Main Page> Personal Journals> Journey to an Olympic Distance Triathlon I'm planning on competing in the Los Angeles Triathlon on Sept. 8th 2002. I'm keeping a log of my 18-week training. Thursday, April 25th I just bought a training program to help me get through the next 18 weeks. I want to make sure I'm training properly. The program looks good. It alternates 3 hard weeks with one easy week and keeps building on previous workouts. If I can follow the program, hopefully I'll be ready for the triathlon. Sunday, April 28th I decided to try an ocean swim today for the first time. I was really nervous going in. It was nice that there were a few other first timers in the group as well. My goal was to get into the ocean past the waves. If I did that, I could swim back in at any time. Someone from the group told me to get out past the waves, the best thing to do is to dolphin dive underneath them. I thought they were crazy. I thought I would drown for sure if I did that. As the first wave came, I decided to ignore the advice and try to walk through it. Of course the wave was stronger than me and pushed me 6 feet back towards the shore. I realized I was going to have to dive under the waves if I ever wanted to get out past them. When the next wave came, I tried it. It actually worked! I dove under the next 3 waves and finally, I was out past the breaking point. And the coolest part: I actually got up to within a few feet of real live dolphins who were also playing in the waves! Once I was out, it was time to start swimming parallel to the shore. I was still really nervous and I couldn't control my breathing or my heart rate. I could hardly put my head under water without gasping for air. I tried swimming while keeping my head above water, but realized I wouldn't be able to move very quickly this way. I focused on relaxing and trying to have a long exhale with my head under the water. Eventually, I was able to get comfortable and swim. My goal now was to get to the pier about 0.5 miles in front of me. I kept swimming and getting more relaxed, taking short breaks as I needed them. Eventually, I found myself near the pier. I was feeling pretty good at this point and decided to swim around the pier before heading into shore. Once around the pier, it was time to head in. This part was the easiest. I just had to let the waves push me into shore! I felt so great after my swim, that I went for a run. I can't wait to do it again next weekend! Thursday, May 2nd It just figures that I would come down with a cold, my first week on the program. I went swimming on tuesday night anyways. The air was cold and the wind was strong, but at least the pool was warm. Despite being sick, I actually got in a pretty good workout. I really focused on keeping my most of my head in the water and having good body position. I kept reminding myself to keep my body parallel to the water level. Last night, I really felt terrible though. I decided to take the night off and not do my cycling workout. I hope I did the right thing. I ended up going to bed and sleeping for 10 hours. Tonight, I have another pool workout planned. I'd like to go, but I don't want to make myself more sick. We'll see what happens. Monday, May 6th I went for my second ocean swim this weekend. The water was a little colder and it was foggy, but I was able to get in a full mile. It took me 40 minutes. My goal for the LA Triathlon is 35 minutes, so it shouldn't be too difficult. I took so many breaks during my swim that I could cut out 5 minutes easily. The water was cold too. I found it difficult to exhale under the water. I didn't seem to have so much trouble last week. My ride on Saturday morning went well. It was about 30 miles, with 15 miles being hilly. I'm afraid of going fast downhill though, and I end up braking a lot. Actually, I'm starting to feel like biking on the road is really dangerous. I'm thinking of doing most of my bike training in cycling classes to avoid injury. It feels like every week I hear about someone else in serious condition in the hospital after a biking accident. I hope that cycling classes will give me most of the training I need. Tonight after work, I will go out for a 45 minute run. My goal will be to take about 180 steps every minute and work at about 85% of my max heart rate. Thursday, May 9th My training program had 65 minutes of cycling scheduled for yesterday. I decided to take a cycling class instead of going outside for a ride. I figured a 60 minute cycling class would come close to the suggested 65 minutes. Since cycling classes tend to be more interval-ly, I didn't follow the instructor too closely. I stayed seated on my bike most of the class and tried to keep a regular cadence throughout