Weekly Workout Recap: Week of May 26th

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As I mentioned last week, I am going to start my weekly workout recaps again to help hold me accountable.  I am excited to be back to working out twice a day and can tell my sessions with my trainer have really made me stronger.  I can tell a difference in the pool.

Monday:

Rest.  J and I were heading back from the lake on Memorial Day.  We were on the road most of the day so I decided to take a rest day.  We instead picked out a new refrigerator. 

Tuesday:

Personal Trainer session and 8.53 mile bike ride.

My personal trainer session was much needed.  I am starting to get some stress regarding our move so I was really glad she pushed me.  We focused on a full body workout and even did some tire flipping. In the past flipping the tire was too challenging and I had to limit my reps but I made it through the entire set!  Woo hop!

After my training session, I loaded up the bike and headed to Route 66 park.  The park is near our new house so I wanted to give it a go.  It is a little under 2 miles for the loop.  So I did 4 loops and added a little bit at the end to make sure I made it over 8 miles.  I was a little slower than I had been in the past (i.e. last fall).  But I have only been on the bike once since last fall so it make sense that I was slow.  I am hoping the more I ride I will get back to my normal speed.

Wednesday:

30 Day Shred and 900 yard swim.

My training plan calls for strength training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  (I plan to switch to 1 day a week with the personal trainer).  Since my plan called for strength training, I decided to knock out 30 Day Shred.  I did level 1 and I have to say it was easy (actually too easy).  I need larger weights but that will have to wait until after we move so I will continue doing lighter weights until that happens.  I may go to the gym and then swim to get in a better strength training workout.

The 900 yard swim was brutal.  My arms and shoulders were pretty sore from Tuesday's session with the trainer.  I powered through the swim but it wasn't good.  I can tell it has been a long time since I have been in the pool.  My first 300 was great probably one of my fastest and that was a relief.  But the next 600 was a struggle.  I wanted to do 1000 but my shoulders would have none of it.

Thursday:  

20 minute elliptical and a personal trainer session.

I kind of forgot how my legs felt when training for my first triathlon but I remember clearly now.  My legs felt tired a lot of the time.  Thursday mornings elliptical was a tiring cardio session.  My legs felt tired but as I ran they definitely loosened up.  

My personal trainer session was much better than the elliptical run.  My legs felt better but my mid back was tight.  We did some back stretches which helped.  We then did a lot of upper body moves and I left feeling refreshed.

Friday:

30 Day Shred and 1000 yard swim.

I woke up on Friday with my middle back not feeling great.  I think the mixture of packing and starting triathlon training was really draining it.  I tried to keep up my workouts but I definitely didn't push myself completely.

I knocked out 30 Day Shred and then headed to the pool.  I did swim one of my fastest 300 yards in a while and was able to swim the additional 700 yards without problem.  So that was a plus.

Saturday:

Saturday I had a run scheduled.  But J and I woke up early with J's mother then went back to bed.  When we went back to bed we ended up waking up pretty late.  I decided to cut my run because I knew I needed to start packing.  We were able to knock out a huge portion of our packing so I felt much better.

Sunday:

Bike 9.63 miles followed by a 15 minute run.

J and I headed to Route 66 park to knock out our first Brick of the training season.  We completed 9.63 miles on the bike.  I am still slower than I wanted but I felt better than I did on Tuesday's ride.  J rode lead so he pushed me a little harder especially in the headwinds.  I now have 6 weeks to get faster on the bike.

15 minute run.  I know the runs are always going to be hard after riding the bike.  But it wasn't too bad.  I am still slower than I would like but I kept my form the entire time which is really what I am most concerned about right now.  

Overall, I am really happy with my first week of knocking out two workouts a day.  I also was happy that I wasn't starving the entire time.  Last year when I trained I was hungry 24/7.  So I am hoping to do better with eating this time around.  

Total Workout Time:  3 hours 45 minutes

What workouts did you do last week?

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Summer Race Plans

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If you follow me on Instagram you may notice that I started triathlon training this week.  I have been working out but I do much better when I have an actual race.  So I knew I needed to get serious and I decided to select another sprint triathlon, because I don't think I am physically ready for a longer distance.  

I will be doing the Ballwin Triathlon on July 13th.  I have 7 weeks to get my body back in triathlon shape.  So to keep me on track, I will start posting my workout recaps on Monday to make sure I am actually doing everything!  Fingers crossed.  

So for now my summer plans looks like this:

June:

Train for the Ballwin Triathlon and move into our new house.  Did I mention J and I are moving again?  We are but this time it is permanent thank god!  We are closing on our house June 6th and the move will take the first few weeks.  It's a local move so we plan to move some of our stuff on our own.  I am either crazy or really motivated to move and train at the same time.  I expect my body to be exhausted most of the time but I will get through it.

July:

Firecracker 5000 - July 4th.  I am debating between the 5K and the 10K.  I will see how my training is going and how much I am running and make that decision when I get closer.

Ballwin Triathlon - July 13th.  Sprint triathlon - 300 m swim, 9 mile bike, and 3.4 mile run.

Start half marathon training.  J and I have signed up for the Best Damn Race Cape Coral in December, but I am considering doing a half marathon in the fall and one in the winter.  I am still up in the air on this but will be deciding soon and training will start in July.  If I decide to do one, I will be skipping the Rock n Roll after last year's back issues and going with a flatter course.  

August:

5K Foam Fest - August 16th  

I received the opportunity through Sweat Pink to become an ambassador for the Foam Fest.  Thinking about doing one of these races?  Use the code FF3396 to save on a race entry at any of these great locations!  

I would also like to find another triathlon for this month or the first part of September.  So I will be on the lookout.

What are your summer race plans?

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Swimming

So Tuesday night, I put on my swimsuit and headed to the Tom Muehlenbeck Center.  

My city has these great recreation centers and if you are resident the fees are so inexpensive.  An annual fee is only $130 how great is that!  There are several centers and you can use them interchangeably.  I only paid the $6 daily pass but I plan on picking up the annual pass shortly. 

When I got to the center, I paid my fees and headed to the pool area.  The pool was packed.  There was a leisure pool that was holding a class for parents and their kids and a lap pool.  Let me just say that I felt completely out of place.  The lanes were packed and there was a coach instructing people.  So I sat on a bench and debated on leaving.

Then the coach asked me if I was part of the Master's Class and I said I wasn't that I just wanted to swim to rehab my knee.  He told me that one of the lanes would open in about 5 minutes and I could have it for 20 minutes at least.  He said that then I would have to go to one of the 2 open swim lanes.  I said that would be perfect.  I just sat and observed and debated.  When the guy finished up in his lane, I decided I should do this.  So I started swimming laps.  

As I did this, I noticed that I was the only one without a swim cap and goggles.  I kept thinking they were going to ask me to leave.  It was kind of nerve racking.  I swam for a while and then someone joined my lane.  I didn't know lane etiquette so when he was stopped at the wall I asked him to make sure I wasn't in his way.  I wasn't so I continued swimming until another class needed my lane.  

I then moved over to the other lane and swam for about another five minutes and realized my lane now had four people in it.  That many people made me really nervous so I decided to call it a day.   I swam a total of 25 minutes and felt like I got a really good workout.  

I still felt uncomfortable but plan on continuing my new workout.  I picked up a swim cap and goggles Wednesday and went swimming last night which went better.

As a reminder, my DietBet Challenge begins March 11th.  For more details on the challenge click here or to join click here. 

Have you tried new workouts?  Do you ever feel uncomfortable while at the gym?