Sad Calf is now Just-Barely-Making-It-By Calf

Oh and the workout

I forgot to post the workout that we did so that anyone training can do it as well.

Here we go:

Warm up:

200 free

10 X 100m free sets: 1st 100m: is 25m fast 75m slow, 2nd 100m: is 50m fast 50m slow, 3rd 100m: is 75 m fast 25 slow, 4th 100m: is all fast, 5th 100m: is all slow. Repeat

Main Set:

6 X 300m free kick sets: the kick set is comprised of 7 kicks with the left arm stretched out in front then 3 strokes then 7 kicks with the right arm stretched out in front then 3 strokes and so on. This is to work on rotation as well as working your kicks. Also you learn to appreciate the 3 strokes you get in between.

It goes as follows: 1st 300m: kick set for 100m and 200m free, 2nd 300m: kick set for 200m and 100m free, lastly 3rd 300m: is all kick set. Repeat. These should have a 10 sec rest in between the 300's

3 X 300m free and non-free: 1st 300m: 100m non free of your choice (but you could do an IM to make it spicy) 200m free, 2nd 300m: 200m non free 100m free, 3rd 300m: 300m non free

Cool Down:

200m free

So that is it folks! I also gave a modified version to Erica which is basically the same just less intervals.

Here is that:

Warm up:

150m free

6 X 100m: Every 3rd 100m (so the 3rd and 6th) do the close fisted drill for the whole 100m. There should only be a 5 sec break in between 100s.

Main Set:

3 X 300m free style and kick board: 1st 300m: kick board for 100m and 200m free, 2nd 300m: kick board for 200m and 100m free, lastly 3rd 300m: is all kick board. These should have a 10 sec rest in between the 300's

3 X 300m free kick sets: 1st 300m: kick set for 100m and 200m free, 2nd 300m: kick set for 200m and 100m free, lastly 3rd 300m: is all kick set. These should have a 10 sec rest in between the 300's

Cool Down:

200m free

Sad calf is Sad

So Monday I went to swim with the Cal Tri Team for the first time while I try and decide if it is a good idea for me to actually join the team. There are a couple of reasons why I am still on the fence about joining- even though it is a great team and would be an awesome way for me to push myself- the least of which is the fact that all the Cal-Hoorah kinda scares me a bit. (What can I say I went to NYU for god sake... college spirit just isn't in my nature! I'm trying to reform and be happy/ spunky about it... also, not in my nature!)

I was also worried that I was going to be the "old" person on the team with a bunch of über- spunky freshman and they were going to shame me... which actually sorta happened- just not in the way I was imagining.

After amping myself up for the whole evening (the practice is at 8pm) and telling myself that I was a highschool swimmer and "God damn it can TOTALLY do this", I get there and the practice starts. First of all let me preface this by the face that in highschool our swim coach was an ex-navy seal, and while he was an amazing coach and great guy he was a yeller. Actually I have NEVER had a swim coach that was not a yeller (now that I ponder on this fact it could be due to the fact that when you swim your head is in the water and you are actually unable to hear your coach talking to you so by the time you DO get to the wall they are irate from trying to talk to you the whole way and there for are ready to yell at you. Just things to ponder...) And by yeller I mean: point at you in the pool "Why have you stopped swimming?! Did you completely misunderstand the concept of sets with only a 5 second rest? You are not fast enough for this lane today" and suddenly you have been demoted a lane IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE TEAM. So... going on THAT experience I really thought that it would be more along those lines.

In actuality I don't know if the swim coaches really cared if anyone new was there or not. Not because they don't care- they do- it was just that there was only two of them and a WHOLE lot of us with seriously varying skill levels. They could not keep track of what everyone was doing. It would have been much more helpful if they had a board to write the sets down on so that they didn't have to recite them to us each time we finished one... but oh well you live and you learn I guess.

Once there you kinda just hop in a lane that you *think* you might swim at the same level as everyone else and you just start down the lane in a crazy free for all and hope you are able to make due. It was actually kinda crazy/ fun in a way - I have never been to a swim practice that was that disorganized, but it was a great way to sorta just melt in with the rest of the team without sticking out like a newbie-sore-thumb! I must say tho, not all the lanes had lane lines and in the frenzy that was the swim I got smacked, kicked and even scratched while swimming! A bit too reminiscent of water polo practices, HAHAHA.

