Week 4 and 5- Lots to be thankful for

Holiday times are very interesting and a great excuse to not push yourself. Although at the time it sounds great I am sure it will inevitably hurt me in the end. Plus having changed my race my mind set changed just a little. Anyway here is what I did during Week 4.

Monday- Went to the gym in the morning and rode the bike for 40 minutes. Felt good.
Monday night I went to Barry's Bootcamp. They do not call themselves "The Best Workout In The World" for nothing. We did 30 minutes of treadmill most of it on steep inclines, which I am great at cardio but this is tough when you push yourself not to ever walk. Followed by 30 minutes of Arm workouts and abdominals. I always feel this class the next day.... which is why I go.

Tuesday- I ran on the treadmill for 40 minutes (5 miles). I really dislike the treadmill. The whole time I was on it I wished I was outside.
Tuesday night- I had swim practice with TNT. I am feeling more confident every time I get in "The Drink." ( A new term I picked up for the pool. Yeah... That's what real swimmers call it apparently.) Coach Paul and Rad are definitely helping me with my form. It is amazing how the littlest adjustments in the pool can help you feel more comfortable. I swam over 2000 yds.

Wednesday- I bought a bike trainer so I can ride my bike in my living room. Tonight was the first time on it. It is different but I could get used to it. I rode for 1 hr. and 30 min while watching the movie "Waiting" with Ryan Reynolds and Justin Long. Very funny movie and it helped me not think about riding my bike in my living room.

Thursday- I ran from my gym on Sunset up to the top of Runyon Canyon, Big Dog Park in LA, up to the top of Mullholland Dr. The top of Mullholland is breathtaking on a clear day. You can see all of LA and you are super close to the HOLLYWOOD sign. I ran back down to my gym and that took me 50 minutes. I was happy because I only stopped 2 times, 1 minute each time, to catch my wind. I felt great.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I rested. Yep I took a break.

WEEK 5- Thanksgiving week.

Monday- I did Barry's Bootcamp again. Sooo good.

Tuesday- I ran from the Gym, up Runyon Canyon, to the top of Mullholland and back without stopping! BOO YA!
Tuesday night was swim practice with TNT. I am actually really starting to enjoy it. I am noticing a difference in how I swim and it is getting easier.

Wednesday- I got out of work early for the Holiday and I went straight to the gym for a chest workout. I stayed at the gym for 40 minutes and tried to burn out most of the muscles. Then I went straight home and hopped on my bike that was set up in the living room. I biked for 1 hr and 30 minutes and watched reruns of "The Ultimate Fighter" on Spike. Those guys are animals. Still felt great.

Thursday- THANKSGIVING!!! I went and volunteered all morning at the Santa Monica Civic Center. My job was turkey carving. It was amazing all the people there volunteering and all the homeless or less fortunate that showed up. We must have fed over 1000 people. They had everything there for the people. There were doctors, optometrist, hair stylist, people donating clothes and toys. It was truly amazing. My favorite part of the experience was the group prayer. Before the doors open to the public all of the volunteers, 300 approximately, made a circle big enough to outline the entire civic center and join hands and say a prayer. It is quite remarkable to feel that kind of power in a room.

Still after I was done with that I went home and changed and went back to Runyon Canyon to run. I ran the entire way to the top of Mullholland without stopping. When I got to the top I stopped and took some moments to thank God for all I have in life and all I had learned throughout the year. It was great. I then ran down the canyon and went home. I got home showered changed and waited for my sister Mary to come over. That night we had dinner with my great neighbors Rachel and Joel. The food was amazing!! Kudos to them. It was a great day.

Friday- I was hopped up early and went for a easy run around Beverly Hills and Sunset Blvd. I ran for 45 minutes.

Saturday and Sunday- I went to Santa Barbara with Dan and Stephanie and Mr and Mrs. "D". It was a perfect and relaxing weekend. It was nice to get out of LA.

One Holiday down and the Christmas season is rapidly approaching. So let's crank up the Christmas Tunes and rock the days away.

Week 3- BIG CHANGES!!!!! LOUISVILLE IRONMAN!

