My coach wants me to track what I eat! Oh no!

A couple days ago my coach, Larissa from Personal Best: Multisport Coaching told me that she was interested in what I was eating and she wanted me to write everything down. Not only did she want me to write everything down but she wanted me to write down the amount I consumed, the time, as well as everything I had to drink. Oh no I thought to myself, that day alone before 10am I had had a cup of tea, a muffin, a danish, and half of a turkey breast! I agreed because I am in the program 100% and want to do all I can to improve in my races.

I tried to explain to her that everyday of my diet is different, the only time I am consistent is the week before a triathlon. Larissa's solution to my inconsistency was to write everything down for 3 days, I am currently beginning day 2. I wonder what she is going to say and what I will have to change, the things one does for triathlon.......

Next post, what coach Larissa said about my diet, I am sure it will not be good!

I Can't Believe the Rain!

Woke up this morning for my run pouring pouring rain! I could not see the rain because it was pitch black but I could hear it! I geared up and stepped outside and started to run. It was cold and windy and had to jump around huge puddles. I'm done with it tough glad I did it now I am freezing. Just another day in the Pacific Northwest!

Triathlon Swim With a Snorkel?

A few days ago I was reading a triathlon forum when I came across a thread that said triathlon swimming with a snorkel is it fair? I was intrigued by the forum post and clicked into it to see what it was about. It turns out that people are doing their swim segment of their triathlon wearing a snorkel!? They guy who posted the link also said that it turns out it is not against the rules.....

I think that this gives one an advantage and should be against the rules. It would seem that if you don't have to keep coming out to breath and are good at swimming with a snorkel then you could in theory be faster. Maybe no the fastest but faster. Apparently people also use this snorkel technique in the pool where you do not even have to poke your head out to see where you are going.

Maybe I'm wrong and just jumping to conclusions, any thoughts? Should it be triathlon race legal to swim with a snorkel?

Morning Bike Ride: Riding on Rollers

As all triathletes know one of the hard but fun things about triathlon is that one must train for three sports, swimming, cycling, and running. Today was a day that required cycling, 1h 15min of cycling as dictated by my coach Larissa at Personal Best: Multisport Coaching. I had to do this ride at 7am which allows me to sleep in but it is still pitch black at that time and I really prefer to not be on the road in he dark with the morning traffic.

Last night I decided that I was going to be brave and extra careful and just ride in the morning but when I woke up and could not see a ting and felt the wind I decided to just do my bike workout on my rollers. I don't know about you guys but I find rollers to be rather boring and to stay on them for 1h 15 minutes is really harder than the workout itself.

I did it anyway, I almost fell off one as I was daydreaming while watching the Today Show. I tried to drink my sodium drink but only had half of what I should because I need to stop to drink. Overall though a decent workout I am happy the time is changing to help with the morning darkness.

Profile Design Cobra Wing Handlebar with Sonic CSX Aerobar

As mentioned in an earlier post for my review of the Felt s32 2010 triathlon bike I am not that happy with the aero bars it came with. I was checking out the internet to try and find a good deal on some carbon aero bars and I came across the Profile Design Cobra Wing with Sonic CSX Aerobar. They look pretty cool and on my previous triathlon bike I had Profile Design bars so I know they are a good. These bars also seem to be on sale, I found them for $349.99 when the MSRP is $449.99 that's $100 off!

I tried doing some research on the internet about these aero bars but I really have not found much on them. I really do not want to throw away $350 on my new triathlon bike but they seem to be a good deal and really good looking and light. What to do what to do?

I-205 Bikepath, Portland, Oregon

My training for today was a 1.5 hour bike ride at an average effort of 3. When I woke up this morning there was impressive fog and frost on the ground but I could see some sun and it was dry so way better conditions than yesterday's pouring rain.

