I started running again today. I was able to go for about 30 minutes before my foot started thinking about hurting, so I stopped there but I'm still satisfied with the workout. It's hard to get back into it even after such a short break! We'll have company in town for the rest of the week, but I'm going to try and keep up my schedule.

Workout:
Treadmill: 30 minutes, hill interval, level 12, avg. 5.1 mph, total dist: 2.3 miles. Walked at begining and end.

I'm not sure whether or not to work out today. Maybe I'll just go in and do weights. I want to make sure I'm not going to make my ankle worse and I can tell it's not 100% yet. So frustrating! The spirit is oh so willing but the body is weak.

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Okay, so I went to the gym and just did weights then took a short swim with my 1 year old in the pool. I think I'll be ready tomorrow for slowly getting back to running.

Workout:
Circut weights: full set

Thank goodness for my weekly rest day! I just hope my ankle tendon gets feeling better by tomorrow so I can start working out again. I think I can attribute some of my lousy feeling to the fact that I've been eating very poorly all week. I'll try and make a fresh start on Monday.

Lamest Day EVER!! I noticed yesterday that the tendon up the back of my calf was a little sore, but today when I went to the gym, it was really acting up (clicking, really painful) so I decided I couldn't run or bike today or I would aggravate it. I went to the pool, but of course they were doing lessons and by the time lanes would open for lappers, the Daycare was closed. So I checked out the pilates class but it was all full. It was really tough for me to even get to the gym today and so that just made everything that much worse. I'm in a pretty sour mood. Hopefully by Monday, my leg will be feeling better so I can get back to running/swimming. Even walking right now is painful.

Workout:
Run: 30 seconds! Leg hurt too much!

Had a normal, good workout today. Tried the transition from bike to running and couldn't really handle going full speed straight off the bike. I'll keep practicing it. I guess you need to start out slower running and then work up to your running speed eventually. I'm making great progress with weights and Adam is starting to notice how buff I'm getting.

Workout:
Weights: Full set of circut weights
Recumbant Bike: 40 minutes, 14.5 miles, hill interval, level 12, moderately intense
Yoga/stretch: 5 minutes

Another workout that ended prematurely due to Penelope giving the childcare a hard time. I don't know what do to about her. I really wanted to lift weights today but had to skip it. But my swimming went really well and I am satisfied that I still got a good workout today.

Of course, any good that I did working out today was undone by the cupcake eating contest I had last night. At least I won!

Workout:
Swimming: 2100 meters, Intense, drills. 45 min

Great run today. I would have gone farther, but after 45 minutes, the childcare lady came and said Penny throwing a fit so I had to go. But I'm really encouraged about meeting my goal of running an 8K in the next few weeks. The key is just to maintain a reasonable pace. And having a copy of US Weekly to look at! It's amazing how reading about fashion do's and don'ts make the running hardly noticable!

Workout:
Treadmill: 45 minutes, 3.7 miles, hill interval, level 12 - no walking. Pace 5.0 constant.

My workout wasn't a breeze today, but it didn't kick my rear either. It took 2 hours and the childcare lady was all huffy when I picked up Penny, but that was just as fast as I could go. I am making progress with weights, but am really starting to feel the need to get a real bike and practice on the road. My running is making infintesimal progress.

GOOD NEWS! I went shopping for new pants yesterday since all of mine are now too big and I am now in a size that I have never even shopped for! I haven't worn this pants size since I was 12! That's a big confidence boost :)

Workout:
Upright Bike: 35 minutes, speed training, level 8, dist: 8-9mi?
Treadmill: 33:45 minutes, 3 miles, walked twice. Max speed 7mph. Need to figure out my pace and keep it even.
Yoga/Stretch: 10 minutes
Circut Weights: Full set - making good progress on increasing weights on all machines.

I did my first real "routine" in the pool today and swam longer than I have yet. I got a routine from an internet site and tried it out - it went relly well! Then I was pretty exhaused so I was only able to get 1 mile in for running but it's better than nothing. I am going to try and do one long swim, run and bike each week.

