I Wan't to Workout!

It has been a while since I have had internet, I will probably not have internet for a while after this post. For some reason not having internet has also become not being able to get a workout in. I am on a very exciting adventurous trip so no bike no pool, I can go hiking sometimes running but I really miss my triathlon workouts! I finally stayed at a hotel that has a gym so I was able to get some stationary bike riding in and then ran on the treadmill for a bit. I will be travelling for the next 2 weeks and then I have Hagg Lake sprint triathlon a month later and I am starting to get worried that I will not be ready for that!

On a good note though my shoulder seems to be back in business, it feels a little week from not using it for so long but pretty much all of the pain is gone and I am doing some elastic band exercises to try and get it strong again. Ok this is probably it for about a week until my next internet location. Talk to you then!

No Internet

Hello friends,

I will have limited internet for the next few weeks so I will not be posting as much. I will post when I can. Thanks for reading!

Helmet Camera

A couple days ago I was limping around Costco recovering from my half marathon just looking at the electronics out of curiosity. All of the sudden I saw this small little vedeo camera for under $100. I picked it up to take a closer look at it was a waterproof helmet camera! I had always had this perception that helmet cameras especially a waterproof one would be totally unattainable.

I thought this might be a fun little toy to have during a race or a long ride or even to film a swim. I did not get it though because I am trying to save money but I am glad I learned that it is a possibility to be able to afford a waterproof helmet camera!

I like to film events and take pictures, I especially think there is not enough quality triathlon video material on the market and if one does find some it is really expensive so I think its fun to film my own. Anyway when I got home I did some research and there is a wide range of prices and quality for waterproof and regular camera helmets maybe one day I will get one!

Triathlon and Wetsuits

Do I need a wetsuit for triathlons? is a question I hear over and over from people who are just starting off in the sport of triathlon. Well it depends I tell them, where will you be swimming what temperature is the water? How comfortable are you as a swimmer? I hope to answer some people new to triathlon about their wetsuit concerns!

Do I need a wetsuit for my triathlon?

If you are swimming in a pool no! If you are swimming in a lake, river, or ocean and the water is cold at about 73 degrees or less I would recommend a wetsuit. I have a sleeveless (farmer John) one because I have found that the sleeves make me feel like I have heavy arms.

Will a wetsuit help me in the swim?

At first I thought this was a myth but a wetsuit makes one float a little more so in theory it can make the swim a little "easier" as your body will become more buoyant. However when you reach transition taking the wetsuit off can be a bit of a hassle!

What wetsuit do I use for triathlon?

There are triathlon specific wetsuits and I recommend buying one of these if you are getting a wetsuit. They are designed in a way that is better for swimming than say a surfing wetsuit. When you put the wetsuit on it should feel tight but not uncomfortable, when you get in the water you don't want a whole lot of water to come into it, this will make you sink!

I hope this has answered some questions regarding the whole should I wear a wetsuit in my triathlon debate! This would have been helpful to me when I first started. Good Luck!

Half Marathon Recovery

The 2010 Hippie Chick marathon was 2 days ago and so far for recovery I have had lots of food and have slept a fair amount. I also gave myself a semi ice bath. I really can't bring myself to have an actual ice bath but what I have been doing instead when I am done working out is just taking ice packs and putting them all over my body for about 10 minutes while I watch tv. This really seems to be working.

Also yesterday I got a massage which was really nice. I also just took it easy went on a 2 mile walk instead of having a "real" workout. So now the question is what should I do today. My left hamstring is a little tight especially when walking so I figured last night that today I would probably ride my bike but of course this is Oregon and it is raining it not loner sounds as appealing. But I will probably end up doing that anyway.

Now start focusing on triathlon again, next race is in July Hagg Lake Sprint triathlon. Looking forward to that!

Hippie Chick Half Marathon 2010 Done!

Untitled by pucha11 at Garmin Connect - Details

Today I completed my first ever half marathon the Hippie Chick! It was a lot warmer today than it has been so I was a little worried about that being a factor. I did well placed 4th in my age group and 68 out of about 600 women (official results are not in yet).

