You've got this. You want this.

I had a sub today for spin class - and was initially disappointed not to see Ed there. But Molly who subbed for him was fantastic, and the workout was super hard. We did two sets of hill climbs, one seated and one out in third (basically standing and leaning forward on the handles - how you climb a really long or steep hill), with sprints in a low gear as our recovery period. Basically working during our recovery from the climb. SUPER DIFFICULT, but also an amazing way to build endurance and strength. Molly started our class by telling us her motto - you've got this. you want this. She says it a lot in class, and encourages us to tell it to ourselves. Getting to the gym on a Sunday morning isn't easy - so making the class worth the investment requires working your ass off.

I ran to the gym, per usual, but this week was also able to RUN the whole way home. Even up both hills!! There are two short but steep hills on my run home from the YMCA - I usually walk up them but today powered right through. The sense of accomplishment was unreal - to actually feel my body getting stronger. Not in the pumping iron kind of stronger, but to feel my body be able to work through the fatigue - that is a different kind of strength.  My legs were screaming on the run home - quads, glutes, calves were all sore and burning. But it didn't slow me down, and in a weird way I kind of thrived on it. This desire and ability is what fuels the endurance athlete. To be able to work when your body is tired is a sign of being in great shape, and also the major goal in training for a triathlon.

The Tri is a month from yesterday.  I'm thrilled the progress I've been making, even though this past week was difficult in terms of managing the work/life balance. I took four days off from working out, but it hasn't seemed to affect my endurance, and I actually need to start tapering in two weeks (a whole new blog post!).

The best part about working on Sunday AM?? Guilt free brunches, and beers with football all afternoon. Happy running!!

Newton Hills

I ran almost seven miles this AM - on the hilliest route I've planned so far. Brian actually was the one who mapped it, so I'm not surprised that it was painful as hell. Not to mention, that running with Brian is exhausting because I can't keep a pace I'm comfortable with, I have to keep up with a pace that is faster than normal for me. Even considering that I was running harder than usual - this route still took me over an hour - around 10 minute miles. I was pretty disappointed with my performance, but I'm coming off back to back 12 hour days at the office.

I didn't get to put in as much time as I wanted at the gym this week, because I was at work until almost 8 PM both Thursday and Friday. I was able to make it in for a swim workout and yoga earlier this week.  I swam 300 yards further this week than last week, including a longer warm up and cool down - so 200 yards of consecutive swimming. The good news is that I  swam the distance of the race on Tuesday - although it was broken up and not in open water. I'm feeling more confident in the water, and had no problem reaching my goal times for the sets of 50's and 100's.

It's off to spin class in the AM - the first time in a couple of weeks since hurricane Irene and the wedding in VT last weekend prohibited me from my Sunday AM routine. I also have trouble making it to spinning during the work week because the YMCA closest to my work doesn't offer spinning :( I'm vowing to try to ride my bike around the city more often, on errands etc.

Happy training.
E

Rain Rain Go Away

UGH - rain is forecasted all week for Boston, and most of the East coast.  Today I swam 900 yards, and ran 2.1 miles on the treadmill - basically my idea of torture swimming and running on a treadmill.

I am getting surprisingly better at swimming though. This week I did a 200 yard warm up and cool down (double from last week). For my sets, I swam 6X50 yards on one minute - so swimming 50 yards, and using the left over time up until 1 minute for rest. I was able to swim most of my 50s in 45-50 seconds, so I had 10-15 seconds rest. For the first two 50s I focused on my pull - making sure I was really reaching out long in front, and then pulling my arms down towards my body in an S shape. For the second set of two, I focused on my kick, making sure it stayed below the water, and that I was using my whole leg and not just kicking from the ankles. For the last set of two, I focused my efforts on breathing, and not lifting my head too high when coming out of the water for air - my number one problem. For my 100's I did them in 2 minutes (same concept as with the 50's) and really focused on putting it all together. I felt great in the water, but still am having trouble with flip turns and breathing consistently. Brian says that I need to practice breath control, and I need to be thinking about the wall WAAAY before I get there - swimmer talk?? Luckily in an open water swim there aren't any flip turns :)

Week 3 of my hard-core training is going well. Schedule got a little bit off because of the wedding in VT this weekend, BUT I ran 5 miles and hiked over 3 miles up a mountain on Saturday, so that's at least two days worth of work...

Don't forget to donate!!!! :)

SEPTEMBER?!?

Welcome to September!! My favorite month of the year because it means fall, changing leaves, apple picking, warm cider donuts, hayrides and Oktoberfests start hitting the taps. September is also my birth month - so I basically celebrate starting now.
Brian and I are in Stowe for the weekend for a wedding and started our day off with a challenging yet rewarding 5 miles. The views in every direction were Aaaamazing, but with mountain runs come steep climbs and rolling hills. The 5 or 6 long trails I drank last night at the rehearsal dinner probably didn't help either :)
With only 7 weeks to go until the big race, I've really been cracking the whip (on myself) at the gym. This was week 2 of my 8 week plan - so that means 3 nights/week at the gym after work and dinners at 9PM. This week I stuck to my schedule pretty well, although I traded a workout this AM for my swim/bike yesterday (we were traveling).
I found this awesome new website called www.dailymile.com. On it, you can log your daily workouts, and it will tell you how many calories you burned, how much electricity you produced, pounds lost, total miles etc. It's a really fun tool, and you can post your daily workouts to facebook - which I've been doing in an effort to encourage people to follow my training.

