Tri Training Week #4

Can't believe I've been at this now for 4 weeks! Training has been going pretty good, but I'll admit I have missed workout or two. It's definitely hard to get your time in when you have stuff to do after work. And as most know, I am NOT a morning person. Even if I got to bed early and get 8+ hours of sleep, I am completely out of it if I wake up before 8. I really should try to either change my hours so I can hit the gym earlier in the evening or try to just get my ass out of bed in the morning to exercise. We'll see if either works out.

I'm still amazed at how much stamina I lost after being a slug this winter. I definitely feel like things I used to have no problem with, I'm huffing and puffing quicker. Here's how it's all going:

Swim -- I'm doing about 40-45 laps in the pool now. I'm taking it easy and trying to work on form as I go along. I usually alternate breast and crawl, but decided to add in a little backstroke on Weds. I'd do 1 lap of each and just repeat. It's amazing how much better I felt adding that in. I don't know if it's b/c I can breathe more or b/c I'm using different muscles so it gives others more of a rest. Either way, I think I'm going to continue doing medleys (sans butterfly). I think it will help for when I start to tucker out after swimming a 1/2 mile and realizing I still have 4/10 of a mile left to go!

Bike -- I love the bike. It's so calming and relaxing. I'm averaging about 13-14 miles/hour. I need to print out the course map for some of the sprint triathlons along the Schuylkill so I can work on my hills. Flats are a piece of cake, but I do need to do the hills to build up better strength and stamina. Good thing is that the bike course for Nation's Tri is from Haine's Point, up Rock Creek Parkway (maybe to Woodley?), then over to Canal Road and up to 495, before turning around to finish back at Haine's Point. I know it's been a while since I've been in DC, but if I remember correctly, that's all pretty flat!

Run -- I started C25K (couch to 5k) last week. I'm not really planning to run a 5K anytime soon, but I do want to start adding in some running to my walking for the tri. My plan is to do Week 1 (1 min. of running w/ a 90 second rest) for a few weeks before moving on to Week 2 (90 second run w/ 1 min. rest). Once I feel more comfortable w/ that, I'll add it into my walks. Speaking of which, I think I need to start walking again. I am sooooooo slow compared to 2006 when I was doing all those races.

The Philly Tri is going on this weekend. I'm headed up to the expo in a bit to check out the gear and stuff and to drop off my fundraising letters with the folks at the TNT booth. I'm volunteering tomorrow to cheer folks on at the Art Museum. Will be nice to see it all in action.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! I really appreciate your support!!!!