2013 in Review

Tags

2013 Challenge, Barre, Exercise, Half Marathon, Pilates, Racing, Relationships, Travel, Triathlon

On New Years Eve in 2012 I had a sort of bad feeling about 2013, and I just felt like something would be off during the year. Most of my year was pretty amazing, but 2013 also brought some pain and frustrations that I ended up dealing with throughout the year (with extended members of my family that I have no control of, but obviously impact me). I want to acknowledge and appreciate the year for all the good things in it, but I’m also not too sad to see 2013 end. Here’s how the year broke down:

January: The month started with a trip home after Christmas at my parent’s house. Low key, chill month. I was sick for a week, so not much happened. January is a relaxed month at work, so I had a lot of time to spend with my friends. I set 13 challenges for myself for the year. I traveled twice month.

February: This month I really started to talk about POTS on the blog, and I’m glad that I started opening up about this. I did the Sweet Cupcake 5k race this month, along with the Tackle the Miles 5k. This month I started to lead wellness groups on top of my 40 hour a week job, so that was a big adjustment with all the extra time involved (ended up being an extra 8-9 hours a week. This went until April). I started the month by talking about dealing with Seasonal Affective Disorder. I traveled once this month to North Carolina for work, and it was nice to get some warm weather here. I watched every episode of Castle this month.

March: This month was fun as it ended with a fun week-long Spring Break trip in Marco Island, Florida. I did a St. Patrick’s 10k race, and I introduced the topic of boundaries. I traveled once this month.

April: This month I completed the Cherry Blossom 5k. When I think of April it’s all a complete blur, but I do think about the bombing at the Boston Marathon. I traveled one weekend in April to give a lecture.

May: May is a crazy month because we close out our year of clients, and it’s the start of summer vacation. I kicked off the month with my 3rd half marathon. I gave a lecture at the end of the month. I also visited my parents after work ended, and my brother in the Air Force was able to go home as well. I traveled twice this month.

June: I completed my 2nd sprint triathlon this month, which was lots of fun! I ended the month by traveling to Marco Island, Florida for vacation. I gave a lecture in another state, an that went really well. I traveled twice this month.

July: This month started with me still being in Florida, where I got to see the fireworks on the beach! In the middle of the month I did pilates barre training. The month ended with me being diagnosed with posterior tibial tendinitis. This month I gave a lecture at a very well known clinic, which was a huge honor. I traveled 1 time this month.

August: Birthday month! I did my two longest bike rides ever this month: a 33 miler and a 40 miler. In the middle of the month I visited a friend from a camp that I worked at back in 2005, and we had a great time! I ended the month with starting back to work after having the summer off! This month I started watching both Criminal Minds and NCIS, which I’m still working my way through currently.

September: At the end of the month I spent 2 days in Boston for work, and walked the  final mile of the Boston Marathon route. I ran the Color Me Rad 5k and had a really fun time! This month I finally got a bike of my own, and I loved going on rides after work! I taught my first pilates class this month, and have really had a lot of fun teaching since then! The month kicked off with a labor day weekend trip for my brother’s soccer tournament. I traveled 3 times this month.

October: This month wasn’t highly exciting. I traveled to North Carolina at the end of the month to visit friends, and that was fun! I set a new 5k PR this month in a race I was only running for fun. This month I watched my brother play his final soccer game of college, which was really sad for me to watch. It’s been a joy to get to watch him play 4 years of college soccer.

November: I started the month off with my 4th half marathon and finished it off with a 5k Gobble Wobble Race. I traveled for my brother’s pilot training graduation and for a lecture I did for a clinic and hospital. There were 4 trips I took this month. I also opened up a bit about how I started to work out with POTS.

December: I finally got my bike trainer and started to get some long rides in for the winter! I talked about 2013 in Running as well as Biking. I lost my first race, but it didn’t really bother me. I took 1 trip this month.

It looks like I took 20 trips this year, which averages almost two trips a month-whew! This year was one of the busiest of my life. I had so many fun times with friends and family members, learned a lot, challenged myself quite a bit, and overall really enjoyed my life. I’m thankful for all the provisions and blessings in the year, and for all the lessons learned. Mostly I’m thankful for the people in my life- it’s what truly makes it wonderful.

