Ironman 70.3 Beginner's Training Schedule

After my late November decision to participate in an Ironman 70.3 before I went for the whole enchilada, I have been researching and mapping out a new training schedule. Suddenly I found myself with an extensive amount of time (according to the training schedules that came in 6-month, 5-month, 11-weeks, etc. periods to meet the needs of various races) so I decided to take a break from my Ironman 6-month training until I had everything planned out.

While the break and the shorter training times of my new schedules first week has produced comments from me as, oh, i'm done and I can't stop now, I want more...I'm going to do more, I am excited to finally have a plan for the whole summer which will hopefully end with Ironman 70.3 Austin.

My triathlon goals are: 1) TriFreaks Indoor Sprint Triathlon, Seattle; March 23, 2014 (Thank God it's Indoors!!!)
2) TriFreaks Olympic Triathlon, Ocean Shores; July 12, 2014
3) Ironman 70.3, Austin; October 2014

These summer goals will hopefully move me from triathlon wanna-be (I'll consider myself a newbie after I do the sprint) to an actual triathlete full of Kona dreams. *Ironman dreams for sure...after I wet my feet Kona dreams may or may not occur. But a girl must have a plan, so here it is; Sprint Training Schedule brought to you by trinewbies.com.

11 week Sprint Distance Program - Beginner
Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Run:                 15 min	Bike:         5 miles	Swim:           200 yards	OFF	Run:        15 min	Bike:            5 miles	OFF
S: 200 yds      R: 15 min	Bike:         6 miles	OFF	Swim:       200 yards	Run:        20 min	Bike:            8 miles	OFF
S: 200 yds       R: 20 min	Bike:         6 miles	S: 300 yds   W: 30 min	OFF	Run:        30 min	Bike:         10 miles	OFF
S: 300 yds      R: 20 min	Bike:         8 miles	S: 300 yds   W: 30 min	OFF	Run:        40 min	Bike:         10 miles	OFF
Run:                20 min	Swim:       300 yards	Brick	Swim:       400 yards	Run:        40 min	Bike:         12 miles	OFF
Run:                30 min	Swim:       400 yards	Brick	Swim:       400 yards	Run:        40 min	Bike:         15 miles	OFF
Run:                30 min	Swim:       400 yards	Brick	Swim:       500 yards	Run:        40 min	B: 15M   W: 30 min	OFF
Run:                30 min	Swim:       500 yards	Brick	Swim:       500 yards	Run:        50 min	B: 20M   W: 30 min	OFF
S: 500 yds       R: 30 min	Bike:         15 miles	S: 600 yds   W: 45 min	OFF	Run:        50 min	B: 20M   W: 30 min	OFF
S: 600 yds       R: 30 min	Bike:         15 miles	S: 600 yds   W: 45 min	OFF	Run:        60 min	B: 20M   W: 30 min	OFF
Race Week
S: 500 yds       R: 30 min	OFF	S: 500 yds     R: 15 min	Bike:            15 miles	OFF	S: 200 yds R: 15 min	Race Day
Key: S - Swim, R - Run, B - Bike, W - Walk

5k Turkey Trot on Bainbridge Island

It's my favorite day of the year again, THANKSGIVING!!! I mean how can it not be a self-proclaimed fat kid's favorite day when it's all about the food....and being thankful. This day is also when the recently established 5k Turkey Trot occurs at Battle Point Park on Bainbridge Island. I just had to participate because not only do I like festivities, I have been running for a bit now and just couldn't miss out on an actual race.

I had participated in the 2nd annual Turkey Trot, which was in 2011, and had a time of 32:36. Not too bad for someone who had taken a break from running and just wanted to do a fun run. This year things were different. Initially I wasn't planning on racing but a few days before I thought, 'why not'. My training runs had me comfortably doing 45 - 60 minutes, and involved one steep hill. The Turkey Trot, like most fun runs, is a flat course and a shorter distance, so I decided to test myself. My plan was to go for a PR (my first one).

There wasn't much time to warm-up since I still had to register, but I did get a few stretches in. The gunshot rang and off I went at what felt like a faster pace as my breathing was harder and I felt tired by mile one. However, I wasn't exhausted, I still had energy so I kept my pace and pushed through. There was a little bit of a mental game going on because even though I knew my pace was faster from what my body was telling me, I thought I was going pretty slow. Half-way through I thought I'd come in around the same time as I did in 2011, so imagine my surprise when my time was 29:47. That's under thirty! I've never done 10 minute miles, and this was less!

