Swimming with a wetsuit?

Before I became a triathlete I was a surfer. Once I moved to Oregon I gave up surfing but whenever I am close to the beach I still like to catch a few waves. One of the things that I have never liked about surfing is that when the ocean gets cold you must wear a wetsuit. I really don't like wetsuits at all I feel like they make me heavy and make me tired so the best thing for me was to never wear a wetsuit.

When I became I triathlete a started hearing chatter about wetsuit legal races, how people could not swim without the wetsuit, how swimming with a wetsuit was easier and I was really confused. Since I had always hated wetsuits and was a pretty strong swimmer I could just not understand why anyone would want to wear a wetsuit because it helps you swim faster?! That had never been the case in surfing.

My first few races I did not wear a wetsuit, but I noticed that even though the water was warm people had their wetsuits on. I then had a race in mid June where I was 4 people out of 400 with out a wetsuit. The water was cold and I decided to buy one out of need to fight the cold.

More on buying my wetsuit and how I like it in the next post........

Going for a run on Black Friday

Like many people I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to go do some shopping. I don't really go crazy and hit people in order to get the flat screen tv, I just think it a fun thing to do so every year I do it and end up buying presents for the family and a couple of workout items for myself.

Today's workout as stated by my coach Larissa was to run for 45 minutes, no big deal unless one woke up early for Black Friday and is still in a food coma from eating lots and lots of turkey. Top top it off it is really really windy, at least 16mph winds.

After I got home from shopping I told myself that I don't deserve the exercise gear if I don't do my triathlon workout. So I geared up and went, once I was running it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Glad I'm done now, time to rest.

Triathlon and Thanksgiving

I work in the food industry so when Thanksgiving rolls around I get to work a crazy hectic schedule. Today I had not slept for 24 hours but I still wanted to do my triathlon workout. It was a cycling workout so that is not that bad. I put my gear on, got on my bike and was blessed with a sunny day. I went for my ride, I felt good afterwards and I am glad I did it, what a great day to ride!

I'm too tired now to keep writing though, time to get some sleep.

I almost got hit by a bus!

I participate as a comity member for an annual Diabetes ride in the Portland area called the Tour de Cure. As a committee member I attend meetings once a year to plan the ride and it is about a 1 hour bike ride each way, I incorporate it into my workout. Last night while I was on my way to the meeting I had a very scary experience with a TriMet bus.

I was riding at 5pm during dark rush hour in Portland which is definitely not my favorite thing to do and I was approaching a busy intersection. I know this is a scary intersection so I started to slow down but I was in the bike lane so I felt relatively safe but I was still being attentive. I noticed traffic had stopped and there was a bus in the lane next to the bike lane that would eventually merge into the bike lane about 1 and a half blocks away. In the past I have seen TriMet buses try to merge early so I was being very cautious. The bus was not moving and was staying in his lane so I decided it was safe to continue to ride. When I was at about the back door of the bus all of the sudden the bus started pulling forward and into the bus lane. I was stuck in between a TriMet bus and the curb with nowhere to go! The bus kept closing in. I uncliped my pedals and was skidding on the curb trying to stop.

Oh no! I thought to myself this is not going to end well. I was finally able to stop and at that point he saw me and slammed on his breaks. He was waiting for me to go but at that point there was no way I was going so we just sat there for a little bit and then he went and I followed.

My heart was beating fast but I still rode the remaining 5 miles to the Tour de Cure meeting. And then rode the 10 miles back home. I hope this never happens again!

Diet for Thanksgiving?

A couple of weeks ago my triathlon coach at Personal Best: Multisport Coaching told me I as going to have to change my diet or else. I agreed and that same day I changed my diet and applied everything I new to having a well balanced nutritious diet.

So far I have done a good job I eat lots more lean protein and eat healthy snacks but Thanksgiving is quickly approaching what to do? I was discussing with my family what everyone is going to bring or cook and prepare and it is going to be a lot of food. I don't usually tend to over eat so I am not really worried about that it is more that I am worried about eating things that I am not "allowed" to eat.

I think what I will probably end up doing is eating things that are not on my diet but being sensible. Yes that is what I will do.

Great running!

Today I went for a 35 minute jog and also did 30 minutes of core and strenght exercises as prescribed by my coach Larissa Herold. It all went very well I was able to maintain the right heart rates and paces that she had set for me so I am very pleased with that.

The core and strength exercises went well also, the planks she has me doing are probably the hardest part of my workout. I am not sure why they are so hard for me to do and I really don't seem to be getting better at them but I am still working hard at getting better at them.

I can't wait until my first triathlon, April is a long time away. I want to see if my new diet and workout routine are working.

Morning Ride on Marine Drive

Today's workout was a 1 hour 10 minute ride so I decided to go over to Marine Drive since it was still kind of dark and I wanted to be on a bike only path. The ground was wet but it was not raining. I geared up and headed out, 1 minute into the ride my back was covered in mud, it was pretty funny. I don't have a fender on my road bike so whenever the ground is wet I always get covered in mud!

Once I got to Marine Drive which is behind the Portland Airport a huge gust of wind hit me! It was actually pushing me over to the side when I was ridding it was crazy! Just to give you an idea of the headwind in one direction I was going about 10mph and in the other direction I was going about 20mph.

Overall a good day for triathlon workout. I was glad when I got home and was able to get out of my mud covered wet cycling clothes!

40 minute jog with 20 minute core

Today's triathlon workout called for a 40 minute jog with a few strides and different paces followed by 20 minutes of core exercises. Easy enough right? I woke up it was dry! Yes dry! It has not been dry the whole week so things were looking up.

