I have declared...

the 2012 triathlon season to be officially started!  Completed my first race of the season this past weekend on Saturday 3/24 up in Ocala, FL.  HITS Triathlon Series.  A little less than 90 minutes from home and a good reason to get away for a quick overnight. So first is the stuff you really want to know like distances and times.  Here you go.

Overall Time 3:15:55
Swim 1500 Meters--37:28
Transition 1--3:22
Bike 25 Miles--1:27:37
Transition 2--00:59
Run 6.2 Miles--1:06:29

Things that were awesome about this race:
Perfect weather conditions
Calm and clean water
Spotted an otter playing in the water right before start
First time in full sleeve wetsuit was a success (except for the getting it off part)
Well organized and very friendly staff
Great road surfaces for the bike
Got up to 34 MPH at the bottom of a really big hill
Lots of deputies directing traffic
Inaugural year means small crowd
No cramps, pains, aches, or injuries
Best transition area EVER. A stool with my name on it and a box for my bike.





Things that were NOT awesome about this race:
The guy who ket whacking me in the head for about half of the swim. Next time, I'm hitting back.
Running on loose sandy dirt trail through the woods. Boo to gritty brown toes.
Photos can only be purchased from vendor at the site on race day and not online. Inconvenient.

I will definitely be back next year to see if I can beat my time.  I'm happy with how everything went and how I performed.  Not the best ever, but I know exactly where I need to improve--keeping my heart rate down, not lollygagging in T1, and swimming better in a mass start.  Got the jitters out with one under my belt and can focus on improving for St. Anthony's at the end of April.

My first race...

of the 2012 season is tomorrow.  Olympic distance.  1500meter swim, 25 mile bike,6.2 mile run.  HITS Triathlon Series in Ocala, FL.  Only a 90 minute drive from home but in the middle of nowhere.  Get to escape work early to beat Friday traffic and pick up my race packet.  Coach's instructions are to kick ass on the swim and not worry too much about the bike and the run.  Start at the back of the back, and stay outside to the right to find my groove. I only have to be faster than one other perons to not get eaten by an alligator in the lake.  I am focusing on improving my weakest discipline at this point in the season so that I gain confidence and feel ready to rock and roll by IMAZ.  The water will be chilly (mid 60's) and wetsuit legal which means I get to test out my full sleeves for the first time.  Woo Hoo!  If only all of you out there in blog land could have seen what a TERRIBLE swimmer I was 5 years ago and how I almost drowned and had panic attacks every time I got in the water.  Let me tell you that it is nothing short of a miracle that I can even go 1500 meters.  No secret there but discipline.  Just keep showing up and doing the work.  If you let something that scares you keep you from doing something you want to accomplish, you have defeated yourself. 

Here's the link if you want to check out the race website:
HITS Triathlon Ocala, FL

Tour de Cure

Tour de Cure fundraiser ride to benefit the American Diabetes Association. 77 miles with the team today in sunny Central Florida. THE perfect day for cycling. Among other memorable tidbits was Steve discovering the joy of mentholated European chamois butter. Also known as butt cream. Coach/Cult Leader also declared that anybody who misses swim practice tomorrow morning will be forced to run suicide drills. I am 97% certain that she is not joking.

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Bike 77 miles-Tour de Cure
2300 Calories burned in 5 Hours

Check out the website if you would like to make a donation to a great cause.
http://tour.diabetes.org

Rainbow Brite...

is my new Team Vortex nickname.  Either due to being colorful, cheerful and happy or really gay.  In my case, both.  Just because I have a rainbow towel and wore a rainbow jacket and road a horse with a rainbow mane to swim practice.  They are TOTALLY stereotyping. 

TODAY'S WORKOUT @ YMCA Aquatic Center
525 Calories Burned in 1hr 5min
2700 yards total
300 warmup, 600 drills, 4 x 200 descending to T Pace, 2 x 400 @ IM Pace, 200 cooldown

It's a sign...

that it's going to be a tough workout when the WARM UP is to run 2 miles.  Followed by 100+ high knees and jumping jacks.  Then running in place in bare feet trying to get a high run cadence of 180 strikes per minute.  Not to mention running in circles around poles on a sidewalk. Finished off with abdominal exercises using the infamous foam roller. 

TODAY'S WORKOUT @ Lake Nona YMCA
444 Calories Burned in 1 Hour
2 mile warm up run followed various torture drills

Ahhhhhh...

