13 July 2006
So many things running through my head right now.
There is of course the obligatory t-shirt, who can't use another water bottle, and a race belt. I'm very excited about the race belt since I didn't have one and seemed to keep forgetting to pick one up. It's one of those things I would think about as I was getting ready for a race and then promptly forget it after the race was over, so I'm stoked.
There will also be finisher's shirts and medals - woohoo!!!!
In reading the race rules last night I got a little freaked out though. The start is in waves and I'm in the 2nd wave. That's good in that I don't have to wait long. That's bad cause there's 3 waves behind us. The swim being the hardest part (mentally) for me, I've begun some mind games. I have taken some of the things from WW and am applying them to this. I have a talisman that every time I touch I think how good a swimmer I am and how I do not freak out in the water. I'm also mentally picturing the swim and seeing myself swimming calmly and remaining calm throughout. I just need to get there early enough to have time to get in the ocean and warm up and get over the anxiety. I really believe I will do fine. Where the mind goes the body will follow.
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Swim clinic last night was awesome. The most important thing I've learned is that I am a good swimmer. I'm not that fast but I'm good. The instructor pointed out that on my recovery I tend to drop my left elbow and it actually hits the water before my hand does. I worked very hard to stop doing that and I'm having a hard time. It's almost like my shoulder doesn't move in the right way. It's weird but I'll work on it.
He liked my catch, says I'm doing that really well. Also, he loved my extension, says that's really coming along. So it was good.
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I'm debating about joining a master's swim class once my tri is over. There are a couple that are near me and I'm thinking about it. There's one not far from my house at 7pm most nights and there's one near my work M-W-F at 5am. Either one would probably work out fine. Something I need to think about. I wouldn't start till after my clinic ends and my tri is over so not before 7/31.
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Which brings us to this morning. I did not want to get up but I forced myself. I've kind of moved into a taper. The way I figure is, the work is done, nothing I do now is going to make me any faster or stronger so I'm not risking injury. So I finally go up this morning and couldn't decide what to do, elliptical, yoga, pilates, what???? Finally I decided I really felt like a bike ride. So I headed off and just took it easy, I was just cruising enjoying the morning. A couple of things I noticed. My average speed, without really trying, was over 13 mph. Granted, that's not the speedyist ever but I wasn't trying. I was in the easiest gear the entire way, enjoying the scenery and just having a great time. If I had put the hammer down I could have averaged 14-15 mph, very cool. Also, I did 8.4 miles in 40 minutes. That's pretty good for cruising. I have never done that ride that fast with that little effort. I never even worked up a sweat. So that was good.
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I guess that's it. I have some other things running around in my head but they are not fully formed ideas and therefore not ready for publication.
'nuff said
11 July 2006
Extreme Makeover - Home Edition
I want:
- To finally lose these last 25 lbs and reach my desired goal weight.
- To be able to "race" and not just participate in tris. It would be nice if I could place in my age group once in a while.
These are what I really, really want as far as my health and fitness go. It's that simple, and it's that hard. So, mulling these around in my head for a few days I think I've come up with a plan that will take me where I want to go. Over the last couple of months I've gotten into the habit of training and eating right , so I think I'm ready to take it to the next level.
Weight Loss:
I know how to do this. I know what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat. For the past few weeks I've been losing at WW, slowly but losing none the less.
I eat mostly whole foods, you would be impressed if you saw my daily foods. I've moved into the thinking where I try to eat a food in as close to it's natural state as possible. That means lots of fruits and veggies, meat, whole grains. I try to avoid processed foods in any way shape or form. I do allow myself 1/4 cup ice cream at night (not every night). I go out to eat at least once a week and order well. And of course there is the occasional beer :)
Now it's time to tweak the diet. I want to lose this last 25 lbs. so it's a matter of making a good diet better. I read somewhere that diet is 95% of weight loss and it makes perfect sense to me.
It's also time to get real serious about weight training. I've been doing it sporadically for the past couple of months. Time to kick it up a notch and really make it work for me.
Racing:
I have learned a lot over the past few years about training. While I am in no way an expert, I think I can develop a program that will work for me.
My tri is in 12 days. After that I'm totally revamping my training. I will begin with building aerobic capacity for 12 weeks. During this period I will do a lot of slow, extended training. This will serve a twofold purpose. I will build aerobic capacity and it will help me burn fat.
Then I will have periods of building distances and speed. I'll have to work out the details later.
I'm building, ultimately, for Honu 70.3 in June 2007 - that will be my A race next year. If I could break 6 hours I could conceivably qualify for Kona, wouldn't that be a hoot!!!!! Anyway, that's where I'm aiming.
I will be doing some sprint tris the rest of this year and probably early on next year just for the experience, not to really race.
Over the next couple of weeks I'll be working on things; my sweat rate, max HR, baseline fitness, things like that. I have to have something concrete to measure and compare to see how I'm improving.
My tri is on 7/23. I will take the week after that as a recovery week and I will begin my new program on 7/31. I will perfect my program between now and then.
Okay, I'm really looking forward to this new part of my journey but now I have to work :(
10 July 2006
Monday, Monday....
Had a good weekend though. Saturday I biked to WW and then ran 6 miles. Okay, huge nutritional mistake. I did not drink much water Friday and ate no breakfast on Saturday. About 4 miles into my run I totally bonked. I ended up walking the remaining miles. It was nice though. I was in downtown Kailua when I bonked so I had lots of little shops to look at as I walked. I got back showered, and proceeded to fall asleep till hubby was ready to go to lunch. By then I was starving.
Sunday I got up and drove to Ala Moana to swim. I did 1000m in 27:24. Actually, since I've lost all ability to sight in open water, I think I went about 1200m. I could not swim a straight line to save my soul yesterday. I was also supposed to ride the Tinman bike course but it was really windy and I totally wimped out. Oh well, next week.
This morning I got up and went swimming even though the weather made me want to stay in bed.
My Ironman watch broke last week and the watch I have totally sucks. It does not do laps or splits or anything. I have gotten a new one off eBay I'm just waiting for it to arrive.
Anyway, my swim. Since I can't really time my laps or anything I decided to just work on form. Turns out that was a pretty good idea since I was totally not into it. I worked on making the things the swim instructor pointed out natural; and it's coming. I just swam easy and worked on kicking and extending for 45 minutes. It was nice.
I was supposed to run too but my right foot is hurting slightly so I decided to rest another day.
That's it. That's all I have to say. Nothing exciting just trying to make forward progress.
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