the entire class. I aimed for 90 rpm. I felt pretty good. The only problem was that the instructor ended the class way too early. Her tape was shorter than she thought, and the class ended up being only about 40 minutes. I feel like I missed my workout! Tuesday, May 14th I raced my first triathlon of the season on Saturday. To warm up for the season, I choose a short triathlon; 250 yard swim, 12km bike, 5km run. I ended up coming in 11th out of 39. Not too bad. I was nervous about my swim. In the two previous triathlons that I had done, I ended up not being able to catch my breath in the swim, and ended up swimming on my back. I didn't want to let that happen this time. I got into the lake about 30 minutes before the start and did some lengths. I felt pretty good. I told myself to take my time in the swim and not to let others dictate my pace. When the race started, I felt good. As we turned the first buoy I looked up and panicked. My breathing started getting really short again. I was determined not to let myself turn on my back. I allowed my head to stay above the water and I continued to swim on my front. As I began to feel better, I put my head back under the water. Then my breathing became short again and I had to lift my head. This cycle continued for the entire swim. I did notice that when I was able to swim properly, I also passed people. I will work harder on my swim so that I will not lose my breath due to panic at my next race on July 14th. The bike went well. I felt like I passed a lot of people and not that many people seemed to pass me. Since I'd been doing my training on hilly runs, this course seemed pretty easy. Mostly, I was worried about getting a flat tire. I'm still not confident that I could change one easily. The run felt ok. As opposed to my last 2 triathlons, I didn't feel like I had "elephant legs" when I started my run. I felt pretty good during the run, but I would have liked the ability to run a little faster. It felt like a lot of people were running faster than me. I'd been so worried about my bike and swim during my training, most of my running workouts ended up being skipped. I will not allow myself to do this in the future. The day after my race I went out for a 50 minute run as indicated on my training program. It was 92 degrees outside when I went out. Yesterday, my training program had scheduled a 2 hour easy bike ride. I went out on a new bicycle path to see where it lead me. About 35 minutes into the ride I started to feel like I wasn't in the safest neighbourhood, so I headed for home. Since I'd only biked for about 70 minutes total, I decided to take a cycling class that night as well. My quads and hams are just a little tight today. Tonight I will go for an easy swim and get a good nights sleep. Sunday, May 26th I decided to change my weight routine today. Instead of doing the standard 3 sets of 8-12, I did 1 set of 50 reps for each muscle group, including 50 push ups! I want my muscles to build endurance and I think this is the way to go. Wednesday, May 29th Last night, at my swim, I ended up in a lane in the middle of the pool, with faster swimmers than me. Not by choice though, the other, slower lanes were all taken. I'm actually glad this happened. Not that I was in any way able to keep up with the swimmers next to me, but I feel like they pushed me more. I swam faster than I normally do, and I found myself really focusing on my stroke. I kept my head in the water and only let half my face turn out to grab some air. I really wanted to improve my positioning to get more distance per stroke. On each reach, I told myself to really reach far, then glide and pull back strong. It seemed like the end of the pool kept sneaking up on me. What surprised me the most, was that I was able to continue at that pace for the entire workout. I'd never pushed myself like that before. We'll see if I can do that again on Thursday night! Sunday, June 2nd I took an ocean swim clinic this morning. In my mind, the ocean waves were quite big and the rip tide was strong. Funny how the waves look so much bigger when you are in the water. At the start of the clinic, the coaches explained several ocean swimming tips to us. To get out past the waves, the best thing to do is dolphin dive. Place your arms in a diving position in front of your head and dive down underneath the wave. It's very important to keep your arms in front of you to protect your face and neck. I found this out the hard way when I banged my chin on the ocean floor. When you dive under a wave, you want to get the timing right. You need to dive under early enough to give yourself time to get completely under the wave so that it doesn't push up back to shore. When the waves are