Weekly Wrap..July 1..My Favorite Weekend

This is probably my most favorite time of the year.  This weekend was the Monumental Mile Race, the Veteran's Parade, and picnic / pool party with my family. Not to mention I am probably in the minority with loving the heat. Aww, all the essence of summer right here!

Because I've been so focused during the month of June on my triathlon, I did not really do any speed work to practice for the Monumental Mile.  I did exactly 2 runs.  I was extremely happy with my effort last year during the Monumental Mile race but was doubting I would do as well this year.  I figured as long as I could keep my pace around 8 minutes, I'd be happy with that.

I See the Most Peculiar Things!

I have had some interesting runs this week. Well not so much my runs but what I saw during my runs.

1. I was running on a trail that is pretty much in the open. It circles around a baseball field. There are a few trees near by but I definitely would not call it a wooded area. 

My First Triathlon

On  July 10, 2015, I wrote a blog post titled Fitness Trends I will never be a part of.  On that list was doing a triathlon. I never had any desire to do it. Perhaps I should revisit that list see what else I put on it.

In May of this year, I got an email about some upcoming races in my area. I skimmed through it like I usually do and started reading about this Triathlon. I was intrigued because this race was offering a mini distance AND the swim portion was being held in a HEATED pool.  I really don’t know why this interested me. I guess maybe I was looking for something different to do this summer.  So I signed up.  I signed my mom up too. She is always a good sport and goes along with my crazy plans..

    Saturday I embarked on my first Triathlon!

10 Summer Activities I want to do

I got to thinking about what I wanted to do this summer. Last summer I went to Mexico for a week, and then later on in that summer spent a week at Disney. Previous summers I've gone on cruises.

 All of these are wonderful vacations but they are not dog friendly.  As you know, I have an aging Yellow Labrador who is on medication and I really DO NOT want to be away from her for more than a few days.  That is why this year we booked a fancy beach vacation at a pet friendly resort! But then had to cancel. Even though the website clearly states that it IS pet friendly, the resort itself is saying that it is not. I talked to them over the phone about this and even though it was a non refundable package, they agreed to refund our money because I pointed out that on their website it says PET FRIENDLY. But don't think it was an easy process. They kept asking me why I just couldn't get a pet sitter.  Anyway, now I don't even want to stay at their resort...lol. I'll find another one. 

This will be the first summer that my dad is officially retired, so I hope to spend some time with him and my family. Whether or not we get to take Baylee with us, here are some other things I'd like to do this summer.

1. Go to a baseball game

2. Watch Fireworks : I love ALL the fireworks. I'm actually surprised we haven't heard any in our area yet this summer.  This is something Baylee will definitely NOT be a part of. Poor girl would have a heart attack. She shakes and hides when she hears them. One year I found her hiding in the bathtub. 

3. Go to the horse races

4. Go to the beach

5. Go boating

6. Do some day activities with friends

7. Remove wallpaper in  my house. (I know this does not sound fun but I like redecorating part)

8. Swim with the dogs

9. Go golfing

10. Read some books! I can't believe I've only started one book so far. WHAT have I been doing???  Oh, that Triathlon thing!

                             What day activities do you like to do with your friends?  -M

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Summer Running Plans

I am on week 3 of summer vacation already and I haven't really even done that much running. My focus this month was on training for my triathlon.  So yes, that will be Summer priority #1. When that is over, I will concentrate on other things.

So far, here's what's on my race calendar!

1. My Triathlon. That is coming up THIS weekend! I do feel like I am prepared as best I can be though!


2. The Monumental Mile. This is the race that is in conjunction with our Veteran's parade. I was really pleased with my effort last year at this race so hope I can do just as well.


3. The hot and hilly 4th of July race. This will be the 3rd year I'm running this race. I can't believe I even came back after the first year...lol. Since I spent most of my time this summer training for my triathlon, I don't really feel like I am in shape for a 5K (hmm, I think I may have said that last year too!) I'm going to talk my sister into running this one since she has never run it before!

4. I got invited to do a little race in Chicago but am still working on the logistics so that is up in the air for now.

5. The last race of the season I will be doing will either be the Color Run or The Love Run. Both races are held down at my island and I've placed in my age group at both of them.  I definitely want to try to do one or maybe both of them this year.

Tell me, what races do you have planned for this summer?  Will you be running any races in Chicago? -M

we will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.

Weekly Wrap....June 17

This week I started on the swimming portion of my Tri training. All I have to say about that is What on earth was I thinking signing up for this triathlon? I know this is only a mini distance but this was tough on me! This is NOT my cup of tea. There were times where I thought about throwing in the towel but I will see this adventure through to the end. My mom seems to be doing well though.

