buh-bye 2009!

Last workout for the year...

Run: 4.5 miles

1 mile warm up

4 x 400 @ 7:53

4 x 400 @ 8:13

.5 mile cool down

Plank 1 min/30 sec

Side plank 30 + 5 crunches

3 x 5 count push ups/25 crunches/hover

3 x 10 incline sit ups

I can say without hesitation that 2009 has been the most challenging year of my life. I definitely felt like I had the rug pulled out from under me and at times it seemed as if I was the target of some very cruel and ellaborate candid camera experiment. I was convinced that somewhere someone was laughing at my expense. I am happy to report that when it was all said and done, though, I am still surrounded by friends and family who are healthy and happy which is all that really matters. With every stumble, I gained a little more balance. In fact, I managed to squeeze something positive out of every bad experience of 2009. Okay, well getting my car broken into and my Louis Vuitton purse stolen hasn't produced anything good yet but I have faith that at some point something good is coming from that. Karma is good like that ;)

My point is that it wasn't easy, there were moments when I felt defeated and days when I cried more than I laughed but I never gave up. I picked myself up by my bootstraps and fought the fight and I am a much better person for it. How does this apply to training? That "never quit" attitude is 100% the result of having triathlons in my life. The mental fortitude required to finish a tri is what helped me find my way. Ironic considering this was not a very good tri season for me but victorious in the fact that I had a tri season at all. When things got complicated and stressful, I refused to sacrifice my training. I made the time I needed and the reward is so much sweeter. I completed my goals for 2009 and it may not have been how I had it planned but I did it none-the-less. Now here I am at the cusp of a new year and a new season, ready to take on bigger an better goals.

2009 Recap

Goals:

1. Olympic Distance Tri

2. Half Marathon

January

Missed my first race of the season and my first HM, the Disney HM, due to logistics problems.

Februrary

PR'd Gasparilla 15k

March

Plagued by shin splints

April

Started working for the first time in 10 years one week before St. Anthonys

Completed St. Anthonys and my first Olympic distance tri. Check.

May

Managed 4 races in one month.

June

Dunedin Tri

July - August

Plagued with potential heart problem that sidelined my training but thankfully ended well with a healthy prognosis. Also got the new Garmin 310XT *happy dance*

September

Sand Key Tri - worst.race.ever. Lack of training and emotional burnout do not make for a good race.

October

Ended the tri season with Longleaf and a 2nd AG finish. Sweet redemption.

November

Completed the Womens Running Half Marathon and my first HM. Check.

December

Signed up for my first IM 70.3...

Ghost town

The family is out of town so I have the house to myself and it seems as though the rest of the population is on vacation so I feel like I have the roads and gym all to myself as well. I better enjoy it while it lasts, pretty soon all the New Years resolutionists will be inundating the Y...

Tuesday:
2 mile warm up run @ 9:22/1%
2 x plank 1 min/side plank + 10 crunches 30 seconds
3 x push ups (5, 5, 10)/crunches 25
Squats 50 x 12 x 3

New Trainer, New Workout

First ride on the new trainer. I don't have it completely set up yet but it was nice to view my speed and cadence for once. I used the first DVD of the Spinervals set called "No Slackers Allowed." It was 45 minutes of sprints, sprints and more sprints. It was very tough and the scary part is that it's the easiest of the DVD set! I guess that's a good thing, though, since I'll be in the saddle for the majority of the 70.3. I'm looking forward to some hard training, an even harder race and a very rewarding finish line!

Great minds think alike...

The Hubs and I both thought of cycling training goodies for each other this Christmas. I got him The Spinervals Competition Series 10 pack DVD collection..

As usual, he went above and beyond and got me a CompuTrainer Plus.

Um, wow. Besides the pure awesomeness of this gift, it was also incredibly thoughtful. Due to my schedule, my only workout time is early morning when it's dark out - not the safest option for a solo ride - so the CompuTrainer is the perfect solution. So far, I have my bike set up and within a week or two we're going to get the laptop and TV synced as well. I am really looking forward to my first ride with the completed set up.

