Online workout log, weight, food, and workouts

I checked out a web site someone mentioned last week, and so far I really like it for keeping track of my triathlon workouts: www.ontri.com I enter in my distance / times, and it tells me totals for the week, month, and so on, and it computes calories burned (I entered in my height and weight.) Plus, it's free! And it will tell me what workout to do every day starting April 12. (5 months til Rev3 from that day.) I found it while looking for 1/2 ironman workout plans. I have a few plans already that I can play with and combine into one I like, but I just don't like how they say to "Run for 40 minutes" or "Run for 90 minutes." I rather be told how many miles to run. I think I'd feel more confidant that I'm running far enough that way. When it comes to race day, I need to be able to run ALL the miles, not just so many minutes!

Do any of you use ontri? What web sites or plans do you use for 1/2 ironman or full ironman training???

Now, my weight. It's not bad for this time of year, but it's not where I wanted to be yet. (The really low # on the scale from a few weeks ago only showed up that one time. Guess I was dehydrated.) I'm doing quite well on avoiding junk (except for the doughnuts my husband brought home last week.) I've also been doing really well with buying and preparing healthy meals and snacks. The problem is that I just can't stop snacking. It's healthy food, but I keep eating and eating it... fruit, whole wheat crackers, yogurt, cereal, cottage cheese, potatoes leftover from beef stew... I feel like the more I work out, the more I need to eat. But clearly that's not helping me lose the 10 lbs or so that I'd still like to see disappear.

My last workout report took me through Jan 4, so here's the update since then:

Jan 5 - 11
Tue - Run 6 miles and lift
Wed - Bike 1 hr 50 min.
Thur - 1700 yds, Run 2.5 miles, and lift
Fri - off
Sat - off
Sun - Run 3 miles, Snowshoe 4.3 miles
Mon - Swim 2000 yds

Jan 12-18
Tue - Bike 1 hr 16 min, Run 1.5 miles
Wed - Bike 1 hr 30 min
Thur - off
Fri - Run 3 miles
Sat - Bike 1 hr 50 min, Swim 1500 yds
Sun - Run 3 miles
Mon - off

Jan 19-25
Tue - Swim 2000 yds and lift
Wed - Run 5 miles and lift
Thur - Bike 1 hr 40 min
Fri - Run 4.25 miles and lift
Sat - Bike 1 hr 55 min, Swim 1250 yds
Sun - Run 4 miles
Mon - Swim 2000 yds

Progress

For the last week I have become used to seeing a nice new number on the scale in the morning. It's a number that makes me happy. So, you can imagine my delight when I saw an even lower number this morning. Then, my husband (of course) suggests weighing myself without my clothes. I figured, naaa, what difference would that make? BUT, after I thought about it and I was changing anyhow, I did it. AND saw a number I haven't seen in 5 years - not since the summer after having my second child. Yippie! Progress is a great motivator!

Along those same lines... Somehow it has ended up that I'm always doing my "back" lifting on days that I swim. (and I lift AFTER I swim.) Well, I've seen some good results from lifting, but the other day it was really good. I was running, so I started with my lifting, which was "back" that day. I was doing pull ups (on the machine with some 'weight' that helps lift you) and it was too easy where I usually set the weights. So, I took off 5 lbs. Still too easy. I took off 5 more. Wow! I even got through that set just fine. Yet again, progress is a great motivator! Now I just need to get back to where I can do pull ups with NO assistance!!!

A couple of days ago I added up my running mileage for the last week of Dec, the month of Dec, and for all of 2009. I'm happy to say I ran more miles in the last week of the year, than any other week of all of 2009! (the treadmill at home has been a life saver!) I also ran more miles in Dec of '09, than any other month of my LIFE - AND, more miles in all of 2009 than any other year of my life. :-) I know I don't run as far as most of the runners I know, but I'm proud of myself for the improvements I've made.

I'm now officially signed up for 3 races this year: the Cleveland 10K, the Greater Cleveland Triathlon - Olympic distance, and the Rev3Tri 70.3 at Cedar Point. I also just renewed my CTC and USAT memberships for 2010. I hope this year is my best one yet. :-)

2010 is officially here, and so is the SNOW. Thankfully, I now have a new treadmill in my basement to go along with my bike on the trainer. Now I can do duathlons without ever leaving the house, which is great for these very snowy days. We've also inherited a Bowflex machine, so I can even do some lifting here at home. :-)
Eating better as of Dec 26 has been so-so. I haven't had any REALLY bad days, but I have had too many little junk food snacks that I said I wasn't going to eat AT ALL. (like leftover peanut butter fondue and angel food cake.) So, I still need to do better there. I've been buying even more fresh fruit and veges and doing a good job with my meals, now I just have to make sure no more junk food comes into the house!
I've been working out like crazy lately, which has thankfully been enough to get my weight down a few pounds, but of course I'm not where I want to be yet. I'm not worried though, I still have a few months to get there and stay there.

