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Feb 22, 2011    |      0 comments

Hills & Switchbacks

In preparation for Wildflower, and the conclusion of our “base” training, our coaches are ramping up our run workouts with more hills. This morning we switched to a run workout instead of our usual bike due possible rain, so our run was roughly 7 miles, BUT it was hilly and challenging! Started at Ocean & San Vicente, then went up the Amalfi switchbacks, down halfway, up the stairs then down again. Once we reached the base of Amalfi, we ran up the incline for 30 seconds 10x, then up San Vicente to 26th and back. Supposed to be a “recovery run” but man oh man, those hills killed me!

Feb 5, 2011    |      0 comments

Griffith Park 9 Miler

I still have a love/hate relationship with running. Through these past months of training, I admit, I love the swim and bike part, but the running is my least favorite. Out of convenience though, running is my favorite because I don’t need to set up my nutrition the night before, I don’t have to set up my bike rack, I don’t have to gather up so much gear – just my running shoes and sunglasses! I look forward to our group runs though because that’s when the team gets to socialize the most. On the bike, we can’t ride side by side to have a good conversation, and on the swim… well, it’s obvious we can’t converse there. This morning, the coaches introduced us to a nice 9 mile loop around Griffith Park, to get us used to trails just like Wildflower. It wasn’t so bad because the terrain is softer, but I challenged myself to keep running without walk breaks, and did it!

Jan 8, 2011    |      0 comments

The Zuma Brick

A few weeks ago, our first brick in Santa Monica was pretty low effort for me since I was doing IronTeam staff duties, plus San VIcente isn’t much of an incline. Today, we had our second brick at Zuma Beach near Malibu, which was a lot more challenging with rolling hills. The views were spectacular though, when I would just look over to the left and see the ocean waves, plus beams of light coming through the clouds. It was slightly overcast with a crisp cold, which was ideal in my opinion. We headed north on PCH until the road closure due to the rain storms from weeks past, then back, but looped around one more time for a total of 31 miles in 2 hours. The 30mph downhills were scary since I’ve never done that before. Being on PCH was pretty scary in itself because there’s cars & trucks zooming VERY close by at 60+ mph! According to my Garmin stats, I averaged 15mph and cadence at 80rpm (gotta work on that, to get it to 90!).

Immediately after the ride, we went to our transition areas. Oh man! Now I know why they were called “brick” workouts – my legs felt like bricks! They were soooo heavy, kinda felt like I already ran a marathon! I might of pushed it a little TOO much on the hills, but now I know, to ease up on the hills leading up to a run! We ran for 2 miles along the boardwalk, and it was surely difficult! Midway through the run, we experimented with taking an energy gel shot, then after the run, we experimented with taking recovery drinks. It wasn’t too bad as I’m already used to the weird tasting fluids from marathon training.

Overall, our team is actually coming together nicely! As you can see above, we formed a tunnel for our teammate coming back from the run. I’d have some nice chats on the ride, getting to know them better. On the out and backs, we would cheer each other on. There’s a lot of good socializing before and after practice, as well as good turnouts on post-workout breakfast!

Jan 7, 2011    |      0 comments

Finally Doing Bay to Breakers!

I’m FINALLY doing Bay to Breakers this year! In the past few years it always conflicted with my marathon training schedule because we always practiced on Sundays, and it was usually a few weeks before the big Rock N Roll San Diego Marathon. Well this time, it’s on! Yesterday I registered, and I can’t wait!

Jan 6, 2011    |      0 comments

UCLA North Pool

This morning’s swim lesson was moved to another part of UCLA, which was the North Pool. Not as nice as the Spieker Pool, but it’s the lessons that matter. My friend Petty was out sick, so it was just me and my instructor, so it was pretty much a private session. She felt that I didn’t need fins, and I was up for the challenge. You see, I never really learned how to tread in water before either, so I was a bit scared. She started me off in the shallow part of the pool, practicing with the kickboard, then towards the deeper end. Once at the end, she slowly got me to let go of the board and tread. After a rough start and few tries, I eventually got it! I practiced breathing and becoming more comfortable, as I was doing the egg beater with my legs, and waiving my arms in a circle 8 motion (stuff I learned from YouTube videos). As I bobbed up and down, and became one with the water. It wasn’t so bad after all!

Next, I moved on to backstrokes. Never did that either, so she slowly introduced more moves. I think it’s easier to do because breathing this way is better, but water does go up my nose and it did bother me a little. A few laps up and down the pool, I was confidently check off another skill I learned today! It was very productive, and I think I’ll stop these private sessions after maybe two more sessions. I’m just so happy now that I’m more comfortable in the water, and my fears of the deep end has diminished!

