#YearOfRunning2013

2013 had a lot of ups and downs for me. While things in my personal life may have been less than stellar, I did have one heck of a year when it came to running [and triathlon]. I've been spending a lot of time recently reflecting on what went right for me this year and where I can improve. I thought it would be fun to participate in Miss Zippy's link up to do a quick recap of how things went this year.

Best race experience: The New York City Marathon. This was so much more than a race for me, and now after losing my dad it means even more. I have never been so miserable but still had so much fun in the same race. This was one of those races that makes you fall in love with your life. A close second was finishing second female at the Keystone State Sprint Triathlon. This is probably the race I am the most proud of. I really went for it and didn't hold back, and saw a glimpse of what I am capable of in the future.

Best run: My 18 mile long run. I ran some of it by myself but was accompanied by my dad on his bike for most of it. I ran at marathon goal pace and felt strong the entire way. Not only was it a run that I am incredibly proud of but it was the last long run I did with my dad. Even though he was biking, he was the perfect long run buddy. He knew how to motivate me when I was struggling in a way that no one else could. 

Best new piece of gear: It may not be running gear but hands down my road bike. I got it last November but didn't take it outside until this year. I was never a big fan of biking and frequently skipped rides until I got this bike. Biking is freeing and exhilarating in a way that running is not. I went from cursing every hill I had to climb to seeking out the hilliest rides I could find in my area. One of the things I'm most excited about for 2014 is spending more time riding.

Best piece of running advice you received: Whenever I would get nervous before races or before a hard workout my dad would always tell me something about relaxing, not thinking, and just doing what I trained to do. I tend to get in my own head and worry about silly things I can't control. Learning to turn my brain off and just race was hands down the best thing I learned this year.

Most inspirational runner: I'm going to have to go with the lovely Robyn Humphrey. Robyn is a super fast runner but more than that she has such a positive outlook on life that is contagious. Robyn is supportive of every runner no matter their speed and is the perfect run club leader.

If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be? Meaningful. I know I'm in a different frame of mind because of losing my dad but everything I did this past year means so much more to me now. Everything this year had a purpose, whether it was setting a new PR, pushing out of my comfort zone, or  running a race I had long dreamed of doing. Looking back, having my dad at every race cheering me on when I least expected it means the world to me. [Once he showed up in the middle of the woods during a trail race and completely scared the shit out of me]

Keystone Sprint Triathlon Race Report

Going into this race I had no idea what to expect. Based on last year's results I thought I could podium but then I went on vacation for two weeks and did absolutely no biking or swimming while away. I changed my goals and decided to just do this race for fun since it's one of my favorites.

I got home Saturday night around midnight, was in bed by 12:30 and before I knew it I was waking up Sunday morning, not at all motivated to race. I went through the motions and by the time we made it to the park I was starting to get excited. There was also an Olympic distance race, which made logistics a little more confusing but overall I thought this race was pretty well run.

Swim (1/2 mile)
The Olympic swimmers started first since they were doing two laps of the swim course. When the last Olympic racer started their second lap the sprinters were allowed to start. I wasn't such a big fan of this because it meant that the stronger swimmers were not far behind the slowest Olympic swimmers.

I started in the front of the pack and was anxious to see how I would feel after being out of the water for two weeks. Somehow I felt great and by the first buoy I was in the lead. I had no trouble sighting and was just cruising along, feeling the best I've felt in the water this year.

From the last turn buoy back to the shore was a little hard to navigate with the sun in your eyes but enough Olympic swimmers were there to keep you going in the right direction. After what seemed like the quickest swim ever I was suddenly done and running to transition. Couldn't be happier with how this went.

Swim: 11:10 / 1:22 pace / 1st female
T1: 1:06

Bike (18.2 miles)
I was a little nervous about the bike leg after not being on a bike in two weeks either. I don't have the best bike handling skills and was worried I was going to be jittery and shaky during the race. Luckily I frequently train on this course so I know it inside and out and had absolutely nothing to be worried about.

I think the race day nerves caught up with me on the bike because I found myself going much quicker than I anticipated within the first couple miles. I debated whether to pull back but ultimately decided to take a risk and push hard from the beginning. No holding back, at all.

I pretty much even-split the two laps on the bike course and zipped by people on the hills. All those super hilly long rides Mike had me do definitely payed off and I was thanking him in my head while climbing. This bike course, in my opinion, is awesome. It is two laps with two big hills on each lap with a mix of flat, gradual climbs and descents and big descents. There is a nice mix of elevation, which makes it much more fun.

