Friday, April 30, 2010

Triathlon Coaching Over

Today is the last day of the month of April and what this means is that as of tomorrow morning i no longer have a triathlon coach. I no longer will be having a triathlon coach because I cannot afford one anymore. I have had a coach for about 6 months and I have really enjoyed having a coach so it really is too bad. I really liked just knowing what my workouts would be and being able to get back to someone to get feedback on the workouts.

I have learned a lot and I hope that sometime soon I will be able to afford a coach again but as of now no coach. I think I am going to get some workouts written out in a log about two weeks in advance so I can still follow a similar system, only that now I am my own coach. I am sure it will be fine, she still wants to know how I do in the Hippie Chick half marathon in a week so thats nice of her. Anyway its the start of a new way of training or back to the old way I guess......

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Fun Day!

Lots of stuff going on today for training. I first went on a 45 minute run aka 5 miles then its 45 minutes of strength and then for fun I am going on a 2.5 hour "easy" hike. As of now the weather is holding up there is even a little bit of sun! But the weatherman says hail and rain for midday, surprise, surprise, yes I live in Oregon!

Overall it will be a great day for outdoor activity with lots of fun on the hike. If I take some nice pictures I will post them. I hope you guys enjoy your day as well!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Its True my Shoulder STILL Hurts

It has been five weeks since I fell and injured my shoulder since then I have only been able to swim once and it was will doing the sprint swim of the Beaver Freezer in Corvallis. When I did that swim my shoulder still hurt and my coach advised me against racing but I just had to do the Beaver Freezer! Anyway I was able to "limp" through that swim but it inflamed my shoulder and I think the injury regressed a little.

Now its about five weeks since the fall and I still have not been able to swim even though my shoulder is much much better. Now I am debating should I just ignore the little bit of pain and go swimming or wait patiently for another few weeks until I am closer to pain free? The later is probably the best idea this is just so frustrating. I want to get all of my triathlon training in!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Very hard 11.5 mile run

The Hippie Chick half marathon is less than 2 weeks away and today was my last of the longer runs before the race as I am starting to taper a little bit. I ran 11.5 miles and it was really really hard. I woke up and it was POURING rain but as I had breakfast and a cup of coffee the rain died down and a little bit of sun came out, it was warm enough to run in shorts and short sleeves!

I got my Garmin Forerunner 310xt, ipod, Nuun, and Luna moons and headed out. After about one mile I could tell it was going to be a hard run. I felt a little heavy and tired and was not having the easiest time breathing. I tried to think as positive as I could and at mile 4 my side started to hurt. I tried to breath through it and it eventually went away.

With 3 miles to go I had a even more painful side pain. Again I tried to just breath through it telling myself only 3 more miles you can do it. I managed to finish my run. I am glad I did it without stoping it was very very hard. I hope I do not suffer this much during the Hippie Chick. After an hour and 45 minutes of running its time for a shower and some food!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Runner in Oregon T-shirts and Stickers



So as promised I have spent many hours coming up and perfecting a new logo for all of Oregon's runners. This is a unique fun logo for all who love Oregon and love to run. This Runner in Oregon t-shirt is available in short sleeve, long sleeve, women's and men's styles. It will be available in sweatshirts soon! Runner in Oregon stickers as well! Just send me an email and let me know what you are interested in.

Here is the pricing:
Runner in Oregon t-shirts $9.99 plus $3 s/h
Runner in Oregon long sleeve t-shirts $14.99 plus $3 s/h
Runner in Oregon Stickers $2.50 plus $1 s/h
Runner in Oregon sweatshirts to come!

Also available with the same pricing Triathlon in Oregon and Tree in Oregon logos.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Bike Route Edgefield to Vista Point

Untitled by pucha11 at Garmin Connect - Details

Today I had a great training ride with the people form the Tour de Cure ride for diabetes Portland, Oregon. It was about a 22 mile ride with some climbs. I had never ridden in this area before so I was really looking forward to going on this ride with people who knew the route. I had a great time and I mapped the route out with my Garmin Forerunner 310xt so that if someone is interested in doing this great ride you can look at the map.