The sets were great, but not too challenging. I got to be the leader in my lane- which was bad because I was in a lane too slow so I didn't really get a great workout. I should have bumped up a lane, but it was just too crazy so I stuck with it. And here is where the most embarrassing thing that can happen at a swim practice happened: mid butterfly, in the deep end of the pool I get a majorly intense calf cramp. So intense I actually started to sink to the bottom of the pool because I could not concentrate on anything but the pain. Of course this holds up the whole lane that I am heading- and I have to struggle to the surface and pathetically doggie paddle over to the wall where the coach is standing and staring at me. Let me reiterate: I doggie paddled at a freaking swim practice! Needless to say I am glad that they really didn't know me at this practice.

Any who, after a few minutes of waiting to see if this cramp would go away I sheepishly crawled out of the pool and left the practice hobbling down to my car. Unfortunately by the time I drove home (Thank GOD it was my left leg or else I would have been stranded there) the cramp had become so intense that I couldn't put any pressure on it and therefore was stranded in the garage. Of course it was also the day that Andrew had left his phone in the car so there was no possible way of calling for help. Finally I got up stairs to my bottle of ibuprofen and a heat pack- it took over an hour for the cramp to die down enough so that my foot was not forced into a relevé.

Of course Erica, the-soon-to-be-great-doctor, diagnosed it over the phone: evidently the leading cause of cramps are dehydration and imbalance of electrolytes. I.e. me: not eating pre-practice and drinking coffee the day of were my downfalls. The succubus that is coffee strikes again! Now, I am once again going cold turkey with the no-coffee plan, thankfully I have ol' reliable green tea to get me through the day!

Now we are on day two and it is still super sore and hard to walk. I feel like such an old person right now. I asked Laryssa if this is a sign that I am officially old and she said that I wasn't officially old until I was sore and hurt, but couldn't remember why... So I guess I'm not old. I'm just young and embarrassed instead... Great!

Laryssa's Birthday Ride

It was a BIG weekend for team Shut up & Sweat.

We kicked off the birthday festivities on Saturday with a 9am Laryssa- Liz swim lessons. It was nice and frustrating- just the way I am sure that Laryssa likes her swim lessons! We have been working on kicking, breathing and proper body alignment and even though it doesn't seem that way to her we ARE making progress. I WILL have her ready to swim come race season 2011 damn it!

After that it was a little R & R time until the big night where we caught dinner at Ryoko's near Union Square and then off to MJ's Birthday Bootie Mash Up at DNA.

Where we were doing a bit of this:

and this....

oh, and of course some of this:

You know, exactly the kinda of things you want to be doing til 4 am the night before a 30 mile ride that ends in a climb up Pinehurst!

Any who, we were all back up bright and early at 9 am to go to St. Francis's Fountain for a breakfast so huge that the waiter's couldn't believe how much we were consuming. They kept coming over to our table with orders and asking "Do these waffles with strawberries really belong at this table that already has hash browns, huevos rancheros, many sides of eggs, two cheesy-potato-egg-sour cream-concoctions and a milk shake?!". Oh yes they do!

Then off to Berkeley for our Sunday ride. The Pinehurst ride is Laryssa's nemesis just the way that Wildcat is mine. The first time we went on this ride Laryssa and I had only stopped drinking about 3 hours before the ride and it was brutal going up that hill. So of course it was the perfect ride to do on her birthday!

We had a few new riders as well: Erica's friend Sven, his friend Paulie, and Erica's boyfriend Darwin who cycles with us off and on.

All in all the ride went really well and luckily it turned out not to be too hot or cold that day. It was Erica's first hang-over ride and she was quite the trooper! It was also my first ride after a long night of dancing in heels- and let me tell you my knees did NOT appreciate that decision by the end of the ride!

While my knees might not have appreciated the weekend I sure was happy to have a chance to wear my favorite Pepto-Bismol T-shirt that was happily donated to me by Erica :)

Of course Laryssa had that Birthday Energy going for her so when it came to Pinehurst she powered up that hill and put us all to shame!

