Things I Learned at My First Tri

After years of saying that I wanted to try a tri, I finally got a little taste of one this past Saturday at the Windcrest Freshman Triathlon. I LOVED it! It was so fun, and it was perfect for a first time tri.  

The first thing I learned that day was NOT to speed on the way to your race. We got pulled over on the way there. :) Scott was driving and didn't even realize he was speeding. We were only going about 75 on the freeway, but the cops were being sticklers that morning since it was the last weekend of Fiesta, a big party that happens every April here. My first thought when we got pulled over was, "Crap. We're going to be late for my race. I hope we make it." My second thought was, "Crap. We've lived here for TWO years and Scott still hasn't gotten his Texas license yet!" (Technically you have about 30-90 days to get your new license. Scott's going on 700+. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be getting it soon.) 

Anyway, the cop was really mean when we first rolled down the window, and I was so worried we were going to get a BIG FAT fine for not having a Texas license. He asked what we were doing out so early in the morning, and after I told him we were on our way to my first triathlon, he went from a gruff grizzly bear to a soft teddy bear. He let us off with a warning, and even wished me luck at my race. I couldn't believe it! I think once he realized we weren't partiers, he decided he better get back to catching those that were out partying, so he let us go quickly. 

I hope you enjoy these embarrassing pictures of me. :) One of the main reasons I chose this race as my first tri was because the swim was short (200 meters), and it was in a pool. Swimming was pretty much the only thing keeping me from doing a triathlon sooner. I finally took a few swimming lessons last summer and learned how to swim, but the thought of swimming in open water still freaked me out a little, so this little pool swim worked out great. 

One helpful thing someone suggested to me before the race was to get in the water and get wet before it was my turn to swim. I'm glad I did that so my body was already used to the temperature of the water when I started my swim. 

Just in case that last picture wasn't embarrassing enough, I thought I'd post another one. The swim ended up being much easier than I thought. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. I guess I've come a long way since my first swimming lesson last summer where I didn't even know my head was supposed to be under the water, and then turned to the side to breathe. I might even kind of like swimming a little bit now. :)

Another thing I learned is to bring my iFitness belt so I can have my number attached to it, and a little snack in it. I thought I was supposed to pin my number to my shirt after I got out of the water. I guess that's fine if you want to waste a lot of time. 

Luckily I realized this before the race started by talking to one of the race volunteers. I ended up pinning my number to an extra t-shirt I had in my bag before the swim, and then I threw that on when I got out of the water. 

The first thing I learned about the bike part of the race was that getting on your bike in the transition area and starting to ride is a big no-no. Good thing this tri was intended for first timers, otherwise they might have kicked me out or something. Now I know that I'm supposed to walk my bike to the white line and then I can get on and ride. :)

I entered the fat tire division, meaning that I rode a mountain bike with fat tires rather than a road bike with skinny tires. It's funny how many people thought I meant I was in some kind of heavy weight division when I told them I entered the fat tire division. One of my friends even thought I said "fat and tired" division. I got a good laugh out of that. Yep, I entered the fat and tired division, and I won too! Ha ha.

The option to enter a fat tire division was another main reason I chose this race. Road bikes are expensive, and I don't plan on buying one anytime soon. Mountain bikes are slower than road bikes, so that's why they have a separate division for them. I ended up riding Scott's mountain bike since mine has a baby seat attached to it. I had never ridden Scott's bike before that morning, and it was just barely too tall after we lowered the seat all the way, but it worked fine. I had a blast during the bike portion of the race! Riding bikes is one of my favorite things to do even though I don't do it very often.

I had never actually practiced biking and then running directly after, so towards the end of my bike ride I was wondering how that would feel. 

It felt a little weird, but the thing that felt the weirdest to me was not having my running watch on! I felt lost not knowing what pace I was going. I really had no idea if I was running a 10 minute mile, or a 7 minute mile (It ended up being a 7:30 pace). Since I had never run directly after swimming and biking, my pace sense was all thrown off. I think I would have pushed harder on the run if I had my watch, but it was also kind of nice not knowing what pace I was going. My Garmin has become a crutch. :)

Yet another embarrassing, but funny picture. Don't ask me what I was thinking, but I totally ran right past the finish line and everyone was yelling at me to go back. Maybe I was a little too hopped up on endorphines. That's me with my arms in the air realizing I had missed the finish line shoot. Ha ha. 