It was a hard run, 1 mile into it I had a side stitch, 4 miles into it my knee hurt and I was never able to quite get a good rhythm going. I talked myself to keep going and I am glad I did. Overall I did not feel like the actual running went well but I am pleased with the results! I am posting my splits and map courtesy of my garmin forerunner 310xt!

2 mile run

According to Hal Hidgeon who I have been following in preparation for the last week of training for the Hippie chick half marathon on the training menu for today was a 2 mile run. I thought to myself easy, and headed out the door. I am not sure what the deal is because I felt pretty winded while I was running 2 miles. So of course at this point I start to think well if I can't run 2 miles how will I run 13.1 at the Hippie Chick.

I know I know I am in shape I have been training and I should be fine but why was running 2 miles so strenuous?! I will try to stop thinking about it and just think positive. Since its not raining I think I will go for an "easy" hike in the forest to clear my head.

Unicycle?!

I was driving home about a week ago and it was garbage day as I pulled up to a red light I looked out the window and there I saw a unicycle! I noticed that this unicycle was leaning up against the garbage can so what this means is fair game! I pulled over grabbed the unicycle and put it in the car. The next day I looked at it put some air in the tire and cleaned it off.

Since then I have only sat on it once! I really do not want to experiment too much with it because with my luck I will fall and not be able to participate in the Hippie Chick Half marathon. I think that today I will try it a little though, I think I have to bring the saddle up some. Anyway this is not really an entry about triathlon or sport although maybe one day I will do a triathlon on a unicycle!? No I don't think so, probably not. Anyway I will keep you posted on my quest to learn how to ride a unicycle!

Hal Hidgeon helps me!

As you may have read in my previous post I have been having some doubts about how to train during the last five days leading up to the Hippie Chick Half Marathon. I decided that I should treat myself as just a runner this week instead of as a triathlete so I did so research online and came across some training plans written by Hal Hidgeon.

According to his plans today I should do a 5k run then do a 2 mile run tomorrow and then rest for the two days before the actual race itself so I think I am going to do that. For the two days before the race I will probably just go on some long walks to make sure I just keep my legs moving! So I hope this is the right thing to do I hate how I always start having doubts a few days before the race but I am sure I will be fine, or at least I hope so!

Half Marathon in 6 days!

I am 6 days away from participating in the Hippie Chick Half marathon and I must admit that I am getting a little nervous about it! I have started to taper, my last long run was last Tuesday 11.5 miles. Today instead of running or biking I am going to go on a very long walk because my legs feel a little tired. I think that tomorrow I will probably go on a five mile run and go from there.

I am a little lost now that I do not have a coach, I seem to have become dependent on Larissa for coaching and advice. I did not have a coach before and I made all these decisions by myself before so I am not sure what my issue is. Anyway I am off for my long walk now. I hope I am making the right decisions 6 days before my half marathon!

Plantar Fasciitis

I am going to dedicate this post to plantar fasciitis a problem I encountered some time ago and was unaware it existed until I did some research on the internet and figured out what it was.

About a year ago I woke up and I had foot pain on the bottom of my foot like in the arc that was hard to reach when massaging. When I tried to go for a run the pain was persistent so when I got back home I one again tried to massage it but I really was not able to get to it. I thought this was really weird and decided it was a problem so I started to do some research on the internet.

After some research I discovered that my pain was probably a mild case of plantar fasciitis. I learned that it is basically an inflammation and there were ways that I could help myself. The two ways that have worked the best for me and that I wold recommend to people is to massage just above your ankle bone on the inside of your leg that really really helped me. Something else that has done wonders for me is to roll my foot on a tennis ball or something similar to massage the foot. So if you have a strange foot pain it might be plantar fasciitis. I hope this helps!

Volunteer Day!

Today is volunteer day for me, I will be helping out with the Community Cycling center in Portland. Todays project is to give about 70 bikes away to families who need them so I am looking forward to this. I have to go over there pretty soon part of what we do is give the kids helmets and teach them bike safety as well.

I came across this opportunity because the Community Cycling Center is the bike shop closest to me so one day I wondered in there to buy a tube and I realized that they were a nonprofit that did cool bike things for the community. So here I am going to do my firs tmajor project with them. I am looking forward to seeing all the smiling faces when they get their new bike.