XTerra Offroad Tri Training - Week One

Since I couldn't really find any plans to train for this slightly odd distance triathlon, (1/2 mile swim, 16 mile mountain bike 3.5 mile trail run) I decided to use a modified free Olympic distance training plan, and try to do at least some work outs on the trails. Due to snow factors, we'll see how that goes.

Monday:

Goal: 48 minute bike, 24 minute swim

Accomplished: 50 minute spin class, 15 minute run. A super busy time at work led to no swimming this week. Oooops. Next week.

Tuesday:

Goal: Run 24

Accomplished: Unplanned rest day due to 16 our work day. Ugggh. That's all I have to say about that.

Wednesday:

Goal: 40 minute swim

Accomplished: 35 minute run, weights. Again, no swimming. But the run felt good, and I'm really trying to hit the weights this training cycle. Also, I started moving into my new place!

Thursday:

Goal: 80 minute bike

Accomplished: 25 minute bike, weights. Cut my bike ride short and did some quick weights before heading to MacDuff's for a work going away party for our AmeriCorps members. Sniff. I'll miss them so much!

Friday:

Goal: 32 minute run

Accomplished: 35 minute run, 55 minute bike. I made up my shortened ride from Thursday by alternating bike/treadmill. I did 30 minutes on the bike, 20 minutes running, 25 minutes biking and finished up with 15 on the treadmill. It was a nice way to break up a large (for me) chunk of cardio.

Saturday:

Goal: Rest Day

Accomplished: Did some moving, and prepared Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower and some Brussel Sprouts for a Thanksgiving Potluck. There was excellent food, cheap but decent wine, good beer, lovely people, and, as a result of the latter three, sneaking into vacation rental hot tubs to go hot tubbing in the snow.

Sunday:

Goal: 40 minute run

Accomplished: Unplanned rest day. Woke up feeling super sick. (Not just a hangover!) Went for a walk, rehashed funniest party memories, watched True Blood.

This morning, I woke up not feeling any better, so I called in sick to work and headed to the doctor. Turns out, I have bronchitis. Booooooo. I got a prescription and the doctor said I should be feeling better by Wednesday, just in time to travel home for Thanksgiving!

Iron Girl Lake Tahoe Race Report

Katie and I, one week before Race Day!

So I didn't really take any pictures...oops! But here goes the race report!

Pre-Race

Katie and I arrived at the Harvey's parking lot, at 6 am, definitely more early than we needed to be there, as transition didn't close until 7 am, and the first swim wave at 7:30. But we got everything set up, and had plenty of time to chill. (Literally, as it was pretty cold in the dark morning. My toes were definitely regretting my choice to wear flip flops.)

Katie and I had made the decision not to wear wetsuits at the end of August, as we had been swimming in the lake all summer in swimsuits, and didn't want to deal with the hassle of renting, practicing with them, etc. I started getting nervous about this decision when it appeared that we were literally the only ones not wearing wetsuits. Ummm....

As the group moved from the parking lot transition area to the beach where we would be swimming, we kept reassuring ourselves that we'd be fine without wetsuits- we'd only be in the water for ~10 minutes, the water was 65 degrees, we'd been in the lake since June in our bathing suits, etc. Luckily, as the start got closer, we started noticing other women only in swimsuits, or the sports bra/tri shorts combo I was wearing. They had been there all along, just hiding under their sweats, like I was.

I set up my flip flops in the "shoe transition" outside of the beach. There was a fairly long jog back to the bike transition area on asphalt, so they had a little area we could leave our shoes so we didn't have to do it barefoot. After what felt like an eternity of standing on cold, wet sand, the first wave was off!

The Swim

Katie and my leg was the last to be sent off for the 400 m swim. With the wave starts, there were about ~80 women in my wave, so the swim wasn't too crowded. I started towards the middle of the pack on the outside, and angled in toward the first buoy. There wasn't too much jostling and I didn't get kicked at all. Yay!

Katie and I planned to stick together for the race, but that proved pretty difficult in the swim leg, especially once we rounded the second buoy and the sun was in my eyes. The swim went really well. I'm glad I did so much open water swimming this summer. It definitely helped! Also, I totally didn't need a wetsuit. The water felt great!