I turned around and made it back to the big giant sign that says FINISH. I was laughing as well as everyone else that was watching me. I was a little spastic the entire race. I was just so excited and having so much fun that I felt like a chicken running around with it's head cut off. 

(I'm blurry, so I like this picture!)

My time ended up being 1:01, although I have no idea what that really means yet (I was waiting in line to start my swim for about thirty minutes. That is why the clock in the background is 1:33). The distance of this tri was a 200 meter swim, 10 mile bike, and 2 mile run.  So it was just a little one, but perfect for seeing what a tri is like. My swim was 4:55, my bike was 38:05, and my run was 15:48, including my little detour. 

This is the last embarrassing picture of the post. I got a medal for finishing, and a medal for winning my division. 

Now that I've had a little taste of what a tri is like, I can't wait to do more, and longer ones too! I'm glad I finally took the plunge and gave it a try!

You Know You're a Running Nerd When...

You watch Running The Sahara on Netflix during naptime as entertainment/motivation to fold 3 loads of laundry. 

Normally Biggest Loser is my laundry folding motivation, but I'm going to miss it tonight because I get to go to a rodeo/Miranda Lambert concert for a fun girls night out, so I found a different source of laundry folding entertainment. 

Not sure if my husband will be happy or disappointed that I already watched this so I won't make him watch another running movie with me. I may or may not have made him watch Running America with me on Valentine's Day.  I know, I'm so romantic, but we had our real Valentine celebration the day after. The restaurants were much less crowded then, and the chick flicks (Breaking Dawn) were available in Redbox. I think we might make February 15th our new Valentine's Day. 

Anyway, laundry's folded, movie was good (They ran over 170 marathons in 111 days! CRAZY!)

Now you fill in the blank: You know you're a running nerd when ................

New Workout DVD, Resolutions, and Books

1. I tried a new Jillian Michael's workout dvd yesterday and today that I really like. I checked it out from the library on Tuesday. It's her Shred It With Weights. You're supposed to use a kettlebell, but you can use a weight if you don't have a kettlebell. 

2. One of my New Year's Resolutions is officially done! My 2011 family blog book came in the mail today! Here's a couple pictures of it. It made my day to actually see and hold all the hours of work I had done in my hands. 

3. I'm getting my cycling certification tomorrow through AFAA (another one of my resolutions this year). I'm excited, but also a little sad that I'll have to skip my long run tomorrow. :( I'll be there all day. I could get up really early to run beforehand, but I'm not sure how hard the class is going to be, so I'm saving my legs for the class. It better not be really easy or I'll be bummed. 

4. I made these really yummy pumpkin spice granola bars last night. I'm going to be mean and make you wait until Wednesday's Eat of the Week post to share the recipe though. 

5. I finished another book. Running On Empty. I enjoyed it, and now I'm excited to watch the movie about it. I put it on hold at the library, so now I'm just waiting for it to become available. There's a few other running books on my reading list, but I think I'm going to take a break from running books for awhile and read something else. 3 running books in a row is enough for me for awhile. I tried reading the Hunger Games last year and gave up after 1/2 a chapter, but I think I'm going to try them again for my next book. 

Have you read the Hunger Games? Did you like them? 

What's your favorire home workout dvd? 

My favorite is probably still 30 Day Shred, but I like all of Jillian's workout dvds that I've tried so far. 

What's the last book you read, or the next book on your read list? 

Run Every Year On Your Birthday

That was one of my favorite bits of advice from Kara Goucher's Running For Women book that I recently finished reading.

It was in the chapter on "Foolproof Strategies For Keeping You Fit, Lean, Happy, and Energized For The Long Run." She said there is no better way to start your special day than to run first thing in the morning on your birthday. "It'll stay with you the rest of the day--I'm fit, I'm a runner, another great year to look forward to!"

