A little marathon on my mind...

Today, I went out, watched and supported the ING New York City Marathon.  I personally knew 4 people that were running, all of which were between 1 to 9 years older than me.  It seems like this is the age to do races!


So, today, I signed up for the New York City Half Marathon!  Wish me luck!  *update: I didn't make the lottery, the half-marathon was screwy this year for New Yorkers, so they are actually refunding everyone their application fee*

14 miles on my bike...

I've missed my bike. I haven't really ridden her in a good 2 weeks, and it was time.  I took her for a spin meandering through the streets of Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, checking out the sites and a neighborhood that I am very much unfamiliar with.  After I got bored with that (and paranoid about getting a flat), I cruised on over to Prospect Park and did a quick 3.35 mile loop, and then headed back to my place. 

Its getting a lot darker a lot earlier now, so I think its time I invest in some low-light safety gear for both myself and my bike.

Battle of Brooklyn!

Today, I ran the most I have ever run.

I ran (and walked a bit, I'll admit) 10 miles in the JackRabbit Sports' Battle of Brooklyn 10-Miler Run!  It was 3 full loops of Prospect Park, and was a pretty good race.

It was humid, it was sweaty, it was a little painful, and it was worth all $20 of it. :) I have a small blister on the bottom of my foot. I'll admit that my new Aasics haven't gotten more than 4 miles on them at a time, since I purchased them last month.  I also haven't run more than 4 miles since the triathlon, so keeping an 11:28 pace for the race was pretty good.  I actually don't run at that pace, I run much faster -- I just don't have the stamina and endurance to keep going, especially with my back, my ankles/knees, and then the cramps and blister that were developing from about mile 5. 
Today's race was probably the most low-budget race I will ever run.  The race number bibs didn't have the race's name or any design on them, so I took the liberty of designing my own "Battle of Brooklyn" logo.

A few coworkers and friends also ran the race, and I recognized a few faces from Team In training for the triathlon, so it really makes me feel like I'm actually beginning to get "in" with the racing community.  I feel great despite getting up at 6am, and burning about 1,300 kilo-calories! I'm going to see how long I can go without a nap today.

Thanks again for all of your support this year.  This is probably my last (and third) race of the summer.

1. June: Staten Island Flat As A Pancake, Sprint Triathlon, 16 miles
2. July: New York City Triathlon, Full Triathlon, 32 miles.
   (Pictures are now posted from the NYC TRI event!)
3. August: Battle of Brooklyn Run, 10 miles

The training never ends!

Here are a few highlights of the past weeks since the triathlon:

1) I decided 1 race was not enough.  I needed more.  I've signed up for a 10 mile race, which is next week.  Its the first annual "Battle of Brooklyn", and I'm assuming a 12-minute mile average, and therefore a goal of 2 hours.  This is based on the fact that I run a 9:45mile, but don't have the endurance to keep going at that pace.  I don't have the ability to go slower - I just tend to walk a bit every so often. The race starts at 8am next Sunday, and I *hope* I'm done by 10am!

2) I was deathly sick for about a week, a week after the triathlon.  I could eat, I didn't want liquids, I was a complete mess.  I heard that a guy from my high school who also did the tri had to go to the ER for some weird dehydration issues. He's okay now, but it really makes me wonder if my sickness was really due to bad seafood I had a week after the tri, or if it was somehow Hudson related.

3) The Yahoo! matches came in for my donations!!  I am officially at over $1000 over the fundraising minimum!!  I'm still waiting on a few more matches to come through, but this is amazing!!   THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR DONATIONS!! I promise I will get my thank you note out soon.

4) I've been trying to reclaim my social life, while not going too hard, and still remembering that I have this 10 miler coming up.

5) I'm still losing weight, but I'm still looking toned.

6) My back is still out of whack, and I don't know how much longer I want to go without seeing a back doctor.  really, I'm not sure if I just need a really good massage.

7) Me and the guy from my high school (we randomly recognized each other at a Team In Training group training session!) got featured in our high school's monthly photostream!  How cool is that?  A fellow ASIJer had come to watch us and cheer for us, and got this awesome picture. :)

Adjusting to normal life...

Its been difficult adjusting back to my life, pre-triathlon.  I don't feel the desire to eat many of the things I did before, I don't have the energy to stay out with friends past 11pm, and I am officially a lightweight.  These things weren't really apparent when I was training, because it was all part of the training regime, and now that the triathlon is over, its a little bit of a test to see what I am going to pick up.

My back is surprisingly still sore, and a fellow triathlete has said that I need to keep stretching my muscles, especially my hamstrings, and definitely keep working out.  I unfortunately haven't worked out even once since the 18th -- I've been too sore!

I'm hoping that the soreness, and associated weak stomach will go away soon, so I can figure out what my next steps will be.  There's a 10 mile run (race) coming up in Brooklyn called "The Batte of Brooklyn". Might do that!

Thanks to all for your support since I signed up for this crazy adventure.

-Sarah

Week 21: Muscles & Aches!

Yes, I was actually feeling better on Sunday night. Today, my body is just not doing as well. I should go for a massage, but I'm not sure it would be more gain than pain.

I still don't have the energy to do a fully update, so in the meantime, here's a great photo from the race finish! Total time: 3:41:47. (The main clock is from when the first wave went off in the late 5am hour -- I was in the 11th wave at 6:17am.)

I'm A New York City Triathlete!!

Its Sunday night (10pm), and I've been up since 3:45am. I can't believe I haven't taken a nap yet, but the adrenaline has just been churning through my veins I guess.

Regardless, I am now a true triathlete, and was able to complete the 32 mile course of the very humid, and hilly NYC Tri in 3 hours and 41 minutes and 47 seconds. My goal was always to try to finish in under 4 hours, and there were definitely training sessions where I didn't think I'd be able to do it.

I'll provide a better update tomorrow, but just wanted to let everyone know that
1) I'm alive!!!!
2) I beat my expectations and
3) I am grateful for every single person that has supported me on this journey both financially for my fundraising and emotionally.

Its been a rough day, and my nerves are shot. Time to take a well-deserved sleep and get ready for the work week. (i probably should have taken tomorrow off, sigh)

Here's a sneak peak of some of the pictures from today. I have some great friends and coworkers who came out to watch me today, and I want to thank every single one of them for their presence and cheering!

It still hasn't hit me that I'm a triathlete, I did an endurance race, and 20 weeks ago, I couldn't even run a mile without being out of breath (and it would take me about 12-15 minutes to run that mile).

An Awesome Day As Part of Team Yahoo!

Today was a good day. Catherine's father came in to talk to the team about his experience with myeloma. I learned so much today about cancer, the way it has affected Catherine's family, and how amazing of a bond they share.

