Saturday, August 31, 2013

Twas the Night Before my Triathlon...

...and all through the house..Kaylee was freaking out!!!!!!
I can't believe that tomorrow I will be running the race I have been training for all summer!

Notice the Xs. I Didn't Miss Any!!
This week was a taper week, so on Monday I did glorious glorious hot yoga, Tuesday was a 30 min run and a 600 m swim. Wednesday I took a rest day, and Thursday was a 600 m swim, Friday was a 10 km easy Bike and today was a tri test with a 200 m swim, 5 km bike, and 1 km run.

On today's bike I got a flat. I left my bike with Mike and ran a little loop, when I got back to him there was a legit biker helping him fix it all up. This guy was super nice, got everything all fixed up, and after he finished (he gave us a new tube etc.), he just said "pass it on" and then biked away. When we got our stuff together, and hopped on our bikes, the guy was gone, no where to be seen on the trail...spooky. Either he was a ghostie, or more likely a really fast biker haha. So nice either way!

So now my bike is all ready to go for the race, and I guess so am I! I still think I am not physically prepared, the individual events are still challenging for me, let alone putting them all together, and I have a wierd muscle soreness in my hip/thigh/groin region that is very tender on the run. I am still beating myself up during training (I'm not fast enough, I can't do this, I should have done a try-a-tri). But on the other hand I feel like I've got this. Triathlon...you are going down!!!

I have done my best to be mentally prepared. I have researched everything I can about the race. I have used google maps, and run tracker and went out to the site. I went to watch the Tri when Mike did his duathlon. I have googled what to eat, what to wear, what to bring etc. Mentally,  I got this. 

For the prep, today I ate some oatmeal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and for supper tonight I made a delicious spicy pasta dish. (Some people recommended to stay away from spicy food, but I am throwing caution to the wind on that one.) I have also been drinking a lot today to get hydrated.

Tomorrow I plan to eat half a bagel with PB, and a banana, and then just drink lot before, during and after the race. I know from my early morning hot yoga classes that I would prefer to be hungry on the race than feeling gross, so I am going to keep it light tomorrow AM.

Tomorrow I also have to get up at 5:00 am to get out to the race. Gah. I am also going to Shakespeare in the Park tonight and I plan on coming home and going right to bed. Therefore my stuff is already packed:
Pack all the things!!
I have: 
Race Outfit (Trishorts, sportsbra and workout top pretending to be a tri shirt)
Sweater, Tank top and Leggings for the morning
Towel to dry of my feet and to be ridiculously orange so I can find my bike
Helmet
Sunglasses
Socks
Running Shoes
Hat
Sunscreen
Vector bar for post race
GATORADES
Change of clothes for after the race

Not pictured:
Bike
Bike Pump
2 water bottles on the Bike
Watch (I splurged and bought a watch to use tomorrow, I need to time my intervals on my run!)

Lots of stuff for one race!

Now I must run to the show and try not to think about the race for a few hours...ahhhh!

I'll be back tomorrow or Monday with how I did, and I'll see if I was DFL (dead finish last haha)!!

Anyone else doing something crazy tomorrow?? Anyone else excited to see if I am not DFL??

Monday, August 26, 2013

Race Week, and Mud Hero, and Mike Does a Duathlon, and Early Morning Workouts....

Wow, It is already race week!! The past 10 weeks flew by, here is a how the last 2 weeks have gone.

Tuesday (Aug 13) I did indeed go for a swim after that post. I was pretty sore from Body Pump, so it wasn’t a very glamorous swim. But I did it!! Wednesday I biked 20km home from a meeting in Etobicoke (Mike dropped off my bike on his way home from school..yay planning!) Thursday I had a impromptu rest day. To make up for it, Friday was a 50 min run in the AM..blech, plus about 15 km of walking around Toronto with my parents. Saturday was another rest day with more walking. To get back into routine I did a Brick (15 km Bike, and a 30 min run/walk) on Sunday AM. Last week, I did a big Swim on Monday (800m). Tuesday I did a 760 m swim and a 45 min run pretty much back to back. 

On Tuesday night I also borrowed my friend's road bike, so on Wednesday I got to test it out by biking to Etobicoke. It was all uphill!! I was biking out to a dinner, so I packed up nice clothes, and planned to change/shower at a Goodlife out there. On my way there I realized that I forgot shoes, and I REFUSED to wear sneakers with my dress, so I quickly stopped at a Shoppers and bought some of those "Flats to go". I was so proud of myself for biking and saving gas/parking money, but then I spent $15 bucks on crappy "shoes"..fail. It also took me forever to get to the dinner. After the dinner, I biked to the TTC, took it back into town and then biked from Bathurst Station to home. On the way home, I dropped my cheap bike light, and these really nice guys ran to catch up with me (I was probably going 15 km/hr) and gave it back...amazing!!