Workout:
Swim: 2100 meters, drills, 55 minutes - medium intense. Need much more stroke practice
Treadmill: 12 minutes, 1 mile, manual setting incline 1.o - run/walk
Yoga/Stretch: 15 minutes

I really needed this break today! I spent a lot of time last night and this morning reading up on more training methods and am very encouraged. I need to have a more structured workout so I don't get lazy and forget to push myself. The most useful website I've found so far is hulaman.com. He's just some guy who loves tris and gives very specific training advice and day of race advice.
I'm having a hard time trying to decide whether or not to do a Sunday tri. Typically, I don't do anything other than church-related activities on Sundays but almost every tri is held on Sunday. The only LA area tri on a Saturday is very very easy and later in the summer. I wouldn't have to stretch myself at all to prepare for it. So I don't know what the right thing for me to do is. The other option is to travel to St. George, UT for a Saturday tri - but it looks like it may be too difficult for me to prepare for in time. I guess I should probably just do that one though. Our friend will be competiting in it and it would be good to see him.
I'll keep looking for local Saturday tris. And I need to get my workout routine figured out to maximize my benefits.

I was AWESOME at the gym today! I biked first then went straight to the treadmill and I was able to do both in record time. But now it's 5:30pm and I feel really tired and ready to drop. So I probably pushed it too hard today, but it was good to see what I can do if I set my mind to it. I am really excited about my running. It must be the new shoes :)

Workout:
Recumbant Bike: 32 minutes, 11.5 miles, level 13, medium intense Hill interval
Treadmill: 35 minutes, 3.04 mi. No walking! Hill interval, level 12
Yoga/Stretch: 10 min.
Circut weights: 1/2 hour

I got a new swimsuit and running shoes today. I didn't have as much time as I wanted at the gym because childcare closed at 2, but I got a really satisfying workout in the pool. I'm still short a swim cap, but I'll find a good one eventually I guess. That's not too pressing. I talked to another guy who does tris today and he said that the hardest part is getting off the bike and starting to run so I'm going to change my workouts to doing bike/run on the same day and do bike first, then run so I'm prepared for the hardest transition of the tri.

Workout:
Swim: 35 min. Swam 250 yards in 8.5 minutes. That's a pretty good time for me. Then did 10 minutes of working on stroke efficiency. My best was 13.5 strokes across. Then I did another 10 minutes of continuous laps.

Big breakthrough on running today! I only stopped to walk once. The change was I just found a comfortable running pace and maintained it through both the hills and the intervals. I'm very excited about that. Once again, however, I have planned poorly and after running I went to the pool only to find it filled with water aerobics people. Someday I'll figure out that places schedule! Instead I put in 1/2 hour on the bike. Horray for inconsistency!

Workout:
Treadmill: 30 minutes, level 12, interval, 2.4 miles (only walked once!) Felt good!
Recumbant Bike: 32 minutes, level 13, then 10 at the end, 11.5 mi. Still difficult but I can do it alright.

My biggest obstacle in this whole thing is poor planning. I went to the Y today to bike and swim and of course, I left my swim suit and towel sitting on my table at home. All the treadmills were being used so I just did a longer session on the bike, and then a bit of yoga. I swear - my head isn't in this like my legs are. But I feel like I'm making progress. Small, but I still have a little over 2 months till my fist tri. I still need to get a bike. I'm going to try and join the Pasadena Triathlon Club. The YMCA guy said that you can pay their small membership fee and get 20% off savings a lot of bike stores/athletic supply stores so it should be financially worth it. I'm going to check it out today.

Workout:
Recumbent Bike: 40 minutes, level 13, 14.4 miles -H.R. avg: 168 - Max: 183
32 minutes to go 11.5 miles (tri distance)
Stretch/yoga: 10 minutes

I always have trouble getting the schedule of the YMCA down. They seem so arbitrary when they do and don't provide childcare. Today I showed up at 3:15 (already running a little late) and they said that childcare didn't open until 4pm. So I had to blow an hour roaming around town with my already-crabby kid. The hardest part about training is going to be making my daughter accomodate all the time I'm now spending at the gym. I feel like a bad mom. I didn' t get my workout done until 5:30 and that was really pushing it for my 1 year old. Anyways, I feel like I'm making small progress on running, but it's encouraging to be making progress at all.