For anyone interested here's a round up of late Nov through now:

Nov 27 - Dec 4
Fri - Bike 31 min
Sat - Run 5.4 miles
Sun - Bike 45 min
Mon - Swim 2000 yds and run 3 miles
Tue - Bike 50 min and Lift
Wed - Run 4 miles and Lift
Thur - Bike 40 min, Run 1 mile, and Lift

Dec 4 - 10
Fri - Swim 1500 yds and Run 3 miles
Sat - Bike 1 hr and 23 min
Sun - off
Mon - Run 5 miles and Lift
Tue - Swim 2000 yds and Lift
Wed - Bike 1 hr and 12 min
Thur - Run 5 miles and Lift

Dec 11 - 17
Fri - Swim 1250 yds and Run 2 miles
Sat - Bike 1 hr and 31 min
Sun - Bike 42 min
Mon - Run 5 miles and Lift
Tue - Swim 1250, Run 1 mile, and Lift
Wed - Run 5 miles
Thur - Bike 30 min and Lift

Dec 18 - 24
Fri - off
Sat - Bike 2 hours and Swim 500 yds
Sun - Run 5.5 miles
Mon - Run 3 miles
Tue - Swim 2000 yds and Lift
Wed - Bike 60 min and Lift
Thurs - Run 3 miles

Dec 25 - 31
Fri - off
Sat - Bike 1 hr and 57 min and Swim ~1500 yds
Sun - Run 6 miles
Mon - Bike 30 min and Run 1 mile
Tue - Swim 1500 yds, Run 2.5 miles, and Lift
Wed - Bike 60 min, Run 1 mile, and Lift
Thur - Run 5 miles and Lift

Jan 1 - today
Fri - Run 3.1 miles
Sat - Lift
Sun - Bike 60 min
Mon - Swim 1600 yds and Lift

The more I can post on here about my eating, my weight and my workouts, the more accountable I think I'll be.
I need motivation to keep working hard. Having others know my goals and what I've really been doing should help me do that.

Making lists...

While reading everyone's blogs these last few days, I decided that I needed to change the header on my blog. Some of you have photos there, but I had no idea how to do it myself. So, last night I spent a couple of hours playing around with my photo program and this blog site. I must say that I'm quite amazed that I figured out how to add my own photos. I'm not so sure I like how it came out, but at least I know a way to do it now.

I also just found these fun symbols in the font options. :-) This one reminds me that I had to ride on my trainer at home today. bbbb Y

So, I'm a planner. I like to make lists for everything.

• what needs cleaned
• places to visit someday
• errands to run
• food to buy
• meals for the week
• what food is in the house
• races I could do
• races I've done
• movie to see
• shows to watch
• projects to do
• books to read
• clothes the boys need
• workouts to do
• workouts I've done

I think I could go on and on here...

Currently, I've been working on a list of races to do in 2010. So far, I've only signed up for one: the Rev3 Cedar Point 1/2 on September 12. I made a calendar so I could visualize and count the weeks and begin laying out a training / racing plan leading up the half. Here is a "maybe" list right now:

• Malachi 5 Miler
• Hermes 10 Miler
• Silver Springs Du
• Cleveland 1/2 (or 10k)
• Clay's Park Tri
• Deer Creek or Maumee Oly
• Sunday in June 50 Miler
• Milton Man Oly
• Fairport Pirate Tri
• GCT Oly
• Rev3 1/2
• An October Full Marathon (would be my first ever)

The other big thought on my mind right now is my weight. I've been pretty good with my running, but I haven't been on my bike outside in two months, and I just finally got back in the pool after about two months of avoiding it. On the positive side, I have been lifting weights for the past two months. I hate to admit it, but this is really the first I've used the weight room, regularly, here in NE Ohio. I was really good about lifting when I went to a YMCA in Dayton, but there's big scary men at the Nat. I'm doing pretty good about just staying away from them and acting like I know what I'm doing. So, back to my weight issue. I hate to put a number on it, but I think I'd like to be racing about 10 to 15 lbs lighter next year. My meals are usually pretty healthy, but I love junk food and snacks. It's difficult for me to avoid them since I keep them in the house for my boys. Right now I'm trying to be 'good', but I'm going to cut myself some slack for Thanksgiving and Christmas - I'm not skipping the pumpkin pie! However, I think that starting Dec. 26, I'm going to have to be very strick to get to where I want by racing time.

