What? December 3rd? A perfect triathlon day--in Northeastern Ohio?
You're eyes are not deceiving you, my friends.
It was INDEED a perfect triathlon day.
Matt had to work the Browns game today--and hey, whaddya know, they won for once! (barely)--so I signed up for our tri club's indoor triathlon. I headed out to the host gym where we'd be competing in a 20 minute swim, a 20 minute run, and a 20 minute spin class. See, they can't really guarantee the bikes are all calibrated equally, so they just do a spin class (it's not easy though!) as the "bike." Then your swim distance and run distances are factored together to get your score.
Wait--an EQUAL swim with the run, and THE BIKE doesn't count?!
My kinda race! :)
Now, the last time I did one of these I just didn't feel it. I now realize that was probably because I was about 5 days away from being diagnosed with full-blown bronchial pneumonia. That might explain it!
I sorta felt like I had NO business being there today, but it's so laid back that I went ahead and did it. Here's my stats SINCE September 10, 2006:
Swims: TWO TIMES, BOTH UNDER 2000 yards. (Pathetic!)
Bikes: THREE TIMES, and those three times being prior to October 20.
Runs: Lots here
Yoga: Lots here
Sun Chips, Captain and Diets, and Ice Cream: Lots here
So, I dove in and gave it a go.
Lo and behold, I swam 45 laps in 20 minutes! Where did THAT come from?! Give it up for Ironman fitness--woot woot! Just calculated that pace...1:37/100 yards. Where the HECK was THAT on September 10th?! Sigh. Oh well...proof positive that I can significantly knock off some swim time in IM #2 in '08.....
The run I sorta dogged. This is why I am NO GOOD ON TREADMILLS. See, there's a little button I can just push to make it go SLOWER. That's bad. Outside--no button. Inside--button. Which equals a bit of slacking on my part for a disappointing 2.45 miles. BOOOO. I'm such a machine slacker. At least I had my iPod, TriEric with his video camera was there to make me smile, and I got to see that funny ESPN commercial with LaDanian Tomlinson in the mail room that cracks me up.
The little spin class was fun and tough! I'll have to try some more spin classes to mix things up a bit...once I put my bike on the (ugh) trainer. Yeah, I think I'm going to have to do that this week. I HATE WORKING OUT INSIDE!!!! Arg. I can run and run and run outside no matter what the weather throws at me, but I just don't have any cold weather biking gear, nor do I have any money to spend on gear at the moment. So, YAWN....trainer, here I come.
Now, this little tri cost me a whopping $5. For this small fee, I got a nice little goody bag with some cool tri stuff in it, and ALSO got a WHOLE CANISTER of Hammer Enduralytes ($17 or so) and a WHOLE JUG of HAMMER GEL ($17 more dollars or so)! Sersly. I sooooooooooooo got my dolla's worth this morning--and had a nice little surprisingly good workout, too! My tri club is da BOMB.
Fun little bonus I found out on my way out--I guess I was pretty close and finished just a smidge behind this really tough tri girl who rocks! Holy Moses. Now, let's not kid ourselves...it prolly was 'cuz the bike wasn't a factor! ;) But I will take it!
Then, I went home, let Mugsy out, changed, and headed out again to JenC's house for some time with some tri-girl friends! It was great--we ate, we chatted, we exchanged fun ornaments! It was nice to see everyone when we weren't wearing swim caps or race bibs. What a fun time!
DaisyDuc was there--here we are, fresh off her PR yesterday in the 5K!
Here's JenC, and JT and Ultra E-Speed sportin' their winter gear!
We had a great time--it was so fun to talk to everyone and it even more made me wish I could do another IM next year. I will be living vicariously through JenC and JT as they get ready for IMUSA and IMCdA! I seriously. CAN'T. WAIT. to do another one. Ah, but not in '07...patience, TriSaraTops, patience....
(I've never been very patient. This could get ugly)
On that note, we'll end the perfect triathlon day with perfect triathlon goals:
1. Indy Mini-Marathon, May: 1:49.59
2. Steelhead 70.3, August: 6:10
3. Chicago Marathon, October: 3:59.59
4. IMFL, November 2008: quite ambitious, but good things happen when you aim high, right?................13:59.59
Lots could change here. LOTS. This schedule will have to be in pencil...
But I will end my perfect tri day with some perfect tri dreams, and there they are.
23 comments:
I had so much fun today! It's so great to hang with the tri-girls.
Love the goals. I wonder how much training it would take me to do a 1:49 half marathon. Great goal time. You can do it!
Jodi
I love the :59s - kinda reminds me of advertisement prices ("low, low price of 19.99" and the like). Good luck on your goals!
I miss those indoor tris!
Nice work in the indoor tri! They are a great idea- I should see if my local gym/tri-club can organise one!
Those goals sound like a good mix of challenging and doable. Good luck!
It looks like you had such a fun day. Once again- I need tri pals!
Sounds like a lot of fun! Good luck with achieving your goals.
Chicago marathon on the list, always a great race, great job on the indoor tri and setting some PR goals for youself. IM'08, I know you can't wait to register again.
I love the tri where the bike doesn't count, sign me up!!!
Congrats on the awesome finish.
I too hate working out inside, but I am too much of a wimp to ride in the cold so I too will be riding a trainer all winter. Maybe we should start a trainer boredom support group.
Great set of goals for 2007 even in pencil. It is time for me to set my 2007 schedule.
I'm pulling for Steelhead and Chicago to go down in Sharpie soon. :)
Thanks for coming over! I really had a great time with you and the rest of the gals. The chocolate chip cake rocked too!
Even if your goals are in pencil you are a step a head of me... most of mine are still just in my head. I'm still a few steps from the Sharpie.
Good job on your triathlon. I do great with those indoor tri's when the bike ride doesn't count. You have to come up with a plan on when to increase the speed and tell yourself it's only a matter of a few minutes and it'll be done.
shhhhh! none of this crazy talk about equal swims! next thing you know, they'll make the Ironman swim longer -- i'll blame you!
but, you certainly rocked that swim... whatever you're doin'... keep doin' it!!!
Those goals sound terrific! Best of luck!
1:37 sec/100...
oh please tell me u are in a wetsuit or a pull buoy or osmething :)...Tthat's speedy in my book.
The Browns won? OMG! Did hell freeze over?
Holy crap, those swim laps are impressive...so that is possible? Only in my dreams!!!
Congrats on an awesome performance Sunday!!
Totally awesome to catch up with you and the other ladies Sunday!!!
So when are you going to start your speed work and really kick those times down?
Would you please come to MN and show me how to swim cause you're like a shark in the water...
man i am REALLY out of the blogger loop, i have SO much of your blog to catch up on.
youre gonna kick some goal ass! :)
That sounds like a great tri!!!
Can't wait to meet you in Chicago next fall!
1:37 100s?! *Gulp* Damn. That's FAST.
I'm totally the opposite with the Indoor-button/Outdoor-no button thing. The treadmill helps me run faster and for longer than I ever do outside. I feel safe and can run confident in the knowledge I'm not going to twist my bad ankle for the gazillionth time, and I almost never have to ice my bad knees after a treadmill run.
I am starting to fall in love with running outside, even in the cold, but it's to get used to my times being so much slower than when I run inside!
Sweet triathlon -way to go.
I love your line about the problem with the treadmill - that it has that "slower" button - I about fell off my chair!
Jenny
p.s. - have you done Chicago marathon before? You will love it - it's flat, fast, and you go through a variety of neighborhoods - then they have beer already poured into cups in the finish chute... ;-)
great blog!
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