Workout:
Treadmill: 30 minutes, hill interval, level 12. Ran hills, walked intervals. Went 2.4 mi.
Weights: Full circut except for (time crunch today) biceps and whatever the ones on the back of my arms are called. I'm adding weight on each machine each time I come in. I should make quick progress on weights. I hope this helps my three areas.

Today was really hard. I don't know why, but I just didn't have the fuel to feel like I had a good workout. But maybe it's the hard that makes it good. Before I started training for this tri, I would go to the pool about three times a week and swim my 70 laps (1 mile) with relative ease in about 35 minutes. Now that I'm focusing on breathing less, and making my arm and leg strokes more powerful, I can barely do 2 consecutive laps without having to take a break. I can only hope I will see some progress soon.

Workout:
Recumbant Stationary Bike: 25 minutes, hill interval, medium hard, level 12
Swim: Didn't count laps. 10 minutes of stroke counting. 10 minutes of only arms and only legs laps, and 10 minutes of normal laps. Medium hard intensity.

I'm going to have Sundays be my days off. Hopefully this will be my only day off. I want to do swimming and biking on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and running and weights on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. I know I should spend more time on running since it's the weak point, but I just can't stand the thought of running every day. Suggestions? Maybe I'll run instead of bike on Mondays.
Also, maybe I shouldn't do as many weights but I can't help think it will help me in stuff like swimming where it really takes a lot of muscle to stroke effectively. Maybe I'll tone it down after I feel like I've got my stroke under control.

I got a call from the guy at the YMCA yesterday. He gave me lots of good information about other local tris and suggestions for training clubs, where to find gear, training book recommendations and everything else. It is all still pretty overwhelming but I'm still positive about it. It's so fun to have a goal that is actually tough to reach so I can relish each and every accomplishment and know that nothing but determination and sweat got me there.

Workout:
Running: 30 minutes - hill interval. I walk between the tough hill runs. This is very difficult still. I went about 2.3 miles in the 30 minutes. Need major improvement.
Weights: Full set of circut training. 12 sets, 2 reps.

I am pretty sore from doing weights yesterday. I've been pretty good about stretching though and I think that has made my sudden increase in activity less painful. I am feeling really motivated to do this. Response from Adam, family and friends has been very positive. I feel a little guilty spending 7 hours a week working out since it seems like there are many better things I could be doing with my time but I'll just have to get over that.

Workout:
Stationary bike: 25 minutes, hill intervals: med-high intensity
Swim: Practiced decreasing the amount of strokes to get across the pool. My normal stroke took 20 strokes to get across. After focusing on really maximizing my arm strokes and kicks, I got down to 14 today. If that's as much progress that I can make in only one day, I am very optimistic to improve much more by race day. Swam 25 yrds followed by 30 sec. rest. Didn't count laps, just arm strokes.

I told friends and family about my intentions and hopefully that will motivate me to follow through. I am a little intimidated by the amount of equipment I'll need to actually compete (wet suit, road bike). I don't know how much money is worth spending on this whole random resolution. Plus, each event has an entry fee ranging from $85 to $185. I hope this is the right place for me to be investing my time and money at this point. They say you should be training about 7 hours a week. I can do Monday through Friday, but I'll have to modify my Saturdays a bit to get extra time in.

Workout:
Run: 30 min: interval - high intensity
Circuit weights: 40 min.

I decided to compete in a triathlon today. I didn't know where to start with training or even where/when events would be though. I spoke with some employees at the YMCA and they said one of their employees does tri's all the time. I left my number for him to call me. Maybe he can help me train and get ideas for events to enter.
I also looked around on the internet for local events and training ideas. There is an easy one in March and an Olympic style one in July. Hopefully I'll do both of these.

Workout:
Swim: 25 yrds x 20 breaststroke
Eliptical: 30 minutes - 170 heart rate