I loved that because my birthday has always been one of my favorite days to run since I started running in high school. People would sometimes say to me, "It's your birthday, why are you going running!?" And in my mind I would think, "It's my birthday! That's why I'm running!" In fact, the longer my run is on my birthday, the better. That just means even more cake right? :)

Speaking of birthdays...

This cute guy turns 3 today!!!

We are celebrating by taking him to the Spurs game tonight, and then he gets to have a little party with his friends tomorrow. He's requested a basketball cake, so I'm on the search for some good orange frosting today. We might even celebrate by starting our day with a short jogging stroller run too. He's no awake yet, so it'll depend on his willingness to go. Just heard his little knock, so I guess I'l go find out.

Do you like to run on your birthday, or would you rather take the day off? 

My First Blog Meet-Up and Funny Running Shirts

While we were in Houston for the Olympic Marathon Trials, I got to meet Laura, one of my blog buddies, at the Children's Museum. It was my very first blogger meet-up, and it was really fun. Too bad we don't live closer because I think we'd be good mom buddies, and good running buddies.  

After the Children's Museum, we had a much needed long nap back at the hotel, and then we headed to the Houston Marathon expo. I love walking around big marathon expos! The free samples might have something to do with that. I loaded up on Larabar minis, and sadly I just ate my last one yesterday. 

I saw several funny running shirts at the expo, so I took a few pictures of my favorites.

 As a new owner of a Garmin, this one made me smile. This one was probably my favorite. 

The truer they are, the more funny they are. Running is definitely my therapy, and my sanity. 

Scott pointed this one out. 

Ya, what could possibly go wrong? 

Do you have a favorite funny running quote?

Scott bought me a shirt last Christmas that says "Run Like a Mother" on the front, and on the back it says, "26.2 Miles of Peace and Quiet." Ha ha. Very true. I love it.  

Sneak Peek: Pictures From Houston 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials

We had a blast watching the crazy fast elite runners in Houston this past weekend for the Olympic Marathon Trials!! My awesome husband took some amazing pictures of the runners while we were there. I'm still in awe every time I look at them. I can't believe we were really that close to all those famous runners that I've seen hundreds of times in my running magazines. It's hard to believe these pictures were taken from our very own camera! 

The best part of watching the race was that they ran a loop course so we got to see both the men and the women run by at least 8 times each. It was AMAZING. 

Here's a little sneak peak of some of my favorite pictures from the race. I promise there's A LOT more, but it's been a busy weekend, and now I'm off to watch 24 with my hubby. 

Ryan Hall. 2nd Place. Time: 2:09:30

Josh Cox. 14th Place. Time: 2:13:50. Remember when I met him? Here's some great running advice from him too. 

The top four women: Shalane Flanagan (2:25:38), Desiree Davila (2:25:55), Kara Goucher (2:26:06), and Amy Hastings (2:27:17). 

I'll be back soon with more pictures and updates from the weekend!!

Christmas at a Runner's House

You know you're a runner when stocking stuffers include Shot bloks, Gu, Glide, A Fro Yo giftcard, and 26.2 Christmas tree ornament

Isn't this the cutest tree ornament? We have a tradition to get a new tree ornament for each other every year, and we try to make it signify something that happened that year. This ornament was for our trip to Boston for the marathon this past April. 

Breakfast was gluten-free pumpkin/oatmeal/greek yogurt pancakes. Yes they're healthy, but they're dang good too. Scott couldn't figure out why he was so full on Christmas, and then he realized it was because he ate 10 of these pancakes for breakfast. 10! These aren't light and fluffy pancakes. They're pretty heavy duty little cakes. I was laughing my head off when he told me he ate 10. 

One of the many highlights of my day. I finally have a Garmin! 

New running socks always feel so good. I love the kind with the tabs on the back. I can't stand when my socks slide down. 

I was way too happy about getting this salad spinner. Scott was laughing at my excitement over what seems to him like a silly little thing. But, I will use this thing all the time and my life will be so much easier for it. In fact, I had this thing open for less than 2 minutes before I was already using it. 

Christmas dinner. My first time making it all by myself, and it was actually pretty fun. Well, fun to eat anyway. We're so excited that we get to eat it all again tonight. Yay for leftovers. (I linked to most of these recipes in my last post.) 

