Day 81, Super Sets

What an icky day today!!! It's pouring rain and 52°. Blah. It's a "stay in bed all day" day. I wish.

Hit the gym this morning to lift weights. We did Super Sets, both upper and lower body. I was even doing modified pull-ups today. ;) My left hip was hurting though; I had to stop doing inclined leg lifts after just a few. I'm sure it's the weather as that exercise hadn't hurt much in the past.

Now I'm chilling with littlest munchkin before I head to work.

The plan is to run (or bike) and swim tomorrow first thing so I can go out to lunch with my hubby. ;)

Day 80, Alternant Rest Day

I think I'm coming down with a bug. One munchkin had a sore throat over the weekend, and another has been super grouchy. I feel tired down to my bones today. I'm going to have dinner and pie with the family (it's my husband's birthday), put the kids to bed, and put myself to bed. Tomorrow is a long day.

Day 79, First Brick

First brick today. Biked 6.2 miles (22:40 at level 10) and then ran 0.3 miles (3 minutes). I could have run more but it was a spur of the moment thing and I wasn't wearing running shoes or a good sports bra.

It really is amazing how heavy and stiff the legs feel when going from biking to running!

Tomorrow we're going to try to hit the pool. :)

Day 78, Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone had a lovely three-day weekend! My extra long weekend has thrown my workout schedule off a little, but I'm still getting things done. :)

Today I went to the gym for another c25k day. I'm still only at 2 miles in 25 minutes, but it's feeling easier then when I restarted running, and more importantly, I don't hurt.

Day 77, 98° and pool!

It was beautiful out today and we were finally able to appreciate the community pool. I jumped in, new bikini and all. :) After years of training, my arms, back, and legs are sinewy strength, while my "I had three kids AND a crappy gene pool" middle is still a work in progress. But I rocked my bikini. :D

I have also come across an idea for my next tattoo. It'll have to wait until after the triathlon (water germs!!!) but I'm already so excited! This is the style, Not the actual picture, going from under my right breast and down my ribs and outer side...

Day 76, Slurpees (and Biking)

Older munchkin and I went for a bike ride today after the roads dried up after our earlier storms. When we were done we stopped at 7-11 for Slurpees. :)

Tomorrow it's going to be 97°. We're heading to the pool!! I just got a waterproof cover for my phone so I'm going to have my hubby record my swimming so I can check my positioning. So excited!

AND my yellow bike water bottle holder came today too. It's so pretty!

Day 75, New Pool!

Thanks to a Living Social deal, I picked up a 6 week gym membership for $30, just because they have a pool and a Kids Room. It's farther then my regular gym (30 minutes vs 10 minutes) but I only need to swim twice a week or so. If I feel the desire, they also have a ton of classes and a running track.

I did Total Immersion swimming beginning drills and a few laps. At first the balance frills were hard- my legs tend to sink. I eventually skipped ahead a little bit to drills that have me swimming on my side with one arm extended and one down. That was easier, less sinking. I felt a little silly through practicing floating and always consulting my kindle for tips and drills. But I figure I didn't know anyone there so I shouldn't care what they think.

Day 74, 440 Reps

Another weekly weight lifting day! I figured it's been about 48 hours since the car accident and no aches or pains developed, so I'm fine.

Today we did a pyramid circuit for lower body. 20 reps each. With weights. Leg presses then butt blaster. Then leg presses, butt blaster, and stationary lunges. Then leg presses, butt blaster, stationary lunges, and step ups (onto a weight bench). Finally leg presses, butt blaster, stationary lunges, step ups, and walking lunges. (If you're counting, that totals 280 reps.)

I'm surprised I can still walk.

That was first. Then we did back (pull downs) and shoulders. 20 reps, 4 sets for each. (another 160 reps...)

But wait, there's more! I worked tonight in a different nursing role, that had me running all over the hospital for 8 hours. I really enjoyed it, but now I am exhausted. :D

Day 73, Doctor visit

I already had today's appointment scheduled but I was extra glad to be seen after yesterday's accident. I'm good!

The rest of the day was eaten by meeting a new speech therapist for littlest munchkin and then shopping for a new car seat. Both accomplished. :-)

Tomorrow is weight lifting, a run, and work. Friday I *have* to 1) get to the pool, and 2) get an estimate for car repairs.

Day 72, Car Accident

I'm fine. Baby is fine (thank God, since she hit his door). Car needs work. And a new car seat for littlest munchkin.