And here’s to a great 2014.

Tell me something that stands out about your year! 

2013 in Biking

Tags

Biking, Exercise, Triathlon

Last week I did a 2013 in Running post, so I decided to do the same (or close to the same) sort of post for biking. While I started to bike again after an 11 year hiatus in 2012, 2013 really was the year where I stepped it up in the biking department, biking over 550 miles in the year.

1. Best Race Experience? I’ve never done a biking only race. I did a sprint triathlon this year, so I suppose that since this was my only race where biking was involved, it would also have to be my favorite? Truth be told, it was one of the most scary bike rides I’ve ever done to date, and you can read why here.
2. Best Bike Ride. That’s a tough one. Just like my run recap, I’m going to choose 2 rides. The first would be the 40 mile bike ride I went on this summer, which is my current PDR. I also went on a 20 miler this fall which is the longest distance I’ve biked on my own, and that felt pretty fantastic.
3. Best new piece of gear. This year I got my first biking jersey, I got Old Blue, and I got a bike trainer. I love all 3 of them! 
4. Best piece of biking advice received. I’m going to take this in a bit of a different direction and say the biggest lesson I learned: I need to make sure to not only bring gatorade, but also to bring salt packets on long rides. When I got really dizzy during my 33 mile ride, salt packets immediately turned me around!
5. Most Inspirational Biker: I don’t have one… yet. I’ve loved watching Mirinda Carfrae race at Kona though!
6. If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would it be? I still freak out at some point during almost every bike ride (I’m really terrified to fall), but I’ve conquered my fears and have loved flying with the wind in my face on my bike!
7. Most exciting biking moment of 2013. Bringing Old Blue home with me and heading out on my first ride with him! I’ve loved going from refusing to ride for over a decade to looking forward to jumping on him after work for a quick ride!

Now it’s your turn to share! Tell me about your biking for the year!

Back to Work

Tags

Barre, Pilates, Relationships, Summer, Triathlon

Today I start back to work after a little more than 100 days of “summer break”. While I did many hours of work, did research, wrote, and lectured throughout the summer, I hard large amounts of free time to fill. Most of the summer was a surprise to me. When I walked out of my office on the last day of work in may, I had no idea how difficult and painful so much of the summer would be. I also had no idea of certain fun aspects and surprises as well. I love summer and I’m sad to see it go, but I’m hoping this burst of 90 degree weather (where was that weather when it was only 70 and I wanted to go to the pool?!) means a nice, long, and warmer fall! Summer was difficult, but I found ways to cope and stay healthy. Summer was lots of fun, too though. Here were some of the highlights and surprises:

• In May I got to hang out with my brother who is in the military for a few days! I’m excited for any time I can get!
• I got to spend hours every week gardening, pulling weeds, and working in the yard. I found being in nature really therapeutic, and it was definitely a favorite activity of my weeks.
• I spent time before bed reading a favorite book series of mine from elementary school! It was fun to remember all those positive memories!
• I found my new favorite bike trail and also hit a new 40 mile PDR on the bike!
• I celebrated my birthday with a lot of fun outdoor activities!
• One of the best surprises of the summer: I became a pilates barre instructor! When I started the summer I had no plans to do this training, but it was definitely an exciting part of my summer.
• I got to go on vacation to one of my favorite places on earth: Marco Island, Florida!
• I completed my 2nd sprint triathlon!
• I finished my first round of best body bootcamp.
• Beyond that I got to spend lots of fun hours with family and friends.
• I got to watch a calf be born! That was crazy and unexpected and disgusting and really awesome all at the same time.

Despite the difficulties I’ll miss the summer. I love getting to ease into the day a little more slowly, have a more relaxed schedule, get to do way more outdoor activities, eat meals outside, etc…

But now it’s time to start back into a routine, and with that comes more planning for meals, workouts, etc… I’m excited to get back into more structure but I’m sure going to miss all the sunshine (especially since my office is in a basement and has no windows!). I guess it’s a good thing I have a job that I really do love!

