Fit & Fun: Tri Training

Well here we are. TWO WEEKS OUT! Can you believe it!?!?!? I wouldn't win any medals for doing all the workouts. But...and memory can be fickle. I am pretty sure I feel calmer and more prepared than last time. This week was, in essence, terrible. I had a migraine for the whole first of the week. I think it is PMS related...And that is a fun topic! Being a woman training when you can have SUPER intense PMS. Sometimes for me the emotional effects of my period start A WHOLE WEEK BEFORE my period. I am VERY glad I will not have my period DURING the race cause that is a whole other awful mess. Can you imagine doing three physical activities when you are super TIRED and menstruating? Ugh. What a mess that would be. So far I have dodged that bullet with Tris. But I have run 5ks with my period. NOT FUN. the other thing is...my body is TIRED at this point. I am working it harder than I have since the last Tri. I did the indoor Tri and survived. So I feel good. But this week I had to say ...

Lake Nokomis after my Sunday Training This week went very well. Monday: I did 45 minutes on the stationary bike. I did "rolling hills" which was pretty strenuous. It was tougher than I thought but after the weekend of not doing much I wanted to do more. So there was more and it was good and my butt hurt afterwards. Tuesday: Awesome pool day. Just rolling along there. Thursday: I FINALLY did a run walk workout on the treadmill. It was so so so so humid and hot but before work I got to the gym. I walked and ran for 20 minutes and 8 minutes or more was running which is a quick start for walk and run training. I hope to get to it again this Thursday. As per usual Friday was a 10 hour work day and then Saturday instead of working out I cleaned up my apartment. My dear friend offered me her cleaning lady for a session and I needed to at least clean off surfaces so she could maybe clean things. I spent half the day cleaning up and it was exhausting but now today after she...

Right now, I am drinking grainy almond milk with rice protein powder in it. Not nearly as good as those GNC protein shakes I used to drink while I trained with my ex. But hopefully it is doing the trick of getting my body protein to build up the muscles I just abused on the stationary bike. And I am thinking about the effort it takes to fight off depression.Throughout my life I have used a few things as anti-depressants. Dance. Art. And Exercise. This Sprint Tri is one of those efforts. The mental task of getting out of the house to get to the gym isn't just about training it is about telling depression to take a hike. I am so hard on myself. Telling myself I am failure cause I am not an arts professor. Or that I don't make enough money (I don't). Every day I can find a way to tell myself I am a failure and ugly. So I get out there and I get on my bike. Last week I got on my bike and did HILLS and then the next day I went swimming. As per usual I did not get to walking ...

Part of me feels like because I did this two years ago. I should be doing MORE. Like I shouldn't be shooting for a time like the one I got two years ago. But something BETTER. Thing is that year in between training. I didn't exercise like I needed to to make that a reality. I am a pretty active person. I walk all the time. I love to swim. And training for the last tri made me a bike person. I am also thirteen pounds heavier than the last time I raced. And I wasn't small to begin with. This week I had a person call me crazy for doing this tri. She is a friend and said it in a joking way but she was serious. It seems crazy to her. I find this a lot in my life. I have friends that enjoy a part of what I do but not the whole. I have art friends. Who don't get the exercise part of me. Or I have friends that don't get my love of all things spiritual. People are hard to encompass into one small thing. And we are taught to fit into these teeny tiny boxes. And as women we ...

Sorry for the delay in writing. It is 2pm in the afternoon on Sunday and I am feeling rather accomplished already. Sitting down to write this blog after an active morning. But first let's talk about my training lapse this past week. I started out week 5 just fine. Biking and swimming and as per usual on Monday and Wednesday. Alas, the rest of the week I didn't do much of anything with Thursday and Friday being my long work days. That weekend was my nephew's bday and I went out to my parents and didn't have time for exercise. I ate some really RICH foods and ended up having my gallbladder get inflamed. Waking me up and keeping me up for about an hour. I almost went to the doctor but the pain subsided. I really noticed when I don't exercise I eat much richer food and more of it! And that summer is a time that Minnesotans get more social so we eat out more! Then Week 6, I was working 12 hour days with a art workshop for work and closing the store. SO a week we...

The gorgeeeeous sky on my way to my massage this week. The build weeks are most definitely the hardest for me. This is where I break through and push past where my body really wants to be. Going longer for the first time in training. Some Tri Tips that came to me during my bike ride today: 1) When on your bike. Once you are warmed up. Try riding a gear above what you think is comfortable. I find I am AMAZED at how much faster I go and how much easier it is. And then I don't feel bad about dropping a gear when going up a hill. 2) DON'T FORGET THE SUNSCREEN. It is A LOT of training in the sunny summer sun. SUNSCREEN. SUNSCREEN. SUNSCREEN. 3) Even if you think you can't do what the training says. Get out there and do SOMETHING . Monday: Got my bike ride in. Note last blog entry. Great thing about summer training is the sun doesn't go down till after 9pm at points! Woooooo. Get that training in. Tuesday: I rested and did the pool day on Wednesday. Wednesd...

As I type a dear dear friend is in labor having her first child! What an exciting night. I had thought the storms we had yesterday might have her having the baby, so I called her. A day later here she is! Why am I talking about my friend being in labor? Why write this blog a few days early? I had a rough training weekend. And I wanted to talk about it. I am super excited for my friend. But I also feel that in breaking up with my boyfriend this past week. That most likely was the last chance for me to have kids of my own. I am 36 and I really don't see myself having a child in my 40s. And well. So that is that. I mean there is still a small chance but to cultivate a relationship and feel like having a child...the time is disappearing. Still why talk about this in my training blog? Well, one I over share. And two, I don't train in a bubble. I don't train in an ideal world where other things don't get in the way. I train in a world of emotions and responsibilities. I h...