Today, I cried in front of strangers and coworkers, and honestly didn't care. Dan (Catherine's dad) told us a moving story about his 5 year battle with cancer, and how the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has helped him. To date, we have raised $195,000 for Team In Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as TEAM YAHOO.

Appropriately, today also felt a little bit like a Spirit Day. Our team jerseys came in, and I proudly wore mine over my work clothes. I'm not sure if I'll wear my Y! jersey or my Team In Training singlet for the race, but I have a day to test out how the Y! top feels.

Thank you to Catherine and Dan for sharing your stories with us. Thank you to Doug for being an amazing captain, and helping our team fundraise so much, and making Team Yahoo! the amazing experience that it has been so far. Thank you to Jodie for putting all of this together today with Catherine's father, and getting the t-shirt that we signed for him. My message read, "Y!OU'VE KEPT ME GOING". Through all the training and the pain, I know sometimes I have been distracted and have forgotten the true reason I'm doing this. I don't fully remember what it was like when my family lost my dad's brother to cancer, but there are days that I definitely look at my father and wonder what it is like to lose a sibling, an only sibling, and not be able to continue a life with them. Its unimaginable, and the thought makes me feel a helplessness that I cannot describe. I hope the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society can continue to do its good work, and keep more people healthy (or healthier), and keep more families together. I thank all of Team Yahoo! for pushing me to keep training, and to keep fundraising, and to keep being a part of this amazing experience.

I can't believe how close it is...

If you are in New York, please come and watch the triathlon, and come support me! There are 2 critical points in the run portion that supportive words, and people screaming my name will definitely help!
1) The top of the park, Central Park North around 110th street, right before the hardest part of the course. A windy, torturous stretch of uphill mayhem.
2) East 96th Street: Right after the "Northern Woods"/Harlem Hills, when I think my legs are going to give out, and I'm going to be tempted to walk, since I know other around me will be walking. I need to keep running, and I want to!

So, if you're in the NY area, please let me know where you will be watching!!! Here's a guide that i created.... http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=106165244077527675094.00048b6eee1b49806d75e

It isn't every day that I ask for support. It isn't every day that I fish for compliments, and it definitely is not every day that I ask you (my supportive readers) for your feedback and comments! Regardless, since I'm within 2 days of possibly the most nervous, physically challenging experience I've ever had to endure, I'm going to go against everything that makes up who I am. So... leave a comment, a piece of advice, a word of support.... anything will help at this point! I've definitely got some nervous jitters now...

Cubical Surprisical!

I got to work today to this wonderful cubicle surprise, from my friend and coworker Rachel, and my fellow triathlete and honorary Right Media team captain, Jodie.

Its funny because I was in the office really late yesterday working on stuff, and both Jodie and Rachel were in the office... trying to make sure I didn't see them decorating other people's cubes.

This is so awesome, and makes me so happy!
Thanks guys!

Master Splinter!

Yes, this weekend I nicknamed myself "Master Splinter". Why, you ask? Keep reading!

This past weekend, we had our final open water swim (test) before the Nautica New York City Triathlon. We'll be swimming a mile in the Hudson River, so our coaches thought it would be important to get some more open water experience (think waves, murky waters, jellyfish, slime, etc) before the big day. After our 1 hour in the ocean of Coney Island beach, we transitioned into running mode, washed our selves off, stripped down out of our wetsuits, and donned our sneakers.

We got onto the boardwalk with about 3 miles laid out in front of us to run. On boardwalk.

For those of you that are familiar with boardwalks, let's just say they are not the most even. They are also not known for being all that well-maintained, and Coney Island, I feel, can boast being on top of a glorified list of boardwalks with excessive nails sticking out. I don't know if it was that I still had my sea-legs, whether I was distracted by catching up to a coworker on the run, or the fact that my hair-tie was quickly slipping off and my curly hair was threatening to let loose... all I can say is that I wiped-out, and I wiped out hard. Also, being that it was a sunny day, and I've been feeling a little more confident about my triathlete body, I had opted to go in my sports bra (smart one, sarah). So, my sneaker caught a nail and as I tried to catch myself, my other shoe caught a bent nail as well. I sprawled, stomach, elbow, wrists all out, flat between two male coworkers, and my water bottle went flying down the boardwalk about 25 feet.

Embarrassing. I literally had a swarm of 8 (all male, all Team In Training members) pulling me up off the ground, asking me if I was okay. There go any chances of picking up some nice triathletes... I felt so uncool and uncoordinated, but only for a second. As an athlete, I had to put myself in the right mindset and just keep going.

I discovered though that the boardwalk splinters had torn up the top of my tri shorts, and I had splinter throughout my top, and had about 10 splinters on the left side of my body. I was able to remove all but 2, and tried to perform a poorly executed extraction on myself, only leaving some excessive scars (and the 2 splinters). Sigh. I'm missing a little chunk from my hand, a little of my dignity and have a pretty bad splinter still in my side. Somehow, these splinter made me think of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and calling myself Master Splinter made me feel ever so slightly better.

Trying to build up the excitement for the triathlon! Less than a week!
-Master Splinter signing out

PS - Here's a nice little compare & contrast to illustrate how my coolness points have gone since upgrading my lifestyle (and subsequently my wardrobe) to that of a triathlete!

MY GEAR IS HERE!!!!!

I went a little nuts on PerformanceBike.com over the 4th of July weekend. Needless to say, I'm ready to rock for the triathlon.
T minus 9 days and counting!!!
And, just so you know what you're looking at, here's my shopping list. :)
1. 2010 Louis Garneau Exo-Nerv Road Helmet. 29 vents. 270 grams. Need I say more?
2. Box of Caffeinated Black Cherry Clif Gel Bloks x2
3. Clif Shot Electrolyte Drink (its organic)
4. Micro-mini Hurricane Pump with Bike Mount
5. PowerBar Chew Gel Blasts with Caffeine Shots in Strawberry/Banana
6. Optic Nerve Hyperthreat Athletic Sunglasses with Interchangeable lenses for varying light settings
7. OnGuard ULock with Extra Cable for secondary locking

I feel like a maniac, and I couldn't help myself, so here goes! Here's me with the helmet+shades. Maybe knowing I look good will help me rock out harder? The only thing I'm regretting right now is not trying bicycling clip-in shoes earlier. I did buy new running shoes, but I'm wondering if I really missed out with the clips. Something about it all just made me really nervous, having never been clipped into a bike and all...

Goodnight, world! Bedtime till the triathlon will be 10:30pm and earlier!

I'm sick, but I'm pumped still!!

So, we're down to less than 2 weeks til the New York City triathlon, and I'm SICK!

