Swimming Apparel

Alot of people have asked me what kind of swim wear I buy and what different equipment I use when I swim.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I found that THE BEST swim wear for practicing is Dolphin brand Uglies swim wear. I know the name is funny, but the swim suits last SO much longer than others. The swim suits are made out of polyester, so I can normally get a swimsuit to last 6-8 months. Before I wore Uglies, I was buying a new swim suit every 2-3 months. That can get expensive. A couple of the designs on the swim suits aren't the most attractive, but they've got some awesome swim suits. Plus, they have seasonal ones.






As far as goggles go, I used to use Speedo Baja goggles, but my personal trainer suggested TYR Tracer goggles. I've been hooked on TYR Tracers ever since. I always have a pair I wear for in the pool and I have a pair for open water swimming. TYR Tracers have a really good seal to them and they don't leak water at all.




Last but not least, I use the TYR buoy and TYR hand paddles. I've never used any different, so I don't know much about the other brands. My personal trainer suggested TYR hand paddles because they are shaped like the hand and you can kind of grow in to them if you need to.




As for swim caps, I use whatever. I usually get a free swim cap in my race swag bags, so I use those. I usually end up replacing them every 3 months, but I just got a new swim cap for my birthday and I can't wait to use it.

Question:

What brand of swim suit do you use?

Do you have a favorite goggle you use?

Do you use the hand paddles and buoys?

Swim Drills & Cycling

Friday I was supposed to go swimming and do 1400 yards of drills. I was going to blog about it because I know when I first started swimming I'd never heard of these swim drills. Well, I totally slept through my alarm Friday and couldn't go swimming.

Saturday I decided besides my cycling workout B.J. had planned for me, I was going to do Friday's swim workout. I got up early Saturday morning, drove 20 minutes to a different swimming pool and paid $5.50 to go swim (there was a swim meet at my normal pool). I walk in to the pool area and there was a Masters Swim class going on. I should have just jumped in with the class but I am VERY intimidated by the Masters Swim class. I am working on that. I ended up just leaving, going back to my gym and doing my cycling workout.

If I would have been able to swim, this is what I was supposed to do.

200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull.

200 yards of the skate drill. The skate drill is where you lay on your side with one arm resting on your leg and the other stretched out in front of you. Your head is resting on the arm stretched out in front of you. You just kick your way across the pool and then when you turn around to come back, you switch arms.

200 yards of the under skate drill. This is the same as the skate drill, but about every 5 - 10 seconds, you turn your head in to the water and swim like that for 5 - 10 seconds. You need to try and not move your shoulders when you turn in to the water.

The next couple of drills, I'm just going to post videos about them because it's easier to show you than it is to try and explain it to you.

200 yards of the shark drill.


200 yards of the stop switch drill.


200 yards of the triple switch drill. This one took me a while to get used to. I think this one is one of the harder drills.


200 yards of the catch up drill.


Last one, and I still have a VERY hard time with this drill is the finger tip drag drill.


I hope these drills help you like they'ved helped me.

Since I didn't get to do any of these drills, I ended up just going back to my gym and doing the cycling workout B.J. had for me, which was a 30 minute warm up and then 1 hour at a steady effort, and then a cool down of 10 minutes.

I would normally LOVE to go out on the street, but with it being winter now in Utah, you can't really do that. My gym only has 2 spinning bikes. I LOVE doing the spinning bike. It is the most like going outside. I was crossing my fingers that when I got to the gym a spinning bike would be available, but the way my luck was working that day, it wasn't. I ended up sitting on a stationary bike for 1 1/2 hours. A stationary bike is VERY hard for me to comfortably sit on. But, I did it. I was able to stay at a resistance of 14 the entire time. I got a really good workout. I burned 1360 calories. I figure that was pretty good.

There really isn't too much to write about when talking about cycling, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Question:

Do you have a typical swim workout? What is it? Do you do these drills or do you have different drills you do?

How long do you do your cycling workout?

I'm SO Over This

I'm SO over being injured. It's really getting boring. Right now all I can really do is swim. I've found when my hip hurts, the last thing I can imagine doing is sitting on an itty bitty bike seat for 1 - 2 hours and pedal away. Plus, I'm afraid if I sit on a bike, that motion still works the hip and I'm afraid it will do more injury.

But most of all, I just want to get out and run!!! I miss bundling up and going outside for a run. I miss pounding out miles on the dreadmill up at the gym. I miss getting bored running around the track up at the gym. I'm ready to get out and start training for my first 26.2 in May 2012. I want to challenge my body & I'm looking forward to those long runs on Sundays.

I've only got 2 more days on the steroids and then I guess I need to call the doctor and see what to do next. I can definitely tell there is some improvement in my hip, but it's VERY slow improvement. I hope I don't have to do more steroids. Weird as it sounds, alot of people have told me that these steroids are going to make me HYPER and I'm not going to sleep at all, but they actually make me tired. They do nothing as far as energy is concerned. I wonder if it's just the combo of all the other meds I'm on for my depression, anxiety and thyroid that the combo doesn't make me hyper.