Swim 400 m: 10:41- 166/494

T1

Katie was out of the water pretty soon after me, so I waited by our shoes and we jogged up to transition together. She had put her down jacket back on, and I was just in a sports bra and my tri shorts, so the announcer made a funny comment about that. I took my time, put on my bike jersey, socks, shoes, helmet, sunglasses, etc. and ate some Cliff Blocks (which tasted like candy!)

and headed out on the road.

T1: 10:01

Bike

The race had closed down the two middle lanes of Hwy 50 for us to ride on which was beyond awesome! I had thought that we were going to have to ride on the shoulder. The ride definitely had some tough hills, but I had the local advantage of riding the route all summer so I knew it really well. Being in the last swim wave gave the advantage of having lots of people to pass. I would just focus on someone's back and pick them off, then move on to the next person. I definitely passed more people than I got passed by, but I know I could have pushed harder on the bike. This is my only disappointment in the race.

When I got about a mile from the finish, I started to freak out that I would forget to clip out. I don't know why I panicked about that, but I did. When I got close to transition, I clipped out, but I probably did so waaaaaay before I needed to.

Bike 24 k: 54:16- 215/494

T2

Staying together on the bike leg proved too difficult, and I got ahead of Katie somewhere around mile 2 or 3, so I hung around in transition so we could start the run together, also, because I promised to yell at her to remember to clip out, as she'd only learned to ride in clipless shoes the week before. I changed into my running shoes, and gulped some Gatorade, as I didn't drink at all during the ride. Ooops!

T2- 7:15

Fun fact: This was the Third Slowest Overall T2!

Run

This was by far the leg I was most proud of. I am not a runner. I don't especially love running. I am slow. I had only done about 75% of my training runs this summer. But the run went so well! Katie and I started off pretty slow, chatting about the beer and cheese we would be eating shortly, and how usually we were just now waking up for bagels and coffee at this point on a Sunday. I slowly kicked it into higher gear, and kept picking off and passing people ahead of me. The course was two loops, so it was slightly demoralizing to see the "2 miles" sign and realize that I'd only run about a mile. At one point, we saw our friend Reina, who was on her second lap and bounding like a gazelle. The course was pretty flat, with only one hill (that we had to do twice, argh) and was mostly shaded, which was nice.

Finally, I came around the corner (for the second time) where the first lap people split off from the finish line people. I ran a little farther and saw the "3 mile" sign and kicked it into higher gear. I came around the corner and sprinted towards the finish line. I heard the announcer say, "...Lynn B., from South Lake Tahoe, and she signed up for this triathlon after drinking 6 beers!" Apparently, (after drinking the aforementioned beers) that is what I put as my "interesting fact" when I signed up! Ha!

Run 5 k: 31:22- 166/494

This is totally awesome because I usually run at about a 10 m/mi pace, so it was amazing to see I'd run that fast at the end of a triathlon! I guess now I'm going to have to speed up my runs!

Overall

The Iron Girl Lake Tahoe was a great experience, and extremely well run. I haven't done any of their other events, but I would assume that they are similar. Highly recommend!

1:53:38 253/494 (I think that 7 minute T2 really pulled me down in the overall, ha!)

While I didn't really get any pictures at the race, here is a picture of Katie and my post race beverages.

Katie went with a Bloody Mary, while I went with the drink that got me into the deal- Beer!

Also, I still can't get my race number scrubbed off my arms.

Triathlon Training - Week 15

It's so soon! Next Sunday.

Here's how triathlon training went for the week:

Monday:

Goal: Rest/Drive 14 hours

Accomplished: Katie, her HLP Jessica and I did the 14 hour drive from Seattle to Lake Taco in one shot. It was a long drive

Tuesday:

Goal: Swim 18, Bike 37

Accomplished: Bike 105. I know I'm supposed to be cutting back before the triathlon, but with the epic road trip, I only got in one workout the previous week, and I was feeling antsy for a nice long ride. I rode Powerline Trail, and like usual, I spent the first half mile cursing myself for picking it due to the deep sand and short but steep uphills, but then things smoothed out and I cruised past the spot where I usually turn around and found out that the trail gets even better! Then I cursed myself for not riding the whole thing all summer.