What was something exciting or surprising that happened this summer?

 

June Recap and 13 in 2013 Challenge Update

Tags

2013 Challenge, Biking, Exercise, Half Marathon, Pilates, Planks, Race, Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon, Walking

Happy July!!! I usually love the month of July, so I’m hoping that it will be a great month. Before I get ahead of myself, though, I thought I’d do a quick recap of June, as well as a check-in on my 13 Challenges in 2013 now that we’re half way through the year (eek!). Here’s how the month of June looked:

• This month was Triathlon time!! I wrote a few posts about my triathlon training: Hitting the Bricks, Final Triathlon Preparation, Training Recaps: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4. And, of course, the main event:
• I raced my second triathlon this past month, and had great success in cutting down my transition times. You can read my recap here.
• National Running Day! I shared why I’m a runner here.
• In April and May I participated in Best Body Bootcamp. I shared some of my final thoughts on the program here.
• I talked all about biking on the road again after spending the winter on my stationary bike.
• I tried my very first barre class, and it’s safe to say that I’m pretty hooked. Post coming about barre in a few weeks!

And here’s a quick check-in on my 13 Challenges in 2013 progress:

• I’ve run 90.8 miles out of 250 miles (oh yikes. This I’m pretty disappointed in, and really need to pick up my running! I didn’t guess I’d have so much fun with cross training!)
• I’ve walked 151 miles out of 500 miles (I feel like I walk SO much, so I have no idea how I am so far behind where I was last year. So sad 😦 )
• I’ve biked 196 miles out of 300 miles. (Doing great with biking this year! I love it!)
• I’ve swam 3.2 out of 15 miles (when I set this I didn’t realize how little access I’d actually have to the pool. But I’ll definitely get in a few more miles before the end of the year!)
• I’ve done 121 minutes out of 250 minutes of planks for the year! (I actually thought I was farther behind on this, so I was happy to see I’ve spent 2 hours doing planks so far this year :D)
• I challenge myself to go through all the clothes I own: I’ve gone through about 90% of my clothes so far, and have managed to get rid of a few bags! It’s felt great to get so much cleaning done!
• I challenge myself to finish the article I started in 2012. Ummm- have not done anything on it. So many other work things and other article options have popped up that I’ve been focused on those. I’m still planning to work on this article.
• I challenge myself to do 13 races this year (in person or virtual): I’ve done 7 races so far this year (5 virtual, my third half marathon, and my second triathlon).
• I challenge myself to read 12 books this year. I’ve completed 5 books and am in the middle of 2 right now, so I’m right on track and really enjoying this challenge.

I wish I had done something with a number of pilates sessions I’d do or something like that since I’ve been really into that this year as well! Overall I’m pretty happy with that, even though I haven’t hit all my mileage. I’ve taken down a bit of cardio and added lots of strength training, and I’ve been enjoying that quite a bit!

So, that’s my June Recap/Update on my 13 in 2013 challenge.

Now it’s your turn to share! What was your favorite part of June (or: What are you most looking forward to in July?)? How are your goals going for the year? 

My 2nd Sprint Triathlon Recap

Tags

Biking, Race, Racing, Running, Swimming, Triathlon

My second sprint triathlon is complete, and I again have to say that I love the triathlon! I felt like I had prepared very well, and had tapered really well… until Saturday. To understand the triathlon you have to understand how I came into the day. On Saturday I took an hour Pilates barre class, but tried to decrease number of reps and intensity. Now, I wouldn’t ever encourage you to do this class the day before a race, but I didn’t have too much of a choice, so I tried to deal. Well, in the middle of Saturday night I woke up with pain in both of my legs, and when I woke up to get ready for my tri, it hurt to even stand up straight. OUCH! So much for going easy on myself! So, there was no “racing on fresh legs” or anything of that sort. I was immediately glad I hadn’t signed up for the Olympic distance!