Her victory photo at the top!

That girl dominated that hill and can now proudly say that Pinehurst is no longer her nemesis! We all have to move on to bigger and better things eventually...

Darwin, happy to be at the top of the hill- he was a bit worse for a wear since his job has been working him 24/7!

After that it was smooth sailing down hill and off to a yummy Chinese dinner at Mandarin Garden- where we actually ate the restaurant out of food! HA!

Poor owner he had no idea what he was getting into by having us all eat there after a long weekend and long ride!

Team Shut up & Sweat good thing we aren't obese after all the food we consume!

For good measure, here's a video that Erica filmed while biking- very safe of her!

First Triathlon: Tri for Fun 8.21.2010

My first tri is over and done with and I can honestly say not only did I have a great time doing it, but I met all of my personal goals!

Laryssa helping me pin on my very official bib!

I participated on Saturday in the 23rd annual Tri for Fun in Pleasanton, CA and I have to say that it is a great race if you are looking to do your first tri race in a not super competitive environment. Before the race I was really worried that no one was going to be crazy enough to wake up at 4 am to go to a tri race in Pleasanton and I would only be one of a hand full of people competing- which would have been intimidating and sad. Luckily, there are plenty of crazy people who want to get up early, pay money to work out and be in Pleasanton way too early in the morning! I should never underestimate the outdoorsy-ness of Bay area folk!

Pre-race photo with a back drop of all the people participating. I am looking very sleepy eyed in this photo because well- I was very sleepy! A big thank you to Laryssa and Andrew who woke up pre-sunlight to watch me race. You're the best!

About 1,000 people were competing that day and most of them were tri newbies like myself! That made the whole feel of the race very welcoming. A few days prior to the event I was starting to get a bit nervous and second guess my ability to even finish this short little tri, but once there at the event, the fact that so many people were new like me, made all the pre-race butterflies go away.

I was definitely happy that I had gone a few weeks before to watch Brian's race so I wasn't totally clueless on what to do/ expect. But it was nice that they had people there assisting you in setting up, understanding the course and walking you through the ins and outs of the whole experience.

Everyone waiting for their swim leg to start.

The swim was a short 400 meter in warm 70 degree water- no wetsuit needed thankfully! Those things are a pain in the ass as I am realizing. I got some really good advice pre-race from Brian to just sprint when the race starts so that you can get away from the throngs of other swimmers and have some actual room to swim. So I waded up right into the front of the crowd and started the race with a nice sprint to the first marker. I had SO much adrenaline going at that point that all my training to pace myself went out the window and I ended up sprinting the whole 400 meters- which isn't too bad cause it was a short distance. This turned out to be good because I ended up being one of the first girls in my division out of the water. Laryssa and Andrew said that they had to run over to the transition area to even see me get out of the water. Ok, swim part done!

Waiting with Laryssa for my portion of the swim to start. It was quite cold outside of the water, but once inside it was a great sprinting temperature.

The biking was 15 miles, short, not hilly and actually really beautiful. It was a really nice ride and we were all able to go pretty fast due to the mostly flat terrain. I did quite a bit of passing on my bike (but don't worry all those people whizzed past me when it came time to run!) and it was quite the array of bikes that people were racing with. Some people had full out tri bikes with special wheels and tri handle bars and others were doing the race in totally beat up old bikes or beach cruisers. It was a huge mix.

Lastly, the run... my nemesis! All I can say about the run is this- I really wanted to stop running- often, but all I could think of was 'what will I tell Laryssa if I stop running and walk? She will kill me!' Oh and she would know if I walked- since she pretty much knows my running times and ability (or lack there of!). Any ways like I said all those people I passed on the bike ride went right past me in the run! Hahaha! This race definitely showed me that I have a long ways to go before I am ready to really run an Olympic distance tri.

This was a hilly run on a loose gravel trail so there were some obstacles for me as a new runner, but I am very happy to say that while I ran slowly, I ran the whole time. Thus completing my goal of wanted to be able to start and finish my first triathlon without stopping in the middle.

I was also able to accomplish my other goal which was to finish in under an hour and a half. I finished at 1 hour 14 minutes with the winner finishing at 55 minutes. I am super super happy with that time and am glad that it is my jumping off point for future races.