Well, here's to hopefully being able to get out and run again soon!

Race 2 of 4 - Bountiful Triathlon

I did 4 races in 4 weeks. My second race was the Bountiful Triathlon on August 6th. I will ALWAYS make room for this race in my schedule. Why? It was the first race I ever did. It just holds a very tender spot in my heart.

This race is organized by a girl I went to high school with and her husband, Tawni & Brice Williams. They do a FANTASTIC job at organizing the race.

This race is a little different because it is a run/bike/swim order. The run has always been the same route, but this year the bike was a different route. It was a nice route because the older route, you had to go over some train tracks and sometimes people got stopped by the train, etc., and this year, they changed the route so we didn't have to go over train tracks. The only thing that sucked about the bike route was we rode our bikes through Bountiful, Centerville & Farmington. We had to ride our bikes through one major intersection in Centerville and the Centerville Police didn't feel the need to have any presence there to make sure we were safe.

The swim went really well. I passed a TON of people in the run, bike AND the swim. I wish I could have hung around for the after party of the race, but I had a wedding I had to get to, so as soon as I finished swimming, I had to book it to the transition area, grab my stuff and go home.

One thing that happened at this race that really pisses me off (Has nothing to do with the race organizers) is the general public. They just don't care. As I was riding my bike home, I saw a fire truck and ambulance out on the street by where you turn in to the parking lot on your bike to go in to transition. One of the cyclists & one of the volunteers got hit by a truck!!! There was a police officer there directing traffic and apparently the driver of the truck still didn't feel the need to stop. They ended up transporting the cyclist to the hospital on a backboard.

Also, on the bike, we were on a frontage road and there wasn't much of a shoulder for us to ride on so we were having to ride our bikes with the traffic. Everyone was obeying the traffic laws, but then I saw a Suburban pull up behind a bunch of cyclists and honk his horn because they weren't going fast enough.

Seriously people? Why can't the general public have courtesty for us cyclists. Cyclists get a bad rap because there are some out there that don't obey the regular traffic laws, but car drivers have to take in to consideration as well that we might have to not obey some of the traffic laws for our own safety because they are too inconsiderate to let us ride with them, but for the most part, all cyclists that I see are obeying the traffic laws. I just don't get it.

So...here are some pictures from the race:

Here I am heading out on the run:


Heading out on the bike. I love this picture:


Swimming fast:

Race # 1 of 4

I'm doing 4 races in 4 weeks. I'm doing 3 triathlons (one being my Olympic distance triathlon) and 1 relay race (Epic Cache to Teton).

This last Saturday I did race # 1. It was the Layton Triathlon. This is the second time I've done this race. This is a very unique race. It is a sprint distance triathlon, but because the pool is so small, you have to do everything twice. So, we swam 12 laps, biked 6.5 miles, and ran 1.55 miles, then did everything again.

Doing everything twice presents its challenges. It really plays with my mind. You get done with the bike and are heading out on the run for the first time and you're thinking you're almost done with the run and then you remember you have to do everything again. Oh God help me! But then you jump in the pool for the second time and forget all of that and you're happy to be out there!

My final time on this triathlon was 1:38:57.2. That's not my best time, but it's not my worst time. I did improve from my previous triathlon and I didn't come in last, so I'm ok with my results. I still haven't got my splits to see how fast I was in the pool, etc. I think I could've done a little better if the transition area wasn't so dang far away! Transition is probably a good 150-200 yards (if not farther) away from the pool. I don't understand why they don't have the transition area in the parking lot next to the pool instead of on the grass in the park that's that far away.

I got to the race early so I could get my ideal transition spot. Lately I've been getting to the race a little late and have been getting crappy transition spots. Here's a picture of my ideal transition area. I'm the blue bike on the very end with the Spongebob Squarepants towel and JCPenney bag. :)




Here I am before the race standing on the pool deck. I like this picture 'cause it makes me look thin. With my arms crossed, it kinda hides my belly of extra skin, etc.




Both times on the swim I felt I did pretty good. My mom said the first time in the water I passed 10 people! Nice! I didn't use a swim cap just because I had to swim twice, I wasn't going to put a swim cap on the second time as I was running from transition to the pool so why wear one the first time, you know? I just wish I knew how to do a flip turn. I think if I could do a flip turn, I'd be a little bit faster on the swim.



Both times on the bike were really good. I felt like I did really good on the bike. The first time on the bike I passed quite a few people (I can't remember how many), but I was pleased with that. The second time on the bike I was a little slower because my legs were starting to get tired, but I still did ok.






