A Little Inspiration

Yesterday Amy and I were emailing back and forth about doing the Tri 4 Fun next week. I think I gave her a small heart attack when I said NEXT WEEK, I think she thought we had two more weeks til Tri 4 Fun. Nope it's in 10 Days! Then we whined a little about how tired we were from Tuesday's swim, blah, blah, blah, whine, whine, whine. After a few emails I told her OKAY NO MORE WHINING :o) We WILL do this, We CAN do this and We MUST do this. We must do this for our friend Raji, who would much rather be out training with us but instead has to be in treatment for ovarian cancer :o( urrrgghhhh. We are perfectly healthy and able to do this triathlon and our friend Raji can't cause she has to get icky chemo and eventually have surgery. So NO MORE WHINING! or at least not as much whining :o) hee, hee!

Last night we had track at Clark Kerr again and there we also got to hear another inspirational story. Our teammate, Keiron, will be doing his first triathlon and with only one hand. Keiron lost his hand in a paragliding accident in Colombia back in 2006.

Last night's track was more running and more drills. I was tired after the workout but I feel like it went much better this week.

Warm Up
15 minutes - 5 laps 1.25 miles

Main Workout
1 lap around track - .25 miles

Station #1
1 lap around track - .25 miles



Station #2
1 lap around track - .25 miles


Station #3
1 lap around track - .25 miles

Station #4
1 lap around track - .25 miles



Repeat Workout

Station #1
1 lap around track - .25 miles

Station #2
1 lap around track - .25 miles

Station #3
1 lap around track - .25 miles

I didn't get to Station #4 a second time because Coach Paul told us to do our cool down but I'm hoping next week I'll get it all done twice :o) I was able to do on extra station this week that I didn't do last week.

10 minute cool down - 2 laps (I walked :o) ) - .50 miles

Total miles - 3.75

Midnight Snack!

Okay so I didn't really have a midnight snack last night but might as well been since dinner was at 9:30 last night for me :o( I've read some articles and heard several people on tv talk about how you should try not to eat 3 to 4 hours before bedtime if you are trying to lose weight, HA!, I guess they weren't training for a triathlon :o(

Last night was our Tuesday night swim at San Ramon with Phil and Amy. Since Amy and I had planned on going to Shadow Cliff on Thursday we decided that it'd be good to switch the workouts. Do Tuesday's workout on Thursday and Thursday on Tuesday and mainly because last nights workout was all swimming at different levels and Thursday is lots of drills which are hard to do at the lake. After a few minutes of trying to convince Phil that it was okay to switch the days he was on board with us and swimming we went. Thursday's schedule called for a 1050 meter warm up, yes people 1050 meters just in our warm up. Last week we did 1400 meters in our total workout! YIKES!

200 meters swim LVL 2
200 meters Kicking only with kickboard
200 meters swim LVL 2

when we were done with the first 600 meters we got back for a quick 20 second rest but noticed our workout was missing ( I think Phil threw it in the pool, hee, hee). Amy found it at the bottom of the pool but it was useless and we didn't have another copy of it. Phil had brought a copy of the Tuesday workout so we decided to go ahead with our scheduled workout instead.

The schedule had us doing 1200 meters at different levels including a Level 7. Our levels go from 1-10 with 1 being the easiest. I did my very very best I could at trying to swim a level 7 and when I was done I was exhausted and breathing very heavily. It was a tough workout but we all go through it and then did an easy 100 meter cool down.

It went like this:

300 LVL 5
300 LVL 3
200 LVL 5
200 LVL 7
100 LVL 5
100 LVL3

100 cool down concentrate on form

total workout - 1900 meters

We were beyond exhausted and ready to go home. I was starving of course as I always am after swimming. I decided to stop by Trader Joe's and pick up a few things that are easy to make since coming home late and trying to eat continues to be a problem especially since my hubby isn't always home to cook and have dinner for me :o( he'll be gone twice a week also for training and then he has his band practice day once a week. Yeah, I guess you could say our lives are a bit chaotic at this time. Anyway, by the time I made it home it was almost 9pm :o( I had bought some shrimp to make as salad so I turned on the oven to preheat and then played with the pooches for a little while, picked up their mess from the day, hung up the wet clothes and unpacked my swimming gear, packed my running gear for tonight, put on my jammies and then back in the kitchen to make my dinner. It only took about 15 minutes, I made my salad, ate my salad and when all this was done it was about 10pm, which is normally my bed time but I can't roll into bed right after eating so I forced myself to stay up til 11pm. I'm tired today but I got 7 hours of sleep so I guess that isn't so bad and I'll just have to get used to it being that way for the next 14 weeks.

Post #2 - Mommy Update

So the weekend with my mom turned out to be very nice and fun although we stuffed our selves like piggies and I'm thanking my lucky stars that I didn't gain any weight....PHEW!!!

