If at First You Don't Succeed...

Days 4 and 5 - Monday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 22

I basically did the same bits both days - 15 min run and 2mile bike. I also did abs both days, and did a round of lunges [70 total] today. I think my stamina’s really improving because I felt a lot better today [the 22nd] than I did yesterday [the 21st].

As much as I love my gym at school, there’s nothing like working out at my home gym. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been able to work out with my best friend, whom I hadn’t seen for over 10 weeks, but.. I dunno.

I miss the water though… I can’t wait to get back to swimming.

Day 3 - Saturday, March 19th

This is pretty terrible, but today was my first “official” day of training [if you can still call it that] since my last post. I’ve done abs&light jogging&swimming here and there, but nothing substantial. Oh, the life of a college kid on the quarter system… between all the papers and finals and concerts and allnighters during the last two weeks, let’s just say I haven’t been able to officially make it over to a gym.

So today, because I had a little over 30 minutes before my seeing my best friend [whom I haven’t seen since the beginning of January] and renewing my lifeguard certification, I decided to run, do abs, and bike.

Why is running so hard for me? I belong in the water -_- But I ran 2 miles [intervals - 4 minutes run/fast jog, 1.5 min walk, repeat] in 20 minutes, and it was… definitely harder than it should have been.

Then, I stretched and did very light abs before realizing that I was running out of time, so I hopped on a stationary bike, put it on level 10 [with hills], because I know the bikes at my home gym aren’t as good as the ones at my school gym, and did 2 miles in about.. 8 minutes.

But good news is that my dad finally went to get the bike I plan on using fixed, so that means by the time I get back to school, I’ll have a bike to use! Yay! :)

Day 2 - Thursday, March 3rd

Good news&bad news -

Bad news:
Today was the first day I’ve worked out since last Thursday. Terrible, I know.

Good news:
Most of the reason [well besides my crazy schedule - with midterms&concerts&papers&all that other college stuff] was because I hadn’t gotten decent running shoes yet… and.. my running shoes came in the mail!! :] I like, I like :]

But… I’m in the process of breaking them in, so no running for me until next week :(

So today, I just biked&did abs/arms&swam.

I still don’t have a bike at school [yeah I’m so under-prepared… this triathlon thing was sprung on me rather quickly..], but.. I make do with what I have. Which are:

- a very very nice gym
- a strong background in swimming
- someone to go to the gym with me 
- good friends who guilt me until I get my butt back into training [yes, that’s you, roomie] 

Biking:

15 min, about 3.5 mile ride on a stationary bike. I know stationary bikes are SO not the real thing, but when I have no bike, what can I do? I put it on “interval training” and upped the level to 5, and pumped away to “Rent.” Can’t wait til I get my bike here….. but until then, this will have to do. It’s been too long since those summer bike days, but I know I’m capable of a lot better.

Abs:

Pretty self explanatory - very light ab-day compared to what I used to do..

3 x [20 crunches, 5 leg lifts]
3 x [10 butterfly crunches, 5 full-body-situps… I call them “suitcases”]
2 x side planks on each side for 30 sec
2 x normal plank :30
3 x [15 sec pushup hold, 10 sec 1/2 pushup hold]
3 x [10 butterfly crunches, 5 suitcases] again 

With.. lots of break in between.

Swim [start time - 11:00]:

Warm-up:

200 free swim
200 free kick
100 choice
Warm-up Total: 500 yards

Set:

16 x 50’s AmyVariables + 100 in between
Explanation: Variables are one of my favorite sets to do. Ever. Here’s my version -

2 x 50 1st lap easy- 2nd lap fast
2 x 50 1st lap fast- 2nd lap easy
2 x 50 all pace
2 x 50 fast
100 easy [so my out of shape self can catch a breath/get the heart rate down]
Repeat.
Set Total: 1000 yards

For the first 8, odd 50’s were freestyle, even 50’s were freestyle kick.
For the second 8, odd 50’s were freestyle, even 50’s were backstroke 

100 choice warm down

Total yardage: 1600 yards [66 laps]
End time: 11:27

Not bad, with lots of pausing to talk to some friends who happened to be in the pool at the same time. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt so good in the water. No, it’s not as fluid as it was back in the day, but its.. definitely a start.

