Tri Training Week Two: Sweaty in Seattle

Weekly Mileage: 29.3 (9.2 Running, 1.5 Swimming, 18.6 biking)

Wow.  I just checked my sweet google doc training tracker (sounds more impressive than it really is at a whopping 4 columns in excel) and I have trained 10 days in a row.  In those 10 days I have worked out 12 times!  But here's the really cool part: the last 4 workouts were while I was ON VACATION.  Yep, I'm that person.  I work out every day of my vacation.  And until yesterday I really didn't even resent it.  In fact, I looked forward to it.

This positive attitude was probably the result of location and company.  From what I could tell over the weekend, there are few places more beautiful and conducive to outdoor exercise than Seattle.  Upon landing I went for a run around Greenlake with Non-red Kate, a former rugby teammate.  The air was crisp, the sky was sunny and blue (I’m beginning to think they lie about Seattle weather just to keep us away), and the three mile loop around the little lake was a perfect welcome to Seattle.

Another thing about summer in Seattle is the sheer amount of daylight.   The sun came up at six and didn’t really set until around 9:30 or 10:00.  As a result, I got in a full day of fun and adventure (sleeping in, shopping with my high school history teacher Henry, pedicures and dinner with my Mississippi roommate Gwyn) and still was able to squeeze my run in at 8:30pm!  It was after a delicate rain shower, and newly wet pavement is one of my favorite smells.  Heaven.

Saturday morning I borrowed Henry's wife Catherine’s pimped out Specialized road bike and took it for a spin along the Burke Gilman trail.  I rode through the University of Washington, along a canal, and through the Fremont neighborhood.  I finished back at the Kamerlings atop a massive hill.  When I got into the house, their six-year-old daughter said, “You’re sweaty.”  Yep.  Sure was.

The final workout of the vacation was a quick run to the beach at Golden Gardens, the site of the wedding that brought me to Seattle in the first place.  The run to and from the beach was  no big deal: 3.5 miles of gentle ups and downs, with a view of the mountains in the distance on the way there.  However, as I approached the park, I reached a set of stairs heading down.  I skipped down the steps knowing that beautiful views awaited me upon my arrival.  But about half way down I realized I’d have to go back up.  The final count was 253 stairs, plus a few straightaways in the middle.  Having just run almost two miles, I was none too pleased to be climbing.  Upon reaching the bottom of the final set of stairs with just 25 more to climb, an 80-year-old man looked at me, smiled and said, “You’re movin’ awfully slow.”  Yep.  Sure was.

So maybe I'm sweaty.  And maybe I'm slow.  But the bottom line is, I'm having fun training for this triathlon!

Tri Training Week One: Firsts

Weekly Mileage: 24.8 (8.2 running, 1.3 swimming, 15.3 biking)

I came to work on Tuesday after my first morning swim and would tell anyone who would listen, "I did three sports in three days!  I did three sports in three days!" I never thought I would exercise six days of the week, even on the weekends.  I never thought I'd do more than one sport per season.  And I never thought I'd work out more than once per day.  Welcome to the week of firsts!

This week I took my first steps to truly becoming a triathlete.  I worked out 7 times in six days.  One day I even did two sports!  And I found out this is going to be harder than I thought.

Swimming:
Yeah.  So I hate morning.  You can ask anyone I've ever woken up with (from sleepover buddies to camping friends to my own mother), I hate waking up.  It is, without a doubt, my least favorite sport.  But something about swimming makes me think I have to do it before work.  And when you're spending three hours a night hunting for (and losing out on) apartments, you DO have to do it before work.  So on Tuesday I woke up at 5:00 am to go swimming.  And I actually enjoyed myself.  Our swim workouts this week were only 30 minutes long, so though I was having flashbacks to the Crystal Lake Nadiators, the practice was not nearly as hard as those.  I learned a lot about pool etiquette (when there are only two simmers, you split the lane rather than swimming in a circle), damn near crashed into a dude with a Lance Armstrong bracelet on (before I learned about pool etiquette),  and realized that swimming is a really good workout.  Halfway through the swim I noticed my arms were getting really tired and sore.  "Gosh" I thought.  "I am really out of swimming shape."  Then I remembered that you can kick while you're swimming.  When I stopped dragging my limp lower body through the pool with only my arms, things got a lot more pleasant.  And my second swim of the week happened in the evening, so all was well.

Running:
I had three really nice, quick runs this week, with excellent weather, excellent company.  Monday Jake and I took a house hunting break to run through the new neighborhood and check it out.  Wednesday was a running club day and because it was only a 30-minute run, we got to skip the hills!  Matt of course kept running because he likes pain.  Saturday was our first official Team In Training workout of the season.  Though I am going to switch teams since I'm moving into the city, it was wonderful to meet half of the people I'll be running the race with, and to get some triathlon basics from our expert coaches.  This is going to be such a different experience from the winter season, with a larger group and a diverse set of activities.  But I am so excited.  We ended the morning's triathlon clinic with a quick 25 minute run through Fairfax, VA.  I'm right in the middle of the pack for speed and endurance, which is a nice place to be.