I've been taking it easy, and ran a brisk 2 miles (9:30 pace) for 2 of the last 4 days, but i'm really hurting. With my present sinus infection, I actually feel like someone kicked me in the face, and I'm hoping and praying that it wears off July 18th.

Today was the Tri Team send off, with some final words of advice from the coaches, and our final social gathering as the NYC Chapter of Team in Training for the NYC Tri. Its wild to think that we are at the end of our 5 months of training, and the end is so near.

I'm really excited and am beginning to gear up (literally) for the triathlon. I spend about $200 on gear and nutrition for the race at Performance Bike, so maybe when the box arrives, I'll take a picture of all my goodies. :) But, after the bike fitting I had on Friday, I knew it was time to get a new bike helmet. Literally everyone in the store gave me a hard time, and one guy went through the process of describing how a helmet that is more than 3 years old is not going to be able to effectively protect my brain from a crash. In essence, any head crash contains 2 crashes:
1) when you head hits the pavement
2) when your brain hits the inside of your skull.

Nice visual, right? This guy kept gushing about it, and definitely got the point home. I subsequently bought this spiffy brain-protector. I like that it matches my bike, and I'm ready to rock it out! :) It might be a man's helmet, but I think its damn sexy (and I did not pay the $100 that it is valued at!)

Its Been One Week...

Since I really started challenging myself. We're at 3 weeks left, and I definitely feel like I'm at the peak of my workouts. From here on, we're supposed to taper it off and let our bodies prepare for the endurance test that is the New York City Nautica Triathlon.

On Saturday (6/26), we did a full 2 1/2 hr workout in the blistering sun at Prospect Park. A 1:30 hour bike ride, and an hour run. I biked about 24 miles and ran slightly under 6 miles, and I was pumped!

On Sunday, I took it easy, but...
on Monday (6/28), no joke, I did a 1 mile continuous swim in 44 minutes. We did 3/4s of the mile in our wetsuits, and did the final 1/4 without. It was amazing, and exhilarating and I loved every minute of it. I even emerged from the water thinking that I could actually get on my bike and go!

On Tuesday (6/29), we did a full lap of Central Park. 6 miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes, in a 86* weather. Holy wow, is all I can say. I was in a little pain from shin splits and sore calves, but I made it!! It really was a glorious finish, and I'm glad that running is the final portion, because its going to be so great crying, whining, and smiling all the way to that finish line.

From Saturday's workout... the Brooklyn Yahoos!!! (minus 1)

Kelli, Muhammed, Sarah, Hilary
Lookin' good, team!

Its the Final Countdown!

One month till the New York City Triathlon!

It was a good week of growth, not necessarily training, but emotional and mental growth. Sunday was a complete wash last week, as I recovered from the crazy day of Flat As A Pancake. I'm glad we got some good team pictures at the Staten Island FAAP Race (above). Its wild how buff my arms have gotten!

On Monday, we had more practice with our wetsuits. I was late to practice due to a crazy schedule at work, which involved taking on one of our largest clients temporarily for 3 weeks. I was stressed at work, and stressed to be late to practice, and I had difficulty even climbing into my suit. My body was all red and buffy with the stress and the sauna-like atmosphere of the pool area, that it just got tougher and tougher to get it on. That, and I had Coach Ed yelling at me in a little bit of a drill sergeant manner (he thought he was being funny, I was not amused). In the end, he ended up dropping his act, and actually had to pull me into my suit.

It really was a rough week this week. I was unable to do anything Tuesday-Friday as I was in Boston on business (early morning train, late coming home, and otherwise in the office till about 7 or 8pm every night. My brain was mentally drained, and my body was physically drained, but craving a good workout. I rested on Friday to prepare for our first group open water training session!

Saturday (6/19), I was up at 6am, and on the train to Coney Island by 6:30am. Team practice started at 7:30am on the boardwalk, and I was psyched! I spent the train ride thinking about my stroke, and also about how I was happy that there had been NO Naked Juice in my morning diet. (That's really truly what I believe ruined my swim). I also got to talk to Coach John on the ride there -- he was the only other TNTer on the train, so I got some good tips and really got to learn about how he trains and prepares mentally and physically.

We swam about a 3/4 mile total, and I am proud to say, the swim was a lot better! Flat As A Pancake was so awful that it had made me really take some time to reevaluate my fitness to figure out if it was actually a good idea to do a tri. I had long clean strokes, and I was able to test out swimming with my contacts on! Its hard to think about moments that I'm genuinely proud of myself, but this was definitely a moment I had in the water. I was doing it, and I was doing it well. I also did an extra lap than about most of the folks in the beginner's group (I think a lot of people were nervous since it was their first time in the water), and it felt damn good.

Coney Island is home to some special memories of mine, over my 9 years in New York. One special memory is from two years ago when I went to the Mermaid Parade with some friends, got some great pictures, and had a great time. My friend, Liz, was in the parade and it was really great to see her in her mermaidy glory! The Mermaid Parade was yesterday as well, but I would have had to stick around for another 5 hours after practice was over. The Mermaid Parade 2008 is one of the special memories I have of my friendship with Liz (in addition to our Scrabble-battles both online and in her apartment) -- and it only seems appropriate that exactly 2 years later, after swimming my heart out at Coney Island, Liz surprised me with a donation in support of the tri! This is just a special shoutout to Liz -- I know its its been a rough year for you, and I'm so proud of you and in awe of you! Thanks to you and your support as I do this, and thanks to everyone for being there, and asking me how I'm doing, and how my training is coming along. It really does mean a lot, and it really does help me!

Some of the folks from Team Yahoo! who came out to the
Coney Island Open Water Swim (6/19/10)

I'm ALIVE!!!!! (But it was just a practice triathlon!)

Flat As A Pancake - Sprint Triathlon
Saturday, June 12 2010

Actual Chip Finishing Time: 1:48:47
I'm alive!.... Barely.
(but this was just a practice run, but i still only 5 weeks till the real deal NYC Triathlon) 5 weeks sounds like a long time, but 35 days sounds like I've almost run out of time.

• Swim: Felt like near death in very choppy salty water. Absolutely brutal. I'm definitely going to have to work on my open water swimming skills, and swimming in a large crowd when people are clawing at your feet, sides, and back. Also, I will NOT be having Naked Juice before the NYC Triathlon. More to come on that.
• Bike: Was still recovering from the swim experience, but did okay
• Run: Chugging along, and made it my goal to not walk at all! I'm actually kind of impressed with myself at the pace I was able to keep.
  

All I can say, is that I'm happy to be alive, and I am officially now a triathlete.

