So here we are starting week 5 of training. I am still recovering from the car accident I got into 2 and a half weeks ago when someone rear-ended me. The pain in my neck, back and hips is, unfortunately, really affecting my ability to train not to mention diminishing my quality of life otherwise. It makes me really mad that I am trying to do something good not only for myself but for the greater good and I keep having these crazy incidents! At least, since it was not my fault, the other person's insurance company is paying for my treatment. I am going to see a chiropractor/sports medicine guy tomorrow. I am really hoping that they can do something to help me so I can start training hard again. And also, and more importantly, so I can actually ENJOY training again. Plus, I'd really just like to be able to sit all day at work without being in terrible discomfort but I'll take what I can get for now.
Last week I got back on my bike for the first time since the injury. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be, and besides being perhaps slightly over cautions it went really well. Due to the car accident I was feeling it in my back by the time we were done but my elbow was hurting as well so it didn't hold me back any more than it would have been otherwise. It was just Juline and I and one coach, though. I have been disappointed regarding how many people have been showing up for practice. Come on out, people! Maybe more will come further in the season. After the bike we went down to Dunkin' Donuts in Huntersville for coffee and bagels. Ok, and donuts, too. :) Gotta get back to a better eating schedule!
We ran a 5k yesterday (the distance, not an official 5k "race") up at the Lake Norman YMCA. It wasn't bad. Or, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though my legs are still aching from it :). We did the course that they use for the 5k for the Lake Norman Triathlon, which is in August which I am considering doing if I can still get a spot. It starts with a pretty serious incline but other than that there were a few rolling hills and a nice run otherwise. Really cute neighborhoods back there. Would be a lovely place to live. The Lake Norman Y is also where we can practice our open water swims. It's a 750M course, which is about half the distance I will need to swim in DC. It didn't look so bad but distances are a lot different when you're actually in the water. We also ran with the Tri Latta team, whose race is this weekend. I got to catch up with a few of the people I was training with before I dislocated my elbow, which was nice. Then afterwards a few of us went to The Bagel Bin in Huntersville. Good stuff. I think next week we get on the bike again!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Back on the Wagon
So, today, I have gotten clearance from my doctor to do pretty much anything. I suppose I'll have to monitor the pain and not push myself too hard but I think I'll be good. I suspect push-ups and rowing are still a couple weeks out but we'll get there. Maybe I can even start boot camp again next week. For those of you that don't know (mostly because I don't update my blog, sorry!) I fell off my bike and dislocated my elbow on Saturday, April 4, 2009. I had to withdraw from participating in the Capital of Texas Triathlon, which is what I was training for, and instead set my sights on The Nation's Triathlon, which is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, 2009.
I started running about two weeks ago and again am struggling with shin splints. I'm hoping that, in time, that will dissipate. I am trying to take it easy but that never really goes as planned. I will hopefully start swimming in the next two weeks (I want to work on my strength a little big more before I get in the pool) and I may start on the bike as early as next Saturday. Naturally, biking is what I'm most worried about. I thought about removing the clip less pedals and putting the cages back on but my coach says it wouldn't be worth it. Since that really even wasn't the reason I fell in the first place, I'm inclined to think he's correct. We'll see how that goes. I'm going to try to get out in the neighborhood on my bike one of these days.
Anyway, I have a new fundraising page, as well, since I am doing a different triathlon now. Check it out and donate or just stare at my pretty mug, it's up to you!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/nattri09/azucco
I started running about two weeks ago and again am struggling with shin splints. I'm hoping that, in time, that will dissipate. I am trying to take it easy but that never really goes as planned. I will hopefully start swimming in the next two weeks (I want to work on my strength a little big more before I get in the pool) and I may start on the bike as early as next Saturday. Naturally, biking is what I'm most worried about. I thought about removing the clip less pedals and putting the cages back on but my coach says it wouldn't be worth it. Since that really even wasn't the reason I fell in the first place, I'm inclined to think he's correct. We'll see how that goes. I'm going to try to get out in the neighborhood on my bike one of these days.