By the end of the bike I was starting to get tired and was ready to run. I knew I was either in first or second coming off the bike but didn't know if I pushed too hard to be able to hold on during the run.

Bike: 1:04:04 / 17.04 mph / 5th female
T2: :57

Run (3.2 miles)
Time to find out whether taking a risk on the bike leg would pay off or cause me to blow up. I decided to run without my watch since this was mostly a trail run. I took off and just wan hard. I didn't think about paces or anything. Move forward and go hard. My legs felt heavy at the beginning but not terrible. They never felt great but they did feel better as the run went on.

Around halfway I missed a turn and got a little lost but quickly made my way back to the trail. I opted not to take any water during the run which ended up being a smart move because my stomach became sloshy with about a mile to go. At this point I was hurting and ready to be finished but didn't want to be passed so I kept trucking along, hoping my legs wouldn't fall off in the process.

Thankfully the run course isn't too hard. It is a trail run but it isn't very technical. I definitely would wear trail shoes though because it is really rocky and uneven. There is also one pretty steep hill that has a warning sign before it. Once you exit the trails you follow the lake path all the way to the finish line.

Run: 25:55 / 8:05 pace / 4th female

When I crossed the finish line I was spent. I pushed a lot harder than I was mentally prepared to do but it payed off. I dropped almost 22 minutes off my time from last year, with the majority being on the bike leg. I could not be happier with how this race went, especially considering everything that went on before it. Just goes to show that anything can happen on race day!

Finish Time: 1:43:14 / 2nd female

Now I am ready to fully dedicate my training to the NYC Marathon. I have some hard workouts coming up but I am ready to put in the work and am excited to see how much I can improve from last year.

And as always, a HUGE thank you to Mike for helping me get to where I am today. Last year I was clueless and not putting in nearly as much work as I needed to be doing. I have never been so confident in my training and am excited to see how much farther I can go.

What I Learned from Triathlon #2

Another race, another post on all the things I learned from it. It never ceases to amaze me how many things I figure out during a race versus training. I went into this race with the goal to make it a learning experience and that is exactly what it was.

1. Wear sunglasses even if it is raining
I knew that the weather for this race wasn't going to be nice. I woke up to overcast skies with a 50% of rain. I contemplated not bringing my biking glasses since it wasn't going to be sunny but then remembered I had interchangeable lenses for them. I can't even count how many people I saw on the bike struggling to see because of the rain in their eyes. Luckily for me my clear lenses kept the rain out without making it too dark outside.

2. Put running shoes upside down so they don't get filled with water and soggy if it is raining
Since it was raining for the majority of this race most of these points will be related to the weather and rain. During the bike leg of the race was when it was raining the heaviest. I noticed that my bike shoes were filling up with rain & getting heavy. I thought about how nice it would be to put on dry running shoes until I remembered those were getting even more wet than my bike shoes.

3. Know how to fix common problems that may occur on your bike
While climbing up a big hill on the bike, I shifted too low and ended up popping off my chain. I tried fixing it but couldn't figure it out and ended up walking my bike for almost ten minutes before my dad came to my rescue and fixed the chain for me. Had my dad not found me I probably wouldn't have finished the race. This is an easy thing to fix but there are many other things that a lot of people don't know how to do regarding their bikes.

4. Be prepared for aid stations to run out of water
The aid station on the run was hit twice by those doing the sprint tri and four times by those doing the Olympic. Even though the race was pretty small the station was out of water by the time I was hitting it for the second time. Luckily I really wasn't that thirsty and knew the finish line wasn't too far away but had I been doing the Olympic distance I would have been pretty dehydrated.

5. Biking & running with no sense of how fast you are going can be a glorious thing
I normally don't ride with a bike computer, although I do use the MapMyRide app on my phone and review the details afterwards. I hardly ever run without my Garmin though. At Sunday's race I decided not to run with my Garmin for some reason. At first I was annoyed that I didn't know how fast I was running or how far I had run, but I ended up running almost 90 seconds faster per mile than I thought I was. Had I seen that pace on my watch I probably would have slowed down so I didn't burn out. Good thing I didn't have my watch.

