Weekend Getaway

Tomorrow morning my family is flying down to Greensboro, North Carolina for my cousins wedding. I will be gone until Sunday night. We are going to the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night, the wedding Saturday night, and a brunch on Sunday morning. I am really looking forward to getting all dressed up and seeing my family that I don't get to see often. However, this weekend is my two year anniversary with Callen and I wish we weren't going to be apart. He was away at a bike ride last year too.

Today I was supposed to go for a 15 mile bike ride. I was planning on going out around 6:30 tonight when it wouldn't be sot hot out. But then a tornado came rolling in and ruined my plan. I am absolutely terrified of tornadoes so even a watch was enough to keep me inside. I really can't miss any bike workouts since that is my weakest leg of triathlons. I thought about switching my long run tomorrow morning into a bike ride but I really need to run tomorrow. I should be back early enough on Sunday to get a bike ride in though.

First Brick Workout

After my math class today I hit the pool for a swim. I was only planning on doing 30-40 min but swam for an hour instead since one of my former teammates was lifeguarding. I felt lame only doing an hour compared to the 2 & a half I used to do every night. But then I remembered that I am not that kind of swimmer anymore and that I am okay with that. I knocked out 2,500 yards of mostly freestyle with some kicking mixed in. I felt great after my workout and was so glad that I swam for the full hour.

A few hours after I got home I did a mini-brick workout: 15 minutes on the bike, 10 minutes running. I wanted to bike for 30 min but the heat was killing me in addition to the monstrous hills near my house. I did much better on the hills than before and averaged 15 mph for the 15 min. Then I headed out for my run. I felt strange at first after biking but then I recovered and was on my way. I was so glad that I did this brick workout even though it was short. I am figuring out what I still need to work on before my triathlon.

Because it was so hot outside I jumped in the pool with my puppy after my workout. We just hung out in the pool for awhile and I did a little aqua jogging to loosen up my legs. It felt great to be able to cool off after such a hot workout.

Tomorrow I am going to the store to buy some gels or something of that sort. I have never used gels or chews before so I am asking what I should try and which flavors. I tried the jelly beans once and really liked them

First Day of School!

Today was my first day actually attending class since my fall semester at Pitt last year. I took online classes last semester because of my surgery so I was pretty excited to be able to get out of the house again. I am taking College Algebra at the local community college in order to transfer to Maryland. I really like my professor and I think it will be a great class. I do wish it wasn't every Mon-Thurs 10:00-11:40 until June 30 though. I am not a big fan of math so I wish this class wasn't so frequent. Oh well, I guess.

I went for a run today in my new vibrams! Callen got me a pair for our two year anniversary and I got him a pair.  I made sure not to run in them too long for fear of stressing out my feet and calves. I ran about a mile before my hip started bothering me. I didn't want to aggravate it more so I decided to just walk the rest of the way home. Other than my hip though, I LOVE them! They are so comfortable and make me feel as though I am flying in them. I can't wait until I can run longer in them.

Up next for the night is Insanity followed by yoga, dinner, and homework

Beach Bound!

Tonight Callen and I are heading off to Ocean City New Jersey for the weekend to celebrate our 2 year anniversary. Our actual anniversary is next weekend but I will be in North Carolina for a wedding and he will be doing a 175 mile bike ride. I am looking forward to getting away from this dreary rain and spending time on the beach, eating ice cream, and riding my bike everywhere. Unfortunately, the water will be way too cold to go swimming (58 degrees). However, I fully plan on relaxing at the beach all weekend long.

My workout for today includes a 40 min run, insanity, and yoga/pilates. I have not been very good about sticking to me training plan this week due to the horrendous rain we have been getting (I really hate working out in the rain). Since we are bringing our bikes this weekend I plan on riding around as much as possible to get some more miles in.

I start my summer math class this Monday and I am really not looking forward to it. College Algebra Mon-Thurs 10:00-11:40. Until June 30. Awesome? NOT! I hate math and am really not looking forward to taking this class.  Luckily the English comp class I am taking right now is short (it goes until June 10 and just started this week) because my prof is a total douche. They are the worst. I am looking forward to my fall classes though.