Oh the run! I forgot about how hilly the run is. I remembered there was 1 hill on the run when I was riding past it on my bike the first time. I forgot about the other hills until I came upon them! There are lots of uphills and downhills on this run. It presents it's challenges, but I ran them! I have Yankz stretchy shoe laces for my shoes so I don't have to waste valuable time in transition tying my shoes, but sometimes Yankz make it hard to get your shoes on in a hurry. I heard that if you spray TriGlide in your shoes or use Body Glide on your feet, it helps prevent blisters (if you run without socks) and it helps you get your feet in your shoes faster. It's true! Right before the race started, I sprayed TriGlide in my shoes and it worked fabulously! I will be doing that with all of my races now.

The only 2 downers about this race is how far away the transition area is and you can't use your headphones on the bike OR the run. I can understand not having headphones on the bike, but on the run I like to have music to help me pace myself, etc.

Cache Valley Super Sprint Tri

This last Saturday was my latest triathlon. It was up in Logan and it was the Cache Valley Super Sprint Triathlon. It was alot of fun. It was hard for me though.

Why was it hard? I'd been sick all week and hadn't been able to workout. I've always been told that when you're sick, you need to just rest and let your body recover. Once you're over being sick, then you can pick back up on your workouts.

So, I was taking cold medicine and Zicam all week and finally Friday morning I felt really good. So that was the first day I worked out that week and my triathlon was the next morning.

I got up to Logan and we left a little late so I got a pretty crappy transition spot. I always like to be on the end of a row in the transition area and I was lucky to even find a spot.

A girl that I communicate with on Facebook (Lyndsey) lives up in Logan and she does triathlon's. She told me that the course was pretty flat and it was a quick course. I was looking forward to it.

We started out with the swim and I could tell the swim was taking me longer. I could just feel that I wasn't swimming my "a" game. I finally hop out of the pool and head to T1.

My T1 was pretty fast. It was like 1:26. That's one of the fastest T1's I've had, especially considering you gotta get your shoes on, put your helmet on, put your number on and put your sunglasses on, unrack your bike & run out of transition. The only thing I know about the bike course is that there is about 100 yds that we have to ride through and it's all construction. The race director advised us to either get off our bikes and walk that 100 yds or ride VERY slow through the construction area. I chose to just ride pretty slow through the area and it wasn't too bad. There were some very mild hills on the ride, but it wasn't too bad. For some reason though, I was just riding VERY slow. I was really disappointed. At one point on the ride I remember cursing and crying because so many people were passing me. I just don't understand why I ride so slow. I don't get it. The ride was an out and back ride where we had to ride out 6.25 miles and then ride back 6.25 miles. We rode out SO far I swear we were going to ride our bikes in to Brigham City. Lol. I saw parts of Logan I'd never seen before. It was honestly, just a bunch of farm land. It was pretty cool. The ride back to T2 was pretty quick. It seemed pretty quick.

I got back to T2 and my T2 time was AWESOME...if I say so myself. I hopped off my bike, grabbed a different water bottle and headed out on the run. The run was an out and back...twice. We had to run out 0.75 and run back 0.75 twice. It was originally just going to be a 3.0 mile loop, but part of the course was flooded & the race director said that if they would have kept the original course, we would end up swimming, biking, running and then swimming again there was so much water.

But...my run started out good. I felt like I started out pretty strong. I was actually about to keep right about a 10 minute pace, which I'm pleased about.

My final time on this race was 1:40:00.09. I was quite disappointed with my time. That is my 2nd to worst time. My worst time was my very first triathlon, but I actually don't even consider that my worst time because it was my VERY first triathlon.

But as we were driving home from the race, I saw an article on Twitter that helped me because it talked about what if you have a bad race. I gave myself time to be upset about the race, but then when I got home, I wasn't allowed to be upset with my time any more. And that's exactly what I did.

It was nice though, before we left Logan, we went and got ourselves some Aggie Ice Cream and the ice cream store on campus. It was DELICIOUS!!! I think I'm going to have to make that a tradition.

P.S. I'm not posting any pictures on this race because I look like a fatty in all the pictures. For some reason, whenever I can't workout, I lose ALL self control and eat whatever I want as much as I want.

T1

I need suggestions on how to improve my T1. My T1 always seems to be REALLY slow. I don't know how else to improve it.

I can only think the reason it's so slow is because of swimmers fatigue. I mean, I have elastic shoe laces so I'm not spending my time tying my shoe laces. I have a tri suit, so it's not like I'm putting on clothes or anything.

I don't know what to do. My T1 is usually around 1:30-1:45 and I'm not happy with that time.

Tsunami Triathlon

This latest triathlon that I did yesterday, it was a spur of the moment triathlon. I haven't done a triathlon since the end of May and my next triathlon isn't until July 9th, so I decided to sign up for the Tsunami Triathlon at the SDRC that I competed in yesterday.

I was really nervous about this triathlon because I hardly trained at all this week because I just got done doing the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay and I was EXHAUSTED from that, so I didn't train hardly at all.

Considering I trained maybe twice this last week, my triathlon wasn't too bad. My final time was 1:29:04. I came in 6th in my age division, so it wasn't too bad.