Wednesday:

Goal: 50 minute bike, 18 minute run

Accomplished: 27 minute run, 25 minute open water swim. I had a bike/run brick on the schedule, but when Katie and Reina wanted to go for an open water swim, I changed my plans. I love open water swimming, but going by myself is always a little nerve wracking, due to the dudebros on jet skis and Tahoe Tessie (Nessie's cousin). I even managed to get in a run before I met Katie and Reina for our swim!

Thursday:

Goal: 31 minute swim swim

Accomplished: 25 minute open water swim, 45 minute bike. Katie and I met up for another open water swim, and I made it into a brick with a 9 ish mile bike ride afterward. I practiced swimming and biking in my tri shorts, and I love them! Still need to try running though.

Friday:

Goal: 62 minute bike

Accomplished: 20 minute run. With a Deadwinter Carpenters show on Friday at my favorite bar and a beer/bluegrass/camping wedding on Saturday, I knew there was a pretty good chance I wouldn't get any workouts in this weekend, so I squeezed in a run while my laundry was going at the laundromat. I need to multi-task like this more often.

Saturday:

Goal: Rest Day

Accomplished: Rode my bike to get bagels, ate bagels, ate Cheeze-its, attended an awesome wedding, danced, partied until 7 am

Sunday:

Goal: 31 minute run

Accomplished: Ha ha. Watched football, watched the True Blood finale, ate greasy Chinese food, ate more Cheeze-its

Triathlon Training - Week 13

Here's how triathlon training went for the week:

Monday:

Goal: 35 minute swim

Accomplished: 35 minute swim. Normally, my schedule has swim/bike days on Monday and Wednesday, but since I knew I'd be biking all day Saturday and Sunday, I switched things up a bit and pushed all my biking to the end of the week.

Tuesday:

Goal: Brick

Accomplished: 10 mile ride, 2 mile run. Brick! My legs didn't even feel too bad, and I did this run only a little slower than my normal 2 miles runs.

Wednesday:

Goal: 21 minute swim

Accomplished: 30 minute swim.

Thursday:

Goal: 35 minute run

Accomplished: I moved my long run to Thursday, because I knew there was no way that was happening on Sunday after two days of biking.

Friday:

Goal: Rest

Accomplished: I'm glad I took this rest day before two days of beating my body up

Saturday & Sunday:

Goal: Ride my ass off at Mammoth Mountain.

Accomplished: Done & Done and covered in scabs & weird tan lines to prove it. Pictures coming later.

Oh hey there blog

It's been awhile.

Between KJW's wedding and my work putting on our biggest event of the year (a 160+ person, 2 day conference and a 125+ item auction), I neglected both my blog and my tri training for a couple of weeks. But the conference is over, and I celebrated with too many Tecate Pluses and poor decision making.

Here's what my training looked like:

Week 11: 22 minute run, 29 minute swim, 3 hours of dancing.

Week 12: 33 minute run, 19 minute run, 2 hour bike, 15 minute ride of shame.

But this week is a new week, and I am already off to a better start. On Wednesday, I did a real brick (10 mile bike, 2 mile run) and yesterday, I ventured out for my first open water swim with Katie and Christa. We swam from Katie's office's private beach (jealous? I am.) and swam about 400 m to a pier, treaded water for awhile, swam back and then did a short loop around a moored sailboat for about 1000 m total.

Open water swimming in Lake Taco is much more difficult and choppy than Lake Padden or Davis Lake, but we survived, and I made the decision not to rent a wetsuit for the race.

Unrelated to anything, here is a picture of me and Scott, my co-wedding officiant grinding during Kelly & Drew's reception:

Triathlon Training - Week 10

3 posts today! Obviously, I am trying to avoid work.

Here's how triathlon training went for the week:

Monday:

Goal: 19 minute swim

Accomplished: 32 minute swim

Tuesday:

Goal: Rest

Accomplished: I rested very sucessfully

Wednesday:

Goal: 32 minute swim, 32 minute run

Accomplished: 30 minute swim. The universe didn't want me to finish this swim, but I did! 32 run- I've finally stopped being super lazy about my runs, and forcing myself to do them. And they're not that terrible.