Overall personal results:

SARAH THOMAS / 27 / F 
Total Time:  1:48:47  
Within Age Group (F25-29): 36/43     
Overall Within Female Category: 201/245
Overall Finishing Place: 509 / 578

Event splits:
.25mi Swim (Rank / Time Elapsed / Min Per Mile)
550   22:53 91:31

Transition #1 Time: 5:00

12 mile Bike (Rank / Time Elapsed / Min Per Mile)
500   49:21  14.6

Transition #2: 1:00

5K Run (Rank / Time Elapsed / Min Per Mile)
455   30:35  9:52

Don't I look so happy here? Ha.
This is right when I was turning into the transition area after the 12mi bike.

Post-Race and Candy Breakfast!

Sore, but Ready for Pancakes!!

Its the night before the sprint tri.
The day after Yahoo! Bootcamp.
I'm a little sore.

What did we do at bootcamp? Every known leg/thigh/ab workout I've ever done, including the painful, but possibly new favorite "climber". Imagine you're scaling a wall, but instead of moving your hands, all you're doing is alternating your leg movement, without pushing your body upwards. In essence, you're running in place, in a push-up position = hard!

I missed bootcamp last time, because I was in San Francisco, but I have to say, I really am sore. Hopefully my body will recover while I sleep, and will be better when I awake in 7 hours. Its almost 9pm, almost my bedtime, its almost time to sleep before "Flat As a Pancake" mayhem begins! I've suped up bike with extra carriage bags for gu's and Clif Blocks, and I'm ready to rock. I've got my little piles of clothes and essentials for all the increments of the race, and I'm ready to pack up and hit the hay.

Its about 10 of us from Team Yahoo! that have opted to do this sprint tri, and 3 of us Brooklynites are meeting up tomorrow to drive together over the Verrazano. This is going to be some seriously surreal ish going down. I'll let you know how it goes, but you can also check results DURING the race tomorrow here.

Goodnight world. Tomorrow I wake up, a triathlete!

Superhero Sarah To The Rescue!

Yes, its ridiculous.
Yes, its a pain to get into.
But wow, does it look darn good.

Hello, my name is Sarah, and I look like a superhero.
In my mind, this might be the thing that gets me through the swim, my mantra will be, "Look like a superhero, swim like a fish."

Today, I picked up my wetsuit! Its a black "Fit2Race" specially-customized Team In Training, and I think I like it... a lot!

This weekend, a group of the Team Yahoo!ers are doing the Patanella's Flat As A Pancake race, in Staten Island. We're doing this sprint tri in order to fully understand what our splits are for each portion, and also to get a basic understanding of what's important in transitions, and how to quickly and effectively go from one portion of a tri to the next. Its a mini/sprint triathlon with the following breakdown, and I can't wait to debut my wetsuit:

1. .25 mile swim
2. 12 mile bike
3. 3 mile run
4. PANCAKES!

That's right -- post-race, pre-medals, we get free pancakes, so maybe my other motivation phrase will be, "Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes!"

The Y! Team, Featured!

Jeanne, Me, Eran: Team Yahoo!/Right Media!

Check it out! They talk about our team around the 7:00 minute marker in this video. It was featured on Yahoo! NewsBytes on our Yahoo-version of Facebook, Backyard.

Go Team Yahoo!!

Building up the increments!

So, yesterday I did a massive workout, and apparently I'm too tired and pumped up to write a full blog post. I was absolutely thrilled with my efforts, that I took a picture of post-workout me!

Total Mileage:
27.5 mi. bike ride (including commute to/from my apt to Prospect park)
3.5 mi. run

Swim Entry: A Scary Thought

It seems like a lot of people panic at the point of swim entry, and I think these articles capture many of the emotions and things you should be thinking about:

6 Ways To Train for the Swim Start
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Pacing_Makes_Perfect__6_Ways_to_Train_for_a_Triathlon_Swim_Start.htm

Surviving the Waves at Entrance/Exit
http://www.active.com/swimming/Articles/Survive_the_Surf__Entrances_and_Exits_in_Open_Water_Swims.htm

Owning The Open Water
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Start_to_Finish__Owning_the_Open_Water.htm

And I need to find that link again, "How to Swim Straight In the Open Water". I mean, why would you ever want to swim out into the water more than you need to? Obviously once you hit the water, there's a high chance you'll swim out to far, or swim diagonally in a way that makes you swim 1.2miles in a .9mile swim. Just food for thought here...

Muhamed & ME!

I have a coworker named Muhamed who is quite the inspiration. He works on the HotJobs side of the office, and is a generally happy guy. Actually, I've never seen him angry, or upset, or even not smiling. There was even one day where I saw him with his 2 adorable kids -- they were just such a happy little family.

Muhamed is a great guy to work out with, because I know he's never going to stop pushing himself, and he's always going to be better than me. We swim together on Mondays, and I'm proud to say that I can generally pace myself with him, even though I know on race day, he will probably go a million times faster than me.

On Tuesdays, while I go run with the Central Park crew, he hits the Prospect Park group run, and then on Saturdays, he's always at our Group Bike practices, before I even get there.

Saturdays are always fun though, cause I try my hardest to stay close behind him, and will push myself to keep up, but Muhamed is always pushing himself harder on the bike. I don't actually think he knows that I'm back there trying to keep up, but its a great motivating activity that I play by myself. Saturdays are always a little intense though, because its a test of who we are, what we did last night, and... if we can survive the occasional BRick (Bike + Run).

So, thanks Muhamed for being that consistent workout machine that you are -- and for always showing up on Saturdays. I know if I'm not there, you'll wonder where I am!

This Saturday, we biked an amazing distance. Its definitely the farthest I've ever biked before in my life: 26 miles including the bike to/from the park from my apt. I'm feeling it in my arms, and my bumpkins are begging me to buy bike shorts. I need to work on my core, and also pushing myself to bike on the balls of my feet more, and an angle parallel to the ground. Tennis shoes doesn't really help this, but I'm not sure if I have time to get accustomed to clipping myself in.

Muhamed & Me!

Sarah, Specialized Owner

That's right. I am now the proud owner of a Specialized bike, and it is "high speed". After multiple visits, and measurements, and a little bit of test riding in the Chinatown/Little Italy Area, I am happy to say that I have a bike!

Today, I picked up my Specialized Dolce Sport today from Bicycle Habitat. The guys who work at this store are amazing, and were extremely patient with me and my limited working knowledge in road bikes. I will continue to support this store, as they were awesome to me, and my bike comes with LIFETIME maintenance for free!!

Tomorrow, I'll be hitting up the BRick (Bike & Run workout) at Central Park, and will probably see more of my fellow Yahoos! Prospect Park is hosting the Bklyn Half Marathon, so the workout over there is only going to be a run. The CPark workout will be good though, because it will be my first introduction to the race course. Can't wait!