The swim was pretty good. I swam 350 yards in 8:30. Granted, I need to be able to knock that time down by about 1:30, but with no training this week, I'm pleased with 8:30. I killed 5 people in the swim, so that made me feel pretty good.

It was kind of cool. As I was walking in to the pool area before the swim started, I saw one of the swim coaches and he recognized me. We both said hi to each other & then he proceeded to tell people that I was going to kill it because he sees me at the pool every day and I'm doing really well.

Then during the swim about lap # 4, he got right down by the edge of the pool and was cheering me on "You're doing great! Hussle, hussle! Keep it up!". I don't know if he did that for anybody else, but it made me feel special. He did the same as I was getting out of the pool too.

While I was swimming I swallowed a lot of air, because as I was running to T1 I let out this HUGE belch! Then I was like "excuse me". It was kind of funny because then off to the side I heard someone say "Awesome! That's a true swimmer right there!". Every time I belched yesterday it made me think of that & I laughed.

The bike wasn't too bad. It took me about 43 minutes to ride 12 miles. It was a different route than what I'm used to, so that threw me off a little bit, but I did pretty good. It wasn't windy at all, so I was able to keep my speed up. I really need to get clips as pedals so I can just clip in & shave a little time off my T1 and go faster too.

The run was rough. I was just slow. It took me 35 minutes to run 3.1 miles. I'm not too happy with that, but I know it gives me room to improve. My legs were just tired because I really pushed myself on the bike, so I was just slow, but hey, I finished!

So, overall, this was a good race. I'm not disappointed with my time. It gives me room to improve.

What I really liked about this race is it shows me that after a race like the Ragnar, I can bounce back just fine and do a race the next week. I've been concerned about this because I'm doing the Epic Relay in August and the very next week I have my Olympic distance triathlon. This race yesterday proved to me that I know I'll be able to do that race and be ok.

What I Want

This weekend while doing the Ragnar Relay, I figured out exactly what I want as far as a spouse, etc.

My personal trainer, B.J. and his wife Chrystel competed in the Ragnar. I saw them a couple of times throughout the race. They have an 8 year old son too and he was there. He didn't compete in the race, but he was there with them.

That is what I want. I want a spouse that enjoys doing 1/2 marathons, marathons, relays and triathlons with me.

I've always been afraid that if I were to get married and have a family that would be the end of triathlons and marathons, etc., but seeing B.J. and Chrystel competing in the Ragnar this weekend with friends and bringing their son along with them proved to me that you can have a family and still do triathlons etc.

The only problem is, I don't know how to go about finding that person. People have always said that a good place to meet someone is at the gym. Well, they've never been to the gym I go to. Because of the neighborhood and city I live in, alot of people are married. Every guy I've seen at the gym is married. :( Plus, alot of guys when they workout don't wear a wedding ring, so how do you know if they're married or not?

I just don't know how to go about finding someone who likes to do the same things I do. I guess that's why I'm still happily single.

More Changes

As this week has been going on, I've been doing really good with my workouts, until today. My legs were just like jello. I couldn't do the bike. I just couldn't.

This is normally what my workout is that my personal trainer has scheduled for me:
Monday:
Swim and run (4 miles). Also do weights.

Tuesday
Bike (60 minutes) and run (3 miles).

Wednesday:
Swim & run (4 miles). Also do weights.

Thursday:
Bike (60 minutes) and run (3 miles).

Friday:
Swim

Saturday:
Run (6 miles)

Sunday:
Bike (90 minutes)

Now, with what I've listed in my previous post, I'm obviously over doing it. It's not that I don't trust B.J., because I do. I mean, he's an amazing athlete and he's an Ironman. He knows what it takes. It's just that I'm so scared to death of gaining my weight back that I workout constantly. I hope I haven't offended him by doing more than what he has scheduled me.

But, it has finally occured to me that at this point in my training, I just physically can't do what I posted in my last post. My body will start to rebel.

So, I'm going to try really hard to stick to the schedule above, except for I will continue to swim every morning because that's where I feel I need to most work, and on Saturday's I will run more because I'm training for a 1/2 marathon.

I will continue to eat more protein like I talked about in my last post, but hopefully this will help in my quest to lose the rest of my weight.

Big Changes on the Way

This week, things are going to change. Drastically. I'm EXTREMELY nervous, but I'm excited too.

First off, I need to get serious about my working out again. I've been kind of relaxed about it, and I need to not be. I've found that I've been using excuses lately and I need to not use excuses. If I want to be an Ironman (one day it'll happen), I can't not take my workouts seriously.