Thursday:

Goal: 51 minute bike

Accomplished: 70 minute bike- this was another ride along the triathlon route. While I haven't completed the whole thing, I've ridden the distance, and I've ridden the hardest, hilliest section. I also rode 11 miles through bike commuting this day. I usually only ride five.

Friday:

Goal: Rest

Accomplished: Excellent rest day that included sushi, sake, beer and pizza.

Saturday:

Goal: 64 minute bike

Accomplished: 3 + hour epic hilly bike ride of death

Sunday:

Goal: 19 minute run, 38 minute bike

Accomplished: After the aforementioned epic hilly bike ride of death, I gave myself a well-deserved extra rest day.

I'm a little worried about training this week, as I'm flying to Seattle tomorrow for KJW & Drew's awesome wedding. I'm hoping to go for a run tonight, do a swim tomorrow, and I'll bring along my running shoes and work out clothes. And, of course, there will be hours of insanely awesome cardio in the form of dancing.

Triathlon Training - Week 9

Here's how triathlon training went for the week:

Monday:

Goal: 17 minute swim, 35 minute bike

Accomplished: 40 minutes of stand up paddle boarding. Fun time cross training!

Tuesday:

Goal: Yoga

Accomplished: 55 minute bike ride. I went riding at Fallen Leaf Lake, where I've gone trail running before, but never biking. It started out kind of boring, but ended up super fun. I saw all sorts of side off-shoot trails that I want to explore in the future. I was going to go to yoga after my ride, but I ditched out. I need to get back in the yoga habit again. It makes my life so much better.

Wednesday:

Goal: 29 minute swim, 46 minute bike

Accomplished: 40 minute swim. Since I had big plans to drive up to Northstar this weekend and ride pretty much all day either Saturday or Sunday, I put off my other bike rides this week until then.

Thursday:

Goal: 17 minute run, weights

Accomplished: 25 minute run, then another 20 minute or so walk. I also need to do my weight lifting. It's so hard to go to the gym when it's nice out, though!

Friday:

Goal: 58 minute bike ride

Accomplished: I decided to switch my rest day from Saturday to Friday. I often feel like Friday is a better day for me to rest than Saturday, because I'm so tired from the work week on Friday. This was a perfect rest day that involved lots of ice cream and fruit and reading.

Saturday:

Goal: Rest day

Accomplished: 47 minute swim, 26 minute run. This swim was amazing. As much as I like starting my day with a workout (aside from waking up at 6:15), swimming on Saturday at 11:00 am was awesome. The water was warm, the sun was out, there was a hot guy in the lane next to me, and I didn't have to wake up early. My original plan was to run before I swam, but I hit the snooze button a few too many times to make that happen. My running was nearly derailed by laziness, laundry, and hot weather. I knew that if I didn't go on Saturday, my second run would not get done, so I forced myself out the door. Of course, I did not regret it, even a little.

Sunday:

Goal: 29 minute run

Accomplished: I went up to Northstar and biked from about 11 am to 3 pm. It was so much fun, but I am definitely sore and tired today. I forgot how much work it is to ride from the top of the mountain to the bottom.

This was a very successful week for triathlon training. I actually got all of my minutes in! I only did two bike workouts instead of three, but one was all day, and I bike commuted pretty much everywhere this week, so I think that works out. I should definitely be focusing on my running in the coming weeks, as it's by far my weakest leg.

(Not) The Prettiest Run in Tahoe

Usually when I run, I like to run on trails or at least do a loop or two around my decidedly un-busy neighborhood. I hate running on the terribly uneven sidewalk next to a busy road, breathing in exhaust fumes from the hundreds of Escalades and Hummers that invade our town every weekend. But yesterday, I needed to pick up my roommate's car from the casino parking lot where she had parked to catch the airport shuttle at the ungodly hour of 3:30 am. I also needed to go for a run.

I decided to kill two birds with one stone and run/walk the 3 miles to the casino and pick up her car. This is not the prettiest run in Tahoe.