Jan 3, 2011    |      0 comments

Happy Birthday to Me!

Over the weekend I splurged and bought myself the CycleOps Fluid2 trainer. Great for those rainy days, or when I have to work late and don’t want to ride at night. It was super easy and quick to set up since some of the tools were included. I gave it a quick test ride shortly after, and first impressions were positive indeed. It was just like the reviews on Amazon, as it was smooth and quiet. The only real noise was coming from my bike, which is normal. The true test will be when I train with it and turn on Netflix or Hulu.

Jan 2, 2011    |      0 comments

1-1-11

Happy New Year!

I took a break this weekend from training since it’s a holiday weekend. Training this morning was an optional bike ride, so I took advantage of it. Last night my friends and I went to Katsuya, a sushi restaurant at LA Live in Downtown Los Angeles, where $85 gave us unlimited drinks AND all you can eat food! Two rows of food, varying from sushi to meat & rice dishes, servers walking around with platters of delicious appetizers, good music, and a great crowd of people. I loved how it was crowded, but not too much – you can still comfortably would around the dancefloor without bumping elbows. After the party, we stayed at my friend’s loft nearby.

The next day, on the real 1-1-11, we went to the Do Over in Hollywood, continuing the party weekend, renamed “The New Over” just for this event. It was a larger venue at Jane’s House, originally buit in 1903, and home to many of Hollywood’s hottest parties. There were free Bloody Mary’s, and carafes of sangria to purchase. Guest DJs from across the nation come play here. I wasn’t sure who DJ’ed, but music was fun! Probably danced about an hour or so. That counts as a workout right?

The night continued in Long Beach where I hung out with my sister and husband doing our own little pub crawl around downtown LBC. They had work on NYE so it was nice for them to invite and continue the party. We almost went to Las Vegas as a last minute road trip, but the thought of driving back in that traffic changed our mind. It’s never a dull time with them, so it was a great way to start 2011!

Dec 31, 2010    |      0 comments

Goodbye 2010!

Goodbye 2010! What a wonderful year it was! A year of running events, travel to 10 cities & 2 other countries, and started new adventures. Looking at the Dailymile graphic above, I *only* ran 431.21 miles. I should be at the 1000 mark, considering I did 5 marathons, but I didn’t really do any midweeks (oops!). It’s interesting to see the spikes and dips in my training though. I’ll also recap the major milestones and highlights of 2010 here:
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Dec 30, 2010    |      0 comments

I Wear Tight Shorts

One of the things I had to get over when training for a triathlon is that I have to wear tight shorts for swimming and biking. Initially, I was very uncomfortable because I’ve never worn tight shorts before. I’ve never really had to. I was warned by my roommate that yes, it will feel weird, but since everyone else is wearing the same thing, the fears will wear off, and it did. Some of the last few things I needed to get for training were more shorts. Swimming almost everyday, I needed some backup shorts, and the last time I ran in biker shorts with the extra padding, it felt really weird like I took a dump in my shorts, that I needed true triathlon shorts.

A great source for endurance sports accessories and gear is Amazon.com. I initially used it for my holiday online shopping a few weeks ago, but when I saw the benefits of great deals in combination with free shipping and no sales tax, it was a no brainer to use it again. Each of the above shorts were discounted at least $15, so I jumped on it quickly! They barely arrived earlier today, so I’m just super excited to try them on!

Dec 30, 2010    |      0 comments

Being Calm

I remember back when I was learning how to drive stick shift, I kept stalling because I would panic at stop lights, trying to get that sweet spot on the clutch. Every time I stalled, I shook my head, turned the ignition, and started again. Several tries, and I eventually got it. Trial and error, learning from my mistakes. The more calm I was, the more confident I was. I also remember times of crazy deadlines, where in high pressure situations, it was always best to take a step back, take a breath, be calm, and continue. Situation wasn’t going to change, only I could. Now take that mentality for swimming. It’s all about being calm and relaxed in the water. This morning’s semi-private session was mainly focused on just that. I was able to stick myself in the deep end and tread (with fins on for now), practiced my breathing, made sure all my fears were gone in the deep end. I was definitely more comfortable submerging myself in my exhales, then kicked up for air when I needed to. My breathing rhythm has dramatically improved, and my stroke and body position improved. In the back of my mind though, a hugh motivator, is that these classes are expensive, and I HAVE to improve, or else it’s just more $$ out of pocket. I have to keep reminding myself that I’ll be ok, and that I will eventually float. My instructor had me practicing on body rotation on the strokes, which I had a much better feel for towards the end. A little TMI, but those fins messed up my feet as I had a few cuts from all the movement. Maybe I just need to remove them next time!

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