1/31/11 and 2/1/11 Tri Training: Swim and Run Workouts

Our coaches weren't kidding when they said that they wer going to increase our workouts this week! Based on how I'm feeling right now... Phew, it's working!

1/31/11 Swim workout:
I do have to say that I still love my pull buoy and I joked with Martin that I was going to figure out how to swim with it on race day!

200yd warm up
8x75 kick/drill/swim (drill: side kicks - I had fins this time but I still felt like I was sinking. Martin said to kick harder which helped.)
Pull set (pyramid):
50-100-200-200-100-50 (yards) using pull buoy & paddles and between each set there's a hard 50 in between
200yd cool down

Total swim: 2,000yds

2/1/11 Run workout at Foothill College:
My arms were already sore from last night why not make my legs hurt to balance everything out! We first listened to our honoree, Don Fleming talk about his experience with cancer. Then it was off to do our track pyramid.

1 lap (400yds), 20 crunches
2 laps (800yds), 20 crunches, 20 lunges
3 laps (1200yds), 20 crunches, 20, lunges, 20 pushups
4 laps (1600yds), 20 crunches, 20 lunges, 20 pushups, 20second hold in plank position
Think we're done... Nope, then we head back down the pyramid starting with another 4 laps and so on and so on.

This workout (or however many you can complete) was to be completed in 60 minutes. Once the time was up, I was short 2 laps to have completed the entire workout set.

Total miles = 4.5 miles

We've had a good 2 days of workouts!! I'm resting tomorrow and maybe the rest of the week until Saturday!!

Aloha
L

1/24/11 Tri Training: Swim at Santa Clara

After Saturday's swim I was feeling a little better about getting into the pool tonight but after the session, yikes, I'm back to feeling worried that I won't be able to make it. The good news, there was only a few bits of my workout that I didn't complete but overall it was still 1,850 yards!! I really have to work on my pace and my breathing rhythm. 68 days until Lavaman...

The Workout:
100yd warm-up
6x50yd drill/swim - drill was side kicking with fins but I was missing my fins tonight. I felt like I was drowning. Fortunately, Martin found some fins for me to use so I could finish up this set. I only did 5 of 6.
4x100yds kick set - 25 easy, 25 hard & 50 moderate. Kicking from the hips...very difficult. Legs were burning!
Main set:
2x400yds - yes, 400yds...that's 16 lengths nonstop... twice! It started off okay but then when I got tired I felt like my legs were dragging me and my breathing was off. The good news is my upper body is strong and that's what I'm going to have to rely on the most.
4x50yds pull buoy - This was such a relief to use my trusty friend. I really wish I could hide it inside my tri shorts!
100yds cool down

Bottom line: I made it... 1,850yds later. Doesn't really matter how but I did. Maybe that's my new motto for the season.

Aloha,
L

1-22-11 Calaveras Ride and a Visit From an Honoree!



Ricky Sharing His Story



The Calaveras ride is such a fun ride.  And today, the weather could not be more perfect.  But to be honest, today was not about the riding, but about the Cause!  Today, we were reminded why we do what we do!  I for one, realize how fortunate I am to live the healthy life that I do and have the ability to "choose" what I want to do.  For others, like my good friend Ricky, they don't have a choice when it comes to cancer! 



Recovery Meal!



Ricky was gracious enough to visit with the cycling team this afternoon. He arrived at around 12 noon to greet all of us after a tough 59 mile ride.  Some of us didn't get in until close to 3pm!  But not only did Ricky stay to greet us, he decided to have lunch with us at El Toritos in Milpitas.

This guys is truly an inspiration!  When I think back at what I was doing at 23 years old (which by the way was not tooo long ago), I remember partying my butt off and really enjoying my new career with my CPA firm! But for Ricky, he was fighting cancer! I could not imagine.  But he not only fought and beat cancer, but he did so much more for others as he participated in several endurance events himself. He is truly and IRONMAN!  I hope you'll go check out Ricky's story here (video interview):  http://www.beoga.net/tnt/interviews/ricky.html

This guys outlook on life is truly amazing and an inspiration to all!  Everytime I talk to this guy, he motivates me to do more...like maybe even do an Ironman myself one day!



Thanks Ricky!



1/22/11 Tri Training: Burgess Swim/Bike Workout

I was not feeling up to the workout today, mainly because of the swim but I forced myself. Good thing because the swim ended up not being so bad. It was a coached session so hearing the specific pointers and working on them seemed to help. It was a bit somber at the beginning of practice from one of our honorees, Dawn's talk and also of news that Natalie tested positive for leukemia again. Very tearful morning but this is exactly why we are doing this event!! Darn cancer!!