I suited up with my layers, bib tights, and Oregon Cyclewear wool jersey (which I love) and set out. Once on the road I realized that it was so foggy it would be safer if I stayed on a bike path at all times so I headed towards the Marine Drive bike path. This is a bike path I really enjoy its relatively quiet except for the airplanes landing at PDX airport and it runs along the Columbia River. Sometimes you can get a bad head wind at Marine Drive but today the wind was only 4mph.

Eventually marine drive hits I-205 which goes over to Vancouver, Washington. There is a path called the I-205 path and it is basically a path the goes in the middle of the interstate highway which goes over the Columbia, River. I decided to take this route today it had been years since I had been on it so decided to try it out again. It is really weird how you are riding protected by barriers in the middle of the highway. The path is in good condition a couple of bumps here and there and it is really really noisy from all the highway traffic. Once I crossed into Washington I turned around and came back home to Portland to finish my 21 mile ride.

All in all it was a good ride I am not a huge fan of the I-205 bike path although it is good to have something to help one cross the river. It was nice to just ride on marine drive with the cold sun and the landing airplanes.

Swim and Run Complete!

Today's workout called for a swim and a run. I woke up this morning to pounding rain, the type of rain that just makes you want to stay on the couch all day with a blanket a movie and a warm drink. I kept thinking to myself the rain will die down and then I will go do all that I have to do. A couple of hours later it was still pouring rain so I decided I was just going to have to go out in it.

My swim was fine the pool was very crowded with the senior aerobics class they take 5 out of 7 lanes. I am not sure why they need so many lanes and us lab swim people only get 2 but it is what it is. Then I went for my run it was also fine the wind was more of a factor that the rain and the leaves are all over the sidewalk which makes it a little slippery.

Workout done! Now I can shower and just stay cozy and dry.

Day two of new workout

Today was my second day following the workout routine set by Personal Best: Multisport Coaching. This workout called for a 1 hour bike ride with a 15 minute warm up at effort 1, 30 minute at effort 2 to low 3, and then cool down for 15 minutes. The goal was to try and maintain my cadence and not go over the recommended efforts.

Anyone who knows me knows that I really never do anything in life at a 1 or 2 effort so this is proving to be very hard for me. I really focused though and tried to do what I was told and overall it went pretty well. I went about 3 miles slower on average an hour than I usually go but because I was focusing so much on the cadence I feel like I am getting a better pedal stroke.

So its going to be hard to maintain the efforts and paces set by my coach but with focus I am sure I can do it. She says that I need to trust her and follow the plan to see the results so I am going to do what she says. Tomorrow I will try to go swimming again, I hope the pool is open!

My first workout with my new coach....

Today was my first workout with my new coach Larissa Herold with Personal Best: Multisport Coaching so I was very excited. Workout for today, go swimming and then go for a run. I woke up in the pitch black morning with pouring rain got into my car and drove to the pool. Once I got there I could see in the window and there were only two people there. Cool! I thought to myself I can swim laps without having to worry about that many people.

No I was not that lucky, as soon as I stepped inside the building there was a huge whiteboard that said closed with a smiley face. Closed without notice!? Smiley face?! there is nothing to smile about!!!! So my first workout ruined. I have to go to work now but I will go on my run later at least I can do half the workout I guess. Not a good way to start my new training program.

Training Needs!

So I had a long conversation with my coach at Personal Best: Multisport Coaching and she seems very nice. My coach's name is Larissa Herold and as I am typing this she is creating a program for me. I am sure of this because she is in constant email communication with me wanting to know everything. She wants to know how fast and long I usually go in the swim bike run. So far I am very happy with the way my relationship is developing with my coach. The few times I have already emailed her asking her questions she has responded rather quickly great!

The only thing is that she wants me to get a threshold test and for this I need a power meter for the bike. I don't have a power meter and I cant buy a power meter so I am trying to either find a friend or someone who can give me this test. I also need a heart rate monitor to get the most out of my training she says (yes its true I don't have a heart rate monitor). I went on ebay and bought an inexpensive one form Hong Kong hopefully it will come soon. I bought the inexpensive one because I hope that I will soon (I hope!) be able to buy my beloved Garmin Forerunner 310xt.

