Another Week Down, Now its Time for Recovery Week!

I thought I get the chance to write in this blog more frequently, but yet again I am left exhausted after my long workouts, long work days, and lots of Room to Read follow ups. All good stuff, but I am truly exhausted at the end of each day. Its my goal to get better because I find myself thinking about all the good stuff I have for my blog.... a work in progress I guess...

So you can get an idea of what my weekly workouts include, here was my week 4 workout.  My triathlon coach, Kevin Lewallen, wants to make sure I win this thing apparently, even though I've asked him to train me only to finish!

Mon- Swim: 500 wu, 5 times (25 kick on one side, 25 kick on other side), 5 times (200 pull bouy, 2*100 fast on 10 sec rests), 200 cd. After swim, Weights + core.

Tues- spin class + 25 min t-run
Wed- Swim: 15 times 100 pull bouy. 10 times 50kick 50swim. 50-60 min jog.
Thurs- spin class. 45 min run with 5 30 sec pick ups. (not a t-run)
Fri- swim 30 min straight. weights + core.
Sat- Bike 3hr (include 5 times up Torrey pines) + 20 min T-run.
Sun- 70-80 min long run.
 
I've had perfect attendance up until now. I just had to skip Friday's swim and weights because I was just too exhausted and needed to sleep in (and on those rare mornings during the week, its adds 2.5 hours to my sleep time.. oh so nice!). But other than that, all of the workouts have been great! The keys to awesome spin classes (minus the class and spin instructor because they start too late in the morning for Jen and I) is to make friends with the trainers at the gym so that they help you figure out how to use the audio equipment in the spin room and then making a ROCKIN playlist or two on my Ipod. Oh yeah! Jen and I had our own private spin class this week (TWICE!). And it was so fun... even at 5am.
 
And our weekend ride and run was also fun. What helps is when you have other friends come along and you try a new route each time. This week, our 3 hour bike include 5 Torrey Pines hill repeats....This picture is of Chad and I before we started this ride from Encinitas to Torrey.. up and down, up and down, and then back to One Day Signs. Marco and Jen were on the ride too. I love our training crew!
 
My run on Sunday was an out and back from Dave and Jen's house through Elfin Forest's rolling hills. The run was beautiful and I felt strong but it took until 3pm to motivate to get off my ass and do it. It was really the first day and I didn't feel like training. It was a mental game for me to even put on my running gear and drive to Dave and Jen's. The run was actually GREAT once I started. But that's how it's gonna be sometimes. You just can't think about it, you've just got to do it!  I've been training using my heart rate monitor and I can really feel myself getting stronger. I can pick up my pace on the run now and stay at a lower heart rate than when I first started. So cool. And did I mention my butt is getting smaller.... that is so cool too.
 
I just got my training workouts for week 5, RECOVERY WEEK! My first recovery week couldn't have come at a better time. Thanks Kevin. You are good to me!
 
 
 

Rain Rain.... Run Instead

The rain finally went away.... but the streets were still pretty wet and the bed was just so warm this Saturday morning. Oh, and Kevin (my trainer), said it was okay to run today and then bike tomorrow!

I slept until 11am, which was so heavenly. I haven't slept in this long in so many months! I always say that if I sleep in this long, my body really needed it. And it was a great way to sleep off my negative attitude and head into the weekend run and ride.

I was really nervous about signing up for this race because of the huge time commitment I would be adding to my already busy hectic life and schedule. I am one who believes there needs to be more time in the day. So here I am adding 20-25 hours per week of training to add to my life for 6 months. Ironically, it's been EXACTLY what I needed! I have been forced to prioritize my other commitments and let some things drop off. I've stepped down from the role of social chair with our group of friends, cut back on my after work activities, and have really made a commitment to only the items I know I can handle, training being first (along with making sure Marco and I are spending enough time together). And although during the week I do get tired after training, then working all day, I sure feel refreshed on the weekends and actually quite relaxed. I feel less stressed out now and less busy than I did all of last year....yes, I know it's only the beginning of training week 4 and life will get busier and training rides and runs will get longer, but for now I am going to enjoy sleeping in until 11, hanging around the house until 4pm and then going for our 70 minute run at sunset on the coast. This is heaven! ---I think my positive attitude has returned ...just in time for our 3 hour bike ride tomorrow, and I can't wait!

