July 31, 2008

Ran a 5k with Pepper on the Lakefront path. 38:04.
Total Pepper walking 4 miles.

July 30, 2008

Melissa and I met for our mid-week run this morning. We started at Soldier Field and headed south down the Lakefront Path. It was pretty, and not crowded. I swear I sweat like a dude in this humidity!!

Anywho, both of us were tight and took the first mile slow, but then finished our 5 miles in 1:02:36.

Total Pepper Walking: 1.5 miles

July 29, 2008

Today I had a wonderful treat! I took Pepper running along the Lakefront path! I never make the time to do this during the week. And Laura lives close enough that now I can do it! I walked a half mile to the path with Pepper (so that she could do her business first). Then we ran south along the path. Aside from races, I've never run past McCormick Place on the Lakefront Path. It's really pretty and quiet--not crowded like the North side at all.

After our run, we walked back (stopping for the paper and an iced Thai coffee) and I did some Yoga for 20 minutes.

Later in the afternoon, I borrowed Laura's bike and rode up to Ohio Street Beach (there and back 6.5 miles. I had heard that there was an area for lap swimming. I got into my wet suit and headed out. I was feeling pretty good at the quarter mile marker so I swam to the next one. That's when I realized that I could neither see or touch the bottom. I headed back and was getting tired by the time I hit the first marker. I asked one of the lifeguards what the distances were, and he said that each marker was a quarter mile. That means for the first time, I swam a whole mile!! I was tired, and I did have to stop for a few rests, but I did it--in open water too! I'm not sure how long it took me to do it, but I made it! Yeah me! I know there was the guy who lapped me 3 times (ok, at least twice)--but for me this tiny victory is exciting! And it was all freestyle--no backstroke panics! Yeah!

Total Pepper walking today: 1.5 miles.

July 28, 2008

Today I'm a little tight from the weekend...I decided not to go for a training run. I did a 11 minute one mile warm up and did abs and arms with Hector...nice easy recovery day. I did take Pepper (Laura's dog) for a 2 mile walk today--that probably helped!

Hector also put me on the scale today. I looked at the number and thought I gained weight. I was so disappointed! Not only did I kick ass yesterday, but I was puking the day before. Surely I should have lost something!! When I expressed my disappointment, Hector looked at me like I was on crack. I didn't get it and neither did he...Why? Oh, because I was being dyslexic and couldn't read the scale properly--yeah I lost 2 lbs instead of gaining. Thank goodness Hector corrected me, or I would have been a sad, sad girl!

July 27, 2008

Glenview Triathlon!!

Can you say "Kickin' ass and takin' names"? Oh yeah! I felt really good about this tri! I came in 12th in my age group!!

The swim portion was 300 yards, in a pool. How awesome is that! I'm a master at pushing off the walls. It really helped me out--I actually passed 5 people! I learned that trick from Pete...he's a genius! I really used it to my advantage and finished in 6:30.

When I was running to transition, I heard "BETHIE!!!" and realized that Tina and Pete were there watching the race! I'm sooo pumped that they came out to watch. It really meant a lot to me to have 'fans'!

I did the ten mile bike in 35:26 (also a kick ass time!) and then headed to the run. The first 1/2 mile of the run, my legs were complete jelly. I really couldn't get my legs. But I finished the 5k with perfect 12 minute splits. I really wanted to run it faster than 37:00, but 12 minute miles are completely respectable in my book (especially since I'm the 12 minute pacer!!).

Here's the break down:
average time: 1:14:19
overall Place: 270
age division place: 12/16
gender place: 106/162
Finish Time: 1:22:27
Swim Time: 6:30
Transition 1: 1:51
Bike Time: 35:25
Transition 2: 1:21
Run Time: 37:23

July 26, 2008

So, today. Ugh. It was clear that my veggie burger that I had for dinner did not agree with me. I know this because I saw it again at the North Ave. water stop (how it stayed in my gut for 10 hours, I'll never know). I felt better after barfing...I really did! So I kept going. Until mile marker 7....where I puked again.