Well, time to call it a night.

Plans for 2010

It's official, I'm going to be doing the Revolution 3 Cedar Point 1/2 on September 12, 2010! Oh my! I just signed up and booked a room at Hotel Breakers. Boy do I have a lot of planning and training to do. On the sign up page I had to list my estimated total finish time. I went for 7 hours and 30 minutes. :) I have no idea how long I'll take. ?? I figure that amount of time allows for plenty of walking, if needed. Some time next summer I'll come up with a better detailed estimate. I'm looking forward to lots of fun training with many fellow CTCers. :-) I also need to take some time to figure out which races I should do leading up to the 1/2. I'll have to compare the timing and the prices. Oh, and I'm going to have to finally take Matt up on his offer to get me a long wet suit (to replace my shortie) for the Olys and 1/2.

Portage Lakes Olympic Tri - Sept 13, 2009

I figured out how to make my word document "paste" onto here! :-) Since this was my first Olympic Tri, I wrote a lot. Just a warning - it's long.

This past Sunday I completed my first ever Olympic distance triathlon, and my last tri of this year. With about 14 sprint tris under my belt, I decided it was time to try the next step. It was a cool sunny morning. I went through my usual morning routine, and left in time to make it to the Portage Lakes State Park by about 6:45 am. The sprint races were scheduled to start at 8 am with the Olympic races beginning at 8:15. My wave (all women) was planned to start at 8:31 with only the 50 and older men going after us at 8:33.
After getting checked in, I collected my gear from the van and began setting up my transition spot. In addition to my regular set up, I laid out a long sleeve jersey and put a gu in the back pocket. I also filled up my new bottle. Thankfully, Erin spotted that I had the sponge in wrong and showed me how to fix it. That's what I get for trying something new at a race. :)

The first racers began about 15 minutes late, which pushed everyone back. Just before transition closed, I pulled on my wetsuit and grabbed my gu and water. As I was making sure I really had everything ready, an announcement was made that transition was closing in 90 seconds! Jen and I quickly jogged to the exit before our timing chips got messed up on the timing mat. We all made our way down to the beach for the start. It was nice seeing so many familiar faces - plus Matt and the boys showed up just before I entered the water for a quick warm up.
Eventually it was time for the women. Not wanting to get run over, I lined up in the back of the 41 ladies. When they blew the horn, I took my time so I wouldn't get kicked. Very quickly I was surprised by the long vine like weeds that felt like they were wrapping themselves around my arms and legs. More than once I had to pull one off of me. Yuck. Thankfully when we got to the deep water, the weeds were gone! About half way through the first lap of the swim course, I finally felt like I was in a good groove. I was taking my time and trying to stay steady. Knowing I had to go through the shallow water and weeds again was looming in back of my mind though. For the second lap, I made sure to stay in the deepest water possible without going off course. The sun was bright and right in my eyes while trying to sight. Once I was back in the deep water again, it was a smooth swim around the buoys and to the water's edge. I checked my watch when I hit the sand, and it said 29:00. Wow! I thought it might take me 35 to 40 minutes for the 1500 meter swim. I took my time up the hill to transition, which took another 1:40, putting my total swim time at 30:40.
I also took my time in transition, about twice as long as I would in a sprint. Knowing I had to be on my bike for about 23 miles, I wanted to be comfortable. I made sure my feet were dry, put on my long sleeve jersey, and put on my bike gloves. T2 time was 3:36.
Just like the swim, my plan for the bike was to go steady, but not too hard. I didn't want to use up all my energy in the first lap and be miserable in the second lap. I wanted to finish the bike portion and still feel strong for the run. About half way through the first lap I pulled the gu out of my back pocket and had another first - eating a gu while riding. Also, the water bottle Matt installed on my aero bars the night before was working perfectly! I just had to lean forward a bit to reach the straw. I'm sure this saved me time since I didn't have to slow up to get out my regular water bottle. At the end of lap one I was averaging 16.4 mph on my bike computer. I felt really good and decided I could probably pick up the pace a bit for lap two. I had also passed 7 women near the end of that lap. I later passed two more on the second lap. On the first big downhill on lap two I made it over 30 mph. Yikes! A man passed me while going down the hill, and then tried to turn right at the stop sign at the bottom and wiped out pretty badly. Thankfully a cop was there and ran to help him immediately. I was able to go around the two of them and make my way up the next hill. I later saw this man after the race and he said he was able to finish the whole race, but he was headed to the emergency room just to be safe. I finished the bike course in 1:22:59 (about 10 minutes faster than my estimate.) My bike computer said that was an average of 16.5 mph, but the race site shows 15.9. ? Oh well. I felt good and was happy with my ride.
T2 was uneventful and took me 2:12.
I was a bit confused about where to run as I left transition, but quickly got on course. I took another gu with me, but it took about all of mile one to get it down. Even though I took my time on the bike, I was having trouble keeping my heart rate down so I could run well. I had to keep slowing down and walking some. I also battled with some pain in my left shoulder. It was really nice having a fellow CTCer nearby to talk me through a good bit of the run. (Thanks so much Jim!) I think the only mile I ran well was the last one. I missed some of the mile markers, so I gave up on keeping track of my times. All I know is that mile one took me 10:34 and my total run time was 1:09:08, an 11:09 pace. Very slow. Several of the women that I passed on the bike passed me back on the run. I only finished before 6 of the other women, putting me in 35th out of 41. Again, it was so nice to see so many familar faces at the finish line! :-)
My total time was 3:08:33, 15 minutes faster than my estimate. Other than having trouble running, my day went pretty well. Looks like I need more time working on bricks.