Thanks Bicycle Habitat!

Your Generosity is Amazing!

My cousin (really, she's my mom's cousin, but closer to me in age) is amazing!!! Completely out of the blue, I received a donation notification from my cousin, Geetha, who lives in Darwin, Australia.

I wanted to say THANK YOU, GEETHA!!! This is amazing!! Out of the kindness and generosity of her heart, Geetha donated $500 to the amazing cause that is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I have figured out the best way to thank her, but she deserves a special shout out for this. I see Geetha maybe once every few years (though I saw her 2x last year and the previous year because of family weddings), so this completely and totally blows my mind.

The generosity of everyone is amazing. Coworkers have been donating left and right, and the RightMedia crew showed up in force for our extremely successful Fundraising Night.

So, thank you ALL for your amazing support, and please do not hesitate to ask your friends/family/coworkers to think about also donating to the LLS.

Helpful Pieces of Info

Here are some more great finds as I prepare for July 18th.

I want to capture these as I continue to train, and wanted to make sure that I could also put them in a place that would be useful to my fellow triathletes!

What to Pack in your Triathlon Race Bag
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/What-to-Pack-in-Your-Triathlon-Race-Bag.htm?cmp=282&memberid=105761121&lyrisid=20670615

Newbie Triathlete Conversations
http://community.active.com/message/755962#755962?cmp=283&memberid=105761121&lyrisid=20670615

Silhouette In The Water

Last night, I learned a key lesson in swimming. We've been talking about keeping your movements minimal in the water, but yesterday something really clicked. Coach Ed said, "Your swimming creates a pocket in the water." That pocket, allows you to breathe, without lifting your head out of the water. All you have to do is turn your head, without changing the angle at all, keep your chin down and forehead still in the water, and you're able to still breathe.

The movement of swimming and the bow wave that your body and head create allows a pocket in the wave and pushes the water under your face, allowing you to breathe without arching up your neck in anyway.

With this new tip in mind, I rocked out on our 1/2 mile swim. I was swimming in the basic-basic lane after being exhausted from a day's worth of traveling back from the midwest. I was able to pull away from the pack, and nicely place myself between the basic and advanced folks for the snake swim that we did.

A snake swim is when you swim up and down alternate lanes of our 9-lane pool, thereby never going against traffic. In essence, to do a half-mile, you swim up and down the pool (back and forth) twice, and then go and extra 4 lanes... which I was able to complete in 30 minutes!!!! Even though I was away from the pack, Coach Ed made sure to come up behind me, scratch me, push me, and make me understand that in a group swim like a triathlon, its not always going to be easy going all the time. Thanks Coach. :)

Here's a great website illustrating everything I learned, that helped me reach that 30 minute marker! http://www.swimsmooth.com/breathing.html (combined with, of course, the finger tip drag)

Still traveling, still working out...

I might be punishing myself for not working out in San Francisco, so I completed my second workout in Omaha today. We've been a lot (of steaks!) in Omaha, so it was time to finally hit the gym again.

It might be the first time I've ever worked out alongside my mother, but it was actually quite enjoyable. My father and mother are 59 and 55 respectively, and are running a 5km (3.1 mile) race when they get back to Singapore, and have subsequently started working out together in order to compete.

I'm weighed down with steak and inactivity, and feel like I'm almost going backwards a little so I need to start taking this triathlon more seriously and putting more time into this. I went down the gym at the DoubleTree that we're at (spiffy like the Hampton), ran 36 minutes (3 miles) and then did some core and strength training for 20 minutes. Tomorrow its back to New York, just in time for Monday night swim practice!

Tweaking Sarah v.2.010...

I know I've mentioned that I rely a lot on the support of others, and so here's something I wanted to call out. People have noticed that I am looking toner. I appreciate this a lot, because I have noticed that my weight has yet to change drastically, which has been a little discouraging. I've adjusted my diet to be more balanced, and have increased my protein intake especially in regards to eggs, reduced-fat peanut butter, and milk. Overall, I feel like I'm doing a lot of good for myself, and it feels good. Sarah v.2.010 is looking and feeling relatively good about herself, but can definitely take it further.

This might seem like nothing to most of you regular athletes out there, but I'm honestly completing a minimum of 3 workouts a week.

This week I had completed:
1) Sunday: Indoor run on treadmill (raining in NY): 3+ miles
2) Monday: Indoor swim with Group Training Session (raining in Brooklyn) - 1/2mi approx
3) Thursday: Indoor bike (3 miles) and swim (.5mi) in Omaha (torrential downpour in Omaha)
4) I'll probably do a Friday night or Saturday morning workout here in Omaha, but it'll be tough squeezing it into the Thomas Family fun we're having. :)

I'm currently staying at a Hampton Inn near the Yahoo! Omaha office, and its pretty spiffy with the workout gear they've got. Specifically, every machine is hooked up to a state of the art TV, they rent out headphones (with disposable ear covers), they've got medicine balls of all sizes, and a pool/hot tub setup. The weather in Omaha was pretty amazing yesterday, and I was tempted to go for a run outside, but was too exhausted from the red-eye I took out here. I'd like to work on my stamina for things like things, and, of course, a certain endurance race that I'm completing in July.

I need more time, and more running buddies. Let me know if you ever want to do a early morning run on the Brooklyn Bridge! I'm thinking I might need to start doing this on either Sun, Mon, Thurs, or Fri mornings, minimum of 5 miles.


Location of my Thursday-night swim - Hampton Omaha West:

Where to go but up?

Its Week 8 now, and I'm not feeling confident about my work thus far. I need your support and motivation, people!!!

Week 7 was pretty much a week-long celebration of my birth, Ad:Tech, and recovering from a great weekend in Hawaii. Now, the holiday is over, and its crunch time. This is almost the halfway mark, and I know I'm definitely in better shape than I was when I started, but I want to be farther than I am.

I'm finally upgrading to a hot kick@$$ bike in the next few weeks, and I'm ready to rock into gear. Its raining in New York today, so I jumped on the treadmill and churned out 3.2 miles to the Sunday night feature. 3.2 miles in 33 minutes -- not so shabby, but I was not doing so well at the end of it, and definitely sweating like I was ill. We'll have to work on that, but I think it was good to get a good sweat out.

Tomorrow is swimming practice (haven't swum in two weeks), so I will be demoting myself to the first lane, which is the beginners of the basic session. Should be interesting! I feel like I've lost the rhythm of the 2-beat kick, and I'd like to work on my breathing. Its late, so I'm off to see if I can get to sleep, even though I'm still worked up from my 10:30pm run.


