Swimming update

This does not meet any goals, but I wanted a beginning time with doing only freestyle. I swam 20 lengths (500m) in approximately 14 minutes. This is the distance I will need to do for the Sprint Tri and the middle 80% (not first or last 10%) of the women ranged in time from 8-13 minutes. Clearly I need to build some more power and efficiency in the next 4 months, especially because I was pretty exhausted getting out of the pool. Had this been a real race, I would've had to biked 16 miles then run 3. I definitely have room for improvement.

Longest run ever.

Luckily it didn't feel as long or as draining as the nasty hill run. Though, I did accomplish my goal of a 5 mile run in under 50 minutes outside. I did it in a 45:34 so a pace of 9:06/mi which is pretty good for me.

Just for full disclosure, it was on the UVA track so nice, flat, springy surface. My knees were not up to road running so the track gave me the ability to do the distance, work on techniques, and get used to running in the cold without the extra pain of concrete. I do still plan on running where there are more hills and course variation, but it's still kinda neat to run farther than I ever have in my life.

Just for the nerds out there, I'm including a graph of my HR & pace. I don't think my pace varied all that much, but then again, I know I stayed in the exact same lane on the track and the GPS map has my path of ranging quite a bit from side to side. Therefore, I take it all with a grain of salt, but I do believe the pace average and that I sprinted at the very end.

3 Miles before breakfast

::: starts laughing::::
Who are we kidding, I don't do anything before breakfast. I did however run 3 miles before work and while it didn't meet any goals, it thoroughly convinced me that I really don't like treadmill. I'd rather have that nasty hill by work. I think the one I was on was also particularly bad because of how they had a TV set up, so I was either looking in the reflection (it was off) or looking at an angle around it. Perhaps if I more wisely choose a machine next time... though I think I'd rather just go run outside.

Sprint Registration Complete

I am now officially registered for the CVille Sprint Triathlon! I can do each distance individually right now, so I'm confident in the next 4 months I'll be able to put them all together.

Climbing Uphill

In knowledge it is commonly said that you don't know how much you don't know until you start to learn more about the subject. I believe it is similar in actions, you don't know how much you can or can't do until you try. The last two times I went for 5K runs with coworkers outside, I didn't make the entire distance running. Both times I had to walk for a portion of it. As in the opening statement, I didn't realize I would have such great difficulty with long gradual hills and also steep short hills, and having them back to back. (Also doesn't help that these hills are on the way back.)

Today, I was victorious against those hills. I did the 5K in 31:44 (which isn't spectacular) but more importantly, I did it all running. Now next instead of worrying if I can even make it, I can focus on bringing the time down.

Sprint Tri Too!

This just in! My family reunion which was supposed to be the same weekend as the C'ville Sprint Triathlon (.3mi swim, 15.5mi bike, 3mi run) was just canceled. Now I'm seriously considering doing both Triathlons this summer. This really shouldn't change my training goals, just gives me another chance to race. And realistically, the Sprint will be a good practice for the International distance.

Running Book

Back when I did the Women's 4-miler training program, one of the items they gave us on the first day was a book called "Run for Life." I read through initially but really didn't make much away from it since it seemed to be either common sense (stay hydrated) or beyond me (improving your pace). At that time all I wanted to do was to complete the 4-miler... running was not going to be for life. It was just something I was trying. Skip ahead many months and now I'm doing a triathlon in which I will be running 6 miles. Having taken a number of months off I started out slower and not able to run as far as in September, yet still better than last June.

I re-read the book tonight and much more of it sunk in and seemed applicable. I am going to try to start doing some of the stretches and actually try some of their suggestions about pace. I am considering getting another book about marathon motivation that a coworker recommended because it had great ways to keep yourself going for long races (which this one will seem to be for me).

Inspiring Song

This is my new favorite song. It just gets me inspired to want to go out and race today!

15 Miles bike inside - I think

I completed the 15 miles biking inside goal... I think. I went to the cycle cinema class where we watch a movie while biking. Those bikes are notoriously inaccurate. I biked for about 90 minutes and I went about 16 miles. Yes some of that was up 'hills' but we also had some down hill down. So it is probably right, or at least close enough. While it is good to work the muscles some, my next big push is to start getting outside for running and biking (no... not crazy enough to swim outside yet ;) )

30 Lengths w/o Stop

Last night I completed the 30 lengths w/o stop - any style goal. It was about half freestyle and half backstroke (with a few breast strokes for good measure). I didn't record the time but as for exhaustion level, it is definitely at my baseline or right above. At 25 lengths I was getting pretty tired, but I pushed myself to finish the 30. I will definitely need to put in some good quality pool time but it's doable.

