jdzundel’s BodyBlog

Ran a 10k race today - my first.  Back when I was competing in sheepdog trials (herding sheep with dogs), I always used to look at competition as a way to celebrate the progress.  I’ve tried to make sure I carry that attitude forward into racing.  Triathlons - and running races to try and improve my triathlon results - are a celebration of my health fitness.  For this reason, I usually am seen smiling almost the entire time throughout a race.  I’m happy that I have my health and that I can set goals and go after them.

Tonight, a friend reminded me to look back over my recent progress.  She pointed out that I only ran a little over a 10 minute mile at my first triathlon (about 3 months ago).  Today, I ran twice the distance (albeit, this was a race and not a tri… so, this is not apples to apples!) and at an 8:43 (minute/mile).

I know an 8:43 ain’t zippy!  I will probably never be zippy - I’m a ‘go long’ sort of person, not a short spurts of speed sort of person.  But, the improvement line has been steady and consistent and noticeable.  I’ll probably hit diminishing returns before too long ( get to the point where improvement keeps getting more difficult to attain); I hope I can enjoy those smaller increments just as much as I’m enjoying my progress right now.

Thanks for letting me share this and I hope everyone is enjoying their own journey and their own victories!

I’m following a training program for my triathlons that calls for training 6 days a week - this I’m good with; I would do cardio training 3 times a day if I had room in my schedule for it.

The part that I’m less comfortable with is that I am doing a pretty rigorous set of strength training 2 days a week - Wednesday and Friday.  I want to be able to push myself and push myself really hard.  But, I’m finding that I am no where near recovered enough by Friday to be able to lift again.   The strength training is mostly core body strength stuff; but, there are LOTS of lunges (2 sets on each side of forward lunges and 2 sets each side of backward lunges).  The next day is a bike ride, so I’m working hard with my legs on the day between, too.

The question:

should I try and modify this in order to give my muscles time to recover?  Is my strength training doing me any good if I’m not recovered when I go into my second strength training session of the week?

How would you recommend rearranging my training schedule?  (right now, I am doing:

Sunday - run

Monday - day off

Tuesday - run

Wednesday - strength training & swim

Thursday - bike

Friday - strength training & swim

Saturday - bike + run (and, I generally swim a short bit before that)
Thanks for all suggestions!

Swim:  14 minutes or less ( 500 meters)
Bike: 45 minutes or less ( 12.3 miles)

Run: 31 minutes or less (3.1 miles)

Overall time: 1 hr. 30 minutes.

Wow… I felt the need to prove to myself that I am prepared to at least finish the tri in 2 weeks.  I did… it won’t be pretty; it won’t be fast, but I can do it - and that’s enough.  I am slow -and that’s fast enough for me!

The numbers:  1:41:43, 767 cal’s at 45% fat burning rate; Max hr = 166, Avg. HR =155

I’m pleasantly surprised that I was able to keep my HR so low.

10 workouts; 6:29:46; 2618 calories. 2:15:11 of in-zone training time.  (and I beat hubby in a sprint after a few hours of cycling time yesterday, so I feel *really* good!)

When Tory (tjzundel on Bodyspace, and my husband) decided that he wanted to train for a triathlon, I was excited - probably a little more than he wanted me to be - and delighted to join him… and push him a bit.  I didn’t realize how much this would change our lives - day to day and looking at it from a "bigger picture" perspective.

We have two young children - a 6 1/2 year old son, TJ, and a 4 year old, Meg.  Throughout my young adulthood and college, I struggled with body image issues.  My senior year in college, I weighed approximately 91 lbs and wanted desparately to be thinner.  Finally, a counselor threatened me with hospitalization if I dropped below 90 and I was somehow able to ’snap out of it’.

I am constantly conscious of how I may impact Meg and hoping desparately to build her up so that she never takes that road.  I work hard to praise her for her intelligence, creativity and for being a "big, strong girl!".  I want her to associate "big" with goodness and strength; I want to "fill her up" with positive thoughts and energy around being strong and smart and creative so that I can help her build up a much needed fortress to protect her from the zillions of ads, and other media attention that may cause her to question her self-worth based on her waist-size and hip size.

I had no awareness at all that my training for this triathlon would impact little Meg the way it has.  She now tells me (almost daily) that she wants to be "fast like mommy".  When I go out to walk the foothills with her, she runs them, because she sees me running for my training.  It’s adorable to watch her four year old legs motoring down the trail - and to watch her as she throws her head from side to side - quite convinced that this will help her go faster!  I didn’t realize what a big impact this would have on her.  I am quite grateful for it.

(TJ has always loved running; he continues to but quickly tells us, "but I don’t want to race"… I think this really means, "I don’t want to lose." … I’ve been thinking long & hard on that one and how to help him realize that there is no losing in racing; we only race against ourselves - so, we really can’t help but win.)

One final note on family:  I wrote to my 73 year old father (who had a quintuple bypass within the last 5 years) and told him that I am training for a triathlon.  He responded with, "that’s great.  I finished my first one last year.  I came in last, but I finished it."

6 workouts (down from my usual because of recent job change and the related time crunch.

3:53:26,  1446  cals

I knew the day would come when my weight would go up instead of keep on the down trend… I repeat to myself:  muscle weighs more.  Still, it makes me nervous.

I admit it, I’m nervous that I’ve gained 2.5 lbs.  There is something very tangible and satisfying with reading a scale and using that as a progress measure.  Yes, 3 clothing sizes dropped should be plenty to tell me I’ve reshaped enough.  I still long for a lower weight.

8 workouts (not including 1 weight training session and the 4 hour swim workshop this a.m.)

3:51:25

1505 calories

I was getting ready to hit the gym yesterday and realized that I had been ‘fearing’ it all morning.  Yesterday was my first day to ‘ramp up’ on weights for my build phase - and I realized that I was heading for an intense workout.  (A series of full body weight lifting followed by a 20 minute swim… brief, but… when you’re not a confident swimmer, it can be a little unnerving to jump in the pool and suck water with legs that feel like jello).

Luckily, I realized that I needed to change my mind about this "fear" and channel it into something good.  When I am playing tennis and I get into a rut or a ‘misfire’ streak, I do what I do with my dogs ( another, very long story entirely):  I take it back to the beginning - to the basics.  I break it all down and take one step at a time.  With that, I build myself up - I tell myself, "every time I swing this racket - even if I whiff this ball - I am stronger… I am better… " I put that to work for me.  I started telling myself:  every weight I lift makes me stronger… even more important, it puts a fire in my belly… it amps me up until I’m ready to explode.  Every running stride I take makes me faster.  Every time my foot turns the crank attached to those pedals, I am more intense.  Every time my arm swings over my head for one more pull in the pool, I am faster.  Every time I can relax and enjoy this journey, I am powerful and fast and strong.

By the end of my swim, I was physically spent.  But, in my mind, I was ready to race.  Just thinking about it fills me with motivation the will to work harder the next time.