I was shaking for a hour and skipped my workout. It sucks. I was packed and ready to go too. Tomorrow HAS to be a better day. After I find and install a new carseat. Good golly....

Day 71 1/2, holy heck...

I'm looking at my sister's pictures from her 2011 Triathlon, and I'm thinking "What the heck did I get myself into?!?!"

I don't want to finish last, and it's all so terrifying!!!

Good night!

Tomorrow I go to a new gym with a pool and a Kids Room to practice what I've read in the TI book and in my lessons.

I hate new. I like known and comfortable. But as I've mentioned, I don't want to be last....

Day 71, Rain and Shine

Today was supposed to be a swim day but the rain made it impossible to get into the mood to swim this morning.

However, the sun came out about the same time my husband got home! I did a brief 4.55 mile bike ride.

I'm disappointed. I don't know if it's just being tired from the biking and running this weekend, but it was SO hard to bike today. Every pedal was an effort.

I did find it easier to go faster when I was bent over, and after a couple miles of that my arms were dying. My sister has Aerobars on her bike and I pretty sure I need them too.

I'm enjoying making tweaks to my bike as I learn what I like and what I need. :)

Day 70, Race Times

I've been looking over last year's Triathlon times in my group (F30-39) to see where I am now and where I need to be by August. Just looking at my workout list I'm about 27 minutes for the bike, 17 minutes for the run, and maybe 15-20 minutes for the swim. That puts me at 59-64 minutes, not including transitions.

My goal is to finish under an hour, which would put me in the middle of the pack. With three months still to train, I think its doable.

The best times were 43-46 minutes (with 16-19 mph bike rides!) and the end of the group finished around 1:07-1:20.

Today was also a RUN day. I'm getting back there... 2 miles run/walk in 25 minutes. With a cool-down I did 2.28 miles.

Found a yellow bottle holder!

I found *two* yellow water bottle holders for my bike! :D I bought the $7 one on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BMNQ12/ref=redir_mdp_mobile There's also a $10 one but I can't imagine the cheaper one won't work. All it has to do is hold a water bottle....

I've ALSO found *yellow* metal pedals!! I've got them saved in my cart for now, but I'm SO tempted! Right now I have black plastic pedals...

Day 69, Really Biking

My biking buddy didn't feel like joining me today so it was my first time to really bike a 10k+ route, and see how fast I could do it. I'm not sure if I did good or bad, but I'm still pleased: 7.16 miles in 31 minutes. I averaged 13 mph and 4:26 min/mile.


For comparison, my last "alone" long outdoor bike ride was May 4. I did 5.12 miles then, averaging 12 mph and 4:55 min/mile.


Definitely improving!

Day 68, Rest

Friday was a rest day. Had a great day hanging out with my family. My youngest cousin leaves for the Air Force on Sunday so all the cousins went out for dinner tonight at our favorite restaurant. Nothing says "Good luck!" like lobster, filet mignon, wine, wine, champagne, and more wine. 

Day 67, Circuits

Max warned me: "You're going to hate me today." Within 10 minutes of lifting I was giving him *the look of death.* By 15 minutes I was wondering why I hadn't stayed home. After 20 minutes I was trying not to throw up.

I am really going to hurt tomorrow. :D

No pain, no gain!

Day 66, Eh

It was cold today! I can't wait until we have consistently warm weather. The kiddo/biking partner only lasted seven minutes before succumbing to the chill and asked to turn around. We did a whopping 1.75 miles, LOL!

I suppose I *could* have gone alone, but did I mention it was cold? And windy? And cold?

I did make some adjustments on my bike though! I added a raspberry colored water bottle holder and changed the seat. The new seat is a little wider and a little more cushiony, but still smaller than the über comfort seats.

I'm still looking for a bright canary yellow water bottle holder too, if anyone has a lead on one. Got to dress up my black bike. ;-)

Day 65, Overwhelmed

Feeling a little overwhelmed with triathlon training. It was easy to alternate jogging and biking days, but now that I have to add in swimming practices too, it all seems like so much... I have 8 workouts to do over 6 days every week (so I have 1 day of rest): three c25k walk/jogs, 2 bike rides, 2 swimming practices, and 1 session of weight lifting.

I can combine a run or stationary bike ride with the weight lifting day (assuming my legs still work after 120 lunges), and I can combine a run with a swim. But the trick is not having the same thing two days in a row. Another factor is that the gym with the pool is 30 minutes away, while my regular gym is 10 minutes away.

