Dig deep.

{endure necklace by endure jewelry co.}

Today day I did a brick workout as part of my triathlon training.  Per my training schedule, I rode for about 30 minutes then ran for about ten.  If you remember me talking about my last triathlon, you may have heard me say how hard the bike leg was.  It is definitely my weakness.  I could swim forever, I can run just fine.  But being on the bike sometimes makes me want to cry.  Some things that went through my mind during this mornings ride...  Dig deep. This is your weakness. Find your strong. This is a race. This is not a leisure ride. Ooo, downhill. Crap, another hill. Almost there. Use your legs. Hustle.

Those last two thoughts are words I say to my kids when they're on their bikes.  I took my own advice.  I finally turned the corner to my street.  I dropped off my bike at home, ditched the helmet, put on a hat and took off for a quick run.  I know the person who came up with the name "brick" workout must have also considered how your legs feel when you try to run after being on the bike.  I'm pretty sure I said this when I trained for my last tri, but it feels like my feet are cemented in buckets and I have weight belts attached to my quads.

Sometimes I wonder why I sign up for these things.  But to answer my question with a question, "Why not?"  If I can endure this, I'll certainly come out stronger on the other end.

Running is ruining my life because...

My favorite jeans don't fit me anymore! Now I have to buy a smaller size.  Darn it!!

This deserves a post.

It's been AGES since I wrote on this thing.  But after my last run, I have to share.

I get horrible, horrible shin splints.  To the point that I can't walk normal for a couple of days even after the shortest runs.  I've tried everything from running at an incline on the treadmill, resting days between runs, ice, heat, stretching, complaining... None of it really has worked.  Mike recently mentioned running barefoot, which I never really considered before.  I could definitely see how it might make a difference.  When I run I land on my heal first.  My shins do not like that very much.  I have tried to make a conscience effort to land either flat or on the balls of my feet, but it takes so much concentration and effort that it just makes me more tired.

So, today I thought I'd give barefoot running a try.  During the week I run on the treadmill in my basement.  I figured I'd start off easy and do a mile on the 'mill and see how it goes...

Then, 29 minutes and 34 seconds later I ran 3.13 miles!  My fastest 5k time yet, with a 9'25"/mile pace.  I consistently run between 10 and 11 minute miles, so this is a huge difference.  I could have gone farther but I seriously blistered my toesies.  But, oh my goodness, the difference!  My feet naturally wanted to land on the balls and my heals hardly touched the ground.

My legs felt like what I presume they should feel like after a run, sore calves and thighs.  Not achy joints, i.e. hips and knees.  And the best part of all, very little shin pain.  My shins are still sore from the run I did two days ago, so it's kinda hard to tell.  At least they don't feel worse.

I'm going to shop for some of those barefoot running shoes this weekend.

Who knows, maybe I can trick my body into thinking it's a runner. :)

There's a shoe for that.

One of the million questions I have about my first sprint triathlon is... What kind of shoes do I wear?  Is there a specific type of shoe for the bike/run portion of the race?  Yes, there is.  It should to be a shoe where I won't have to deal with socks, nor laces, and can wear while biking and running.  After some research, I found the company Zoot, a Hawaii based company who specializes in gear for swimming, biking and running.

I ordered these yesterday, and they came today (thank you Zappos for your lightning fast delivery!).  I put them on and gave them a test run on the treadmill.  Quite comfortable after a mile run, even without socks.  It will take some getting used to, but overall I like them.  We'll see how the shin splints like em.  :)

I'm doing it again...

No, I'm NOT having another baby!!  But just to fill you in since my last post on this blog, I did give birth to a healthy baby boy on August 31, 2010.  Brendan is a bundle of joy ready to play with his big brothers, Nathan and Ryan.

But, what I am going to do is a triathlon.  I know, after the half marathon I did in Las Vegas in December of '09 I swore I had challenged myself enough and I'd never do another one again.  But, like the title of the blog says, I'm HEALTHY, BECAUSE I CAN.  I'm 34, I have my health, I'm physically able, so I'm going to do it.

Yesterday, on the first day of the new decade, I registered for the Omaha Women's Triathlon.  This is a sprint triathlon which means it is shorter than a typical trithlon... the sprint triathlon will consist of a 750 m swim (in a lake, yikes!), about a 12 mile bike, and a 5K run.  Although I am a swimmer, I am a little freaked about swimming in open water (piranhas, ah!!).  I think I'll get over my fear by doing this triathlon.  I ran the 13.1 mile half marathon, so a 5K is a welcome change... although it is the last leg of the race so it very well might FEEL like 13.1 miles.  The part I'm most worried about is a) learning how to use the gears on a bike, and b) the transition from the swim to the bike portion of the race.  The pros already have their shoes attached to the bike!  I don't know if I'm coordinated enough for that.  We'll see.  Oh, and I don't even have a bike yet.  Well, I have my girly beach cruiser but I don't think that will suffice.

I have about 22 weeks to pull it all together.  When I trained for the half marathon I started from scratch.  So that's what I'll be doing this time around, too.  I hope to keep updating the blog, I'd love to have a record of my training.  Maybe someone else who is considering a triathlon for the first time could find some inspiration here.  Maybe.

Here we go...

Suck It Up.

Ok, this might be TMI but, I started my period yesterday and have cramps from H E double hockey sticks! A perfect reason for not doing my run today. I even told myself, "OK, this is your off day". But then I was thinking, what if race day falls on a day like today. I can't make it my off day, I'm just going to have to suck it up. So.... that is what I did. I put on my shoes and dragged my hormonal @$$ to the gym and ran 2 miles. It was somewhat uncomfortable, but I did it. You know what? I actually feel better now than I did before the run.

Note to self: Starting my period... not a good enough reason to skip a workout. Dang.

Today's Workout: 3 miles on treadmill; .25 mile warm-up, 2 mile run, .75 cool-down.

A Little Motivation, Please?

Okay, the original excitement of starting this new healthy lifestyle has started to wain. Don't worry, I'm still at it but it's so exhausting! I guess it's supposed to be, but still. I'm still using the bike as much as I can to get around, i.e. outings with kids, post office, etc... I'm still going to the gym here and there. But the motivation is lacking.

I'm not sure what I really need to get pumped about working out. Maybe a work out partner? I'd love to be able to go running or go to the gym with my husband, but the two kids make that pretty much impossible. It'd be fun to go to the gym with some of my mom friends, but it's so hard to coordinate with nap schedules, when the husbands going to be home, family time, etc... So for now, I'm at it alone. I definitely have the emotional support from my husband, friends and family. I just wish I could take them all to the gym with me!

On another note... I upped the distance on my running today. For the last couple weeks I've been doing one mile, max. Today I did one and a quarter. It felt good, too. I felt like I could have kept going. Not sure why I didn't. September 27th is when I will be starting my actual training schedule. So from now until then I need to get myself up to running three miles at a time. I will also start to integrate running outside on the street. This is much harder for me. No help from the treadmill out there.

Today's Workout: 1.25 miles on the treadmill.