Train hard, race easy

Since I'm enjoying my late night oatmeal (the reasons why are a whole separate post), I thought I'd take this time to share with you the advice I got today: "Train hard, race easy." Simply put, the training program should be harder than the actual race. Meaning that I need to increase my distance goals for all of the segments. I will not update the distances now since I believe those lengths would most likely be achieved when I'm already in the phase of combining workouts, thus a new set of goals will appear at that point anyways.

Right now I'm excited to try to knock out a few more of those current goals. Especially the swimming. I haven't really done a good measure of what I can do in that area so I want to find my baseline.

5K in under 30 min inside

It took me a few tries, but I made my first goal of running a 5K in under 30 minutes on the treadmill. To be exact I ran it in 29:22. Woohoo! Only a few weeks ago was the first time I ran just under 5K and felt SO good about it. It was an amazing feeling - the first point where I realized that I was in better shape than I thought and that I truly could do this! No excuses, no wimping out, I'm going to finish this thing because I'm in good health and BIFC.

While the HR (heart rate) graph may not be interesting on the treadmill, I will post fun stats such as avg HR. Look forward to future times when running outside I can combine the HR, distance, and pace. Yes, yes, I admit it. I love my data.

Goals

I work best by setting small incremental goals and trying for the next highest one. I may not make it in the next work out I do for that portion, but it is what I'm trying for. On the right side it displays my current goals. Some have two goals for inside & outside since I know the treadmill, stationary bike, and pool are nothing like the trail run, roads, and lake that I will be doing. Whenever an outside distance is accomplished it will automatically fill the inside goal if the inside one has not already been achieved.

Swimming
One length = 25m. So 60 lengths = 1.5km of race.

• 30 lengths of any style w/o stop - DONE 1/25
  
• 40 lengths of any style w/o stop - DONE 4/25
  
• 50 lengths of any style w/o stop - DONE 5/1
  
• 60 lengths of any style w/o stop - DONE 5/1
• 40 lengths freestyle w/o stop - DONE 5/1
• 50 lengths freestyle w/o stop - DONE 5/1
• 60 lengths freestyle w/o stop - DONE 5/1
• 30 lengths freestyle w/o stop in under 18 min
• 30 lengths freestyle w/o stop in under 15 min
• 60 lengths freestyle w/o stop in under 35 min
  
• 60 lengths freestyle w/o stop in under 30 min
• 750 m in open water
• 1500 m in open water
• 1500 m in open water in under 35 min
• 1500 m in open water in under 30 min

Biking
Full length for biking is 40K (~25 miles)

• 15 miles inside - DONE 1/27
  
• 20 miles inside (see outside)
• 25 miles inside (see outside)
• 10 miles outside - DONE 4/27
  
• 15 miles outside - DONE 5/17
• 20 miles outside - DONE 5/17
• 25 miles outside - DONE 5/17
  
• 25 miles outside in under 90 min
• 25 miles outside in under 85 min

Run
Full length for running is 10K (6.2 miles)

• 5K in under 30 min inside - DONE 1/21
  
• 4 miles in under 40 inside (see outside)
• 8K in under 50 min inside (see outside)
  
• 5K in under 30 min outside DONE 3/8 (Appears to be about 28:30)
  
• 4 miles in under 40 min outside DONE 3/8 (Appears to be about 37:30)
• 8K in under 50 min outside DONE 3/8
  
• 10K in under 60 min outside

Combining
Eventually I need to combine them and get my body used to the transitions. I'm not entirely sure what those goals are going to specifically be. My training plan will be to do things in the correct order and perhaps start small. For example bike for 30 minutes then run for 10. Then up it to bike for 30, run for 30. When I get closer to really focusing on these I will revise these goals with actual distances.

Intro

This July I will participate in and finish the C'ville International Triathlon. I've never been overly athletic in my life so this is going to be a great personal challenge. Why am I doing this you may ask: BIFC (Because I F$%*ing Can!).

This blog is intended to chart my goals, my training progress, and any amusing stories along the way. I'm not begging for money like David, so if you are thoroughly amused by my training and want to give money, please go donate in his effort to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

For those of you who don't understand the name, title, author of the blog... it's really quite simple (ok, not so much). I came up with a new persona for my involvement in the SCA as is typical. This persona's name is based off my middle name. Based off of that I have picked up the nickname Nicki. It has really grown on me. I plan to still use my given name for professional and legal reasons, but otherwise, Nicki it is.