So, my workouts this week are going to be:
Monday - Swim (200 swim/kick/pull, 4 x 200 swim with 100 pull).
Bike (90 minutes)
Run (4 miles)
Weights

Tuesday - Swim (200 swim/kick/pull, 4 x 200 swim with 100 pull).
Bike (90 minutes)
Run (4 miles)

Wednesday - Swim (200 swim/kick, 4 x 100 drills, 4 x 100 swim, 200 pull, 4 x 100
swim, 200 pull)
Bike (90 minutes)
Run (4 miles)
Weights

Thursday - Swim (200 swim/kick, 4 x 100 drills, 4 x 100 swim, 200 pull, 4 x 100
swim, 200 pull)
Bike (90 minutes)
Run (4 miles)

Friday - Swim (200 swim/kick/pull, 1000 swim, 4 x 100 drills)
Bike (90 minutes)
Run (4 miles)
Weights

Saturday - Run (9 miles)

Now, I'm going to put a disclaimer in here that some of the running might be done on the eliptical trainer just because I'm just getting over shin splints and I don't want to get them again.

The other thing that is changing this week that I am SUPER nervous about is my eating habits.

I have a dear friend that is a dietician. I went and saw her yesterday and we sat down and consulted about my food, etc., and I've got to make some major changes. This is probably why I'm having such a hard time losing any additional weight.

With the amount that I workout, I haven't been eating enough. This could contribute to my lack of energy as well.

My normal eating schedule Monday through Friday is:

Breakfast - Grits, lowfat yogurt, and a piece of fruit.
Lunch - A Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine Frozen meal (less than 300 cals) and a home made salad and maybe a piece of fruit.
Dinner - A Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine Frozen meal (less than 300 cals).

If I'm lucky, I'm consuming 1200 calories a day. Just on the bike, when I ride it for 90 minutes, I burn 1400+ calories.

I told Maria that I'm really nervous about eating more because I'm not used to it. For the past 3 years since I started training for triathlons, and losing weight, it's always been eat smaller portions and workout.

Well, Maria said that for starters, I need more protein in my diet. I'm not getting near enough protein. This will help with my hypoglycemia too.

So, my new eating schedule is going to be:

Breakfast - Grits, lowfat yogurt, and a piece of fruit.
Snack - A piece of fruit or a veggie and some sort of protein, whether it be cottage cheese, string cheese, vegetable and hummus, crackers, etc.
Lunch - A Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine Frozen meal (less than 300 cals) and a home made salad and maybe a piece of fruit. My salad that I used to make was using iceberg lettuce. She wants me to start using darker lettuce.
Snack - A piece of fruit or a veggie and some sort of protein, whether it be cottage cheese, string cheese, vegetable and hummus, crackers, etc.
Dinner - A Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine Frozen meal (less than 300 cals) and 1 cup of vegetables.
Snack - A piece of fruit or a veggie and some sort of protein, whether it be cottage cheese, string cheese, vegetable and hummus, crackers, etc.

Hopefully this will help with my weight loss and it will help with my energy. I'm just super nervous because to me, that sounds like a TON of food.

I will keep you all posted this week on how it goes.

Olympic or Not?

Ok, so as you can tell by the little countdown thing I have on my blog, I have my first Olympic distance triathlon on August 20, 2011. I've already registered for the race, but I am have serious doubts as to whether I should do the Olympic distance or not. I can pay a small fee and down grade to the Sprint distance, I just need other's opinions.

I know I can do the distances, I just don't know if I'm ready to do the distances. My goal for every race I do is to finish the race AND not come in last. I'm afraid if I do the Olympic distance I will come in last.

So far in my 3 years of doing triathlons, I've only "placed" in one of my races and that was this year. Granted, I've made pretty big strides, at least I think, from my races last year to my races this year. BUT...do I need to wait until I start placing in more sprint distance races before I move on to Olympic distance races?

I think the one part of the race I'm most concerned about is the swim. I don't know why, but open water scares the bejesus out of me. It always has. Ever since I was a little girl. Plus, I haven't been able to attend any open water clinics to get familiar with swimming in open water.

Plus, the whole timing issue makes me nervous. It currently takes me about 1 hour to swim 1 mile. :( That's not very fast. Now...granted, I have been slacking off a little bit with my workouts. I haven't been doing weights as much as I should and I know if I do weights on a more regular basis that will help me with my swim time.

The bike portion I'm not too concerned about and I'm not too concerned about the running either. By the time I do this race, I will already have a 1/2 marathon under my belt for this season, so 6 miles of running shouldn't be too bad.

So...do I just knuckle down and make no excuses and go hardcore with my workouts (I'm gonna do this any way) and still do the Olympic distance, or do I downgrade to the Sprint distance?

I would really appreciate your opinion regarding this.

Frustrated

Do you ever have days where you just want to give up? Throw in the towel? Wave the white flag? Well today was one of those days for me.

Like I said in my previous post, my shin splints have come back, which has put a kibosh on running for a little bit. Granted, I can do the eliptical trainer, but that's not the same as pounding out miles on the pavement or the treadmill. And like I said in the previous post, if I keep getting shin splints because of how I run, am I going to continue to get shin splints every couple of months? If so, will I ever reach my goal of completing an Ironman? I've got a 1/2 marathon in about 6 weeks and I've got shin splints. That's not a good combo.