lower than hip level, you need to grab the sand on the ocean floor when you dive down so that the wave doesn't pull you back. As you get up to chest height and higher, you won't need to touch the bottom to get underneath the pull of the wave. I need to practice my ins and outs much more. Once I'm past the breaking point, swimming is easy. It's getting past the waves that is difficult. I also want to practice coming back in. If I get it right, I'll be able to ride a wave in and not have to swim too much. I will also be practicing much more in the pool over the next few months. I need to become a stronger swimmer in general, not just in the ocean. Tuesday, June 3rd I did some weights at the gym last night. I did 50 pushups, followed by 2-3 sets of a difficult 15 reps of flys, pull ups, incline bench, lat pull down, tricep push downs, bicep curls and delt raises (rear and mid). I was feeling so good after my session, that my boyfriend and I took a brisk walk down to the pier. I love how I feel like I just fly when I walk quickly in my running shoes after a good workout. Sometimes it's difficult to start an exercise session, but once you get your heart rate going, you just don't want to stop! Wednesday, June 4th Scott Molina was a guest speaker at a dinner I was at the other night. He suggested the idea of a swimming "camp". That means that over a week, go for 5-8 swims. I decided, that since my swimming could definitely use some improvement, this might not be a bad idea. I did my first of these swims last night. My swimming coach even gave me some comments on my stroke. For the first time ever, I did 50 yards in 40 seconds. She said that I need to take out some of the glide in my stroke and turn my arms over a little quicker. She also said to kick from my hips, not my knees and to keep my legs close together. My legs and my arms should be moving at about the same pace. Her improvements really helped my time! Tuesday, June 18th After taking last week off, I'm back in training for the final 12 weeks before the LA Triathlon. I started yesterday off with a 40 minute run. I tried taking smaller, quicker strides. I also focused on landing more on the ball of my foot then my heel. From what I understand, this will reduce the chance of a running injury. This morning, I went for a one mile ocean swim. The water is getting warmer, and I actually got a little hot in my wetsuit. It took me about 30 minutes to swim one mile. My goal for LA Tri is to finish the swim in 35 minutes. Tonight I will teach a step class and do some weights. Wednesday, June 19th I'm sore today. I never made it to the weight room last night. I hope my legs will recover enough to take a spinning class tonight. I think it's good to push yourself when you're a little sore. Makes you that much stronger. Saturday, June 22nd I took a spinning class this morning, instead of going out for a ride. I arrived about 10 minutes early so that I could get a longer workout. I'd like to return outdoors for next weeks ride. Sunday, June 23rd My ocean swim went well. There were a lot of swells, which was kinda funky. As I turned to breath, the swell I was up on would drop me back down sending butterflies to my stomach. Pretty neat. Thursday, June 27th I had my wisdom teeth taken out on Monday. The recovery period was longer than I expected. Though I'm still not feeling even 90%, I decided to go for a swim last night. I figured it was low impact and would at least get me moving. I was planning on doing some slow easy laps for about 15 minutes, then getting out. I surprised myself and got through the entire workout, even pushed myself a bit. The pain even disapeared during my workout ... though came back soon after. Wednesday, July 3rd Tough workout day yesterday. I woke up early and got in a 1 mile ocean swim. I pushed myself pretty hard and was tired at the end. I made sure I did some yoga afterwards to stretch out. After work I taught a step class. Then I went to my swimming class. The pool was packed, which is good practice for the start of a triathlon. I was pretty tired at the end of the day and by boyfriend gave me a good massage :-) Today I will go for a run and do some weights. The weight workout will be full body, with and emphasis on the lower body, since I emphasized upper body on Sunday. Thursday, July 4th I went for a one mile ocean swim this morning. I pushed myself hard and didn't take too many breaks. After the swim, I went for a quick 30 minute run. Friday, July 5th Since I got off work early today, I was able to spend some time in the weight room. I did upper and lower body, focusing first on lower body. My right knee has started to hurt me a bit. Saturday, July 6th I went for a loop around PV this morning. I