Week one of sprint tri + half-marathon training is officially over. I definitely made some adjustments to my plan this week.

(Click image to see google spreadsheet)

Monday

Strength Training

Plan was to go to yoga like I do every Monday evening but I had to work late and miss the class. When I got home from work I hemmed and hawed and put off my workout until about 8:00 PM. Finally I got my butt down to our home gym and did a quick circuit training session courtesy of The Fitnessista.

I did the following:

Girl pushups – 3 x 15
Overhead press – 3 x 12 @ 7 lbs
Lunge with bicep curl – 12 on each side @ 7 lbs
Hold lunge right and bicep curl – 12 @ 10 lbs
Hold lunge left and bicep curl – 12 @ 10 lbs
Single leg deadlifts – 3 x 12 @ 15 lbs
Bentover dumbbell rows – 3 x 12 @ 15 lbs
Weighted squats – 25 @ 30 lbs
Squat jumps – 30 seconds (24 reps)
Lat pulldown – 3 x 8 @ 50 lbs
Tricep dip – 3 x 15

ABS:
Frog crunches – 20
30 second plank
Leg lifts – 20
30 second plank
Bicycle crunches – 20
30 second plank

Tuesday

6.5 miles easy

Every Tuesday morning I meet my old neighbour for the same 6-mile loop. This week I ran down from my house to meet her so that added on an extra 0.5 miles. We took it pretty easy as it was very muggy that morning and started raining at the end of our run.

I had planned to bike commute (8 miles) to work today too but it was pouring rain so I had to drive.

Wednesday

AM: 3-mile track workout

PM: 90-minute Bikram Yoga class

Thursday

AM: 4.75 mile bike ride to work, 750 metre swim

PM: 9-mile bike ride home from work

I got back to the pool for the first time in months on Thursday. It felt really good to stretch out my tired legs after two days in a row of running.

I decided to add on some miles on my bike ride home on Thursday to make up for missing Tuesday’s bike commute. I ended up taking a different route home that was a bigger hill without such a steep incline. I’m hoping biking all these hills will really help me prepare for the tri!

Friday

REST!

And it was glorious. I was out until about 11:00 PM on Thursday night so was very thankful for a rest day on Friday. I slept in until 7:00 AM, worked a half-day at work and then went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II with Eric in the afternoon (amazing!)

Saturday

Triple Brick – 30 minute swim, 45 minute bike ride (8 miles), 30 minute run (3 miles)

You can read my post from yesterday to hear how that triple brick went. Long story short, it was hard!

Sunday

REST!

Original goal was an active rest today in the form of yoga, tennis, hiking, gardening. Something! Alas, the rain foiled my plans again. I did exercise my stomach by having ice cream for dinner though. Yum!

I also spent a large part of the day scratching, scratching, scratching the swimmers itch I got from swimming in the lake yesterday!!! How brutal is this (not my tan line, the red dots all over me. Ha!)

I don’t think I’ll be swimming in that lake again…

Weekly Totals:

Strength Training – 1 session (35 minutes)

Yoga – 1 class (90 minutes)

Swimming – 1,500 metres (approx) with 1 open water swim

Running – 12.5 miles

Biking – 21.75 miles

***

Thoughts: Week one was harder than I thought it would be and it really tired me out. Clearly it’s only going to get harder from here so I really need to buck up. I need to make sure I’m getting enough sleep (a lot of nights this week I only got 6 hours) and I need to eat well (ice cream for dinner will not cut it!)

It’s also been a very weird summer in Kamloops. This is one of the sunniest and hottest cities in the country and yet it’s been a very wet summer with rain almost every day in June and July. Clearly it’s not letting up anytime soon so I need to stop letting it foil my plans. Sometimes it just will (i.e. I will not bike to work in the rain) but I can suck it up and run in the rain and if I have to cancel a bike ride I should get my butt inside to the pool or a yoga class instead.

OK, onto week two! Only 6 more weeks until my tri! Eep!

How did this week go for you training-wise? Or just life-wise?

Last night my friend Jamie came to stay with us because we had plans to get in a triple-brick workout today and essentially replicate our upcoming triathlon (we are both doing our first sprint triathlon in Kelowna on August 21!)

This morning we got up, went to the Farmers Market, and around 11:00 AM we drove out to the lake (which was about 25 minutes out of town.)