I also received a new Giro Helmet from my brother-in-law and fellow triathlete. I'm not even a competitive age grouper, I feel like such a poser having all this amazing gear! LOL

I am truly blessed to have such a tremendous support system. My husband, who buys me all the basics as well as the extras because he knows I'll never buy it for myself. He also puts up with my early bed times and crazy training schedule. My kids who get up at the crack of dawn to stand around for hours just to watch me cross the finish line. My friends who inspire me and make training more fun than it should be. My family and friends have offered nothing but encouragement and words cannot express how much I appreciate everything they do for me.

Trizophrenia: Inside the Minds of a Triathlete

I recently finished Trizophrenia: Inside the Minds of a Triathlete by author and illustrator, Jef Mallet. This book is a well-written and humorous view of the obsessions, motivations and passions that make Triathletes a unique brand of athlete. Many times I found myself laughing out loud or thinking, "It's not just me, I'm not crazy after all!" The illustrations were hilarious and really captured the essence of the text. To be honest, the excessive use of footnotes was a little hard to get used to at first but in the end became quite endearing and lended to the books light-hearted character. Great book for triathletes or for the people who put up with them.

Christmas Boot Camp

MONDAY

A fellow boot camper instructed class today and it ended up being pretty tough. We did everything in 10's - 10 counts, 10 reps or 10 sets. The toughest part of the day was ten sets of sit ups/ab killers in descending order...

10 sit ups/10 ab killers
9 sit ups/9 ab killers
8 sit ups/8 ab killers and so on...

By the time we got the to 5's, it was miserable. We also incorporated a short 20 minute run. No watch so no stats but I can say with certainty that it was a painful run. Painful becuase I should not handle sharp objects. Sunday seemed like a good day for a pedicure on my weary runner's feet and I made the economical decision to do it myself. Armed with a very sharp pedicure tool and slightly obsessive complusive meticulous tendencies, I manage to do some real damage. It's safe to assume that Edward Scissorhands would have left more skin intact.


TUESDAY
Brrr... 46 degrees this morning for parking lot day but thanks to Ma'am we all warmed up quite nicely after about 5 minutes. On the agenda today...
side straddle hops, laps, walking squats, jumping squats, push ups, sit ups, laps, shuffles, side hops, planks, side planks, 4 count walking lunges, 2 count walking lunges with a kickback, laps, triceps dips and more laps. Not necessarily in that order but you get the point... she kicked our butts. Definitely still painful with sore feet but it was a great way to gear up for Christmas festivities!

Good Morning Saturday!

I woke up to the sound of wind gusting through my screen enclosure and immediately started weighing my options - facing the wind gusts or dealing with 10 miles on a treadmill. Fortunately, I opted for the trail and the weather never became an issue. It was a brisk 54 degrees which is perfect running weather in my opinion. We planned a repeat of last weekend's run - 4 miles with Jen then an additional 6 but we changed things up slightly. Jen had the great idea to incorporate sprint intervals during the last mile and I was glad we mixed it up a bit. I'm not sure anyone really felt up to the additional 6 but we stayed the course and finished out a great run. I was shocked to see how consistent our splits were.

4 miles

5 - 9:38

6 - 9:28

7 - 9:31

8 - 9:31

9 - 9:33

10 - 9:14

The last mile, I had to stop and walk briefly due to tummy issues (again) which I didn't include in the split. I have been plagued with tummy issues since the week before the Women's Running Half Marathon and it's getting old. After the first of the year, I am going to get tested for food allergies. That is the only thing I can think of that may be the cause.

Last Day of Boot Camp

I heard that the last day is usually fun and games so I didn't anticipate a "real" workout. I left G-unit at home and wore old running shoes only to find out that Ma'am had other plans. We began with a 24 minute run. No idea what my pace or distance was but I had enough time to finally reach the Lansbrook entrance and then some. We then headed back inside for a never-ending set of push ups. Seriously, I had no idea how many we did but Ma'am didn't stop counting until the last person collapsed. We were then treated to 200 crunches. Yes, that is 2-0-0. After struggling with full sit ups yesterday I was relieved that is was just crunches and I happily did all 200. We broke into teams and I was unfortunately named captain. Being a leader is so far out of my comfort zone and as pitiful as it sounds, I much prefer to just disappear into the crowd. After a few team activities, we gathered round Ma'am for some words of wisdom and awards. I am very lucky to have such an awesome support system that helped me achieve a perfect attendance award. Surprisingly, I also earned an award for most improved push ups of all things! LOL On a sour note, everyone improved in their sit ups except one person... me. Ouch. But I'm not going to let one negative detail overshadow my achievements. Boot Camp = Greatest class ever.