Now, I have to decide what I want to do next year. Of course there is the debate about the Cedar Point Rev 1/2, 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. With the training that I could do between now and September 12, 2010, without an injury, I feel like I could finish. Between the entry fee and the hotel cost for the weekend, it's not cheap. Plus, since it does cost so much, I feel like I'd have to skip a lot of the smaller local races next year to make up for the cost. I would probably just do an early summer sprint and a midsummer Olympic. I don't need to put us in debt for my racing fees. I'm not sure if I want to give up all the small fun races though. I enjoy looking forward to lots of little weekend races. Since I now know so many others that are signing up for Cedar Point (and all of those cheering me on to sign up), I think I'm leaning towards doing it. Having so many others to train with, race with, and share this whole experience with would be amazing. When I return to teaching the year after next, I know my training will suffer. I suppose that would be the time to just enjoy small local races. We shall see.

My first Olympic distance triathlon

Yesterday I signed up to compete in my first ever Olympic Distance triathlon. It takes place on Sunday September 13, 2009 at the Portage Lakes State Park. I'm not sure if I'm really ready for this. I'm sure I can finish, but I don't think I will really be able to "race." The distances are: swim 1500M, bike 40K and run 10K. Seperately, I can do each of these distances just fine, but all at once will be a challenge. I'm thinking I will finish in about 3 1/2 hours, which based on last year's results will put me in the last 5 finishers. Ugh. Just finishing will be my goal. I've run three half marathons, and they took me 2 1/2 hours, 2 1/4 hours, and 2 hr 7 mins. Competing for over 3 hours will be new for me.
My best guess for times:
Swim 40 min.
T1 3 min.
Bike 93 min. (16 MPH Avg)
T2 3 min.
Run 64 min.
Total = 3 hrs. 23 min.

I never got around to writing a blog for the triathlon at Fairport Harbor on July 26 or the duathlon in Mentor on Aug. 9, but I will try to write one after this Olympic Triathlon!

Planet X Triathlon - June 21, 2009

Sunday morning was the Planet X Triathlon at the Munroe Falls Metropark. Once again, my goal was to beat my time from last year. Thankfully we had a nice day and an early start time of 7:15 am. All of the women went first in one wave and then the men followed in 3 more waves.

Being more comfortable with my swimming ability, I’ve been starting closer to the front lately. I would guess I came out of the water somewhere in the middle of all of the women. Overall I was 59/149 in the swim. I had a pretty fast transition and got comfortable on the bike right away. Until I began riding up the long gradual incline around the corner from the park, I had forgotten about it from last year. Ugh. That slowed me up, but the flats and downhills allowed me to pick up some speed and time. I had some trouble shifting in a couple of places and I thought I was getting a flat on my front tire for the last few miles. Even with my troubles, I finished the bike course 53 seconds faster than last year. The second transition went well; I even remembered my race belt / number – unlike at Clay’s Park. My run felt slow, and again I was having trouble catching my breath. We ran two laps around the lake, and when I saw a woman with “31” on her leg pass me at the ½ way point, I was determined to not let her beat me. I had been counting the women my age, and I thought by letting her go I would be 4th in my age group. So, I stayed about 10 feet behind her for most of the second lap, and then I went all out for the last 200m. I managed to beat her by 4 seconds, but it turns out that was for 4th place. Well, if she hadn’t been there, I’m sure I would have run even slower, so she really did help me out. I looked up her results from last year and it turns out I beat her by 3 minutes in ’08. She really improved! Anyhow, my overall time was 1:18:12, 1 ½ minutes faster than last year. My run was 18 seconds slower than last year, so I guess my swim and transitions must have been better this year!

