Kristie's Tri for Cancer 2: Harder and Faster

Kristie's Tri for Cancer 2: Harder and Faster is now running at the Y nearest you.

Week 2 of training is coming to a close.

It was an ambitious week and I had made the resolution to stick to the plan:

Monday:

Body Pump (a one hour weight lifting class set to music)

500 yard swim

Tuesday:

25 minute run (okay, I'm still walking/running)

Body Flow (a one hour Pilates/Yoga/Tai Chi class)

Wednesday:

One hour of Spinning

Thursday:

More Body Pump

Friday:

Off

Saturday:

25 minute run

1 hour of coached swimming

Sunday:

Biking of some sort

I regretfully had to ditch spinning on Wednesday as I was still attempting to recover from the Body Pump class. Tonight I ditched Body Pump, because, well I felt like having at least one pain free day this week.

Tomorrow I'm back on the horse. I'd go to a make up spin class, but quite frankly, as motivated I am to train, I still can't drag myself out of bed at 5 in the morning just to go to a class that makes me want to throw up.

I'll hit the track on the way home and try to make some more progress.

My random thought for the day:

It occurred to me in the shower (always the best place for random thoughts) that showering at the Y was just like making a meal out of airline snacks.

Huh?

The towels provided through the Y towel service are just big enough to keep you from being indecent, but not big enough to provide any modesty.

Again, random thought, I know.

So on the menu for this season:

I have established goals and boy are they lofty.

To meet them I'll need to hit the bike harder. When the icy Iowa weather turns warmer, I'll start biking to work at least a couple of days a week. I know that I'll need to conquer my fear of hills, so I've set vacation plans to bike the Continental Divide in September as part of a two week, 400 mile bike ride. How could a view like that not be motivation?

I will need to run faster and longer. As much as the Muddy Monster run blew, I found that I actually can lose myself in the rhythm of the run. I found myself a little exhilarated when I realized that I had done just that on Tuesday. Raised by an Optimist, I think I just need to embrace it and give in.

Swimming...

Do I need to mention swimming? The event that I feared the most in the beginning...the one work out that I now love the most...

Okay, I guess I should.

I pledge to not let my love of swimming take precedence over all other training. I started this journey to push myself outside of my comfort zone and I will continue to do that.

I started this blog to publish my goals and hold myself accountable, and I will continue to do that too.

So here we go:

This year it won't be enough to complete the event. I will swim harder and bike and run faster.

My goal is to take my 2 hour, 24 minute finish time from last year and lop off 39 minutes.

That means taking 21 seconds off of my 100 yard swim pace, 24 minutes off my bike pace and a full four minutes off of my mile run pace.

I have my work cut out for me.

Cheer me on.

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” ~ Jamie Paolinetti