Boot Camp - Week #3

DAY #1

I'm actually very excited to start this week because we have our final PT test! I'm a little nervous about my goals but I'm curious to see what kind of improvements I've made.

Today's workout included, scissors, crunches, push-ups, planks and side planks. I am very happy to report that I actually did my side planks! Woohoo! For some reason my right side is much stronger but overall it was a great improvement over last week's efforts. I even managed to do some of the side crunches Ma'am incorporates into side planks.

Run: 1.83 miles
Time: 15:32
1 - 8:40
2 - 8:14
The run was great and I felt stronger with each step. At the end, I had a surprise push with a nice sprint finish thanks to Ma'am.

DAY #2
Yesterday's enthusiasm didn't last very long and I was a little tired at class this morning. So of course, we focused on my least favorite exercise - push ups.

Lots of running in place (double time and heel kicks), push ups, wide push ups, triceps push ups, eagle push ups, lather, rinse, repeat 3 more times. Then we moved onto 4 sets of sit ups with a 15 second break (at best) in between. It was super.

We headed outside for acceleration/deceleration drills. I managed 3 laps but it was difficult to really get up to a good speed. The narrow sidewalk was crowded for most of the first lap, it was dark, foggy and the sidewalk is very uneven from tree roots. If I wouldn't have been so leary of the conditions I think I could have pushed harder.

DAY #3
PT Test Goals:
Push ups - 15
Sit ups - 40
1 mile run - 7:50

PT Test Results:
Push ups - 26 (!)
Sit ups - 29
1 mile run - 7:46

Well, today was the day of reckoning. The resuls are in but I have mixed emotions. On one hand, I am extremely happy with my push ups but on the other hand, I am baffled by my sit ups. I'm not sure what the hell happened there. My abs just quit on me. I did wake up with some tummy issues this morning and have been nauseated ever since. I can't imagine that had much to do with my sit ups but I know it definitely affected my run. I met my goal time for the run (YAY!) but I'm disappointed in the way I ran. I started off good and didn't get sucked into that inital pull of the faster runners but I just couldn't manage a steady pace after that. I was all over the place until the turnaround and then I just pushed as hard as I could. Needless to say, it was a pretty miserable second half. I did it, though. I made it through 3 weeks of boot camp, 3 weeks of perfect attendance, 3 weeks of pushing myself to my limits and I can honestly say that I am better, faster, stronger because of it. I'm really hoping my family schedule will allow me to participate in the January session. After that, it's Ironman training!

Super Saturday!

Great but tough Saturday run. Jen graced us with her fabulous presence and we ran 4 miles together. After saying good-bye and taking a quick potty break, the rest of us headed back out for another six. I really liked that we broke up the miles because the thought of 10 straight miles seemed daunting for my weary body. My legs were still very sore from Thursday's Boot Camp and the run certainly wasn't as easy as last weekend. Surprisingly, though, I held a much better pace than expected. I fueled at mile 5.5 and walked briefly just before mile 8 due to some queasiness. I woke up feeling unusually hungry and despite a granola bar before the run and the fuel during the run, I was so drained I was feeling sick. Fortunately, that moment passed and I ran in the remaining 2 miles.

4 miles

5 - 9:42

6 - 9:36

7 - 9:33

8 - 9:19

9 - 9:40 (still shaking off the nausea)

10- 9:28

Overall, I'm very happy with this run and surprised by my pace after such a tough training week. After my last two runs, I'm definitely re-evaluating my goal for the Gasparilla 15K. We'll see :)

I came home and made Christmas cookies with the family. 85 sugar cookies and 9 cups of royal icing from scratch was pretty exhausting but totally worth all the smiles.