6. Running out socks will save you time in T2 but will you give you nasty blisters
Since the run was only 3 miles I decided not to run with socks. I definitely saved time in T2 but my feet were covered in blisters not long into the run. I do credit some of them to my shoes being wet from the rain. Most of the blisters weren't too bad but I got two, one on each pinky toe, that were so bad I could barely walk the next day.

7. Arrive to transition early if there aren't assigned spots for bikes
I knew this was a small race so I didn't think it would be a big deal to arrive later than normal. The only problem was that everybody spread out making less room to rack bikes. I walked around for a few minutes before asking someone to move over who was taking up enough space for three bikes.

8. Always bring more fluid then you plan on using
I know pretty well how much I drink while on the bike but due to a very long weekend I went into the race already dehydrated. I was incredibly thirsty the whole time and almost ran out of water after only the first lap on the bike. It is better to be overprepared than underprepared.

9. The bike is not as important as the person riding it
Even though I ride a hybrid bike I still was able to hang with some of the guys. I often get caught up in needing the fanciest bike because I think it will make me ride faster. Yes a tri bike will be faster than a hybrid bike but it doesn't mean that I can't still ride fast. It is the training that matters, not the equipment.

10. Whenever possible practice on the race course in advance
I knew that this bike course was really hilly and that my climbing skills were to a minimum. Instead of panicking (actually there was a fair amount of panicking) I drove the 25 minutes to the race site to practice the hills that I would be riding on race day. Come race day I knew every inch of the course and knew what to be careful and when to really push it. I also ran on some of the trails and knew I could handle the uneven terrain.

Keystone State Tri Training Week 6

Monday:
Sometimes I feel like I need a rest after the weekend. I had little motivation to do much of anything on Monday. I did drag myself out of the couch to go to the gym for some strength training. I had a bit of a breakthrough at the gym was able to increase my weight in most exercises. Lifting makes me feel so strong in a way that running doesn't. They really compliment each other well.

Tuesday:
I opted to sleep in instead of going to my usual yoga class. I then went for an easy bike ride to loosen up my legs from Monday night's lifting. The ride was slow but just what my legs needed. Then in the evening I went to the track for some 400 repeats. I had a hard time settling into a groove but I still was happy with my workout.

Wednesday:
The day I questioned everything. I was insanely tired and needed the extra rest. It was hard choosing to take the day off but it was greatly needed.

Thursday:
My car needed an inspection so I ran to the gym for yoga class. It was a short, mostly downhill run that really didn't take much out of me. After an hour of yoga stretches, I did a strength session. I debated whether I should have even lifted so I went easy on my lower body and really pushed my upper body.

Friday & Saturday:
My boyfriend and his younger brother threw a back to school party that ended up a little out of control, leaving my boyfriend and I running around playing chaperon all night. I think between 7:30 at night and 4 in the morning I sat down for maybe 30 minutes. After the party Friday night, Saturday was spent cleaning and catching up on sleep.

Sunday:
Triathlon!

Weekly Totals

• Swimming: 825 yards
• Biking: 30.2 miles
• Running: 13.01 miles
• Yoga: 60 min
• Strength: 1 hr 35 min
• Total hours: 7 hrs 6 min

Keystone State Sprint Triathlon Race Report

I can't believe this race is over already! I signed up for it so long ago it felt like it was never going to get here. After learning about how challenging the bike course is I wanted to switch from the Olympic distance to the sprint but I didn't hear back from the race organizers until two days before the event. Luckily I was allowed to switch.

Thursday through Saturday was filled with practically no sleep and lots of time on my feet. I wasn't even sure I was going to do this race until Saturday evening. I figured it wouldn't be pretty but would be good experience. I made it home from my boyfriend's house Saturday night around midnight and was asleep at one in the morning. Not ideal for the night before a race.

Luckily the race was only about 25 minutes from my house so I was able to sleep in until 6:00. I grabbed my bag full of my stuff for transition, ate a bagel and was on my way to the race. My dad and I got to the race site around 7:00 and headed straight to packet pickup and body marking. Then it was time to set up my transition area.

The swim started in waves so while I was waiting around for my wave I made use of the short bathroom lines and did some stretching. I ran into a good friend from my old swim team who I hadn't seen in almost a year. This was her first triathlon so I prepped her with some pointers, such as how aggressive the swim can
be.

Swim: 13:52 (1/2 mile)

This time I decided to start towards the front of the pack for the swim, even though I hadn't been in a pool since the middle of July. I tried not to go too hard on the swim so I had enough energy for the massive hill at the beginning of the bike course. I kept telling myself to calm down and focus on staying steady and strong. Before I knew it the swim was over and I was heading into transition.

