8-25-10 Workout Summary

I had two different workouts today.

The first started w/ an easy 60min bike. Anyone that knows me, know I'm not the greatest at getting up early. So, I decided to do my bike after class & before I drove to Clemson for the TNT swim. We got out of class early - thank goodness. I frantically drove over to the Y, changed & headed out to do loops in Cleveland Park. It had been a little while since I had road in Cleveland Park (I usually go to Donaldson) & I forgot how much I enjoyed that small loop. It's got a couple good hills and also a very nice flat in the middle where you can get going pretty fast! The middle section of the 60min I took at a tempo pace. Loved it! Got out of my seat going up hill, pushed on the up hills, down hills & flats. I even made myself take the corner fast w/o going crazy wide (I had an accident last year that still plays w/ my mind.) Well, unfortunately time was up. I did get right about my 60mins in though! Ran into the Y again, changed, ran out & headed to Clemson for the open water swim w/ TNT.

The open water swim went really well. My TNTers did great, especially when they remembered to sight! I tried to keep a nice steady pace through the entire 1600yards. It felt good, really good. When I finished there were just a few people ahead of me, but my TNTers were out of sight, so I went back out. Didn't end up going to far out before I found KImberly & then I just swam in w/ her.

All in all a great day!! Especially because a very nice Clemson guy found my phone in the middle of the road & saved it for me ... long story.

8-24-10 Workout Summary

SWIM!! Wow, did it feel great to be in the water!

When I'm in the pool I don't think about school, or how much homework i have to read, or where am I going to find a job ... I'm just in the water, enjoying every bit of it. I think about my hand entering the water. What angle is it going in? Is that the most efficient. Now Sarah, finish your stroke. Don't cross the midline. Get those hips rotating. There you go! Swimming is wonderful. I love it. I'm not miss olympic swimmer. I'm not the fastest in the pool, but maybe one day I will be! Ok. Wishful thinking, I know. There will always be those collegiate swimmers who have been out of swimming for 10yrs and jump in and knock the socks off everyone. But you know what. That time I have, being in the water, it is so refreshing!

Todays swim totaled 3500. Nothing special. The main set had 4 x (500-moderate pace/45sec rest/100easy). At the end I had to do 12 x 25 (10 or less strokes & 2 or less breaths). Woa buddy! Now, that's what I call fun!!

It was a great workout and just exactly what I needed today. Saw a few friendly faces in the pool ... always nice to catch up w/ people.

Weekend Workout Report

What a GREAT weekend!! Waking up at 3:30am wasn't the most fun on Saturday, but it just meant I got to fit more into the day. Headed into town at 4am to pick up Nicole, and then we took off for Anderson. She & two of my TNTers were racing in the Anderson YMCA sprint triathlon. They all did fantastic & watching/cheering them on made me really wish I was out there racing. Oh well. Money doesn't grow on trees, & I don't race in the YMCA series, so it seemed kinda pointless.

Anyways, when I got back to Greenville I headed out to Donaldson for my ride. I had to get in 60miles (w/ a 30min transition run), so I did 2 loops of one of my staple routes. It was great, but very wet! I met up w/ a friend who just happened to be heading out at the same time. He only had to do 30 miles, but it was nice riding w/ someone for the 1st loop. I was a little concerned at first b/c my legs felt like cement block, but that quickly went away. In the middle of each loop I threw in 10miles of tempo effort. Done w/ the bike & onto the run. I quickly got into a groove and felt good. I felt so good I made the middle 10min at tempo pace. It seemed to rain or drizzle the entire ride/run. Thankfully I had dry clothes to change into after I was done, because I was sick of being wet & completely water logged! Driving home my legs ached so bad. It wasn't normal. I had stretched but it was still awful. It made me concerned about Sunday's long run, but I took Advil when I got home & stretched again. When I woke up on Sunday morning they didn't seem horrible at all.

Sunday's run: 15miles DONE! No walking, no bonking & I felt pretty decent! I used to think that after that distance I would surely feel like I was dying or something ... not so much. Yes, my legs are tired & slightly sore, but all in all not that bad! I have found that instead of taking an entire gel pack every 45min, I have to do 2 gulps of my gel flask (not quite equal to 1 whole pack) every 40mins. That seems to do the trick for me. Also, I changed fluid drinks and that seems to be helpful to. I don't really care for the flavor of Accelerade, but I really like how well I have been feeling throughout my workouts. One funny thing from today... it was pretty hot & I was completely drenched in my own sweat. So when I got to the YMCA locker room, I just walked into the shower completely clothed. Figured my clothes/shoes couldn't get any more wet than they already were so why not rinse them out!!

New TNT Crew

I've got a great new group of TNTers!

They are training for longer distances than the previous Tri Latta group, so it's a little more time consuming, but fun. Four of them are training for the DC - Nations Tri, which is an International distance. The other two are training for the Augusta 70.3, FORD Half IronMan.

I'm excited because I will be racing Augusta with them. Last year I went down and watched the TNTers race. Its seemed like such a great course that I just had to do it this year! In fact, in an attempt to stay focused on training for Augusta 70.3, I will be posting either daily or every other day my workouts and nutritional experiences. I've got 5 weeks till the big race, so stay tuned if you want to see what I'm up to!

This group has definitely tried my depth of knowledge with all their questions. It's been nice to see them start to trust me ... and that's what getting lots of questions means. They expect me to have an answer, and they trust that it is going to be the correct answer. =)

They have been great advocates for the TNT mission and have been a strong front out in the community w/ trying to raise funds for the research and ultimately the cure of blood cancers.

The majority of this group did the Greenville triathlon a couple weeks back and did GREAT! My Augusta crew is going to be doing another YMCA sprint this Saturday as just another practice "race mode" & transitions day. I know they are not going to like the fact that they have to run the run course 2 more times after they cross the finish line ... but they know I love them! It's going to be a great day out there.

CHANGE - I'm going back to school!!

Change is bound to happen. Whether good. bad or neither, everyone's life changes. Mine sure has. I've had some down time from racing and so I haven't really kept up my blog, so I'm going to briefly cover what's been going on.

I missed one race during this period because there was lots going on.

- I had to lay off some of my training due to my ankle, & then my hip started to flare up (which is never good for me).

There were also some non-athletic things going on:

- I became more involved w/ TNT (which we got a new wonderful group of triathletes).

- My friend Nicole had her baby ... a beautiful baby boy. So I've been w/o my training buddy ALLLL summer.

- Also, some stuff at home has been going on too.

- Had to start looking for a new job because ....

- The big change for me happened about 2months ago when I got a call. They told me I was 2nd on the waiting list to get into nursing school. What? Earlier this summer I was told I hadn't gotten in. On the phone the said I had to prepare as if I was already in (even though I wasn't). So I started getting all the paperwork & bloodwork done. Had my physical & then I waited. Waiting was the worst!

About 4 weeks ago I got the call that I was in. What a relief!! I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing & it is so nice to actually have it all come together.

Today was my first day of classes. I'm not overwhelmed yet! Let's just hope I can figure out all the computer stuff b/c I have 2 online courses. I've got two years ahead of me and I know they are going to fly. I can't wait to be a nurse!!

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I'm starting a new thing. A friend reminded me today that I have 5 weeks until Augusta 70.3, so in order to keep me accountable I am going to start using this blog as a real blog. If not daily, every other day, I will be posting my daily workout & nutrition experiences in the hopes to keep me focused while I start this new school journey and my free time gets even less.