So why did I think I was going slow? Well only because everyone was passing me the entire time, and they were not all young folk. No, I was passed by men and women in their 40's, 50's, and a father pushing a stroller. Only on Bainbridge will the young most likely be beat by the older generation. It's pretty inspiring but not that fun when it's happening. In the end, I am very happy and the Turkey Trot has given me a good mental boost. I should have known my favorite day wouldn't let me down.

                         Happy Thanksgiving!

Choosing the right distance; Ironman vs. Ironman 70.3

Marmots Pass Trip

Embarking on any journey means that somewhere along the road a choice was made based on goals, dreams, or fears. A lot of people question those who choose to do an Ironman with why's and how's. And, while those of us training for it have our own individual answers, my question (one that I've been debating for the past week and a half) is how does one decide that the Ironman or the Ironman 70.3 is the right distance?

The distance for the Ironman 70.3 is half of the Ironman, and while it was not my original goal (I didn't even know it existed) I believe it will fulfill everything that I want out of the experience in racing an Ironman. Yes, I know, aside from saying that I completed 140.6 miles. But, to quote an article that Ironman published on November 6th, 2013 just around the time I was starting to question my choice....

Next time someone tries to call it "just a half", here's a list of reasons why Ironman 70.3 is the new...black.

The article continues to list seven reasons why IM 70.3 is a great race for beginners and seasoned triathletes. My reasons for FINALLY deciding to not just jump straight into the deep end are as follows:

1) I want to have a great time. Meaning, my goal is not just to cross the finish line but feel good about the way I swam, biked, and ran.

2) IM is a great event and I want to be able to share the experience with my family and celebrate afterwards. The 70.3 would definitely provide this for me because the family won't be waiting all day for me just to take me home afterwards.

So there you have it, My New Goal is to do Ironman 70.3 Austin, TX in 2014. The date for Austin has yet to be announced but according to past races it has been held sometime in October. This is great for two reasons; I'll have more time to train and I'll be able to get some great experience by actually participating in early season triathlons!

P.S. I have not given up on the Ironman, it'll just be 2015's event. (I think that's the furthest in the future I've ever planned something) Also, here's the link to the article mentioned above. http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/2013/11/7-reasons-to-love-70.3.aspx#axzz2lurG6WcN

Soozier Adjustable Magnetic Bike Trainer - In Red!

   The bike trainer has arrived!

Regardless of the weather outside, I can now stay in shape with my own bike in the comfort of my home! Or so the description for the Soozier on the Sears page says. And while the weather was decent on the Sunday I set it up, by the time I actually got it all set up it was dark, so I tested the Soozier out for a 2-hr ride.

As you can tell from the picture on the left, the spot I claimed for my indoor training is inside the house and not in the garage. I chose to set in our sunroom for three reasons; 1) The sunroom is the room that leads to the garage which is key because I only have one bike and I use it to commute to work as well, 2) I plan to do a Texas race which will definitely be warmer than a Washington garage in winter, and 3) The room is also in a corner of the house opposite from where most interaction occurs so any noise I make is no big deal.

For those of you with keen eyes, yes that is a bike rack on the rear wheel. Since it's my commuter bike that rack is for panniers as well as stretch cords for those times that I carry packages. With this being my first bike trainer I wasn't sure if the rack was going to be a problem for mounting. Personally the instructions for setting up the Soozier where terrible if you're a first timer (if it's your second time the set up is pretty self-explanatory that you don't need instructions). Either way, my situation was questionable enough that I packed up my bike and the trainer in the car and headed down to the local bike shop, B.I. Cycle (http://www.b-i-cycle.com/). The guys there are great! So very helpful, patient, and friendly...now that I think about it, everything bike related that I have (aside from clothing and the trainer) I purchased from them.

This is Gabriel. Classic bike enthusiast!

The first worker to be available was Gabriel. Yay! He's the one I tend to bug the most, I mean knows me and my riding level the best. Right away I told him that I wanted to make sure that I had everything set up right. Of course he said yes, and so we brought all my stuff into the store and he set it up with rack and all.

Now that I was happy and confident I headed home, did everything just how I did at B.I. Cycle, got on and had a great workout. Now, while I wouldn't call the Soozier quiet I did talk on the phone with my mom for a good 30 minutes and I asked her if it was hard to hear me or if she could hear any noise and she said no. And to give you a few more noise level references; while I didn't think it was excessively loud, it definitely makes some noise for if I were to play videos on my laptop I would have to have my speakers on max (for you techs out there I have a 2007 hp model), my headphones for music on my Iphone was at my regular level for when I run on the street, and my husband did say that he heard a low hum one morning while he was still sleeping. Good thing he enjoys background noises that have a constant sound (like fans).

