Month: August 2011

This chart has way too much information, but here’s last night’s run:

My plan was to do a one-mile warmup, followed by 6 x 400 speed intervals with an eighth-mile’s worth of recovery in between (walking/jogging/chugging water), followed by a one-mile cooldown.

I programmed my Garmin for this workout using these helpful instructions. This was the first time I’d really messed with my Garmin and it worked out pretty great! It beeped every time I needed to start and end an interval, and it showed me all the info I wanted to keep track of as I was running (pace, time per interval, distance per interval).

The only problem was with Lap 14. I miscounted how many intervals I had done and thought that was going to be my sixth go, but it was really my seventh — aka, I really should have hit the “lap” button to end the workout and do my cooldown!

I was busting my booty trying to run a good last interval and then was confused when the watch didn’t beep after .25 mile… so I started my cooldown, THEN remembered I needed to hit the “lap” button. Shiz was just crazy.

Anyway. Pretty happy with the 400s:

– 1:52 (7:31 pace)
– 1:50 (7:23)
– 1:50 (7:20) <— not sure why the pace isn’t 7:23 as well…?
– 1:48 (7:13)
– 1:50 (7:20)
– 1:41 (6:46) <— nuts!

So sweaty. So tired. I’m sure the people on the Burke-Gilman trail were all like, “Stop running so fast and you won’t have to stop and walk!!” Yeah. I’ll go to a track next time, where there are more crazy people like me.

I got really sweaty just walking home from my bus stop tonight thanks to the glaring sun, so I kinda made a snap decision to do my run in just shorts and a sports bra.

Hey, men go shirtless all the time! So do confident, badass women! Why couldn’t I?

OK, so I felt a bit self-conscious, but I decided to do it anyway. Honey badger don’t care!

I ended up smoking the first mile because it’s along a busy street and, yeah, I felt like everyone was watching. That tired me out for the next two miles and I got a bit slower, but I felt like I had to uphold the whole “badass runner woman in just a sports bra” image, so I pushed it. 

This was a very exhausting run, but satisfying and confidence-building!

There is a lot of sweat going on here. Extremely rare stomach photo alert.

Then I rinsed off and sped over to a nearby community pool to meet up with therevickigoesagain, a badass triathlete who was kind enough to teach me some swimming fundamentals! She’s training for a marathon in October and is doing a half Ironman in May, so you’ll want to follow her fo sho.

Vicki gave me tons of great tips and ever-so-patiently watched me swim and helped me work on my stroke, breathing, kicking, etc. It’s hard for me to keep in mind all the different things I need to do, but this type of hands-on learning is what I really need to improve. Thanks, Vicki, for being my swimming hero!!

Aaaaand I’m exhausted. Good night!

… and TRI training!

Today I learned how to clip in to my clipless pedals (confusing, right?). I was really, really afraid to fall, and I ALMOST did a few times, but I always caught myself!

We went to Aaron’s parents’ house to gear up. Aaron’s mom got ready to ride with us, and his stepdad played photographer.

At first, Aaron held my bike steady as I practiced clipping in and out.

Then I practiced clipping in while riding, with Aaron nearby to catch me if I did something crazy.

We circled the neighborhood a few times so I could get used to riding with my shoes clipped in…

…and then we were ready to go!

We biked 13.5 miles on the road. There were a few steep hills and one bout of tears — mine, of course, because at one point I was trying to clip in while I was about to go down a hill and COULD. NOT. GET. MY. LEFT. FOOT. IN. THE. PEDAL. The tears were a mixture of frustration and fear.

I ended up walking my bike down the hill and clipping in at the bottom. The other things that scared me were the CARS and the METRO BUS that ended up right behind me at one point. I loved riding my bike and felt I got the hang of the clipless pedals, but I could really do without the cars. Yup.

Aaron and his mom were so helpful and patient with this newbie. Thanks, guys!

Once we returned from our ride, it was time to SWIM!

Wheee! Aaron’s mom loaned me a swim cap and goggles, and Aaron and I walked to the outdoor pool in her neighborhood. It wasn’t a lap pool, but trust me, it was just the right length for Aaron and me to practice freestyle from one end to the other. Swimming is EXHAUSTING!

I’m happy to report that my skillz are a few steps above a doggy paddle, and I’ll definitely survive the tri swim. More practice is definitely in order, though, especially an open-water swim.

So that was my very productive day! Back to running on dry land tomorrow…