Sigh. I have to get back in shape. This isn’t a bad start, but this whole “gym-once-a-week” just isn’t going to cut it. I’ll be upping it starting next week, but probably nothing drastic until finals are over&next quarter starts. Good thing I have a little more than 5 weeks before “the shortest triathlon ever,” and a good 14 weeks until the real sprint triathlon.

Now, time to drink more gatorade and get lunch! Lasagna today yay :)

Day 1 - Thursday, February 24th

Note to self: Never let myself get out of shape again. Ever. Because getting back in shape sucks so so much.

Woke up at 9:30, ate a Fage yogurt [the kind with honey!] and granola, got a call from Anthony telling me to get ready, and walked over to Bellomy fields.

Run [start time - 10:00]:
warm up jog around Bellomy fields - almost 1/2 a mile - first 1/4 mile felt so good, started dying afterwards.
Campus loop:
HIIT [2min run, 1min jog]

Almooost made it all the way around campus. I probably ran about 2 miles total today, and well. It sucked. How did I do this in high school?! But total time for warming up/stretching/running/jogging was about 30 minutes, which isn’t too bad. Not a bad baseline. Thank god for Anthony - he made me keep running, even when I thought I was going to die. I felt bad for holding him back, but I guess thats what happens when you stick a HS track&field athlete with a HS swimmer. Bahaha.

Oh, and I really need my new shoes. Bad ankles + old shoes = ow :( 

Swim [start time - 10:45]:

Warmup:
200 free swim
200 free kick
Total: 400 

4 x 25 fly kick
2 x 50 fl/fr
4 x 25 bk kick
2 x 50 bk
4 x 25 br/fr kick
2 x 50 br/fr
4 x 25 fr kick
2 x 50 fr sprint
Total: 800 yards

Total yardage: 1200 yards [48 laps]

End time: 11:10

I know, I know. For a swimmer, that’s pretty pathetic. I had intervals&everything set out, and originally I was going to do 1600 yards, but Anthony hasn’t swum in years [and he’s definitely not a swimmer], so I was tailoring my set so I could help him out. I’m proud that he pushed himself :] Good partnership going on. Yeah, it’s been way too long since I’ve been in the water, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I know I’m not going to be swimming butterfly or breaststroke in a triathlon, but I figured I should get familiar with the water again.

And… now time for a Luna bar. And lots of water. Ow.

02/22/11

Just registered for the “Shortest Triathlon Ever!” Super nervous&stoked for this. Can’t wait to start training, which is really weird. This is the first time I’ve been excited to work out. EVER.

Training starts in two days. Just have to figure out when/how I’m going to get a bike up to SCU… Hopefully I can borrow my brother’s&I can get it up by next week! :) Yay!

Wrote my swim workout. 1600 yards. Not bad. Bring it. :]

[Edit]

Just bought my running shoes!
http://www.amazon.com/ASICS-GT-2150-Running-Lightning-Paradise/dp/B002EQAM1U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298458896&sr=8-1

Not the prettiest, but they’ll do :)

This is going to make me broke… 

Motivation - 02/21/11

I’m a very motivation-driven person. I don’t know if that makes sense, but basically, I work best when I have SOMETHING to motivate me in order to get things done. So.. it’s pretty terrible, but I’ve been neglecting the gym lately, and I’ve been trying to figure out ways to start getting back in shape. I’m not one of those people who can just go to the gym every day just because. At least not when I’m starting to work out again. Last year, it was working out with Jen&Allison that got me back into the gym. Working out with them was fun; I was never bored, even though if I was doing the same work out by myself, I’d probably be crying from the monotony.