Biking:
It is abundantly clear that this will be the hard part of this program for me.  Bikes are scary.  Riding in a city is scary.  Biking up hills is hard.  But I finished my biking on Friday faster and farther than Sunday, and tackled a pretty horrible hill in the process.  I'm still getting used to the weirdness of my triathlon bike, having to move handles to shift or break, unclipping from the pedals to stop, and leaning down while riding.  But it makes me feel super badass, so we'll go with it.

Next week I'm nervous that I'll be in Seattle for a wedding (yay Seattle!) so I'm trying to plan out my workouts and see if I can't get most or all of them in.  Megan the bike tutor (who is also a triathlon tutor) says "when in doubt, go for a run."  So if you see me running up and down the hilly streets of Seattle, invite me over to your pool!  Because I don't like running THAT much!

Uphill Battle

Weekly mileage: 9.8 (3 running, 6.8 cycling)

On your mark.  Get set.  Go!  Kick-off for Team In Training's summer season was yesterday, and what an event it was.  I continue to be impressed and inspired by the organization.  Not only are we working together on an important mission (raising money to fight blood cancers), but the organization is incredibly well run, encouraging, and exciting to be a part of!

I ran into several friends from last season's half marathon training who greeted me with big hugs and a bit of terror in their eyes.  Afterall, we had signed up to do an Olympic distance triathlon!  We met our mentors, received our training schedules, and heard from coaches and cancer survivors, all attesting to the challenges and victories we will encounter on this four month journey.

There are three triathlon training schedules, depending on your level of fitness.  Well.  I am incredibly proud to say that because of the half marathon and running club, I am going to start out at the highest level and see if I can stay there for the duration of training!

My first workout of the season was today: a 40-minute bike ride. Because my bike tutor is out of town, this was my first unsupervised ride.  I had a lot of nerves going into it.  I packed my under-seat bike pouch with my phone, license, debit card, and health insurance card.  You know, just in case.  I filled up my REI water bottle and stuck it in my REI water cages (I'm keeping those people in business!), clicked on my cycling shoes, and headed out the door.  I had to walk through the lobby of my building in spandex and what amount to really overpriced tap dancing shoes, and I made plenty of noise and drew much attention.  But then I was off! 

The first bit of the ride was no big deal, my biggest concern being getting my feet out of the cleats in time to stop at the stoplights.  Let me tell you...I'm a pro!  I only almost fell down once!  But then, because I'm not familiar with my neighborhood beyond my grocery store, I found out it's dirty little secret.  HILLS.

My first workout was a hill workout.  Totally by accident.  After the one thing they told us yesterday was to start slowly.  Oops.  By the time I got halfway up the fifth hill my legs were shaking, sweat was pouring down my face...well...it was pouring down my everything, and I wanted to stop.  But I kept pedaling, standing up as I made it the last few yards up that hill.  I was really proud of myself!  Then I remembered, there were three more to go before home.  So I took a rest, hydrated (that's what it's called...drinking water is for sissies!), and went on my way.  All in all I did 6.8 miles in 40 minutes, or about 10 miles per hour.  I have no idea if this is fast or slow for me, but it gives me a good baseline from which to measure and grow. 

I'm so excited for this adventure, but I can tell already it's going to be the most physically challenging thing I've ever done.  And what did I learn so far?  Biking up hills makes the hiking up hills we did last seem like a walk in the woods.  Oh.  Wait...

From the Sidelines

Ruggerfest 2011 was the most painful rugby has ever been.  As I've said many times before (because it makes me strangely proud of myself), at my last tournament in college I broke my ankle and had to have it repaired with steel screws and plates.  Then there was the broken nose this season in Virginia Beach.  I've sustained a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, and more bruises and knocks to the skull than I can remember (not that the two are related).  So what could possibly have happened during Ruggerfest to make things so unimaginably painful?

I had to watch.

Watching games as a bench warmer is one thing.  You know that barring an incredibly close game, you'll get at least a little bit of playing time when the coach is confident the game is either won or lost.  There are the butterflies bouncing in your stomach as you stare longingly at the coach as she looks up and down the bench as she decides who she'll play next.  There is the excitement that at any moment Lis may suffer a catastrophic injury and though you've been the last to go in all season long, Merf might finally realize the star that you are and put you in as the sixth man.  Oh wait.  This was supposed to be hypothetical.  ANYWAY.

This last weekend was so much different, and so much harder than I imagined it would be.  I got a sense of this at practice the week before, which I attended to participate in the non-contact drills and learn from watching my teammates and their mad skillz.  Two other players were sidelined at the Virginia Beach tournament (see picture) and we all were frustrated at our lack of participation in the fun (read: tacking and scrumming) part of rugby.

After practice I thought I was emotionally prepared for the weekend.  But then we started winning.  Our first game we was the closest, and then we proceeded to school the other teams, three in one day.  I was suddenly a rugby girlfriend instead of a rugby player (yeah, I'm dating someone on my team...what are you going to do about it?!?!), and I didn't know what to do with myself.  So, I started being helpful.  I ran to get ice, I carried tape and extra jerseys, and brought water onto the field, I cracked jokes on the sidelines.  It passed the time, but I was sad. 

But I guess that's what it means to really be part of a team.  Even when you can't play, you go to cheer them on.  Even when you're not a part of the action, you do everything you can to support those who are.  So though I wasn't emotionally prepared for an early end to the season, I am proud of my teammates for going out with a bang.  And I kind of like being a rugby girlfriend too.  Now time to start training for the triathlon!