Triathlon Goals & How to Achieve Them

Right now I made a list of goals for my triathlon, but instead of making them for the tri as a whole they are for the separate legs. By splitting it up like this I will be able to focus more on each leg and have a better game plan for tackling those legs.

For the swim:
A. Sub 6:40 (1:20) <- This is my reach goal
B. Sub 7:00 (1:24)
C. Sub 7:30 (1:30)
D. Sub 8:00 (1:36)

Out of these goals, I think I can achieve all of them but my A goal. This goal will be a challenge for me, but I like the challenge. In order to swim sub 7:00, or possibly 6:40, I am going to try to swim for an hour twice a week. I will be focusing on freestyle pulling. I will probably just do 100's in the beginning but them work my way up to doing 200's and 300's. I did a 100 free pull yesterday at 1:19 so my goal is to be able to hold a 1:20 pace during the 500. By the end of that 100 though my arms were pretty weak and felt kinda like noodles so this is where my strength training will come in handy. I was also struggling more with my breathing than ever before so I want to make sure I stick with a three-breathing pattern. Additionally, I will be counting my strokes and doing freestyle drills to make sure that my stroke is as efficient as possible.

For the bike:
A. Sub 1:00 (15 mph)
B. Sub 1:10 (12.86 mph)
C. Sub 1:20 (11.25 mph)
D. Sub 1:30 (10 mph)

I really don't think I will be able to do the bike in under an hour but I am putting that as my reach goal. I have done easy bike rides at 12 mph so you would think I could do the ride in that time. The problem is all the hills.  In order to master the hills on the bike course I plan on doing hill repeats at least once a week. I am not worried about the distance as much as doing 15 miles of hills. If this course was flat I could do it easily. But it isn't and I need to be able to power up these hills. Not only am I not prepared to go up hills I am also pretty nervous about doing the downhills. My neighborhood is pretty hilly so I will be doing a lot of my hill rides there. I also want to bike the actual course a few times to make sure that I can actually do it.

For the run:
A. Sub 30:00 (9:40)
B. Sub 32:30 (10:29)
C. Sub 35:00 (11:17)
D. Sub 40:00 (12:54)

I ran my 5K in just under 30 minutes so my reach goal is sub 30. I really don't know how my run will be after such a hard bike course so that is where my brick workouts will come in handy. I plan on biking for about 30 minutes and then running for 10-15. I want to work up to being able to doing longer brick workouts but for starting I will stick with just 30-15. Since I am not sure how this run will go my goal is to build up speed during my weekly runs. If I can run faster than I shouldn't do too badly after the biking.

Fall Class Schedule

Since I am still in the process of transferring to the University of Maryland, I will most likely be stuck at home for the fall semester. I am trying to find classes to take in the fall so that I will not fall behind while not at Maryland. I have signed up for Anatomy & Physiology I w/ Lab but besides that I am still looking. Here are some of the classes that I am looking at taking:

History of the Cinema (Online)
Intro to Literature (Online)
Neurological Bases of Human Behavior (Online)
Action Methods for Stress Management (Online)
France & the French Speaking World (TuTh 10:40-11:55)

I really want to take the French class, Human Behavior, & Action Methods but I am not sure if I will be able to since they are at a different school than where I am taking classes right now. I am very excited to be getting closer to going to Maryland and starting my kinesiology degree

Triathlon Training Plan

With my triathlon coming up in a little more than a month I wanted to establish my training plan and go over why I designed it the way I did. First, I found an online training plan from Tri Newbies as my base. Then I decided what I wanted to incorporate into my training any how often. I decided on 8 things:

1. Running- 2
2. Biking- 2
3. Swimming- 3
4. Brick workouts- 1
5. Yoga/Pilates- 2
6. Insanity- 3
7. Strength- 2
8. Rest days- 2

