Wild racoon at swim practice

Monday: Swim

Warm-up: 400m pull NO pull buoy 10sec RI; 400m kick with fins. 10sec RI

Main-set: 6 x 200m alternating with fins and without trying to maintain the same pace for all 200's 30sec RI (I didn't use fins b/c I don't have any and also because I don't like them. :) )

400m kick, 50m on each side 30sec RI

4 x 50m descending 20sec RI

4 x 25m descending with 10sec RI

Cool-Down: 200m back

RUN 2 miles at recovery pace. (I didn't run. Instead I ran in the pool for 25 minutes with a granny belt on.)

 

 

Tuesday: Bike trainer & TRX core workout

I took it easy and didn't add too many heavy gears on the bike today. Right hip still hurting a little.

 

 

Wednesday: Swim

Warmup: 4 x 200m EASY as 100m free, 25m kick no board, 25m breaststroke kick no board, 50m backstroke. Rest 30sec between 200's

Main Set: 6 x 200m as 100m HARD, 75m easy, 25m kick no board 30sec RI

10 x 50m alternating HARD, EASY repeat. 20sec RI

Cool-down: 200m back

 

 

This was a good workout. The 200's were pretty tough. I feel like lately we are doing shorter yardage but more sprinting/intensity. Going from doing a 400 or 500 going a slow-mod pace to a  200 hard is a big change! I used to hate 400 and 500's. Now I am beginning to like them a lot more than doing a 200. :) Oh how the times have changed! :)

 

 

Thursday: Bike trainer & TRX core workout

Pretty uneventful on the bike trainer. I took it easy again b/c of my hip. The TRX workout was pretty tough. We had the TRX around out feet this morning. We started in the plank position with our legs suspended in the air. We then did a push up, followed by a pike up and then repeated that. I felt like I was going to die doing this. My lower back wanted to give out... this is only because my core is weak. Wow. That was a WORKOUT!!

 

 

Friday: Foam roller & Killer Abs

Today's foam roller workout was pretty nice. CL didn't try to kill us too much with the core exerices. That was a nice surprise. At the end of practice Mini Me had a 3 minute core test for us. It was basically 3 minutes of plank broken down into these incriments (1 minute regular plank; 30 sec right arm plank; 30 sec left arm plank; 1 minute regular plank).

 

 

Saturday: 65 mile bike

This was actually a pretty crappy day. Long story short, I almost got hit by a truck and I fell off my bike... among other things.

 

 

Garmin Stats:

Distance: 65 miles

Avg HR: 141

Avg pace: 17.2 mph

Time: 3:46 (doesn't include a couple breaks)

Total Calories Burnt: 2980

 

 

Sunday: Run in pool for 1 hr 45 min

I was supposed to run 8 miles today but because of the hip I ran in the pool. The 8 mile run was supposed to be in zone 2 (meaning very slow). So I figured it would take me about 12 minutes per mile if I was going to actually run. So I took that and converted it into time I would run in the pool. I ran for 1 hour and 40 minutes with the granny belt around my waist. Guess how many lengths I ran during that time? Answer.... 76! I wanted to shoot myself after about an hour. Luckily there were a lot of little kids at the pool and people around so I had a lot to look at. I would say it was once step above watching paint dry. :)

Monday, April 30: Swim

Warm-up: 200 free, 200 breast, 200 kick

Main Set: 8x200 build R 30 sec

4x50 hard R 20 sec

Cool down: 200 back; 200 kick

I stayed up wayy too late last night.... so at practice today I was moving like a snail and was very unmotivated. I did complete everything... but just barely.

Last night I was in Avalon hanging otu with my friends at the Food Trucks. Wow. I didn't know the Food Trucks were that popular. I had heard of them but didn't know people went that crazy over them. For those of you not from Orlando, there is this thing called the Food Trucks Bizzare. Local vendors have a food truck (similar to a food truck at a carnival) that they park on the street. There were like 40 food trucks. It is good food too... not crappy carnival food. The Food Trucks Bizzare travels all around Orlando. I had a chicken waffle. Weird name but very tasty. I had to wait in line for at least 20 minutes for that thing! Some of the food trucks had a super long line. One truck was called the Yum Yum truck. It was a cupcake truck and it had at LEAST 75 people in line. Wow.