I've been working on a schedule and this is what I have so far....
Monday run and swim
Tuesday bike
Wednesday run
Thursday weight lifting
Friday run and swim
Saturday OFF
Sunday bike

Today I'm going to do the c25k day I meant to do yesterday. As soon as my hubby gets home I'm outta here!

UPDATE------
I did 30 minutes on the treadmill alternating walking and running, totaling 2.28 miles. Not great, but hey, its not too bad for my second day back at running.

Day 64 1/2, Thank YOU viewers!

Thank you to all my viewers and readers. I really do appreciate it! The whole point of this blog is *daily accountability.* If I didn't have readers there would be no accountability. I could not do this without you. Thank you.

For those curious, 58% of my views are from the USA, 30% are from Russia (wow, Thank you!), 7% are from the UK (TY!), 2% from Germany (Hi Phil and Nicole!!!), 2% from Canada, and 1% from everywhere else.

Day 64, C25K w4d2... Or NOT ;)

Following the "skipped-ahead" version of my Couch To 5K app, I'm on week 4 day 2. It alternates times of walking and jogging for a total of 31 minutes. Littlest munchkin is napping right now, so I"ll have to wait until my husband is home to go run. I was planning on going to the gym but its so nice outside right now that I may jog around the neighborhood instead. :)

I'll update this evening with my distances.

UPDATE---
An older son wanted another bike ride tonight, and how could I say no? So munchkin and I did 5.5 miles at 6 mph. Then he went in to get ready for bed, and I did a quick 2.5 miles at 14 mph. :D

I may not work up to the best speed/time for my tri, but I'd NEVER trade that for these brief times with my kids. Kids grow up SO fast... I'll take every minute they give me.

Day 63, Biking with Son

Leisure biking. :) For Mother's Day I want to bike 6+ miles and following it up with a bottle of wine. A munchkin wanted to join me (the one with the new bike). As I type this we're taking a water break after 2.5 miles in 20 minutes. He wants to do the 2.5 mile circle again.... We're ready to go!

1 HOUR LATER....
We did 7.22 miles together in an hour. Certainly not a speed record, but I was very impressed with his 7 year old stamina and determination to keep going. And I did exceeded my goal distance today. :D

Day 62, Swimming Lesson #4

Sorry readers, there was only a mild mutiny today. Mostly, because there wasn't much to mutiny against. Maybe the instructor reads my blog....

So the first thing I did when I arrived for my lesson was pull out my trusty iPhone and show the instructor the video of the ideal TI freestyle. He readily admitted to not being familiar with Total Immersion Swimming, and thought it was impressive. I told him *THAT* is my goal.

He had to set up the lanes for our lesson, so I worked on the TI Drill #1, just floating and finding my balance. Definitely harder than it sounded like in the book. My long, lean, muscled legs wanted to sink like cement. But I worked at it.  I was going to attempt Drill #2, but teenage instructor was back and encouraging me to try the bilaterally breathing again. Since it was MY idea to learn it last week, I figured now would be a good time to practice.

So I used the time to practice lateral and bilateral breathing. I'm learning that my comfortable breathing pattern is like Right Right Left Right Right Left.... In addition to the freestyle I also did a few laps of backstroke and breaststroke, practicing turning while changing strokes.

I'm not going to win a medal, but I won't need to be fished out at the Triathlon either. :)

Day 61, Considering Mutiny

As I keep reading the Total Immersion swimming book, I think about my swimming lately. I *just* got to the drills section in the book. Even though I'm making progress with my current swimming lessons, I think there's more to learn. I'd like to just start at Drill 1 to see how my balance is, and go from there.

Which brings me to the Mutiny.

Tomorrow is my 4th swimming lesson. Would it be terrible to say, "Hey, I want to do this THIS WAY, not that way." I paid for a private adult lesson, so I've essentially paid for a private lane for 30 minutes. I kind of just want to use it and skip the teenage "instructor" teaching; he still gets paid. ;)

Day 60, MORE COFFEE

It was another late night at work. I least I'm off until next Thursday so I can recover, relax, and train. :)

Even absolutely exhausted, I managed to get to my training session for weight lifting. Single arm lat pull things, deadlifts, lunges from hell (120 lunges holding 10 lb dumbbells straight up over my head), rowing... I swear there was more but I can't remember at the moment.