Swim workout:
200yd warm-up
50yd - fast sprint
50yd - all 5 swimmers start at same time
50yd - practice keeping head down
50yd - practice with pull buoy, keeping head down, rotating hips
100yd - pull buoy work

Snake Swim

2x275yds - Snake swim- this was a really fun part surprisingly. There was 11 lanes in the entire pool and we had to swim across one lane at a time. I was pretty comfortable and I managed to do it twice. But I still kept looking for that wall.

Bike workout:
I decided to do the hill repeat option. From Burgess we rode to Huddart Park and Coach Keith had us do 5 hill repeats. I only did 4 since I had to leave. The repeats were pretty hard. 2min on a hard gear, 3min on an easy gear, 4min on a hard gear & 5 min on an easy gear. There was a 15% grade for a short incline but with me in a hard gear I had to stand and even standing I thought I was going to fall off my bike. It was crazy! Total miles: 20.64 miles

I'm glad I went to practice today!

Aloha,
L

1/18/11 Tri Training: Foothill College Track

Natalie

Track started off tearful. Kevin Parrish gave the honoree speech but Kevin isn't an honoree. His wife, Natalie is. I met Natalie pretty early on in the season during swim practice and she was very encouraging. Then I found out that she just finished chemo so I felt more inspired knowing that I'm a healthy individual and realize that I'm just plain whining! I finally got to hear Natalie's story and the reason Kevin is also our teammate, raising money for this awful disease so he can hopefully be able to give the right answer when his kids ask, "is Mommy going to die?" or when Natalie asks, "am I going to die?" I was in tears after his talk but hearing it gives me more inspiration and the great feeling that I'm also doing a good thing!   

So after the talk, it was time to get busy and workout! Tonight we had an interesting workout planned. We were to run a total of 6 miles but a shared effort with a partner. We had turned in our estimated times prior so we were paired up with someone with a similar time. I got paired up with Corinne. We had to keep our pace and run every other lap. We could tell that we were starting off too fast so we started to slow down which was actually a good thing. It was tiring! Luckily, we did slow down a bit... we came in 3rd!! We were only :45 off of our estimated time.

Aloha, L



1/17/11 Tri Training: Santa Clara Swim

I really struggled tonight for some reason. Maybe it was my cold that I'm still trying to shake but I didn't feel good at all. I felt like I was moving backwards rather than progressing ahead like I should. Pretty discouraging but I have to keep swimming whenever I can. I can only hope that it will all click... eventually!

Swim workout:
50yd warm-up (I was running late so I only had time for this)
4x50yds: kick/drill/swim (drill was side kick... super hard even with fins)
3x50yds: timed interval swim - I started off at the 12 o'clock position & I was supposed to start again at that same point next interval but I came back when the clock read :56 which meant I would have to go out right away. This is when my discouragement began but Martin sat with us and gave us a little longer to complete the interval. I barely rested (it was only a 10 sec rest) and I had to go back out but my breathing was off that I had to stop at the 25yd point and I let my teammates pass. I didn't do the next 50.
4x50yds: pull buoy (back to my trusty friend... it was nice to use this device tonight to build my confidence again)
100yds cool down

Total: 650yds (that's it?? Seemed like I was in the pool forever. I hung on the wall alot. I'm sure there was more that I must've forgotten, like the main set!! I was obviously not clear headed tonight!)

There will definitely be more opportunities too swim...

Aloha
L

1/15/11 Tri Training: Edgewood/Canada Bike/Run

We met at Edgewood/Canada today for our bike/run practice. I opted for doing a 19ish mile ride. I still wasn't feeling 100% so I didn't want to push myself too hard. But when I got on the bike, it was just a natural tendency to see how quickly I can do the ride. I finished in 1:15. Not too bad since I wasn't 100% but once again, it was just another lonely ride. I was riding with some folks but then they pulled away and I never caught up. At least I finally got the chance to see some of these roads that I've heard so much about that I've never ridden and it was a fairly nice day for a ride. Total miles: 19.19 miles.

I got back to the car and got ready for the run. We were supposed to run 1.5 miles out and back for a total of 3 miles. I didn't have a way to track my run so I ended up following these 2 guys who turned around sooner than they should've so I probably only ran 2 miles. It was a good thing since I pushed myself a little too hard on the bike.

Aloha,
L