The weather also had a chance of getting really really nasty, and I was just hoping that the race wasn’t cancelled! After I had set up my transition zone we were notified the race would be delayed 15 minutes as a line of storms was coming through. I immediately ran back over to cover up my shoes so they wouldn’t be soaked, and then after those 15 minutes I re-set up the Tzone. We got delayed another 10 minutes standing out at the beach, but then we were off, but not without the rain. The rain really messed up my bike, but let’s start at the beginning:

Swimming (1/4 mile, 11:28): I really enjoy the swim, which I know is atypical for many people doing triathlons, but I do realize that I could get faster. I do the breaststroke which is definitely a slower stroke, but I was still expecting to come in about a minute faster. Like I mentioned, the wind was really strong, and that led to really chopping waters and it was definitely much more difficult to move forward than in the lap pool! Of course there was the typical being kicked or hit a bit at the start, and I think it’s so important to stay calm and keep your breath even when that’s happening. Three times in this short little swim I took a breath and was met with a huge mouthful of water. Again, not what happens in the lap pool, but definitely something to be prepared for in races! I kept swimming and coughing as I went, and it was just fine. The swim was fun and it went far too quickly for me.

Running out of swim to transition zone

Transition 1 (2:55): On of my big goals for this race was to decrease my transition time. My last T1 time was 4:20, so Sunday’s tri was a huge improvement! There was a long hill to run up (some of it was sand, some was pavement), and I had my goggles and swim cap off before I hit the bike rack. I threw some water on my feet to rinse off the sand, and threw on my shoes, socks, helmet, and sunglasses. I had debated not putting them on because it looked like it was about to storm, but decided to anyways. This was a great decision! I ate 2 shot bloks and was off!

Biking (10 miles, 46:03): This leg really disappointed me, as most of my training rides had this portion coming in 6-8 minutes faster at least. Right when I hopped on the bike the wind picked up, and a few miles in it started to rain. At this point I was so happy that I had my sunglasses on because the rain was coming at a fast speed and smacking the glasses, and it would’ve HURT to not have them on! At one point it felt like tiny bits of hail were hitting me- ouch! I’ve never ridden my bike in the rain, so this was a new experience. My gears on my bike are pretty shotty on a good day, and with the rain, ever time I changed gears my bike would slide a bit on the road. This was the scariest bike ride I’ve ever been on in my life, and I knew that I needed to go slowly if I didn’t want to fall. Someone wiped out right in front of me at the turn around point, and I just barely missed crashing into them! The wind was also blowing really hard on the second half of the course, such that there wasn’t much coasting down the hills. I had to pedal hard to propel myself up AND down hills. A tough ride, and I was happy to have it over!

Running my bike into T2- see the puddles on the road!

Transition 2 (1:17): I was so thrilled when I looked up my results and saw this number! I knew my transition was fast, but I had no idea it was this fast! I didn’t wear cycling shoes, so in this transition I just had to run my bike to the rack, take of my helmet and sunglasses and grabbed 3 shot bloks! My T2 time from my last triathlon was  3:19, so I cut 2 minutes off this transition! Awesome!

Run (3.1 miles, 35:51): This was only a few seconds different than my 5k time from last summer, and while I would’ve loved to cut time here, I was still happy with the run.  I brought no garmin or phone with me, so there was no 3:1 method going on here, which is different for me. I kept up the pace I had wanted though, so that was good. I felt much stronger this run than last year, and didn’t have heavy legs like I did in my bike/run bricks during training. This is where my calf pain from my barre class the day before really came out. I remember thinking a few times that it felt so tight that I was worried it was going to tear. haha.

Finish Line!

Total Time: 1:37:30

In the transition zone after the race

The weather and barre class definitely brought some factors against me, but I really had so much fun in this triathlon. My biggest focus on training was doing quick transitions during my bricks, and I mentally ran through my transitions over and over again, and it paid off! I shaved a number of minutes off my overall time by cutting time here, and I’m happy about that! I learned that it would be beneficial to bike a bit in the rain to get used to it for race day, and I also learned that I need a better bike:) My free road bike isn’t ideal for racing! In terms of what I wore, you can find a post on that here (All the gear was the same except I wore a different tank).

