First Open Water Swim

Swim: Our first open water swim was at Clackamette Bay, Oregon City, OR. I thought it be a piece of cake, it was nerve wrecking. I'm not sure if it was the cold water going in my ears as I swam, the inability to see the bottom of the floor, or the fact that I'd never been out on my own so far without a floating device that freaked me out. The point is, I was terrified. Thank God for my wonderful mentor, captain, coach and teammates! They are superstars in my book! Very patient and encouraging!

After a long while I felt more relaxed and comfortable swimming. I'm looking forward to open water swim again on Thursday.

Sauvie Island

Bike and Run: Circled Sauvie Island twice (24 miles) and quick run after. It is amazing how short the first trip around the island felt compared to my first experience around Sauvie (although it took an hour to circle each one). The run  that followed was hard, my legs felt heavy and jelly like. Coach was running next to me trying to help me stay in zone 2 and it seemed like my heart rate skyrocketed everytime I started running. I really had to focus and count (up to 6) every 10 seconds to stay in zone. I need to learn to train in this zone even if it means walking to keep heart rate down. It's a bit frustrating, but I have to do what I have to do.

On a different note, I really enjoyed Sauvie Island. The farm houses, horses, berries (they're ripe, go pick your own!) and the fresh air have a different feel to it during summer.  I'm looking forward to going back and picking berries. Great day trip if you're in the Vancouver/Portland area,

Riding on Road

I mixed it up a bit today, instead of riding on trail I rode on streets (bike lane). It is a different feel being surrounded by cars, obeying red lights, and using hand turn signals; good change of scenery.  All workout was in Zone 4 and 5a (faster than normal in Zone 2 (able to say 6 words).Tomorrow we will ride around Sauvie Island two times!

Tribal Runner

I came across this tribal runner website after a most challenging run. The coach calls "the hardest run of the season", and that my friends, felt like it. I ran for about an hour and twenty-five minutes with a 30 second break in between each mile. It was probably under 5 or 6 miles all done in zone 4 and 5. Pace wise I am still very slow, endurance wise, I'm building on it slowly but surely. 

All I know is that I felt this run in every inch of my body and found inspiration in this:

"I see you most mornings. Sometimes by the park.  Sometimes the bridge.  
We run the same course but in opposite directions. 

We have never spoken.  I do not know your name.  I do not know what you do for a living.
  I do not know what car you drive.  I do not know your favorite color, song, or movie. 

Instead I know this…

You do not let the cold weather keep you from running.  
You do not let the summer heat deter you.  You will run in rain when you have to.  
You set your own pace.  You stick to it.  You are not in a hurry.  But you will not be held back.  
You are focused.  You are determined.  You have a goal and you are going to meet it. 
And when you’ve finished your run you will feel better for having completed another step on the journey.

You are a runner.

You are not alone.

The tribe salutes you."

Ready, Set, Go!

Today's swim was challenging (note to self: remember why you're doing this!). In a nutshell, I will not be a professional swimmer any time soon. Swimming has been hard, but there was a little fun in the midst of "adversity". Our safety nets (pools lanes) were taken away, and the difference was notable with everyone swimming there was an ocean like movement and lots of waves. I actually ran into my teammates a couple of times!
Our coach also had us all start at the same time, stay in one position to wait for directions and had the more experienced swimmers swim above, under and on our sides so that we could feel what it will be like on race day.  It was a good practice, I doubt I was able to swim the full 1500 yard workout today, but swam for an hour.

Monotring Heart Rate

Today's run was a 45 minute run around the neighborhood and trails. I finally got a heart rate monitor and I tried to stay in Zone two throughout. I had a tour of the Royal Oaks Country Club where we'll have our next benefit (click here for link) for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Sunday Cycle

It was a perfect day for a ride, especially after hot sunny/cloudy, 90 degree day.  I rode briefly up and down hills and soaked up the breeze, smells of trees and enjoyed what seemed to be dancing trees (delightful breeze) in the beautiful city of Camas. Unfortunately, my ride was too short. Can't wait to ride again with the best people in the world!

Enjoying the Sun

Yesterday was recovery day, and it recovery  it was! Enjoyed it very much.  Today was a nice 55 minute run at the Willamette Park in Portland. Perfect sunny day, temperature and good company as always. Above is a picture my wonderful mentor took of some of our teammates as we waited for the rest of the team.

The afternoon consisted of the team pan handling on in Portland for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Very productive afternoon and we are so grateful to all donors and supporters! 