T1: 1:23

I am so glad I practiced this bike course before this race. It is really challenging, with some steep climbs and sharp turns. I knew how to handle every aspect of the course and felt so much more confident because of it.

My approach to the bike course was to go conservative on the first lap and then really hammer the second lap. Unfortunately during the first lap my chain popped off and got stuck so I was unable to fix it. I walked my bike for about 10 minutes before my dad luckily found it and fixed it for me. After that it was smooth sailing though. I was able to keep up with people with road and tri bikes and even passed people on those killer hills.  I felt unstoppable.

Bike: 1:22:31 (18.2 miles- 13.2 mph)

T2: 1:01

I was worried about how my legs would feel during the run since I really pushed myself on the bike but at soon as I started running I felt like I was flying. I didn't want to go out too fast but it was only a 3 mile run so I knew I could push the pace some. The run was all on trails so I was glad I was wearing my trail shoes. I loved the run and was hardly passed at all. And in my Olympic style sprint to the finish I passed some lady with just a few yards to go.

Run: 26:13 (3.2 miles- 8:11 pace)

Overall this was an incredible race. Besides my chain popping off I did really well on the bike and ran faster than I ever could have imagined on the run. During this race I truly felt like a triathlete and now I am even more excited about next year's racing season.

Finish time: 2:05:00

Keystone State Sprint Triathlon Goals

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With my first triathlon 3 days from today I thought I would go over what some of my goals are for this race. I don't want to have a lot of expectations going into it since I have never done a triathlon but I still want to have some goals to keep myself motivated. I wanted to break down the goals by each leg of the race in order to make things seem simpler for myself.

Swim Goal 1: Under 20 minutes
I am basing this time off of what other people have done in the past, especially people who I used to swim with. I currently hold a 1:15 pace per hundred in the pool but I know I won't be able to hold that for 800 yards in a lake.

Swim Goal 2: Don't panic
I have only ever done one open water swim and that was at the beach. I have never swum in a lake before, and I have especially never done any type of open water swimming with other people. I know a lot of people have panic attacks when they get in the water but my goal is to rock the swim and not freak out.

Bike Goal 1: Power through the hills
I haven't been training to ride hills so I am hoping the course isn't too hilly. I do know there are some hills though so I want to power up them and not let them ruin my race. I am just going to put my bike in a low gear and take the hills at whatever pace I need to and not worry about how slow I am going.

Bike Goal 2: Sub 1:30
I have only done one 18 mile bike ride before and it was with my dad at a pretty comfortable 12 mph pace. Despite the hills I think I can beat this time.


Bike Goal 3: Negative splits
The bike course is 2 9 mile loops to make 18 miles. I want to do the first loop somewhat conservatively and then really push it on the second loop. I will also be able to determine how bad the hills really are during the first loop and develop and game plan for the second loop.

Run Goal 1: More negative splits
I also want to start the run out conservatively since I have no idea how my legs will hold up after biking 18 miles. I want to run each mile faster than the previous one and finish the race strong.

Run Goal 2: No walking
I normally would have no trouble running the entire three miles but I am not sure how my legs will be feeling. Most of my training has been running lately so I am hoping I can really use this to my advantage.


Run Goal 3: Sub 28 minutes
This would put my run at a 9:00 min/mile pace, which I think is pretty doable. I know my legs will be tired after biking for 18 miles but I am hoping that will be like a warm up for them. A 9:00 min/mile pace is nothing compared to what I have been training at!

Triathlon Goal 1: Finish under 2:15
I really have no idea how this race is going to go so I didn't want to set any unrealistic goals for myself. I am not sure if I will be way under this time, way over it, or pretty darn close to it. I do hope to be under it, although if I am not I will not be too bothered by it.

Triathlon Goal 2: Place in my age group
Last year only 2 girls in my age group did the race so I am hoping not many do it again this year. If a lot of 15-19 girls are doing this race then this goal will be completely thrown out the window. It pretty much is only here now to make me feel better about myself!

Triathlon Goal 3: Finish with a smile on my face
Whatever happens with this race happens. I want to finish proud of myself knowing that I gave it everything that I had. I want to have a great time out there and make sure everyone knows it!

