small hodgepodge of stuff

Nothing extraordinary to report. Lifting, swimming the last couple of days. Trained with B. tonight. Planning tomorrow to swim at the pool with my wetsuit. Planning Thursday to swim, then spin, then run a bit. Friday there is a practice swim at the lake. Saturday, there's a bike race I might do. Rampin' it up! Time's a-tickin!

In the mean time, a good friend and my husband are putting together the cheerleading squad :) They're even having T-shirts made!

I'm kind of wishing I had spare cash to get the fancy pedals and shoes for my bike (and feet), but I've never used them before, so I suspect I won't miss them.

I used non-cotton socks tonight at the gym for the first time ever and might not ever wear cotton socks again!

The hospital PR people want to interview me for a "life after cancer" piece regarding this event. I called today and left a message.

I'm super-excited about all that's going on! Now, I just have to do the race!!

bought a wetsuit

My tri mentor was selling a wetsuit in my size, so I went today to meet with her and try it on.

I had never put on a wetsuit before.

I had heard and read that it's hard to put a wetsuit on. That is the understatement of the century! My hands were tired from grabbing and pulling. It was as if my whole body was hips!

Well, between the two of us, we got it on, but it was no small feat.

I did buy it from her, but I'm not looking forward to putting it on in a public space (i.e. at the race). I will practice putting it on, and I'll get my hubby to help, and I'm going to swim with it at the gym some time this week and use it for the open-water swim on Friday.

One more thing checked off the list. The race is three weeks from today!!!

ahhhh, back on the wagon!

I was right about being sore. It was completely contained in my quads, but I've had some trouble walking for two days now. That shut down my plans to go to spin class tonight. I did go and swim, and it felt good to be back in the pool. There is something soothing about the water that isn't available through other means of cardio. Also, the hot tub is there afterwards :)

I'm going to find time to go biking tomorrow, and maybe do a little upper body work if I have time. (I have a concert tomorrow night - the last of the season - so time is a little short.)

Saturday, I'm going to try on a wetsuit from someone who is selling one. Hopefully, it'll fit and I can write her a check and be done with that aspect of things. We'll see...

running!

I went for a short run tonight (roughly 1 mile). It felt pretty good :) It's nice to be back on my feet, as it were.

I left work a little late (maybe 10 minutes) and then there were problems on the freeway, so I missed the run-the-course, which was disappointing. I did meet up with my mentor and some other ladies, and learned about transitions and how to set them up.

I'm excited! It's getting closer... I'm not going to go too fast with running or anything, but I'm glad to be able to do it again. Biking soon, too! Woo-hoo!!!

I was able to get a bike helmet that fits finally, which is good. I have a few things left to buy, but not many, and a few other things that I'll buy if the money tree blooms in time ;-) This tri stuff can get expensive!

feeling better-ish

I took off Monday and yesterday. My upper body is feeling great and is ready to jump back in the game. My hamstring is still a little sore. If it would just stay like that (as opposed to getting worse), I could easily work through it. But that's not how it works.

I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon with a PT to have it checked out. Hopefully, the visit will yield good results and not just "well, this is what's wrong, come back next week and we'll get started." He's sports-minded, though (his card has "ironman performance care" on it), and is aware I'm training for a May 9 triathlon and haven't run or biked in 2 months. I have hope.

Today I am planning to hit the pool. I got a new bathing suit in the mail on Monday (I hate mail ordering clothes, but I couldn't find this particular one in any local stores) that is much better-suited to swimming laps. I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Also today I can go and pick up my bike. I am going to ask them to fit me for a helmet while I'm there. I tried a bunch on the other night when I was shopping, but they were all too big ... even the youth ages 11-14.

That's where I'm at. Here's to hope!

misc from the last few days

Swim and upper body lift and swim and upper body lift. That's all I've been up to these days.

I swam today with a heart rate monitor, which was useful, not because I can use it in the way that most triathletes apparently do, but because my heart rate often spikes when I exercise. It's not bad in the pool at the speed that I'm happily swimming, so that's good :)

Last night, I had a bike maintenance workshop, sponsored by the triathlon people. I took my bike over. There was only one other woman who showed up, so we each got private lessons on changing tires. I left my bike there, as the back brake was broken (as it turned out) and it needs a tune up (I bought it in spring 2000, I think, and it's never been tuned up), but not before learning how to disengage the brakes, take the wheels off, take the tires off, put them back on, fill them with a CO2 cartridge, put the wheels back on, and re-engage the brakes. It's messy, but it was fun. They gave both of us bags that are hung from the back of one's seat containing a patch kit, CO2 cartridges, an inflator for the cartridges, and tire lever. Nice :)

I met my mentor, who is a neat woman, and I got two leads on a used wetsuit. This activity was definitely worth the time invested.

Tonight, I bought some compression shorts (this hamstring is pissing me off), some wrap-around sunglasses, some anti-chafing stuff, and some bamboo socks. The only things left to buy (I think) are:

a new bike helmet (mine sustained a crash some time ago and must be replaced)
a wetsuit
skins or something similar for sun protection

Is there anything I'm forgetting?

hurt and sick

Well, I didn't work out at all on Saturday. My hamstring was sore, even when I wasn't stretching it, and I was tired and cranky. Not the best reasons, perhaps, but reasons none-the-less.

Sunday I went and did upper body and abs, and then went for a swim. A self-proclaimed health nut stopped me when I was done lifting and offered 20-minutes-worth of health advice which, while interesting, would have been better another time.

Today I had a meeting after school 4:30-6:30, then was supposed to go to jazz band 7:30-8:30, but I woke up this morning with a head full of snot, so I'm skipping jazz band and going to bed.

Tomorrow I'm scheduled to train, which will be good.

If I'm not feeling fabulous (or maybe even if I am), I'm thinking about taking off on Wednesday. I don't have many classes, made fewer by an assembly, and the afternoon meeting is not one relevant to what I teach. So, while typically a rest day, I might go in and get in a swim on Wednesday.

My hamstring is feeling much better today (although still not normal). I'm hoping to be running/biking/etc. by Thursday.

I got an email saying to look out for a message from my tri mentor. I'm looking forward to it! Hooray! I was also notified of some group workouts on the course a little farther down the line. I'm glad that those will be available to us.

I also looked at the workout schedule offered. The swimming workouts include all kinds of gear that I don't have. I plan to ask how important all of that stuff is. We're making some small sacrifices so that I can buy a wetsuit and pay the entrance fees to this event, and I'm not wanting to buy more stuff. If I really like doing this, I might invest in more toys over time, but not right now...