Run

Today's run was a challenge. I have been doing my core/strength workout after the run, but today I decided to do it before. I felt it in the track!  I was tired, my legs felt heavy, my foot was getting numb for some reason and I think I may have hurt my leg! The coach told us this and next weeks run will probably be the most challenging, it consisted of pull ups, and running in zone 4 and 5 throughout for about an hour and ten minutes (with 30 second breaks/recover after each 1600/mile).  Tomorrow is our cycle day, working in zone 4 and 5 too and single leg drills. Yikes.  

The Buoy

Bike: Rode 50 minutes after work along the trails near home. Enjoyed it very much. Then headed to Stott Center for swim.

Swim: Training tonight was fun and challenging, just when I thought I was making progress, I'm back to basics!  I swam about 1500 yards and most of it was focusing on upper body and core using a Buoy (see picture above). The buoy is a training device to develop upper body and arms by immobilizing legs. It was a hoot! It is not easy swimming. Let alone swimming with a foreign object in between your legs!

It showed me the importance of learning how to balance and using core muscles more. I was also trying to focus on keeping elbows up as I brought arms forward and back.  Maintaining proper form is challenging. Hopefully I improved a little by the end of the swim. Coach says, we're swimming what we would swim at the day of the race! Now I just have to do it without a flotation device!

Staying Dry

Since it was raining today, it was a good excuse to run indoors, and thanks to my neighbor, I enjoyed a the panoramic view of the Royal Oaks Golf Course as I ran in the club. Rain or shine, there were people shooting holes and enjoying each others company.

Running in the Rain

Today’s workout was in Portland about a 1.5-2 hour run in Zone 2. My running buddy G and I got nailed by coach because we were going faster than Zone 2. It should be a low anaerobic pace and I should be able to count up to 6 without taking a breath or forcing the count. It is hard to keep your heart rate at that level, and we had to walk a few times to keep it there. Sometimes it hard to go slower and to walk but the long term benefits will be worth it.

Brick Time!

Today was my first Brick workout!  It needed to come sooner than later as we prepare for the big race!   We rode for 17.5 miles and ran 1.5 to get a feel of how our legs will feel after the ride.  I heard they would feel like jelly, they felt more like heavy bricks.

I must admit, even though it was raining, it was a great ride in Helvetia, amazing scenery, beautiful farm houses, sheep, goat, and lamas were among the few creatures I spotted.  There were hills, it was fun to go down and catch speed, but not quite as much going uphill.  Same for the run, we ran down hill and both our honored teammate Rachel and I felt it was a little more time going. Felt great after the workout and even better after a nice long afternoon nap.

Celebrating Life

Swim: I swam at the Marshall Community Center today. Total yards I was able to finish: 1100-1200. Luckily it was not as crowded as it was on Tuesday and I had a lane all by myself. I’m sure sooner or later I’ll have to face my fear since I will probably be swimming with hundreds of people beside me in September. 

I celebrated with my brother and awesome wife and kids at Alexis Greek restaurant in Portland. Good food, family friendly and great customer service; followed by a nice walk along the river. 

My brother is the best! He has an awesome personality, loves his wife and kids and is a great role model!  Intelligent, hilarious, loving, cuddly are but a few words to describe him. The best thing is that he lets me hug him all I want! He is truly an inspiration. I have heard it said that behind a great man, there is a great woman. This is very true. His wife is an amazing woman! Not to mention the great work they’ve done with their four children! They all have grown over the years in so many ways and I am so proud of them. I am privileged to call him brother. Happy Birthday dear brother, I love you!

Enduring Through Discomfort

Run: Today’s run was a little more challenging than usual but I completed it all. I happened to pull a muscle before I started the run today so it was not the most comfortable. It took me 1:20 minutes.  There were pull ups, and mile runs in Zone 4 and 5a. Total distance was just less than 5 miles. Glad to have finished and feel better after a nice hot bath and food in my tummy.  I am looking forward to a good night’s rest.  

Discovering Pools

Cycle: cycled for 40 minutes in Zone 1 in the morning and had a wonderful breakfast right after. It’s great to know people that you can admire for who they are and see how much they grow and mature over the years.  

I was really looking forward to swim tonight with the team but I wasn’t going to be able to go down to Portland. I called about 6 different places around Vancouver to see if they had a lap pool where I can do my training and discovered the Marshall Center Community Center. It is a neat facility, day passes are only $5.50 and it is not very far from home. It is 25 yards length wise which is the same size as the Stott center pool in Portland (where we practice) and it would make the workout a lot easier to follow.

I arrived ready to swim, all and for some reason felt intimidated by the amount of people swimming laps (really fast in my eyes).  Unfortunately, timing was an issue and I wasn’t able to do my work out there. 

The good news is, now I know where I can go for the extra swims during the week. I also visited 24 hour Fitness place near home and they had a lap pool, a lot smaller (15 yards) but it would be able to do the job too. I got there a little too late to be allowed to swim.  

