The missing posts...Part 1

Disclaimer:  This is the first in a series of posts that I started but didn't finish....  I got busy with training in the last 3 weeks before my race, and I hate to let these just fall by the wayside since I put effort into them in the first place....

Okay, I will say right now that I am too tired to write.  I am even too tired to drink my normal  *bottle* of wine tonight...(don't judge!) I made it through something that looked like dinner, kid's homework, creating kid's WWE costume (he has to dress like a character in one of his favorite books, and I'm thinking, wth is he reading, and why don't I know this?)

Anyway, THIS was his character...  Yeah, kind of hard to create the night before....  I blame it on dad creating an outdoor WWE ring in the backyard last weekend when Braden had a sleep-over.  What is it with 8-10 year olds and wrestling?

 I finally got time for a shower, and last night's American Idol (again, don't judge!!!  I *heart* American Idol.)  I have started teaching indoor cycling at an AWESOME new place, called PULSE! It's a hip new "stand alone" cycling studio in the 'burbs of Las Vegas.  The great thing is I love the intimacy, the challenge is that I teach 2 classes there, and then I have my busy days at Club Sport, doing both kid and adult cycle classes.  From an endurance standpoint, this is great training for IronGirl just 3 weeks away!  The downside is that I am too tired to run or swim the next day.  (not to mention catching up on my reality TV that night.... sigh...)

Need to go to to bed, but I feel like I have to document the training thus far, just to have something to look back on when it's done.   Right now my "ideal" week is:

 Monday:  swimming or run in AM, Club Sport Studio Cycle At 5:30-6:30

Tuesday: Pulse Express class 9:30-10:00, Pulse Ride 10:00-11:00,  Club Sport Studio Cycle + Abs: 12:00-1:15,  Club Sport Kids Ride:  5:00-5:45. Resistance training 6:00-7:00

Wednesday:  Swim (and maybe run)

Thursday:  Pulse Express class 9:30-10:00, Pulse Ride 10:00-11:00,  Club Sport Studio Cycle + Abs: 12:00-1:15,  Club Sport Kids Ride:  4:30-5:15,  Club Sport Studio Cycle 5:30-6:30

Friday:  Swim

Saturday:  Club Sport Kids Ride: 9:00-10:00,  Swim after

Sunday:  Rest

*Most* of the time, things go to plan.  I know I have Spring Break coming up, so I am worried about the break in training....  Oh well....

Open Water Swim *ACTUAL* and redemption workout today...

Okay,
If you read my last post, you got an idea of how my weekend was "supposed" to go.  Here in Vegas, by the way, we have had an early Spring with warm temps and pretty much AWESOME weather.  Until this weekend, when a front moved in...

So I was expecting this: (beach start, clear-sunny-fun-ness!) Spitting turtles too!

Instead I got THIS!

Ambient temperature about 54, wind gusts 20-40 mph. Water temperature about 56.  Completely overcast, so you don't have that pretty sun making you *think* you are warmer than you feel.  I know you tri-geeks out there have "been there/done that", but cut me a break!!!  

This was my first experience!! I sooo wanted to go back to my warm hotel room.  But I PAID for this experience!!! 

I  met my friend, Coco (who got me into this in the first place) my descent into madness...  I digress... but anyway, flash forward to Coco and I on the beach.... conversation went like this:   Me: "are we really going to do this?" 

Coco: ("Puerto Rican curse words spoken freely........  and in English:  the key words: " I can't do this, my feet are too cold,")  to which I said, "Hey, we can skip it and do it another time"

Forget Mexican stand off,  it was now Puerto Rican standoff:

(which I guess means if the gringa says "no, we can skip it",  then we HAVE to do it!)  So, next thing I know, she is waist deep in the water, which silently means "I have to go too"!

CRAP SANDWICH!!!  I really didn't want to get into the water, but I did it anyway.....  