We got some typical Oregon weather for this ride, some sun, a fair amount of wind, some rain, and some hail. It was a great day with some fantastic views! I think that next year when I am training for the half Ironman I will come on this route for some training rides to get some hills in. In the summer I might even try Larch Mountain!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Can I eat chocolate while running?



Yesterday I was at Champoeg State Park where the Hippie chick Half marathon will take place so my workout was to do a 11.2 training run on the path and test out the half marathon route. The night before I had a terrible night sleep as it was very very cold in my tent and when I woke up I was really stiff. I convinced myself to even though I felt tired and brought a Reeses peanut butter bunny along with my trustworthy Nuun electrolytes.

At about 5 miles I decided it would be a good idea to start eating the chocolate for some energy. It is really hard for me to eat while running so I basically force myself to do it and when I took the first bite I could just not swallow it! I forced myself to swallow the chocolate and I almost choked. I coughed a little and then washed it down with some Nuun and carried on with my run.

I ate more chocolate the run was really hard but I am really glad I did it as now I have practiced most of the Hipppie Chick course close to the race itself. Another bonus was the wonderfull scenery of the Champoeg State Park.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Rudy Project Customer Service

I have been a fan of Rudy project and their glasses and helmets for a long time now so when I recently ordered a new helmet, the Slinger I was really looking forward to it. When the helmet arrived I unpacked it and unfortunately the padding from the inside of the helmet was not secured on the helmet properly. A couple of the pads were falling off. I reattached them as best I could and wore the helmet. Other than the pads having come off in the shipping process I was very satisfied with the Rudy Project Slinger Helmet. A few weeks later however when I went to get the helmet for my ride I noticed the padding had fallen off again.

I emailed Rudy Project telling them how I was a customer love their product but just want to let them know that the helmet I had bought a few months earlier was not 100% up to standard. I got a very quick response telling me that they would be able to send me some pads but they needed my order number. I no longer have my order number I told the customer service rep at Rudy Project. He asked for the credit card I had bought the helmet with and I told him that I no longer had it as it had been involved in fraudulent activity. I did give him all my other information and asked him if this was enough to send me the new pads for my helmet. He said no unfortunately I can't I need the order number or credit card number or it will cost you $5 for shipping. What?

I know $5 is not a lot of money but Rudy Project sent me a helmet that had pads that were falling out, why should I have to pay anything? And really they can't see that I ordered something by looking at my name address and phone number?! this does not seem right. The customer service rep at Rudy Project was very nice but he was unable to help me and if it is company policy to not satisfy a customer after they have received a defective problem then to me this is a huge problem. I am not sure if in the future I will recommend or buy form Rudy Project.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

New Triathlon in Oregon t-shirts!





I have been working on my design a little more to try and sell my Triathlon in Oregon t-shirts directly instead of through cafepress. So the image has been cleaned up and I have put the Triathlon in Oregon logo on a few long sleeve and short sleeve t-shirts. There are also women size t-shirts available for the Triathlon in Oregon t-shirts. If interested let me know, I might even be able to make hoodies. T-shirts are selling for $9.99 plus $3 s/h and long sleeve are $14.99 plus $3 s/h. I still do not have a price on hoodies but email me if you are interested in them. Here are some new pictures. My email is pucha11@gmail.com.

No more training with a coach

As most of you know I got a triathlon coach about 6 months ago with Personal Best Multisport coaching. The coach that got assigned to me was Larissa Herold and we were able to develop a good online training relationship. Over the months I was able to learn about heart rate, nutrition, and just training in general thanks to her. Unfortunately I have run into some financial difficulties and I am no longer going to be able to afford my coach even though I was on a sponsored program. What the sponsored program means is that I got 50% off of the price of coaching.