STATS:
400 yd swim – 7:48
T1 – 1:40
11 mile bike – 38:27 ~17.2 MPH AVG (my bike computer showed 17.6 AVG?)
T2 - :57
5k run – 29:18

4/8 females 30 – 34 (plus the overall female winner was 30)
84/149 overall for men and women

Lion's Biathlon - June 14, 2009 and CTC Time Trial - June 16, 2009

The Lion’s Biathlon was held in Willoughby on the Mentor border. The start and finish are at a park right on Lake Erie. Last year Matt and I teamed up for this event, and we decided to do the same this year.

The race begins with a fairly flat 5k run and then ends with a 13.4 mile bike course (with 2 laps.) There is also a duathlon option with one more bike lap for a total of about 20 miles and another 5k run at the end. My brother did the duathlon this year.

Last year I was very pleased with my run time here of 25:58, which was my second fastest 5k ever. Just getting close to that again would have made me happy. Well, I wore my heart rate monitor for the first time running in years. It was a bit distracting, but it was also nice to keep track of where I was. I wasn’t sure if I was running fast or hard enough, because at this race there are no mile markers. So, I just kept going as hard as I could. One girl passed me around the half way point, and I then did my best to keep her from getting away. I like to finish strong, so when I had about a ¼ mile to go, I gave it my all. I passed her and made it to transition in 25:57. Surprised and happy.

At this point Matt took off on his bike to complete our relay for the biathlon. There were two other male / female teams and I knew the one runner had been faster than me. Well, Matt caught the biker on that team and then knew we were in the lead. I ran down to the corner and caught Matt making the turn for his second lap. My brother wasn’t far back and I so I was able to see him make the bike turn, too. After that I made my way back to the park to see Matt finish. Our finish time was about 1:03:54, which is one minute and one second faster than last year. I get credit for the one second and Matt does for the one minute!


Tuesday night, June 16th, Matt and I rode in the 8 mile CTC Time Trial along with 2 other women and about 8 other men. It was an out and back course on a mostly flat but curvy bike path along a canal. I made sure to go last so that no one had to pass me on the skinny bike path. Although Tim, who put the event together, did end up going after me and passed me at the ½ way point.

My final time was 25:40 which is an average of about 18.9 MPH. I was the 3rd female, but of course there were only 3 of us. J and E are great triathletes, so I was just happy to be within a few minutes of them.

Clay's Park Triathlon - June 7, 2009

I’m a few weeks behind on race reports. After the Clay’s Park Tri I was busy getting ready for our garage sale and then running it for two days. Then Matt and I did the Lion’s Biathlon as a team, followed by a 5 day education class. During that week Matt and I also rode in a CTC Time Trial. This past weekend was the Planet X Triathlon at Munroe Falls Metropark. (formerly the SummiTri.) My sons and I are finally back to a pretty normal week, so I decided it was time to write some recaps. I don’t remember too many details, so this will mostly be the basic facts.

At the Clay’s Park Triathlon my goal was to beat my time from last year. My swim time was fine last year, but I wasn’t very happy with my bike or run average. The bike course is very difficult for me with all of the hills, but I was still determined to do better.

Well, my swim time was almost the same (5 seconds slower), but then T1 was 2 seconds faster. The bike course was still very tough, but I ended up 3 ½ minutes faster. Great! (Although I wasn’t very happy when 2 girls caught me at the top of the last hill.) I was 6 seconds faster in T2, and then began the run around the campground. The course was 2 short laps instead of one long lap like last year, but I still had trouble catching my breath. I ended up running almost 20 seconds slower which is my slowest 5k EVER. Ugh! Thankfully my bike speed allowed me to meet my goal of a faster overall time of about 3 ½ minutes.

STATS:
500m Swim – 10:51
T1 - 2:01
13 mile Bike – 47:33 16.4 MPH AVG
T2 - :55
5k Run – 32:18

The top 3 overall women just happened to be in my age group, so that allowed me to place 3rd in my age group awards. (Which is really 6th, but I’ll take it.)