 

 

Back to swim practice. One last thing I will share..... at the end of practice this morning I got out of the water, wrapped up in my towel, looked across the deck and saw a RACOON!! It was daylight at this time. The racoon squeezed through the fence and was walking towards the pool. The lifeguard took a scandal and tried to throw it at it to scare it so it would run away... but it didn't work. To make matters worse, the racoon looked really sick. It was walking really slow, staggering back and forth. Jabber Jaws (Melissa) freaked out, ran to a chair, then proceeded to stand on the chair yelling at the lifeguard to call animal control because it could bite someone and make us very sick. All while this is going on, Emmett and Little T are still in the pool swimming laps. LIttle T sees Jabber Jaws standing on a chair freaking out so she perks up to see what is going on. The racoon then proceeds to get IN THE WATER.... standing on the edge drinking the pool water. It looks like it is drooling from the mouth. Then we all get an idea that Emmett should shoot the racoon because it looks like it could have rabies, or some other awful disease. Emmett then procedes to laugh at us and tell us he can't shoot racoons. He is a cop. Oh boy. The lifeguard then starts to get the hint that we should all leave after the racoon starts walking the perimeter of the pool in the gutter drinking the water. On my way out I told the front desk ladies that it wasn't a joke and then they called Animal Control. I'll have to get an update to morrow morning to see what happened. Never a dull moment.

Frustrated

Today I was supposed to run 8 miles but that didn't happen. My right hip is in really bad shape. It has been throbbing all weekend long... even though all I did was swim yesterday. The rest of my weekend was pretty low key... with lots of time spent on the couch. I have been icing my hip non-stop... even putting ice packs down my shorts and leaving it on while I sleep at night. The only thing that seems to help has been taking prescription strength naproxen twice a day. I hate taking medication, but I felt like I didn't have a choice. However, the moment it wears off it hurts again. I think the main culprit is my bike. I don't know if it is my new tri bike and the different angles or if it is the intensity of the biking on the trainer. Usually it is the running that tears up my hip, however I haven't really been running at all. I think this week at practice I'm not going to run, and when I bike I will stay out of aero and not add heavy gears. Hopefully this helps. Last time my hip was this bad I couldn't run for 3 months.

That brings me to my next thing.... I feel like this is what always happens... I get in good shape and then my body falls apart. So frustrating. Why can't my body just deal with it for once? I feel like I have the drive to do all of this training, the motivation, and the endurance... it is just this one thing. Ugh.

What a great day!

Today we were supposed to swim at Lucky's (3 crossing = 3,000 yards) then run for 90 minutes. Lucky for me the weather was supposed to not cooperate. There was a 60% chance of t-storms this morning so practice was canceled. When I found this out I went back to bed. (Even thought it was hard to sleep because I had already slept 8 hours... but I did manage to sleep another 2!) I can't remember the last Saturday I got to sleep in!! I woke up starving... almost dizzy and weak. So I knew I needed a good breakfast. So I cooked some good ole pancakes and turkey bacon. It was amazing. :)

Around 10:30am the weather looked ok so I went to the Y and swam 3,000. (6x500 to be exact... alternating pulling and swimming). Gator Bait was there. He showed up to life weights and came by the pool. He threw cold water on me while I was doing a flip turn. Boy did that freak me out.... and it was COLD!! :) Afterwards I went home and took an ice bath. When I got out I was so cold that I put on my fleece pants to warm up. When you do that, does that cancel out the ice bath? I hope not. :)

I am really starting to get worried about my hip. It was throbbing last night as I layed in bed doing nothing. I've decided that I am going to start taking my vitamins everyday (I was slacking for a while- BAD!), start up my PT in my living room again, start taking naproxen religiously, ice everyday, and do an icebath as much as possible. I was reading online about my hip last night. I read how sometimes you need your bursa to be aspirated. I wonder if I need that. It mentioned that sometimes they do that at the same time they are giving a cortisone shot. Hmm. What do you think about that Mom? I've never heard of that being aspirated. Have you seen that at work?

