New Year's Eve

I can't believe it's the end of 2008.

The question that everyone is asking these past few days is 'What are you doing for New Years? Any big plans?'

My answer? Nothing. By myself. And I couldn't be happier about it.

I've been there and done the parties, the clubs, the weekend getaways, and I find that I rarely have a good time. Everything is overpriced, everywhere is super crowded, outdoor activities are cold, people are drunk, and when midnight finally hits and you can go home, there are no cabs. No thank you!!!

I much prefer to stay in, have a nice dinner, watch tv, curl up in front of the fireplace, and likely fall asleep way before midnight.

So right now my planning for New Year's consists of looking for a good recipe, going grocery shopping, and getting out my best sweats!

Happy New Year everyone. Have a wonderful New Year's Celebration, no matter what you plan to do.

T.

I'm Back

It's been a while since I posted and I've been a busy girl.

First up - my trip to Mexico... was most excellent. The resort I went to - Grand Palladium White Sands - was amazing, good vegan friendly food, beautiful grounds, a jacuzzi tub in our bathroom, and a spa. With a fully equipped gym and a beautiful swimming pool. Need I say more? We spent a lot of time at the spa. Did a few swim workouts, the pool was longer than I'm used to, I would estimate about 30 metres. Once day as my friend and I are sitting by the pool in the spa and a girl comes over. She's getting ready for a swim. She is wearing a speedo type bikini (as opposed to my little stringy number!). She pulls out a cap. It has the US flag and her name on it. Ok, this girl is serious. So I start chatting with her and we're trying to figure out how long the pool is. She tells me that she can usually swim a 25 metre pool in 13 strokes, and this one takes 16 so it must be around 30-35 metres. Ok, I was still back at 13 strokes. Wow. So I think that I'll try drafting off her... not a chance. I made it about a 2 strokes before she dropped me. Sigh... maybe one day if I practice lots and lots! Anyway, Mexico was a great vacation and I was sad to come home. But once I got home, I didn't have too much time to think about it because ...

Training started! My training plan with my new coach started December 1. I love love love having a coach. It is so motivating and exciting to have someone else who cares about my workouts, will answer my questions, and listen to my feedback. The first 3 weeks were dedicated to working on form, which I especially need for running. There is also a core strengthening component, which I haven't focused on in the past. I am noticing a big difference with the core workouts - I think they have already helped improve my swimming and I can feel my core engaging when I'm running.

Now that the vacay is over and holidays are just about finished, I'm looking forward to focusing on my training over the winter months.

T.

Off Season

I find triathlon off-season hard.

On one hand you want to rest your body from all you put it through over the past 8-10 months. On the other hand, you get the itch to train. You want to keep in shape. You miss the weekend routine of swim and bike on Saturday and long run on Sunday. You miss working out with your tri-friends.

I find as soon as I can't go outside to ride any more, I get these cravings (not sure how else to describe it) to go riding. Especially when driving on the roads I would usually ride on.

But I just try to remind myself that this is the time to relax, and to do things that I don't usually do in the summer because of training.

I have decided to get a coach this season. I'm so exicted about it. Yes, it's expensive, but I think it will be worth it. I want to see what I can accomplish in triathlon. I'm going into my 4th summer of racing triathlons so I'm over the beginner hump. Now I have to get better, push myself and see what I can do.

I start my coaching in December, so this is my last few weeks of 'off season'. I'm planning to make the most of it, enjoy my week in Mexico, get some rest in (as hard as it is to do) and then start prepping for the 2009 season on December 1.

I can hardly wait.

Things that never fail to amaze me at the pool...

I am part of a tri swimming club at my local leisure centre. I've been a member for a few years now, and it's pretty good. We share the pool with the aqua-fit ladies, so we have 3 lanes in total for about 15 people (if everyone shows). The ability levels of the group range from intermediate to advanced. There is another class for beginners. Most of us are triathletes.

Here are the things that amaze me about the class or more often the people in the class:

1. Ego guy. This guy has an ego. He wants to swim in the fast lane. Even though he's not fast. Even worse, if you get behind him, he will not move and let you pass. This has been going on for a long time. Drove me nuts. One day it was just Ego guy and me in the lane. We became friends (ie he talked about himself and I listened). Anyway, Ego guy has been away for a while and it turned out that he hurt his knee quite badly and could not swim. He is on the mend now, and it seems his doctor gave him the ok to start swimming again. So... one might think that after not swimming for oh about 2 months and having a bum knee that he might choose to swim in the slow lane, or perhaps the medium lane if he was feeling particularly optimistic. Nope. He beelines for the fast lane. Why? He's Ego guy, that's why.