Also, as a *reminder* --
its about ONE WEEK till our Right Media Fundraising Happy Hour!! Should be AWESOME! I hope you can make it.
Right Media Fundraising Happy Hour Details
(or view the Facebook Invite)

Keeping it going across the country!

I'm doing a lot of traveling over the next 2 weeks, so the goal will be to keep the training going while I'm away. I'm currently in the airport, en route to San Francisco after 4 beautiful days in Maui.

I went to swim practice on Monday, where we did a 1/4 mile sprint in the pool. Needless to say, I think swimming may be my weakest activity. Tuesday was a busy day as I needed to pack for the trip, and Wednesday, I headed out west.

I didn't workout Wednesday or Thursday, but I was pleased to say that I rolled out of bed on Friday morning, and hit the beach for a serious leg and calf workout on the sand. Let's just say a beautiful view is great inspiration to keep going. (i captured it on my phone)

My workout view, Kaanapaali Beach, Maui, HI

Saturday was the wedding, so there was general running around, and Sunday (today) was the reception and afterwards, we went ziplining (a huge adrenaline rush) before I had to head to the airport.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I'll be in SF for Ad:Tech San Francisco. I'm unfortunately not sure if I'll be able to get over the jetlag to wake up early enough to workout before client meetings.

Week 6: My last mountain bike workout!

As Week 6 closes, it was another beautiful but extremely cold day in Prospect Park. I've mapped it out, and it is a 3 mile bike to the park from my apartment, and I'm including this in my overall mileage for the day.

I'm borrowing a mountain bike made for a 6'4" man, and I really need to take it in for a cleaning. I was having difficulties shifting gears, which made me realize exactly how gunky the chain was. Maybe as a "thank you", I'll get one of those chain cleaners and clean off the chain.

The picture is from 8am on Saturday -- we always have about 10 minutes of bike safety, talking about fundraising, and discussing strategies we should be working to increase our endurance and reduce our recovery time. (Here's a great article I found, which pretty much covers what Coach Jon was telling us to try out.) The overall bike ride was pretty good, but being on a mountain bike, you realize exactly how much it can slow you down with the heavier frame, wide-set fork, and massive tires. I felt like I was chugging along next to the pretty little road bikes. I'd describe the mountain bike as an old man next to those skinny youngsters. Regardless, I think this weekend was my last ride on the mountain bike!

I'm definitely building up the endurance, and the core workout we did after our run (planks, side planks, abs, advanced bridges, etc) was significantly easier this time around. I'm feeling the flexibility and energy really begin to kick in as well!

Total mileage for the day: 18.5 miles

New Team Logo!

Created by yours truly! :)
I'm really getting excited about TNT now! I played soccer yesterday with my team, and I was barely out of breath at the end of it all... i could have just kept going and going and going! The energy level is insane! Now to spend the weekend running around to burn it all off.

Triathlon Race Day Map!!!

We're turning up the heat!!

Race day map has been posted, AND the hotel to stay at is now available to book! Not sure if I'll actually stay at the Hilton, though its always been my hotel family of choice.

Here it is! The official NYC Triathlon 2010 RACE DAY MAP!!!

Is Our CEO Amazing, or what??

and yet, she still calls us amazing for doing the Triathlon and supporting the cause. I guess what goes around comes around!!!

Message from our CEO:
"You guys are AMAZING!!! Please let us know how it goes. I'm good for $500 per Yahoo, so count me in for $22,500. Can't wait to hear how it goes.
All the best,
Carol."

Check it out, and check out the amazing TOTAL amount here ($500 per participating Yahoo!) on our Team Yahoo! page. This is truly inspirational, and makes me want to do EVEN better.

4 mile run in under 40 minutes? Oh yes, give me more!

These were our directions, and we rocked it!!:
"Basic (4 mi)– Cross from West to East Drive on reservoir path (@ lamppost # 86). You will run on reservoir path until you get to the south pumphouse – 1^st building on your left. There are water fountains located here. Head down stairs to East Drive and run down East drive to 72^nd transverse. Cross to Cherry Hill Fountain – do one loop, and head out west driveway to 72^nd transverse. Cross 72^nd to path on south side of transverse and run back to finish line. Confused? We will post a map and you can follow teammates/coaches who know the course!"


So, I think everyone might be a little surprised at themselves after today's workout. We ran 4 miles (basic runners) in under 40 minutes, and many of us could have easily kept going. This was my second run with the Central Park crew, and I really liked it.

Overheard: "I guess this Team In Training thing really does work!"

That made me laugh a little inside, but I know we're all feeling it. Its Week 6, and we have 15 weeks left in our training, and believe it or not, I'm actually feeling good about things. I unfortunately can't remember the last time I ran 4 miles continuously without stopping. Today I've achieved something, and I'm mighty proud.

Its 13 days till my birthday, and I'm proud to say that this little lady has still got it in her to be the best she can ever be! My goal is to be able to say that every single year for at least another decade... maybe 2?

I'm a happy camper, and I'm going to feel it tomorrow. Bring it on body, we're got some serious training cut out for you. :)


I feel like we're beginning to build a little bit of a "One Yahoo!" attitude with the team! While I may not know all 44 Yahoos who are doing the NYC Triathlon, I'm definitely getting to know a good group from our Sales/40th Street office, our 18th Street HotJobs side, and of course, getting to know our Right Media Yahoo folks even better.

Two-Beat Kick? Say what?

"Today I swam.
Today I conquered the timing of the 2-beat kick!!

Here's a little excerpt from this week's weekly email from our coaches regarding this kick:
"A correctly timed kick can provide both lift and rotation to the hips and torso. To be able to get the kick timing, you first have to develop the correct arm timing.
We have encouraged you to leave the gliding arm in front as you recover the other arms through the air and are driving it down into the water in front. This downward drive will move your shoulder, which in turn moves the arm that was gliding in front. Simply stated – the arm driving down into the water will initiate the pull phase of the other arm. We are now focusing on how to use the kick to assist this process."

Complicated? I think so. The motion of this stroke feels like you are crawling through the water in a weird clambering-like motion, and yet, I see what they're saying. You're propelling yourself while rotating yourself, and breathing all along to give yourself the direction to keep moving forward while lessening your energy usage. Who knew?

Week 5 Completed!: 4 successful workouts!

This week, I can honestly say that I got 4 workouts in. The goal will be to continue to push through with this. I know I've been slacking off with last week, but now its time to really focus.

Sunday, I was invited to play on a different soccer team, with one of the guys I used to play with. It was a full 45 minute game, with a warm-up before. It was definitely a lot of sprinting, as these guys had actually made it to the semi-finals but were in need of girls for their game.