Tonight is hibachi & sushi with the girls, then movie night. Yay. I am so excited. :)

On another note, I saw this video. It is hilarious. Maybe Tubby isn't so fat afterall.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/​news/article-2133018/​Meow-40-POUND-cat.html

Less than 200 days now!

Monday:  Swim

On Monday I swam with XXX.  He is getting to be my normal lane buddy as Wings and Jen are not able to come all the time. We have a good time. I normally push off first and lead the lane. He tries to draft off of me and pull on my foot. Every so often I can feel him getting close as he will barely touch my toes. When that happens I kick just a little bit harder. J

Today’s swim practice was not as exciting as my dream. Last night I dreamt that I was driving down the highway and decided that I needed a job. I saw a McDonald’s and thought … hmm well I should work here. I went in, and they hired me. They then told me that my first couple paychecks would be really small because I had to buy this hideous, but expensive shirt to wear to work. I put my shirt on, then they walked me in the back of the kitchen and I saw a mountain of shoes that went to the ceiling. All of the shoes were like elf shoes where they curled up by the toes. I was then told that I had to buy AND wear a pair of these shoes too. What?! I then drove home, 1 hour away, and thought why the heck am I working so far from where I live?

Tuesday: Bike & Core

I’m not sure what was going on but there was a really small crew that showed up to the bike practice this morning. The DS didn’t even come due to an injury. Speaking of the DS (Drill Sargent for those of you who forgot), last Saturday we had a Team Social at the Nona Tap Room. When most everyone was drinking beer, I was drinking water (with grape Propel of course). She told me for every glass of water I drank, I would get -5 pushups. I am still waiting to cash in my credits…. especially because I drank 3 glasses of water.  Even though she did say that the nachos I ate canceled out my credits… I don’t care… and that wasn’t part of the deal!

Wednesday: Swim

Again, a very small turnout. I actually swam in a lane all by myself all practice long. I can’t remember the last time that has happened. At the end of practice, we had some kicking in our cool down. Emmett had already started picking up the kickboards to put them away when Little T asked him to leave hers because she still needed it. Emmett, a police officer by day, then thought it would be funny to start chucking kickboards at her in the middle of the pool. We were all laughing hysterically. Little T was saying that she only needed one, and he kept tossing kickboards in her lane. J Oh boy. Emmett then started saying that he could arrest her because he was sure that there was something she was doing that could equate to a felony (since the police dictionary of what you can arrest people for is supposedly never-ending). I like seeing that side of Emmett.

Thursday: Bike & Core

The bike practice went really well. Mini Me helped out the CL with Core. Mini Me was in charge of telling us what to do on the TRX equipment and the CL did floor exercises with us on mats. Wow. This core work that we have been doing is really making a difference. Every day I do a core workout I can feel it at work the rest of the day. I make just the slightest turn and I can hear my abs saying “please don’t hurt me. I’m still tired.” It also makes you hungry I have noticed! Wow.

Friday: 2 mile run, Foam Roller, Killer Abs

The run went pretty well. I went really slow and did 4 min run; 1 min walk. My right hip has still been hurting. The foam roller class is becoming increasingly more difficult. What used to be a more relaxing class where you roll out your muscles is becoming a ½ foam roller; ½ core class. Mini Me was there again with the CL. Mini Me is an Athletic Trainer and is using her kills to torment us. The CL and Mini Me would alternate. CL would have us do 1 foam roller exercise, then Mini Me would have us do 1 core exercise. Wow. That was hard. I do appreciate it. I feel like I am getting in pretty good shape. The DS was back for Killer Abs today. Thank goodness it is only 15 minutes on Friday!

Richard vs. Romeo

Recap of last week:

Tuesday:
I went to the bike trainer class... and even the Drill Sargent's torture core exercises. Like always, I felt like I was going to die at the end of class. Biking on the trainers is so much harder than biking outside. It is good though, as I can tell that I build up a lot of strength and endurance doing these workouts. I guess no pain, no gain really is true...

Tuesday night I had soccer. We won 4-0. It was a great game. Afterwards we went to Mellow Mushroom. Wow, that place is amazing. I could eat their pizza everyday.

Wednesday:
I woke up this morning and I could barely move my right arm. My shoulder hurt really bad... kind of like in college when I had impingement/rotator cuff issues. I did a lot of icing, naproxen, and resting today. No working out.