Summary of Workouts:
Monday: Ran 4.3 miles to the gym; lifted arms and abs; ran/walked 1.5 miles home
Tuesday: Swam 600 yards (100 warm up, 8X50s, 100 cool down); abs class
Wednesday: Ran 3 miles, 90 minutes yoga
Saturday: Ran 5 miles

I need to start working in the bike/spin classes. I normally spin on Sunday AM, but last week Irene made that impossible, and this week I'll be in VT. Ideally, I need to start riding my bike to places, instead of walking/taking the T. I just got my bike tuned up last week, so I basically have no excuse.

I'm BAAAACCCCKKK

Hola!
Can't believe how long it's been since my last post. Unfortunately, my blogging (and training) was on a bit of a hiatus for the month of August. There is just so much drinking on patios, beaches and poolside to be done.
The good news is that I'm back, and have been training pretty heavily for the past two weeks. The triathlon is only 7 weeks away, so it's definitely crunch time. Luckily I was in great shape after the MA State Tri, so getting back into it wasn't overly difficult.

Here's the training plan for the next few weeks:
Sunday - Run 3 miles, 60 minute spin class
Monday - Long run (up to 8 miles), lift
Tuesday - Swim (500-1,000 yards), lift and bike (3 miles to and from gym)
Wednesday - Yoga and short run
Thursday OFF
Friday Swim (500 - 1,000 yards) and lift
Saturday OFF

It's going to be tough, as lots of this training is extremely time consuming. I didn't even get home from work on Wednesday evening until 9PM. I have joined a website called dailymile.com and I'll be sharing that on FB daily, so people can track my specific workouts.
I'll also be clogging up your emails and FB newsfeeds to solicit donations! If you haven't donated already, please consider donating to the cause. No donation is too small, my Mom and I really appreciate it.
Much Love, E.

Mass State Triathlon - Official time 1:52:26

WOW - so my first tri of the summer is DONE!! It was painful, but now it's over and I'm that much closer to kicking ass this fall for OCRF. The amazing thing about racing, is that no two courses are ever the same. Even if you're racing on the same course, weather changes can make it a whole different ball game. Since this is only my second tri EVER, I didn't really know what to expect - the distances were approximately the same as the tri I completed last fall, but the course was significantly different. I was disappointed because my time was much slower than last fall, but so was Brian's - so this leads me to believe that the course was more difficult.

For starters, the swim was a 1/3 mile - going into race day I thought it was 1/4 mile. It took me 9:33 - not bad. I came out of the water in the middle of the pack, which I was happy with, because the swim is usually my weakest leg. I managed to keep moving the entire time, mostly actually swimming, but I took a "break" and did some efficient side stroke for a bit in the middle.

It had me in a good position going into the bike, which turned out to be a total nightmare. My first transition was sloppy - and took me over 3 minutes. I don't yet have a tri suit - those one piece things that you can swim and then bike/run in. I haven't bought one b/c I didn't think it was possible to bike and run in wet shorts, etc. But, I talked with some of the girls in my wave, and they said the suits are designed to repel water, and that they dry very quickly so it's not uncomfortable. I am definitely considering buying one for my next race; beating someone out of the water, to have them beat you out of transition REALLY sucks.

There were two main issues with my bike - 1. was the bike itself, I was using my crappy hybrid and 2. I was NOT prepared. There was a mile long hill from mile 4-5, and I actually had to get OFF my bike and walk at one point because my legs were burning. It's amazing how much the quality of your bike will affect your race - people were definitely passing me on $2,000 bikes - that otherwise wouldn't have been able to pass me. The less efficient your bike, the more energy you're expending to do the same work. I can't blame it all on the bike though - I was ill prepared for the biking leg. I also am not comfortable feeling fatigued on a bike - I've been running competitively since 8th grade, so I know how to handle fatigue on a run. Changing up  a stride, focusing on form, using my breath etc. But on a bike, I'm a hott mess once I'm tired, and all I can think about is getting off the bike. This is something I KNOW I have to work on before October.

For the run, I felt great. I think partially because I sucked on the bike, I had some stored up energy left for the run. It didn't take long to get my legs under me, and was able to hammer out the 3.1 miles in 30 minutes - not bad for the end of a tri. This is definitely a bit slower than I'm planning on for October, so luckily I have three months to train harder and better! I'm also considering doing a tri next month and one in September to practice for October!!

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for all of the moral support. It is not easy to stay motivated, but to know that people are reading my blog, and donating to my cause makes it so much easier! Please consider donating if you haven't already!! http://www.razoo.com/story/Ericabformaryellenpace

Triathlon, WOOT!

My first triathlon of the season is this weekend in central Mass. I'm super nervous because I'm not even close to as ready as I want to be. Luckily, it's a sprint, so I know I can finish it!
I have barely been swimming, unless you count floating drunk in the ocean after taking oyster shots on the Cape last weekend. I've been running, intermittently. For those of you who don't live on the East Coast, there has been a SERIOUS heat wave happening SO it's only possible to run in the AM or late evening.
All in all, I'm happy with how prepared I am at this point in my training. It's about having realistic goals for yourself, so that you can succeed. I know that it will be difficult, and I haven't been practicing the bike to run transition as much as I wanted - but I know this is something I have to work on before October.
I also know that my swimming will need lots of work. For me the race this weekend will serve as a baseline to see where I can/need to improve. I'm mostly excited to try out my new gear, thanks SheROX!!
I will definitely be updating you post-Tri.