In terms of my POTS, things went pretty well today. Of course my run pace is slow, and I have to take walking breaks to bring down my heart rate. I consumed lots of salt the day before the race, and I ate 5 margarita shot bloks that have 2x the sodium in them! POTS can so vary from day to day, but today was as good of a day as I can ask for with racing and my health! At the end of the day, I recognize that I am so lucky to be able to even be able to exercise, and even more lucky that I can race with POTS.

Sprint Triathlon Training Week 4 Recap

Tags

Biking, Exercise, Pilates, Running, Training, Triathlon, Walking

The final week of tri training is complete (ok- and my tri is complete, but you’ll have to wait until this week to read all about it!), and I’m feeling really sad about it. My weeks will still likely include all three sports most of the time, but I’ll definitely miss having a competitive purpose for it! This week my intensity in workouts has really decreased, so I’m feeling a bunch of pent up energy! I even turned to baking cupcakes to try to deal with some of my stir-crazy feelings, and I hope that my neighbors all appreciate their special cupcake delivery that they got (I made FAR too many cupcakes for myself!). Despite tapering, I stayed pretty busy this week, but like I said, I slowed way down and decreased my intensity (minus Saturday- don’t even get me started). Here’s what my final week of training looked like:

• Sunday: 11.74 mile bike, .6 mile walk
• Monday: 1.8 mile walk, 1 hour pilates
• Tuesday: .57 mile walk, 1 hour pilates, .5 mile swim
• Wednesday: 3 mile run, 1.10 mile walk
• Thursday: 1.5 mile walk (SLOW after dinner- instead of a walk maybe this would better be labeled “slow shuffling while enjoying nature). Today was for all intents and purposes a rest day.
• Friday: 1 hour of gentle piltates, .6 mile walk after dinner
• Saturday: 1 hour pilates barre class *

So, while the week looks busy, it felt like a huge step back for me. My pilates workouts were more focused on gentle stretching than on anything strenuous, and I made sure that none (minus saturday) of my workouts were pushed so much that I was sore the next day. Mission accomplished!

*But, about Saturday. I’ll explain more about the “whys” behind this soon, but I didn’t have much choice in taking this barre class on Saturday. I would never encourage a barre class the day before a triathlon, and even though I tried to decrease the reps and intensity, I still found myself ACHING after the event. So much for racing on fresh legs!

In my spare time, like I mentioned, I’ve been baking and have had time to actually sit outside and enjoy the sunshine! Sometimes taper doesn’t feel too bad after all!

Now it’s your turn to share! How do you deal with your extra energy during taper weeks? What is something you accomplished this week? 

Final Triathlon Preparation

Tags

Racing, Training, Triathlon

It’s almost race day once again, and I’m excited to pin on another race number and have some fun! My last triathlon was in August of 2012, so I’m really excited for my triathlon this coming Sunday! I went and drove the bike and run routes a few days ago, and this is the first time I’ve driven a course before racing on it. I tried to take note of pot holes on the bike course so I can hopefully easily avoid them on Sunday! This sprint triathlon is a shorter distance than my sprint last August, but until a few days ago I thought that the only distance that was different was the swim. I logged onto the race website a few days ago and realized that what I thought was a 12 mile bike portion was actually a 10 mile bike. Oops! At least the difference isn’t significant!

The course I’m doing is a short sprint: 1/4 mile swim, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. I really wanted to sign up for the Olympic, but knowing that I only had 4 weeks to train, I thought that wouldn’t be wise. I wish this race was in another month so I could’ve signed up for the Olympic! It’ll be interesting to see if I can get my transition zone times down- they were pretty long last summer!

There’s a chance of storms on Sunday morning, and i’ll be really bummed if the race gets cancelled because of them! Other than that, I’ve tapered and am doing my final race day preparations: fueling, hydrating, resting, etc (I wrote an entire post on race week preparations)!

But now, it’s time to race!

Now it’s your turn to share! Do you have any pre-race rituals? Would you like to do a triathlon one day (or if you’ve done one, what’s your favorite triathlon memory)?