Anyway, I have a new fundraising page, as well, since I am doing a different triathlon now. Check it out and donate or just stare at my pretty mug, it's up to you!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/nattri09/azucco
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Day 5
So, its been two days since the swim. The basic idea behind the swim clinics is to teach us to use the least amount of energy in order to swim effectively. We practiced a variety of drills that seem to be helping us to essentially "learn to swim." These include, floating on our front, floating on our back, floating on our side and then starting to transition from floating on your back to floating on your side and back. There is one more clinic before, I'm assuming, we start doing a more traditional swim practice that includes swimming laps as well as doing drills.
It is recommended that we include a second or even third swim practice on our own as we go forward, so we get as comfortable as possible in the water. I am planning to start this as soon as we start doing a more traditional swim. I find it hard to justify going to the pool in order to practice floating.
The other thing I'm going to really need to work on is relaxing. For those that know me, it probably isn't such a shock to hear that I am tense - often really tense and I have trouble relaxing. I was not quite aware, however, that it was so evident to everyone else. I have a gift card for a massage and I may just need to do that as well as trying to employ some other relaxation techniques on my own. My training schedule this week is as follows:
Monday
15 minute cycle
15 minute eliptical
90 minute swim
Tuesday
15 minute cycle
15 minute eliptical
Wendesday
REST
Thursday
10 minute row
20 minute cycle
60 minute boot camp
Friday
15 minute cycle
15 minute eliptical
85 minutes of yoga
Saturday
Team Run
Sunday
REST
It is recommended that we include a second or even third swim practice on our own as we go forward, so we get as comfortable as possible in the water. I am planning to start this as soon as we start doing a more traditional swim. I find it hard to justify going to the pool in order to practice floating.
The other thing I'm going to really need to work on is relaxing. For those that know me, it probably isn't such a shock to hear that I am tense - often really tense and I have trouble relaxing. I was not quite aware, however, that it was so evident to everyone else. I have a gift card for a massage and I may just need to do that as well as trying to employ some other relaxation techniques on my own. My training schedule this week is as follows:
Monday
15 minute cycle
15 minute eliptical
90 minute swim
Tuesday
15 minute cycle
15 minute eliptical
Wendesday
REST
Thursday
10 minute row
20 minute cycle
60 minute boot camp
Friday
15 minute cycle
15 minute eliptical
85 minutes of yoga
Saturday
Team Run
Sunday
REST
Monday, February 2, 2009
Day 1
Saturday, January 1st was day 1. I got to meet some of the other people on the triathlon team (and hopefully I'll meet more of them tonight) and we did a fairly short run. I was a little nervous about the run considering the problems I've had with shin splints and tendinitis in the past, but excited to finally get started with my training, something I've been looking forward to since I decided I was going to do this last summer. I was disappointed to hear that only a few other people are going to the Texas Triathlon that I am, but its great to train in a group.
To my surprise, as we started jogging down the street I found myself at the front of the group with my boot camp instructor, Jenny (also a coach) and a girl named Erin who's been running since high school. I was like, hello, I haven't run since MIDDLE SCHOOL, what am I doing here and why aren't those people behind me catching up?! Well, it turns out maybe I'm just faster than they are? Haha! I guess we'll find out as time goes on. Unfortunately, I was only able to keep up the momentum for about 3/4 of the run before my body started asking me to slow down so I took the chance to talk to my mentor for a few minutes and chat with a few other coaches as well. Two days later and my hips are a little sore but YAY! no shin splints! That 3rd pair of new shoes I bought must have done the trick!
Tonight is our first "swim clinic." Now, as someone that was in the water before her 1st birthday and swam competitively for 13 years, this does not sound at all interesting to me. Learn how to float on my back? I think I'm good there! Either way, I will go and try to take the time to get acclimated to pool water again. I look forward to when we start actually swimming laps, though I am not sure any of these practices will be nearly as hard as the ones I had in high school. I will try to write a detailed post about how this swim clinic goes later this week. Until then, adios!