So as of May 1st I will no longer have a coach and I will have to use what I have learned in the past 6 months to create my own workouts. I am sure this will workout fine but it was so nice to be able to check in with someone and have my workouts emailed to me every night. It was also nice to be able to ask questions about training. Anyway Larissa will get me trained up until the Hippie Chick half marathon and then it is all me by myself again. They did tell me though that I can come back to them in the future if I am interested, which was really nice of them. Anyway that is the update on my triathlon training life.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Bike Ride on Marine Drive Path NE Portland

Today's Morning ride took me on one of my favorite rides on Marine Drive in NE Portland. This path is closed to cars for a long segment and is right next to the Columbia River and right behind the Portland Airport. It is a nice ride and entertaining as you are able to watch the plans land and take off. The only problem with this is that sometimes I get so distracted watching the airplanes I have almost ridden off of the path a few times!

Todays triathlon training bike ride went well. I did 16 miles in one hour. Marine drive was a little on the windy side but it was pretty warm. It felt great to just go ridding in my bib shorts and short sleeve jersey. I was even a little warm at one point. Now it is raining so I am glad I went in the morning. On the triathlon training menu for tomorrow a run and and some strength exercises. The Hippie Chick half marathon is only a few weeks away!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Triathlon and Tree in Oregon products

Today is Sunday so it is my day off from triathlon training so I am taking some time to give you guys some updates on the products I am trying to sell that I have designed myself triathlon in Oregon t-shirts and tree in Oregon t-shirts. So far the response has been good. I have been able to sell two items in one week so that is not bad at all. Also I was able to download a lot of my designs onto CafePress and they can print even more of my designs on lots of other products. So far on CafePress I have Triathlon in Oregon, Tree in Oregon, Runner in Oregon, Bike in Oregon, Swim Bike Run, I run Portland, I run Oregon, I run Seattle and I run Chicago and these can be printed on t-shirts, sigg bottles, and so much more. I will put the links below so you guys can check out these cool designs!

Click here for:



So Check out these unique designs for runners, triathletes, cyclists and Oregon lovers! Email me with questions!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

7 mile run with no nutrition

On the menu for today's triathlon menu was a 7 mile run. Now as most of us now 7 miles is a good distance but today when running I made a mistake. I have been running longer distances so running for about an hour seems like a "short" run now. unfortunately today I underestimated the 7 mile training run.....

I woke up had a cup of coffee and some chocolate (weird I know I am not sure what I was thinking about today) and headed out for my run. After a mile I realized wait, I have not had any food and I have no water and still have 6 miles to go this is not going to be fun. My workout called for the three miles in the middle to be at a faster pace and I felt it for sure. I am pretty sure it was the lack of breakfast. I started to feel a bit dizzy when I was forced to stop at a red light with only about 1 and a half miles to go. I powered through it and when I got home I was lucky to be done. I cannot believe I made such a rookie mistake. Seven miles, is seven miles.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Riding to the Tour de Cure in Spring!

Yesterday I went to my monthly Tour de Cure Ride For Diabetes meeting in Sellwood. Its about a 11 mile ride to and from the meeting so about a 22 mile ride total with a big break in the middle. The weather was wonderful and the Springwater Corridor and Esplanade were packed with cyclists, walkers and runners spring was in the air! The preparation for the diabetes ride is going well and we seem to be on track and meeting our goals which is excellent news.

One of the goals we talked about last night was to try and at least one person registered for our teams or just for the diabetes ride in general. I feel like I have not been able to meet my goals this year, I am reaching out to everyone I know I am not getting a great response. I am not getting enough donation or people to sign up for my Team Tony's Riders.

The ride takes place on July 31, 2010 and will start and finish in the Hillsboro stadium just outside of Portland, Oregon. There are many distances available to ride ranging from 10 to 100 miles. So please please join my team or just give me a donation any amount would help! Click on Tour de Cure Portland, Oregon below to link to my donation and team page.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Bike Ride Through North and Northeast Portland

I woke up this morning and the sun was shinning! Yes the sun was shinning and the ground was dry! Spring is here and its going to be a good day for triathlon training! On the menu for today a bike ride through North and Northeast Portland. I have to ride for an hour so when I factor in the few traffic lights that I will have to stop at it should be about a 16 mile ride.