It looked cold! Jamie had a wetsuit, I unfortunately, did not! Side note: I know my swimsuit is ridiculous. I got it really cheap (for a nice speedo endurance one) when I used to lifeguard. It’s lasted 4+ years already!

Once we got into the water and started swimming it really wasn’t too cold at all! But because this lake had SO MUCh seaweed in it we chose to just swim back and forth along the shore to avoid the icky seaweed. We swam for 30 minutes. No idea how far we went but I’m estimating approx. 750 metres. I’m feeling confident about the open water swimming thing after today!

Next up, biking. I know most people who do triathlons find swimming to be the hardest sport but I definitely find biking to be. I am just not a fan of biking!

Oh, and with getting the bikes out of the truck, changing etc. our transitions were each about 20-30 minutes today. Heh! We figured there was no point in rushing when it wasn’t the actual race day.

Doing three sports requires a lot of gear!

The original plan was to swim for 30 minutes, bike for 60 minutes and then run for 30 minutes but we underestimated how hilly the road we were on would be. It was a brutal bike ride and I felt so tired after my swim.

We ended up doing only about 45 minutes of biking and covering 8 miles (13ish km). I’ll take it considering the intense hills we conquered.

Biking done! Next up, running.

I have to say, I was tired at this point and did not want to run. If Jamie hadn’t been there with me I bet I would have backed out and been satisfied with the swim + bike ride. Once we got started running I felt a little better but my legs were SO HEAVY. I have done a lot of distance races where my legs tighten up but I’ve never had such heavy legs before. It was crazy!

Our run ended up being pretty hilly as well as we veered off onto a trail for 2 miles.

Finally a full three hours after we’d drove up there we were done – and super sweaty!

I can’t believe how much this workout wiped me out you guys. It was insane. I was so, so tired at the end. I blame this partially on not taking enough fuel (only two little gummy chomps the WHOLE workout + water) and also just not being trained yet. This has only been my first week of triathlon training.

I sure hope I feel better when I do the real thing in six weeks! After we got home, inhaled food and showered Jamie helped me prep a quinoa-veggie salad for a BBQ we’re going to tonight and then she headed home. I went to get a pedicure that I’d booked weeks ago and thought was “such a good deal” but it turns out it was such a good deal because ALL they did was clip your nails and paint your toes. What a waste of $30 on something I could have done myself.

Oh well, at least I have pretty toes now! Live and learn.

Off to that BBQ – back tomorrow with a weekly recap of training. Toodles!

***

Question of the day: for all the triathletes out there, any advice on transitions? Jamie and I were talking about it today and we felt so slow-moving and tired after each sport was done. We can’t even imagine racing through those transitions on race day!

Dear Hot Yoga,

Thanks for hanging out with me last night. You always make me feel so refreshed and relaxed. I wish I could hang out with you more but you’re a really expensive friend to have.

I’m looking into a new opportunity that will allow me to spend more time with you, though. I’ll keep you posted.

Namaste,
Amber

***

Dear Swimming,

I’m sorry I didn’t get in touch with you all those months. You are my oldest and dearest friend and reuniting with you has been amazing. It’s not a struggle, it’s not hard, it just feels right. Let’s not grow apart again OK? OK!

Thanks for not leaving me for good after I neglected you for so long.

Your old friend,
Amber

***

Dear Strength Training,

I’m not sure what happened, but at some point in the last two years we grew apart. I used to be so close to you and we’d get together 5-6 times a week! You were my number one priority. Now? Not so much. I have to force myself to hang out with you twice a week.

I hope we can become kind-of-friends again because I know your friendship is good for me.

Not-so-lovingly yours (but working on it),
Amber

***

Dear Foot,

I thought we came to an agreement. I was giving you the support you needed (running shoes) and alternating between heat and ice (the way you like it). I haven’t done anything too jolting to you because I know you need time to heal. So what was with that sudden sharp pain yesterday that felt the exact same as the day I injured you?

Not cool, foot, not cool. I’m giving you everything I have, can you give a little back please?

Not-so-patiently waiting,
Amber

***

Dear Running,

Despite things I may have said in the above letters I just want you to know that I still think about you and fantasize about you every. single. day. Know that I haven’t forgotten you and that I miss you so much. I am confident that we’ll be together again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

True love conquers all, right?

Forever yours,
Amber

***

What would your fitness-related (or non-fitness if you want!) letter say today?