AND I RAN....

Well today I must have been channeling Forrest Gump. I went to stone mountain on the first most beautiful day of the year, and jogged 5 miles!!! I have been doing around 3, but today I kept going, and the best part of it, is that I can see how swimming is helping my whole body. I was never really out of breath while jogging. I stepped it up a notch on the hills and sprinted to get the blood flowing harder, and it felt great. Now though, I am tired. I think I will watch a movie and veg for a while.

AWESOME DAY TODAY

So this morning I went to the pool and swam lightly for about an hour, just to stretch out from yesterdays bike ride. Afterwards I stopped by Kroger to get some food in my stomach, and to my joy they were giving free cholesterol checks at the pharmacy. Now, I have never gotten my cholesterol checked, so I was a bit nervous(and I hate needles), but after my 10 minute test, I was happy to find out that I have like no triglycerides, or really any cholesterol in me!!! I am super healthy...yayyyy!!!! So then I had fried chicken for lunch, no joke, but just three little wings with watermelon, and olives. Afterwards, I went and met an aquaintance from Tri your best-at Tri your best to look at a Trek road bike he had offered to sell me. I looked the bike over and bought it for a great price. I am very happy because the bike is actually my size, and even though it is steel, it is light!!! I brought it home, and cleaned and regreased everything, as it had been sitting in his garage for a while. It shined up nice, and tomm. I will get it adjusted, get new tires, and a new chain, as well as new bar tape, and hopefully have a great ride!!!!!

YES!!!

So today it warmed up to the 60's and I went to Stone Mountain Park and rode 12 miles, it felt so good. I read in Bicycling magazine on some tips to go faster, so I just practiced those, and then wound up trying to race cars :) It was such a nice day. I had on my short sleeved jersey with my windbreaker on, and felt great. I cannot wait until this weekend, Sat. is supposed to be in the seventies!!!!

swim, swim, swim

so i swam monday for an hour with my training hand paddles, had a killer swim clinic at dynamo for 2 hours on tuesday, then today i ran 3 miles and had swim class again!!!! tomm. it should be warmer, so i hope to get on the old schwinn.

3 days Grace

no...not the band...just 3 days of rest, thanks to a killer bike ride.

Wednesday swimmy class

Well tonight we had swim training with TNT, the strokes are now coming together, and they are difficult to learn and master. But I have signed up for some swim clinics, and I still have a very long way to go.

Tuesday biking madness

Well on Tuesday I met up with a friend I had met at Tri Your Best to go ride at Stone Mountain. Ben rides single speed, while I am on my oversized schwinn worldsport. Well I decided to head off to the hard course of the bike ride, which is alllllll up hill. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. But I made it through, and after I caught back up with Ben, we did another loop. So needless to say...I worked out enough for the day. The most awesome part was that Ben gave me a Bianchi frame in my size, that I am going to try to use as my tri bike. THANKS BEN!!!

TNT FUN-RAISING

Well after I flew to Cleveland last night, I slept this morning until 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a cold day as well, so I did not exercise, although I did go to the LLS office for a Team in Training fundraising ideas party, I have come up with some great ideas for the next following months. So be expecting a Happy hour party or 2, a concert, and a hot dog stand!!! I did drop out of the Lake Tahoe Century due to the fact that I will be out of the country. But I am still going strong on training for the Chatanooga Triathlon, and I hope that if you feel so inclined to help a person with blood cancer that you will go to the Triathlon Donation link at the top right under "donations" and make a small contribution, even it be a few dollars or so!!! Thanks so much for continuing to read my blog!!!!

DAY 11

Today was awesome...My whole life I have had a problem with my right leg while jogging...It is the muscle or tendon on the right that easily swells and kills me within 5 minutes of running. So Today (sunday) I went to Tri Your Best, and Dave did a running analysis on me, and was quick in telling me that I pronate out very far to the left with my left foot, which makes my right leg bear all the pressure...the video analysis even looked painful. I told him that I thought one leg was longer than the other, so he measured and sure enough, my left leg is longer than the right. He asked me if I had ever fell on it as a kid, and I remember when I was 13, I was skating at a skatepark, went off a kicker ramp and fell hard on my right hip. It was a bad injury, which may be the culprit for my lucky fin (right leg)...well anyways, Dave then fitted me in a few pairs of correction running shoes, and after a few go's on the treadmill, I settled on the New Balances, which corrected my posture to only a 5% pronation!!! I then went to Stone Mountain Park and jogged for thirty minutes straight. It was the first time in my life that I have ran with no pain in my legs at all!!!!! I am so excited, and I plan to really up my running game, as I feel it is the weaker point in my Triathlon.

DAY 10

Today was TNT biking day in Marietta...It was fun, we did laps around an industrial park, and got some great tips on cadence and standard bike knowledge...I drank a chocolate muscle milk for breakfast for the ride, and tasted it for the rest of the day, so needless to say, I returned the whole case, and I plan to just take whey protein and fruit...But it was a beautiful day and the riding was good.

My Support Network

Taylor and Nicole are my BFFs.






























Taylor and Nicole are some of my are supporters in this cause. They let me eat their food and use their elliptical whenever I want to . I would be lost without them. And I would not be able to complete my training without proper nourishment and support. I love you guys!!!