I only wanted to run twice a week because the brick workout really makes it three times and I don't want to do more than three runs a week right now. I am going to do one easy 30 min run a week and then a long run later in the week. I did the same for biking except for one day will be hills and the other a long ride. I know I need to work on my hills so that will be the more important of the two. I went with three swims a week because I really haven't been swimming much since my surgery in January. The swim should be my strongest part but if I don't start spending more time in the pool it surely won't be. I went with one brick workout because it will enable me to work on going from biking right into running but still will give me enough time the rest of the week to work on the other things that I need to conquer. I wanted to make yoga and pilates a part of my training plan to make sure that I actually do them. I need to work on my stretching, flexibility, balance, and core which both yoga and pilates will help me do. Insanity is going to be a huge help with training for this triathlon. I can tell the difference in my running after doing just one week of Insanity. It will be important for each leg of the race. I also wanted to include some specific strength workouts because I have a tendency of ignoring strength training when I am running. I know how important strength training will be, especially to the swim, so I wanted to make sure I was getting it done. And since I am usually too busy on the weekends to get much training done I decided to make both Saturday and Sunday rest days. If for some reason I get time to include a workout on the weekend it will only be additional yoga or pilates so that I don't overdo it.

I then took each aspect and figured out which days I would be doing what.

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Insanity, running, swimming
Tuesday: biking, strength, swimming
Wednesday: Brick, Insanity, yoga/pilates
Thursday: biking, strength, swimming
Friday: Insanity, running, yoga/pilates
Saturday: Rest

Overall I am happy with this training plan and I think that it will help me to successfully complete my first triathlon.

First Swim

Today I went swimming. For the second time in six months. I was so happy to be back in the pool doing what I love. I didn't do too much since I only had about 30 min before I had to go to the doctor but I made the most of those 30 min. I did a lot of pulling with the buoy, with some easy kicking and butterfly drills mixed in. I was surprised with how well my butterfly felt. As of right now, based on my 100's free pulling, I think I should be able to do the triathlon swim leg in under 7:00 minutes. This time would put me first by around 30 seconds. I know that I am a strong swimmer but I don't want to put down a time that is too fast. My fastest 100 free pulling was 1:19. If I hold a 1:20 pace I would finish the 500 in 6:40. Even if I overestimated on my pace I should still be able to do it in under 7:00.

I still want to do some yoga today, and I am not sure if I am going out for a run today or not. I want to start training for my triathlon but I also want to let me legs rest and recover from my 5K on Saturday.This week is going to be very difficult for me to get all my workouts in because it is supposed to rain everyday and I hate working out in the rain. My goal for the week is to embrace the rain and think of it as a free cooling off system.

Triathlon

Now that my first 5K is over and done I am officially in training for my first sprint triathlon! I will be racing the York YWCA Y-Tri Ladies Sprint Triathlon on June 26. I chose this race because it is a local, smaller race and therefore I will have less to worry about. The location of the race is literally a few miles from my house, which makes training on the same routes particularly easy. I am excited to be training for a triathlon since I have such a strong background in swimming plus a new love for running. However, there are some things that I need to figure out before I complete this first triathlon of mine:

1. What I will be racing in
Not the exact outfit, but rather will I swim in a bathing suit and then run and bike in it too? If I do, will it be a two-piece suit or a one-piece? I know I am comfortable running in a bathing suit but I don't know about biking in one, especially one that is wet. I need to figure out what shoes I will be using also. Do I want to switch shoes between the biking and running or just stick to the same pair?

2. How to ride a hilly bike course
I would say that the biking part is my weakest out of the three solely because I have the least experience biking. I have gone on a few rides with my dad on the Rail Trail but nothing longer than 12 miles at around 12 mph. And the Rail Trail is incredibly flat. And not paved. So I have no experience biking on a road with other cars or other bikers. I also have no experience doing hills on a bike. I drove the bike portion of the triathlon the other day and it is very hilly. I am very nervous about being able to complete it. I plan on doing a lot of hill work before the triathlon so that I can feel somewhat prepared.

3. Race day fueling
I dealt with a pretty bad side stitch during my 5K and I want to do everything to prevent that during my triathlon. I need to figure out what will be the best for me to eat the morning of the race so that I am properly fueled and don't have any stomach issues during. I also need to figure out what I want to bring with me during the race. I have tried sport jelly beans before after a run and thought they were pretty tasty so I will probably be bringing them with me but I don't have a clue how many I should bring or how I often I should eat them.