To my surprise, as we started jogging down the street I found myself at the front of the group with my boot camp instructor, Jenny (also a coach) and a girl named Erin who's been running since high school. I was like, hello, I haven't run since MIDDLE SCHOOL, what am I doing here and why aren't those people behind me catching up?! Well, it turns out maybe I'm just faster than they are? Haha! I guess we'll find out as time goes on. Unfortunately, I was only able to keep up the momentum for about 3/4 of the run before my body started asking me to slow down so I took the chance to talk to my mentor for a few minutes and chat with a few other coaches as well. Two days later and my hips are a little sore but YAY! no shin splints! That 3rd pair of new shoes I bought must have done the trick!
Tonight is our first "swim clinic." Now, as someone that was in the water before her 1st birthday and swam competitively for 13 years, this does not sound at all interesting to me. Learn how to float on my back? I think I'm good there! Either way, I will go and try to take the time to get acclimated to pool water again. I look forward to when we start actually swimming laps, though I am not sure any of these practices will be nearly as hard as the ones I had in high school. I will try to write a detailed post about how this swim clinic goes later this week. Until then, adios!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
What I do now...
In order to give my dear reader(s?) a better picture of where I am now, pre-triathlon, in terms of athleticism and training schedule I thought I'd detail what I do now, as well as how far I've come in the last year in terms of fitness.
For full disclosure, after being of average weight or even on the skinny side my entire childhood, I gained 40lbs my freshman year of college. Since that time, I've gone to the gym on and off and lost and kept off about 20lbs. My workouts mostly consisted of 30-40 minutes on the elliptical machine or the arc trainer (oh how I miss the arc trainer, they just don't exist down here!). When I remembered or when I didn't put it off, I'd also do a short weight training routine a couple times a week. I'd never taken a class at my gym and I'd never taken a yoga class. There was a period my sophomore year of college where I did pilates but that didn't really do much either in terms of fitness and/or weight loss.
In the last few years, I have completely changed my eating habits to a primarily vegetarian diet consisting mostly of fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains but little meat, little dairy and little wheat. I still eat between 10-15 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I am anticipating that I might have to change this to include more protein as I get more entrenched in my training.
I moved to Charlotte in June of 2007. It took me two weeks of boredom before I joined a gym, mostly because for the first three months I lived in Charlotte, I was unemployed. I also worked with a personal trainer for a couple weeks before he left and went to another gym. I contined working out 3-4 afternoons a week through the fall, after I had gotten a job. Last January, I ramped it up, switching to mornings instead of afternoons, where I could actually get myself to go 5 mornings a week. Around this same time, I was reading an article about fitness type boot camps that were popping up all over the place. The idea sounded wonderful to me so I immediately did a Google search for boot camps in the area and pounced on the first link I saw which was www.charlotteadventurebootcamp.com. I signed up to start in March of that year.
Prior to Boot Camp, I didn't run. I ran track in Middle School, but that's about it. I had tried to run longer distances, but asthma or lack of endurance stopped me in my tracks. On that first day of boot camp I found out I could run, and it felt damn good. That next week, I signed up with a "Running Club" run by a friend of Jenny Crow, my boot camp instructor. That first Saturday, we did a run/walk for 4 miles. The endurance was no problem but I came away with tendinitis in the outside arch of my right foot. Despite that inconvenience, I started following the Couch-to-5k program and signed up for my first 5k in June of 2008. I completed it, shaving 8 minutes off my trial times. Less than a month later, I broke my toe, rendering me unable to run for a good 6-8 weeks. I still managed to go to the gym 5 mornings a week though, focusing on rowing and doing intervals on the eliptical trainer.