So yesterday, while teaching Carol, a coworker’s mom, who is super active and competes in 5Ks, 10Ks, 1/2 marathons, triathlons, etc all the time, mentioned that there was an all-woman’s sprint triathlon coming up in June, I started to ask questions and do some research. Talking to my other very active friends, I found out that there’s a super super super sprint triathlon (named “Shortest Triathlon Ever” actually LOL) at the beginning of June, too. She said she’d do that with me, and I found a really good friend who would run/swim/bike with me twice a week, to get me to start doing cardio again.

S, who is basically the best boyfriend in the world, was listening to me talking about how excited I was that I’m starting to get into all this, and said that he’d like to do triathlons but he can’t swim, so I started looking up duathlons, which are basically just “run-bike-run,” instead of “swim-bike-run,” and I found one in Santa Cruz in the middle of August. He said he’d be down for it, and depending on whether I go to Vietnam during summer or not, I think I’ll do it too. He’s willing to bike with me, even though I basically suck at biking LOL.

But anyway, the distances for sprint triathlons are generally around 1/4 - 1/2 a mile of swimming, 12ish miles for biking, and 2.5-3.5 miles for running. Swimming shouldn’t be a problem for me, but considering that I suck at long distance swims, and am pretty out of shape, I know I’m definitely going to have to get back in the groove. Biking… is going to be the hardest to get good at, I think. The most I’ve ever biked at one time was about 6 1/2 miles, although I’ve done a 9 mile ride [with a break in between]. But I think I’ll be fine. Running should be alright… I just need to build myself up. Luckily, campus loops at my school are about 2.1 miles, which is very close to the distances I’ll be running for the races, so I’ll be able to tailor my workouts pretty easily.

Buuuut for the first race, its really all about getting myself working out consistently, I guess. It’s only a 100yd swim, 2.5mi bike, 2.1 mi run, so I just need to get back in shape. And I have until April 9th to do it. Bring it on. >]

By the way, if anybody is interested, these are the tris I’m looking at right now. I’d love it of other people want to come compete/train with me!! :)

April 9th - Shortest Triathlon Ever - Emeryville, CA
100yd swim, 2.5 mi bike, 2.1mi run
18&under is $35, Adult is $45, add $10 for “race day fees”
http://www.active.com/triathlon/emeryville-ca/shortest-triathlon-ever-2011

June 11 - Mermaid Triathlon [females only] - Alameda, CA
.25mi swim, 12mi bike, 2.5mi run
19&under is $40
ALSO AVAILABLE AS A DUATHLON!
1.5mi run, 12mi bike, 2.5mi run
$18-under is $30 
http://www.mermaidtriathlon.com/09/ALAMEDA/home.html 

Aug13-14 - Tri Santa Cruz Race Series [I would only go on the 13th. The people who go on the 14th are too scary LOL.] Debating about this one.
750m swim [a little more than 1/2 mi], 12.4mi bike, 5K run
ALSO AVAILABLE AS A DUATHLON
1.45mi run, 12.4mi bike, 5K run
19&under is $45 [until Jun1, after which, its $55]
If your’e over 19, its $80 until Jun1, after which its $90
http://www.finishlineproduction.com/events/TriSanta%20Cruz/TriSantaCruz.html

 Sept11 - Luna Bar Women’s Triathlon - Sacramento, CA - comes in Sprint, SuperSprint, Duathlon, and… they have Tri Relay Teams and Du Relay Teams [which actually sounds super interesting… I’d be so down to be in a relay]
Sprint Tri Distances: 1/2 mi swim, 20mi bike, 4mi run [$75, but for a relay, it’d only be $120 total, which would mean 40/person!]
SuperSprintTri: 200yd swim, 4mi bike, 1mi run [$55]
Duathlon: 2mi run, 20mi bike, 4mi run [$65 individual, $100 relay]
SuperSprintDuathlon: 1mi run, 4mi bike, 1mi run [$55]
http://www.tbfracing.com/events/lunabar.html

But yeah! Let me know if you’re interested in any of them, especially the whole “relay” idea… I’m so excited! I love finding motivation. :)