Quitter quitter quitter.

Sometimes, it's okay to feel like a quitter. Right now, I do.

 

Remember that fast-approaching triathlon I've been posting about and training for over the last 6ish weeks? It came and went this weekend. I worked another nearly 60 hour week and was reduced to tears in my all-glass-fishbowl office Friday morning. I spent Friday night with a great friend who is moving this week, and I woke up Saturday morning still fighting back tears.

 

So I did what any girl does. I called my mom, and I cried. And she told me I'd be foolish to do anything but lay on my couch all weekend and relax. She was a little bit right. I laid on my couch all day Saturday watching episodes of Breaking Bad (still obsessed!) and committing to doing my triathlon on Sunday, but in Atlanta rather than in Charlotte. Mentally, it was exactly what I needed.

 

And then I woke up Sunday morning feeling a little bit better, a little more like myself. I laid in bed all morning waiting for my gym to open, and as soon as it did, I was there. I swam 250 yards (which is 25 extra, mind you), rode 8 miles on the indoor bike, and ran/walked almost 2 miles around the track. It took me an hour and ten minutes to do it, and I figured if I had really done the race, I'd add another 15 minutes to my bike time since I was inside versus actually on the road. And to be honest, I felt really, really great while I did it. So all my worries about being undertrained? Gone. And I think I actually have an even better plan for going forward. And then I came back to my house and continued to sit on the couch watching Breaking Bad.

So yeah, I'm still really embarassed that I 'quit' and didn't spend 4 hours in the car on Saturday, an hour and a half doing the triathlon, and then driving four hours back on Sunday. I am not a quitter, I rarely give up, and I usually end up burning myself out in the process. In fact, I'd imagine that's how I got here in the first place. In case you're worried, I held up my end of the Ramblin' Rose Ambassador program by blogging about the race, plus I have another one scheduled for September. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let life get in the way of that one.

Triathlon Training Update

So, we're less than a month away from the first triathlon. Crazy how time flies, right? Training has been going better than I thought it might. I was sidelined for about 10 days after an unfortunate ankle sprain in Las Vegas and a rib that somehow popped out of place. The sprain still bothers me from time to time, although not enough to stop running, swimming or biking, and the rib is back where it belongs and causing me no more problems. Hooray!

GT swimming facilities

So in terms of training...I knew I had to join a pool so I could swim. I explored a couple different options (LA Fitness, YMCA, and Georgia Tech's CRC) and landed on the CRC for a couple of reasons. Mainly price - as an alum, it was $30/month with a 3 month minimum. For $90, I'll be able to swim whenever I want all summer long. What a steal. The only downside for non-alumni is that, well, you can't join. I guess it's what one might consider a perk? The other 2 were also a little less convenient to get to. Not that the CRC is exactly close, but I've been going in the mornings and usually there is parking, the lesiure pool has been quiet, and it only takes about 15 minutes total to get from my house into the water. I also bought a bathing suit, goggles, and a swim cap. Bathing suit rocks, goggles rock, swim cap sucks. (I linked to them mainly because if anyone reading this has no idea what to buy and wants to buy based on someone else's recomendation, go for it. I couldn't find any recommendations from the blogs I read on either of the above, which was incredibly annoying to me.)

As for the swimsuit, I tried about 7 before settling on one I liked. Some were too tight, others had weird straps, others were too low in the back, on and on and on. But now I have one, it was ~$60, and I'm happy.

I also found a training plan that I am following really loosely. And even that might be an overstatement. I found it here and I'm half-heartedly following the 10 Week Sprint Distance Program - Beginner. I spent one night adding all my training goals to my calendar. Let's be real, I am a list master, so if it's on my to-do list, it's way more likely to happen. Somehow my reminder list still looks like this:

 

 

So overall, I'd give myself a B- on triathlon training, but that's adding a lot of "A for effort" points. I try to swim at least once a week, and hop on a treadmill or run outside at least 3 times a week. The bike part? Ugh, I don't want to talk about it. I bought my bike in February and have taken it outside a grand total of twice since I bought it. I can ride the indoor bike for about 15 minutes before I get tired and bored and do something else. I really don't have high hopes for the bike part of this race. Any tips on bike training?

 

 

 

BUT, I plan to join my parents at the lake at least 1 night every weekend for the rest of the summer, and will bring my bike along and ride it in the country and hope for the best come race day. I figure if I can get up to 6 miles on it, then I can manage the 8 included in the triathlon course.

 



So there you have triathlon training. If all goes well, I will be really rocking and rolling come September! Fingers crossed I can stay motivated that long.

 

"Training" Update #1

I've officially started 'training' for these triathlons I'm registered for. My goal is to log time on the bike, in the pool, and on the treadmill (or outside) each week, although pool has to wait until I find a pool to join! My new favorite way to work out is to combine Couch to 5k and these cross training ideas.

 

1. I did this one after just a straight Couch to 5k sesh. After the arm workout, I rode the bike for about 15 minutes.

2. O.M.G. I loved this treadmill workout. When I do this workout again, I'll repeat both parts.

 3. This was hard. Real hard. I did another day of Couch to 5k and then finished off the workout with the 4-3-2-1 and let's just say I'd be surprised if I was able to do 1/2 of the expected work. But man, did it feel good!

 

I've been mixing up morning versus afternoon, cardio first versus other stuff first, just to figure out my preferred, and it's been interesting. I've realized that I love working out in the morning, but I get so hot and it takes me forever to cool down. I also am learning that just running or walking isn't enough and doesn't leave me feeling like I got in a good workout. That's why I'm trying to add in these other elements - does that count as cross-training? I also know tennis is starting back up (I'm on 2 teams this summer, yippee!) so that will give me a pretty good mix of exercise. I just love tennis!

 

Anyway, this is where I am for now. I'll try to update regularly on my workouts and how training for the races is going. Everyone I've spoken to has been really supportive and excited, I'm a lucky lady!

 

PS - images above were random google finds or pins on Pinterest. I don't have original sources, but they most assuredly aren't mine :)

Ramblin Rose Triathlon Training Starts... NOW!

Remember when I said I was going to do a triathlon? Well, what I didn't know then was that I'd be racing as a Ramblin' Rose Blogger Ambassador!

 

I am so excited! One of the things I am most nervous about is training properly and finding motivation, and having the Ramblin' Rose community will certainly curb a lot of that! I've made some amazing friends through blogging so I'm stoked about the opportunity to connect with women from all different paths!

 

It's not really going to change what I post about - my plan all along was to post about training, how it was going, and probably to do a fair amount of complaining about how much I hate running. I have already taken advantage of the ambassador community and found a couple of websites that should help me put together a great training plan. The first race I want to do is July 14, and the second one is September 22, so while I have some time, I have a feeling it will fly by. No excuses now! I'm also debating whether or not to join the Atlanta Tri Club. I think I would really benefit from the group training programs they offer, and at $40/month, it seems like a reasonable investment.

 

I've already got a couple of friends interested in racing with me, but if anyone else wants to make the trek up to Charlotte at the end of September, it'd be a blast! I'd love to find some training buddies locally... everything is more fun with friends!

 

I do have to tell you that they are comping my entry to 1 of the tri's in exchange for posting about the events. But, it won't change what I post. I am still really, really excited and this just sweetens the deal!