So this week was ALL about the training. There was little time to focus on anything else, and really I was too exhausted to anyway.

                                                                  Here is how it all went.

Monday: 2 Mile Run, and then swim for an hour.  I came home and ended up showering and taking a nap I was so exhausted.

Tuesday: Swimming one hour. Again, I came home showered and then relaxed most of the day.



Wednesday:  Walk/run 2 Miles and then swim. I only swam for 45 minutes, I figured that extra 15 minutes wasn't going to make or break my swimming..lol.  When I came home, I knew I had to get out of my rut of laying down. Once I lay down, I'm done for. I knew I needed to accomplish something else so immediately after running I rode my bike for 5 miles. When I was done, I parked at a friend's house in town and parked my bike there so I could do a run.  Of course I started out slow, but honestly I thought I would have been much slower. I looked at my watch as I approached one mile and I surprisingly saw that I was still in the 9's! Overall, it took me 15 minutes to run a mile and a half. I'll take it. After riding bike, I thought I'd be a lot slower..lol

After doing this full brick workout today I was starting to gain a little confidence.

Thursday: By this time I was so over the swimming thing. I'm really trying to practice my techniques and the people at the YMCA pool are so helpful. I only swam for a half hour this day.  I did not go home and rest afterwards...lol.  I actually did some errands and house work.

Friday: I think this day was the best day of training. I simulated what it would be like to do the entire Tri. I only swam 8 laps this day.  I immediately rode 7 miles afterwards and then did the run portion. I surprised the heck out of myself when I saw that I was able to keep my pace at 9:48 for the running.   I think that's pretty good (for me) considering I swam and biked before hand.  I will say too that I had nice weather. It was not extremely hot and humid.

When I was finished with this brick workout I was of course tired but I was not exhausted to the point where I collapsed and shut down for the rest of the day. I think this workout gave me even more confidence that I CAN do this.

Saturday : I used this as a rest day.  We did some shopping today and I ended up buying a new bike helmet.

I plan to get one more swim in at  the lap pool and then if I do any more before race day it will just be in  my own pool. I just need to calm the heck down about the swimming portion. It's okay to take it slow. It is what it is!  -M

                          We will be linking up with Wendy and Holly for their Weekly Wrap! 

Update...I May have FOMO

After having a full week of traveling, I was happy to have a few days off. Why is it your days off go by so much faster than your work days?

 On my first full day off it rained all day so I did Body Pump and ran on the treadmill. The next day I did my own version of a Tri.

 I wasn’t planning to do it, it just happened to work out that way. 

My sister had asked me to go to the gym with her and our mom for an open swim to train for their upcoming tri.  Since I teach at the gym I have a free membership but never opt to go swimming.  I taught spin class earlier in the morning but then had enough time to go home, change, and have a snack before heading to the other gym to meet her there.  

I haven’t gone actual lap swimming in ever. Heck I think the last time I did that was when I was on the swim team in Elementary school.  Once I got back in to the water, it seemed to all come back to me and I surprised myself with my swimming. I prefer doing the breast stroke because I find it the easiest.  The open swim lasted for 2 hours. However, after an hour of pretty much non-stop swimming, we were done! 

Usually after spin class I still go for a short run but since I opted to swim right after, I was still determined to get my run in. Luckily the temperature wasn’t too warm since it was still early in the day. I downloaded a podcast, Martinis and Murders (my new favorite) and set out for my run. I thought this run would be a bit challenging after spin and swimming, but I felt just fine and finished with 4 miles. So after my day of doing all 3 activities and feeling quite an accomplishment, I am starting to get FOMO for this tri coming up. Unfortunately I am working that weekend, or I would have probably signed up for the event. 

The following day I was back at work, but it wasn’t too bad.  It was appreciation day and these were there. 

Of course I had to splurge on a cake batter donut. I may or may not have also had a bagel as well. Luckily I was done by 1pm this day.  I wanted to go for a run but I was so tired from getting up early that I needed a nap first. 

 I eventually got around for my run (I should have just gotten it out of the way right when I got home earlier) Boy was this one a struggle.  In addition from being tired, my legs were really sore. I must have been feeling the after effects of my swimming from the day before.  Even with the soreness and being slow, I still managed to get in 7 miles. 

After indulging a bit earlier in the day, I knew I wanted to eat a healthy dinner so I made a grocery haul and I got a bunch of goodies to make a salad and some fresh fruit.   That was my extent of my workouts for the week. 

What is your favorite stroke to swim? Which one do you find the easiest?  -L

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