Thursday:
Shoulder still wasn't great but I still went to the bike trainer class and tried to avoid being in aero. I also didn't do the DS' torture routines. During the bike trainer workout we were listening to Rainbow Bright's music. I don't know where she got that stuff from. I swear it sounded like we were in Africa and there were elephants stampeding by. Weird. We all gave her a hard time.

Friday:
We ran for 30 minutes then had the foam roller workout. Pretty uneventful.

Saturday:
We had a 50 mile bike and a 6 mile run out of Lake Nona. My shoulder was still hurting so I decided to ride my road bike instead of my tri bike. Why? I have noticed that my tri bike has a more aggressive angle that puts more pressure on my shoulders. I know I will eventually get used to it, however I thought it would be good to give my shoulder a rest until it was healed more. Everyone was asking where my new bike was and why I wasn't riding it. Well.... this turned into quite the conversation on the bike. Mini Me and Gator Bait decided that my new bike wasn't being riden by me today because it didn't have a name. They then started talking about names. Names that were mentioned were: Bob, Larry, (others I can't remember).... and then there was Richard. Mini Me decided that my new bike's name is now Richard. My road bike was given the name Romeo. This then turned into a rated R discussion of why my bike's name is Richard. Reasons given (by people other than me!) were that I ride my bike a long time, tri bikes are good for long distances, etc. You know where this is headed.... especially when you think of Richard's nickname. Oh boy. Then they started saying how I was cheating on Richard with Romeo. My team almost went off the deep end. Haha. It was definitely good entertainment for a 50 mile bike ride.

Other good hightlights? Well, Ladies Man said that his dream was to get a speeding ticket on his bike. Haha. That would be a great day. Also, it was super windy today.... gusts at 15-20mph. Everyone kept giving me a hard time saying that somehow I just always ended up in the front of the paceline, pulling when we had the wind to our backs. Haha. I promise it wasn't planned. I'd rather be lucky than good was my response to them. :) I did pull into the wind for a while, just to redeem myself. :)

Saturday's bike/run (in zone 2) stats:
50.1 mile bike
Time: 2:58 (doesn't include breaks)
16.8mph pace
Avg HR 132

5.85 mile run
10:32/mile pace
Avg HR 158

Total Calories Burnt: 2,970

Bad news on Saturday: my right hip started hurting pretty bad on the run. :( I walked quite a bit... in addition to doing the run/walk routine again.

Sunday:
I was supposed to run 6 miles today but my right hip was still sore. Instead, I rollerbladed 8 miles while Amber and Leslie ran next to me. We had a great time. I miss those girls!

Who knew counting in a pool could be so stressful!

Back to the daily grind today. Yesterday I was so tired I practically slept the whole day. I swam in a lane with XXX and Andres today. I was told that we are still in Base 3 (heck if I know what that means). This week our workouts will be high volume but low intensity. These are my favorite kind of workouts. I have never been a sprinter or had any sort of fast twitch muscles. My muscles like to go SLOOOWWW and steady. :) I guess that is why signing up for an IM seemed doable.

Today's workout was pretty uneventful. The only abnormal things were:
1. I hit someone in the head (Diane or LD) by accident as they swam by me in the lane next to me. I'm not sure who that hurts more... them or me. Sorry.

2. I can't count.... but this is not new news. You would think that counting a 200 would be simple. Wrong! On one of our 200's I thought I was done and it was only a 150... wishful thinking I guess. Back in the day (high school and college) I would count by 50's.... but lately I have since switched to counting by lengths (1,2,3 all the way up to 8 for a 200). I do better that way because I know I messed up when I get to a wall and it is not an odd or an even. Stupid I know. Sooo, usually when I count by lengths I have been doing good. CL had us do 8x200's today. Having me count 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and also remember what 200 I am on is the equivalent to getting pink on the team vortex uniforms.... IT WON'T EVER HAPPEN. So I have a super scientific method. I count what 200 I am on my covering up the "no diving" sign one letter at a time with a zoomer. It works perfectly because there are 8 letters in "no diving". Brilliant, I know. Haha.

