Week 5-6 2013 TRI for Roses

Well, I didn't get to blog about my training as much as I wanted but I guess that's good because I was focused on training. Week 5 went well. Started feeling comfortable with my swim and more confident with the bike and run. Week 6 was hard. I worked a lot and was tapering off so it felt like I wasn't doing enough. I also got an upper respiratory infection. It's fun to do a triathlon when you can't breathe...anyway of course I did it. The swim was miserable. I felt like I was drowning. I didn't have bad time but it is definitely my weakest area. Didn't help that the girl in my wave is on the "TIDERIDERS" swim team in Fort Smith. She best my by 2min and 10 seconds on the swim. I beat her on the bike and run and overall though which was nice! I placed first in my age group and 4th overall. My age group win was a big surprise and I was so thankful!! It was so much fun (once it was over!). While I was in it, I kept thinking, "why do people do this? It's so crazy!" Afterward, I cried a little and thanked God for my completion of training and the race. What a huge accomplishment for me! I'm honestly kind of lost now. I have been on such a strict schedule and now I don't know what to do with myself. You better believe I went to popeyes yesterday and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast today! Aaron and I tried to swim laps today and ended up in a "Arthritis Relief" elderly water aerobics class...we just kind of walked around, stretched out and left. We were getting some pretty dirty looks because we asked if we could swim. Lap lanes were closed. I only have a few pics and Aaron's mom is emailing me some so I will slowly post pics. 

Fit for Missions 5k

Pepper invited us to a Halloween event/5K to raise money for missions. I didn't want to risk running on my foot so Aaron decided he would run and did really well! He placed 2nd in his age group. There was a pie auction afterward. We had a lot of fun!

Week 3-4

After the 5k Saturday, I helped some friends move. A truck was backed up to the stairs on the porch so I decided I would just hop off the porch with a heavy box in my arms. After that, I couldn't bear weight on my right foot. I was sure if I iced my foot it would feel better the next day...nope. Ended up getting an X-ray and wearing a boot for a week to 2 weeks. If it was broken I knew I would have to accept I couldn't do the TRI. the X-ray showed stress reaction but not fracture!! Just a sprain. I'm taking 5000u vit D which I really think is helping! Needless to say, last week was very discouraging. I missed a bike to run day and moved swimming up in front of my run days. Still, I did as much as I could and pushed forward to start week 5!

Getting faster on the spin bike! 

Survivors Challenge

The Survivors challenge race is a walk, 5k or 10k. Pepper thought it would be good for me to have race experience so I trained with him a few days and registered for the Survivors challenge. The money goes towards the Reynolds Center Cancer Support house. I worked the day before (bad choice) and was exhausted. Pepper had changed his marathon training and ran 18 miles the day before so compared to that I had nothing I should be complaining about! We started the race off at a whole 41 degrees-it was freezing! 1st mile was kinda hard and my breathing was heavier than normal. Mile 2, I thought "I have to stop." Must've been perfect timing because up the long hill were cancer patients holding signs in the freezing weather. Encouraging us! These are people who are too weak and sick to run but were so thankful for our support that they were pushing us to move forward. I felt like I was going to vomit up that hill then my eyes filled with tears. How can I stop when they may never run again? Then, little kids shouting "thank you for running for us!" My heart was broken and I was humbled. Pepper talked me through the worst part and I kept going. Crossing the finish line was so neat with Aaron and Brooklyn waiting for me! This is how much I know about races: I didn't even know we were racing! I thought it was like a "fun run" race but not for awards or anything. I left to take Aaron to work. Pepper called me to come back because I had placed 2nd in my age group!! We were all so excited! And shocked! Haha!! 

Braids

Decided to braid my hair to see if its good for race day. Brooklyn's teacher, Ms. Dee, braided it yesterday. Only took her about 20 min. Everything counts against my time so putting my hair up 8 different times could really hurt me on race day. Anyway, didn't hurt yesterday but felt weird to sleep on and is itchy and giving me a headache today! About to get into the gym pool and it is freezing out!!!! I'll reward myself with the hot tub or sauna after my 500 meter nonstop swim. -----so the braids were great for the swim. And the hot tub was not so hot! :( However, I feel great about my swim progress because 3 months ago I didn't even know how!

End of Week 1

In Hot Springs for Kristen's birthday. We ran for 40 min. About 3 miles. Did some walking/talking. Started to rain but it felt nice and it was kinda fun to run in the rain. Excited for tomorrow bc it is my day off. Finally!!!! Week 1 completed. Yes, I'm still scared. 

Endurance/Exercise induced insomnia

So, week 2 into training, I couldn't sleep. Like at all. Stayed awake almost all night one night and thought..."surely this can't be normal-I've never worked out so hard in my life...you think I would be exhausted..." I was! I just could not sleep.   So, I drank a Gatorade at 2am and finally slept about 2 hours. The next day, I looked up "insomnia while training" and read lost of information on increased hormone levels, depletion of all kinds of things and the need to eat more carbs and sugar while training. I was excited to have a glass of orange juice or chocolate milk before bed and noticed it helped! Increasing my carbs a lot more this week (never would've said that before!). I've pretty much had pasta everyday. Had spaghetti for breakfast today with whole wheat noodles and ground turkey. I'm still learning to use "goos" and simple sugars, caffeine and carbs to my benefit before workouts. It's so hard to eat different especially when my appetite has been decreased. Today is week 3 day 4 and I missed my first workout yesterday. I slept about 2 hours the night before, had a pulled muscle in my back and my hamstring was real right, was supposed to get up at 4 and do 45min on spin bike, then work 12 hours in the nicu. Yep, not smart. So, I promised myself I wouldn't beat myself up about it (because there were several days I over-trained or did extra), reset my alarm for 6, drank a big cup of chocolate milk and slept maybe an extra hour. Work was miserable, felt like I barely made it through my day. However, because I took a day off and ate appropriately, I slept wonderful last night! It was the best night of sleep I've had in 3 weeks. I feel a little more encouraged today. I have an easy 30 minute run. 5am swim tomorrow and 5k race Saturday. I can do this! I am over halfway there. It's crazy, 3 weeks have flown by. I've had to rearrange everything to train. It's been hard and I'm looking forward to a little break. I feel a lot better about swimming and a little better about the spin bike. Still kills my bottom! Even with a cushion. People say you get used to it...