   I went back to the foam roller muscle massage class today for the first time in quite awhile.  And boy did I need it.  It felt so good to get all the kinks out of my legs and butt.  Coach says that rolling out my IT band will oddly enough keep my knees from hurting.  You know the whole "Knee bone connected to the thigh bone" song.  I have been doing it on my own watching TV at home, but it's never as intense as when I have Coach watching me.  She has eyes in the back of her head. 

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Foam roller stretch and massage (45 Min)
Abs & core workout by Elaine the Dominatrix (15 Min)
Upper body weight training (15 Min)

I forgot to start my heart rate monitor but I estimate that I burned between 275-300 Calories.

Holy Exhaustion Batman...

    Coach kicked our ass with drills at swim practice today. These are bizarre things you would never actually do during a race that help you focus on one specific thing at a time so you can improve your overall form. The most entertaining one this morning was the one-legged kicking drill.  Imagine yours truly clinging to a kickboard and trying to keep one leg out of the water while kicking furiously with the other one.  Funny for coach but not at all pretty to watch.  I went so slow that I may have gotten passed by a snail crawling down the lane line.  At least everybody else sucked at it too.  One of these days I will manage to get a video that I can upload to share with you.

TODAY'S WORKOUT @ YMCA Aquatic Center
560 Calories Burned in 2200 Meters/1.40 Miles in 1 Hour 5 Minutes
500 WU (pull, kick, pull, kick, pull)
300 finger drag, tennis ball, one-armed
200 shark, one-legged
400 easy then 4x100 descending
4x50 on the 1:10 then 4x25 on the :30
100 CD backstroke

Happy Ass...

I have happily returned from my sojourn to the great snowy tundra of New Hampshire.  Today was my first bike ride with a new saddle that did not come stock with my triathlon bike I.  More commonly known as a "seat" to all you non cyclists out there.  All I can say is Praise Sweet Baby Jesus!!!!  I have a happy ass and hoo hah once again.  That sentence gets not further explanation if you could not figure it out on your own.  No more numb legs and other sensitive body parts.  If you don't think a saddle upgrade makes a difference, you are sorely mistaken.  Pun intended. 

TODAY'S WORKOUT
Bike Trainer @ Lake Nona YMCA
388 Calories Burned over 17.5 miles in 60 Minutes 
High cadence and hill climb drills

I'm baaaaaaaack...

    Just when you though you could escape my harrowing narrative, I have risen like a phoenix from the swimming pool!  I only took a break from writing, not from training. Work was ridiculous busy, but the worst stretch is over. Here is the grand total summary of what the heck I have been doing for the past 15 days (not counting today) since I last blogged about my session on 1/29/12.  I figure this is better than boring you with the litany of details for each individual workout. 

4 Swims in 5 hrs. 6 minutes for a total of 5.38 miles and 1952 calories burned
3 Bikes in 6 hrs. 37 minutes for a total of 96.25 miles and 3156 calories burned
3 Runs in 2 hrs. 35 minutes for a total of 13.9 miles and 1461 calories burned
3 Hot Yoga Classes in 3 hrs. 35 minutes for a total of 1218 calories burned

GRAND TOTAL of 13 WORKOUTS in 17hrs. 53 min. for 115.54 miles and 7,787 calories burned.

More to come later today about this morning's exciting swim which included a conversation about yaks.

Busy bee...

    So I have discovered the challenges of maintaining a blog when life gets demanding and I become a busy bee.  It turns out that when the most cool stuff happens is when I feel like I have the least time to sit down in front of my computer and write.  I will be getting some updates on here soon, I promise.  So all three of you regular blog readers please do not unsubcribe just yet due to lack of content. 

Sunny Sunday...

    I missed the team brick workout on Sunday due to my 5K race, so the plan was to fit that in on Sunday.  25 Mile Bike in Heart Zone 2 followed by 4 Mile Run in heart Zone 3.  Due to strange circumstances of not having access to my bicycle (the deatils of which are boring and unimportant), I wasn't able to ride so chose to do another long run instead.  It was a cool and sunny Sunday afternoon, perfect for exercising outdoors and having some solitude. It was a treat to be able to go to Heart Zone 3 and not get passed by kids on tricycles.   My pace picked up by almost 3 minutes per mile from last Sunday.  Praise Jesus!!! The delightful run was followed by some weightlifting at the gym and a protein packed Chocolate Elvis smoothie from Planet Smoothie.  Yummy!