Back To Biking Again

Tags

Biking, Exercise, Triathlon

I still can’t believe that I’ve only been back on my bike again for less than a year! In the same vain, I can’t believe I hadn’t been on a bike for over a decade– YIKES! I definitely missed out on something that I now love! I biked on a stationary bike once a week most of the winter, and enjoyed the “sports interval” workouts most Thursday mornings. For the last 5 weeks I’ve gotten to actually enjoy biking on the road again, and it’s been such a joy to not be stuck on the stationary bike.

Throughout the winter I was worried that my biking workout wouldn’t be enough, and I’d feel out of shape once summer hit. I’m happy to say that my winter bike program worked wonderfully, and was immediately able to hit the hills I live around with very little problem this month! The only real pain is sitting in the saddle for my longer rides- OUCH!

These past four weeks I’ve been biking in preparation for my triathlon this coming weekend, and it’s been fun to bike for a purpose! However, I want to have fun and enjoy biking as well, so there’s been some of that too! Last weekend I had an exciting moment as I hit a new distance PR!

I’m planning to continue these long rides throughout the summer, but I have no final distance in mind that I want to hit; I just want to enjoy the journey! Like I mentioned earlier, part of enjoying the moment has also been enjoying the nature I’m surrounded by on the trails. While I’m not a huge fan of stopping all the time, I do sometimes stop once to take a picture. Here are some of the great scenes I’ve seen on my last few rides.

Top: Bluebells in bloom, biking around a lake. Bottom: deer (hard to see), turtle (it glared at me after taking this)

Fun, right? I’ve enjoyed training rides and more “for fun” rides now that it is finally getting to be nicer weather. The stationary bike isn’t that bad at all, but it’s been fun to hit the trails and feel the wind in my face!

Sprint Triathlon Training Week 2 Recap

Tags

Biking, Exercise, Pilates, Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

I definitely just typed week three for a minute- I can’t believe this is technically only week two of training! This week was tough. My run in the middle of the week included lots of hills, and I normally don’t train on any hills. My legs were ACHING for the next few days, but I felt really good after the work out!

• Sunday: REST
• Monday: 12.28 mi bike + 1.1 mi run (BRICK)
• Tuesday: 1 hour Pilates foam rolling class
• Wednesday: 3.1 mi hill run
• Thursday: .75 mi swim
• Friday: 1 hour Pilates Chair workout
• Saturday: 24.75 mi bike

The foam rolling class was new to me, and I loved it!! My core was so sore the next day, and I’m really excited to go back again. My bike ride yesterday was the longest I’ve been on since maybe 7th grade (yikes!!), so it was really fun to hit a new distance like that!

Now it’s your turn to share! Did you do anything new this week? 

Hitting the Bricks

Tags

Biking, Running, Swimming, Training, Triathlon

I love training for the triathlon because there are three sports instead of just one! I love the variety and I love that each week I “have to” do all three activities! I like running, but it’s also really nice to jump in the pool or on the bike too. Especially now that it’s summer, I love to go on longer bike rides. One of the parts of training for the triathlon that I like (for the most part!) is The Brick Workout! Basically, the brick workout is a combination workout of two out of the three triathlon events. I think that the bike to run combo workout is the most popular, but I like to mix in other combinations as well. One of the difficult things about the triathlon is that the muscles used for biking are different than running, and blood flow is different.

When you jump off the bike you only have a few minutes in transition before you start the run, and your legs feel HEAVY- like a brick (hence the name- I think!). My legs tend to feel like they’re about 50 pounds heavier and don’t quite move right as I start the run, and mentally it can throw you off if you aren’t prepared. Doing brick workouts helps your body get used to this transition, both mentally and physically. I enjoy bricks because it makes me feel really tough, even when I’m doing short distances. It also adds variety, as you mentally make a very quick switch from one thing to the next. Sure, it adds more time to the workout, which can be tough, but it’s incredibly beneficial!

Here are my bricks so far:

• 8.5 mile bike to 1/2 mile swim (obviously not in proper order of a tri. It was easier gym wise to do this and I just wanted to get my body used to the endurance of multiple sports)
• 8.65 mile bike to 1.75 mile run
• 12.28 mile bike to 1.10 mile run

My legs have felt heavy after the bike, but nothing that I can’t power through at all. Obviously these distances are pretty short, but for a sprint triathlon these bricks are just fine.