Tuesday July 13 - Day 2

Day 2's agenda was swimming.  Getting there was a logistical nightmare - the first place I tried to go was at a local community pool.  Unfortunately, with a gorgeous day, the park was overrun and I couldn't park anywhere near the pool.  Then we tried to go together with the baby to another community pool, but there was no lap swim at all (usually there is 1-2 lanes during family swim at the pool we usually go to) because that pool had a diving board and a water slide.  So back home we came and we alternated going back to the first pool.  By that time it was later at night, so there was more parking.  Whew!

I swam 16-18 lengths, so 400-450 yards.  That's at least double the 200 yards I was planning to swim (see Monday's post on easing into things :)), but then, I swam a lot in high school and so while out of shape, at least have decent technique.  I think swimming will be the "easy" leg for me.

Monday 7/12 - Day 1

Day 1 of training was a 15 minute run (well, 3 5 minute runs, with 2.5 minute walks in between).  Completely successfully! 

(Can you tell I believe in easing into things :-)?)

Decision Made

School is over as is the worst work time of the year.  That means, there's no more room for excuses :) and it's time to start to train for a triathlon. 

I've decided on a super sprint version - it's very much a "try it tri" which I think will be perfect for my very out of shape, had a baby a year ago body.  It's a 400M swim, 9 mile bike ride and a 1.9 mile run.  With 8 weeks to train it is still going to be challenging, but achievable.  And with Mike going to do the event with me, training will be more fun, if more challenging to work around a 9 month old.

With just 8 weeks to go, we'll need to keep focused on training, especially since time during the week will be limited due to baby wrangling (and our house is too small for a treadmill).  Mondays are run days, Tuesdays swimming, Wed/Thurs run and bike (we'll alternate), Saturdays swimming and running and Sundays biking.  Fridays we get to rest!

Changes Already

I am changing my mind about the event I'm going to enter.  With heading back to work after maternity leave, finishing my grad degree and planning a week or so long vacation this summer, I'm looking for a triathlon that's closer to home.  I've found two possibilities.  The first one is a flat course, with a 1/4 mile swim, 14 mile bike ride and 3.1 mile run.  The biking is a little further than I had wanted, but the event is also a little later so I have more time to train.  The other one is a true try-a-tri with a 1/4 mile swim, 9 mile bike ride and 1.6 mile run.  I might drive out to check out the course this weekend to see if it's flat or not.  Part of me feels whimpy for doing such a short course.  The other part of me says baby, work, school, it's still a huge accomplishment.

Bike Learnings

When you head out to try to bike around the lake twice (aka, ~5.4 miles) and right as you head out you think your bike feels "funny" and it's pretty chilly and you might want gloves do you think you should:

A.  Check your tires
B.  Grab gloves
C.  All of the above
D.  None of the above

If you guessed C you would be correct.  If you guessed D, well, you guessed what I did.  I did make the full 5.4 miles, but I'm certain that it will be a lot easier when my hands aren't frozen and my tires are not virtually flat!

Jan 18 - 24 - Pre Week Update

While it would be fair to call this week 1, I'm still holding out hope that my friend K* will join me on this adventure, so I'm calling this first week a pre-week.  This was a just get my butt off the couch kind of week, but I did and I'm thrilled.

Wed Jan 20 - 30 day Shred level 1
Thurs Jan 21 - 20 minutes of running (4 x 5 min)
Sat Jan 23 - 20 minutes of running (2 x 10 min)
Sun Jan 24 - 5.4 mile bike ride

I certainly wasn't setting any speed records, but I made it out of the house which was a good start.

Training Plans

While in Portland last week, I bought a book on training for Triathlons, geared to beginners.  While I haven't read it yet, I've already started doing some exercise to get back into shape.  I have just under six months to train so I have plenty of time to work up to this.

My initial plan is simple - exercise at least four times a week.  Deceptively simple in a month when I return to work, have a five month old and take three graduate classes, but a critical part of being able to successfully complete a triathlon.  I'm making January and February a high priority for exercise since it should certainly be easier now than it will be once I go back to work.

I am going to focus on running first for a few very simple reasons - 1) I can run with the baby, 2) I don't have a convenient place to swim, 3) I don't like biking in the rain and 4) it's a very easy way to get fitter quickly.  Then soon, on the weekends, my husband and I can switch off with the baby so I can fit in some biking and swimming.