4. What to do with my hair
This may sound kind of silly but between wearing a swim cap and a helmet I am trying to figure out what to do with my hair. For the 5K I wore my hair in a ponytail but did not pin back my long bangs since I never had before but they were going everywhere by the end and they were driving me nuts. I thought about using bobby pins to hold my bangs but I doubt they will stay in during the swim part. My hope is to have my bangs long enough by then that they will stay in my ponytail. If not, then I really need to figure out what to do with them.

5. What my swim time is
For registration for the triathlon I am supposed to give my 500 swim time. Well, my best is around 5 minutes but that was when I was swimming competitively. There is no way that I will go under six minutes since I have only been in the pool once in the past six months. I really need to start swimming more and decide what time to put down. Also, I don't plan on kicking at all during the swim part since I never really used to before. This will conserve my legs and not really mess my swim up much anyway. I plan on going to the pool and doing some 500's with a pull buoy to see how fast I can go and then use that time.

6. Keeping my legs fresh after the biking
I know I can run 3.1 miles fine, but I am not sure how I will do after biking 15 miles on a very hilly course. I have brick workouts scheduled for every Wednesday and I plan on doing some reverse brick workouts too to switch things up some. After the 5K this weekend I am just really worried that my legs won't be able to handle running that after biking. This and biking the hills are probably my biggest challenges for the triathlon but because of that I will be working on them the most.

Dillsburg Pickle Chase 5K Race Recap

I started race morning off my waking up at 6:30 to make sure I had enough time to eat breakfast, organize my stuff, and get to the race on time. For breakfast I made toast with peanut butter and bananas with a Greek yogurt. After changing into my running outfit and packing up some extras, my dad and I were on our way. We left the house at 7:30 and got to the race at around 8:00. With plenty of extra time I picked up my race number and tshirt, and made my way to find a bathroom. I knew I would be nervous so I wanted to make sure I was able to go to the bathroom well before that start of the race. After, we found a table inside the barn and I put on my race number and started stretching. I was feeling relaxed, calm, and confident. When I started to panic I kept telling myself that I deserved to be there and not to let anybody psych me out. About 25 minutes before the start of the race I went to the bathroom again and started walking around to loosen up my legs. Around 8:55 we all started making our way to the start line, and promptly at 9:00 we were off.

My plan for the race was to build each mile and not start off too fast. Once I started running I found a pace that was comfortable and stuck with it. I felt really good for the first mile and a half. I was killing the uphills and loving the downhills (it was a very flat course so the hills were very tiny). But then I got a side stitch. I was having trouble breathing and was doing everything in my power to not give up. My goal was to run the whole thing and not have to walk at all, and I achieved that goal. I was debating whether to walk for a little in hopes of getting rid of the side stitch so that I could pick up the speed afterwards, or to keep running but to slow down the pace. I ultimately decided that it was more important for me to keep running if possible, even if that meant going slower. I did not place much importance of time for this race so I continued to run but was still trying to get ride of this side stitch.

With about .3 miles left, I saw my dad. It meant so much to have him there cheering for me and reminding me why I did this race. When I saw him I could also see the finish line so I decided to sprint to the finish as best I could. There was no official timing but my Garmin said my time was 29:24. I was hoping I would break 30:00 but it would not have been that big of a deal if I didn't. I was happy seeing my time considering how much pain that side stitch was causing me. After the race I continued to have issues breathing because of the side stitch but eventually that all went away after some walking around. I picked up a banana and some water and hit the road to come home. Overall I would say it was a successful race and one that I am very proud of.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	00:29:24	3.05	09:37
1	00:09:29	1.00	09:30
2	00:09:46	1.00	09:46
3	00:09:40	1.00	09:41
4	00:00:26	0.05	08:11

Getting Ready

I did my last training run before my 5K yesterday afternoon and I felt great. I started off very slow and even walked some. I really didn't want to burn my legs out before the race so I only did 2.3 miles instead of the planned 3 miles. While I was running I felt great. I felt relaxed, smooth, strong, and pretty confident. That last run made me very excited about racing this weekend. At the end of my run/walk I decided to throw a few sprints in to test my speed before the race. Before yesterday the fastest pace I had ever run was 7:21 and it was during a sprint. I wasn't expecting to pull out a great sprint but I was just hoping that it wasn't going to be anything too slow. When I got home and synced by Garmin it said my fastest pace was 6:17! I was so excited with how fast it was. Seeing that number made me even more excited about racing this weekend.