Thursday

That was the night we had the pasta and I had the icky squid ink pasta :o( blech!

Friday

We headed out to Walnut Creek for the day and although I didn't ride my bike like I was suppose to on the training schedule we did walk around for 3 hours, does that count? We started our day with manicure and pedicures :o) it was my treat for my mom's birthday and she LOVED it. She was so comfortable and enjoying it so much that she almost fell asleep in the chair.

By the time we were done it was lunch time so we had a slice of pizza, yummy! Then it was off to do some shopping. We heart shopping. I had to make a stop at Kaiser so we walked over to it and then headed back for more shopping. After a few hours we were pooped so we headed back to the car and headed home. We made a quick stop at the grocery store for a few dinner items and then finally made it home. We rested until the hubby got home and then he cooked us a nice yummy bbq and ate again :o) Hung out for a little bit and then hit the sack.

Saturday

Rocky and I left the house pretty early for training :o( mom stayed home and slept, lucky girl. Rocky was off to Berkeley and me to Pleasant Hill. I got my swim workout done and then headed back home to get mom. We took the doggies to Pt. Isabel and picked up Rocky on the way. It was a nice day although a little hot for the doggies but we still got a nice walk in and got the doggies bathed. After the doggie park it was back home for uhhh, lunch :o) had some leftovers and then we all took some much needed naps.

In the evening we were meeting Rocky's parents for dinner so they could see my mom and to celebrate her bday. We were originally going to go to Sausalito but then plans changed a little and we went to Il Pescatore at Jack London Square, OMG it was super yummy. I had the best seafood risotto ever :o) I had the waiters put a candle in our dessert and when they brought it out our waiter and two other waiters sung happy birthday to my mom :o)

Walked off a bit of the dinner & dessert over at Barnes and Noble and then headed home, hung out for a little bit and then hit the sack again.

Notice the patter? Eat, Walk, Sleep, Eat, Walk, Sleep :o) Hey no training but I sure got some walking in. I'm sure my mom is still in a food coma and still tired of all the walking.

Sunday

Rocky had Kali in the morning so my mom and I hung out at home. I cleaned our house and she napped. We headed out of the house close to noon and picked up Rocky and then headed to Berkeley to El Plantano, very yummy Salvadorean food. If you like Salvadorean food or would like to try it this is a great restaurant.

Sunday was actually my mom's birthday so we thought it'd be nice to take her to Salvadorean. We attempted to eat a light meal since later in the evening Rocky's parents were coming over for dinner, umm that didn't go so well and we left there stuffed but once again it was such good food :o)

Rocky had the platanos w/beans and sour cream

and a tamale ( a salvadorean tamale is a bit different than a mexican tamale, it's cooked in banana leaves and the masa is a little different. It is stuffed with chicken potato and olives)

and my mom and I had a cheese pupusa and yucca frita con chicharron

guess what was next? back home for a nap and then dinner. Actually first I made, at the request of my hubby, a Hawaiian Macaroni Salad because we were having Maui ribs. It was super simple and actually turned our pretty good. I made the salad then took a nap.

Rocky's parents came over for dinner and we had a great time just hanging out chatting about knitting, watching the basketball game and of course eating. Rocky's parents brought a very yummy custard blueberry pie so we stuck a candle in it and sung Happy Birthday to my mom again.

Monday

Rocky went to work and we did nothing. We were both pooped so after breakfast and after lunch we took naps until it was time to take her to the airport.

:o( mom is back home now :o(

We missed having my dad here and hopefully he is feeling a lot better. It was nice to have my mom visit since she doesn't get to do it often and we haven't really seen each other since last July :o( I did hang out with them in Solvang but that was a quick trip. Hopefully we'll see my both again very soon.

Week 1 Down 14 to Go

I tried to do the calculation earlier and it looks like in total we have 15 weeks of training and I'm scared. I hope make it and not collapse. My confidence was deflated a bit on Saturday. As like Phil and Amy I was also pretty exhausted after week 1 and I didn't even do the full week of training because I was in SD and then my mommy was visiting...YIKES! I'm scared of how I'll feel by Sunday after following this weeks schedule and actually doing the full weeks workout.

Saturday I headed out to the pool at College Park for a swim and injury clinic. I decided not to go on the bike ride so my mom wouldn't have to sit around and wait to long for me. I've decided that I want to train with the Half Ironman team so I can push myself more. I'm pretty good with endurance in the pool but OMG Saturday killed me. I have no idea how many meters we did but I do know that we were suppose to do our main set 3 times and I only got it done once and then all of a sudden Coach Mike said to cool down and get out of the pool for the clinic and then the bike ride. HUH? I'm not done yet though :o( So either I suck and I'm super duper slow or we aren't getting enough time in the pool to do our workout because we have to go ride or run. I dunno but I felt poopy and was kind of disappointed. Phil, Amy and I do great in the pool on our own and get the workout done, we are tired but we get it done so I'm not sure what the deal is on Saturday. I'm gonna blame it on the team and say we aren't getting enough time....HAA, HAA!!!

