Day 64

I do an at-home workout because it was too windy to run outside. It lasted about 45 minutes. I did stairs, lunges, and sqauts. My legs are sore today!

Day 65

I had a slow swim day! Two slow days in a row! What's wrong with me? I need to get faster. Maybe I just need some variety (biking) in the mix. Tomorrow I will be going on a road bike ride. My swim times were 53 laps 23:44, 72 laps 32:22, 88 laps 39:44, 106 laps 47:59. Blah! Lame! Well, I guess I just need to be faster

Day 66

I am such a slow runner! It is getting discouraging. Last night Skyler and I went on a run together. I don't know if we have ever done that before. We ran about 5.75 miles in 48 minutes. We stopped a few times at lights and for a quick break so I would say our total time was 47 minutes. That's still over a 8:00 mile time. Lame!!!!!!!! How am I going to get faster?

Tonight swimming!

Day 67

I swam, same as usual. My total time for 106 laps was 47:15 minutes. I had my split times for the other distances, but then I erased them when I used my stopwatch last night. Boo! After my 1-1/2, I swam an additional 150 yards to get a good leg workout.

Day 68

Nothing.

Tonight I am swimming...big surprise. I am sure that I will beat Skyler in the swim unless he starts training. I don't think he has swam once this year. I just wish the swim counted for more. The bike is really what I need to be good at. Skyler is great at the bike. I will never beat him on that.

Day 69

My plan was to go on a road bike ride, but it rained all morning. Instead, I spent some time at the gym. First, I ran a 5K on the treadmill to prepare me for my race. My time was about 24:30 minutes. Not bad, but I want to do 23:30 for the race. After running, I did some weights for arms and legs for about 25 minutes. Last, I did the stairmaster for 30 minutes.

Day 70

Nothing

Day 71

Thursday I ran, but my shin was a little inflamed. That made me so mad! I am trying so hard to get rid of my shin splints, but they don't care. Anyways, I didn't run for as long as I wanted to, but I still ran 5 miles. My average time was 8:30 minute mile, although I ran one mile around the track at 7:56.

Day 72

Swimming: I did my usual 106 laps last night. I swam 53 laps in 22:43 minutes, which was really good! But I slowed down my pace a bit. My 1-1/4 mile time was 38:19 and my 1-1/2 miles time was 47:01. My times were better than Monday's times, but I still think I can do better. After I finished, I did 100 yards of kicking on my back. Then I got a charlie horse in my left arch. I need to start stretching before I swim so that doesn't happen again.

Tonight I want to run, but it is a little rainy. Although, that actually sounds run. I'm just not sure how successful my run would be.

Day 73

I ran 6 miles tonight! My knees hurt a little from running on the sidewalk, but I didn't have a choice. The streets are slanted near the edges so it hurts my shins to run in the street. I should probably just run at a track. So I ran 6 miles in about 51:30 minutes. Not bad. About a 8:30 mile pace. I can do better so I will. I need to work on my sprints so I can be prepared for the 5K that I have coming up.

Tomorrow I am swimming. I will try to do something else too because the past two days my workouts have been a little under one hour. I need to have my workouts ALWAYS be over one hour.

Day 74

Swimming day! I swam 106 laps again. I did some splits. Here they are: 53 laps (0.75 mile or 1/2 my workout) 23:33 minutes, 88 laps (1.25 mile) 39:26 minutes, 106 laps 47:23 minutes. Not my best time but it was decent. The HIM swim distance is 1.25 miles so my time should be around 40 minutes.

Day 75

A day of rest

Day 76

Skyler and I went for a 45 mile road bike ride. It was great! We rode up Katella to Jamboree, left on Portola, right to the moutain-to-sea trail, past the back bay, up PCH to the river trail and then home. It took about 2-1/2 hours, but some of it was a leisurely pace.

Day 77

Nothing

Day 78

Last night I did the stair master for 15 minutes and then went to my spin class. The bummer part was that there was a substitute for the class and I did not enjoy it. The music sucked and he didn't motivate me. I still spun my legs for 60 minutes so that was a good thing.

Fridays are usually an off day for me because of a potential date night, but the outdoors is just calling to me. I want to go running so bad. I love running outside on a warm day in the late afternoon. It reminds me of track practice in high school, a time in my life when I could run a mile in 6:30 minutes. We will see what happens today. Tomorrow I am doing a road bike ride no matter what.