I got dressed went outside and for some reason my Garmin GPS unit was not able to get signal. This is very frustrating for me when I can't get signal and I really don't have the patience to wait so I just started running anyway. The only problem with this is that then my distance and pace are off so I am never quite sure how much I am doing but it gives me an idea. Then about a mile into it my congested chest started acting up which made it hard to breath. Then my knee was bothering me a little. I carried on anyway and completed the workout but its like I can't catch a break lately. I just want to feel 100% and be able to train for triathlons without problems. I wonder when that will happen?

I am almost 100% healthy!

I am almost 100% healthy! I can't believe it! Yesterday I went swimming for 40 minutes and it went grate and today I rode for 1 hour and I felt great! Tomorrow I am going to go running and it is going to be the last test but I think it is all going to go well.

My coach Larissa has been really understanding about everything and made some workouts for me based on the way I felt which was really nice of her and helped me recover. I think that tomorrow is going to be a rain free day so its all going to be even better!

Yes I am very excited that I feel well again.

Trail runing or road runing

A few years ago when I started to run and just to be fit in general I started off by running on the track. As my fitness improved and I was able to run more than 8 laps I thought I would venture out and run on the road and sidewalk. My fitness improved and whenever I ran past parks I would always see people running on the trails and I also heard people telling me that running on the trails is better for the body.

One day I decided to go to the local dog park so that my dog could get his exercise will I could get my triathlon training in, this is going to be a great time saver I thought. I put my dog on a leash and headed out the door he is going to love this! I thought to myself. The park is about 4 blocks away so we jogged there that is when I discovered that my dog does NOT like to run on a leash he drags behind me. Now some people may think that its because I am going to fast for him but no, that is not the case because when we turn around to come home he wants to run in front of me and pull on me.

Anyway we made it to the park I let him off the leash all of the sudden he doesn't mind running but what I discovered was that I don't like running on grass on trails, I just feel like I can't get a good pace going. Since then my dog and I have done the same routine I drag him to the park, let him off he runs around like a lunatic while I think about how I don't like running in the park and then we struggle with each other and the leash to come home.

I had decided this is no fun for everyone and tried it again this morning because I just had to jog for 30 minutes, it was fine he actually cooperated on the way to the park, I did not love running on the trail but was fine with it and when we headed home he just ran next to me! Maybe this will workout somehow in the end!?

Back in the saddle!

After one whole week of not being able to do any triathlon training I was finally able to do some cycling today. Last night my coach at Personal Best: Multisport Coaching gave me the all clear to start doing a little bit of exercise. My workout was to spin for 45 minutes, I decided to be extra cautious and do it indoors on my rollers while I listened to the news as told my Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira. I would say this is a good start to the week. I reported back to coach Larissa and told her how the spinning went and how I felt so she is going to design this weeks workout based on this morning's feedback, I'll keep you posted!

I'm going crazy!

sorry to keep posting about my health and how bored it makes me to not be able to do anything but it is driving me crazy. It has now been 6 days since my last workout I feel lazy and like my fitness level is just disappearing. I know that this is not hot it works and that it is all in my mind and that it is better to rest if you are really sick but this is how I feel!!!!!

Today is the first day since I got sick that I feel better so of course I am tempted to go out for a bit of a workout but my coach told me to just sit tight and let the cold or flu go away. So at this point I can't wait until Monday when I can go for a workout again!

On a brighter note my new wool jersey arrived today, fast shipping as always maybe I will get to use it on Monday so it can keep me nice and warm that is only if it is a cycling workout.

Stay healthy!

New Vintage Wool Jersey

I have been sick for the past 2 days which means no work and no triathlon training for me so I have to find something to do to occupy my time. I have mostly been online and napping but being online usually means making a purchase. I liked my wool jersey from Oregon Cyclewear so much that I decided to order another one. The one I have already is green the new one will be yellow! I can't wait for it to arrive because once I am well again I am going to need it! It was 37 degrees this morning! Last time I ordered one shipping took 3 days so it should be here soon!

To all of you who are not sick and are still able to do your triathlon training happy training! Hope to be able to join you soon!

I have a really bad cold!

I woke up this morning not feeling 100%, I hope I don't have a cold I thought to myself that would be really bad, I hate when I get a cold. I geared up with my wool jersey it was about 37 degrees and very foggy today and went for my 1 hour 15 minute ride. When I got back home I was wet from riding in the fog and felt really congested.

I shrugged of the congestion took a shower and went to work. Once at work I realized I had a problem, I had a cold.... For a few hours I was in denial pretending it would just go away until I finally gave in and came home. I feel like I have a bit of a fever, I have a bit of a cough and cannot breath through my nose at all.

I hope my morning ride did not make it worse I am not sure what the exact science behind these things are. I am probably not going to go to work tomorrow and my roomate says I should not go running either, I just feel so guilty when I don't do my workout. I think I will listen to her though and just stay home and stay warm and try to get rid of this cold as soon as possible.

My diet got me in trouble...

I sent my coach the list of everything I eat in one day for 3 days and she was not happy with what she saw and understandably so. My days consisted of eating, burgers, fries, sloppy joes, chips, chocolate, and all sorts of other foods that are not that great for you.

I received an email from my coach this morning wondering how I was still alive and functioning after the list I sent her. She also said that if I want to have better performance in triathlons I need to eat better. I know I know, now I just have to apply what I know. I am going to do my healthier grocery shopping today and we will see where we go from there.

No surprises so far I knew I was not doing a good job with my diet and that it might affect my triathlon performance now I just need to apply what I know.