Cheddar was watching me in the beginning wondering what sort of crazy thing I was doing.

The Secret to Living a Balanced Life

Jeff & I working at Pali Institute

You see it and hear it all the time, balance, your life should be balanced. As in, eat a well balanced diet, find a balance between your love life and work, happy people are emotionally balanced, etc. So what's the secret to living a balanced life, well after twenty-nine years of running to and fro I am starting to realize something. A balanced life isn't quality time with Jeff, or having a certain amount of time to myself, or having specific things set in place at the same time (clean house, mellow Cheddar, errands done). For me a balanced life is preparation.

Yesterday's events were the inspiration for this post, for you see I did not prepare and that resulted in skipping my swimming session. The idea was to do a morning session because November 5th was our two year wedding anniversary and we were going to celebrate in home with Italian food, a nice fire, and Casablanca. While I missed my morning swim due to a major headache from too much wine the previous night (my mistake for not preparing for the morning), I was ok not trying to cram it into our evening plans. It's our anniversary, and while that doesn't mean I have an excuse not to train it also doesn't mean training trumps celebrating an important life event.

We love cake! Married after 5yrs, Nov. 2011

Jeff and I met towards the end of 2006 at Pali Institute where we were instructors at an outdoor school. He's always been a planner, and loves to research, while I've always been a free spirit that goes where the wind blows. Much to his chagrin, I don't plan ahead and always underestimate how long it actually takes to get ready, go somewhere, or do something. However, recently something within me has changed where I now, all of a sudden, want to do many things; train for the Ironman (as you all know), learn German, bring my Spanish to a college level, and keep up with the book club. All of this while taking care of Cheddar and Jeff has made me one busy woman. So by default, in order to be able to do all of these things I have to plan ahead and do some prep work for the coming day.

So how do I manage to fit an hour of training, six days a week, into the schedule? Well, it really comes down to making the mornings work, getting all the timing right from waking up to biking to work. This happens smoothly when I plan the next days breakfast and lunch, and make sure they are in ready to go containers so that I just grab and go. Otherwise, if I fail to prep, Jeff goes hungry, I eat poorly, and I'm late for work.

In the end, I guess there is no one secret to having a balanced life. It's all individual and personal. The answer is What do you want to do? and What do you need to do to make it happen? I've started applying these questions to each day and then I prepare accordingly in order to make it happen.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LOVE!

Thank you for your never ending support :)

Our family; Jeff, Cheddar Pancakes, & Me

Progress Report

Me at B.I. Parks Aquatic Ctr

It's almost the end of the week, according to my training schedule, and I am most definitely looking forward to Sunday (it's my day off). Not that this week was hard or anything, but I know I've finally reached that point where I'm starting to do more than I'm used to and it'll be nice to let my body rest.

Here's a quick snap shot of the week:
Monday - This is a biking day, and due to the fact that I already bike to work, I incorporated my workout into my ride home. This way I'm not really sweaty when I get to work and I don't have to wake up any earlier to fit in the workout. My bike commute is 15 minutes, so I just took a longer way home to get to my 30 minute total.

Tuesday - Or Sauna Tuesday's as Jeff and I like to call it, has become a fun addition to our lifestyle. This is the one day Jeff joins me during my training. I go to the aquatics center to do laps while he enjoys the hot tub and the sauna, sometimes he even does a few laps with me.

Wednesday -  Needed to run 40 minutes, and due to other plans (Cheddar was coming with me to the office for the whole day!), I decided to run at Ft. Ward with her. This worked out really well! We arrived at the park just a bit before 7:00am but the Fall season has made it so that it's pitch black at this time, so I had my headlamp and Cheddar was sporting my red blink-y light from the back of my bike helmet. If any of you ever go running with your dog in a low visibility to complete darkness setting you need to put one of these on them! The Blackburn Flea 2.0 USB Rear Light. http://www.rei.com/product/856437/blackburn-flea-20-usb-rear-light. More on this later. The 40 minutes flew by and I felt strong the entire time.

Thursday - Second swim day of the week. I actually looked like a real swimmer, Houzzah! I was able to take a breath with every right arm stroke without breathing in water, swallowing water, or not taking enough oxygen in...it feels good to have rhythm.

Friday - Today was a 50 minute run, and since Ft. Ward worked out so well last time, Cheddar I went again. There were less people, still really dark, but because we had to run longer we actually ran part of the trail system towards the end. Not fun. No matter which end you start at, the trail section starts you with a very steep climb. I knew I wasn't going to be running it but I had to at least try trotting....turns out my trotting was more like walking.

