It just got real.

I have been a ball of nerves and excitement ever since I picked up my race shirt on Thursday night. It's real. This is happening!

I had some nice "easy" workouts this week. I swam, biked and ran on Tuesday and Thursday. My Thursday workout was actually kid of crazy. I biked 2.5 miles, took a 5 minute break, then went out for a mile run. I was already warmed up from my bike ride, so my goal was to do my mile in 10 minutes, the pace I am aiming for on the 5k portion. I did it in 8 minutes! That is crazy fast for me. Too fast. I probably shouldn't have run so fast on race week.

I have to remember to chill out and not exhaust myself on the swim or bike portions tomorrow. I have to believe in myself and not let my mind talk me out of a good run.

Last Week

I was really nervous going into my bricks last week, especially after discovering that the bike portion of the triathlon was significantly longer than I had previously thought. Tuesday afternoon was my first bike/run brick. My neighbor watched my kiddos for an hour while I went out. I was really nervous about biking on the main road through our town, but it was alright. Uphill on the way home is hard, as always, but I felt pretty good. I expected my legs to turn into jello after a substantial bike ride, but they were okay and I was able to run after just a few seconds of walking.

I was back in the pool on Thursday and tested out Body Glide for the first time. It's supposed to help with chafing, but I don't really have that problem. What I do struggle with is getting my sports bra and workout tank on while my skin is still wet from swimming. I think it will help me with my transition.

I also did an extra lap on Thursday, too, just because. 450 yards non-stop and it honestly felt like a rest day. Even though I was a fairly comfortable swimmer when I started training, I'm still proud of how far I've come with my swimming.

Friday night was a long night. Liam had a s'more party with his primary class. My cold that I had been denying all week caught up with me. The kids hadn't seen Dan all week so Rosie pitched a fit and cried for me when he put her to bed. I took tissues with me and powered through my biking and running. I did 6 miles on my bike and ran 2.5 miles. I had an armband for my phone delivered that morning and discovered Amazon Prime music, which is awesome. Train, Panic at the Disco and FUN were incredibly helpful for my run. Except for the hills, I ran the entire time.

My cold really caught up to me on Saturday night. I spent most of Sunday in bed reading and watching tv. I'm feeling much better today, though I still have a disgusting cough. It's "taper" week anyway to rest and prepare for the tri in 5 days (5 DAYS!!!) so I'm not going to work out today. I'm hoping to do light, swim/bike/run workouts on Tuesday and Thursday and I think that will be enough to keep me focus but rested.

Painted Faces at the Children't Museum

Rosie and Bear Bear Watching Frozen

Our neighbor, Emma, with Liam & Rosie

So sweet!

Rosie takes after Dan a little. 

Me and Liam at the Portland Gator Club

Bouncy Basketball at Pump It Up

Rosie painting our faces at the Children's Museum

Oops

I just realized that the bike portion of the triathlon is 10 miles, not 10 kilometers. There are only 11 days left. Yikes.

I'm also in the denial stages of a cold. My throat hurts, I'm tired and I ache all over, but I'm not sick enough to skip my workout today. I have my first bike/run brick today and I'm nervous about it. I've only got childcare for an hour, so I won't have time to try out a 10 MILE bike ride in addition to a half hour of running.

Man, oh man.

Bricks, Pains and Thinking about the Future

I started my swim/bike bricks this week. I had a 24 hour stomach bug on Monday, so that threw off the first part of my week. I was able to complete my swim/bike back-to-back workouts as scheduled on Tuesday, but my Thursday run really suffered.

I was feeling better by the end of the week, so I left myself get talked into playing women's basketball on Thursday night. After I came home, washed the blood off of my knuckles and prepped an ice pack for my knee, I knew that I was going to be hurting the rest of the week. I could hardly walk up and down the stairs on Friday, so I gave myself an extra rest day and pushed my 2nd swim/bike brick to Saturday. I was still sore then, but swimming and biking as such low impact that it was no problem.

I ran again Sunday night and it was glorious. Dusk, 75 degrees and a full moon made for a beautiful run. I also took a moment to appreciate that there are no mosquitoes or other obnoxious bugs in Oregon. I ran 2.4 miles through my neighborhood. I've mentioned the hill before, right? I live at the top of a hill so coming back up at the end of a run or bike ride is so hard. I plugged my route into MapMyRun tonight and it gave me this elevation report:

Translation: oh my aching knees.

