A Lot of Swimming

Yes, sometimes CA does get crappy weather and this weekend was stormy and wet. Not the best weather to cycle outside, but even in bad weather we still have to get our workouts in. TRIbe, the tri team we have joined, has a winter challenge where we all log our miles swimming, biking, and running and compete as a team with other tri teams in the US. December's focus is swimming and the goal is to swim 750 miles as a team. I just submitted my totals for the this past week:

Swim = 6 miles
Bike = 40 miles
Run = 3 miles

To put the swimming in perspective, most pools are 25 yard pools, meaning it is 25 yards from wall to wall (this is called a "length") and 50 yards from wall to wall and back again (called a "lap"). 1 mile is 1750 yards or 70 lengths/35 laps. 6 miles is 420 lengths/210 laps. This week I swam 4x with the masters group and a long (3000y) swim on Saturday with Eric. It is amazing to see how the distance really adds up. Yesterday evening I could feel the fatigue in my shoulders from a long week in the pool. It was good to NOT swim today.

We had a great bike loop planned for today, but the roads were wet and had puddles so some of us opted to hit an indoor spin class instead (Eric and some other more hearty types hit the road for the outdoor ride). Indoor spin classes offer a good chance to get some speed intervals in and work on keeping your cadence up and fine tune your cycling form. I sweat my ass off in those classes! I did get scolded twice for riding with straight elbows today! I ride with this this spin class every Tuesday night and this was an added bonus to get some more interval work in on a Sunday.

As the holidays approach, I will be planning out my workouts so when we are traveling we have a clear idea of what we need to be doing so we don't end up skipping workouts. It will be tough to stay motivated while on vacation with family, but these are the weeks that will pay off this spring so better we have a plan for it now.

For the rest of this chilly Sunday, I plan to do some core strengthening and the rest by the Christmas tree before starting again tomorrow!

Cheers!
Ally

The Birth of an Ironman Blog

I think when you register for your first Ironman, you get this bug in your head that says you should document your training and the journey with others. Surely someone out there will care how many laps you swam (or is it swum?) or miles you biked this week! Maybe it is a forum to brag about yourself. Since I am the proud owner of a slot in the 2010 Ironman distance triathlon in Coeur d'Alene.....here is my blog......

I am not sure what shape this blog will take over the course of the next 6 months, but I am sure it will be fun and entertaining to read when we are recovering from racing 140.6 miles.

My triathlon career is young......really young, so WHY did I register for an Ironman? Isn't that the race NBC broadcasts from Hawaii where elite athletes are crawling in the darkness with bodily fluids dripping down their legs towards the finish tape? Yup, that is the one! I am not racing in the Hawaii Ironman - that is the World Championships for Ironman - I will be racing in Idaho, but the distances are the same.

For the past 5 or 6 weeks we have been in core strength and base building phase. These efforts will give us the muscle endurance we need to ramp up the training and really push it in the spring. This is a prime time to shed some extra weight and start the new year lean and mean. Generally, my weeks look like this for workouts:

M, W, Th, and F = Masters swimming
T = Spin class
M, W, F = Gym session
Sat and Sun = Cycling and running
I take 1 OFF day per week and that has rotated depending on what is going on at work and at home.


So, here's to seeing how this blog comes together - thanks for following.

~ Ally