I have not picked out my race day outfit yet solely because the weather keeps changing about every 5 minutes. Callen has to go to New Jersey to help fix up the beach house so he will not be running this weekend with me. This means I can race and not just go out for a fun run. The race starts at 9:00 and it is about a 45 minute drive there so I am thinking about getting up at 6:30 to make sure that I have enough time to get a good breakfast in me and make it to the race without getting lost. Since this is my first 5K I am not going to set any time goals for  myself. I do however, want to finish strong with a smile on my face and enjoy the race as much as possible.

So Many Races

Since summer is triathlon season I am trying to make my schedule of all the races I want to do. This is difficult because I don't want to do any races in which a wetsuit would be necessary because I really don't feel like shelling out that much money. So far I have a few races that I definitely want to do, but I am really struggling trying to pick more races. I am definitely doing the Dillsburg Pickle Chase 5K this weekend, the Keystone State Triathlon in late August, and the Baltimore Half Marathon October 15. Right now I am trying to decide the following:

1. Sprint or Olympic distance for Keystone
2. Ocean City Triathlon or Vice Versa Triathlon
3. Philadelphia Half Marathon as a part of marathon training

All of the triathlons I am doing this summer are sprints, except for the possibility of Keystone. I am not sure if I want to try the Olympic distance or just stick with the sprint.

The Ocean City triathlon is September 11 and only 2 weeks after Keystone. Plus I could stay at Callen's beach house and not have to worry about a hotel since the race is in New Jersey. Vice Versa is a reverse triathlon which seems awesome & it also in NJ but it is nowhere near Callen's beach house. And it is September 17. The problem is I don't know how cold the water would be and as I mentioned earlier I really don't want to use a wetsuit.

The Philly Half Marathon is November 20, so it is a full month after Baltimore. It is pretty expensive though and I am doing a lot of triathlons this summer so I don't know if it is worth doing it. If I end up being unable to do the Disney Marathon I probably will do Philly, but there is a possibility of doing the half at Disney instead of the full.

Any suggestions would be fantastic because I am so confused! I don't know what to do!!

Best News Ever!

Today my family got the news that my dad is free of prostate cancer! We could not be more excited and happy for him. We are going out to celebrate tomorrow night, which is also my sister's 21st birthday.

PS. Janae is having a super sweet giveaway! Go check it out!

Getting Ready for My First 5K

The Dillsburg Pickle Chase 5K is exactly one week from today! I am very excited but also very nervous to be competing again, even if it is a different sport. I have a very busy week ahead of me with schoolwork and I want to be as prepared as possible to run on Saturday. I decided to make a list of things I need to do for both school and running to ensure that this week goes as smoothly as possible.

1. Pick out running outfit
As of right now it is supposed to be 73 and rain on Saturday. I don't mind running in the rain as long as it is also warm, although I much prefer running when it is sunny out. I know that I don't need to put too much thought into my running outfit for such a small race but I don't want to be missing any pieces of clothing come Friday night.

2. Make a running playlist
Even though a 5K is a pretty short race I still plan on running with music. If Callen decides to run with me than I will have to talk to him about our race day plan. I don't know if he would want to stick together the whole time or actually race it. I have a current playlist that I have been running to for the past few weeks but I am getting pretty sick of some of the songs and really want to find some new music to get me pumped up. Feel free to make any suggestions!

3. Study for and take Nutrition, Psych, and Business finals
That's right; this is finals week for me and luckily I only have three. However, I really need to study a lot for my business final since I am not doing as well in that class as I would like to be. My plan for right now is to study today and tomorrow and then take my nutrition final tomorrow. I don't need to do much studying for my psych final so I will probably take that on Tuesday to get it out of the way. Then I can spend the rest of the week studying for my business final. Friday is the last day to take it so I am going to take it then.