On another note... I wish I had thought of the counting by lengths back in hs and college as that makes it so much easier. I remember having so much anxiety when it came to swimming practice. Counting your laps, remembering what one you are on, figuring out when you push off the wall when you get back (for when you are swimming on an interval... because if you got it wrong the coach would yell at you... and I was always a goody goody. If anyone ever yelled at me or thought badly of me I was devastated.), and also worrying that you are going too slow (because I was always the slow one... especially in college). I hated being slow... but I guess that is what happens when you are now a little fish in a big pond. I remember those days. It was so stressful. I remember feeling relieved to be done not because I was tired but because I was so worried of getting the counting wrong.  Speaking of which, the more I think about it the less I want the LN YMCA to get a clock!! Geez oh peats! We can't do intervals because we don't have a clock... and when the CL says rest 10... well unless you are counting "one one-thousand, two one-thousand, etc" you can just sit on the wall like a monkey for a little longer and not be in trouble! :)

Ok, enough rambling.

Today's workout: Swim

Warmup: 200m pull; 2 x 200m kick as 50m on each side.

 

Drills: 2 x 250 (50 of Each Drill)

Finger Tip Drag; Closed Fist; One-Armed Swim; Slow Armed Recovery; Bow and Arrow

 

Main Set:

8 x 200m as Odd's: Easy; Even's: Hard on 30sec RI

4 x 50m as Mod, Hard, Mod, Hard on 10sec RI

 

Cool Down: 200m Back

Words to remember when the going gets tough.

 **Please note that the dinosaur is the Drill Sargent.

Blog Stats

Sometimes when I am writing I wonder if anyone is reading this. Well I looked at my blog stats today and WOW!!! I was very surprised at what I saw. I thought it was so interesting that I will share it with you...

Blog Stats as of today
1,142 - times my blog has been viewed since it was created
29- times my blog was viewed yesterday

What browser does everyone use to look at my blog?
45% use Internet Explorer
23% use Moble Safari
16% use Firefox
10% use Safari
1% use Chrome
1% use Opera

Last week these countries viewed my blog this many times
US- 41
Russia- 11
Germany-1
Netherlands- 1
Turkey- 1

I don't know anyone who lives in Russia, Germany, Netherlands, or Turkey. If you are interested, I would like for you to comment on my blog so you could share with me what brought you to my blog and if I know you personally.

Have a great night everyone and Happy Easter!

Bad dreams and a long painful run

Last night I slept the best I have in days. It was great. I even got to sleep in till 6:30! Wow. That is a luxury. The night before I had the worst dream. Usually I forget what I dream about, but it was so bad I can still remember. So what was it? Well, I dreamt that I woke up and I was all of a sudden 500lbs and I couldn't get my bike shorts on. I kept trying and trying to get my size small bike shorts on and they just wouldn't go!! Grr. Then I dreamt that I got on my bike and fell over because I was so big that I couldn't balance. I was telling this story yesterday during our long bike ride in Haines City. XXX asked if when I fell over on my bike if I had my bike shorts on. LOL. Hmm. Good question. I don't remember that part of the dream!

Today I went on a long run with XXX, Ken, and Hugo. XXX's wife, Debbie was the SAG.... which basically meant that she rode along beside us on a mountain bike handing off water to XXX. The rest of us wore our fuel belts filled with water. It was a perfect morning for a run.... low 60's, sunny. Everything for me went great until about mile 6 (out of 8). My right hip started to get tight and painful. I stopped quite a few times to stretch and walk. It is kind of frustrating because my hips have been pretty good up until now. The CL says I need to go back to my run/walk plan that I was doing last fall. That makes me sad because I can't really run with the group anymore... because when I walk everyone gets so far ahead of me. :(

Today's workout: Long Run in zone 2
7.6 miles
Time: 1:23
Avg pace: 10:54 (this includes lots of walking when my hip started hurting)
Calories Burnt: 781
Avg HR: 144 (yay! This is getting better and better! My zone 2 is 150-160... so that means I am getting even more efficient!!)

Back in Haines City!