Monday, I went to swim practice, where we continued to learn our sculling technique, and began to learn another motion, though I can't remember the name. It was little bit of a flutter kick, where you kick hard once to propel yourself as you are breathing on the opposite side, and its supposed to use less energy. I haven't gotten into the pool beyond my weekly training classes, so I know I need to get on this.

Tuesday would have been the day for my group run, but I have guests from Finland, so I opted to run home right after work to go meet up with them (they were already in my apartment which they had headed to straight from the airport).

Wednesday, I did a quick 20 minute workout on the treadmill, with a few squats, lunges, and crunches on top of that. Is that a real workout? Possibly not, but with the amount of time I can squeeze into my schedule this week, I'll take it for what it is... an increased heart-rate, and maybe a little boost to my metabolism!

Thursday and Friday, I took it easy as I took on the role of Sarah the NYC tour guide.

Saturday, I went to group bike training practice, where we reviewed how to clean your bike chain, and check your tires for debris. After which, I got to bike Prospect Park for the first time ever! Its really not that long of a loop, but there is a bit of a steep incline. I was biking on the mountain bike, and assume that ones I get a road bike, I'll really be able to take that hill by storm. I biked to Prospect from my apt, did about 2 loops of the park before my legs started cramping, and then headed back to my apt before my legs fully gave out under me. Using Google Maps, I mapped out my bike route to a little over 15 miles. I'll admit I like that Google Maps knows where the bike-safe routes are, and is able to map you. It definitely made feel less nervous as I was heading to/from practice. I also met another triathlete who finished her workout around the same time, and we biked back together as she (Ellen) lives in West Carroll Garden on Hicks and Bergen.

Overall it was a good week -- I just have to work on my endurance and stamina!

Week 4: Plugging Along, and good reads...

Its Week 4, and things are going strong!

Sunday included a double-workout -- I met up with a friend in the Financial District, for a quick afternoon Sunday chat and gossip session. It was a beautiful day with blue skies. Overall, the total mileage of the bike ride, per Google Map's new bicycle path option, was about 7 miles. I also got the opportunity to bike over the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time, and on the streets of NYC. Both were mildly nerve-wracking, but I would have to say that the bridge experience was by far worse. Having always been a pedestrian one side of the white line, I never thought about how annoying it must be for bikers who are trying to propel themselves uphill, while avoiding photo-takers, and other non-English-speaking tourists. Needless to say, I was a true New Yorker on Sunday, barking at the tourists, as they jumped from every direction to be directly in front of my bike.

Fundraising-wise, I would like to thank everyone who has donated so far!! You all have helped me reach 56% of my fundraising goal at $1500! Its amazing, and I'd like to thank every single one of you for supporting me in this endeavor. Operation Sarah-Gets-Her-Groove-Back has commenced, and I'm already feeling more energetic and happier with life as a whole. That said, this isn't about me, its about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I'll be racing with people who are survivors, and have been through far more than I ever have. The woman who won the women's portion last year is the twin sister of a survivor, and they really have an amazing story. The sister has been allowed to race in the last few years, and has subsequently started racing almost as fast as her sister. The Wassner Twin story is pretty amazing.

Swimming was enjoyable after a tough day at work on Monday, we probably swam about 20-30 lengths. It sounds like a lot, but unfortunately, its not. On race day, we'll have to swim the equivalent of 72 lengths, continuous, while out in the deep open space that is the Hudson River. We worked on our regular swim drills, such as swimming with no arms, swimming with your head out of the water, fully immersed in the water (only top of head showing), and a few others. I also learned what and how to scull today, which is a type of swim stroke. Check out that link, which describes the steps and skills being built.

Also, for my fellow triple-athletes, I found this great read which might prepare you for race day a little better. I think for sure it will help with the nerves to know how chaotic of a day we might expect.

Adios for now... its a busy week in NY for non-triathlon related things, but I'll try to stay focused on my training and nutrition. Thanks again for all the support!!

That's all the numbers for now. :)

Week 3: Running With The CParkers

Its Week 3, and I'm beginning to think that I just might be able to do this whole triathlete thing. I haven't gotten as much "saddle time" (biking) in, but I'm happy with the amount of running and swimming I've been getting on a weekly basis.

Tuesday marked my very first Weekday Running Group Training Session (GTS). Previously, I'd only attended the Saturday run, and the Monday swim. (Monday's swim was good, but nothing really too new, we're just ramping up on the number of lengths we do.) After closing out the "Balls of Fury" soccer season (technically, its running, yes), I joined the Yahoo! group for a training session in Central Park! There was a good number of us (here are a few), a we had a great workout on a beautiful day.


To introduce a few folks, Akhill (with the hang-ten) is on my team at Yahoo! (my actual work-team, Partner Management), and Jeanne/Jenny (with the high-five) is also within the same org structure. We are all under Bill Wise, who is the VP of Display Strategies. That's his unofficial title, for my blog's sake.

Jodie (in the blue) is our veteran Yahoo!/Right Media triathlete. I believe if she completes this triathlon, it will be her third! Mauritza (wearing the Team In Training purple headband), is my mentor, and has also completed a triathlon. We get weekly emails from her to keep us motivated, and on track with our training and fundraising. Sarah S. (in the white) formerly used to be on 18th Street with us, and even at the Park Ave office when she was with us at Right Media. Now she's on 40th Street, and works directly with Mauritza.


Doug is our team captain and is the tall guy in the back with the gray sweatshirt (and the silver logo). I also met 3 additional Yahoos, who are pictured here. They're based at our 40th Street office, and while I don't have much interaction with them now, I'm sure this is going to increase over the next 17 weeks! Dave is in the black t-shirt, Jen is in the darker blue, and Judith is in the white. I hope that everyone that's training is able to complete and cross that finish line on July 18th, myself included!

The run was pretty good, we did 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back, on a side path in Central Park. The main, cement path was pretty crowded, as we had a glorious day in NYC with the sun setting long after we completed our 45 minutes of training. With the 15 out-15 back split, we were also required to stop every 5 minutes, and do 1 minute of squats. We were also split into 3 groups, basic, intermediate, advanced, which equates to newbies, under 8 minute milers, under 6/7 minute milers. Those advanced people are pretty spectacular to watch, and I'd love to be able to run like that at some point.

Regardless, our little Right Media group pretty much stayed together. From our end of the 18th Street office, we had Eran, Jimmy, Akhill, Jeanne, Jodie, and myself. We also ran relatively close with Sarah S, Mauritza, and Dave. The highlight though, was the fact that Jenny and I are pretty much the same age (she is 4 months older), and we're pretty much pacing against each other very well! We even did a final last minute sprint for the last 100 yards where we passed at least 15 people. Overall a great run! A special thanks to Jimmy who ran a little bit ahead of me and Jenny, and kept us going!!