Actually, it didn't start out too bad:

It was kind of hazy out, but still pretty.

But I quickly came to the less scenic, more exhaust heavy part of the run.

I'm still getting used to my Saucony Kinvaras (and, let's face it, I haven't been running that much), so I decided to slow to a walk after about 2.25 miles, and walk the rest of the way.

Casino signs up ahead! I'm getting closer.

I made it to the MontBleu! I considered going in and having a 99 cent margarita, but the thought of breathing in smoke kind of made me want to barf.

Now, I just had to find Allison's car. I am not the world's most observant person, and, despite seeing it in our driveway every day, I couldn't quite remember if her Subaru Outback was green or blue.

I wandered up and down the rows of the parking lot looking. Luckily, this is not the PNW, where every third car is an Outback, and I found Allison's after only a few minutes of wandering. For the record, it's green. I'm 75% sure.

I'm enjoying my bright new shoes, and, while I'm not sure if it's due to the new shoes, or running on cement instead of trails, my legs definitely felt sore in a different sort of way.

After reading some very strong recommendations, I'm also experimenting with running while listening to an audiobook instead of music. So far, I'm really liking it. I'm listening to the audiobook of World War Z, which I've already read and loved. The audiobook version is amazing! (My dad told me it won some super prestigious audiobook award, and he is the king of audiobooks, so I'm sure he knows what he's talking about.) I would highly recommend it for running. What's more inspirational for running than thinking about hordes of zombies chasing after you?

Triathlon Training - Week 8

Here's how triathlon training went for the week:

Monday:

Goal: 35 minute bike

Accomplished: 16 mile bike ride. We rode most of the bike course for the triathlon. There are some monster hills! We ended up riding a longer distance than the bike course (14 miles) because we took off on our ride a couple of miles before the start.

Tuesday:

Goal: Yoga, 17 minute swim

Accomplished: 35 minute swim. I switched swims to Tuesday/Thursday this week. It seems easier to get out of bed at 6:15 am on a Tuesday than a Monday, so this might become permanent.

Wednesday:

Goal: Weights, 35 minute bike ride

Accomplished: Brick- 38 minute mountain bike ride, 21 minute trail run.

Thursday:

Goal: 17 minute run, 17 minute swim

Accomplished: 30 minute swim. This swim felt awesome! I sped up my laps, and didn't feel like I was going to die. My parents came into town this afternoon, which definitely interfered with my training.

Friday:

Goal: 35 minute bike ride

Accomplished: Ummm...I did half of a bike commute...so, um a ten minute bike ride?

Saturday:

Goal: Rest day

Accomplished: My mom and I swam in Lake Taco for about 15 or 20 minutes. I love swimming with my mom.

Sunday:

Goal: 17 minute run

Accomplished: Threw rocks into the American River, watched HP 7.5 again, and splashed around in the MontBleu pool.

While I didn't do much (any) training while my parents were here, I stacked enough working out into the first half of the week that I got all of my minutes in swimming and biking, and a little over half running. So that was good. But I need to get better about getting my workouts in when my routine has changed.

Trail Brick and yet another bike

The last bike in my bike flock finally arrived and is all put together:

My road bike, stylish and triathlon ready. Now I just have to remember how to use clip on pedals and ride a road bike.

My complete bike flock, in my messy room.

Instead of taking my newly put together road bike out for a spin, I decided to do a Trail Brick. I drove my mountain bike up to the trailhead of Powerline Trail and rode for about 40 minutes.

Last time I rode Powerline, this bridge was submerged by a few inches of water, and I got wet feet crossing it.

I guess the water levels are finally going down. Maybe we'll actually have beaches sometime this summer. The "beach" by my house is just water up to the concrete barrier at this point.

While Powerline Trail has gorgeous views of Desolation Wilderness, it's not my favorite mountain bike trail to ride, which I never seem to remember until I am actually riding on it.

I stowed my bike back in my car, and headed out on a trail run. This was my first time running with my hydration pack. Since I only ran/hiked for about 40 minutes, I didn't really need it, but I had forgotten another way to store my car keys. Once I got the straps adjusted right, running with the pack wasn't too bad at all.

