Week 7 Bike - Lomas Santa Fe to Carlsbad

This morning was the 2nd time I've ridden the 20 miles on PCH from Lomas Santa Fe to Cannon Road in Carlsbad. This time was much improved over my Week 3 ride. The weather was COLD (38 degrees when I left home) but so clear I swear I could almost see Hawaii. Riding along the coast was beautiful! I went out with the beginning group again and felt really comfortable on the bike. I wasn't afraid of the traffic and barely used my brakes on the downhills. It took about 2 hours to do the entire ride, including a short intermission at the halfway point for some tips from the coach. I could have ridden a bit faster, but I am not quite comfortable passing other riders while traffic is around. I think this was my best performance on the bike yet. With 3 months left to prep, I'm starting to feel like I might actually finish the race! Thank you for all of your support!

Action Photos

Finally some photographic proof of my triathleticism! There are more to come, but these are the ones that have been published so far...

This one is of me getting some help from my coach with my CO2 during the tire changing clinic.

The next photos are all from our first brick workout which included running and biking intervals. (2 steps together work like building bricks?) Anyway, that's what they're called. I am the runner in the Navy sweatshirt.

Next is a photo of the team walking our bikes through the transition area from the run to the bike workout. I'm still in the Navy sweatshirt.

This is the team starting up the hill to the bike route. I'm in the back of this photo in the gray sweatshirt. The last photo is of the team getting some words of wisdom from the coach on the side of PCH. I'm there, but you can't see me.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! Don't worry, the holidays haven't kept me from my workouts, just from my computer. In the past two weeks I have made it to all of my coached swim, bike & run sessions ( 2 each) and mailed in about $500 more dollars from my holiday gift fundraiser. I have another bike ride tomorrow (25 miles) on PCH, so if you'll be in the area honk at the slow biker at the back of the pack - that will be me!

Week 5 Bike - Terror in the Rain!

I was told the Week 5 ride on Scripps Poway Parkway featured "rolling hills". In my mind I imagined rolling hills to be small rounded hills through a green meadow - what a pleasant ride. Boy was I wrong. The start of the ride wasn't bad - no meadows, but Scripps Ranch is a nice enough neighborhood to ride. There were a few manageable hills and I was feeling good. Then we started riding up. And up. Someone said a "nice steady climb". Well, that climb continued until we hit the 67 freeway (yes, the one that goes to Ramona). There we turned around and came back. The uphill ride was exhausting, but it was nothing compared to the ride back down. If you've been reading you are familiar with my fear of riding down hills. Well, I passed at least 3 of these steep grade signs on the way back down. Oh, did I mention it was now raining? In between repeating "I will not die here", "I will not die here", and "I will not cry", I tried to calm myself down by creating a new song I called "Riding In The Rain", which sounds shockingly similar to "Singing In The Rain". I was cold, wet, scared, and really proud of myself for making it down the hill! After the big downhill, the rest was cake. My legs were pretty tired riding up the "rolling hills" on the way back, but I didn't care. I was happy to have finished. One of the TNT mentors took photos of us riding up the hill. Once it's published, I'll post it here. That is definitely a photo I want to see! Week 6 starts with swim on Monday...

Week 5 Run

Sometimes I think I should be training for a marathon rather than the triathlon. Today is one of those times. After 3 warm-up laps we ran 4 intervals of 3 laps (1200 meters) with 1 min 45 sec rest in between. The goal was to run at our pace which for me was 8:18 per 3 lap interval (about an 11 minute mile). I ran consistently at 7:30, almost a minute faster than my pace time. And I felt good doing it. If I could keep a 10 minute mile pace for the race, the run would take an hour and that's a pretty good goal. Thanks for all of your support!

Week 5 Swim

I was almost awesome tonight! It was really hard to convince myself to swim tonight. It's cold outside and you know the thing I hate the most is being cold. But I got to the pool and got in the pool. And I swam lap after lap, drill after drill - and I wasn't even the slowest swimmer on some of the drills. I was awesome! And then Coach made us take the swim fins off. I was no longer awesome. In fact I'm not even sure I was moving. I'm pretty sure I saw the same 4' 6" tile marker for 3 breaths. I did swim both laps without the fins without stopping - so I am improving. Just not as much as I thought. Maybe next week...