Boot Camp - Week #2

DAY #1 - DONE

We warmed up with side straddle hops and jogging in place then moved onto to a core workout. Ugh - talk about a necessary evil.

3 x Timed sit ups (25, 20, 6)
2 x ab killers (25, 20)
2 x 1 min planks
2 x 1 min(?) side planks

My side planks were pitiful and I don't think it's fair to expect one side of my body to support the entire weight of my ass - that's why I have two legs.

Run: 2.20 miles
Time: 20:46
1 - 9:44
2 - 9:27

Short and sweet evening run with Christy. We held a good pace (for me anyway) and had a great time chatting and enjoying all of the wonderful Christmas decorations.

Run: 4 miles
Time: 37:49
1 - 9:33
2 - 9:30
3 - 9:28
4 - 9:12

DAY #2 - DONE

Today we were treated to more planks as well as my favorite... push ups! This class is putting a huge spotlight on all of my inadequacies but I'm hopeful that after a lot of hard work and determination, I can one day be as strong as an 8 year old boy.

Due to our less than enthusiastic greeting of Ma'am this morning we were required to lie on our backs holding our feet 6 inches off the ground while she lectured us. Just to drive her point home she made us do scissors as well.

Side straddle hops
2 x sit ups
Side straddle hops
2 x push ups
Side straddle hops
2 x Triceps dips
Side straddle hops
2 x front planks
2 x side planks

Run: 2.3 miles
1 - 9:43
2 - 9:14
.3 - 9:13
Time: 21:39

Our goal for the run was to have negative splits which I try to do anyway. My legs felt heavy after last night's run and it seemed like forever before they warmed up. The second mile was much better and by the last half mile I was feeling strong.

DAY #3 - DONE

By far, my least favorite day. It was so brutal, at one point I found myself whimpering.

Mountain Climbers/Push ups - too many to count. I think we did 5 sets, short break, 4 sets, break, 3 sets (???)

Scissors/crunches - same as above
Planks (yes, again!) - I *think* they were 2 min/1 min/45 sec/30 sec.


Run: ~2.4
Not sure what happened to my Garmin this morning but I would bet it was operator error. It finally started to register my data after the turn around.
1 - ? My guess it 8:30s
2 - 8:43
Time ~ 20 minutes

It was a 10 min out 10 min back. I pushed really, really hard and almost made it to my goal point (The Lansbrook entrance). I was less than a minute away! Hopefully we get to run again tomorrow and I can finally get there.

DAY #4 - DONE

Planks (!) while Ma'am informed us of upcoming events then we headed outside for our Thursday Challenge: the infamous Parking Lot Day.

Core work, push ups, walking squats followed by heel kicks, plyometric (jumping) squats followed by high knees, more core work and push ups, 4 count walking lunges followed by sprints, 2 count walking lunges with leg extension followed by more sprints and finally another round of core work and push ups. I'm not sure if that is everything or if it's listed in the correct order but that's all I can recollect.

This was a challenging week but very rewarding at the same time. I moan and groan about these workouts but I can already see minor improvements. I'm looking forward to a rest day tomorrow as I have never been this physically and mentally spent before. In the words of Recruit She-ra, I am completely exhausted ma'amed!

Stormy Saturday

It was reported that inclement weather would be rolling in just about the time I would be starting my usual Starkey run. I didn't want to take the chance on missing my much needed run so I opted for a mill run at the Y. I got there just before 7:00 am and stood in the first of many lines I will wait in today as we are heading to Disney later. It was nice to be early and get a great mill right under the Sports Center TV. That is, until I realized they only had 5 minutes of original material that would show over and over and over again. Call me crazy but I thought the Florida/Bama game would get some air time - I was hoping for a little Tebow to help pass the time :)

But I digress, it was a nice run at a comfortable pace.

Run: 8 miles

1 @ 10:20 warm up

6 @ 9:31

1 @ 10:20 cool down

Supermans - 3 @ 30 seconds

Planks - 3 @ 30 seconds (push up position not on elbows)