Scott really surprised me with this one. He booked a hotel in Houston for the weekend of the Olympic Marathon trials! I am so excited. Can you tell? I really, really wanted to go, but I thought there was no way we would be able to find a hotel with the Olympic Trials on Saturday followed by the Houston Marathon on Sunday. I would LOVE to run in the Houston Marathon, but I don't run on Sundays, so watching the Olympic Trials will make up for not being able to run the marathon.

The marathon course is going to be a loop that the runners will go around three times. That means three times as many opportunities to get pictures of Kara Goucher, Desiree Davila, Shalane Flanagan, Josh Cox, and Ryan Hall. We're also going to the Children's Museum with B while we're there, and possibly the aquarium, and definitely the marathon expo. :) It's going to be an AWESOME weekend.

I'm so grateful to my husband for making his crazy runner wife so happy this Christmas, right down to the little stocking stuffers. 

I hope you all had a happy and memorable Christmas! We loved our first Christmas with just our little family. It turned out perfect.

Who's your favorite professional runner? 

I've always thought Kara Goucher was so cute, and I love that she's a mommy now too. I can't believe I will get to see her run in person in a few weeks. 

What was your favorite stocking stuffer?

My favorite stocking stuffer this year would have to be the shot bloks only because there's a funny story behind them. A few weeks ago I had bought 3 packs of shot bloks and left them on the counter. I finished the first two packs the week before Christmas Eve, and I went to get the third pack Christmas Eve morning before my long run. I couldn't find them anywhere. Scott was in bed next to where I was sifting through my running basket looking for my shot bloks. I said, "I thought I had one more package of shot bloks. Hmmm. Maybe I only bought two." I gave up looking for them and headed out for my run. Scott must have been dying laughing inside because he had swiped the Gu and Shot bloks I bought right off the counter and hid them to use as a stocking stuffer for Christmas. When I opened the strawberry shot bloks the next day a light went on in my head. I said, "Hey these are strawberry. Are these the shot bloks I bought and couldn't find?" He said he was really surprised I hadn't noticed earlier. We got a good laugh out of it. It was pretty funny. 

Is anyone else going to Houston either to watch or run the marathon? 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We hope you all have a fun Christmas weekend! 

I started Christmas Eve off with a chilly/rainy/refreshing 14 mile run at one of my favorite running spots. Now we're looking forward to dinner at the Riverwalk tonight, and watching B finally get to open all his presents tomorrow! (I guess I better finish wrapping those today.)

I'm also looking forward to making some yummy food this weekend! 

Here's a few things I'm planning to make:

These pumpkin pancakes. 

This sweet potato casserole, except with real (and more) sweet potatoes this time.

This ham glaze, but modified a little bit. 

These herb roasted veggies

And this soup, which I actually finished making at 10PM last night. Now we can have it for lunch on Christmas! 

What food are you most looking forward to eating this weekend? 

I'm actually really excited to have some ham, which is weird because I'm not usually a huge meat fan. I also bought a real pineapple that I'm pretty excited to eat tomorrow night after dinner. 

Squeezing In Holiday Workouts

Last Saturday my husband was out of town and B and I had 3 parties on the schedule for that day. I knew doing a long run was out of the question, and I figured any sort of exercise that day was out of the question as well.

Here's a summary of how the crazy 3-party, no husband day went:

6:40AM-Wake-up, slap a little make-up and deodorant on, get dressed, get B dressed, grab a couple bananas, and head out the door. (No shower for me because despite our crazy schedule, I still had hope that I would somehow be able to squeeze in a workout, and not showering is actually extra motivation for me to workout. I knew I would want to shower at some point that day, but I like to "earn" my shower with a sweaty workout.)

8:00AM-Meet friends and head to Scott's work Christmas party that they put on for the kids.

12:00PM-Arrive home from the crazy, crowded Christmas party. Make something for B and I to eat for lunch that doesn't include sugar as the first ingredient. Put B down for a nap, which he didn't end up taking. (He played with his toys in his room for an hour instead.) I on the other hand was exhausted, so I took a 10 minute cat nap before getting up to wrap the birthday presents for the next party.

