Herb Parsons Ride

First road ride since I've had 'the boot', foot felt fine.  The winds were hefty today at times but it was a great sunny day!  I was a little cautious about trying to unclip with my right foot & start with my right foot but I'm left footed so it didn't feel natural.  The bike shoe is so hard soled it doesn't allow my foot to bend but I was still a little paranoid!

CYCLE  30 Miles, 2 hours, avg 15mph. 
GAC to Herb Parsons route

Yay, Lynell ordered her new road bike & lots of cool gear!  Happy Birthday!!!  We're having GNO tonight to celebrate! 
BTW...good luck to all the Germantown Half Marathoners tomorrow---run super fast!!!

Swim Clinic during spring break

Wednesday Swim Clinic:

A different swim coach (Coach Scott) critiqued our swim stroke during drills today.  We did lots of balance work with dumbbell float & kick board.
1.  side- 6 kicks; front 6 kicks; other side-6 kicks.
2.  side to side 6 kicks each
3.  catch up drill with dumbbell float.
We did some sprint drills & kick drills as well.  I need to relax more when doing all these drills - for sure.

Thursday - off day.  Kids had a play day with Abbey while Lynell & I had girl time w/o gym time!

Friday Swim Clinic:
After playground & picnic, we headed to swim clinic where we did 2 timed 500 meters.  The goal was to do the second 500 the same as or faster than the first 500.  Okay, so that didn't happen but I was within 5 seconds from my first time, obviously the first was 5 seconds faster.  Currently my pace for the 500's is about 12.5 minutes.  That would put me finishing the mile swim @ MIM at about 38 minutes.  To build my swim endurance, I plan on adding these 500's to my training plan as 3 x 500/15minutes.  That should give me 3 minutes rest between sets.  Today the water temp was 82 degrees, I was really hot during the last 100- my face was on fire.  The swim cap really holds in the heat.  uughh...
Pool Running:
After swim, decided to stay in the deep end for some pool running @ Rachel's suggestion. (thx girlfriend).  I am going to continue this until I can "real run" again :).  Next time I will strap on the heart rate monitor & maybe turn on some music!!!  I'm hoping pool running will help sustain my aerobic base.   Although, biking will help that too.....thats on the calendar for tomorrow!

Spring Break workout

Since I can only leave the kids for 2 hours @ KIDZ CLUB (which they love btw), I got in the following workout:

Weights:  40 minutes of strenth training focusing on arms & back.
Cycle:  Indoor cyle @ GAC focusing on keeping heart rate in zone 2 & 3- cycled 20 miles.

Boot Day 1

The pain in my foot during Little Rock Half turned out to be a stress fracture.  So the boot goes on & no running for a few weeks.  Oh well, I've been meaning to cut back the running a little anyway.  Time to concentrate on the bike & swim.  Doc says she will have me ready for Memphis In May.  I think the intensity of my workouts have been a little high which increases the chance of injury.  I just- last night- added my training heart rate zones in my Garmin so I could train in zones 2 & 3.....guess I did that a little too late.  Live & Learn...

So swim clinic went well today (doc asked if my foot hurts pushing off the wall....I hadn't even associated that but YEP it sure does) 1750 yds dones as:

300 warm up

10 x 25, 30 sec

10x50, 60 sec

1 x 500 ladder (alternating fast/slow of each distance 25,50,75,100)

200 cool down

weights & bike on agenda tomorrow since I couldn't go to the beach with Holly :(

PS really excited that my dailymile friend Christina is doing Cancun 70.3---woo hoo girlfriend!