After all that exercise, I took Thursday as a rest day (still some walking), and then Friday (I had a EDO) I finally got caught up on the schedule when I did a 20 km bike ride in the AM, then went out to Lake Kelso in Milton (the location of my Triathlon) to check out the lake, and do a open water swim. It is a beautiful area, and I am looking forward to the run and (surprising hilly) bike! The water was very warm, but cloudy. I was swimming in the swim area, not the actual spot of the Tri, but still good training. It was a pretty awful swim, but I did 750 m. I may be the last person out of the swim, but I am ok with that. I just need to not freak out, remember that I can float if I get tired, and just keep moving and breathing.
On Saturday I was up bright and early, to Albion Hills for Mud Hero! This is the 2nd time I did it, and this year we cut 8 minutes off of our time. It was a very hilly 6 km run, with obstacles, and of course MUD. The best part was I didn't even feel that tired after it and I had no muscle soreness! I am in much better shape than I was last year!! 

On Sunday morning I was up bright and early (again, zomg I need sleep) and headed over to Toronto Island because Mike did his first Duathlon! Back when I came up with the crazy idea of doing this, Mike agreed to do a duathlon. He was in the first leg at 8:00 am, and he finished in 1 hr and 35 min, not to bad for a 1st timer. 



While he was doing it (and I was running around taking pictures) I also got to go check out the swim of the Triathlon. It was pretty cool to see the swimmers all starting, and then the transition. It was definitely a good way for me to visualize everything! This event was a competitive event, so there were some world champions competing  they were pretty intense to listen to, and to check out the gear they had! We came home, watched an Ironman thing on TV (also pretty cool to watch..key word being WATCH) and then I went out for a 20 km bike. Every time I do a 20 km bike, I am cutting 3 mins from my time, so I am looking forward to see how I do on the race. 

This morning I woke up dark and early (zzzzzz) and went to Hot Yoga, and had an awesome class. It felt nice to stretch out my sore biking muscles. I only have two more big workouts, then I start to taper before the race on Sunday!!! I did every single workout on the training plan!
Yay! Actually Sticking to the plan!
I am excited but nervous. I know I am going to be at the back of the pack, but that is OK. It is my first race, and I have gotten the benefits from the training that I wanted. I have lost about 6% body fat in the past 10 weeks, which has put me from the high-normal range to the fitness-normal range!! Huzzah!! Not only that but I got to spend a lot of time outside in the beautiful early morning weather. When I get done training I will stop to take some pictures!

Anyone else prepping for a race? Anyone else needing some sleep??

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

City Chase Round 3!!


Happy Tuesday everyone!

What a week..whew! I feel like vacation was forever ago. In this post triathlon training and city chase!

After publishing last week’s post, I went out and did a 50 min run/walk (just under 10 km) and it felt great! I only took a few breaks, and I ran the last 16 minutes straight. Booyah. Pretty good from my first 30 min outside run where I couldn’t run for more than 2 minutes about 8 weeks ago!

So this week looked like:
Monday- 650 m swim, 50 min run
Tuesday- Run 30m, Body Pump (missed swim)
Wednesday- Swim 600 m, Bike 15 km
Thursday- Swim 400 m, (missed Brick)
Friday- Hot Yoga
Saturday- City Chase (instead of a 50 min run)
Sunday- Rest
Monday-15 km Bike in the AM, 500 m swim in the PM
Tuesday-30 min Run, body pump, 600 m swim


On Saturday Mike and I did City Chase for the 3rd year (it is an amazing race style 6-hr event in Toronto..click here to find out more). For some reason this year we finished our mandatory 10 chasepoints really fast, so we decided to go for the Enduro –chase, which is basically you just try to do as much as possible during the 6 hour race.
We ended up getting 19 done in the nick of time. Chase points included:

A. Nathan Phillips Square to Start
Still Early!

SOOO EXCITED!!