Pretty much since September, this has been my schedule is as follows:
Monday
10 minutes on the stationary bike
20 minutes on the eliptical - intervals
60 minutes at boot camp
Tuesday
10 minutes rowing
20 minutes running on the indoor track alternating run/walk
Wednesday
10 minutes on the stationary bike
20 minutes on the eliptical - intervals
60 minutes at boot camp
Thursday
10 minutes rowing
20 minutes running on the indoor track alternating run/walk
Friday
10 minutes on the stationary bike
20 minutes on the eliptical - intervals
85 minutes of power yoga
For full disclosure, after being of average weight or even on the skinny side my entire childhood, I gained 40lbs my freshman year of college. Since that time, I've gone to the gym on and off and lost and kept off about 20lbs. My workouts mostly consisted of 30-40 minutes on the elliptical machine or the arc trainer (oh how I miss the arc trainer, they just don't exist down here!). When I remembered or when I didn't put it off, I'd also do a short weight training routine a couple times a week. I'd never taken a class at my gym and I'd never taken a yoga class. There was a period my sophomore year of college where I did pilates but that didn't really do much either in terms of fitness and/or weight loss.
In the last few years, I have completely changed my eating habits to a primarily vegetarian diet consisting mostly of fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains but little meat, little dairy and little wheat. I still eat between 10-15 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I am anticipating that I might have to change this to include more protein as I get more entrenched in my training.
I moved to Charlotte in June of 2007. It took me two weeks of boredom before I joined a gym, mostly because for the first three months I lived in Charlotte, I was unemployed. I also worked with a personal trainer for a couple weeks before he left and went to another gym. I contined working out 3-4 afternoons a week through the fall, after I had gotten a job. Last January, I ramped it up, switching to mornings instead of afternoons, where I could actually get myself to go 5 mornings a week. Around this same time, I was reading an article about fitness type boot camps that were popping up all over the place. The idea sounded wonderful to me so I immediately did a Google search for boot camps in the area and pounced on the first link I saw which was www.charlotteadventurebootcamp.com. I signed up to start in March of that year.
Prior to Boot Camp, I didn't run. I ran track in Middle School, but that's about it. I had tried to run longer distances, but asthma or lack of endurance stopped me in my tracks. On that first day of boot camp I found out I could run, and it felt damn good. That next week, I signed up with a "Running Club" run by a friend of Jenny Crow, my boot camp instructor. That first Saturday, we did a run/walk for 4 miles. The endurance was no problem but I came away with tendinitis in the outside arch of my right foot. Despite that inconvenience, I started following the Couch-to-5k program and signed up for my first 5k in June of 2008. I completed it, shaving 8 minutes off my trial times. Less than a month later, I broke my toe, rendering me unable to run for a good 6-8 weeks. I still managed to go to the gym 5 mornings a week though, focusing on rowing and doing intervals on the eliptical trainer.
Pretty much since September, this has been my schedule is as follows:
Monday
10 minutes on the stationary bike
20 minutes on the eliptical - intervals
60 minutes at boot camp
Tuesday
10 minutes rowing
20 minutes running on the indoor track alternating run/walk
Wednesday
10 minutes on the stationary bike
20 minutes on the eliptical - intervals
60 minutes at boot camp
Thursday
10 minutes rowing
20 minutes running on the indoor track alternating run/walk
Friday
10 minutes on the stationary bike
20 minutes on the eliptical - intervals
85 minutes of power yoga
Monday, January 26, 2009
Trithlon in T-4 Months
Holy wow, this is real. My registration is in. I have a fundraising website. People have actually given me money! Now I actually have to do this thing. Training starts on Saturday, January 31, 2009 and barring any kind of injury, illness or other catastrophic event, I will be completing the Capital of Texas Triathlon on May 25, 2009. Meanwhile, I haven't put on a real (racing) bathing suit on in years, nor have I swam in a pool in a really long time, I've never been on a road bike and the last time I was on a mountain bike it was a tandem. Running's easy, right? I'll do my best to document my training from here so keep checking back!
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