Bike/run bricks are next week. I'm on week 9 of the triathlon training program that I am following. It's supposed to be a very difficult week, but week 10 is mostly rest leading up to the tri next Saturday. I'm not sure how well next week is going to work out for me. I seriously need to get out of the gym and put more miles onto my actual bike, but Dan will be gone all week. I hate to pay a sitter to watch my kids when they already have a membership to go to the daycare at the gym, but I might have to suck it up this week. We'll see.

I've also started to think about what's next after I finish the tri. There is a fun, Halloween run in my little town and a Thanksgiving run in my hometown that benefits a great cause near to my heart. My neighbor teaches a circuit class for women at a local cross fit gym. I went a few months ago and it kicked my butt, but it would be exactly what I need to build strength. I don't know what I'll do yet. So far buying myself a new watch as a reward and getting a massage are the only definite plans that I have.

2 Things

1. I am exhausted.

I stretched my run out to 18 minutes yesterday. 16 minutes isn't going to cut it for my short, slow legs. With 5 minutes of warming up and cooling down, I went a total of 2.37 miles.

This morning I biked the entire 10k in about 28 minutes,  but I still finished my 30 minute ride after I hit that milestone. I did a non-stop quarter mile swim after that. My swim took me 9 or 10 minutes, I lost track. Essentially, the easy 2/3 of my triathlon.

I start bricks next week, so I get 2 days off. How nice that they align with Labor day!

2. COLLEGE FOOTBALL!

I got an invite to watch the games at a local sports bar with the Portland Gator Club. Dan and I have a sitter and I'm excited.

Success

I did it. 16 minutes of non-stop running. After the first 2 minutes, I didn't think I would make it. I started to ache on my left ribs, then right ankle, then right ribs, but none of the discomfort was severe enough to make me stop. I was a hot, sweaty mess after my run, but so very proud of myself. I adore my new shoes, too!

Grand totals for today:

7 minute warm up + 16 minute run +7 minute cool down = 2.21 miles

Now I am exhausted and need to sleep.

Training Day Whatever

I started to write a long post about all of the exercise I've done over the past 4 weeks

Not worth it.

Let's just skip right to the highlights.

My kids are doing awesome at the gym. Rosie will walk right it and say "bye" to me. They have a new arcade style basketball game that Liam loves. He has also suggested that I buy him a Wii since he likes playing it at the gym daycare so much.

Last Friday I ran for 8 minutes non-stop twice with a minute of walking in between. This was the longest I had ever run non-stop in my life. According to the training plan, I was supposed to go from that to running 16 minutes non-stop on Monday. That's a big jump. On Saturday night I was walking outside at night to get the mail and rolled my right ankle down the last step to my driveway. I iced it all weekend and hoped for the best, but I think that was the reason why my right knee was starting to hurt 10 minutes into my run on Monday and why I quit after 14 minutes. So, so close to my target, but still a huge accomplishment for me.

I decided that proper running shoes would also help with my knee pain. I got fitted at a local running shop and bought these beauties.

My kids were champs, though Liam started to melt down when I didn't allow him to run on the treadmill. He cheered up a little when we played chase around the store to test out shoes.

The strangest thing happened during my Monday run, too. I was on the treadmill at the gym watching HIMYM and minding my own business. I heard a loud bang, but I assumed it was an over-zealous weightlifter. Not long after, I notice that there was an open water bottle next to my treadmill spilling all over my yoga mat and gym bag (I was in a time crunch to do yoga, run and shower, so I didn't bother going to the locker room.) Still mid-run, I asked the guy next to me if it was his bottle, but it wasn't. At this point I thought I was going to have to stop to clean up this mess, but a woman came running over from the stair master behind the treadmills apologizing profusely. How her water bottle flew 6 feet and landed on my stuff, I still have no idea. She was embarrassed, but it was really no big deal. My clean clothes in my bag were dry and that's all I cared about.

I also hit a big milestone in my swimming tonight. I swam 400 yards, the full quarter mile, without taking a break. I brought 8 pennies with me and lined them up on one side of my lane. I slid one over after each lap so that I didn't lose count. It was a great swim.

It's a miracle I haven't lost my goggles yet. This little one goes into my gym bag almost daily to swipe my goggles.

I'm putting Liam in swimming lessons in September with a few of his friends. He's is really excited about it. I explained to him that his friends are a little older and bigger than he is, so he will have to work very hard. He told me that he was going to work hard and swim fast. He would be "the floating roadrunner." Meep meep!

I've been neglecting my biking. The really training was supposed to start last week. I'll start in earnest on my next biking day. I think that'll be Thursday. I'll try to check back in with my next run and report how I feel about my new shoes.