took a new route and went around Hawthorn. The hill up Hawthorn was good practice and I'm looking forward to doing it again. I started my bike ride at 5:30 am to avoid cars. Sunday, July 7th My knee is really bugging me today. I first noticed in my ocean swim. I have a triathlon next weekend, so I'm getting a little worried about my knee. I have no idea what I did or what I should be doing to make it better. I'm going to ice it and try to stay off my feet. Wednesday, July 10th I taught step last night and didn't notice my knee too much. Then I went swimming. After the first hundred yards, my knee started to hurt. My the end of the warm up, I was trying not to kick. I ended up placing those foam floaters in between my legs and only working on my arm stroke. I got a pretty good workout from that, and it didn't bug my knee. Tonight, I will attempt a spinning class and hopefully some weights. Monday, July 15th I raced in my longest triathlon yet on the weekend. A sprint tri: 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run. I was most nervous about the swim, because it was long and in the ocean. The waves were almost non-existant though, and the swim went well. As I was getting out of the water, if someone had told me I had to do the swim all over again, I could have. I feel ready for the LA swim in terms of distance. The transition was a little painful due to my knee. The bike was amazing. I loved the course. The lanes were super wide and the course was straight, so no big turns that required breaking. It was just hilly enough. My knee really started to hurt during the run though. I actually turned around in the run, beacause of my knee. But 2 seconds after I turned around to stop to race, I decided I REALLY wanted to finish, and turned around again and finished the race. My run obviously took me longer than I would have liked, but I'm pleased I finished. I'm not sure my knee feels the same way though! Tonight I will do some upper body weights, then get back to training on Tuesday. Wednesday, July 31st My knee is finally feeling better and I'm back in full swing. I went for a long run on Saturday. It was 7 miles. I don't think I've ever run 7 miles before. And in under an hour! I've started to run a little differently. I'm taking short, quick steps. They take much less energy than long, jumping type strides and are easier on the body. I was able to increase my speed with very little effort. Tonight I will go for another run and hopefully hit the weight room as well. Tuesday, August 6th I'm trying to get back into a weight training routine this week. Though my endurance is getting better through swimming, biking and running, I'm losing strength. I need to get back to spending more time lifting weights. On Saturday, I did abs and lower back before my cycling class, then I did some delts after class. Yesterday morning before work, I did chest, back and inner and outer thigh. Tonight I will do biceps and triceps before my step class, then hopefully get in a run. I've been doing heavy weights, which I havn't done for a while as well. I'd like to get back to muscle I've lost. Tuesday, August 13th I've been working hard the past few days. On Saturday, I did chest, back and abs. On Sunday, I took an 1.5hr cycling class, then followed it with a 4 mile run. For the first time ever, I discovered the importance of fuel. Everyone always told me that eating properly through out the workout was important, but I never really knew what they meant. So whenever I got off the bike to begin running (in training or racing), I'd always feel like I lacked energy. I figured it was from all the exercise, not from lack of food. On Sunday, before my brick training, I ate an egg and a banana (my usual meal). But during the workout, instead of just drinking water, I made sure to drink a water bottle full of gatorade. I'd never been so strong in my run after a bike. I didn't feel hungry or burned out. Yesterday, I did triceps and biceps, then went for an interval training run. This morning I did a one mile ocean swim. Tonight I will do chest, back and biceps again, and teach a step class. Monday, August 26th I rode the LA triathlon bike course on Saturday. The course is pretty flat. One steep and short hill right at the end, but that's pretty much it. Before I started the bike, I checked out the ocean. The waves seemed bigger than on my end of the beach. I went for an ocean swim and followed it with a 6 mile barefoot sand run on Sunday morning. Monday, September 9th The LA Triathlon is over. I reached my goal of under 3 hours. The run was a little rough, but an overall great race. I can't wait to do it again next year! Questions or Comments? Please e-mail me at bestrong_ca@yahoo.com