I had my first weekend workouts this weekend. Saturday was a 30 minute run, and Sunday was the first "Brick" workout.
Saturday my alarm went off early and I managed to get dressed, suck down some coffee and get to the Y to meet the team for a 30 minute run. Due to conflicts with race schedules, Sharon, the program director, coached the run. Sharon is pretty kick-ass; she's one of those people who loves to exercise and looks good doing it. She coaches at the Y as well as running her own run coaching business. Needless to say, I was a little intimidated knowing that she was leading the run! So off we went, following the same route as Tuesday. I was bringing up the rear and doing ok, and then Sharon dropped back to run with me. Her natural "slow" pace is probably my top speed and I was working to keep up. But she kept encouraging me and before I knew it we'd reached the halfway point. The run back was a little more challenging, so I walked more than I ran, but my overall speed did pick up. I usually run about a 13:30 (and I'm using the term "run" loosely) but the first mile I did with Sharon was 11:13! Yikes! One thing I learned is that I really need to be diligent about cooling down - that 5 minute cool down walk makes a big difference in how I feel later. I was a little wobbly after the run. It could be lack of fuel, though! It's hard to get up, eat and then run.
If you're a Facebook friend, you'll see that when I'm running, I'm using an app called "Walkmeter" to post updates on Facebook. This app is so cool! It will actually transcribe your comments and read them to me so keep those encouraging words coming! Facebook + iPhone = WIN.
So on to Sunday. The dreaded brick workout.
Up again early, this time I ate my Wheaties (actually, Cheerios, but close) and then to the Y and in the water. Brooke (swim coach) outlined our workout - 50 yard warm up, 50 yard crawl, 50 yard kick, 50 yard arms only, then 5 x 100 yard crawl with 60 seconds rest. GULP. I started the first 50 and realized about halfway through it that I wasn't working as hard as I was at the first workout; I was actually applying some of the principles Brooke told us about! I actually enjoyed the swim, believe it or not. I worked hard, and didn't get through it all in the time allotted but it's pretty cool that I can see some improvement already. It's a good thing because I am most concerned about the swim leg of the race. But I have 3 months to go so I should be good to go by August.
Anyway, on to the second leg. Out of the pool, quick shower, dressed and out to the cold and raining morning for the bike leg. The goal was a 30 minute bike ride and I was happy to pedal around the neighborhood, feeling good...until my bike decided to act up. Argh! It kept popping out of gear. Coach Doug helped me get the gears set enough to finish the ride but it did delay me so I was, once again, the slow poke back to the start. Darn it! Oh well, my legs felt good afterwards, and while I was tired, I wasn't DEAD.I guess that means I didn't work hard enough!
Then I dropped my bike off at Bicycles West for a tune-up. I'll pick it up after work today.
On a related note I just registered for the Seafair Torchlight 5K race / walk. My husband and I talked about doing it with the kids in the stroller. It's 2 weeks before the Danskin so it'll give me a good idea of where I stand with run training. Should be fun!
