Recovery Week One

Just in case you were wondering, the training program I am following is from the book (aptly named, of course) Triathlete Magazine's Guide to Finishing Your First Triathlon. I am following the Olympic distance training program at the back of the book since the first part of the book is mostly focused on training for sprint distance tri's.

Weather has been an issue, on and off, this week. It has been rainy, windy, and COLD for Maui. I didn't get in my 20 minute run (really?!?) on Tuesday because it was pouring rain first thing in the morning. I intended to run at lunch but discovered that someone had removed my extra pair of running shoes from my truck and running around the park in my Dansko clogs was out of the question. By the time I got home it was raining again. Wimpy excuse, I know.

Despite wimping out on the run, I DID make it to the pool at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, which was an amazing feat considering it was 60 degrees outside, rainy and windy. The pool, however, was a lovely 81 degrees and very pleasant.

Thankfully, this morning dawned cloudy but rain-free and I had a very pleasant 45-minute ride on our highway bike path.

I'm looking forward to my swim tomorrow and riding out to Tedeschi Winery in Ulupalakua on Saturday morning. Hope the weather holds. I'm ready for summer.

A Week of Progress

My intention when starting this blog was to post every day. Ha!


My first official "complete rest" day was Monday, which was actually my second day of "rest" because I did not get my 60 minute run in on Sunday. Which brings me to this: "Plan your workouts and workout your plan."


I've discovered over the past two years that I am a morning workout person. I usually have no problem getting up and heading out while the rest of the world is still asleep and completing my training for the day, but weekends present a problem. I still get up early, but so does Bruce, and many times I am torn - a) stay at home, enjoy the paper and eat breakfast with him; or b) get my butt out on the road and do what I need to do? I need to stick with "b" if I am ever going to make this training program work.

Then I have the weather to contend with. We usually have mild temperatures and weather year round here on Maui, but this week has already been a challenge with extremely high winds and driving rain. Blustery wind and light rain I can handle, even a 30 mph tradewind headwind, but 45-60 mph dodging flying debris is not good.

So, I ended up getting in my Tuesday morning run after work. Tuesday night I loaded my bike in my truck, excited about my first brick workout this morning, only to be thwarted again by said nasty weather. I managed to eke out a swim session at the pool at lunch, but my attempts were frustrating and I bagged out after 850m. My bike is still in the car, so barring any unforeseen weather traumas, I will bike/run tomorrow morning as a "make up."

I threw myself a little pity party at the pool today, but got out with the resolve to get in the pool a little more often than called for in my training schedule so I can get this thing down!

I'm managing to get in my workouts, but I need to tighten things up. It's only going to get harder from here!

Day 3 - Bike

So happy to be back on my bike again!

My friend, Gina, rode with me this morning. We bought our bikes at the same time and have ridden quite a lot over the past several months. While she is on a different training program right now, she is happy to ride with me while my workouts stay in the sub-hour time limit, and I enjoy the company.

Today's 45 minute ride turned into 60 - we had to make a couple of stops and hoist our bikes over/around a couple gates, plus we had quite a headwind on the way back - but overall it was a great ride. It's so nice to have the sun coming up earlier in the morning now! We don't have to ride as dawn is breaking.

My bike is an '09 Trek Fuel Ex 7 mountain bike. That's right...I'm training for (and riding in!) an Olympic distance road tri on my mountain bike. No shame. It fits me great and I love riding it. I bought it with the intention of racing and riding mostly off-road. Who knows...if I truly love and get into triathlon, there might be a road bike in my future.

Day 2 - Run

Every morning I take my dog, Cody, for a walk around the neighborhood. I've done this since he was a puppy (he's now 3+) and he's at my side of the bed as soon as he hears the alarm go off. I throw on my workout clothes, grab his leash, and off we go.

We walk at a good pace, usually for about 15-20 minutes depending on our route. He enjoys getting out and I enjoy the peace and quiet, since nearly everyone in our neighborhood is still asleep. It's also a really good warm up for whatever training I have planned that morning.

Today was the first day that I hit the road instead of the treadmill. I have a lot of hills in my neighborhood and virtually no flat running routes anywhere within a 10 mile radius of my house, so it's always a workout! I was feeling a little creaky at first (it's been about a month since I ran any measurable distance), but was soon feeling my stride and before I knew it my run was done!

My lunchtime workout consisted of weightlifting and yoga...and I have REALLY MISSED MY YOGA! I'm going to have to work to regain some of the flexibility I lost in the last month, but it will be a pleasure to get back into it.

Day 1 - Swim

Got up on the first alarm this morning, which is a good sign since I am a habitual snooze pusher. Most days I like to push it once or twice, much to the annoyance of my husband. I wanted to get up early, though, so I could eat my banana a little more than an hour before I got to the pool. In the middle of the night I thought about eating a small bowl of cereal with my banana (because I wasn't sure the banana by itself would be enough), but then I remembered that there wasn't any milk, so scratched that idea. I need to go grocery shopping tonight.

There were only 3 other people at the pool this morning for the 6:30 a.m. lap swim. I was relieved because if it was crowded I wasn't sure how I was going to navigate sharing a lane since I'm still new to this. Luckily, there was plenty of room and I got a lane on the edge right where I like to be.

I actually swam 800 yards this morning! Granted, it wasn't a continuous 800 (that comes later), but I did my 4 sets of 200 with a few little breaks between. I finally realized this morning that swimming is just like other endurance activities - you are going to get winded, and you will find your groove with the breathing. This is a breakthrough for me because I always just thought it was the act of swimming that made breathing so difficult. Swimming is really a cardio exercise!

My first star is up on the board. Day 1 is complete!

I Am A Swimmer

I did it! I can swim!

Actually, I have been able to swim for a long, long time, but never correctly and never for any length of time. One of the most-repeated bits of advice for training for a triathlon is, "Get a swim coach." So I did.

Rebecca and I met at a women's stand-up paddleboard event last January. It was meant to be! She was chatting with another woman in my group who knew I was looking for a swim coach, so when she mentioned coaching my friend sent her over to me.

Her calm demeanor, vast knowledge and infinite patience turned me from water-fighter to water-glider! I got out of the pool today with such a feeling of exhilaration!

I feel more confident and relaxed and ready to take on my training. We plan to meet about 3-4 times over the next 12 weeks so she can check in on me and we can refine things as we go.

Now I'm looking forward to Monday!

This Thing Called Rest

I thought I would do a little more in these last three weeks than I have. I lifted two days last week and will lift 3 this week with two light swim workouts.

The thing is, I'm happy I took a break! I think it's the longest stretch of "time off" I've had in a year, at least. I feel well rested and ready to hit the road next week. Best of all, I haven't gained any weight!!

My Garmin 305 is on order and should arrive in the next week or so. I'm really looking forward to tracking my run and bike workouts and getting a little more information so I can pace myself better.

Going to take a casual ride on the bike course on Saturday morning. No GPS, no iPod; just my bike, some water and me.

Here's to the kick off in the pool on Monday. Can't wait!