Week 4 Bike - Tire Changing & 56 Bike Path

The cool thing about Team In Training is that they not only train you for the race you're going to run, but also prepare you to handle any obstacles that might get in your way - like a flat tire on your bike. Yesterday was the tire changing clinic. I aced the front tire removal and and attachment portion - I need to do that to get the bike in and out of my car, so I have lots of practice. I also did pretty well at the rear tire removal and attachment. I had some issues with the tire changing though - mostly because I didn't have the right equipment. Now I know what I need to get, so I'll be visiting a bike shop soon for a speed lever and CO2 pump. The basic drill is tire comes off, tube comes out, new tube goes in, tire goes back on. Even though I'm now trained in the art of tire changing, I'm really hoping for no flats during the race. With my slow ass swim time, I can't afford any extra time on the bike if I want to make the cut and cross the finish line.

I didn't ride with the team yesterday after the tire changing clinic, so I rode this morning on the 56 bike path. I had a few "major"successes along the way. First, I rode down Carmel Country Road, which is pretty much straight down. My hands hurt so bad from pumping the brakes the entire ride down, but I'm still terrified of hills (well, it's the speed that terrifies me, not the hills - specifically, the thought of being thrown from the bike at 50 mph and being hurled through the air onto the windshield of an oncoming car) So, I made it down the hill. (Success #1) Then I found the bike path entrance and rode along there through the houses. Instead of turning up onto the main bike path I found an area of the path that deadends that was perfect for practicing my water bottle handling skills. I have never had the nerve to reach down, grab my water bottle, take a drink and put it back while I'm riding. I always wait until I stop. So, today was the big day. The first time, I reached down and grabbed the water bottle but then had to quickly grab the handlebars before I crashed into a big bush. I was riding the bike with both hands and holding the bottle at the same time. Once I regained control I took a drink and then after a few attempts got the bottle back in the holder. Attempt #2 was much smoother - I grabbed the bottle, took a drink and replaced the bottle without losing control of the bike or too much speed - success! (#2) So feeling confident I rode back onto the main bike path. I rode for about another 45 minutes and then turned around to head home. On the ride home, I decided to try my water bottle trick again, I grabbed the bottle, took a drink and put the bottle back, except that I missed the water bottle holder and my bottle was now on the side of the rode. I had to get off the bike and retrieve the water bottle before I could continue home. Thank God for the 56 bike path - I am a menace on the road! So, on the ride back I decided there was no way I could ride back up the hill on Carmel Country Road. I decided on El Camino Real instead. I took the bike path to El Camino Real and then rode up that hill. Success #3! Overall I felt pretty good on the bike today. Week 5 starts with swimming tomorrow night - my favorite!

Week 4 Run - 5 1/2 miles with sand intervals

Tonight's run was something different. We met at Belmont Park and ran south to the jetty for a warm-up jog. From there we ran to the PB Pier and then back to Belmont Park. The kicker was that we alternated between running on the boardwalk and running in the sand. This is because the last 1/2 mile of the Lavaman is on sand. Coach said to run hard on the sand and easy on the boardwalk. I jogged really slow or walked really fast on the boardwalk - the sand was a killer! Running on sand is pretty difficult, but add the fact that it was dark and you have a pretty good workout. I hit a couple of holes that I couldn't see and used a few colorful words, but I made it. On the way back from the pier I figured I had already run 1/2 mile on the sand, so I stuck with running the boardwalk. Other than talking myself out of a quick stop at Lahaina for a beer I felt pretty good. I even waved to the diners at World Famous on my way by. Time for a shower - thanks for your support!

Week 4 Swim - Finally a lap!

As you can see, the lovely green Team In Training swim cap really brings out my eyes.

Here is proof that I was in a pool on a 58 degree night. And the photo commemorates the night I rocked the pool! Finally! Coach had us swimming for more than an hour and I was and still am exhausted! But, I swam an entire lap without stopping on my back, another on my side, another swimming half a stroke and most importantly yet another lap doing the regular freestyle. I felt like tonight all of the drills came together and I really swam. And now that I can swim on my side, where I can breathe the entire time, I have a way to "rest" when the swimming gets tiring. What is that small speck of light I see? Oh, it must be the end of the tunnel!