My legs definitely felt like bricks for the first 8 or so minutes of my run. I ran for about 25 minutes, with a couple of walking breaks. Then I walked back to my car for a nice cool down. I timed it perfectly- it wasn't too hot during the run, but I made it out of the woods before the mosquitoes got bad.

My new running shoes arrived, and, while I've walked around in them some, this was the first run I did. They're Saucony Kinvaras and they're definitely more minimalist than my previous shoes. I'm hoping that by strengthening my muscles instead of relying on insoles and cushion-y shoes, I can build up to higher mileage than I've been able to do in the past. Also, they are caution sign yellow-green, which I love.

I got so excited when I finished and saw that someone had left behind a free post-workout beverage for me to enjoy.

Unfortunately, it was a trick, and the PBR can was empty, despite looking unopened, and I had to stick with water, sadly.

All in all, it was a great first brick of my training season!

Triathlon Training - Week 7

Here's how triathlon training went for the week:

Monday:

Goal: 17 minute swim, 35 minute bike

Accomplished: 25 minute run. The pool was closed due to "clarity issues". I went on a 25 minute trail run instead.

Tuesday:

Goal: Rest/Yoga

Accomplished: Yoga. Apparently my gym did switch yoga instructors on Tuesday nights. I really like the woman who teaches now, but the class is definitely more of a workout than the previous version.

Wednesday:

Goal: 29 minute swim, 46 minute bike

Accomplished: 35 minute swim in the morning, I missed out on my evening bike ride due to a work event, where I had to bird watch and get chased by mosquitoes.

Thursday:

Goal: 17 minute run, weights

Accomplished: 21 minute run, and I lifted weights! For the first time in forever! I busted out a speedy workout between work and Tour de France watching/stuffing bread and cheese in my face.

Friday:

Goal: 58 minute bike ride

Accomplished: 35 minute swim in the morning to make up for Monday's missed swim. After work, I went on an awesome mountain bike ride, that will probably be it's own post later.

Saturday:

Goal: Rest day

Accomplished: Bruce Springsteen party and hanging out in the Pearl Izumi factory store for way too long.

Sunday:

Goal: 26 minute run

Accomplished: hangover, Cheez-It eating, True Blood watching

Three Things Thursday

1) I work in development (fundraising, outreach & events) at a non-profit, and today is the close of our fiscal year. Also, we're planning a big conference that will take place in mid-August. To say the last couple weeks have been busy and stressful have been an understatement. The couple of weeks won't be much better, as the close of the fiscal year means the start of audit prep and doing data analysis for the Annual Report. Luckily I love data analysis! Here is what my desk looks like right now:

What can I say? I like to be hydrated.

2) I was finally going to stick around Lake Taco for an infamous holiday weekend, but I decided that I'm going to drive down to Santa Barbara instead. I'm super excited to listen to the audio version of World War Z on the drive! Does anyone else have any recommendations for good audio books?

3) As you might recall, I drunkenly signed up for a triathlon earlier this month. I had forgotten that, in the memo field, I had written something like "I'm drunk and signing up for a triathlon! Woo!" Or, had forgotten until I got something in the mail from Iron Girl. I got a race belt and a lovely hand written note:

Training for the upcoming Iron Girl triathlon is going pretty well. Katie is out of town this week, so it was difficult (ie impossible) to get out bed yesterday at 6 am for the swim. So, instead, I went after work. When I arrived at about 5:15, the desk attendant informed me that there was swim team practice until 6:30. My original plan had been to swim right after work, and then head to the gym to spin. But I asked myself, "Self, what are you more likely to do this weekend in Santa Barbara? Go for a run, or go for a bike ride?" Answer: definitely, bike ride. So I drove into Nevada, where I'd seen people trail running while out on my bike. I did a quick car change (good thing I almost always wear a sports bra to work!) and headed out on the trail. I got in a good 30 minute run, and then made it to the pool for a thirty minute swim. While I was swimming, a pine cone from one of the overhead trees fell into my lane and nearly hit me in the head. That certainly never happened in Santa Barbara!