This weeks schedule

Tuesday - Swim
Wednesday - Track (Run/Strength)
Thursday - Swim (Amy & I are going to Shadow Cliffs)
Friday - Bike
Saturday - Swim/Run
Sunday - Bike

I'll write about my weekend with mom tomorrow since I left the pictures at home :o(

Squid Ink!

I was cracking up last night when I read Phil's blog because he wrote that his "love handles" hurt. I second that! My love handles hurt, my chest hurst, my legs hurt....ouchie ouchie. Those drills did their job :o) I guess that's a good thing but ouchie.

My mom is in town so last night hubby picked her up at the airport while I was on my way home from work. We came home walked the doggies and then headed out to dinner. We went to our favorite Italian restaurant in Montclair. They had quite a few new items on the menu so we thought we'd try them out. I ordered the Squid Ink Penne Pasta with Shrimp and Scallops. Okay I like seafood and it sounded yummy when I ordered it and everything actually tasted good when I got it BUT the pasta was black, that was a bit weird. I wasn't too into it so I ate all the seafood and hubby ate the rest of the weird black pasta. It was a nice mellow dinner then we came home, watched a little tv and hit the sack by 9:30. Mom was pooped from working and flying. Today we have a mellow day planned and it looks like it's going to be a nice day.

Request to the faults, please no more earthquakes ;o( we had 3 small ones last night and of course Rocky snored right through all of them while I was awake wondering if we were going to have a bigger one :o( no more please.

Clark Kerr, Where is That?

We returned from San Diego on Monday evening and we were pretty pooped so I did nothing all afternoon but lay in bed with the doggies. The doggies had a rough weekend so they were super happy to have us home and were attached to our hips. No joke I just layed in bed for a very long time and only got up to unpack from our trip and pack my swim gear for Tuesday. Training started right away last Sunday after Kick Off, tri team isn't messing around.

Tuesday
Met Amy and Phil at the pool in San Ramon. I'm thinking this will be our usual routine on the day's we swim on our own. Amy and I might hit Shadow Cliffs though on the second day to get some more open water swims in before the Tri for Fun but for the most part I think we'll be at the pool since the schedule calls for doing quite a few swim drills.

25 yds at Level 2 exertion (very easy)
25 yds Balanced Body PositionRest 15 seconds x 4
100 yds stroke count for each 25 yds ( counted about 23 strokes for each 25 meters)

Main Set - 25 minutes at level 2-3 exertion (easy) - we did 1000 meters which is 40 laps :o)

We did our entire workout in about 45 minutes and we finished with 1400 meters

I'm sure I still have to work on my form but I'm feeling a lot better about being in the pool. Getting started is always rough just like running but once I get going I feel great and feel like I can just keep on swimming. I'm pretty happy about that.

Wednesday
Our Wednesday night workouts for the next few weeks will be at Clark Kerr in Berkeley so last night I headed up there for our training.

Warm Up - 10 minute run around the track

Main Set
1 lap around track (0.25 mile) LVL 3 (easy)

Station #1
10 Squats
5 right side planks (hold 5 seconds each) & 5 left side planks (hold 5 seconds each)
1 lap around rack LVL 3

Station #2
10 leg lifts
10 push ups
1 lap around track LVL 3

Station #35 arm/leg extensions (hold 5 seconds each)
5 lunges (front, right, left)
1 lap around track LVL 3

Station #4
10 crunches
10 supermansl lap around the track LVL 3
1 lap around track LVL 3

We had to keep doing these until Coach Paul told us to stop. I managed to get through one repeat of this and on the second time around I only got to Station #3 and the Coach Paul told us to cool down.

Cool Down - 15 minutes


I didn't keep track of how many times I went around the track during the warm up or cool down so I'm not sure in mileage what I did but I did keep track of time on my watch and I ran for a total of 46 minutes. Not too bad.

Am I sore today? You betcha :o( but it's a good sore and I'm happy about training again. I'm sure it's gonna take my body some getting used to and I'll be tired and sore for the first few weeks but I hope to adjust. I was pleased with my workout last night considering I really have been a couch potatoe since I fell last year. Yes, I did New York but that was 7 hours of torture.

Oh and we had a little company up in the hills of Berkeley.

I have training everyday but for the rest of this week I"ll have to play it by ear because my mommy is flying in tonight.

Weekend Recap...COMING!

Olivia has done her race recap so now I can do my spectating recap :o) but that won't be happening til tomorrow. I've had two great days of working out but oh my geesh, I'm tired and I'm guessing that tomorrow I'll be sore.

Tuesday Swim - 1400 meters took about 45 minutes
Wednesday Track - Ran 50 minutes total and did lots and lots of drills in between all the running

I'll post updates on both tomorrow, I go to sleepy night night now.