Messy house

Side effects of sweaty-mania include, but are not limited to:
-overflowing laundry hamper
-dry dead plants
-refrigerator full of bagels and questionable veggies
-alarm clock set at 5:30 am, 6:30 am on the weekend
-quality pup time squeezed into breakfast and dinner time (fetch, bite, forehead scratch, bite)
-quality Huzz time spent during REM
-books read 2 pages at a time
-and, of course, a lot of excitement and pride

Finally, a successful long run in the rain this morning.  Gwen hosted the MVS long run and a good time was had by all...  8 miles in 1:26!

Getting Big

I have been getting very very big these past two days.  Not to be confused with getting big in a bad way, getting big in a good way is working out (thank you to my friends who lift weights for confusing new slang!)

I got big yesterday by setting a new PR for a 5k in 29:30!! oh yeah.  The Yankee Homecoming Road Race in Newburyport was a fun course through downtown with tons of cheerer-on-ers and tons of hoses spraying out into the streets (plus free pizza afterwards, just a little slice, but I will run you every year now YH)

I was worried for a bit in the beginning about my pace because it's sooo crowded that I couldn't get around people for a good quarter mile.  I made up for this as the crowd thinned by running a sub-9:00 minute mile split.  yikes!  I kept this up for the second mile with a 9:10 minute mile split.  yikes again!  Then I hit the hills... confidence dropped... pace dropped... would I be able to set a PR??? (I spoiled this story by giving away the fabulous ending already but oh well...)

that's PR in sign language baby (sister Gwen also set a new PR!):

I look like I'm in white picket fence land but it's Gwen's back porch; she's suburban like that.

I got big today by running 5 miles (3 miles of speed work) at morning track where my splits were all 9 min/mile or sub 9 min/mile.
Then I followed that up with Try the Tri, take two, later in the evening.  Official times to come but I did either the same or slightly better on all the activities than my first trying of the tri.

Number 10 is soooo big now.  She might not fit in her bed.  Good thing she's tired enough to fall asleep just about anywhere!

For those of you who don't have a sister to exercise with, I highly suggest you get one.  They are invaluable.  The ones with flashy wet suits are even more highly coveted... like mine... good 'ole number 11 : )

Next Half Marathon - Here We Go!

Just got back from a long swim workout at the gym in anticipation of...

Where's Karen?

And I got my official splits from Try the Tri last week:

Swim -  13:05

T1     -  03:50  (slowest transition of the night : (

Bike  -  39:02

T2     -  00:27  (fastest transition of the night! cause I didn't have to change shoes)

Run   -  21:28 

My next attempt will probably be next Wednesday.

So my 11 week training for the Smuttynose Half Marathon on October 2nd started last week.  This training plan is much more flexible than last time.  It also involves a lot of cross training.   The weekly "running" mileage in general will be lower but the long runs will still be long and I expect the cross training to help a lot... especially in avoiding injuries. 

Last week's tracking:

Looking at all those activities makes me happy.  I enjoyed every one of them, even the hard ones.  Yay for running on the road!  And yay for some off road variety!

And now... I must... zzzzzzzzzzzzz

I am a Triathlete Now!

Yes indeed. I did more than try the tri, I finished!!  No. 10 finished a tri!

More appropriate blog titles could possibly have been "I am barely a triathlete now" or "I am an incredibly slow triathlete now" but I had a talk with myself and I am going to be proud of simply finishing. 

I don't have my official times yet but I will post them when I get them.  Trust me, they won't wow you, I beat out an older man and was on track to beat the 10 year old kid but he passed me on the run.  Did I mention I beat someone?  That's right.  Not last.  No. 10 was not last!

(Unfortunately I was not No. 2... what blogging mischief that could have been!).

Many thanks to the Huzz who not only showed up to cheer but also rummaged through someone's bag and found a camera to take pictures with (ok, my bag).  He would not, however, embrace me immediately after I finished.  It's not like I was covered in a sweaty lake water/ BO mixture or anything. Hurumph : )
I get a little side hug here:

Sister Gwen stuck by me for the 400 yard swim as she promised... all approximately 17 mins. of it.  Pretty sad time and definitely where I need to focus my efforts.  It's safe to say only about half of it was actually freestyle swimming... the other half was breast stroke/ doggie paddling.  I hope I can look back on this someday and be able to say "look how far I've come".  I don't think my tri career will go very far if I can't improve my swimming.  The water was nice and refreshing though:

(My competition is right behind Gwen in the yellow cap... all stealth-like... but to no avail).

Then the super slow transition to biking gear followed by a 10 mile bike ride, which was twice around the lake.

I never caught my breath after the swim and there were only 1 or 2 downhills where I wasn't panting.  Since my total time was about 1 hr 17 mins., I was OUT OF BREATH for over an hour.  The difference between this experience and running for over an hour is that eventually the running becomes less of an aerobic challenge and more of a challenge to keep the leg muscles firing and moving.  During the whole Try the Tri, my body never seemed to catch up before I started a different exercise and shocked it all over again.

The 2 mile run was hard as expected.  I was able to average 10:15 min/miles though without too much pain.  I feel like the biking and running will improve naturally over time and with a little practice.

And finally, finito:

And my favorite picture of Gwen, who was very patient and encouraging during the swim:

Plans and Preparations

Plan #1: "Try the tri" tomorrow night... which is where I swim 400 yards, bike 10 miles, and run 2 miles.  Gwen is staying with me for the open water swim; remember! reach around under the arms from behind and float on your back gently kicking towards the shore or until help arrives.

Preparation for plan #1 has included lap swimming once to twice a week for about a month and a few bike rides (plus one bike/run brick).

I realize that I will most likely be the last person to finish "try the tri" but I am excited anyways.  And a little nervous.  Some readers of this blog who are also fans of swimming and biking were slightly offended by my last post in which I may have used the term "loath" to describe my feelings towards these two sports.  I would like to amend that statement here and say that I don't loath them; I see them as challenges and I expect that they will grow on me over time.  I'm just not good enough at them yet to call them fun or feel the accomplishment feeling.  In due time...  All good?  ok...

Plan #2: Yankee Homecoming Roadrace 5k on August 2nd... which is where I either melt into the pavement if this particular Tuesday night in August really heats up, or I possibly break 30 mins. for my 5k time. 

Preparation for plan #2 starts next week when the 8 week, Wednesday morning at 6:15 am, special track session for insomniacs gets going.  Nothing like speed work as the sun comes up!  Seriously though, it should be much much cooler.  I've been able to wring out my sports bra after all my runs lately.

Plan #3: The Biggie. Smuttynose Half Marathon on October 2nd... which is where I pretend I didn't cry at the end of the last half marathon and psych myself up for a PR... under 2:30!!  woot woot!!

Preparations for plan #3 include run AND don't get hurt.  KISS (yes, I used KISS)

I'm not sure where I'll go from there.  October should be a good running month but then comes snow.  The goal is to stay active over the winter and come back strong next spring.  Sprinkle in a couple local races as well.  I will have to find a big goal to focus on for early spring so I stay motivated.  It should also be a good chance for me to work on my swimming in the nice warm gym pool!   Just thinking of winter makes me sad though, so, enough of that.

And because blog without pics aren't as fun, I'll leave you with my last half marathon... lest I forget the pain too quickly:

And then the half marathon victors enjoy Seattle afterwards: