Ironman TX - Week 2 Training - 09:46:53

Ok so, here I am back from vacation, no New-Year resolution that I won't keep anyway... Just a dream to come true, hopefully in May! 

Sunday January 13, 2013
Aramco Half-Marathon Houston, TX
Run: 02:36:53 - 13.1 M - 11:59/M

Monday January 14, 2013
Bike: 00:45:00 - 12 M - 16 M/H
Strength: 00:45:00

Tuesday January 15, 2013
Run: 00:40:00 - 3.68 M - 10:52/M
Strength: 00:15:00

Wednesday January 16, 2013
Bike: 01:30:00 - 28.2 M - 18:80 M/H

Thursday January 17, 2013
OFF

Friday January 18, 2013
Strength: 00:45:00

Saturday January 19, 2013
Bike: 02:45:00 - 51.3 M - 18.65 M/H

I skipped 2 swim session because of my work load... 
Swim: -
Bike: 91.56 M / 05:00:00
Run: 16:78 M / 03:16:53
Strength: 01:30:00
Week - 09:46:53

SPRINT TRI GIRL TRIATHLON - HOUSTON, TX

Finisher Time: 01:20:35 - (17/55)

Swim - 300M - 06:37 - 8/55
I loved that swim! Good sensation are coming back. Felt great to get out of the water with few of the first swimmers.

Transition 1 - 01:24
I don't think I could have done better. 

Bike - 11 miles - 37:00 - (17/55)
I had really good sensation, I love my bike! 
The stuff I hate is that bike computer that zhom bought... I lost it in the ditch & it must have taken me 2 to 3 minutes to find the $&@&$ thing! Not to mention I was afraid of crossing a snake! lol
Anyway, I found it & it will go back to store next week...
I was averaging about 19 mph if not... Still room for improvement. :)

Transition 2 - 01:19
I was too slow putting on my shoes... Decided not to wear socks... Forget my bib, came back... What a mess! Lol

3 Miles Run - 34:13
OMG can I be any slower than that really??? Ewwwww... No socks + wet feet = blisters = not good!

Ok so the good thing is that I am back in freestyle even if at the end of the swim it took everything in me not to switch to breaststroke! :)
I didn't feel any jello legs after the bike... Maybe it's because of the jump rope training... I don't know...
I felt great on the bike.
Let's just say I have to improve on the run... Shoudln't be that hard right since I am that slow!!! lol

Training on my lunch hour...

Registration is not open yet for the Ironman Texas (it's suppose to be in May 2013) but I've got to come up with a schedule that will allow me to add more training hours per week.
Found a fitness center 7 minutes from work. I've got to admit, this is not the greatest place on earth but it'll do!
Planning on going every day from now on. :)

First day - Tuesday June 19, 2012

Lunch Hour / Swim
1 x 500 m - 11:37
1 x 250 m - Kicking drills

5 x 100 m - 2 mn in between - A killer! lol
1 x 100 m - 02:08
1 x 100 m - 02:09
1 x 100 m - 02:10
1 x 100 m - 02:09
1 x 100 m - 02:08

Evening
Stretching - 20 minutes
Abs - 5 x 10
Arms - 5 x 10

Registered for the Ironman 70.3 Austin - October 28, 2012

Registered for the Memorial Hermann Houston Triathlon - Olympic Distance - September 30, 2012

Second Day - Wednesday June 20, 2012

Lunch Hour / Run
3 miles - 31:23 - 10:27/mile

Evening
Stretching - 20 minutes

TEJAS SPRINT TRIATHLON

Finisher Time: 01:26:04

Swim - 600M - 12:22  (2:03/100M)

Loved it for once! The only thing that I was mad about was my disposable chip, It was too lose & made me bleed. So now I have a sun tan mark + bloody scratch... Super sexy! lol
I could have swim faster but I got used to long distance swimming... I've got to train on that aspect for the rest of the season! :)

Transition 1 - 1:59

Was ok, a little slow. But we were in the grass & I had to clean my feet... :) 

12 Mile Bike - 36:17 - 19.91 M/Hour - 32.04 Km/H

Loved the bike leg!
Except that my right shifter popped up when I was cruising downhill on the first bridge... Forget about switching gears after that... Ewwww bummer!!! lol 

I saw it as a sign that I'm going tomorrow afternoon to the bike shop to try that beautiful Cannondale! lol

My thighs were burning @ the end! 

Transition 2 - 1:35

3 Mile Run - 33:49 (11:16/M)
What can I say... I really need to train on that & reach @ least a 10:00/M speed!



Overall, I felt really good at the finish line. It made me really happy because I didn't train since the Ironman April 1, 2012. :)


Last year I finished in 01:31:16.


Next triathlon is suppose to be an Olympic distance @ the end of August... I've got to find another sprint before that! :)

Super Sprint Tri Girl Triathlon - Houston, TX

Sunday May 13, 2012

"Happy Mother's Day"

200 yards Swim - 8 miles Bike - 2 miles Run

Weather: Cloudy & Windy

Woke up @ 4:30 AM, had a bagel with nutella & coffee.

Drove for about 1 hour to Alexander Deussen Park. It was 64 degrees Fahrenheit & I had to drive with the top open to fit my bike... I was cold! I was hoping it would not rain! :)


Atmosphere was really neat, so different with just the girls! Lot's of pink, purple & turquoise. Ladies were just talking with everybody & that was a nice feeling. Usually race morning is kind of quiet in transition area, today we heard a lot of laughter which was cool!

Swim (11/63)

Was tough, lot's of big waves for a lake! I started the swim really good in the front, but after 50 meters, I helped 2 ladies that were panicking from the previous wave. They were screaming for the lifeguard who had no idea what to do, she couldn't control her canoe anymore & was bumping into the middle of the swimmers. I didn't really know what to do either except for yelling @ her to gave me her buoy so the ladies could rest (they were holding on to me @ this point a little too tight & I got kind of scared too!) & pushed her back on the side. I took the girls to another canoe. Then started swimming again, without my goggles. I was swimming freestyle faster than usual, was a little mad I guess thinking too bad I had that "delay"! That's one thing you don't deal with in long distance triathlon, people are able to control their swim.
Anyway, great workout! lol

Transition Swim/Bike
No socks, went fast except for me not finding my rack the first time... :)

Bike (25/63)

Started great & fast until my chain decided to give me a headache. I had to put it back in place 2 times, never went though that before in my life. Ended up in the ditch the second time, it was so stuck it block my wheel! Pissed me off! Then I started laughing... what a day! lol 

Landscape was great, in the middle of the forest, really nice!

Transition Bike/Run

Good & fast.

Run (41/63)

Well, always a snail! lol I run with a lady all the way, we spoke a lot too, decided to finish together. :) 

Overall (25/63)

My bike is going to the shop next week for repairs!
I will do that race again next year! The tee-shirt & the medal were cute! :) That would be the first time I will be wearing a race tee! :)

 

Next week-end I will be volunteering Friday & Saturday @ the Texas Ironman - The Woodlands, TX. Looking forward to it! :)
http://ironmantexas.com/

Next race will be on June 3, 2012 - Tejas Sprint Triathlon - Sugarland, TX 

Memorial Hermann Ironman 70.3 Texas - Race Report

Saturday March 31, 2012

Drove to Galveston, TX in the morning, stopped on our way @ Subway for a sandwich. It was sunny & windy...

Zhom realized he had forgotten his bathing suit... I heard him say a few bird names... but we still had time to go buy one in the evening. :) 

We picked up our bib & package & checked in our bike.

Check out my new pink tires! lol

Then we went to see the swim portion...

Man it's seemed really long! lol

I had to check the water... I wasn't sure if I wanted to use my wetsuit/shorty... because I'm not comfortable swimming with it... But the water was not really warm - 70 degrees F...

On that picture I am trying to look at the last buoy that seems so far away...

Swim finish was amazing, really well put together, never experienced a swim finish that great before!

Didn't have the chance to see Lance Armstrong on Saturday... Asked zhom to take a picture with the add instead... I was like... "Ok hurry, I must look like a moron"!!!  But that' ok, @ least I made some people laughed! Oh well!!! lol 

So that was athlete check-in day... Went to Academy for zhom & had a pasta dinner @ Olive Garden.

The hotel was nice & quiet, I slept from 9:00 PM to 3:00 AM.

Sunday April 01, 2012

Woke up @ 4:45 AM, had one bagel with peanut butter & coffee.

We arrived a little late @ the race, parked 1 mile away... We had only 30 minutes before the transition would close. Started to walk fast & I realized I had forgotten my helmet in the car when we saw the transition! I was so mad!!! Left everything to zhom & started running back like a crazy person... 2 miles, I've never run so fast in my entire life... Good thing I made it! What a warm up!

Set up my transition, realized I had forgotten my sunglasses... That sucked!

Anyway, we were in the last waves & went to the swim finish to see the pros & Lance Armstrong get out of the water. That was great! They swam so fast! And yes we saw him! :)

Swim - 1.2 Miles - 00:50:21

I was the only one with a shorty... way to go girl! lol

I've never swam in the ocean before (for a triathlon)... but swimming with the waves was not easy... The extra buoyancy of the salt-water didn't help me at all! I was even thinking of taking off my shorty @ one point... Yeah I know... desperate! lol

My time was not good considering I could swim faster, but I was glad to get off the water. I think this was the first time I didn't enjoy the swim.

Transition Swim/Bike - 00:08:52

Stripper helped me to get off of my shorty, they were fast & helpful.

I made sure I didn't see zhom's bike meaning he got off of the water! :)

I lost time putting on my cycling short & especially my top. I didn't feel tired if not, not like the last 70.3 I did.

Bike - 58 Miles - 03:46:28

As I was heading towards the sea wall, I saw Lance Armstrong finishing the bike. He looked great on it, he was going so fast!

I just hate riding with wind!!! Somebody tells me how it's possible to ride head wind on the way in (and just think on the way back to motive myself to made it though) & just after 3 miles on the way back to hit the wind again??? That killed me!

Landscape was wonderful, lot's of pelicans, beach houses & RV camp, the smell of jasmine in the air. I know... so girly! :)

Transition Bike/Run - 00:05:00

Took my cycling shoes off to walk faster & easier to my spot. A new thing I will do from now on... :)

That's so weird how we cannot feel our legs after the bike portion but walking barefoot helped a lot!

Run - 13.1 Miles - 03:06:52

3 loops. I walked the first loop. Started running & walking the other two.

Was really hot & I started to feel the sun on my skin. Ouch! :)

I looked @ my watch 100 times to see if I would be able to beat my time... Made crazy calculations... but what can you do when the body doesn't follow? lol

Ran the last 1.5 miles to make it happen, yeah I'm so stubborn! I was so happy to cross the finish line under 8 hours! I know that's not good for some people but I don't care... I didn't train enough, had only 1400 km/bike & 3500m/swim under my belt, didn't even bother with the running part... :)

Finish time - 07:57:33 - Rank 2204/2670

When I meet zhom after, he was so happy to see me! We hugged, he was so afraid something could have happened to me on the swim portion! (I was too!) Man we had a long sweaty hug! ♥

He finished in 06:30:47. :)

Then we realized with our crazy life, working 12 hours a day & having 2 little ones... we could never make it on a full ironman. The half is already hard on us, but that won't be the last one for sure.

That decision is not even sour to make, it's just not for us... :)

That race was really well organized, volunteers & crowd were amazing!

That just cool to be able to say: I competed once in my life on the same race as Lance Armstrong! :)

♥ Special thanks to tata Mouni who looked after our 2 monkeys over the week-end! ♥

Swimming Leg Portion - Panic mode...

Ok so, I bought the fancy triathlon wetsuit for Christmas for the swim portion of the half-ironman next week-end...

I tried it last Thursday & that was a disaster!

First of all, it wasn't really smart to wait that long to try it on... in the water... second of all, it wasn't really smart not to train period...

Well... We do what we can do right?

So... swimming breaststroke... try to stay under water long enough to kick the water... That's an experience! The extra buoyancy sent me straight to the surface... kick in the air... If someone was to tape me, I think I'd win some bucks on video gag! lol

Thought I could try again... yeah I'm kind of stubborn... same thing... then I try to swim different position, my back & my knee were killing me after 200m.

Instead of swimming 100m - 00:01:55, ended up around 00:02:25... Great!

BUT I tried the freestyle & the feeling was really good, around 00:01:39. So yes, that wetsuit is great for freestyle & being smart would mean to train on that... BUT... the race is in 7 days... So forget about it, I will never be able to swim 1.2 mile freestyle! 

I ended up taking it off & went back to the pool... Water was freezing, I turned blue!

Then just stopped going crazy & started thinking...

So... what can I do @ this point?... Hum...

I swam without a wetsuit in Austin for the half-ironman in October & promise myself I will never do it again... was hypothermic at the end... too early in the season to swim "naked"!

Then maybe I could add some weight on my ankle... Or cut the legs so at least my knee would not hurt me... Am I crazy or what? I need to keep that wetsuit to train on freestyle after that race.

So yesterday morning... I went shopping for a diving shorty = less coverage & thinner neoprene (3mm instead of 5mm).

I will try it this afternoon... hoping for better results... If not I'll be desperate & will end up finishing the bottle of wine tonight!

To be continued...