Taper Time

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My very first triathlon is less than a week away and I am kind of, sort of freaking out. I haven't been biking or swimming in a few weeks and I haven't been doing strength training either. I thought about not doing the race because I was unprepared but I think that is a pretty dumb idea. I know that after 12 years of competitive swimming I can handle the swim portion and I have been running very consistently for awhile now. I have really nothing to worry about except for the bike leg. I have no idea what the bike course is like except that there are some hills. I have no idea how big or small and I am not prepared at all to do hills. After a few days of self-doubt I realized that there is no reason why I can't do this triathlon. It doesn't matter how fast or slow I am as long as I finish. I am training for something else right now to that takes priority so I shouldn't be too worried about this weekend. At this point I am most worried about the little things. I have never done a triathlon so I don't really know what to expect and that makes me pretty nervous. I am planning on getting there pretty early so I can get everything figured out.

Since I have a triathlon this week I am using it as a rest week for half marathon training. I am not going to do a long run this week or a tempo run, and I am going to focus on getting in some swimming, biking, and running in an easy fashion. I want to feel prepared but I also don't want to kill myself this week with workouts. I am probably only going to do one swim this week, 2 bike rides, and a couple short and easy runs. My goals for the week are to keep everything nice and easy, eat healthy and stay hydrated, and get enough sleep. I am hoping that with all that I will be able to do a somewhat successful first triathlon

A New Running PDR!

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I know I should have written this post on Saturday but I have been super busy with school starting and all so my blogging has been really taking the backseat. My training plan called for a long run of 7 miles on Friday but due to horrible storms I moved the run to Saturday. I have never run longer than 6 miles so I tried to make sure that I spent Friday preparing for my long run. I know a long run for some people is 14-22 miles but this was a pretty long run for me. I made sure I ate healthy foods, drank enough water, and didn't exert too much energy throughout the day. I went to sleep a little later than I had wanted (1 in the morning, yikes!) but I decided to sleep in until 8:45 before I went out for my run. I fueled with yogurt and granola and then headed out to tackle this run.

I didn't want to run with a water bottle so I decided to do two 3.5 miles out & backs. I ran the first one in 36 minutes, stopped by my car to grab some water and then headed out for another 3.5 miles. The second half was faster than the first and I was feeling great until the last mile when the heat started to get to me. I learned I really need to get up early to get my long runs in to avoid the heat. I finished my run in 1:12:42 for a 10:19 pace. I was so happy with this run because I felt strong and fast without running very hard.

I am not logging many miles this week because I have my very first triathlon on Saturday and I want to be well prepared. Half marathon training continues next week though!

First Open Water Swim

Last night I hit the beach for an open water swim. Despite being a swimmer for 12 years, I have never done any type of open water swimming. I wore a cap and goggles and slowly walked into the water not sure what exactly I was going to do. I obviously know how to swim, but add in the waves, murky water, and lots of fishermen I really wasn't sure what my game plan was. I decided to play in the waves until my body was warmed up so I wasn't freezing during my swim. The boyfriend wanted to go kayaking next to me as I swam just in case, which was really comforting. I miss swimming with friends and having people to share in my love of the sport. After a couple minutes in the water I decided to just go for it and see what happened.

I tried putting my face in the water but I couldn't see anything. I didn't freak out though. I actually didn't mind that I couldn't see but I was nervous that a wave would come and crash on me. Luckily for me I have enough swimming strength to swim with my head out of the water and not feel like I'm going to drown. So that is what I did. I still would "breathe" to the side to look for the waves and then look forward to see where I was going. At first I felt really awkward but eventually I got used to it. I decided to swim to the lifeguard stand, which was about 400 yards away. I was getting pretty frustrated because the salt water was really burning my throat. When I made it to the lifeguard stand I took a couple minute break to let my throat calm down some, and then I started swimming back. I was amazed at how challenging it was swimming against the waves and the current. What I was the most unprepared for was how beautiful it was going to be. By keeping my head out the water I could see the sunset over the bay across the street. It was absolutely gorgeous.

I hope to get back in the water for some more swimming throughout the rest of the week. I really enjoyed it and want to get some more practice in the open water.

Catching Up

Things have not been going as planned around here. I hardly got any biking, running, or swimming in this week due to the heat, and I have been majorly stressed about signing up for classes for the fall semester. I am trying to get back into the groove of things and really start training for this half marathon.