Day 9

Today I did a "brick" again...I swam this morning, lightly, for about 30 minutes, then I biked a few miles in the evening...I wanted to do more, but today was suppose to be a rest day. And also it was like 40 degrees and windy...man it sucked, it was really really cold...Tomm. morning is the Team in Training ride...Its like an hour drive away from me, at 9 in the morning, and its going to be 38 degrees...But I will probably end up going anyways :)

Day 8

So Today my friend Taylor, and I were suppose to go to California, but after Taylor came down with "the sickness", we did not go. But I did use his eliptical machine, in which I did 2.6 miles in 25 mins. on a cross training program, at level 5...I thought I was going to have a heart attack. But, at the end of it, I felt really good...Hooray for water!!!

Tired Today.

So today, I am tired, and chose to rest. Although I did become a sams club member, and continued to work on cleaning my room. I am spring cleaning, so its taking a while...its a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Also I realize I have been spelling triathlon with an A, so if you see triathalon...ignore it, and just picture triathlon in its place!!!

Day 6

Well today I was feeling good, so I went to the pool, and swam laps for thirty minutes, and decided to ride my bike later in the afternoon. I rode about ten miles at stone mountain park, which is uphill, and downhill, but today it seemed it was mostly uphill. I still feel good from doing it although, my muscles ache. I went to Tri Your Best and picked up a sample of Hammer whey protein (vanilla), but I did not use it yet. So after a dinner of oven roasted chicken, brown rice, and spinach...I am still starving!!! I just ate a banana to help the hunger, but I think I am going to have to eat more. I bought some hemp sprouted bread today at kroger, so maybe some of that with a little smart choice peanut butter(salmonella free I hope)...

I'm here to TRI my best

As a result of riding in the MS150 last summer, I have grown a love for raising money for diseases, through exercise. I recently joined Team in Training, in which I will do a century bike ride(100 miles in 1 day) in June, and The Chattanooga Triathalon in July. The Triathalon is an Olympic Triathalon which i will accomplish a:

1.5km swim(0.93 mi)
40km bike(24.8 mi)
10k run(6.2 mi)

It will be both my first century, and my first Triathalon. I am doing this through hard work, and determination. The best part of it all is the reason I am doing this. Team in training is a Leukemia and Lymphoma organization. The main part of it all is the fundraising. The total minimum I need to raise for both events is $6,600.00...But, the money does not go to me, it goes toward the person we are sponsoring. And in return, Team in Training does all of the coaching, airfare, and Lodging for me, for free!!! I am really excited, and I hope that you enjoy following me on this journey.

Team in Training

Day 5

I had a great day today. I went to the Mountain Park pool in Stone Mountain, and swam for over an hour. It was my first time at the new aquatics center...and it soooo nice...I did my excercises from last wednesday, and then did different strokes for a good while. I basically went until I couldn't swim anymore, and until lunch time :) I went to kroger and had Potatoe soup for Lunch with a side of spicy raw garlic...afterwards I went to TRI YOUR BEST to say hey to james, and check out the nutritional supplements. I think I am going to purchase the energy gel...it looks interesting.

Day 4

Well today was a great day in the world of sports. I went to SoPo, which is a bike co-op here in Atlanta, and with the help of Corny (a volunteer there) I was able to finish working on my bicycle, and get it back on the road!!! But due to helping my sister move, I had to postpone riding. But I dont mind. I was suppose to run today, but I think moving furniture up and down stairs makes up for it.

Day 3

So mea and my Dad woke up at 4 this morning, and caught the 6:45am flight back to Atlanta. When I got home, I went to TRI YOUR BEST, a store in Stone Mountain that is dedicated to Triathalon, Marathon, and Biking gear. Dave is the owner, James does Managing and Sales, and Mark is the Mechanic...the guys are really cool, and really nice. I have started going in there a lot recently just to say whats up to James, and to meet new faces. I looked at running shoes, and James noted that I pronate inward, so he said that when I come in to purchase my shoes, we would do a running analysis on the treadmill...I hope that my new pair will fix the pain in my right leg that I have always had when I run. I think this is due to cheap shoes, and a lack of professional opininon. But I do not want to hurt myself, so I am taking every precautionary measure to ensure I do well in the Triathalon.

Day 2

So today I flew to Pensacola to register my honda. The plan was for me to go, do my errands, and bring my dad back with me on the 3:50pm flight. But, as a typical airline day, the 1:15pm flight cancelled, overbooking all of the following flights for the rest of the day. But I did not mind. I was able to go home and do some stuff, and also go jogging at the beach for 30 minutes. It was more like a 30 minute walk/jog. I was wearing a 3 year old pair of worn out new balance trail running shoes, and it made my legs hurt like heck!!! I think I will invest in a new pair of shoes...if only Jenn-ayyy were here to give me new Nike's...I would be running!!!

DAY 1

So, I have just signed on with Team in Training. Today was my first day meeting with the "Team". I met my mentor (Tanya) who is really nice, and got all of my paperwork and info. I admit that I was a bit nervous to go and swim, being that I am very out of shape, and have not exercised in a long time. First things were first, I had to do a swim assesment, and thank goodness, I made it to the other side of the pool and back!!! I was then assigned to go to lane 2 with the other guys to do my exercises. My coach had us first tread water four times for thirty seconds each time, after we all attempted our best not to drown, we got into swimming laps...It was a hard workout but it felt really good. Afterwards we all went to moes, where I ate a veggie burrito, and chips and queso!!! I sat with cookie, who was a lady that I met while swimming. She is in her 60's I think and is doing the triathalon too! I am so excited to be doing this, and cannot wait to get into shape.