TODAY'S WORKOUT from Lake Nona YMCA

Run 6 Miles in Heart Rate Zone 3
700 Calories Burned in 1 Hour 28 Minutes

Lower Body Strength & Resistance Training
206 Calories Burned in 28 Mniutes

Run for the Children...

One of the great perks of living in Orlando is that there are races of every distance almost year round, and many of them are in really cool places.  My Cutie had friends in town for the weekend so we opted to join them for a community fundraiser 5K.  The 31st Annual Dick Batchelor Run for the Children was held at Universal Studios which has some great scenery to take in as you run.  We went through Dr. Seuss Land, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Marvel Comics Superhero Town.  A fun morning for a good cause followed by a great breakfast at Mimi's Cafe.

TODAY'S WORKOUT at Universal Studios
Run 5K (3.1 Miles)
335 Calories Burned in 29 minutes 45 Seconds

My poor ears...

    To call this morning's foam roller stretch workout interesting would be a dramatic understatement. We were first subjected to the loud, repetitive, and extremely-high pitched screech of the building fire alarm being tested for no less than 15 minutes. But did we have to cover our ears? No, of course not! Hearing loss need not be feared when Team Vortex has its very own MacGyver(s) to violate fire marshal codes!!! Thanks to XXX, Walrus, Mr. Argentina, and Flipper, the horrible sounds coming from that pesky alarm were muffled by gym towels and packaging tape. I only wish I had my iPhone to document their resourcefulness. Of course the test was done right after they finished rigging it.
    Once that entertainment was over, we resumed massaging our various leg parts per Coach's instructions. If you listened to a recording of these stretch workouts, it would be normal to hear little grunts, groans, gasps, and moans much like when you get a massage and a spot gets pressed really hard. But then there was the noise produced by Scary Hair which can only be referred to as a cross between the mating call of a howler monkey and the screech of a hawk catching its prey. We would have looked at her funny if she were not verbalizing what we were ALL feeling as we worked on our IT (iliotibial) bands. It is the muscle that runs up the outside of the thigh from your butt to your knee. For sure the most excruciatingly uncomfortable of all the body parts to stretch out with the roller. If any among you can work on your IT band with the Trigger Point Grid and remain totally silent (not even a peep), I will pay you $20. Your video proof will be posted on my blog for future fame.
   

Easy does it...

    Thursday's swim was nice and easy.  To make up for running hard yesterday.  Even though I was the last one finished, I still was done early (for me).  Still working on kicking better.  But the good news is that I am so much more relaxed in my stroke form than I used to be.  Coach said it's much better than last year.  Which is a darn good thing because there was nowhere to go but up.  I am still supposed to purchase the following aquatic paraphernalia to keep improving:  fins, paddles, and a pool floatie.  Okay, just kidding about the pool floatie.  But wouldn't it be awesome if they were triathlon legal?  At least you would be able to identify your friends better in the swim wave starts.  "Look, XXX just made it past the first buoy!  I can tell it's him by the yellow duck floatie!!!" 

TODAY'S WORKOUT at YMCA Aquatic Center

Swim 1800 Meters/1.12 Miles
492 calories burned in 50 Minutes
Warm Up:  200 Pull, 200 Kick
Main Set: 2 x 500 with 30 second RI, 6 x 50 on the minute
Cool Down: 100 backstroke

"I'm good enough..."

    Please pardon me for a moment while I adjust my oxygen mask.  My lungs are still burning.  Coach had us do a Lactate Threshhold Test for our workout this morning. Which should henceforth be known as the "Run Until You Can't Breathe Anymore" Test.   The instructions were to go fast as you can around a 400 meter track (or unconstructed subdivision neighborhood) at a sustainable pace for 30 minutes without stopping.  Check your heart rate every ten minutes (if you still have one) and yell that number to Coach as you literally run circles around her.  My numbers were 182 (10:00), 182 (20:00), and 184 (30:00).  Uncertain of what this means, but I'm told that I should be pleased my heart rate was consistent.  Of course this information was ominously recorded on Coach's top secret clipboard.  No doubt intended to come back and haunt me at a later training session. 
    For the record, I did 12.5 laps in the alotted time which turns out to be a 5K or 3.1 miles at a 9:36 pace.  Pastor Dave was going in a whirlwind past everyone and doing something ridiculous like 7:00 miles.  Who knew a man of the cloth could be so fast?!?  I am working very hard at letting go of my monkey mind chatter that says "You should be going faster."  Let's be honest that we athletes have a really hard time NOT comparing ourselves to each other.  Even when our teammates are genuinely cheering us on.  Self-criticism is my personal demon to exorcise and IMAZ training is certainly helping me do that. 