Beer + Beer + Beer + Beer = Triathlon Registration?

This weekend, as many weekend nights go, Katie and I had a few beers at Lake Tahoe Brewery...Then we had a couple more...Then we ate some honey mustard pretzels...Then we ordered pizza...Then we signed up for a triathlon...

Hold up! One of these things is not like the other!

We'd been talking for awhile about doing the Lake Tahoe Iron Girl triathlon, but hadn't actually signed up yet, or really started training. In our beer-induced-(over?)confidence haze, we decided that it was time. We were signing up!

So we forked over our credit card information, and $95 later, we were registered! Woo hoo! I used a free sprint training plan to craft us a google doc spreadsheet (We're starting week 3 of a 16 week plan from beginnertriathlete.com).

Sunday, we began our training with a 25 minute jog at Fallen Leaf Lake. I'd never ran here before, and I'm so excited Katie introduced me. It's gorgeous, shady, and not too steep!

When it gets a little warmer (or we can borrow wetsuits) we can do some open water swims here!

I'm excited to have a training partner for a lot of reasons, but especially for the extra motivation in the morning. After literally months of promising myself (and not following through) I woke up early and went swimming in the community pool before work. Since I was meeting Katie there at 6:30 am, I had to!

We swam for about 40 minutes, which included lots of breaks. Pretty good for my first time lap swimming in about 10 months. I'm not too sore yet, I think my arms are pretty strong from lifting, but my hip flexors definitely feel weird, if not sore or painful. Maybe that's from trail running yesterday?

I'm excited to have finally committed to a triathlon to do this summer, and I'm really looking forward to having a training partner!

Don't rain on my parade

I was stoked to hit up Corral Trail again yesterday after work. I had my bike stuff in the car, changed in the office bathroom, hopped in my car and headed out.

I decided that if I didn't want to be a rage monster, I better stop at the grocery store and get a snack. I ran in and bought some Cliff Bars and strawberries. As I headed back to my car, I happened to glance up at the sky.

It looked pretty ominous.

As I did not have any rain gear, I made the executive decision to head to the gym instead. This is how I felt about that:

This was my first time running since my ill-advised 3 ish miler with two sprained toes. My toes haven't really been hurting lately, so I thought they were good to go.

Not so much. At least this time I quit after a reasonable 1.8 miles. Who would have thought that two small toes make such a difference? At least I can still lift, so that's what I did.

At my gym there is a "Ladies Only" training area with a couple of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, some weight machines, and some dumbbells. I usually do most of my work out in the main area, but lift in the "Ladies Only" area because the weights are almost always not being used. The dumbbells in this area only go up to 25, and, as of yesterday, I graduated to the main weightlifting area.

Yay for me and my increase in strength!

Sprained toes?

Jodi and I on Clearwater Beach in Clearwater, FL.

Unlike the above picture, we've been having not the nicest weather in Tahoe lately. Like snow. In June. So yesterday I decided to get back in the running swing of things and do a little run on the treadmill at my gym. Due to the fact that it's been about three weeks since I last ran, and I'm getting over a cold, I decided to go for a lovely run/walk pattern of run three minutes walk one, run three walk one, etc.

Did you know that the Collegiate Men's Rugby Championships are televised? I didn't, but it sure made my time on the treadmill more entertaining. About 15 minutes into my run, I was reminded of something. Painfully. While I was in Florida, I sprained two of toes on my left foot.

Probably while sprinting across Universal Studios Islands of Adventure towards Hogwarts.

They were all purple and gross and painful, but I thought that they'd healed during my post-travel/cold/horrible allergies convalescence. Apparently not. When they started hurting, I stupidly mostly ignored them, just changing to three minutes running/two minutes walking.

That was not a smart decision. Now I am hobbling around. I should probably ice my toes, but my feet are always so cold I am a little worried that my toes might literally fall off if my feet got any colder. So for now, it's just hobbling and no more running until they are not purple or sore at all.

Maybe Erin stomped on my toes when I tried to drink her butter beer.

I'm going to try spinning after work today, to see if that's ok, but if they hurt, I have promised myself that I will stop. After years of team sports and "playing through the pain", this is sometimes difficult for me to do. If my silly toes hurt to much for spin class, I will do an upper body workout instead.