Today we drove to Haines City to bike the 56 mile 70.3 Florida course. We had a great time. Before we got there we stopped at McDonald's to take a quick potty stop and ran into a bunch of girls from the Tri with Sway, another Orlando tri group. We chatted with them for a few minutes, then went to the course start stop. We ran into those girls again. They wanted to take a picture of our group because they thought we looked so official. Haha. I swear they looked just like us. Below is the pic they took. :) I am in the front, 2nd person from the left.

We started off at around 7:45am. It was a bit chilly (60 degrees), but it warmed up pretty quick and we were all shedding layers. I told everyone we had to be done by 11am because the wind was supposed to be 18mph at that time. The CL was sick and couldn't come so XXX and I did what we could to help out. It was a great ride overall... no dogs tried to attack us like the last time we were there. It felt a lot easier than the last time we rode there too. I dunno why exactly... maybe because we went faster and it got over quicker. I remember last time it being a lot hotter. We had a pretty small group today (only 9 of us)... mainly because of the Easter holiday. We were not supposed to bike in a pace line, but we pretty much did anyways because no one knew where they were going.... so we stuck together and figured out the map and navigating as a team. Along the route we did pick up this older lady who was biking by herself. She was doing the same route we were. I think she was happy to join our group.... even with the nut-cases we are. :)

After the ride, we went to Perkins to hang out with the old folks again and to refuel. I yawned so many times in that restaurant. Something about biking.... it makes me want to nap. When I got home, that is exactly what I did. I was so tired I didn't even unpack all of my stuff. Instead, I threw it on the floor, headed for the shower, then the bed. Ahh, I love my bed. :)


Garmin stats:
51 miles (really biked 56 but due to technical difficulties I only had 51 on garmin)
Total time: 3:45 for 56 miles (this includes potty breaks)
Avg speed: 17.2 mph
Avg HR: 143
Max HR: 177
Total Calories burnt: 2568
Nutrition: 3 bottles Gatorade; 5 oatmeal raisin cookies (yay for cookies!)

It is April already!! Almost less than 200 days to IMFL!!

This was a really busy week. Spring break was over and it was back to the daily grind. It is harder for me to update my blog because our workouts are getting longer in the mornings during the week and that is when I used to update it (before i go to work)... and now I am having to move faster to get to work on time...  I know.... excuses, excuses. :)

Monday: Swim/Run Brick

Warm-Up 200 Free 10sec RI
200 Kick 10sec RI
Drills - Complete four sets for total of 400m Rest 20sec between sets
Finger Tip Drag (50m)
Slow Armed Catch Up (50m)
Main Set - 4 x 400m Odd: pull (use paddles if you have them) Even: freestyle with fins. 30sec RI
Cool Down: 200m Back
Run 2miles in Zone 2 out of the pool

The swim felt really good. I swam in a lane with Wings and XXX. XXX kept saying that swimming behind me when I have fins on is like swimming in a washing machine. Haha. :) XXX was given the option of swimming with us this morning or moving to the Dave squared lane. He chose us. I'm so proud of him! I think we are growing on him. :) He used to complain about being in our lane and try to get out of it in any way that he could. Oh how he has changed. :)

The run wasn't bad either. This is the first time I think I have ran after doing a full swim workout. Running when you are sopping wet is not the best, but it does simulate what a real tri is like. My heart rate was a lot higher than normal on the run, but it felt smooth. No hip pain.

Tuesday: Rest
To be honest, I did jack sh$$ today (compared to a normal day)... and it was fabulous! Tubby did not know how to act this morning. When my alarm never went off at 5:10 he began pacing on my bed until he finally sat on top of me.... which then woke me up. (It is impossible to sleep with a 28lb cat on you.) I had 2 big meetings at work this morning that I had to get there early and prepare for. I did have soccer at night. We lost 0-4. It was sad. It was not a good game... however I did not get hit in the head- or anywhere for that matter, so I should say that it was a success.
Wednesday: Swim
I don't have the workout that we did, but it was very similar to Monday's swim. Our long course set was 500's with alternating pulling with paddles and swimming with fins. I borrowed CL's zoomers. She thinks I need to use fins to stop relying on my kick so much to get me through the water. This prolly isn't a bad idea. I have a crappy pull (compared to my kick). The zoomers I borrowed from CL tore up my big toes. I wish I had put some Body Glide on my toes because it rubbed against my skin and it is raw. (Even today, 3 days after this practice, my toes are still raw.) Ouch.

