Returning home from my vacation in the ADK

As you know from the “Recap: My first open water training swim” post, you know I was just in the Adorandak Mountains. If you follow me on Twitter you saw that I was diligent in posting how I got up every morning but one to get my runs in, I swam like a good little Triathlon/Marathon training crazy girl.

I actually find relaxation from doing my daily workouts (relaxation and a sense of accomplishment really), so I make time even if it means waking at 5:30 am every morning, just so I can get my workout in. Call me crazy, but I love it!

The other things I did were, hiking, going to a water park, and white water rafting. (I also ate tons of ice cream!)

Training by the numbers the week I was in the ADK went like this:

3 hikes
2 open water swims (800 meters each time)
1 white water rafting trip on the Hudson River
34 miles run

Do you enjoy completing your workouts when you are on vacation? Does everyone eat tons of ice cream when they are are on vacation?

Recap – My first open water training swim

4th Lake

My first open swim happened a few weeks ago in the Adirondack Mountains, not far from the location of the Lake Placid Ironman. In fact, I saw a few athletes that I thought were getting in their last bits of training before their event last weekend.

From my previous post, “Prelude to my first open water training swim” I was anxious and nervous to get out in the open water and get my head wet; worried that a lake monster might come up from the depths, but that never happened.

The day we arrived at our destination and got settled in, I got myself right into my wet suit and my niece and I headed to the ‘beach’ (I unfortunately don’t have photos of me swimming, because every time I got myself outside I forgot my phone, Sorry!)

The first day in the lake the water was chilly, though I had my wet suit on my face and arms, which were not covered by the wetsuit, felt the cold and upon submerging my whole body, I had to gasp for air because it was so cold. With my goggles on I looked at the bottom of the lake and found it to be friendly and soft and got to my swim.

The water was rolly and a little rough due to the boats going by and the wind and I found that I was feeling a little nauseous. I got my swim in but it was much harder than a pool swim. I think perhaps I was pushing really hard, much harder then I thought, and was feeling dizzy and just exhausted as I finished up my swim.

During my swim, my goggles fogged up bad and I had to keep stopping and clearing them.  If I didn’t clear them, I couldn’t see, and for some strange reason, that made me feel like it was harder swimming. I did see a fish and I didn’t get scared. Getting my wet suit off was a chore and I got completely wet! As I was walking out of the lake I felt this, sploosh, and a whole bunch of water came rushing down towards my legs inside my suit. I think I didn’t put it on right!  Overall I feel it was a success, I believe I need to push harder in the pool to make sure I am ready for the race, and I am no longer worried about getting out into the water.

I swam another training swim in the lake but this time did not wear my wetsuit, I didn’t feel nauseous and the swim actually felt easier. I had forgotten my watch so just did as many laps as I had completed the first day. 

4th Lake at Sunset

All-in-all, first open water training swim was a success. Next one comes the end of August at the beach, I am thinking about maybe NOT using my wet suit for the Sprint Tri in September…. we will see!

Are you supposed to get wet inside your wet suit during a swim? Do you prefer open water swims to pool swims, or pool swims to open water swims?

Since we last touched base – training by the numbers

The last few weeks have been productive. I felt ultra hungry and ultra tired. I didn’t get much sleep due to the loud thunder storms, and the fact that my Jack Russell, Lilli, felt the urgent need to lay on my legs all during those many thunderstorms didn’t help much…but none-the-less I got my workouts in.  This was how it went:

36 miles run (not counting CX race)
1600 meters of lap swimming
1100 meters swim sprints
1 5k CX race (did awesome btw, and was very fun!)
1 Hr. riding lesson
25 miles ridden on my bike

This week is a down week for me, goodness did I ever need it!  This week so far has been:

4 miles run
1  spin class,Hills (had a loaner car and couldn’t bring my bike to work to get my ride in so, switch-o chang-o insta-ride!)
40 min on that stair-stepper thingy at the gym (too rainy for a run)
800 meters lap swimming
1150 meters swim sprints

I will round out this week with the remaining:

6 mile run
17-20 mile bike ride
800 meter lap swim
1 Hr Riding lesson (going to learn to cantor, I am excited!)
stain my deck for a bunch of hours, my Nephew is going to help or supervise, we haven’t decided yet!

Might need to switch to another horse for cantor. Will miss you Nelly!

Only about a 5 weeks until my IronGirl Sprint Triathlon! I just need to figure out what I am going to wear, HELP!