All of this got me thinking about other aspects of the triathlon and how I'm doing as far as improving and am I EVER going to improve.

I'm really frustrated with my swimming right now. Hell, I can't even do a flip turn. I can't even dive in to a pool. I have a hard time staying consistent with my swim time. One day I'll be able to swim 100 yds in 2 minutes and I'll be able to do that 4 times, but the next day, it'll take me 2:10 to swim 100 yds. On Friday's, my swim workout is 200 swim/kick/pull and then a long 1000 yds. I want to be able to swim the 1000 yds in 20 minutes (30 seconds a lap). One time I was able to swim it in 21:10 and I was proud of myself. I've never been able to do that again. I'm always at least 23:00. It's just VERY frustrating.

The bike, that's the only part where I feel like I'm doing ok. I still seem to struggle with hills some times, but other times, I seem to do ok. I want to get to a point where I can climb hills without a problem, but the bike is the only part where I'm not too frustrated.

I know the only way I will get better at triathlons is to keep doing them and to not give up, but today, I just felt like giving up. Even now that it's 8 hours later, I'm frustrated, but I don't feel like giving up. I just need reassurance sometimes.

Be Well Joy Ride Triathlon

My latest race was the most disorganized race I have ever competed in! I will NOT participate in this race ever again.

I got up bright and early to get ready for the race 'cause I had to drive 1 hour to get there. The race was supposed to start at 8:00 a.m., so I got there right about 7:00 a.m.

I went up to the table to pick up my packet and get my bib # and that's where I realized how much of a disaster this race was going to be.

At all my other races, they have a spreadsheet of everybody that has already signed up for the race, so when you pick up your number, they just mark your name off on the list and hand you your bag that has your t-shirt, bib # and all the other goodies in it. Not at this race. I walked up to the table. They wrote my name down on a legal pad sized yellow paper, picked up a # off of the big pile of #'s they had. They asked me if I had paid already or not and then passed me off to the t-shirt table. I went to the t-shirt table and picked up my t-shirt and they passed me off to the body marking people.

After I got my bib # marked on my arm and leg, that was it. I didn't get a timing chip, nothing. I finally asked how they were going to do the timing with this race and they said they weren't going to break it down in to splits or anything. That still didn't tell me how they planned on timing the race, so I just stopped asking questions.

I got my transition area ready and then me and my dad just wandered around, looked at the pool, and then hung out by the pool until it was time for the race to start.

The race was supposed to start at 8:00 a.m., but 8:00 came and went without the race starting. So did 8:30 and 8:45. I was starting to get impatient. Finally at 9:00 a.m., they said they were close to getting the race started, they were having techincal difficulties.

Around 9:15 a.m. the race finally started...at least for the slow swimmers. They said that so we could get the swimming done fastest, the slower swimmers went first and the fastest swimmers went last. Oh good grief!!! So, I was in the second to the last heat.

I had already eaten my energy jelly beans at 7:30 a.m. (the package says to eat 30 minutes before event), so my energy had come and gone by the time I started the swim. One good thing about the swim was we stayed in the same lane the whole time and did 12 laps. I did like that.

I wish I knew how fast I swam, but nope, didn't know. I figured out that the way they started the race was in each heat, there was 24 swimmers and they gave their bib #'s to the timing people and when they said "go", they started your time on the computer.

So, after the swim I was off to the transition area to pick up my bike. I was kind of nervous about the bike because I didn't know the route or anything like that. I saw a map of the route, but I still wasn't familiar with it. The bike seemed to take FOREVER!!! I felt like I was riding my bike forever before I got to the turn around point. It felt like I rode my bike all the way up in to Idaho and back. There were a couple of hills on the bike, but nothing too bad. The police officers that were blocking intersections for us were super nice. I almost wiped out on my bike on the way back to transition. I was going kind of fast and took a corner too sharp. Thankfully I was able to correct myself and distribute my weight on the bike well enough that I didn't wipe out (thankfully).

Then it was off on the run. The run wasn't bad at all. I got to see the run course while I was on the bike, so I knew what to expect as far as the route, etc. We had to run a little dirt trail for maybe 1/4 of a mile and there was two hills that weren't too bad, but my legs were getting tired, so I knew I wasn't running as fast as I could've been.

I gauge my time on the course by how many people are on the course with me, but that was hard to do with this race, because alot of the time, I was on the course by myself. I wasn't fond of that.

Finally I'm headed back on the run and as I run in to the finish I see them look at the number on my arm and look at the time that I cross the finish line and they write that down on a legal pad sized yellow piece of paper and that's how they figure your final time!!! Ridiculous!!! I couldn't believe it.

My dad forgot to look at his watch when I started swimming and I forgot to look at my watch when I started swimming, so I had NO idea what my finish time was. I was going to stick around to see the results, but I was so frustrated with how the race had gone so far and how disorganized it felt that my dad and I just packed everything up and left.