 B. Learning a dance and performing it to a judge

C. Jumping in a pool and finding a matching sunken puck and a floating duck-nice cool down for the day!
D. Holding a giant lizard, and answering animal trivia questions

Daww it's adorable!
E. A photo scavenger hunt of us/strangers doing funny things using the new Blackberry Q10
F. Performing a joke to a panel of comedians, or getting a pie in the face. (I didn’t get the pie, and they were tough!)
G. Shot for Shot-One team member tried to hit a target with a paintball, if they missed the other had to do a gross shot (juice and either hot sauce, soy sauce or vinegar). I did all three..thanks Mike.
H. Leading your blindfolded team member through a marked path, if you touched anything you had to eat something gross we didn’t have to!
I. A SLIP AND SLIDE/Puzzle Challenge
J. Portage Obstacle Course- Physically the hardest challenge
K. Sledge Hockey
L. Slack-Lining
M. Climbing over a bus/figuring out how to use the Z10.
N. Truck Pull-We were the only team there so we had to do it ourselves
Sooo intense!!
O. SCION SOCCER!!
Mike was pumped for this one!

P. Frizbee Golf
Q. Australian football pass and kick (with super nice Aussie Guys!)
R. Kangaroo Shoes
S. “Scion” Says
T. Goodlife Fitness Challenge- We had to burn 200 calories as a team- in less than 10 minutes. Mike did well on this one!
U. END!
19 Chasepoints!
We barely made it!


All over the city!!!

Whew that made me tired just thinking about that! In the end the team that won got 22 chase points, we were most likely 5th for the enduro-chase. If you ever have an opportunity to try City Chase I highly recommend it!!

Now off to swim!! 

Have you ever done an adventure race? Anyone else make friends with a lizard?

Monday, August 5, 2013

Vacation Part 2- Training in the Rain

Hey all, hope you are enjoying your long weekend and/or Monday!

I'm back from vacation..boo. But this time I was smart and gave myself the holiday Monday to unpack (aka watch 4 episodes of True Blood) and relax before heading back to work tomorrow.

When we last left off I was in Dartmouth NS visiting with Mike's family. On Wednesday we had a big family dinner, then on Thursday we got to see some of our University friends! On Friday we got up and went to the gym, then headed to Cape Breton to visit Mike's extended family. Friday-Monday was spent in Sunny/Rainy/Cloudy Cape Breton, and then Monday we headed back up to Bathurst. In Bathurst we enjoyed a family party with my family, seeing one of my besties, and a surprise visit from Mike's parents (surprise to my parents, not to us!).

While we were on vacation we managed to stick so most of the training plan, out of the 16 days I missed 3 workouts..boo. But I am going to make sure I get them in.

Thursday- 15+ km Bike (IN THE RAIN)
Friday- Body Pump+ Walk
Saturday- Missed Bike (Did Yard Work instead)
Sunday- Missed Run (Long walk instead)
Monday- Missed Swim (crappy weather for a swim)
Tuesday- 15 km bike (IN THE RAIN)
Wednesday- 40 min run
Thursday- Pitiful 600 m swim
Friday- Brick (IN THE RAIN)
Saturday- 60 min walk in the sand- that totally counts as a 30 min walk/run.
Sunday-16 hr drive and sleep 
Monday- Swim (800ish m) and I'm planning a long run tonight

I officially registered for the triathlon this week. No backing out now!! I am kind of scared though because I know I am ready for a try-a-tri now, but I don't know if I am going to be ready in 4 weeks for double that distance, even though I have stuck to the training plan pretty well. Specifically, I am seriously freaking out about the swim part of this triathlon. I was suppose to use my vacation for swim training, but it was only about 20 deg outside, and colder in the water, and there were jelly fish, so every time I would swim, I would freak myself out that I was going to get stung in the face. My plan is that for the next 4 weeks I swim 5x a week. That should work to get me ready in time.

I did a brick on Friday, and as per usual with any bike training it was in the rain, but that made it awesome. 
Soaking wet after the Brick..but feeling good!!
I did a 9km bike, and a 3km walk/run in 44 minutes, which is half of my goal time for the 20km bike and 5 km run (1:30), that made me feel a little better about registering for the sprint distance. 

I think I was freaking myself out because I made a goal of “not being last”. I have now revised my goal to finish the friggin thing. I don't care if I have to crawl across the finish line!!

As for sticking to a calorie restriction on vacation...umm..yah that didn't happen. I did track it, but it was pretty bad. I may have ate 1/3 of a coconut cream pie #sorrynotsorry. At least I got some sort of exercise every day so I'm pretty sure I didn't gain copious amounts of weight I just definitely didn't lose any! Back on track with the healthy noms this week!

Other than that I totally am using training to distract me from post vacation blues. Exercise is better than sitting around moping. Plus August is going to be awesome...featuring: family, friends, mud hero, city chase, and MORE!! Mike and I have 2 days with nothing planned for the whole month! Ready...GO!!! Plus I was pretty excited to come back to these cool cats. 
The are sooo excited that we are back..can't you tell. 
Anyone eat a 1/3 of a pie and have have 0 regrets? Anyone else have exciting plans for August?