Monday, July 23, 2007
I'm Just Going To Say It...
Ironman USA 2009 in Lake Placid, New York - i'm going to do it. There - it's out there. It's a done deal. 2 years from now, i'll be an ironwoman!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Copasetic
Quite a few things to catch up on here...
My 31st Birthday
Once again, my friends and family showed me alot of love on my birthday which fell on Friday the 13th this year! A few of us went to the Phillies game that night with the impending 10,000 loss looming over all us Philly sports fans...but I prophesized that not only were they not going to reach this milestone on my birthday, but that in the first inning, when they already had 6 runs on the board, that they would score a total of 13 runs on my birthday - no more and no less. I was right!!
Work
Two weeks into the new job now. The atmosphere is much more laid back than at my last job - which I enjoy. I'll enjoy it well enough the next few years before going back to school again - the only part that is frustrating right now is my killer commute. I spend on average 4 hours a day in the car - not just to work and home but to training and social engagements, etc. As soon as I sell my place in NY i'll be moving to a location that is more convenient for me overall - no matter what there will still be some travel time, but anything will be better than what i'm having to endure right now - and most people are on vacation with it being summer so I really haven't experienced how hellish the traffic will be.
The Apartment
Speaking of selling the apartment - I've renovated the kitchen and refinished the floors in the entire apartment. Dropped the price one more time. We're heading into the dog days of August soon and the market traditionally is slow during this time - but I do feel confident that with all these changes that i've made, i'll find a seller sometime this fall, if not sooner. Keep your fingers crossed for me and if you know of anyone looking for a smaller one bedroom in Northern Manhattan, send them my way!
Marathon/Triathlon Training
I'm in a really good place right now in regards to my focus and my training for marathons and triathlons. I took a cycling field test just the other day in my last Tri training class to compare to the test we took in February - I shaved 2 minutes off my 3 mile time trial as well as increased by average power by 60 watts. Besides sore muscles here and there, which i've been accustomed to all my life having been a dancer, I feel good. I feel healthy. I feel ready to keep growing and improving.
I still meet with my marathon training group Saturday mornings for the long runs. We hit the 10 mile mark in our run yesterday. I was being paced by Stuart and Julie - two runners quite a bit faster than me but they were going out easy and pulling me along at a pace that was a bit of an effort to me, but still sustainable. This was for the first 5 miles - then they broke out and I decided it was best to run at my own pace at this point. I hit a wall at mile 7 - I think it was due to my lack of hydration and nutrition on this run. So I stopped to walk up the hill at this point and take in my Gu gel and fluids before I got myself back into a running rhythm to finish out strong.
I'm not sure I mentioned this is an earlier entry, but i'm going to continue to work with my coach who taught the 5 month class I was in. He's incorporating training for both the remaining triathlons I have this summer as well as my marathon training. I'll work with him at a weekly indoor member cycling class each week and have been also working with him weekly at the swim class I registered for this summer. I have the SheROX all- women's Sprint Tri in two weeks, then at the end of August will be participating in another Olympic tri in North East Maryland. Then my focus is on the PDR half-marathon in September and the NYC Marathon in November. I have registered for a triathlon in April in 2008 in Las Vegas - and I do have some ideas of which other races, both marathons and triathlons i'd like to do in 2008 - but it's a matter if I get my registration in on time in the fall. I'll let you know as soon as I do!
If you can't tell, all this makes me so happy! It's like I havce a second "dance" life again. For 20 years I pushed myself in dance technique and performance. I always had something to works towards and strive for. Having this kind of control of my physical body was a huge adrenaline rush for me. I've been missing that these past few years. But i've found it again through marathons and triathlons. The sky's the limit and I can continue to work for the next 20 years or even beyond to better myself physically, mentally, and spiritually in my new endeavor. It's really helped me put my entire life into perspective and enjoy the ride!
My 31st Birthday
Once again, my friends and family showed me alot of love on my birthday which fell on Friday the 13th this year! A few of us went to the Phillies game that night with the impending 10,000 loss looming over all us Philly sports fans...but I prophesized that not only were they not going to reach this milestone on my birthday, but that in the first inning, when they already had 6 runs on the board, that they would score a total of 13 runs on my birthday - no more and no less. I was right!!
Work
Two weeks into the new job now. The atmosphere is much more laid back than at my last job - which I enjoy. I'll enjoy it well enough the next few years before going back to school again - the only part that is frustrating right now is my killer commute. I spend on average 4 hours a day in the car - not just to work and home but to training and social engagements, etc. As soon as I sell my place in NY i'll be moving to a location that is more convenient for me overall - no matter what there will still be some travel time, but anything will be better than what i'm having to endure right now - and most people are on vacation with it being summer so I really haven't experienced how hellish the traffic will be.
The Apartment
Speaking of selling the apartment - I've renovated the kitchen and refinished the floors in the entire apartment. Dropped the price one more time. We're heading into the dog days of August soon and the market traditionally is slow during this time - but I do feel confident that with all these changes that i've made, i'll find a seller sometime this fall, if not sooner. Keep your fingers crossed for me and if you know of anyone looking for a smaller one bedroom in Northern Manhattan, send them my way!
Marathon/Triathlon Training
I'm in a really good place right now in regards to my focus and my training for marathons and triathlons. I took a cycling field test just the other day in my last Tri training class to compare to the test we took in February - I shaved 2 minutes off my 3 mile time trial as well as increased by average power by 60 watts. Besides sore muscles here and there, which i've been accustomed to all my life having been a dancer, I feel good. I feel healthy. I feel ready to keep growing and improving.