Saturday - Tomorrow I'll be biking. Here's hoping for good weather.

Back to a normal routine

It's been about two weeks since my dad's passing, and two weeks since Jeff (my husband), Cheddar, and I have been home. And, TWO WEEKS WITHOUT TRAINING!

When we drove down to California I had planned to continue training knowing that I would have down time, as the point was to just be with family...no other plans. I knew I couldn't swim as there's no community pool in the hot central valley that's indoors and open during winter, or even outdoor and heated (maybe if I searched really hard, but no time for that). I did however pack a bag with my running and biking gear, when last minute Jeff convinced me not to bring my bike as it would be traveling a good ole 1,004 miles on the rack. So then it was just running. I ran once.

Now that we're back home, back to work, and nothing special is going on, life has resumed as before and so has training. My athletic ability is definitely less than what it was which makes sense as not only did I take a two-week break, I also spent a few days worth in the car. But, that just means that I have to give it my all, no excuses, whining, or hesitations because my training time is starting to increase with each session now.

Biking is easy. The gears just get adjusted to what is needed to climb the hill. What used to be a 2/1 gears for my first hill and 2/2 gears for the second hill to get to work is now a 1/1 and 2/1 to 1/1. No worries, right now the focus is increasing time, my leg muscles will slowly build themselves back up on their own.

Swimming is swimming. I was starting brand new and I am still new.

Running ::sigh:: I love running (I also love to sleep and eat, and...). It's what I've been doing the longest which is why it's harder, at least for me, when my athleticism takes a step back. Yesterday was my first run, and my body was fully aware of how that hill was harder, the whole run was slower, and my enjoyment meter was low. While I may be making excuses, there were a lot of things different on my run; my time was increased by 5 minutes for a total of 35min., Cheddar was not with me, it's now dark when I start, and a good 15min. into it I got emotional and shed a few tears.

All in all, it's good to be home.                     Oh, and thank you everyone for all the love and support. 

Tears & Training

So from the moment that the idea of actually participating in an Ironman crossed my mind, I've only had one thought about the actual day of the event; that my mom and dad would be there somewhere spectating, watching as their daughter tackles on another out of the ordinary endeavor. Well...

 You must never give in to despair. Allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength. (By Iroh.from Avatar: The Last Airbender)

 

Even though everything of my normal day life seems absurd right now, right now that I'm in the waiting phase of prepping things to make the journey to be with my family and face the full brunt of life without dad; my daddy, training will continue. Because...

 

Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving… You will come to a better place (By Iroh.from Avatar: The Last Airbender)

 

 

How hard will it be to train during this? I don't know. Will this make me focus in a way one can't on their own and go to another level? I don't know. What reaction will family have when I take off on my own and insist on training? I don't know. All I know is that I want to keep my life going the way it was before last night's phone call. I know that he wanted me to live and that's what I'll do.

 

 

Step 1: Swim Class Tonight! FYI, I will be trying out my swim cap

 

Elizabeth



THE MASTER PLAN

One cannot just do an Ironman. You cannot just roll out of bed one morning and swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run 26.2 miles. Nor would you want to be told that you didn't make the cut-off time and have to go home after swimming 2.4 miles and paying $650 to enter the race.

Now, I do like to do things on a whim (my husband likes to call me a pooffy cloud....pretty darn accurate actually) but I know I can't just go out and do it like my 5k's and 32 mile bike rides. Both of those are my furthest distance thus far and I really did just roll out of bed and say, 'Cheddar, we are going for a run', 'Bike, we're doing 32 miles so that we can hit two pie stops instead of one. Let's go'. Food definitely motivates me. (hmm, their supposed to have pretty good food stands throughout the race. Maybe I could just roll out of bed and have the stands keep me going? Nope! Pushing that thought out of my mind right now.)

For any of you that are wondering what it takes to get to the starting line, here's my Master Plan;


This is the six-month training schedule provided by Ironman; everything before Nov. is my own

 If the schedule is too hard to read, here's the link to it on the Ironman website.
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/news/articles/05/six-months-to-ironman-a-basic-training-program.aspx#axzz2fqK68Qbi

Wish me luck!

Elo

Swimming: Breathing Technique

Tuesday has rolled around again which means so has another swim session. Class number two went much better than the first one; my hair wasn't on my face like squid tentacles killing its prey, I got to work on breathing, and I wasn't drowning the whole time I was doing a swimming style that's similar to the breast stroke but with my back in the water facing up.