Anyway that is the update on my training with Personal Best: Multisport Coaching, coach Larissa says that I will officially be starting tomorrow. I wonder what tomorrow's workout will bring....

Waking up in the morning, to RUN!

I was all cozy in my bed this morning when in my dream an immigration agent was trying to send me to Australia for some reason. I tried telling him I did not want to go to Australia and as he was dragging me across a border my alarm went off, saved by the alarm, time to go for a run!

I looked out the window no rain and little wind great day for a 4 mile run. It is about 55 degrees so perfect temperature as well. I got dressed went out for 4 miles, I am not sure why I keep choosing the distance 4 miles but I do, my new coach at Personal Best: Multisport Coaching is probably going to change this. Anyway it was a good run a couple of hills and a pace of 8:03 so pretty pleased overall. Now that I feel good about my workout, time to go to work.

2009 Triathlon Year in Review

Now that my triathlon season is over I though I would write a post about this years races and results.

Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon April 4, 2009
Time: 1:17:53
Swim: 8:05
Bike:41:48
Run:26:11
Place: 18
Age Group Place: 4



Hippie Chick Half Marathon May 9, 2009
Time: 1:55:04
Place: 87
Age Group Place: 4



Blue Lake Sprint Triathlon June 13, 2009
Time: 1:22:58
Swim: 14:23
Bike: 38:41
Run: 25:25
Place: 21
Age Group Place: 5



Hagg Lake Sprint Triathlon July 11, 2009
Time: 1:30:34
Swim: 15:45
Bike: 45:02
Run: 25:38
Place: 25
Age Group Place: 3

City of Portland Olympic Triathlon August 23, 2009
Time: 2:59:29
Swim: 25:31
Bike: 1:30:53
Run: 58:56
Place: 38
Age Group Place: 7



Steve Prefontaine Memorial 10k September 19, 2009
Time: 53:55
Place: 100
Age Group Place: 10

Personal Best: Multisport Coaching

I have decided to take my training a step further and be coached my Personal Best: Multisport Coaching. They have good reviews so I hope it all goes well. I will start the training with them in about a week, can't wait! Hopefully they will help me achieve a lot of personal bests. I will keep you posted on the training and results. Happy training!

Adding to Felt 2010 S32 Review

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the new Felt s32 2010 triathlon bike. At this point I had just ridden it a couple of times but now that I have ridden it a few more times I am glad to say that this bike is great! It shifts well and feels smooth, very smooth and it looks great.

It is also a fast bike, I am able to accelerate well on it and it is surprisingly easy to handle.

I think that in the future I will make a couple upgrades to it like a carbon seat post but this is a great bike! I highly recommend it to any entry to mid level triathlete who is looking for an affordable good looking fast bike.

(In case you are lost I posted a full review describing components and comparisons on a previous post it is on this blog)

Portland Cyclewear Vintage Wool Cycling Jersey

As the weather started to change I decided I wanted I nice wool jersey for cycling. I checked around and some of the prices were really high until I found Portland Cyclewear Jerseys. I ordered one on Friday, it is Wednesday and it is here! I love it! It is soft, fits well, and was affordable overall a good purchase and fast shipping!

They are a cool company with good looking product. You can have them print company or team names on the jersey and the jersey comes with one large pocket in the back with a zipper. I am pretty sure they also give different discount based on how many jerseys you buy from them. The best thing about this jersey is that you can also wear it as a sweater.

So if you are thinking of getting a nice wool jersey that you can afford I recommend you check out Portland Cyclewear.

They can be found at: www.oregoncyclewear.com/

City of Portland Triathlon 2009

On August 23 2009 I did the City of Portland Triathlon, it is the last triathlon of the season for me and I decided to do the olympic distance this year instead of the sprint. This was going to be my first olympic distance triathlon so I was a little unsure. In true Portland style this triathlon is also called Freshwater Trust Portland Triathlon which brings awareness to trying to save our waterways. It is also the greenest race in the country and a very fun one.



