for my first triathlon and I've not even started yet!!

I bought my bike yesterday. I had a crappy old mountain bike that I was going to put new tires on, but my partner swears she's going to ride with me, so I bought a hybrid bike for like $600 plus all the gear (two helmets for us, a pair of half gloves for me, etc), and then bought new goggles and a swim cap...

Racing again.

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:57:00 EST

This past Saturday I ran a 5K road race in 32:19. Not my best time, but seeing as I haven't been running much lately, I would say it wasn't shabby. The course was gentle rolling hills, which I'll admit sometimes are harder for me than steep, but shorter hills. The long slow inclines are killer. My thighs are still sore today!

But I felt SO good after finishing the race. That's the first one I've done this year, and my last one in December was a 32:41 super-hilly race. I kept up a ...

Maintaining, but not happy about it

Mon, 4 Mar 2013 12:55:55 EST

I guess the good news is that I am able to control my calories and not gain weight, but I don't FEEL good about my body right now. Yes, I'm at my goal weight, but I have been lazy, and it makes me feel yucky.

I have been exercising regularly, but not at the intensity I was used to. At a minimum I walk every day, and I'm doing yoga pretty regularly, but I haven't done a JM video in ages, and I haven't run much either. I did sign up for a 5K on the 16th, so that I will at least get ...

Two good days

Thu, 7 Feb 2013 13:00:10 EST

I managed to get up both yesterday and today at 4:30 for an AM workout prior to walking the dogs. Yesterday was a JM Yoga meltdown (Level 2) and this morning was a step aerobics workout. I did feel better for having done those.

But I know I've been emotionally eating lately, and it's something I really need to get a handle on before it becomes a weight issue again. I've been there and I really don't want to go back. So I need to figure this out.

I'm not sure yet which y...