It's ever so awesome to vomit over the railing near Lake Shore Drive. (I think somebody's gonna need to wash their car.) I officially do not like orange Gatorade. I walk/ran it back. I only made it 11.13 out of 12 miles. I yakked at miles 4 and 5.5. I'm really just happy to finish. I feel bad about bailing on my group. They were very nice about it, and Melissa did an awesome job picking up the slack (she rocks).

No more veggie burgers before a long run. I'm sticking to pasta. Pasta=Good.

July 23, 2008

So yesterday, my right hip started hurting. I did 40 minutes of painful yoga before I went to bed trying to streatch it out.

I got up this morning and it wasn't much better. Hector stretched me out and did some arms and a lot of stuff to try to loosen up my hip. It did get better as the hour progressed. I just don't want it to be an issue this weekend. I have a 12 mile run on Saturday and a Tri on Sunday.

I'm icing right now, and will continue to do that for the next few days. If I rest it, I'm hoping that it will be ready for the weekend. I hate being hurt! It irritates me because I have no idea what I did to injure myself!!

July 22, 2008

3 miles at the gym today--tempo pace 36:00.

I headed to the pool and really did intend to swim for an hour. I was just draggin'. I only ended up doing 500 yards freestyle and 100 yards backstroke. I guess it's ok. In theory, I'm supposed to taper anyway. I just realized I was swimming like crap and just decided to hit the showers.

July 21, 2008

Nice quiet day at the gym...yeah! Actually some guy told me that I had strong looking legs. And he wasn't even creepy about it. :) I did a major core work out with Hector. I think my obliques need more work, they were feeling wimpy today. Then I did a 5 mile tempo run.

I think I'm loosing some weight. This didn't happen in the last training cycle. I threw on some 3/4 leg pants I haven't worn in a while and they seemed roomier than I remember. I'm not going to complain, but I think the tri-training is really making the difference.

July 20, 2008

I really shouldn't let people from the gym bug me...but then again, they shouldn't be asshats either. I went to the gym to swim for an hour. These two girls in the pool were obnoxious. They kept horsing around. Now, I could have ignored them but they kept hanging on the lane lines and they almost kicked me in the face twice. They weren't actually swimming, they were just dicking around. Fine, take up the lane, but don't come in to mine! (Clearly I have personal bubble issues with swimming!) They also annoyed me with their bitching about their weight. I'm not saying that they don't have the right to bitch--I have no problem with the bitching, but please if you're going to bitch, stop making excuses and do something about it. Don't let me hear you (a few laps later) say that you love your pork rinds covered with lime juice and chili pepper (not kidding!). There was also some guy splashing about, like a child, trying to impress some bikini clad, tanorexic, blond. That was awesome, I so enjoy using a wet towel when I emerge from the pool. Am I wrong in thinking that this is a gym pool and therefore should be used for laps and other forms of legitimate exercise?

In spite of the annoyances (Memo to Me...find time when pool traffic is lower to go swimming for an hour!), I swam 1200 yards front crawl and 200 yards backstroke as active rest. I'm still working on figuring that in miles (cue Victoria the math wizard!), but I know it's over a half mile.

July 19, 2008

"Blue Skies, shinin' on me! Nothin' but Blue Skies do I see..."

Not so much. This morning, it was rainy and icky; 7 very wet miles. I only had three runners show up. Melissa, Crystal and Ken. I was trying to entertain them with TV theme songs. Not only that, random jingles. At one point we were discussing one of my faves--the Bud Light commercial that shows what would happen if you could talk to the animals...yeah--I was screaming "Sausages!" at the top of my lungs on the Lakefront Path. Good times! I hope it wasn't irritating...

They did a great job--I like running in the rain, but I know it's not everyone's thing. I thought it was a good run...followed by breakfast. What more could you ask? A serenade, random screaming about pork products and food. Sounds like a good day to me!