I'd also like to take one second to thank Robin and Steven Anderson for making the first donation towards my $100,000 fundraising goal for Room to Read. Every donation makes all of this training totally worth it. Thank you guys so much.... you got me through my downer week and more pumped up for week 4!

Not the Best of Training Weeks

The training up until this week, week 3, has been surprisingly exciting and great! It could have been that the first 2 weeks of training were new and I was on a mission to not miss one workout (and to date, I have yet to miss a workout) Go me! Or maybe it was that I was completely surprising myself with how good I felt, how quickly I have been recovering and how successfully I was fitting these workouts into my schedule.
Whatever it was, it didn't seem to find me this week. And I am left exhausted, grumpy and frustrated.

I know the only way out of the week 3 "blues" is to change my attitude and look at this moment forward as an opportunity. Attitude is everything in this training game and that IS what I have control over. Instead of blaming that darn boxing workout, (yeah, the hardest workout of my life) for leaving me sore, tired and irritable, I am taking ownership of my bad attitude, kicking it to the curb and choosing to have a great day tomorrow. Good thing tomorrow does not include a workout.... that may help!

And I don't know about you but this rain is also not helping.... Wish me luck! And sun, hurry up and come out for my 3 hour bike ride on Saturday!

There's Just Not Enough Time in the Day!

First things first, while training for an Ironman, NEVER take a boxing class for the first time at The Boxing Club! As I write this blog at 10:30pm, my hands are still shaking from the 5:30pm workout. This workout was the HARDEST workout I've taken in a few years! Okay, back to my day.

It seems that each day has a bit of variation but going into week 3 of Ironman training, I can pretty much predict what my daily workout will be and what time I'll need to get up to fit it in my schedule; 4:30am. YUCK. So, today my workout was a spin class and a 20 minute transition run  (and this is an easy day!). My friend Jen meets me each morning and is my training lifesaver. She's not even doing the race and she's voluntarily waking up at 4:30am to meet me. I thought I was crazy.... at least at the end of all of this training, I can say I am an Ironman. She is just doing it.... but damn I love her!

Usually Jen and I try to fit in our training workouts each morning before work, however today was the day that I realized that you should NEVER take a boxing class at the Boxing Club while training. I organize a business networking group called Breakaway Networking that meets once per month to get in your afternoon workout and make and build business contacts. This month it was a boxing workout tonight. And there was NO WAY OUT.

So what I am realizing with this training is that there just isn't enough time in the day. I still need to fit in the family time. So at 8pm, Marco met me at PF Changs for a mini date night in my sweat drenched clothes.  After driving home, showering and repacking for tomorrow's workouts, its 10:42 and time to hit the hay and do it all over again tomorrow.

Tomorrow will NOT include Boxing. I can tell you that much!

The Motivation

I am very inspired to have a space to document this amazing journey I have begun to embark on and share it with everyone interested in following. My ultimate motivation is the kids who so need our help around the world. This picture to the left was taken in May of 2009 as I had the amazing opportunity to visit Cambodia with Room to Read. I met and read with the kids who are benefiting from Room to Read's libraries, schools, scholarships and books. Because of Room to Read's work, these students will one day teach their children how to read and send their sons and daughters to school. I got to see firsthand how education WILL break the cycle of poverty. I was face to face with the reality that all kids don't get this opportunity. And I knew I could do something about it. On June 27th, 2010 starting at 7am, I will swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. I am doing this to raise $100,000 for Room to Read. This money will be used to build 10 libraries (to give kids a learning space) , create 2 new local language children's book titles equal to 20,000 books (to give kids materials to learn to read with) , and fund 120 years of girls scholarships (so girls can have the same opportunities as their brothers). I am also doing this to challenge body and my mind beyond comprehension. Okay, and I'm also doing this to lose a few pounds! I am ready! Who's with me? If you'd like to help me reach my goal, I know these kids would love it (as would I!)You can click here to my personal fundraising page! http://roomtoread.kintera.org/rtd/ironmanforroomtoread