What did your training week look like this week? Suggestions on what I should wear for my first Sprint Triathlon?

Training by the #’s

So this week was not has humid and hot, some nice cool mornings. This was also a week that I like to call a down week. Where my training schedule is less than the 3 other weeks of that 4 week period.

I like to give myself down weeks because it gives my brain and body a rest from all the intense training. I believe it helps me improve, keeps me from over training, and helps me stay motivated.

During this week I also need to watch what I am eating more closely because I am burning WAY fewer calories and if I am not careful could gain some weight and that is not something I want to do because I am not yet at my racing weight (more on that some other day)

So here goes, this week by the numbers…

22 miles run
3 miles walked (I’ll elaborate on this later)
1 hour with the trainer (working on my ULTRA tight Right shoulder, hip, and calf)
1000 meter normal swim
Speed drills in the pool: 10×25, 10×50, and 2×100
40 min. bike (I was able to get a thought other than that I was going to fall off in my head during this ride, Success!)

I still have, a lake swim and bike ride for this week.

Banking, Training, Trainer, and a quick race recap (warning, I complain a little)

Rounding out the week of my 2nd and 3rd weeks of tri-training, I feel like this has been my schedule forever. I am really settling right in and seeing results as I bank training sessions into my bank of ‘TRI-TRUST.’ No, that is not a real bank, but where I put all my training and will withdraw when I complete the Athleta Iron Girl 2013 in September AND when I hit the pavement in Philly for my 5th Marathon.

I also hit up the personal trainer this week and ran a 10k race and scored a PR. (SEE, this is where my bankable training comes in handy)

I banked the following numbers.
Week #2
35 miles ran
2425 meters swam
1 hr and 50 min. bike
Riding (horseback) 1 hr
Turbo Fire 45, HIIT 15 and Tone 30

Week #3 (still in progress, but expected!)
35 miles ran
2750 meters swam
50 min. bike

In other news… I went to see my old friend and Personal Trainer Katie this week. She tested my balance and we found that my whole right side is TIGHT! This includes, my shoulder, my hip, and my calf. So I have been doing all the stretches she suggested and I have already felt differences in my range of motion.

Also, I ran the Good Neighbor Day race on July 4th or (should be better known as) INDEPENDENCE DAY!

The race offers a 5k, 10k, and 15k run and walking and kiddie races. It is a 3 loop course, each loop is a 5k.

I ran the 10k. I have run the 15k a few times but I had 7 miles on my schedule so I chose the 10k and did a 1 mile warm up at or near race pace to get the feel.

So, I’ll cut to the chase. It was 76 degrees, about 98% humidity, which made the race temp feel like 86 degrees. The course is all black-top, no shade to speak of, but they spray water and neighbors put on their hoses and sprinklers which is nice. The police are great and super helpful to anyone in need. There are always plenty of people cheering the runners on, which is also nice.

The race went off late, per usual. All the runners were yelled at and practically got finger wagged by some lady on stage telling us to all stop talking and to listen up. I would understand if the information was important and was goign to save my life on the race course, but it wasn’t! Just unneccesary, really.

OK, I just have to say it, this race is my least favorite race, but it is the ONLY race around on Independence Day and that is why I do it. (sorry)

The race started and we were off. Many ran out too fast. (It is a small town race, so it is a great time to learn your running lessons see https://erintris.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/starting-off-too-fast/.) I kept slowing myself down, telling myself that the heat will kill me on the second lap if I didn’t watch it. 5k was done and I was on my second lap. I waved and said good morning to the Police Chief as he went by and he did the same. (note: my sister’s family are good friends with the Chief and his family, they are good people.)

Second loop and I wanted to push it, I knew there was a slight hill coming up so I waited until I hit the 2nd to last water station, dropped the whole cup of water on my head and ran. I ended up with a negative split! (yes, that is 2 races in a row!) and got a PR 9:02mm. That is unofficial though, cause they chip time, but they chip time by the gun not by the individual. I knew though that it took me 51 seconds to get to the sensors. Am I the only one that bothers? Do I take the time I know I did it in or do I take the gun time?

Anyways, I felt great at the finish, had to walk at least .25 miles (or so it felt) to get to the water. Why would they do that on such a hot day? Everyone was still just standing at the finish line making it a mob scene chit chatting, standing in runners way, and not replying when I asked if they knew where I could get water. They just looked at me like a deer in head lights, anyways… races are fun and I am happy I completed it.

Did you complete in an Independence Day race?