July 17, 2008

CFD Run for the Kids! There was no fence jumping today...I knew just where to go! Besides, I parked at Laura's house and walked over to Soldier Field. :)

I met up with Melissa from my pace group. This was her very first race ever! I'm so proud of her. I know I pushed her pace through the whole race, I was just hoping it wasn't too much. I wanted a PR, but it's better to run with someone on their first race. I can always find another 5k. Besides, there's never a guarantee I'd hit it--especially with today's oppressive heat and humidity.

I also bumped in to Jen from Winter training. She's doing the Harbor Lights Tri this weekend. She looked great, and I bet she'll do awesome. Jen's doing Pleasant Prairie, and if Elaine and I decide to do it it will be fun to add to our little group! Jen and I also made arrangements to meet to swim together at Ohio Street Beach. It's really good for me because I need more open water experience!

Anywho, Melissa and I ran the race in 35:23 which is an 11:24--Making me sooooo proud of Melissa! What a great start! (Much better than my first 5k!). Unfortunately, I dropped my inhailer into the porta-potty (something that would only happen to me)...I decided to just let it go. I'm concidering it a sacrifce to the race gods. We hung out after the race and enjoyed the DJ, Beer (the reason to do the race--Really, I'm drinking for da kids!) and atmosphere. I even saw hot stair climber guy. He and Melissa had a lot to talk about--she's a nurse in the PICU and he's a firefighter...I did not enjoy the gore of their stories (ICKY!). He walked us back to Laura's and I gave him a ride back to his truck. Oopsie--he left his race packet in my car. Looks like I have an excuse to talk with him. After all, he needs that back! :)

July 16, 2008

Today I got to the gym early. It's been humid and sticky, and let's face it: I just want to get my workouts done with! I did 3 miles on the elliptical. My legs have been feeling like lead. I know it's due to the combo of the tri, the makeup of my 10 miler and the weather. I keep telling myself it's good for me, right?

I worked arms with Hector today. It was much needed. I would have liked a little more core, but he did kill the arms and shoulders today. I wasn't going to hard on my legs...I want a PR tomorrow!

July 15, 2008

Today I went to the gym. Mostly for swimming, but since I was there I got my 4 miles taken care of on the elliptical. It was an easy four...sure I could have hit a tempo run, ensuring 12 or lower splits, but I was feeling tired today. I felt like if I didn't give my body a rest, I'd be hurting later.

I did 1100 yards in the pool. I was proud of my endurance. I did 20 lengths in a row! I know I couldn't have done that 6 months ago! I did the 20 with two lengths backstroke as a rest then another 20 lengths non stop and 2 more backstroke as a cool down. I'm not sure if I should be doing more to prepare for my next tri, but I feel good about building up more endurance in the pool. My go was for 1000, so I hit it! Woo-Hoo!

I just wish I could convert yards to miles or even to metric (because I can convert metric to miles easy enough). I guess that's the next thing to learn. When I started running I couldn't convert kilometers to miles, but now I can do it like a champ--in my head! Math never was my friend...unless it was applicable!

July 14, 2008

Hector stood me up this morning. That was annoying because I had to make up my 10 mile long run. If I had known he wasn't coming I could have gone out sooner. It got bad for the last half and brutal for the last two. Seriously, I was bogarting water from random people's hoses.

I ran 10 slow miles in 2:15 for an average of 13:30.

Thank goodness it's technically a cut back week. Two long runs in 6 days isn't fun to make up. (It's not that I haven't done it before--I'm so stupid sometimes!)

July 13, 2008

Today was Danskin, and while I finished I feel like I raced like shit. Basically the only thing I feel that I rocked were transitions.

A pic of the beach...many women ready to swim.

This is Sue, Elaine and I ready to swim.

Tri Buddies!
My swim was 5 minutes slower than the last race for the same distance. Open water blows. And 5 minutes? I feel like a no talent ass-clown. I'm supposed to do better with the second one, not go slower. I guess the problem is the open water. I practice in a pool (ie no waves). It was windy and the water was a little choppy. So that pretty much sucked.

Elaine's husband took this pic of our wave swimming...and it totally cracked me up!!