4. Stretch everyday
My legs were a little tighter this week than before and I really want to make sure that I am feeling the best I can come Saturday. I thought about buying a foam roller but I don't want to try anything new this week so I am just going to stick to basic stretching. I want to stretch before and after every run to ensure that I am feeling loose and ready to run. I am also thinking about swimming some this week to open up my upper back since that has been pretty tight too.

5. Hydrate lots
I have never been good about hydrating. When I was swimming my coach used to have to force me to drink during practice. I am going to make sure to get a minimum of eight glasses of water a day this week. I know this may seem to low to many other runners but this is a very high amount of water for me and I don't want to drink so much water this week that my body is in shock about it.

First Bike Ride

Even though I got my new bike last weekend I have yet to take it out for a ride because I am not quite sure where to go yet. My neighborhood isn't very big and I don't want to do laps around it but I am quite nervous to bike next to cars on a main road. I want to find a road that isn't too heavily driven and that doesn't take me into the city. I also don't want to get lost. All of the roads I know around here are pretty busy roads so I am really scared to bike them. I also need to do some hill work because the bike portion of the sprint triathlon I am doing in June is apparently pretty hilly. Callen and I are going to bike part of the course tomorrow since he said it isn't a bad course. I am fine with going biking with Callen since he knows what he is doing and I do not. I also plan on going biking with my dad on the trail on Sunday. I love biking on the trail but it is gravel and not paved and I want to get some practice biking on the road. Plus the trail is extremely flat and I really need to do some hills. I will report back with how these two rides go this weekend. I hope everybody has a lovely weekend!

No Breathing

So today I ran somewhere between 2.65 miles and 3 miles. I am not sure how far I went because I forgot to start my garmin until a few minutes into my run. I was supposed to run 2.75 miles today which I know I did so that is all that really matters. I didn't stop to walk at all today (woohoo!) even though I had a pretty bad side stitch. I don't know if it was from not eating anything besides a yogurt this morning, not having enough to drink today, or wearing a sports bra that was way too tight. I struggled throughout the entire run trying to get enough oxygen. It was a pretty bad feeling but despite that I pushed through and didn't stop early and even ran faster than I normally do. I was really proud of myself for not quitting. I am the person who used to give up when things got too hard and say that I couldn't do it because I felt too much pressure. Well right now I am running for myself and nobody else. I don't care how fast or slow I am going as long as I am going somewhere. I am doing this for me, to make me stronger, healthier, and a better, happier person

Very Hot Run

Todays workout consisted of a 2.88 mile run. I honestly don't even remember my pace because it was so awful. It was around 80 degrees outside during my run and the sun was shining in full force. It was a beautiful day but pretty darn hot. This run marks that longest training run that I have done since I started running. (When I was swimming during my freshmen year of high school we used to run 5-6 miles every Saturday. It was equal to death.) I took a somewhat different path that I normally do, which proved to be very refreshing. I didn't get to run yesterday since I was out shoe shopping for the wedding coming up. When I got home it was storming so I decided to just go out today instead. No biggie. The only problem is that I am supposed to bike 10 miles tonight but by the time Callen comes up it will probably be storming again and I really wanted to go riding with him. We decided on going out tomorrow morning for a ride but who knows if that will actually happen.

Now I am not sure the reason why but my calves were verrry tight during my run today. I tried new sunscreen which could have been the reason (I am allergic to most), or it could just be that I am tight from last weeks workouts. I am not sure but I really hope my legs feel better tomorrow. I really don't like feeling slow, hot, and tight all at once when I am hardly running any miles right now. I am doing a bunch of different stretches with hopes of loosening up my legs some. I'll let you guys know how everything is tomorrow.

May Goals

1. Complete my first 5K
2. Bike 100 miles
3. Run 35 miles
4. Do yoga twice a week
5. Do Insanity
6. Wake up earlier
7. Swim more
8. Strength train
9. Stretch more
10. Take better care of my skin

I got the idea to make monthly goals from a bunch of other bloggers and I think it is the perfect way to hold myself accountable for the things I want to achieve. This month the majority of my goals are fitness related because that is something that I really need to focus on right now.