**Okay, it's an unspoken secret that if you are getting into cold water in a wetsuit, you should "pee in your wetsuit" to warm it up.  (I heard this in scuba training too, so I know it is not a prank)  But, thing is, I am sooooo cold, I can't concentrate enough to do it!  All I know is that I am F*****n cold, and wet (which btw, are my two LEAST favorite sensations!)  Now we just have to get going on the swim.  It's a warm-up 400, and then the race simulation.  We start...  forget technique, we (me) are just SURVIVING!  Some freestyle, (without my head in the water because everyone just peed to make their wetsuits warm) some breast stroke, back stroke, dog- paddle.....back to free-style (should be pee-free by now).... back to breast  stroke, side stroke, then all out "get to the end as fast as I can" stroke!!   

Statistics:  Warm- up done:     Kerri....Done, and heading to the jacuzzi of shame!!!  Coco, my hero... back for another round of torture....  

To be continued....

Open water swim nightmare and plans to redeem myself tomorrow...

Okay, I was totally jazzed to do my "very first" open water swim this past Saturday!!!  Friday's weather was a little windy, but sunny and warm.  I was even making a whole weekend out of it, by staying at the hotel that is hosting "IronGirl"!!!

This is how I felt:

Coco looked worried:

Plan was as follows:
  
  * Drop off young child at in-law's, then proceed to hotel for gourmet meal, wine, and nice night in with  hubby.
  * Get up at a leisurely 8:00 am, for coffee and powerbar, registration at 8:30.
  * Nice swim practice with my friend Coco in Lake Las Vegas... both of us kicking ass and taking names!
  * Long shower to wash off the "lake goo" and then a nice lounge by the pool (with cocktails of course)!
  * Hubby was supposed to go fishing with a friend, so "total girl day"!!  Meet up with hubs for dinner Saturday night, then well, who knows?
   *  Sunday, get up and ride the course,  maybe some spa time for both of us...  Perfect weekend right?

Perfect Weekend,  TOTAL FAIL!!!!

To be continued....

Love this post!!!

Truer words have never been said!!  I LOVE this!!

Credit goes to Shelby at Eat, Drink, Run!

Your Body Called...
click on above....  

6 minutes

One of my favorite ride profiles tonight!!!

 Tough, but exciting from beginning to end!!!  It is an "Out and Back" ride with TEN "6 minute" blocks (give or take). I have 3 versions of playlists, but this is the one I used tonight because my husband requested rock!

Breakdown:   6-8 minute warmup (kinda depends on how many Tabata intervals we do.  Tonight we did 10, so my warm up was about 7 minutes)
                      4-6 minute Tabata:  20 sec @ 95% MHR/ 10 sec. recovery x 8, 10, or 12 ( I have a timer on my iPad so I will set it to do 8:(4 min) 10:(5 min) or 12:(6 min)  Last night I did 10 to "Shoot to Thrill" add a little recovery at the end, to equal the 6 min. ( If you go the full 6 min. Tabata, use the first part of the next sequence for recovery...)
                       6 min moderate to hard: 3 min moderate, then 3 min hard.  (In this playlist, my first song was 2:18, so I used that as moderate, and the next song 3:58 as hard, with about a 30 second recovery at the end.
                       6 minute "Modified Tabata",  1 min HARD/ 30 sec. recovery x4: The next two songs total about 6:50 in time, so you can use the first 45-50 seconds to get ready, then "go for it" for 1 minute, and back down for 30 seconds x 4.
                       6 minute hill climb: This is the kinda "half-way mark". Depending on your class, you can either leave it to them to push as hard as they can to the top, coach it as a hill climb, or stay in active recovery and focus on the trip back, in which we repeat the sequence.
                       2 minute recovery:   1 minute downhill, 1 min. flat.
                       6 minute "Modified Tabata" Same as above
                       6 minute moderate to hard: Same as above
                       6 minute Tabata: same as above
                       6 minute cool down: or use some of the left over Tabata time too!