        PERSONAL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
        Look in the mirror like Stuart Smalley and repeat:
        "I will run my own race."




TODAY'S WORKOUT from Lake Nona Water's Edge Neighborhood
Lactate Threshhold Test
Run 30 Minutes as fast as possible at a consistent pace
Check Heart Rate at 10 Minute intervals
464 Calories Burned 30 Minuntes (3.1 Miles)

Monday...

was a rest day.  No yoga. No run. No swim. No bike.  No stretch.  I even found time to watch the dysfunctional families on my favorite reality TV show Intervention last night.  Let me just say that I am glad to be addicted to my runner's high and nothing else.  Talk about insanity.  Speaking of crazy-- in case you are interested, here is the picture and website for the self-inflicted muscle massage gadget I mentioned in my post on Friday, January20th.

Trigger Point Therapy

I am running...

out of ways to express how slow I feel when I do these heart zone training workouts.  But I would definitely not call it running.  I was delighted share today's humbling experience with the company of my buddies Poopsay and Sharpei.  Long story on those nicknames that you are probably better off not knowing.  We opted to go on a nice blacktop trail that runs along the Little Econlockhatchee River through a park.  Another gorgeous day.  January is one of the best months to live in Florida.  They provided me with some much needed and objective friend therapy.  But more importantly, in the span of two hours, they devised a very useful five point speed scale complete with terminology and paces.  Please feel free to use for yourself!  So actually, today's workout was a walk.  But remember the tortoise and the hare.

1.  Walking (Slowest Pace) [16-18 minutes per mile]
2.  Slogging (Slow Jogging)  [14-16 minutes per mile]
3.  Jogging  (Halfway Between Walking & Running)  [12-14 minutes per mile]
4.  Junning (Running Jog)  [10-12 minutes per mile]
5.  Runing (Fastest Pace)  [8-10 minutes per mile]

TODAY'S WORKOUT from Blanchard Park YMCA
Run 8 Miles in Heart Rate Zone 2
876 Calories Burned in 2 Hours 19 Minutes

You know...

it's an awesome bike ride when:

• almost all the traffic lights you hit are green so you can roll right through them
• there are bike lanes the whole way
• there are at least three other people in the group keeping the same speed as you
• the sun is shining and the temeperature is 75 degrees
• it feels like you have a tailwind no matter which direction you ride
• there is good conversation but also good silence just to take it all in

TODAY'S WORKOUT from Lake Nona YMCA

Bike 50 Miles in Heart Rate Zone 2
1293 Calories Burned in 3 Hours 33 Minutes

Here's a picture of the gang at the Y as we were getting ready to roll

"Hurts So Good..."

    Is the new theme song for Fridays. What I thought sounded like the easiest workout of the week has proven to be the most painful. I mean really, "Foam Roller Stretch" sounds innocent and peaceful enough, right? WRONG!!!! Coach was clearly a bossy dominatrix in her past life.
    So this workout involved moving the tight muscles of the legs, hips, and butt back and forth over objects such as a tennis ball and a padded PVC pipe thing called a trigger point grid. It loosens the muscles' connective tissue called myofascia so you don't feel so tight. It's like giving yourself a deep tissue massage. Which is really uncomfortable while you're doing it, but feels AWESOME later. Go ahead, and try it at home after you look up instructions on YouTube and Google. Then report back to me. I promise you'll be singing, "Sometimes love don't feel like it should. You make it hurt so good."

Cramp!!!

    I completed the entire swim this morning with no whining and not sinking to the bottom of the pool.  But Flipper was finished so far ahead of me that she had already ran 2 extra miles, knitted a sweater, and drank a lattѐ by the time I was done with my cool down.  She was kind enough to offer an assist when my right leg knotted up after I got out of the water though.  Man those cramps hurt!!  Entertaining for my teammates to watch as I writhed on the tile moaning "Ow!"  But painful for me.  Coach told me to eat more bananas and torture myself with some massaging roller device that is supposed to pull apart the small muscles near my bones.  I think it sounds like a bad idea, but then again, what do I know.  She dreams this stuff up in her sleep.  Or maybe reads it in some fancy coaching magazine. 

TODAY'S WORKOUT at YMCA Aquatic Center
Swim 2700 Meters/1.55 Miles
712 calories burned in 1 Hour 19 Minutes
Main Set:   5 x 500 with 90 second RI
Cool Down:  200 backstroke