On to the bike. The bike, also not faster. Napierville was 15.82 mph and Danskin was 15.62. To top it off this bike was shorter! So I get no warm fuzzies there. One problem was my chain popped off due to bad shifting. I got it right on (thank you, Pete for showing me the stick trick!!). My main problem was that there was a AWFUL head wind on the second half of the bike. I felt like I was on a stationary bike. My gears were in the big granny gears. And don't get me started on the joys of up hill and in to the wind. (OK, after the post, I checked the weather for Kenosha Co., and the wind was gusting 20 mph. I guess if I was riding 15 mph, I should be thankful I was even making forward progress.)

I was very happy with my transitions. I felt really good about swim to bike. I almost cut my first transition time in half--ROCK STAR!! And then almost a minute off the second transition. From the last. I know it's a different course with different transition areas, but it's nice to have done something significantly better.

Pay no attention to the fat girl trying to get out of her wetsuit. (I hate this pick, but I'm posting it for motivation to work harder to get rid of that sparetire that seems to engulf my mid-section.)

Must get shoes on...

On my way with the bike..

Finally, I guess I can't complain about the run. It was a little over two minutes faster than the last 5k portion of the sprint tri. I guess then I rocked two things...the transitions and the running. This next photo, is my favorite race photo ever--I look awesome!!Over all Rank: 1715 of 3650
Class Rank: 212 of 311
Swim: 00:20:53
Swim Place: 2539
Transition 1: 00:03:09
Bike: 00:47:45
Bike Place1586
Bike MPH: 15.5
Transition 2: 00:02:23
Run: 00:34:17
Run Place: 1952
Run Pace: 00:11:03
Finish Time: 01:48:29

Here's Elaine and me with our medals. Elaine rocked this race! I'm so proud of her!I probably shouldn't be so hard on myself. If you had told me 5 years ago, that I'd do a Tri, I would have laughed at you and asked what you were smoking. Still, I just wish I could improve my swimming. I didn't even do the 10 miler yesterday (cancelled due to lightning). Grrr...I guess there's all the incentive to really go balls out at Glenview.

July 9, 2008

My abs are still sore from that ab roller thingy.

And Hector put me on a diet today. Basically he took a way potatoes and beer (as well as my will to live). Thank God I can still have cheese. He's also increasing how many times I eat a day, and wants me to eat more protein and fish. I'm not so much in to all the extra fish and I know I won't be drinking protein shakes. If this doesn't work, I swear there's a beer and potato binge in my future.

Maybe I can create some sort of marinade that involves beer... hmmm. Yeah! There's my loop hole! (Insert evil laugh here)

Anywho, I swam today. 4 sets of 10 lengths with 2 lengths of backstroke rest in between. That's a total of 1000 yards freestyle and 200 yards back stroke.

I also did some nice quiet relaxing yoga for 25 minutes before bed.

July 8, 2008

Today I ran 5 miles with John, in 1:03:44.

July 7, 2008

Hector called to day with some random reason he wanted to switch my appointment. It was weird of him to do that, but I'm flexible. Turns out he got a new fun toy that he was waiting to have delivered. Apparently, I was his guinea pig. It really was fun! It was a good arms and core work out.

I also did 3 miles before I worked with Hector.

July 5, 2008

My knees are still a bother, maybe I should look into a massage and tell them to really work my IT band. Maybe, I should make the time for myself for a change.

Today I ran 9 miles. I hung back a sweeper for the pace group. It was nice to run everyone in. I don't think that Dan really wanted to finish running, but he made it. I do prefer to pace, but it was nice for my legs to go slower. And let's face it, injury free is the way to be!

July 2, 2008

HOT! HUMID!!!

Today, John and I ran 4 miles in the ickyness that is July weather. We ran to St. Pat's then over to his house for a drink and then up Austin, along Montrose to Central and then home.

Thank goodness for the coolness of John's pool! :)

July 1, 2008

Today I went for a run after work with Big John. It was a nice little jaunt. 3 miles, no biggie.

I realized this evening that something's up with my Runner's World Log...not only are all the distances spelled incorrectly, but all my runs are registering as kilometers, rather than miles. It's not letting me change it. I know it's not the end of the world, but it is annoying.