Yo! First things first. I have decided to change the race I am training for. When I first signed up for Team In Training they had advertised that we would train for the Cour De Lene, ID IRONMAN, but when I got to the info meeting they had to change the race to the VINEMAN in northern CA. I was still stoked to train for an event of the same distance. After thinking about it and doing some research I discovered that VINEMAN is not apart of the IRONMAN sanctioned races. VINEMAN does have 1 sanctioned 70.3 IRONMAN, but it is not a full course. (70.3 is half the distance of a full IRONMAN.) SO, after putting some heavy thought and research in it I decided if I am going to do this I want to finish the race and say I am a IRONMAN... not a VINEMAN. I am now officially registered to do the Louisville, KY IRONMAN on August 31, 2008. I will still be training with Team In Training and raising money for the cause. The race is only 3 weeks after the VINEMAN so I will participate in all TNT events and hopefully travel with the Team to VINEMAN to cheer them on. I am very excited about the location change because Louisville is closer to my family who has yet to see me in any endurance race and this is huge for me.

Now on to last weeks training:
Monday: I rested..... everyone needs a break.

Tuesday: I ran 5 miles in the morning. My back was a little sore, but all in all good. Night time was swim training with the team. We continued on with the drills and as hard as it was I feel like I am definitely improving. We swam for on hour. 2000 yds.

Wednesday: What a day. I got up and Biked for an hour in W. Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Not a smart decision. To many stops. I got cut off by a 10 year old on a skate board and did not have time to unclip from my pedals and fell and skinned my knees. Who skins there knees anymore????? ME! At that point I decided it was time to cut the ride short and ride back to my apartment.... bloody knees and all. I then went to my gym, LA FITNESS, and finished my ride on a stationary bike. That night I went out and bought a trainer so I can ride my bike in my living room and watch recorded episodes of Law and Order.

Thursday: Thursday night I went to my gym and swam for an hour. 2000 yds. More drills and a lot of regular swimming just focusing on form and breathing. Then I went out to dinner with Heath. Shabu Shabu and Jumbo's Clown Room. Classic.

Friday: Barry's Bootcamp in the morning. 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes of abs. AWESOME WORKOUT!

Saturday: Team Training day in Santa Monica. The morning focused on tire changes and how to do them... quick. Then we biked the San Vicente loop, 7.5 miles, 4 times with 1 pee tire change break. So 30 miles in 2 hours. Team day is fun and there a lot of great people! I officially met my TNT mentor Karen. She rules.

Sunday: Sunday was a long rough day. I went out Saturday night to see UPSTART and Dan D was up from Long Beach. Needless to say when that Long Beach crew it means great times and rough mornings. I got up at 8 after staying up till 2, maybe 3, and tried to hydrate myself. I then took off for my run at 9:30. I ran for 1 hr and 10 minutes. I put a little over 8 miles. I was hurting. I went home and had toast and peanut butter, fell asleep on the couch watching football, then got up and went to the gym to swim. I got there and swam for 30 minutes and was so tired and weak..... then I remembered I had not ate anything but toast. Not smart. It was this night that I realized I need to start eating a lot better and a lot more of the right foods. I am doing my best now, but it is tough.

Till next week. SMILE!

Louisville or Bust.

Week 2- Swimming?

I have completed my second week of training. I trained 6 days last week. Once again, my schedule only said 5 days but I really enjoy boot camp. That being said I do not know how much longer I can keep it up. My biggest and hardest thing this week was the increase in swimming. Swimming is definitely not as easy as I remember when I swam in my backyard or at the YMCA. This week started with swimming which was fine, but then I had Team Training in the pool on Tuesday. We worked a lot on form and did a lot of drills that I was not used to. There is one drill that we do leg kicks on our side with one arm stretched out in front and you never use your arms.(confused? me too) I was not used to this drill and had to look like a wounded duck doing it because that is the way I felt. The coach then made me do it over and over and over. After that session I got out of the pool feeling slightly loopy. When I went to put on sweatpants both of my calf's began cramping declaring a challenge to put on bottoms...... I won. The rest of the week seemed easy compared to that moment. Wednesday I put in an hour and 17.5 miles on the bike. Thursday another 40 minutes of swimming. Friday was a day of rest. Saturday was super cold and foggy and we had a team bike ride around Griffith Park. Luckily the sun started to come out around 9:30. Griffith Park is really beautiful and there are so many people there training for different events. That was really cool to see. Sunday rounded out the week with an hour run. I did my run on a route that takes me from my place through Beverly Hills, up to the Beverly Hotel on Sunset, Past the Sunset Strip, and back to my place. Not a bad course....

I feel great and energized. Next week looks to get more intense with some days of double training.

Smile.