I still meet with my marathon training group Saturday mornings for the long runs. We hit the 10 mile mark in our run yesterday. I was being paced by Stuart and Julie - two runners quite a bit faster than me but they were going out easy and pulling me along at a pace that was a bit of an effort to me, but still sustainable. This was for the first 5 miles - then they broke out and I decided it was best to run at my own pace at this point. I hit a wall at mile 7 - I think it was due to my lack of hydration and nutrition on this run. So I stopped to walk up the hill at this point and take in my Gu gel and fluids before I got myself back into a running rhythm to finish out strong.
I'm not sure I mentioned this is an earlier entry, but i'm going to continue to work with my coach who taught the 5 month class I was in. He's incorporating training for both the remaining triathlons I have this summer as well as my marathon training. I'll work with him at a weekly indoor member cycling class each week and have been also working with him weekly at the swim class I registered for this summer. I have the SheROX all- women's Sprint Tri in two weeks, then at the end of August will be participating in another Olympic tri in North East Maryland. Then my focus is on the PDR half-marathon in September and the NYC Marathon in November. I have registered for a triathlon in April in 2008 in Las Vegas - and I do have some ideas of which other races, both marathons and triathlons i'd like to do in 2008 - but it's a matter if I get my registration in on time in the fall. I'll let you know as soon as I do!
If you can't tell, all this makes me so happy! It's like I havce a second "dance" life again. For 20 years I pushed myself in dance technique and performance. I always had something to works towards and strive for. Having this kind of control of my physical body was a huge adrenaline rush for me. I've been missing that these past few years. But i've found it again through marathons and triathlons. The sky's the limit and I can continue to work for the next 20 years or even beyond to better myself physically, mentally, and spiritually in my new endeavor. It's really helped me put my entire life into perspective and enjoy the ride!
Friday, July 06, 2007
Progress all around
I was browsing YouTube and came across a clip featuring the Ironman World Championship in Kona. Many of the athletes spoke about preparing your mind to take over your body when the pain becomes unbearable so you can keep moving forward. I've become more aware of the fact that I have to work harder on training my mind to do this, not only when I tackle marathons and triathlons, but in life in general.
On this particular day, I would mentally prepare myself for my 400 meter field test that I would be doing in my swim class. The first time I did this field test was back in March - it was probably about the 6th day I had ever done laps in my life - so needless to say, it was a little bit of a struggle to swim 16 laps nonstop while trying to record your best time doing so.
However, in the 4 months since then, I had become a bit more comfortable in the water and discovered I had a killer kick. In my mind this day, I kept telling myself it's only 16 laps - pace yourself but push yourself. You just completed 1500 meters in the race just last week so you're golden.
The field test in march I completed in 7:52. The first half of this second field test I felt pretty good - at a nice steady pace. When I tried to pick it up for a negative split on the last 200, my form started to go and my breath fell out of rhythm so I think I lost some momentum. But still, overall, I felt pretty good. I finish and look at my coach to find out the time. 7:47. What?? In 4 months I only improved by 5 seconds?? Are you kidding me? Wow, I really do need to start pushing myself more. In fear of burning out too early I give too conservative an effort - I need to find a way to push myself to the edge and sustain it.
So afterwards, I go up to my coach and say "Why haven't I improved at all?". He looked at me and said "You have - I was actually going to tell you how great you looked." Confused I said "But I was only 5 seconds faster". He replied "No, you were significantly faster - this is a meter pool - the last field test with in a yard pool." There isn't much difference between 1 meter and 1 yard - but when you get up into the several hundred range, the difference is quite apparent. I actually had shaved 5 seconds off my original time by swimming a lap and a half longer.
When I got home, I used a metric conversion calculator and all these formulas to try to compare apples to apples. In the end, I discovered that I had actually shaved 50 seconds off my time in 4 months. That made me feel so much better. I was indeed making progress. Our next field test is at the end of August - we'll see how much more time I can shave off!
On this particular day, I would mentally prepare myself for my 400 meter field test that I would be doing in my swim class. The first time I did this field test was back in March - it was probably about the 6th day I had ever done laps in my life - so needless to say, it was a little bit of a struggle to swim 16 laps nonstop while trying to record your best time doing so.
However, in the 4 months since then, I had become a bit more comfortable in the water and discovered I had a killer kick. In my mind this day, I kept telling myself it's only 16 laps - pace yourself but push yourself. You just completed 1500 meters in the race just last week so you're golden.
The field test in march I completed in 7:52. The first half of this second field test I felt pretty good - at a nice steady pace. When I tried to pick it up for a negative split on the last 200, my form started to go and my breath fell out of rhythm so I think I lost some momentum. But still, overall, I felt pretty good. I finish and look at my coach to find out the time. 7:47. What?? In 4 months I only improved by 5 seconds?? Are you kidding me? Wow, I really do need to start pushing myself more. In fear of burning out too early I give too conservative an effort - I need to find a way to push myself to the edge and sustain it.
So afterwards, I go up to my coach and say "Why haven't I improved at all?". He looked at me and said "You have - I was actually going to tell you how great you looked." Confused I said "But I was only 5 seconds faster". He replied "No, you were significantly faster - this is a meter pool - the last field test with in a yard pool." There isn't much difference between 1 meter and 1 yard - but when you get up into the several hundred range, the difference is quite apparent. I actually had shaved 5 seconds off my original time by swimming a lap and a half longer.
When I got home, I used a metric conversion calculator and all these formulas to try to compare apples to apples. In the end, I discovered that I had actually shaved 50 seconds off my time in 4 months. That made me feel so much better. I was indeed making progress. Our next field test is at the end of August - we'll see how much more time I can shave off!
Monday, July 02, 2007
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