Finally, Sunday night, an Excel spreadsheet was emailed out to all of the participants with our final time. I came in 6th in my age division and my final time was 1:27:49.

Even though they said in the email that the race has grown so much that they are going to have an outside company do the timing next year, I will not do this race again. The only good thing I have to say about this race is the bike and running courses were well marked.

Here are some pictures from the race:

Splash & Sprint Tri

Yesterday was the Splash & Sprint Triathlon at the Rec Center up the street from my house. This is my second time competing in this triathlon.

It wasn't my best race, but it wasn't my worst race. My final time was 1:28:05.

The race was in the swim/bike/run order. Most of my races are in that order this year. I think I only have maybe 2 or 3 races that are in the run/bike/swim order.

The swim went well. I don't have a break down of my time yet, but I think I swam the 350 yards in about 8 1/2 minutes. If that's right, that is my best swim time EVER!!! I should have a break down of my time tomorrow. As soon as I get a break down of my time, I will post that as well.

One frustrating thing about having the swim first is there are SO many people in the pool, that sometimes you can't swim as fast as you would like. Yesterday when I was swimming, the guy behind me kept tickling the bottom of my feet, which typically means, move over to the left so they can pass you. Well, I was swimming as far to the left in the lane as I could and he would NEVER pass me. He was getting frustrated wtih me, but he had many times that he could pass me and he didn't. If he knew he could swim faster than those he was around, he should have picked a faster swim time.

One cool thing about the swim was my personal trainer, he was the guy at the beginning of the race that got on the microphone and told everybody how they were seeding the swim and that you had to swim twice in each lane, etc. After the race started, he went to the door that we had to run out to go to the transition area. As I was running out of the swim, it was just really cool to hear him say "Go Ara! You're doing great!" It was just awesome! It has been important for me to have him see me race and see how his work has helped me so much.

I think I could've done better if the wind wasn't blowing so damn hard. The wind blowing made the bike portion of the race SUPER hard for me. For most of the bike, we were riding in to the wind. At one point, I was riding East and the wind was blowing so hard that I could feel the wind blowing me South.

Because the wind was blowing so hard on the bike, I had to pedal harder; therefore I got a harder workout on my legs, so when I went out on the run, my legs were SUPER tired and I know I wasn't running as fast as I would've liked. It'll be interesting to see how long it took me to run and see what my pace was.

Oh well, at least it wasn't my worst time and I didn't come in last! Yay!

A big thanks to my sister-in-law for taking pictures! Here are pictures of me from the race. I'm the one in the bright pink swim cap. :)

First Day Back

Today was my first day back to eating healthy and working out. Honestly, it feels like it's been weeks since I've worked out, but I did workout a couple of days last week.

I was concerned today because I didn't get up to go swimming this morning. I didn't get to bed until 1:30 a.m. and I have to get up at 4:30 a.m. to go swimming. I can go swimming on 4 hours of sleep, but getting 3 hours of sleep and then trying to tell your body that 4:30 a.m. is ok to get up to go swim a little over a mile, yeah, that doesn't go over too well.

So, yeah, I was concerned that I'd just eat anything and everything in sight at work today since I didn't workout.

I feel like I did pretty good. I ate breakfast at work, so I had 2 pieces of cinnamon raisin toast with butter and a yogurt and fresh fruit.

I didn't snack at all between breakfast and lunch. Finally lunch came and I had an easy mac & cheese (220 calories) and a salad. I decided to splurge a little bit and I had a tapioca pudding and then I bought a banana for a snack later.

After lunch, I got back up to my desk and someone had pulled some baby carrots out of the fridge and put them out for everybody to snack on! Yay!!! Something I can snack on.

I was really hungry around 4:00 so I had my dinner, which was only 220 calories and it was a microwave pasta thing. The packaging makes it look not too appetising, but it was REALLY good.

I came home and ate 2 oranges and then went straight to the gym. I did 4.4 miles on the eliptical trainer and then did 25 miles on the spinning bike. I went downstairs to go swimming, but every stinkin' changing room was taken. As soon as one changing room was taken, I was getting ready to head in to it, and some lady beat me to it. :( Unfortunately, I'm not like other ladies at the gym and I don't like to bare all out in the open to change my clothes. So...I didn't swim tonight.

My plan tomorrow is to get up at 4:30, go swimming, come home and then swim again (to make up for today) and then bike and run and do weights.

It feels so good to be back on the wagon. :)

Tomorrow Is a New Day

Tomorrow is a new day! It's been a few days since I've been able to workout. I've honestly been SO busy that I just haven't had time; therefore I've gained weight. :(

I can't wait until tomorrow morning when I can get up before the rooster crowes & go up to the pool and swim.

Off the Wagon...Kinda

I feel like I've falled off the wagon of working out. Granted I only didn't work out on Monday this week and I didn't get a full workout in on Tuesday, but I ate like crap on Sunday and Monday. Serious. Absolute crap!