The Perfect Run

Run: Today’s run was supposed to be 40 minute run but I was pleasantly surprised when I started running.  I ended up doing about an hour plus some walking because the scenery was just too great to miss out. I didn’t realize Spokane had such great trails! I ended up running into ten chubby little creatures coming out of the grass and across the trail into the trees and near river.  They were cautious of me but not threatened as I stopped to observe they’re cute little faces. I don’t know if they were squirrels or not but definitely in the family. 

They have an amazing RiverfrontPark, over 100 acres of land and water! Awesome statues, ducks, birds with feathers on their heads (I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bird with a feather on its head before)!   God is so creative!

I’m not sure what it was but I’m going to guess it was a quail. There were couples, dads, moms with children, young and old enjoying the great summer weather.  After a long stressful day, it turned out to be a perfect evening for a run. 

Summer is Back

Yesterday's Run:  Saturday was a perfect day for a run. I ran with a great group of girls at Millersylvania State Park, WA where we camped for the weekend.  It was a good run, more hills than I’m used to but I enjoyed it. We ran three laps around the Fitness Trail (about 50 minute’s total) and enjoyed the rest of the time outdoors, playing games, kayaking and eating good food. 

Today's Cycle:
I rode for an hour on the trails near home and you’ll never guess who I saw on the trail again?   Snake on the Trail!  I’m not sure if it was the same snake I saw last time, but it looked similar and was almost in the same area!  I was afraid it was going to jump at me, but the speed I was going on the bike helped. It caught me by surprise and I was a little scared this time, but it’s a fast little creature and I was glad it moved its head back before the tire went over it and before it had time to react and bite me.

Share The Road

Today's team meet was a clinic on bike etiquette and handling. Top three keys are: communicate verbally and non verbally, be predictable and obey traffic laws. Top three DONT's: Don't listen to music if it will inhibit hearing, don't ride on sidewalks and don't pass on right.

For all walkers, runners, cyclists or cars, when you hear, "Passing on your left" or "On your left" move to the right to allow safe pass. Lesson to be continued...

Ended day with a very short and cold bike ride. More sunshine to come, I hope.

MAX Test

Run: Run consisted on a couple of drills and getting a MAX Test today. It was a 10 minute warm up then an increase of speed from Levels 1-5 and counting heart rate and shouting it to coach as we passed by him.  Coach will provide a graphs on how our team did. He says, Recovery Weeks (its here again!) are a great opportunity to work on drills and form.

Bike and Swim Day

Have I mentioned how wonderful L.A. weather is? It was a perfect sunny day with a great ocean breeze! I enjoyed an hour cycle ride in Long Beach and along the port/beach coast.

The ride was followed with a swim at a dear friend’s home in Long Beach and my first game of Marco Polo. Fun!  It’s hard to find people with your eyes closed!

Let Freedom Reign

No official exercise this day, except, running to and from places so that I would not feel guilty I was taking holiday off J. I had a wonderful time at El Dorado Park, Long Beach, CA with friends and family. Enjoyed playing volleyball, watching my dear friends play games, getting wet in competitions. I enjoyed eating watermelon, cotton candy and shaved ice cream!  

(Great Triathlete-In-Training diet).

We hung out at a friend’s home in Long Beach, had great time and dinner (also very nutritious) until it was time to walk over to the pier and watch the fireworks. Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July holiday! 

Life is like a box of Chocolates

Sunday

Run: Ran for 50 minutes in Santa Monica Beach with my friend G! Thanks for being a trooper! It was about 11p.m. and there were a lot of families walking, coming out of the water and enjoying the fantastic weather and ocean breeze.

The run was followed by a delicious dinner at Buba Gump Shrimp Co. and great conversation. (The restaurant brought back memories of FOREST GUMP :))

What Happens in Vegas...

Cycle: Rode stationary cycle for 19 miles at the resort in Vegas. It was a very high tech bike, which measured speed, heart rate, mileage and intensity. It was a good workout and glad it was an air conditioned room because it was 110 degree temperature outside.

It makes me treasure the Pacific North West weather, long rides, fresh air and great scenery, 



In-N-Out

Bike and Swim: Arrived at LB and headed straight to a gym in Downey. I cycled for about an hour and swam for another. Seeing people working out and the extra smell of chlorine of pool made me gag a few times. I must say, I’d never been to a gym pool before and don’t think I’d like to go back to one again. We are fortunate to have our swim trainings at the Stott Center at PSU. The pool is big, seems clean and you don’t smell the chlorine when you walk in. By the end of the month, we'll begin our open water training.... Yikes!

Ended my day with a nice meal at In-N-Out Burgers, one of my favorite burger places in LA. Carb loading, is so important after a workout J.