In other news, I successfully changed my bike tire yesterday. It was much easier than I thought it was going to be, as I'd only changed tires on my road bike before. Yet another reason I like my mountain bike so much more!

Brick, dumb as a (or what not to do after a low mileage month)

For a variety of reasons (moving twice, dogsitting, laziness), April was a low mileage month.

Like 23 miles of running, 27 miles of biking and some elliptical low.

May is going to be different, I decided. I'm going to get after it. After all, Tri Training is really kicking into gear (despite the fact that I haven't yet decided exactly which tri(s) I'm doing).

Definitely this one

Monday, I went to spin class and did upper body weights. I felt awesome afterwards, tired muscles burning, endorphins high, etc. So yesterday I decided to do a brick; I did 15 miles of biking, then immediately ran a 5 k at my typical running pace.

Screeeeeech! (That's supposed to be a record scratching sound.)

What was I thinking? I know that for many people, that's nothing. However, I'd only biked 30 miles total in the last month, and I hadn't run more than 2 ish miles since mid-April. Then I did core work.

I'm feeling it in my whole body today. Sore arms: check. Sore legs: double check. Sore abs: check. Sore eyes and nose: check (thanks allergies!) So I will be taking it easy tonight, with either some light spinning or elliptical-ing and maybe some lower body weights.

In other news, the new headphones I ordered, Skull Candy Full Metal Jacket Earphones in Chrome, finally came. My impression so far:

I wore them for my workout yesterday, and they fell out constantly. Like, even while I was sitting on the spin bike, I had to readjust every couple of minutes. I almost gave up running in them. Luckily, they came with 4 other rubber-ear-thingy options. I put the smallest ones on this morning, and they didn't seem to feel much more stable when I tried them on.

I'll give them another shot with the different rubber pieces before I decide whether or not to keep them. Luckily, Skull Candy has a pretty generous return policy, or so I hear. I paid $21.99 for these, I would hope that they could stay in my ears.

Weekend Recap

In Picture Form:

First there was Girlie Wine Night with a lot of this:

Two Buck Chuck (here)

And this:

Fancy Gross Out Cheese (here)

And these:

(here)

Too much of the three previous items and too little sleep and too many:

Rainclouds (here)

Meant no

hiking (here) to Feather Falls.

Instead, we watched

(here)

And snuck in

Delicious, cheesy goodness (here)

There was still too much rain for hiking on Sunday so I watched

This show (here) is like a reunion of the cast of Veronica Mars.

Eventually, I dragged myself off the couch and laced up these:

My Adidas running shoes (here) which I don't exactly like.

And ran up and down a bunch of these

hills that feel much steeper than they look (here).

Lassen thought that I was crazy for running up and down the same hill over and over, but he enjoyed it anyway. It's amazing how sore a mile of hills vs. 4 miles of flat will make you! The stairs at work have been a slight challenge.

All in all, it was a great weekend.

A run around my neighborhood

It's snowing (snowing!) outside right now.

Yesterday, however, was a perfectly lovely day, and I took a run around my neighborhood (well, my neighborhood until tomorrow), with my camera. I found my camera charger! One nice thing about moving is that you find stuff you thought was long gone. I found my camera charger, two pairs of sunglasses, and a sweater dress!

I usually do a loop around part of my neighborhood that's about 2 miles, and then run along the bike path, out and back for a total of ~3.5 miles. I absolutely love this neighborhood, and hopefully will be moving back here in May, when I am done house sitting. Allison and I found an awesome place about a block away from where I currently live, but sadly, not on the Lake Taco side.

Here's the running tour of my neighborhood:

The Sierra and an old fashioned fence.

The snow has been melting, and the "meadow" is more of a swamp.

Upper Truckee Marsh. I saw a huge coyote here the other day!

This house has a sign on it that says "Luxury Living at It's Finest".

It makes me laugh every time I see it.

There's still a lot of snow.

Old fashioned boathouse on Lake Taco.

I love this neighborhood, and I think I'll keep running here, even if I end up living somewhere else.