And it begins...

This week sort of unexpectedly became the first week of triathlon training for the year- Zach decided we should sign up and start going to Master's class, and since the weather has been nice I've taken my road bike out for the first time in a long while. So I guess I can say that I have officially started down the very long path toward becoming an Ironman!

It's pretty awful timing though... I don't know why we picked this week for new exercise and two-a-days. Did I forget that I have a half marathon on Sunday?! Oops. Not that it was ever really an "A" race for me, but still. I think I'll be alright though- I'm only running on Friday (short easy run) and I'll take Saturday off completely.

My goal for the half is just to run a strong race and finish in what I consider a "respectable" time for me. I would like to finish in at least 1:47 or better, and I'd be thrilled if I could run closer to 1:45. If I could break my PR of 1:43:40 I would be amazed. You never know! Sometimes these "no pressure" races are the ones where the magic happens. If I run a slower time, no worries. :)

So here's the recap of this tri training I'm referring to-

Tuesday: bike
10.7 miles/40:50/15.7 MPH
Windy ride on Springwater Corridor. I was going to do 15 miles but figured I'd save a little energy for swimming.

Tuesdsay: swim
1850 yards/45:30
Master's Class

I wore my watch and stopped it when we were resting between sets. I'm happy with the 45 minutes of actually swimming for the hour-long class... back in CA I used to clock about 55-60 minutes for a 90 minute class. So a better swim to rest ratio.

A quick description of the Barracudas Master's Swim class: Small (5 people besides me and Zach), laid-back ("go ahead and use your fins" was uttered by the coach more than once), short (only an hour long, compared to the 90 minute class we used to take in CA). Of course, it still totally and completely kicked me ass since it was my first time swimming in months. But I think going forward it will be a fun and easy way to get tonzo yards in. I wouldn't mind going several times a week. For now, we'll just be going Tuesday and Thursday nights. :)

Wednesday: run
6.0 miles/52:28/8:45 average pace
Easy solo run along the river.


I'm really excited to be back in the swing of tri training. :) I forgot how much fun swimming and cycling are! Also, this will give me lots more to do during the long lonesome days while I'm unemployed.

Speaking of having stuff to do during the day- two things.

First of all, I officially LOVE my laptop! Yesterday I met Emily at Powell's and we computed and chatted for a couple of hours. Then today I spent the afternoon at a cool local coffee shop computing my brains out. Yay!

Second of all, I got a volunteer gig! I will be volunteering at the local library once a week. I go in tomorrow for training and my regular shift begins next week. It's only a couple of hours a week but I am psyched to have some responsibility and a scheduled commitment. Plus, this will give me something new to add to my resume and maybe I will be able to meet new people for friendship or jobship. :)

Off to meet up with some lovely blogger ladies for happy hour! Will definitely post some pics.