Now I'm enjoy some wine before crashing. Just happens to be in a wine glass that an older munchkin accidentally broke a few minutes ago...

The highlight of my day, mostly understood by anyone with kids.... The youngest munchkin used the potty 3 times this afternoon with only one accident!! I'm ready to be done with diapers!

Day 59, Coffee!!

4 hours of sleep does not make for a good workout day. I'll be collapsed on the couch until my IV of coffee starts working. ;)

In running news, it was suggested to me to look at the C25K program to help me gently get back into running. I downloaded a free app and I'm going to start at Week 4 Day 1. If the program works I'll be back up to 3 miles in 4-5 weeks.

Day 58, The Treadmill

I'm gently testing the water. I got back in the treadmill today. :)

I decided to backtrack to the beginning. I alternated walking at 4 mph and jogging at 5.5 mph. 3 min walk/1 min jog, 2 min walk/2 min jog, 1 min walk/3 min jog, and repeat. I did 2 miles that way in 25:45. Not the best time, but it's a [gentle] start.

After that I did a quick 2 mile ~ 7 minute ~ Level 11 bike ride. And for the first time I can remember, I actually was dripping sweat onto the bike handles. (I cleaned them when I was done!)

That was this morning. Since then I worked a crazy busy 10.5 hour nursing shift, and I'm about to say goodnight after a 19 hour day. And guess what? I'm not having knee/shin pain!!!!

Only 1 month and 3 weeks left until the 5k!

Day 56, Storms

We're having thunder and lightening storms right now. I love it! It's a "curl up with a warm blanket, hot cocoa, and good book" day. Cozy and quiet.

Oh wait. I have three kids. I guess I'll have to amend today's plan to "blanket, cocoa, and kid movies."

Either way, it's a great day. :D A rest day after three days of training. And the icing on the cake: canceled from work tonight! Woohoo!

Day 55, Bilateral Breathing

Is harder than it sounds.

I figure since I'm learning how to swim the Freestyle, I might as well learn how to swim it breathing bilaterally.. Basically it means instead of turning my face to the right every time to breath, I alternate my breathing between both sides.  This link has some good info on it, plus videos. It'll help while swimming in open water (waves), and for keeping my eyes out for other swimmers on each side. Honestly, I thought I'd feel more out of breath having an extra stroke between breaths, but I actually felt calmer. Instead of inhale-exhale-inhale-exhale, its inhale-eexxhhaaaallee-inhale-exxhhaaaallee. Kind of like the Yoga breathing that Total Immersion Swimming talks about in the book.

The only problem I encountered today was turning my head to the left enough to not inhale water, while not actually lifting my head out of the water. I'd make it about half the length of the pool before getting a mouthful of water, resulting in a coughing fit. And repeat. LOL!

Day 54, Root Canal

I'm expecting to have a root canal done this morning, so I don't anticipate feeling much like exercising. If anything changes I'll post an update. :(

Addendum: NO ROOT CANAL!!!

In celebration I went on my first longer outdoor bike ride. I did 5.12 miles in 25 minutes, with an average speed of 12 mph. It was fun but a little disappointing since I was averaging 14-16 mph on the stationary bike. It's much harder outside. I also need to find a better route since this ride was just back and forth, back and forth. Fortunately I have plenty of time to improve. :-)

Day 53, Lunges

Thursday workout day... lots of lower body. Drop sets, 15-12-10-8, increasing the weight each time. Leg curls, leg extensions, squats, and walking lunges. Lunges always are double (15 each side = 30 lunges). The only weight I noticed was my set of 8 leg extensions.... 90 lbs! Then some chest and back.

At home I did a couple hours of "chase littlest munchkin on his bike" and then a short bike ride with an older munchkin to the park.

I love having a bike! I was telling my husband tonight how much FASTER we get to the park by bike than by walking, and that older munchkin piped in, "Duh Mom! Its a bike!"

I will say that on the ride home I had to use the sidewalk, with it's billion bumps, and the ride felt smoother than the first time I road on it. My toosh must be adjusting. :-)

Day 51, Brick-ish

I did my first pseudo-brick today: 6.3 miles on the bike followed by 1 mile on the elliptical! It wasn't as bad as I expected, although I'm sure running after biking is much harder.

I'm also excited to see that my bike time was faster without even trying. 6.3 miles in 23 minutes versus 6.2 miles in 24:41. :D