One down, three to go

April was my first full month of training, and so far, so good.
I was able to train 23 out of 30 days, 14 running, 9 on the bike, 20 strength training additions. I'm doing full distances on both events and even swam one full lap at the pool in Vegas.
May is here and I have one goal - swim, swim, swim. I'm determined to hit the pool tomorrow, it will be raining out, I have no plans, and therefore no excuse. The one lap I did was painful and all the training I have been doing will be for nothing if I can't make it past the first event. So here we go, time to get wet!

Walk the Line.. barely

Well, the diagnosis was not what I was hoping. I was hoping for a pinpointed, specific problem with a simple solution. Instead, as always, it is wayyy more complicated than that. I apparently have a whole host of problems nagging me from head to foot (literally), which has caused a muscle/tendon in my left leg (which connects all the way down through the ankle and foot) to inflame and not properly supply blood circulation as a result of the left side of my body relying too heaving on said muscle. Something like that. However, this is along the long-sought explanation to my hip and knee problems. Solution: I need to be wealthy to keep up with maintenance, including regular physical therapy, fancy running shoes, orthodics and daily torture exercises to loosen the muscle on my own. I sort of wish it was just a broken ankle so the pain could be treated and healed and I would be fixed in a few weeks. No such luck. This negates all my previous hard work and I'll have to start over again when my ankle/foot/leg/whaetever the hell it is starts to feel better. After several days of the torture exercises which dangerously flirt with the highest level on my pain threshold, I can walk a little further before stopping and wincing and can even wear heels around at work! I guess during times like these it's the little things in life...

A great week..

Training could not have gone better this week! I pulled a full 6 days, 3 on the bike, 3 running, 5 strength training. My bike time is just at the one hour mark, but I can feel my legs strengthening, and with my new water bottle holder, I am going to be much, much more comfortable.

The run is going much better than expected, I'm keeping an 8-minute mile and my knee has held up all week. I still haven't gotten in the pool, and I honestly need to make that my goal for next month - swim, swim, swim!

I'm off to Vegas on Tuesday, but am looking to train today, Monday, and Tuesday morning so even if I don't get into my hotel's gym at all I've still got 3 days under my belt.

First casualty... lesson learned: don't diagnose yourself or ignore it until it hurts too much to walk

Test riding my brand new shiny purple bike is going to have to wait... I have unwillingly placed myself on the disabled list. My nagging ankle injury won't go away no matter how much I ignore it, and because I ran on it last week, I think I made it worse and now it hurts to walk. I pretend I'm 50 cent.. I walk around with a limp but make it look cool. This is the same foot I had trouble with in the fall but after resting it, it went away. Maybe I should not have diagnosed myself and addressed it back then. This time I'm going to play it smart (thanks to Steph's wise advice!). I have an appointment with an ankle doc on Friday (whom she referred to me). Apparently he has done triathlons, so maybe while I'm there I can ask him for some tips! Hopefully the news will be good and I will heal up fast. For now, I'll sit on my ass and repeatedly apply cold compresses until my ankle turns purple.

In the meantime, maybe I'll finish buying equipment.. jeez this has become an expensive idea!! Good thing I found a cheap bike at Wal-Mart! And its pretty cool looking too ;) Too bad it'll have to wait :(

"You see, it's a problem of motivation..."

I probably just had one of the best workouts I've had in a long time at the gym. However, even I don't undertand why I couldn't make myself lace up my (awesome new) sneaks and go there until almost 9pm. Back when I was working 2 jobs I had an excuse; at the moment I'm working 0 jobs so really, what is my problem? I used to love working out; I used to go for ridiculously long runs every day because I truly enjoyed it. I still enjoy doing these things - and one would think that this imminent triathlon would give me all the motivation in the world to get out and train hard. Maybe next week when I start working again my attitude will change; I have a feeling it will. Being busy helps me stay motivated.

Tomorrow I plan to wake up early and go purchase a helmet (never got around to shopping this past weekend) so that I can start biking! I also plan to find a pool to use, that task may not be so simple as I'm not willing to pay for a membership somewhere just to use their pool; and I'm not about to give up my $10 a month membership and pay $90 a month just so I can have access to a friggin pool. Hopefully it will warm up outside SOON so that our outdoor runs and bike rides will be even more gratifying. : )

My Ipod reads my soul...

Today, I completed my first full 12-mile bike ride in a little over an hour, and this time I knew where I was going. I had mapped out that it was exactly 6 miles to the center of Hubbardston and since Lent was over, owed myself a little treat :). Since I am still car-less, I figured I'd test out my 12-mile endurance while rewarding myself at the same time.

Most of the ride are simple, rolling hills followed by flats until I hit THE MONSTER at about the 5 mile mark. This hill is over .3 miles long at just goes up, and up, and up. I was almost ready to de-bike when the end of Clapton's "Layla" came on about 3/4 through the hill. My soul was placated and I crested the monster.

The ride home features a steeper, yet not as long hill, but after about 8 miles of biking, it is just as daunting. Again, ready to quit, "Sound of Silence" begins to pump through my ears, I take a deep breath, and bam, I've reached the top.

It's funny though, all the "little" things I've told myself I would not need I am currently dying for. I thought sunglasses were just ridiculous until I was picking nats out of my eye doing 25mph down a steep hill, and when my toes went numb around mile 7, I started thinking bike shoes might not be such a bad idea after all. I may need to start a seperate funraiser just to get my through all the supplies I am going to need!

Lots of good weather ahead and a lead on pool time=a great training week for me!

Hopping on the blog wagon...

I have always wanted to participate in a triathlon, I've just never had the motivation to do it. The only type of formal race I've ever done is the occasional charity 5K here and there; so when Kim asked me to join her and Meg on this adventure I figured now is as good a time as any!!

Of course I'm nervous about the biking and swimming, as I haven't been on a bike in years. I was on swim teams in high school and it comes pretty naturally to me but I also know that my (almost) daily runs won't prepare me for the type of shape you need to be in for swimming. It's a whole different kind. I did feel some reassurance on Wednesday night when my Pilates instructor told me that she is also doing this tri and that she's done it before. She basically said not to worry, the swimming part isn't as long as they say and it's really not that bad. I guess the worst part of the entire race is going from biking to running...soooo we'll see!

I'm super excited to begin training - it's an excuse to get in amazing shape for the summer; and not just for bikini season! Knowing that the race is for a good cause helps with the motivation : )

I have a shopping list prepared and hopefully Kim and I will get to tackle that this weekend (right Kim??). So far on the list: helmet, odometer, new sneakers (a trip to the New Balance store is in order), biking shoes?!, maybe a new racing [bathing] suit, road bike (my mountain bike isn't good for road races apparently)...that's it for now, I think.

Time to head outside for a run on this beautiful day!