The ride I am going on today is one of the reasons I like Portland for bike riding I will be going through the city but the whole time I will be riding on nice safe roads. I will ride on one of my favorite streets for running nad biking Ainsworth I will also be on Willamette ave which has a very nice bike lane. So time to eat some breakfast get so riding clothes on and enjoy a beautiful ride in PDX! Training for triathlons can be so fun sometimes!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Triathlon in Oregon Products!



In a post a couple of days ago I let you know about the hand made triathlon and tree in Oregon t-shirts I was making. Well now I have managed to get some of these products on cafepress. To link to cafepress triathlon in Oregon products click here!

The triathlon in Oregon t-shirts and products through cafepress are designs that I hand made but they will be printed on the product that you choose. If you prefer to purchase one of the actual handmade t-shirts that I mentioned in my previous post contact me and I will let you know what I still have available. Happy shopping!

Monday, April 12, 2010

11 mile Portland Training Run

On the menu for today's triathlon training was a 100 minute run. The run went well and I am thinking I am getting more and more ready for the Hippie Chick half marathon, it is coming right up! I am not going to say that the run was easy but I felt really really good during my 11 miles. My coach will probably not like this but during the last three miles I got over excited and my pace was faster than it should have been, about a minute a mile faster.

A couple of interesting things happened to me while I was running today. The first was that when I left to go running it was rainy and then it was just cloudy with a hint of sun. When this happened I thought to myself wow its a beautiful day. I then thought I must have been living in Oregon for a long time to be so happy to see a little bit of sun! Only Oregonians think this way!

The second thing I was thinking while running today was that I think I am fit enough to complete a Half Ironman. Now I don't think that I would be great at it but I think I would be able to complete it which I think is a great accomplishment. So I think I am seriously going to consider a 70.3 Half Ironman for 2011.

Long runs, they give you so much to think about!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Tree in Oregon Triathlon in Oregon T-shirts


For all my Oregonian blog friends out there I am trying to get a new product going that is hand made by me! It is a tree in Oregon t-shirt and a triathlon in Oregon t-shirt. As I said these are made by me and they are the first prototypes so I am selling them cheap! I am also working on more designs but these are the only two Oregon t-shirts I have right now. I have short sleeve t-shirts and long sleeve t-shirts that for some reason are hard to find. I am selling them at an introductory price of 9.99 for short sleeve and 14.99 for long sleeve cotton t-shirts. Shipping and Handling is only 3 dollars!

The two t-shirts are pictured here! What do you guys think anyone interested?!



Saturday, April 10, 2010

Volunteering for the Tour de Cure, Portland

Today I went to the Portland Bike Show and Expo to volunteer at the Tour de Cure booth. The idea was to try and recruit some bike lovers to sign up for the Tour de Cure which will be happening on July 31 at the Hillsboro Stadium in Oregon.

I feel like it went well. Some people were not aware that this ride existed so I am glad that at least now they know about the Tour de Cure. I was able to get some people who have been diagnosed with diabetes or have friends or family with diabetes to become interested in participating in the ride or being a volunteer for the ride.

So a very successful day! Again if you live in the Portland area think about signing up for the Tour de Cure on July 31, 2010. Also if you are interested in joining my team Tony's riders or supporting me with a donation click here.

Thanks again!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Endorphin Warriors Products!

I was reading the April issue of Runner's Magazine when I came to the last few pages where they have all the advertisements. I always look at all the advertisements in Runner's Magazine and Triathlete Magazine because among all those little squares of products in the last couple pages of the magazine one can sometimes find some real interesting and good products. For example this is how I cam across the great safety product www.RoadID.com.

Anyway I came across something called Endorphin Warriors. I went to their website to check it out and they have lots of great products with inspiring messages on them. T-shirts and hats that relate to messages about endurance, triathlon, half marathons, and marathons. They also have really cool bracelets and other sort of jewelry with inspiring messages. Its a great place to get a gift for yourself or for someone who is inspiring. Check it out!