The course consists of swimming in the Willamette River, riding through the city of Portland and running across the bridges that separate the city, it truly is a beautiful race and has a great cause attached to it.

The Willamette River over the years has had a bad reputation of being very dirty many people do not want to swim in it and when they hear that I will they think I am crazy but the river has gotten cleaner over the years and it has never made me feel so it is SAFE!

Overall it was a great race I highly recommend it. The volunteers and race organizers are great, all very enthusiastic and eager to help! I did very well except for a case of exercise induced asthma on mile 3 of the run.

These were my results:
Time: 2:59:21
7th in age group
swim:25:31
bike:1:30
run:58:56

Harvest Ride; Hillsboro, Oregon

Living in the Portland, Oregon area gives me lots of chances to do nice organized rides. The last organized ride of the season is called the Harvest Ride so my friend and I decided to do it we thought it would be a fun 45 mile training ride, its for a good cause why not we thought.

I woke up in the morning and it was cold 44 degrees and we heard there was going to be a 13 mph headwind later on in the day. My friend cam to pick me up to drive about an hour out to where the ride started we were a little early so we were feeling good. Next thing I know my friends says oops I think I missed my turn. Great I thought, we are on the freeway and had missed our turn, not a good sign it was a good thing we were early. We turned around missed our turn again (don't know how) and for some reason I look at the gas gave it was on red! We are going to run out of gas I said, out in the middle of nowhere with no gas station in sight. Oh I forgot to get gas last night my friend said, great I though.....

Then I saw our exit turn its our exit I exclaimed, we did and for some reason turned right instead of left and drove away from civilization with no gas once again. I asked where are we going I don't know my friend responded, turn around I said this is the wrong direction and we don't have gas! We drove for another 4 miles finally in the right direction and finally got gas and eventually got to the ride.

The ride was fun we barely made the start time it was cold but sunny with 10mph wind but all in all a well organized ride that was lots of fun. In the same way that we started we managed to take a wrong turn and ended up riding 50 miles instead of 45. I am really glad I was able to do it and make it there in time to start. I think I will do it again next year!

Garmin Forerunner 310xt in Review

Yesterday I posted that I wanted the Garmin Forerunner 310xt and the response I got was impressive. People have lots of opinions and suggestions on what do do which was very helpful.

Many people suggested the 305, they said it is not waterproof but for half the cost (its on sale at amazon today) you can just put it in your swim cap during the swim and then in transition 1 put is on your wrist. This way they say you can track the distance of your swim.

The things people said about the 310xt is that it does not track the distance of your swim because of GPS in water and your arm moving back and forth messing it up. Some people also said it was too big, and why buy it when you can get one that is half the price?

So I have made a decision, I think I prefer the 310xt mostly because I don't care that it wont track my distance in the water and because I do not want to have to mess around in transition. I just want to have a watch on that will not get messed up in the water and that I can bike and run with.

These are the main things I like about the 310:
1) the functionality is easier to use and simpler than the 305 and much much easier than 405 (which isn't hard!)
2) The transition function works perfectly
3) It's smaller than the 305
4) The virtual partner is easier to use and set up
5) The battery lasts for 20 hours
6) It's waterproof

So once I get the money I will get the 310xt. Make your own choice and happy shopping!

I want a Garmin Forerunner 310xt!

A while back I read an article in the newspaper about the new multisport Garmin watch the Garmin Forerunner 310xt and thought it looked pretty cool. I had been wanting a Garmin watch for running mostly because I wanted to try something other than the nike chip system. The problem I found with the Garmin watches was that they are not waterproof so every time I went for a swim I was going to have to take it off and that seemed like too much trouble especially if I was paying top dollar for a new toy.