So how did I do with the breathing technique? Here's a list of the lessons I learned tonight, then you can decide if breathing kicked my butt or not.

Lesson #1 - Pigtails may be cute but don't bring them to the pool lanes.
Remember that swim cap I was supposed to buy, well I forgot about it until Sunday. I promptly ordered one online from REI (a nice bright yellow one so I can easily be spotted in open water if I ever become crazy enough to go for a swim in the cold Puget Sound waters....brrr, I get cold just thinking about it) upon which they confirmed my delivery for THURSDAY! The pigtails held strong for about thirty minutes after which little strands started slipping out and gluing themselves onto my face again.

Lesson #2 - What do you mean there's more to exhaling than just creating bubbles with my nose?
Last class my highlight was that I actually exhaled through my nose underwater creating lots of bubbles. I was thrilled because I was not afraid of doing so and in one of my laps I was actually trying to make more bubbles with every exhale. Little did I realize that I was pretty much just pulling my head out of the water and putting it back in just to create bubbles. Apparently, the arm movement, inhaling, and exhaling are all supposed to be in some sort of rhythm. Hmm, how to get rhythm?

Lesson #3 - Lung capacity and what it has to do with you.
Lung capacity has to do with your breath rate, and how deep (long) or shallow (short) it is. You hear it every now and then in sports/fitness articles and I knew what it was but never really realized how one's lung capacity effected one's performance. Well, I am ignorant no longer.
Towards the end of class I was starting to get into some sort of rhythm, and that was after I realized that I don't have great lung capacity. In fact, my lung capacity is very shallow which is why I felt like a mess when I tried to do three arm strokes and then inhale. Personally, I started to find rhythm when I inhaled with every stroke, meaning I was exhaling as I rotated my head to the other side.

Lesson #4 - Rhythm is not the same as timing.
Even after I figured out that I needed to breath with every stroke things still didn't go smoothly. At times I would splash some water in my face or pull my head out instead of just rolling, and in order to reset myself I would have to stop where I was and start the swimming process all over again. Timing, rhythm, coordination...I'm sure these are all things that will come with time and practice.

Looking forward to the improvements I will see and the new lessons I will learn next Tuesday.

Elo

First Swim Class

Having my only experiences in swimming be from family trips to a river an hour and half away from our home in central California, the beach before I was in second grade, and the few times I played in a friends pool in high school I am keenly aware that my weakest leg in the Ironman will be the swimming portion. In fact, it's so obvious to me that sometimes I feel like a giant sign with the word SWIMMING in white letters appears over me. None of this worries me though. I don't think I'm in too bad of shape that I can't make it with a lot of hard training over eight months. But, also knowing that I'll need help in this the most I signed up for a swimming class with our community's parks and rec (biparks.org).

My first session in the Adult Skill Builder II class was this past Tuesday, the 17th of September. So, with my brand new goggles that I proudly purchased at a discount price of $5 at Target, I excitedly attended the first session. (I was a bit anxious in the free time I had at home before the class. Without thinking I did something that gave me great comfort when I was growing up, I laid down on my bedroom floor and stared at the ceiling. My Airedale Terrier, Cheddar Pancakes, joined me and provided an extra sense of calm. She let me snuggle with her for the thirty minutes before I had to go.) The class consists of four students (myself included), of which I am the least skilled as the others all know how to breath properly; you know the technique where you inhale through the side of your mouth and exhale through your nose in the water. That's OK, my main reason for signing up for class was to learn that skill.

We did various things to build our basic skills; swam with boards, put on fins, used only our upper body or lower body, etc. Those were all well and good until I actually tried breathing properly while swimming freestyle. I'll just say this; I have never felt so uncoordinated in my life! There were so many things going on as I tried that one activity, my brain couldn't keep up with all the orders to give my different body parts and organs. It was total chaos!

After pushing off the wall and surfacing my arms started moving forward, then my legs started kicking at the same time I took a breath with my head turned left. Having to exhale right away my mind commanded my head to face down in the water and force air through my nose, creating lots of tiny air bubbles (woohoo! I actually did it w/o breathing in water). I was so focused on exhaling though that my legs would stop kicking, then when I would remember to kick my arms would do more of a thrashing motion while my face would go from in the water to turning left, back in, turn right, in, left, in, left, in, right, waaah! my right arm just splashed water at my face, back in. By this time my too short to tie back hair was plastered to my face with its ends just barely in my mouth (which reminds me, I need to by a swimming cap before next class!).

As my friend who grew up swimming competitively put it, you didn't drown and you exhaled through your nose, that's a win.

- ELo