Thursday, April 8, 2010

Using Garmin Forerunner 310xt during a triathlon

One of the main reasons I wanted to get the Garmin Forerunner 310xt was so I would be able to track my time during a triathlon. Wearing a watch would do that but with the Garmin Forerunner 310xt I would be able to look at my pace and separate my transitions. Also the big plus of the Forerunner 310xt was that it was waterproof so it was the perfect tool for a triathlon.

Last Saturday I was able to use the Forerunner 310xt in a race situation for the first time. I know I know try nothing new during a race but I did. Before the race I figured out what buttons to press and when. When it was time to swim I was ready to go. I started the Forerunner, when I jumped out of the pool all I did was press lap and with no problem I was tracking transition one. Then press lap again and I was tracking my bike. It was really easy to use the Garmin Forerunner 310xt during a triathlon. It easily switched from transition to sport by the press of one button without a hitch.

Once the triathlon was done I downloaded my information to Garmin connect and it was interesting to see all the data and maps. I am really happy with the performance of the Garmin Forerunner 310xt a great tool for triathlon training and race day!




Tuesday, April 6, 2010

10 mile training run

Now that the 2010 Beaver Freezer triathlon has come and gone it is time to start focusing on the Hippie Chick half marathon. The Hippie Chick is about a month away and on today's training menu was a 95 minute run. I usually take the same route it is kind of flat and I am very familiar with it but today I decided to be wild and try out a different route that I knew would be a lot harder.

The wind is high today, I just did a triathlon a few days ago so it probably was not the best idea to go on a 10 mile run today on a harder route than I usually go on but I did anyway. The first mile is a steady uphill. Then a little flat/downhill and then back uphill for about 3 miles. Then it evens out with the occasional uphill and downhill. I worked hard my legs felt a little tired and heavy but all in all it went well. I am glad I went out of my comfort zone and tried out a new more challenging route. Hippie Chick half marathon, here I come!

Monday, April 5, 2010

2010 Beaver Freezer Video and Review

I have had some time to think about the 2010 Beaver Freezer triathlon what I can do better what I liked and disliked about the race and here it is.

Heat waves for the pool are assigned based on a time that you give the race organizers for a 500 yard swim. Unfortunately the other two women in the pool had said that they were faster than they actually were I caught up with them after one lap and we all lost precious seconds because of it. This is not the first time this has happened and I just wish that people would be more accurate when they give their time.

My transitions were a little long because I put on socks, a jacket, and gloves but I am glad I did that it was just so cold.

About the race itself it was well organized and the volunteers were all in the right spots. This years race had a different course, all the women started in a pool that was double the distance away from transition as the men. This was a little annoying although I understand it was because they doubled the race capacity.. Also the race results took about an hour to get posted I felt like this was too long. In the past this has happened a lot sooner.

All in all a great year and will continue to participate in it here is a very home made video of the day. Enjoy!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

2010 Beaver Freezer Triathlon Done!



Today was the Beaver Freezer Triathlon in Corvallis, Oregon. It is the first race of the season for me and this race lived up to its name. It was very cold 39 degrees, very windy, and rainy. I had not been in the pool for three weeks because of shoulder problems and my shoulder still hurts but I had a decent swim. All in all the race went well. The course was different than it has been in the past. I am happy with the results.

Here is what the results for the Beaver Freezer Triathlon looked like:
overall place:182 out of 398
division place:4 out of 16
gender place:50/180
time:1:23:47
pace:0:
swim:7:59
t1:3:34
bike:44:41
t2:2:04
run:25:27
1:23:47 Total Time.

Friday, April 2, 2010

The day before the triathlon

Today is the day before the 2010 Beaver Freezer. This is one of the most important races to me. I have a bad shoulder, there is a strong storm coming in and I have blisters on my feet. The forecast for Saturday is rain and wind so we will see what happens.

Also now that I have a coach she had me do some training for tomorrows triathlon today. I usually don't do any workouts at all to keep my legs fresh but she had me spin on my bike for 45 minutes and then transition to a 20 minute jog. I have never done this before so I hope it helps.

I will post my results on Saturday April 3 after the Beaver Freezer. Wish me luck!