Thursday: Bike on trainer & torture drills
Today we biked on the trainers like usual- but there was some changes from what we were used to. First, we were all in a straight line instead of going around the 3 point basketball line. I think the CL did this so we couldn't see each other as well and therefore couldn't talk as much. Today felt like Fat Camp. I biked next to Lady's Man (Alfredo) and Little T. Even though we weren't supposed to talk much, we did anyway- especially when the CL wasn't looking. At one point she was getting on us to be serious and she left the room and we were doing the wave when she walked in. It was pretty funny. She even laughed. But then it was back to Fat Camp. What does Fat Camp sound like?? Well, it sounds like CL barking out orders like this.... "Your legs are moving too slow!! Higher cadence!! Alfredo, what are you doing getting off the bike?! Get back on! Make it one gear harder, then stand up. Move faster! Stop talking. If you're talking then that means you aren't working hard enough! You shouldn't be able to talk! Sit back down. Make it one gear harder. I didn't say slow your cadence!" CL is a very nice lady and pushes us.  She knows what we are capable of. She is tough but she also knows when to back off when we are about ready to die... thank goodness. :) I appreciate that she is so tough on us because if she wasn't I prolly wouldn't be doing this race and be sitting here typing this right now.

This was my first trainer experience with my tri bike versus my road bike. Wow, what a difference. First of all, it is FABULOUS to have more than just the big chain ring! That was getting REAL old! Although, I must say that biking in the big chain ring with my road bike is much easier than biking in the big chain ring on my tri bike.

After the bike workout we had a surprise from Elaine, another trainer from the YMCA. Elaine (who I will now refer to as the Drill Sargent) can make you feel pain like you have never felt before in 30 seconds or less. She is the equivalent to Julian from the Biggest Loser. She doesn't put up with any crap and if you aren't doing it right, she will let you know (in a heartbeat) and make you do it right (even though it may cause you to be 6 feet under aka dead). The Drill Sargent had the TRX bands waiting for us. We were split up into groups and one group first went to the TRX bands while the rest were on mats doing other painful things. This was my first experience with the TRX equipment. Wow. One of the exercises involved the TRX band hanging from the basketball hoop. It hung down and was 1 foot from the ground. My job was to do a plank with one foot in side of each of the 2 TRX loops. OMG. I have a weak core (this is bad, I know) and this is specifically designed to strengthen your core. Well anyways, I got into position (or what I thought was the correct way to be) and the Drill Sargent walks over and says, "What are you doing? STOP SAGGING YOUR STOMACH. WE DON'T DO IT LIKE THAT." She wasn't kidding. Not one ounce of her. The CL is tough on you, but you know deep down it is coming from love. I did not sense any love from the Drill Sargent. In fact, she just about put the fear of God into me. I did what I was told and lifted up my stomach. I was shaking like a leaf. Afterwards she mentioned how good for us that was. I then found out that we will be seeing the Drill Sargent 3 times a week (Tues, Thurs, and Fri) in addition to everything we have already been doing. Wow. Talk about kicking it up a notch! Deep down I do like it, how sick is that!?

Friday: 30 min run, foam roller, killer abs, weights
Friday's workout was a 30 minute run. I ran with Ladies Man, Percy, and Gator Bait. We ran in a zone 2 pace and laughed a lot. I am so thankful to be able to run with people. Getting up and running at 5am in the dark would never happen if I did this on my own. We talked about that a lot on this run.

The foam roller class was good. The CL is constantly thinking of ways to switch it up and add in new exercises. I like that. I feel like my body is getting used to the old exercises, so adding in new things definitely makes it more challenging.

Drill Sargent came back again today for the Killer Abs class. What is her recipe for torture? Answer: A ball, a mat, 2 weights and 15 minutes. The hardest exercise we did today was a situp where you: Step 1: put the ball in between your legs, do a situp while you also bring your legs up extended out straight with the ball. Step 2: your arms grab the ball and you lower your arms and legs back down. Step 3: keep alternating the ball between your arms and legs. It is hard keeping your legs straight.