Can't wait for the next one!

Week 2: Increased Metabolism, Snake-Bites, and lots of other random bike trivia...

We've completed Week 2, where the triathlon training has begun to wage war on my body. I took it easy on Thursday and Friday after the workout fest that was Sunday-Tuesday of this past week. The plan was to workout again on Friday, however, I believe fatigue has kicked in. Think fatigue, allergy season, and an overall lack of sleep. The triathlon for sure is getting me pumped up, but I feel like the overall comfort that I have in my current body is rapidly decreasing.

As I increase my weekly activity I can tell that my body is fighting to keep up and burn fat. I can tell that my metabolism has increased over 2 weeks, and I can feel my body burning and working when I am in complete rest. That said, I know this is the challenge that is the tri! I have to keep up the pace of the workouts, and not let my mind play games with my ability to push myself!

Its not May yet, but based on the monsoon-like weather and umbrella-busting winds, you might be surprised! Yesterday, I showed up at Prospect Park for our 8:30am run to find that only about 1/4th of our original group was out to brave the wind, rain, and cold temperatures. Our coach, Jon (Stewart, and its actually his name!), let us through a quick warm up, followed by subsequent 10-minute runs with 10minutes of conditioning between the runs. Because of the weird weather, he told us to take it easy, and in the end, I did about a 45minute workout. There were a few who opted to go for an additional 10minutes, but being that I was a little sick still from Friday, I opted for easy.


After the run, it was a quick stop at a diner to grab breakfast sandwiches and hot chocolate, and then we headed over to Brooklyn Bicycles aka 9th Street Cycles (http://bklynbikes.com) for a informational talk about choosing a bike, protective gear, essential accessories, bike maintainence and a demo on how to change the inner tube of a bike. It was really great info, and I'm definitely going back to this store! For the duration of our training period, they are extending a 10% discount to all triathlon participants. The guys that spoke with us were really knowledgeable about bikes, and gave us a lot of tips on how to maintain our bikes in cost-efficient ways. They had all sorts of gadgets and cool things for us to buy, but still told us how we could save money and not have to buy certain tools.

Things I learned today:

• The actual names of tire valves: Schrader (old-school) and Presta (new, but very fragile and can be easily warped)
• Bike maintenance is essential, and I should consider keeping an eye on grease amount, and if my tires have picked up any random NYC shrapnel, especially pieces of glass.
• A snake-bite is an actual term in flat-tire puncture vocabulary. I will try to NOT laugh in the next demo when they say you should be aware of your tires getting damaged by glass or snake-bites.
• Too much grease can: a) damage your bike b) affect your braking ability and c) make your bike not pretty looking
• CO2 cartridges can be used to inflate inner tubes of tires, but are one-time use only, and come in different amounts based on your tire needs
• Brooklyn Bikes has some cute undercarriage bags, and I want one.
• Bikers usually like other bikers, so even if I don't learn how to change a tire or patch a tube, someone will help me, but I shouldn't count on it on race day.
• Out of 4000-5000 people in the NYC Tri last year, about 4 people got flats. I like the odds, but I'm not counting on any luck!
• Its best to buy a pump with a pressure guage, and keep your road bike's tires pumped between 100 and 120 PSIs (Pounds/Square Inch). However, based on further research, I've discovered that the appropriate PSI range is dependent on your weight as defined on this page.

Just some fun factoids, but I have a feeling they are really going to come in handy for this season of training.

Starting Week 2 Strong

Yes, its Week 2 now, and the aches and pains are beginning to set in.

Yesterday (Monday) consisted of a ridiculous 10mi workout up and down the West Side Highway with one of my fellow triathletes. We went from Battery City up to 60th Street and back. I'm borrowing a friend's bike while he's out of town, and we'll see how much awesome training I'm going to get from riding a way-too-heavy-for-me man's mountain bike.

At 9pm, it was time to roll on over for week 2 of swimming practice (at Long Island University, see picture), where we were introduced to another one of our coaches, Coach Ed. Coach Ed was also at our Saturday morning run, so it was nice to begin to start recognizing some faces.

Jeanne/Jenny (a Y! coworker) wasn't there to paddle next to me this week, but it was a fun week 2. We did at least 10 lengths this week, which included an introduction to the finger-crawl freestyle. I opted to go into the middle of the pack lane -- this week we set ourselves up as beginner, comfortable, and upper beginners/intermediate. Last week, Jenny and I were in the beginner lane, but I felt it was time to move up if I wanted to challenge myself. I've never had formal swimming lessons, but I'm comfortable being in the water, and breathing in the water.

One of my biggest worries is that I do get put off-guard and off-balance when I feel someone next to me, or when I feel someone hit my feet... after all the triathlon videos I've seen this week, I know this is something I really have to get over.

Tonight is supposed to be week #2 of our Tuesday group runs, but I'm opting to close out my soccer season with my team (its a social league, and I'm the team captain). I'm still sore from the bike ride, and I'm already wondering about how long I should wait before getting tri pants with the cushioning built in or one of those gel bike seats!

Week 2 Progress:
Monday: Bike (1.5 hr or 10mi.)
Monday: Swim (1 hr)
Tuesday: Soccer (1 hr)

Week 1 Completed!

Its been a rough first week of training, but I've finished it!

This week we had our first group trainings, which included a team swim, and an early morning team run in Prospect Park. I'm not attending our Tuesday runs for the first 2 weeks, as I'm finishing out my indoor soccer season, and as captain I feel obligated to be present. Its wild to think that in 20 weeks we'll be diving right into the Hudson. Yep, just like the picture below!

The swim lesson was great -- I realized I'd never had a formal swimming lesson, which for us included the strategy and logic behind how to stay buoyant and how to appropriately propel yourself while continuing to breathe, and not freak out.

The run was intense! We all met at Prospect Park at about 8:30am, where we got a pep talk and got to hear a mission statement-- someone's story about why they were doing the triathlon with Team In Training. We did three sets of 10 minutes runs (approximately 3 miles total), with 10 minute spurts of conditioning and calisthenics. Today, I'm sore, and I'm hurting, but I am oh so happy to actually feel my thighs burning and my abs tightening.

Its going to be a good second week, which will probably start with a afternoon run (its 50+ degrees in NYC today) or a bike ride tomorrow before our second Monday night swim practice.

Week 1 Total:
Monday: Swim (1 hr)
Tuesday: Soccer (1 hr)
Friday: Run (15 min)
Saturday: Run & Conditioning (1 hr)

For now, this is all you get, but stay tuned for more!