2. Fly guy. This guy is fairly new and joined our group in the last few months. First time I saw him, we were all swimming in the medium lane. Now, I'm not the fastest swimmer, I usually go between the medium and fast lane depending on who is there. But I could easily pass this guy in the medium lane. And as I did pass him for the first time, I got a whack in the back of the head. I didn't think much of it, until I was swimming towards him and he hit my arm with his arm. Hmmm.. being hit twice in one day - unusual. Until I stopped at the end and looked at him swim. It looked more like a bird taking off from the lake than someone swimming. His arms instead of lifting up and over, were extending out to the side of him. Result - he clotheslined anyone in his path. It got so bad that I had to dive under the water whenever I was passing by him because I was afraid to get hit. Luckily this guy doesn't show up very often or else I'd have a complete complex about swimming in the same lane.

3. I do whatever the heck I want girl: I have no idea why this girl comes to the TRIATHLON swimming class. She does not follow our workout. She just gets in the lane and swims whatever she wants. Breast, fly, back, whatever goes. Which is all fine and good for her, but what about the other people in the lane? Actually I'm not sure why the coach allows this, but not for me to say.

Lets just say the pool tends to be an interesting place!

Last 5lb boot camp:

I went bikini shopping yesterday and got a really cute brown and white polka dot bikini!! Yay, now I have 3 which should be enough for my trip. I have been really good with not eating bad foods, although my portion control could be better. As for working out...
Sunday - 10-11 k run (still recovering from the weekend before)
Monday - Swimming 1 hr 2000m
Tonight - Planning on 45 mins bike/trainer and 30 mins weights.

On another note, today is Remembrance Day so I have been thinking a lot about the sacrifices soldiers have to make when they go to war. I can't even imagine having to go through what they went through (or are going through). I am thankful for what they have done to make Canada the place it is today.

T.

Going Shopping!

Today I'm going out shopping with T2. We are on the hunt for running tights, so we're starting the search at Lululemon. Now Lulu has some nice clothes, but I've always avoided buying anything there because it's so damn $$$. I love the look of their yoga pants, but I'm not really the type to wear them out and about, so I couldn't imagine paying $100 for essentially what would be house pants. However, word on the street is that they have some really nice pants that are suitable for running outside in cold weather. Now this I would pay $100 for. Priorities.

For the last 5lb boot camp, I realized my one flaw in my plan - I didn't weigh myself in the beginning. So how am I going to be able to measure if I was successful? Ach, no worries, the number on the scale is not what's important anyway, it's feeling like I'm in tip-top shape for the beach. Similar to being at the starting line at a race and knowing you've done your best to train for it. It's that confidence that you get mentally. Here is my progress from the past couple of days:

Thursday
Food - good
Workout - 45 mins bike on trainer, 30 mins weights

Friday
Food - not so good. Went out to a really good funky bistro type restaurant. V. cool atmosphere. V salty food. Ate a lot. Vegan carrot cake at Fresh after, which was amazing (as usual) however does not qualify as low calorie. Oh well - definitely worth it - I loooove vegan carrot cake.
Workout - 42 min run before work. Running in the early morning is the best - haven't done it in a while and forgot how much I like the quiet morning stillness.

I'm off to shop....

T.

Barack Wins!

I didn't manage to stay up to see who won the election, although Obama was winning when I went to bed. I woke up at 5ish and immediately turned on the tv and saw he won. I was surprised at how happy I was. Which is rather odd considering it was a US election. But what the US does has so much impact on Canadians, and I guess like everyone else I am feeling the effects of the mess that Bush has made. Anyway, enough about politics. Glad it's done and turned out well.

Happy to report I have been good in the food dept over the past couple of days.

Tuesday - 45 mins bike on trainer, 30 mins weights, upper body and abs (legs still sore)
Wed. 40 min run at lunch (it was beautiful and I ran in shorts). 1hr swim-2150m tonight.

I'm reading Ultra Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes... that guy is hard core. I'm near the beginning where he is doing the Western States 100 mile endurance run. I can't even fathom doing that. There is a graph showing the elevation profile of the race, and it looks like a heart rate machine in a hospital for someone with an erratic heart rate. Also on the graph is the profile for the Boston Marathon, and Heartbreak Hill is barely distinguishable. Wow. That really put it into perspective for me. Anyway, I'm enjoying the book, it's really inspiring to read about Dean and his mental and physical strength.

T.

Last 5lb Boot Camp - Day 1

Yesterday was the first 'official' day of my Last 5lb Boot Camp.

Food - I'm happy to report, no junk food eaten! Except that I was desperately hungry at 4:30pm before leaving the office and didn't think I could make it home without eating something, so I ate a Clif Bar I had stashed in my desk. Not technically junk food, but not something I like to eat unless on a long ride!

Exercise - Swimming. 1hr, 2000m. It was a hard swim because I was still sore from the Half Marathon on Sunday. But glad I went because I think it helped loosen up my muscles a bit.

In other thoughts, I'm actually pretty excited to hear about what happens in the US election. I think it's more because I'm sick of hearing about it than actually caring who wins. Well, maybe that's not true. I'm rooting for Barack, but I think it will be closer than the polls predict. I guess time will tell, and hopefully by tomorrow we will know!

T.