When I get upset (if you read my personal blog, you know why I got upset), depressed, anxiety, etc., I eat. I eat EVERYTHING in sight. And, when I don't workout in the morning, I lose all self control. :(

Today is the first day that I've done a full workout since last week. I got up and went swimming this morning. I swam 72 laps (1 mile), I rode my bike home from work *(16.3 miles) and then went up to the gym and ran 4.29 miles on the treadmill. It felt great!

I'm probably not gonna lose any weight this week, but starting today, I've seriously gotta jump back on the bandwagon and get working out...hard!

One problem though...how am I gonna get my workout in on Saturday? I honestly have no clue and it is kind of causing me some stress. I'm volunteering at a race on Saturday, so I'll be at the race from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and then from there, I'm going with my friend Heather to try on wedding gowns (she's getting married in Sept.).

4th Street Clinic Tri

This last Saturday was the Fourth Street Clinic Triathlon. It was held up at the U of U.

This triathlon is probably the triathlon I was MOST nervous about. It was a mountain biking triathlon. I've never mountain biked before in my life! What was I thinking.

All I had was a $70 mountain bike from Wal-Mart. I just had a gut feeling that bike wasn't gonna cut it for this race. I put a plea out on Facebook and my dear friend Monica had a mountain bike I could borrow. It was a NICE mountain bike. I was right...my $70 bike from Wal-Mart wouldn't have cut it.

It was a swim/bike/run triathlon. The swim went ok. I could've done better, but I didn't have a good suction on my goggles for the first few laps so after every lap I had to stop & adjust my goggles. Finally after the third time stopping to adjust my goggles I got a good enough suction and I was able to finish the swim without having to stop.

Then it was off to the bike. Dear God, what had I gotten myself in to? Lol. I ended up walking probably 1/2 of the bike distance, but that's ok. I'm still proud of myself. During part of the bike, I thought to myself, I wish I would've brought my camera on the bike portion so I could take pictures so that you guys could see the trail. It took me almost 1 hour to do the bike portion.

I finally got back to transition and went off on the run. The run just took you 3.1 miles around the U of U campus. Holy crap, I knew the campus was big, but I didn't realize how big it was. I saw parts of the campus I never knew existed. Lol. The run wasn't too hard. I thought I was running a little faster than I was, but eh, it wasn't too big a deal.

My final time on the race was 1:35:46.6. It obviously wasn't my best time, but I'm ok with that. This was a race I'd never done before and it was a mountain biking race.

I would love to do this race again next year. Within the next year hopefully I'll be able to purchase a mountain bike and get better at mountain biking before this race next year.

Here are a couple of pictures for your enjoyment (P.S. The bathrooms really weren't barred off, but from this angle, it looked like it, so we decided to have fun with it! Lol.):

Telos Timp Tri

This last Saturday was my latest triathlon. It was the Telos Timp Triathlon down in Orem. This was the fourth time I've competed in this race. They do this race twice a year. They do it in April and then they do it in November.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this race. My dad is usually the photographer for me at my races, but he had to work, so my mom went with me. My mom can't multi-task and take pictures and cheer me on at the same time, so I would rather have her cheer me on.

But...this was a very momentous race! I thought I had set the bar high by improving my time by 1:20 in my race down in St. George, but man...I've now set the bar REALLY high. My final time on my race down in Orem was 1:18:38.4! I set a new PR (Personal Record) and improved my time by 5:03! I came in 6th in my age division and 21st in all females.

I was honestly shocked that I did so well in this race. It started out with the run and ended with the swim. During the run, I don't know why, but I had a hard time with my breathing. I felt like I was short of breath alot. I ran a 9:29 mile, but I felt like I was running alot slower. As I was running I thought there was NO way I was going to beat my time from St. George.

On the bike portion, you have to ride 2 loops and climb 2 very large and steep hills on each loop. On my second loop of the bike I finally started to think that I might not beat my time from St. George, but I might have somewhere around the same time. There was a point on the bike that I was out there by myself. There wasn't anybody in front of me, and at one point, I kind of glanced behind me and there were people behind me, but they didn't pass me.

I finally got to the swim and once again, I didn't feel like I was swimming as fast I could, but I was pretty tired (not sure why), but that's another time I thought I might beat my St. George time by maybe a minute 'cause there was nobody in the pool. I only had to pass a couple of people.

I finally jumped out of the pool and crossed the finish line. After I crossed the finish line, about a minute later, I saw the time clock and it said 1:19:00!!! I was ecstatic!!! I knew my time was better than 1:19:00.

I decided that I was going to stick around and wait for my time to be posted 'cause I thought I MIGHT have a chance at placing and maybe getting up on the podium. When they finally posted my final time, I was over the moon! I couldn't believe it! I didn't get up on the podium this time, but you know what, that's ok? I've still got a ton of races to do this year...I think I just might make it up on the podium this year! I'm stoked!