I know I posted last week about my upcoming class schedule but I decided to switch some things around in order to have a more successful semester. I am planning on giving school my all, which means a lot of studying, joining clubs, and having a great time. I have a lot already lined up for the semester, which means I will be pretty busy. So far I have contacted the Running Club and the Vegetarian Club about joining, and there is talk of a club swim team starting in the fall. I may actually be pretty involved in the development of the club swim team, so that is pretty awesome. Then I have my classes. I decided to drop a few classes that I realized I do not actually need to take or that I can take over the summer at home. As a result I was able to add something really challenging that I think will also be really rewarding: Russian! I have always wanted to take a more complicated language than French or Spanish, and with the way my semester played out Russian was the winner. I am so excited to try something so different! My class schedule as of now looks like:

Advanced French I
TuTh 11:30-12:45

Advanced Spanish I
TuTh 1:00-2:15

Child Developmental Psychology
W 5:30-6:45

Psychology of Culture
MWF 9:00-9:50

Basic Russian I
MWF 10:00-10:50
W 2:30-3:20


Now on to triathlon and half marathon training.. I have decided to throw away my current training plans, which detailed what I was supposed to do each day, for a new one that says what my mileage should be each week. In order to make sure I get in all of my long runs I am planning how long they should be each week, but besides that I can do pretty much whatever I want. For example, next week I want to run 15 miles with my long run being 5 miles. The other 10 miles can be run whenever I want throughout the week and they can be split up into different distances. I did the same thing for biking and I think this will really help my hit my goal mileage for each week.

For awhile I was putting a lot of pressure of myself for my upcoming triathlon. This will be my first triathlon so there is really no need to have super ambitious goals that will just leave me crushed and disappointed later. I am just going to give it all that I have and see where my starting point is. I want to enjoy this experience and putting too much pressure on myself was causing me to not enjoy it.

Tentative Fall Race Schedule

As many of you may know I am racing my first sprint triathlon at the end of August. I am super excited about this race and training for it has been going pretty well. Something you might not know if that I am planning on going to school at UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County) in the fall. Last year was my freshmen year of college but it didn't exactly go as planned. I started off at the University of Pittsburgh in the fall and ended up coming home for the spring semester for medical reasons. During a swim practice at Pitt my left arm went numb and as a result I spent the night in the ER. At the time the doctor thought I was having a stroke, but later it was found out that I have an extra rib on each side of my rib cage. In order to prevent further complications I needed to have surgery. So I left school and went home for a semester. I took online classes instead of attending classes per doctor's orders. Originally I had planned on returning to Pitt in the fall but then I realized how much I liked being closer to my boyfriend and decided to transfer.

I know that is kind of background but I wanted to explain why I am going to this school. Location, location, location. Just because I will be going to school full time in the fall doesn't mean that I won't be running and training though. I have found a few races that I want to run this fall but I don't really want to sign up for much yet because school will be my number one priority.

So far my schedule looks like this:
9.24- College Park Cares 5K
9.25- The Great Prostate Cancer Challenge 5K (Baltimore)
9.30- The Great Prostate Cancer Challenge 5K (Harrisburg)
10.2- Warrior Dash Virginia
10.15- Baltimore Half Marathon
11.24- York YMCA Turkey Trot 5K
12.3- Hot Chocolate 5K & 15K
12.10- Santa's Sleigh 5K

I do not plan on doing all of these races but these are the ones that I am considering. I definitely plan on doing the Baltimore Half Marathon & the York YMCA Turkey Trot 5K though. If anyone has done any of these races or has any suggestions for ones that I should consider it would be greatly appreciated!

Keystone/Baltimore Training: Week 3

3 weeks down.. 14 more until the Baltimore Half Marathon! And I think it is something like 7 weeks until the Keystone State Sprint Triathlon! I am so excited still, and my training has been getting better. Even though my leg was really bothering me on Monday, my other run felt great and my leg is starting to feel better.

Sunday
Rest
Spent the day with Callen and the family relaxing and having fun.


Monday
Run/Walk 1.92 miles @ 12:45
This run was incredibly painful and I ended up walking almost half of it. I wanted to run 3 miles but that just wasn't going to happen.


Tuesday
Rest
Took an extra rest day to let my leg calm down some. I was going to go swimming but didn't want to do anything to aggravate it.


Wednesday
Bike 9.8 miles @ 14.5 mph
First bike ride in awhile. I wanted to go faster but I started dying on the way back. I really need to work on getting my speed up on these rides.