2:00-Arrive at birthday party for two of B's friends. 

(By this point I was really missing my daily dose of endorphins. I noticed I had felt a little antsy all day because I hadn't exercised. I still wasn't sure if there was any way I could squeeze any type of workout in, but my un-showered self was still hoping to.)

4:00-Arrive home from birthday party. (I had 2.5 hours before the next party and I still needed to exercise, shower, wrap a white elephant present, and make an appetizer. I needed at least an hour to get ready, so that left 1.5 hours for the exercise, present wrapping, and appetizer making. Not very much time. I barely even had enough time to make the decision about whether or not I was going to squeeze in a workout.) 

I had a million excuses why I should skip it; I had just eaten cake and ice-cream and jumping around might make me sick, I needed more time to make the appetizer and get ready for the party, I was tired from busying around all day, my only option was an at-home workout video, but I really wanted to run, I wasn't going to get a very good workout in with the amount of time I had to do it. 

Two things made my decision for me:

#1

Source

#2-Whenever I'm deciding whether to exercise or not, I always tell myself anything is better than nothing. So what if I only had time to do a 40 minute workout video? It would be better than nothing. 

I threw on some workout clothes as fast as possible, set B up on the couch with a movie on the laptop, and put in the Biggest Loser CardioMax dvd. It was worth it. I got my endorphin fix, I had more energy afterwards, I was in a better mood, and I finally "earned" my shower for the day! Yay for me, and for all the people at the next party.

I can't believe I almost let myself think that a short workout wouldn't be worth it. 

I finished my workout surprisingly more sweaty than I thought I would be, and jumped in the shower to see how fast I could get ready, wrap the present, and make the appetizers. All those exercise endorphins helped me straighten my hair and re-apply make-up in record time. (Wow. Two make-up applications in one day. I normally don't even do one.)

Thanks to Costco's little brownie bites, it only took me about three minutes to make these cute little Santa hat brownies. (My sis-in-law sent me a picture of these and I thought they were so cute. Not sure where she first saw them though.)

What motivates you to exercise when you're pressed for time? 

Friday Fitness Survey

I saw this fitness survey on Carrots 'N' Cake this morning and thought it would be fun to play along. Feel free to join me if you want to do it too!

Five Fitness Things I Can’t Live Without:

1. Jogging stroller 

2. Running buddies

3. Road races

4. At-home workout dvds

5. The stick

Most Embarrassing Song I Listen to While Working Out:

Most of the time I don't listen to music while I run because I'm either pushing a jogging stroller, talking to my running buddies, or watching TV on the treadmill at the gym. 

Favorite Pre-Workout Snack or Meal:

It changes, but currently it's almond butter and honey on rice cakes with banana on top. 

On My Fitness Bucket List:

1. Complete an olympic distance triathlon, and if I survive that, then maybe a half-ironman someday. 

2. Run a marathon in the 3:20's.

3. Run the Boston Marathon with the new time standards and without getting sick. (I've done it twice and both times I had some pretty bad luck. You can read about my last Boston Marathon here.)

Must Have Tech Tools:

(The top two are want tech tools, but maybe someday they'll be have tech tools.)

1. Garmin 410

2. Treadmill

3. Heart rate monitor

4. iPod  


Top Exercise Gear:

1. Adidas capri running tights

2. iFitness belt

3. Water belt

4. Pink New Balance Boston shirt

Motivational Mantras:

1. What doesn't kill you, makes you a runner.

2. No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everyone on the couch.

3. You only regret the workouts you don't do. 

5. Only exercise on the days you want to improve your mood.

5. If you went running when you first started thinking about it, you'd be back by now.

6. Sweat is fat crying.

7. Keep calm, and run on.


Favorite Cardio Exercise:
1. Long runs!

2. Track intervals (when I have running buddies to do them with.)

3. P90X Plyometrics 

4. Biking with B

Favorite Strength Moves:
1. Any ab exercise

2. Lunges


3. Bicep curls

4. Any plank exercise

 Tell me what fitness thing you can't live without.

What's you favorite pre-workout meal? 

What's on your fitness bucket list?