Todays training

So today was a relatively easy training day. This week was my first week back to training after the triathlon. Earlier this week I hit the pool and had a good pool workout, I rode for 10 miles last night and today was the jog. I am NOT a runner, haven't been since my freshman year in high school. My first knee injury at an indoor track meet. I went one way, my knee went another. I gave up track at that point. I was never going to be a track star. My max distance was 800 meters. Last I heard, I was still 2nd on the record board at my middle school 2 min, 53 sec. 25 hundredths.

Now, I jogged 3/4 mile today and it took me 15 minutes, but I had the dog with me and he pooped and I dropped my iPod twice and had to drop the dog off because he was killing me. He kept wanting to stop and smell the roses, which would jerk me backwards. So, included in that 15 minute time is probably 2-3 minutes of dead time scooping poop and picking up my iPod, putting the dog in the backyard and letting him in the back door.

Now here is the interesting thing. 6 yrs ago, when I thought I was in decent shape, I had a friend in town who stayed here and she wanted to go jog, (pre-kiddo time for me.) I couldn't even do a full lap at a jog. I quit. I watched her and my hubby run it and make several laps, feeling like an abject failure and knowing that I would likely never be able to run again. Today, for me to do 3/4 mile and do if fairly consistently, if not slowly, gave me a sense of accomplishment. I couldn't do that last year, I couldn't do that 6 yrs ago. Now, 5 months into training for sprint triathlons, I CAN!!!!

I am considering doing a triathlon in Wake Forest June 29. I hope to improve on my 2hrs 7 minutes, which shouldn't be hard considering it's shorter in the pool and I know more what to expect. I am doing a 5k on June 7 which I was given a slot through my gym's triathlon club. Not bad. I am becoming quite the multi-sporter.

Here it is.

I had some complaints about me posting about my triathlon training and the actual race on my other blog, so I have created my new blog. I hope to inspire others to get off the couch or transition as I have from a single sport to a multi-sport athlete. I haven't used the term athlete in terms of me in such a long time. I was an athlete in high school and college, even after college, I could still say I was an athlete, I played softball 3-4 days a week, I could run and fitness was not an issue. I was an anaerobic athlete. I was a fast-twitch athlete, every sport I ever played was a fast-twitch sport. Even my swimming was fast-twitch, I was a sprinter.

So, my first triathlon was on May 10. It was a horrible disaster. I had trained the swim for 5 months, hit the water and had an asthma attack. I spent the swim breaststroking, getting passed, but I hung in there...then there is the bike. I went out of my comfort zone and went to the western portion of the state where there are more hills and more severe hills. I tried not to burn myself on the bike, but every time I thought about the time lost in the pool (more than 3 minutes) I caught myself ramping up my cadence. By the time I got off the bike, my hamstrings were screaming. I couldn't have run if I tried. So, I walked a majority of run, I was finally able to jog the final quarter mile. I finished in a jog. I don't think I could have done anymore than that.

When bringing all things into consideration, I really did a great job for my first triathlon. I plan to purchase a wetsuit for the swims, depending on the water temp. I have started jogging more around the neighborhood to try to get better at my jog/run. I think this is something I can do. I used to run, but after 3 knee surgeries, can I still do it. We shall see.