Thursday
Run 3.05 miles @ 10:36
Insanity, Cardio Recovery
This run felt great. I was so worried that my leg was going to hurt but it held up and did great. I ran on the trail, which really helped. I really liked this Insanity workout too. It was no cardio but a lot of deep muscle work.


Friday
Insanity, Core Cardio & Balance
I really liked this Insanity workout too. It wasn't insane cardio but still felt great and got me sweating. I especially like the hip flexor work at the end of the workout.


Saturday
Rest
I stayed with Callen since he wasn't feeling well. We had a great weekend relaxing though


Weekly Totals: 4 hrs 9 min
Running: 4.97 miles, 56 min
Biking: 9.8 miles, 40 min
Strength: 1, 15 min
Insanity: 2, 1 hr 10 min
Other: walking, 1 hr 8 min

Keystone/Baltimore Training: Week 2

Sunday
5K @ 9:00
I loved this 5K and hope to do it again next year. Unfortunately, I hurt my knee after the race so that is why there is no other running this week. This was much faster than my previous 5K and my second split was the fastest.


Monday
Swim 1,700 yards
Every time I swim I am feeling so much stronger and faster. I haven't been paying too much attention to my times since there is no clock at the pool but I can feel that my arms are remembering how to swim.


Tuesday
Kayaking 1 hour
I was supposed to swim today but I chose to go kayaking with my Dad instead. It was a great upper body workout but was so relaxing at the same time. It's nice not to have to religiously stick to the swimming part of my plan.


Wednesday
Walk 25 min
Took Gracie for a walk on the trail since my knee was still feeling funky. Didn't want to mess anything up so just went slow and let Gracie lead the way.


Thursday
Bike 14.5 miles @ 12.86 mph
I hadn't biked in awhile so my Dad and I just went super slow and chatted the whole way. It was nice to go farther than planned but still not feel like death. I really need to work on picking up the pace on the bike though.


Friday
Rest
Went to look for apartments all day Friday so I really didn't have time to do anything. I just moved my rest day from Saturday to Friday.


Saturday
Walk 25 min
Took Gracie for another walk on the trail. I was going to go for a 5 mile run but decided to play it safe. I really hope this extra rest will help my knee bounce back and not lead to any further complications.

Weekly Totals: 4 hrs 12 min
Running: 3.1 miles, 28 min
Biking: 14.5 miles, 1 hr 9 min
Swimming: 1,700 yards, 38 min
Other: Walking, 50 min, kayaking, 1 hr 11 min

Keystone/Baltimore Training: Week 1

This week wasn't originally supposed to be part of my training but I included it since I wasn't doing the triathlon but rather the 5K instead. I didn't get a whole lot of miles in this week because I hurt my knee at the beginning of the week during a bike ride and wanted to take it easy before the race.

Sunday
Bike 7 miles (12 mph)
At this point I was still not sure whether I was going to do the triathlon or not so I set out to ride the bike course. I made it about half way before my knee started really hurting from all of the hills on the course. I knew I wouldn't be able to finish based on how much pain I was in. I also knew that I wouldn't be able to do the triathlon at this point since I could barely finish half of the bike portion.


Monday
Run 3 miles (10:54)
I decided late on Sunday that I wanted to run a 5K instead of the triathlon since I had been planning on racing over the weekend anyway. I did this run in the neighborhood with all of the hills and felt so good. I was feeling confident about the 5K and was so glad that I decided to change races.


Tuesday
Rest
I made Tuesday a rest day since I didn't want to run two days in a row before the 5K and the last thing I wanted to do was get back on the bike.


Wednesday
Rest
I had planned on running on Wednesday and then Friday but I wanted to take off two days before the race so I changed my run to Thursday instead.


Thursday
Run 2 miles (10:31), Strength
This run made me feel even better about racing on Sunday. I held a faster pace during this run than I normally do but I didn't feel like I was using much more energy. I tried to minimize the hill work so I didn't end up too sore but the last hill on the way back up to my house really killed me. I also threw in a quick upper body strength workout to get some extra burn in.


Friday
Rest
Took it easy and got a lot of much needed cleaning done around the house. Was so glad to make it a rest day and just relax.


Saturday
Rest
Had a great time hanging out with friends and eating yummy seafood. Perfect way to spend the weekend.

Weekly Totals: 1 hr 43 min
Running: 4.93 miles, 53 min
Biking: 7 miles, 35 min
Strength: 1, 15 min