Once I discovered the Garmin Forerunner 310xt I was excited to know that you could do all sorts of things with it most importantly swim, bike, run. Not only could it go in the water but you can buy attachments for it so it can be your bike computer and heart rate monitor. It also tracks your runs with GPS and you can download them! Very exciting stuff! The only bad thing I can figure about it is that it does not have an alarm, how will I wake up in time for a race?!

So now its time to save some money to try and buy it. Does anyone have it? Is it good? Any advice?

Cross Fit?!?!

About a year ago I started to hear people talking about this cross fit thing, over and over cross fit. Everyone told me how great it was so I did some research on the Internet and it was a little too expensive for me so I decided it was not for me.

In April the beginning of triathlon seasons started for me and lots of my friends were doing really well, when I asked them what their secret was cross fit they said. I was starting to get annoyed that everything and anything that was getting recommended was cross fit but started to think more and more about it.

As the season went on everyone just seemed stronger than me so I have to try this phenomenon I thought so I looked into pricing again but too expensive, then I had a bright idea. I am going to find a plan online and build a cross fit gym in my garage! I have the discipline to do this! So about a month ago I found a training plan bought a couple kettle balls, jump rope, and mats for the floor and now I get to do cross fit and it cost about $100 to set up! Hopefully I will see the results that everyone talks about. I will keep you posted.

Must complain about the weather, at least one more time.

I am having trouble adjusting to the change in weather as you can read so sory for talking about it again but I must. For me there is nothing better than running in shorts and a tank top in about 65 degree weather and light.

Today I woke up ready to go on my 4 mile run. It was dark and it was 41 degrees brrrr. What should I wear I thought I don't want to be to warm but I don't want to freeeze. So I went with tights and a light long sleeve dri fit. My first half mile my hands were cold and I was thinking I am glad I wore these clothes by mile 2 I was too warm trying to roll up my sleaves. Frustrating, I just want to be comfortable!

Anyway I guess I could layer but I like to keep it simple maybe next time it will be tights and short sleeves we lets see what the morning brings us....

Oh No!

Its officially fall, what this means for me is either put on lots of gear and ride in the cold sometimes pouring rain or ride endless hours on the trainer. I usually end up doing both.

I woke up a few mornings ago to pouring rain so the trainer has officially made it into the house from the garage easy to move in front of the tv. I get bored on the trainer but I have to do it I tell myself must stay fit... I also tell myself it is a good time to do interval training which I may not be as likely to do outdoors, but I still prefer to ride outside.

So all the warm riding gear is out and the trainer is out. I wonder which will get more use this winter......

Felt 2010 S32 Review

Like most triathletes I decided it was time to get a new toy, but with a limited amount of cash its hard to buy new toys and that is when I came across Felt's 2010 S32.

I have always been a fan of Felt they provide good bikes with good components usually for cheaper than the competing brands. The S32 has an aluminum frame with a carbon fork. It comes with deep rim wheels and shimano 105 components not bad at around $1400. The next step up is the Felt B16 same components but carbon frame at around $2000.

I decided to go for the S32, mostly because it is more affordable and with the money I save by buying an aluminum frame I will be able to buy carbon aero bars or a better wheelset. The one thing I do not like very much about this bike is that the seat post is not carbon but that is also easy to solve since I just saved $600. The aero bars it comes with are nothing special but these are the same ones that come on the B16 as well. I guess what I am trying to say here is that I rather buy the aluminum bike and have carbon aero bars than buy the carbon bike and still have the same components and bars as the more expensive bike. What do you think?

The Age Old Dilema

The weather is changing and with cool weather comes getting a cold. I want to follow my training plan but I have a cold what should I do?

Some people say sweat it out some people say stay at home bundle up you will recover faster. I hate it when I don't train I just don't feel right so the second option is always the hardest for me.

So today even though I do not feel well I decided that I should take the tri bike out for an easy 12 mile ride in 52 degree weather. What would you do?