Playlist:

Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing / Chris Isaak

Country Song / Seether

Shoot to Thrill / AC/DC *not available on iTunes

Molly's Chambers / Kings of Leon

Lies of the Beautiful People / Sixx: A.M.

Get Some / Lykki Li

Next to You / Buckcherry

The Catalyst / Linkin Park

A-Punk / Vampire Weekend

Machine Gun Blues / Social Distortion

She Builds Quick Machines / Velvet Revolver

Well Thought Out Twinkles / Silversun Pickups

Bleed it out / Linkin Park

Whole Lotta Rosie / AC/DC *not available on iTunes

Simple Man (acoustic version) / Shinedown

Into the Mystic / Van Morrison

Hope it makes sense!  Comment or email with any questions!!!  I mixed some in "Mixmeister" to make it a continuous 6 minutes.... I think it makes it easier to follow.

Kerri

              

I'm Baaaaack!!!! (well, fingers crossed...)

Okay,
I think my cold has finally subsided (after almost 4 weeks)!  I have kept my training going as much as I can.... just holding my own until I felt good enough to "go for it!"  That breakthrough happened Sunday!!!  

Yay success!!!

I taught a 60 minute spin class and then jumped on the treadmill for what I call:  "insert dramatic music here" dueling goals!

It goes like this:  I write down 4 miles as goal. ( if you were paying attention to my previous blog, you know I like to undershoot and over-achieve)  so real goal is 5.  I also have a history of training for a half-marathon that went like this:  the whole event is going to take about 2 hours give or take, and running 2 hours is boring, so I will cross-train two hours.

AND, not unlike my half-marathon mind talk, the workout inner dialogue went like this:  Okay, the LEAST amount of work I have to do today is 3.2 miles....  well that feels pretty good and my goal is 4, but hey I think I can tackle 5!  At about mile 4.5, I thought, screw it,  let's go for my old training routine of 1 hour on the treadmill after 1 hour on the bike! And I DID it!

I know I need to get outside and run this week, and get biking.  The weather has gotten nicer here in Vegas, so no excuses!

Triple threat workout...Fail!

I posted a full distance goal (in segments) on facebook for Monday.  (if you post it, you have to do it right?) So I was prepared to do an 800 meeter swim, 5K run, and 1 Hour bike (I teach spin on Monday...) Here's how it actually went:

Monday started off awesome!!!  Kids were out of school, got to sleep in (slightly) before I went to the gym for my swim.  Swim went great!  Felt great in the water!  Form: getting better,  endurance: a little better, but not there yet... but the main thing is I think I am getting more efficient with my stroke!   I churned out about 1100 meters (with small rests and switch ups), but I DID it.  I train with a very hard-core bunch on Mondays and Fridays (read: super-humans), but my friend Coco (the one that dragged me into this) and I have hired a tri-swimming coach and we are starting some serious workouts next Friday. So swim... check!

Next I was planning to go home to run a 5 K at the park near my house.  Well, that never happened.  My mistake was calling the kids on the way home to see if they needed anything....  Braden:  "can you stop at the grocery store and get some lunchables for this week?  I don't like what they are having on Wednesday and Thursday at school.... Tanner:  "I'm STARVING!! Could you get us some KFC on the way home ?" (at this point I am having that post-swim hunger, and NOTHING sounds better than KFC potato wedges, so I give into their demands.  After all, I need to get some carbs in for my run right?)

I get home and get kids fed (and sneak a few potato wedges in between my powerbar and half a banana). Ready to run..., gathering Garmin, water bottle, etc. When... husband calls (love him to pieces btw) but CRAP! Now I need to do some banking stuff and try to figure out why his printer isn't working because he needs to print something and fax it to some company asap. Add to that some Spring Break planning and before you know it... running time is shot because now I have to start planning my cycle class for tonight and finish laundry. Yikes!!!

Finished playlist just in time, went to gym exhausted....  taught a great spin class... guess the run will happen later this week....