Swim Clinic

I have a swim coach!!  I need one this is for sure :)  Hopefully, I can correct some of the damage that has been done to my swim stroke over the years.   After just 2 sessions, I am able to do bilateral breathing.  Forever I have only been breating on my right side.  Okay, so I'm a bit slow while practicing this drill :)  This technique training reminds me of when I learned to play golf....there seemed to be a huge checklist to go through- head down, knees slightly bent...blah...blah...blah.   Bottom line- I need to swim a little over a mile a) without drowning
b) as efficiently as possible (to be as fast as I can AND save energy for bike/ run)
We did bunches of drills today for a total of 1300 yards.  The clinic is designed for Tri training & will continue for 11 weeks.  Today's drills:
catch up:  teaches balance & enabled me to do bilateral breathing
side kicks w/ board alternating every 6 kicks
pace drills- counting strokes to ensure glide/pull
breast stroke- worked on correct form

Before swim clinic, Lynell & I got in 20 miles on our bikes starting from the gym.  Great day to bike although we had some winds on the way out.

Today I realized that this blog is taking the place of a Tri Coach.  It is what makes me accountable (which was the goal)- guess it's working!  Maybe I should pay a "coaching fee" to each follower for making me accountable for my training!

One more thing before I call it a night- wanted to share my Flat Stanley picture (google if you're not familiar).  She will be doing all the races w/ me this year.  Not sure how she'll fair on the swim but I think she can do the bike/run.  Although, she may just hang out in my bag & pose for pics!

Little Rock Half

Little Rock Swag:

I can't think of a better weekend than combining a girls weekend with a Half- Marathon!  We 3 'Runner Girls' (Holly, Rebecca, & I) met up with Kristen (runner girl #4 with baby#1 in utero) in Little Rock. Little Rock puts on quite a race; from the expo to the finishers medal, everything was well organized.  We even had perfect running weather.  The course was relatively flat with lots of water stops & plenty of energy gels(even jolly ranchers & orange slices).  I was on target for a PR for the half until I got a couple of side stitches & then a foot pain that would not go away.  I had to slow down a bit but still managed to run it in 1:57:30. I ran the last 3 miles the fastest, very pleased that I finsihed strong.  But, hey, what's up with upscale hotels in Little Rock NOT having hot tubs.  A soak after the race would have been wonderful & I must say well deserved by all of us.  We had to settle for shower, food, & soaking up sun instead:

Before the race we hung out at Flying Saucer, Little Rock, then we met some girls from Wisconsin while checking out the starting line.  They shared their 'tutus' with us for a pic:

I'm really excited about mine & Holly's goal of  running a Half-Marathon in every state!  It's definately gonna be an adventure!  BTW...this was my flat stanley's first race! 

Kudos to Little Rock Marathon for having the largest finishers medal in the country (8" medal)- note to self:  Do the full next year for that medal!!!!

Pre-Race

Easy week of training prior to Little Rock Half Marathon.  I don't know what do to with my extra time! hehe..  Did you notice- 197 days till Cancun :) !!  But...before that, beginning Monday,  plan for Memphis In May is set in motion.  Today I'm tweaking my training plan a little in order to mix up some workouts so I'm not doing the same thing every week on the same day.  Also, I added a widget from daily mile that keeps track of my total miles for 2010 (includes swim, bike, and run miles).  Alrighty then, better go pack & clean house.  Carnival tonight at kid's school- good times!

Swim, Hot Tub, Sauna

So IT band hurting a little this morning, swimming seemed to loosen it up. 

Swim Drills 2,000 yds:

100 warm up
500 continuous free
250 breast
500 5 x 100 down slow, back raced Lynell (she won)
200 pull buoy
250 breathing 3,5,7
200 cool down

Nice recovery soak in hot tub & sauna after!  Relaxing :)   Did Abs & IT stretches at home.  Nice easy day & finally some time to relax before boys get home from school.  Looking forward to Little Rock this weekend! 
Parmesan Chicken for dinner....
***BE CAREFUL OUT THERE***  My friend Rachel got hit on her bike this weekend.  Luckily she sustained only bruises but it is a reminder of  how we always have to be alert!!!  And...for you folks who don't ride...please remember to  SHARE THE ROAD!!!