Brooklyn Bridge Swim 2012!

I attempted to do my first cross-channel swim on July 15th.  Yes, that would be exactly 8 days after I finished my second Olympic-distance New York City Triathlon.  I figured, hey, I've been training for 6 months, why not throw in another little bonus challenge at the end?

The distance was 2/3rds the distance of the NYC Tri, and I was hoping to finish with a similar time, but those cross-currents and actually swimming against the current really messed me up.  I felt like a minnow in a giant river, going nowhere, but wow, it was a fantastic view.  One of the coaches from TNT had recommended that I take a look up when I crossed under the bridge, and it was really cool to see.  I think of  pretty much all of my friends, I might be the only person who has done this race.  My friend, Liz, who lives in Australia, has said that she wants to come back to NYC for this race next year, so the challenge is on!

I finished the 1K swim in 31minutes in the 89th percentile, sigh.  I'll live to swim another day, but it's good to remind myself that I can't just take my body for granted.  Next time I'm going to really prepare my mind and body to hit that water, and not psych myself out AND not swim like a triathlete trying to conserve energy in a race that only is one discipline.

Next up, the Battle of Brooklyn, 10-miler in mid-August!

NYC Triathlon 2012 - COMPLETED!

I finished, and I survived, and I conquered!

July 8th, 2012 -- I finished my second New York City Triathlon, beating my old time by 9minutes.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for your awesome support this season.  It's been a fantastic season with personal bests, new friends, and a lot of renewed pride and confidence in my self and my abilities.  Thanks for sticking it through with me!

Race week!

I can't believe it is almost here! Yesterday, we had our last swim practice which included us doing our final practices in the swim start (simulations of jumping into the hudson river...!). It's definitely becoming real now, and it is now officially time to taper down our workouts. No cramming for this triathlon!!

Weight loss total to date equals 20lbs, and i think my tri suit doesnt actually even fit right anymore. I am really thinking about continuing to train for additional races after this one, such as a sprint tri or a half marathon!

This year, I'll do better.

My goal this year, as I've said before is to do better than my 2010 Triathlon time.  One of the sore points for me was my inability to keep my speed up on my swim, bike, and sort of for my run.  In 2010, here was my breakout:

2010 Breakout:
Swim: 25.36 min
Transition 1:  10:04 min
Bike: 1:47:42 min
Transition 2: 4:10min (I somehow managed to change outfits, too, in this time)
Run: 1:13:40 min

2012 Goals:

Swim: 23 minutes
Transition 1:  9min
Bike: 1:40 min
Transition 2: 4min (I'll have to change from bike shoes now)
Run: 1:05 min


= 3 hours and 22 minutes.

FUNDRAISING GOAL MET AND EXCEEDED!!!

I wanted to quickly thank EVERYONE who has supported me in my fundraising and has donated to this awesome cause!

You are all amazing people to have in my life, and I am truly grateful.

If you're in NYC, I hope you'll come out to watch me race on July 8th! I'll be putting together an invite on Facebook when I find some free time (when I'm not working, working out, or sleeping to recover from either, lol!)

Much love,
Sarah

Millions of Opinions, opinions for free...

I got me some new kicks, and I'm desperately trying to wear them in.  So far, I haven't been successful, but I still think I have some time (less than 3 weeks!).

They look just like these ones, except per the recommendation of my coaches, I swapped out the laces for "quick-laces", which really means they have a plastic drawstring on them.  I still have to figure out how to use these, since I think I'm tying them way to tight, and totally killing my circulation.

The woman at Super Runners was trying to sell me on the Kayanos, which I thought were way to big at the toe box, and the woman at NY Running Company also tried to sell me on the Kayanos ($150), but said that I should be literally 2 sizes up in size. There is no way that suddenly I'm a Size 10.5, when I've always worn 9.5 sneakers, and wear 8.5/9s in regular women's shoes.

Anyway, the specifics of all these things are beginning to make my head hurt.  Changing my bike inner tubes on Saturday was a similar story of a million different opinions or ways to do things, and one frustrated Sarah. :)  Luckily, everyone was super helpful, and didn't mind that I seemed like I was about to go off the deep end, between trying to determine how much air was appropriate for my tubes before I reattached my tires back onto the wheels.  Everyone was freely sharing their opinions on what I needed to do next, even though I thought I might lose it.  No wonder I haven't done a Flat-Tire workshop before!  Anyway, its swim practice on Monday night that will probably help me get my nerves down again.  I'm hoping we do another continuous swim!

Happy Father's Day to my fantastic father who is visiting and staying with me!!

Coney Island Open Water Swim

First open water swim practice! Above is a pic of our coach speaking to the team at 7am on Saturday morning!  It was a great swim + run, which involved a 40 minute swim and a 45minute run!  I feel like I'm in a really great place with training.

Less than 1 month till the New York City Triathlon!!!

Below is a pic from after the workout -- 
tired, hungry, and trying to avoid Nathan's Hot Dogs! 


To date, I've lost about 18lbs since the beginning of April!

Less than 5 weeks till the NYC Triathlon!

Its exactly 30 days till the NEW YORK CITY TRIATHLON!!!!

Yesterday, I took my first full workout break in 12 days (May 25th).  Why would I do such a thing? I'm finally learning the value of rest, and realizing that while it the peak time of my training, I need to be a smart athlete. Problem with taking a break is that I really cut loose (watched a Broadway show with my friends, enjoyed more than 1 glass of wine, you get the picture.)  Tonight, I have more 'cutting loose' to do with a group of industry friends, but I'm going to do my very very best to be smart about it.

I have about $200 left to fundraise, and I'm feeling STRONG!

I can do this!

Yesterday's practice was brutal, but it gave me the reassurance that I can do this!!!

We biked 23.33 miles in Prospect Park yesterday (7 loops), and I probably could have kept going. We also ran for about 45 minutes, though I didn't get all that far because my calves were cramping up. This was a serious week of workouts, and from Saturday to today, i have worked-out (or sweated by bowling 6 games in 1.5hrs) 7 of 8 days. Today I went to a dahn yoga class which was interesting, but another nice way to change things up.

I can do this!! I am now officially and staying within a healthy BMI, even though the self-imposed no alcohol decree has been lifted! Go me!

Just keep moving...

I ended up skipping swim practice yesterday. Why? I felt it was important to go to a team event that was happening, I wad feeling sore from the 7mile Tuesday run, and my best friend invited me to join him for his favorite show. I hear you cry, "Excuses!" fear not, i made it up in an insane amount of bowling in 1.5 hours, and far too much lost sweat as I finally made my return to my kickboxing classes today. Just keep moving, I kept telling myself. Its been 6 straight days of working up some sort of sweat. Nice!

Yesterday I bowled 6 games total in 1.5 hours, with a high of 131 (my low was 105, i think). Kickboxing was intense as ever and I was already at a good heart rate 10minutes in with just basic situp-punches.

Tomorrow, I'll let loose a bit as there are two parties happening (maybe I'll do a bit of dancing?), but I'm definitely going to do the 2hr-2.5hr BRick (bike/run combo workout) on Saturday, followed by an afternoon of soccer in the park. I love it when my friends get together for athletic endeavors!