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Showing posts from April 13, 2008

Triathletes and cyclists

If you live or know a cyclist it is quite obvious that there is a big difference between cycling and triathlons. Besides the water, aerobars and running shoes, it is a completely different sport. Here are some of my observations about triathlons: Triathlons are addicting. You watch one, do one and are hooked. People start training for a triathlon in order to lose weight but after a few weeks, the goals change and a bigger distance becomes the next step in the journey. Triathlons are one of the few sports that anyone can do. If you can swim, bike and run you CAN finish a triathlon. Triathlons are one of the few sports that when you age, you get better and little more competitive. Triathlons have distances for everyone. Triathlons are one of the few sports where you don't have an athletic background to race in a national championship. Triathlons are one of the few sports where you can actually tell your friends and family that you hope to qualify for a world championship. Triathlons ...

Hormones, Training and Food

All week (mon-wed) I was acting a little off to Karel. Karel and I never fight and barely argue. We disagree on things which is totally normal but we don't have the time, energy or desire to get into fights. For some reason though, I was just a total mess in my personal life (Karel) during the beginning of the week. Karel had just come back from his race (which I will update this weekend) and I wasn't trying to be mean or rude. I just kept thinking that he was the one that changed and he was tired and being difficult to me after his race. Well, apparently it was the wrong time of the month (if you get my drift) for me to blame him for his change of moods. Please fellas...keep reading the blog, I promise it isn't about womenly stuff :) I had no idea why I was so emotional and a few days later I figured out why. I am probably one of the few women who don't crave chocolate or sweets and it can be any time of the month for me to want carbs (I LOVE BREAD!) so I guess I exper...

Workouts

I texted my friend Kate (IronKatemonster.blogspot) this morning and told her 1 more month until Disney 70.3. One month!! I can't believe it! This is my third year in a row racing it and I am really excited. I will try to do my best in my new age group (25-29) but I will miss the 18-24 girls :(. I guess we all grow up. The last couple of days have consisted of some great workouts. Wed morning was my early morning spin. As I have mentioned in previous posts, my spin class isn't a typical spin class. We train in there. Music keeps us energized (and my big mouth) but we have sets to focus on. I don't time anything to the beat or to a song, the music just plays for entertainment. I break down my workouts into 5-week sessions, so we build on one specific speed set, one muscle working set (usually jumps or hovering, a lot of holding still, up and down stuff) and one climbing set. I make them visualize, I ask them where they want to go (usually out west since visualizing florida ge...

Thank you Sponsors!

3 years ago I applied for sponsors for triathlons. I applied to everyone and anyone. I was new to the sport of triathlons and I felt that if I had a sponsor I would be more of a "cool and competitive" athlete. I guess having a sponsor would make me look like a better athlete. I didn't really care what I was given (if anything) but I thought wearing a jersey with a company name on it would make me competitive just like everyone else who had a sponsor. Well, I got nothing. I did get a letter from one company that I could pay money to get the products and the jersey...pay money to be on a sponsored team? That didn't make much sense. And when I have to pay hundreds of dollars for just one class in graduate school, the sponsorship idea went out of the window. I competed in my swim suit and if I remember correctly, I don't think I even had a short sleeve biking jersey to train in. I wore a tight t-shirt for my bike rides. 2 years ago I was finishing up with grad school ...

Karel the Baker!

Last night I came home from class around 9:50pm and saw a bag of groceries on the counter. Karel went to the store for the weekly food necessities but came home with baking ingredients. Well, since I'm not a baker I thought this would be great that he would cook and I could eat! I had to wait until today to enjoy the muffins and might I say these were YUMMY muffins. Totally healthy and around 120 calories. Karel found the recipe on the side of a Raisin Bran (generic) cereal box. These would be perfect for after a long weekend workout or 1/2 of one for a snack with some yogurt (or other protein). I had one with my lunch today...I just couldn't resist! How could I not try Karel's first attempt at making muffins! Well, to make things even better Karel made some substitions to make them even healthier and they taste great! I'm so lucky to have someone in my life who is not only aware of my healthy habits (woman and a vegetarian) but has taken the time to learn how to eat li...

Interval Tuesday!

It's my favorite day of the week...Interval Tuesday. That means I run until I can't run anymore. I know it is tuesday but my body doesn't feel like it is Tuesday. I'm not incredibly tired, my heart isn't pounding as I write this blog and my legs aren't shaking. I'm sore but it is a comfortable sore. Did I work hard enough this morning? Something just feels different? Perhaps I am getting stronger? After a weekend of racing on sat and then doing a tough brick on sunday, I decided to swim on monday morning (my "day-off") as a form of active recovery. I think it really loosened me up and I really felt good all day on monday as oppose to feeling tired, stiff and sore from the weekend. This morning the alarm went off at 5:30am and I was quick to get out of bed. I had my coffee, put some amino's in my water bottle and I headed to the Y. I had a bit more time this morning to train so I decided to go to the Y and run on the treadmill so I could swim ri...

What you call yourself...

After my 43 mile WINDY ride and 45 min. run on sunday morning, I was glued to the computer most of the day. Even before my ride, before i discovered I had a flat tire on my training wheel that I put back on after my race, I was sending good luck emails to people doing IMAZ. When I got back from my ride I was super tired but i needed to get some school work done so I at least felt somewhat productive for the day. So I would study, check online, study, check online and then once the live video aired in the evening, I was stuck on the computer. I was checking splits, reading forum pages, contributing to chats online and just feeling super excited for all the athletes. I started to miss Ironman training, Ironman racing and just being an Ironman. Of course I know I am an Ironman but when you sign up for an Ironman, your whole life changes. You dedicate weeks, months and lots of money to one long day and when it comes and you do whatever it takes to cross the finish line you just feel comple...

Ironman Arizona!

Good luck to all those racing at Ironman Arizona! All that training, all that time, all those great habits....all for this one day!!! And before you know it...you WILL be an IRONMAN!!!! I'm going to busy on the computer all day watching everyone...