Day 79

A little change of plans. Tonight Carrie and I are going to swim at the gym together. So I decided to get a small run in before the gym. I ran to Orange High school (1.4 miles), which took 12:20 minutes. Next, I ran a mile on the track...2:09 first lap, 2:00 second, 2:01 third, 1:54 last (8:04 total). I ran another lap and then a different route home (1.95 miles), which took 16:17 minutes. My total time was 36:43 minutes. It was a nice run and the weather was perfect again today. I'm looking forward to swimming tonight.

UPDATE: I swam with Carrie for about 35 minutes. I didn't do straight laps. I did some sprints and then ended with a 20-lap swim. It was a good workout.

Day 80

I wanted to do something different, but today was my run day. I am bored running on the treadmill for so long, plus I had such a great run the other day. So I ran to the gym (2.2 miles) which took 18 minutes. I did some weights for about 15 minutes. Then I took a longer run home (2.8 miles) which took 25 minutes. My time is a little off when I run outside because of all of the stoplights. I definitely ran faster than I did the other day.

Day 81

I swam my new usual 100 laps. I swam it faster than the previous times...47:09 minutes. I also did some lunges at home.

Day 82

Yeah! Got a mountain bike in! Went on mountain bike ride with Carrie and group to Peter's Canyon. I finally conquered the hill. It was probably becuase I finally got shoes that clip into pedals. It was a fun ride!

Day 83

My plan was to do a long road bike ride. Unfortunately, it was super windy. There was no way I was going to ride my bike. I didn't want to swim so that left run. I decided I would do a long run. I can't believe how well I did! I ran for 50 minutes! I stopped at the grocery store and then ran a 5 minute cooldown. I felt great! I haven't ran for 50 minutes in so long! I don't even care how long I ran, but I was a little curious (5.5 miles, 0.5 mile cooldown). Not a good pace at all, but I was working on endurance. I feel great! Have I said that enough?

Day 84

Nothing. It's Friday!

Day 85

Last night I attempted to run 35 minutes again. It was so hard! I ran out of steam at 28:30 minutes. I slowed down my pace to a 10:00 mile pace (from 8:00) and continued at that for about 3 minutes and then switched back. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe it is the whole running on a treadmill thing. After a five minute cooldown, I did the elliptical for 20 minutes.

Nothing planned for today. Tomorrow I want to do a long road bike ride. Maybe the one out to East Yorba Linda. I need to do at least 30 miles. The bike portion of the race is 56 miles. Wow! Feeling great though. I've lost a pound a day since I got back from Utah, which is good considering I gained about 4 pounds over the previous two weeks. I also cooked dinner at home three times this week. I also tried to adjust my breakfasts by eating oatmeal instead of cereal. I did that four days this week. I am very proud of myself. I am going to try to save the sweets for the weekend. I passed up a cupcake offer from Skyler.

Day 86

I swam 100 laps again. My time was 47:20, a little faster than Monday. 23:21 first 53 laps, 24:00 second half. My right calf started to cramp near the beginning and stayed that way the whole time. I have never had that happen before. It didn't stop me from swimming, it just hurt a little bit.

Thursdays I am normally going to reserve for spin classes, but I think I will be the same as Tuesday because of time issues. I really need to do some laundry and bathroom cleaning before Skyler gets home. So running and elliptical (or stair master) tonight. One hour.

Day 87

Yesterday my goal was to run for 35 minutes. I ran for 29 minutes at a 8:00 mile pace and was so tired! I slowed down my pace to a 10:00 mile pace for two minutes and then increased to 8:30 mile pace. I ran my 35 minutes but was so tired. I guess that's what not running will do to me. After that, I did the stair master for 20 minutes.

Tonight I will be swimming again. I really need to lean some drills so I can get faster.

Day 88

I was successful! Last night I swam 106 laps in 47:31 minutes. That is a 26.9 second average per lap. I know I can do better.

Tonight I will run for 35 minutes and did some other cardio for 25 minutes.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2009, the start of my serious training for the California 70.3! Wow, I can't believe how close it is getting (88 days)! I am excited to get back to serious training and work on improving my running.

Mondays will now be "Swim Mondays." I will swim at least 1-1/2 miles (106 laps).