Finishing the race after being passed up on the run by many many people. But finishing strong. my actual time was 1:14- you have to deduct 15 minutes from the time due to the swimming wave I started in.

All in all I think that this race was great closure to a summer of training and I can say that I fell in love with this sport. Sadly, for the next few months I need to back off of the training so that I can get my grad school applications over and done with. Also so that I can save some money for X-mas and 2011 races (the start up for this sport is mad expensive!)

However, since I am reducing my training schedule it has opened up time for me to really start to teach Laryssa to swim! We have started with the basics (kicking and breathing) but I am hoping to get her ready to do some tris in 2011! I can not wait to see her progress in the pool and be at HER first sprint triathlon! In exchange she is going to attempt to make me a runner :)

We'll have to see how the trade off goes for the next few months! I am sure there will be many peg-leg days in my future, but I do feel satisfied to know that Laryssa will also be feeling the burn from swimming!!

Elevations a Bitch: Liz:0- Running:1

Went for an easy 4 mile run today now that I am staying with family in Utah for the next few days... and I nearly died. Why did no one remind me that I run at sea level in San Francisco and that my family lives WAY above sea level. It is also damn hot and dry here. I think I was only able to run about 2.5 miles of it and the rest of the time if felt like ralphing on the side of the highway.

Oh running, my evil nemesis, you never go away do you?

A shout out!

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to two people here.

1. Robbie- for being an awesome sport and now swimming with me on Wednesdays (when I don't flake on his ass...). He pounded out two 500 meters last time with a smile on his face. I am super excited for next Wednesday when I KNOW he will be up for a pyramid of 400's, 500's and 600's :) (I might even be able to eek out a 800)

2. Laryssa- who on her first time swimming went into Lake Anza with us on Sunday and did some open water kicking drills. Open water swimming is totally scary, but she pulled through and didn't give up! Next time- swim class in a pool, and I know it will be so much easier.

A big Whoot Whoot! to all of my new swimming buddies!

Somehow we are now in August!

Wow I can't believe that we are now in August! I have no idea how that happened. Well work has been crazy- which is the main reason for why I haven't posted anything in ages. That and my mom came for a visit so no training happened when she was here.

The past two weeks have been pretty standard. I have been running more with my co-worker Laryssa and she has been helping my running a lot. It has been a nice change of pace to get out and run around the neighborhood instead of on a track or on a treadmill. It is a bit easier to try and keep myself motivated when I am running on the streets, plus Laryssa keeps me entertained the whole time :)

I've had a few good swims here and there, but apart from our last long bike ride I hadn't been on a ride til this Sunday. This Sunday we all decided to take it a bit easy since some of us were sore, some of us were still reeling from the party we went to on Friday and some were feeling a bit lazy. So we all decided to do the "steepest" hill in Berkeley.

It was short, but tiring. Centennial gets up to 11% in its grade at one point so it is by no means a little hill. Luckily, it doesn't last for too long.



That was a good push for all of us. I must say it was very taxing on the legs and was by no means a piece of cake. On the way up we ran into a guy trying to do the hill as well. He was doing little switch backs to try and make it up- I think he almost took down each of us as we tried to pass him! He almost ran right into me and I don't think that if he had I would have been able to do anything fast enough but just fall flat on the pavement!

After our short little ride we went on a 3 mile run- which was not super enjoyable, but something that I need to get used to doing more and more. On the way we ran into a little blue and white Budgerigars Bird (a budgie) that was clearly a lost house bird. We were able to scoop it up and spent some time trying to find the house that it came from. Luckily one neighbor was home and we left the bird with him in hopes that if he couldn't find the house the little guy belonged to at least he would take him to an animal shelter. Then back to the run.

My running is slowly getting better- ever so slowly. I am still not up to running on real hills yet, but at least I have figured out a way to keep going even when I feel like giving up. It is a short 100 meter improvement each week, but at least it is improving! And thank god I don't get as horridly sore any more!

This coming week I'll be in Utah spending some quality time with my grandma and the only thing that I will be able to do is run, so I hope I am able to push myself to do it!