Tri-ready in 6 days

So I thought I'd quickly share the fact that I have my first open water Triathlon coming up this Sunday (June 26th) and I haven't really trained for it at all. I have been so busy with work and life that I haven't been tri-focused during any of my workouts. Yeah, I run, bike, swim and lift on a regular basis, but I have not been mentally preparing myself for what's to come, until today, 6 days before the race.

But let's back up a bit. The past few weeks have been quite busy. For one, I was recently pulled into a project team at work where my role is to provide feedback, research and present the best options on how to design our new fitness center at work. we are moving to a new building next year and I am on our health and wellness team to support the move. What a cool project, right? It certainly has been fun to research and find best practices related to corporate fitness centers, but also very time consuming with the tight deadlines. I never imagined I'd get to help design a fitness center at my company as part of my ad hoc projects for the year, but here I am! It's been a great experience so far.

On top of work, I'm also moving. I'm finally out of the fan and into the suburbs, and moving has been quite the time vacuum. Between packing, cleaning, unpacking and cleaning some more, plus coordinating utility deactivation's and the like at my old place, then errands and furniture planning... It seems my life (and work) has been nothing but residential and commercial interior design these days - at least it's something I enjoy!

So... between work and life, training for this triathlon has been put on the back burner just a bit. I still work out almost every day, but these past few weeks they are not as intense, and I skip a day here and there. This weekend I didn't even consider working out during the move, and I only squeezed in a 5k on Friday afternoon on a treadmill. Ah well.

So what better to the week than to do a mini triathlon... er... not really. I went to spin during my lunch break, then followed up with a 400-500 meter swim after work in the James River at Robious Landing Park (where my triathlon will be on Sunday), then a short 2 mile fast run. It felt great today. Even though it wasn't a full triathlon and quite spread out, it felt great to get out there and hang out with other amazing athletes. It definitely brought me back to the place I want to be - excited about working out, and not finding excuses to skip. I look forward to the opportunity to get my heart rate up and sweat a little. What a feeling.

The trail run was short but sweet and fast. My co-worker Kali and I hustled the 2 miles - a nice burst of energy to pump blood out of my legs after the swim. Can't wait to do it again soon. Let's hope this is all I needed to get the confidence to finish the I Love the Tavern Triathlon this Sunday. Wish me luck!

Crash Course on Triathlon Training

I've got to do a better job keeping up with my blog! Nothing too exciting has been going on the past few weeks to be honest. I'm consistently spinning, running more, cooking more, and of course eating more! Last week, my mom, my sister, and our 2 best friends plus their mom, had a girl's night out at Eurasia, a restaurant in the west end of RVA that serves a wonder blend of Asian and American meals, from rosemary and gorgonzola-crusted rib eye steak, shrimp and gouda grits, to ahi tuna over soba noodles with peanut sauce and pork belly pot stickers. Everything was great, and especially the company I was with!

The other place a tried last week was Off the Hookah, a new night club and restaurant in downtown RVA that serves up an array of Mediterranean food and dazzling belly dancers. My co-worker and I got VIP seating, which included a very kind and generous waitress and a view of sexy dancing on the dance floor. We ordered a tobacco/drug-free Hookah in "Wildberry" flavor. I

t was like inhaling bubble gum. I enjoyed it but that could be nostalgia from my old cig habit. I must admit, it was a lot of fun, and I definitely would go back again.

So... Now on to fitness. This week I decided to sign up for Endorphin Fitness's crash course into Triathlon training. Endorphin Fitness is a leading provider in adult and youth triathlon training and fitness. They just upgraded their fitness center with a store-front expansion, filled with professional road bikes, tools and clothing and equipment galore. I feel very entry-level when I walk in, but the staff is friendly and welcoming when I signed up for the week. Today's class consisted of flexibility and core exercises. I haven't done any type of core, strength training or stretching moves since I broke my arm, so I was definitely looking forward to this class. I had already gone to spin during my lunch break so this would be the perfect compliment to my full-body workout.

The core part of the class was hard. At least for me since I was out of commission for a few months. The stretching was hard too! It made me realize I need to get back into Bikram Yoga again. I've definitely lost my flexibility for sure! The rest of the week will continue with even more challenging classes... Cycling, transition, running, and swimming techniques along with a Friday night group party. It will surely be a good time, I'm definitely looking forward to it!

Conquering my first Triathlon

I did it! I completed my first triathlon all by myself. Well... I had a little help and plenty of support. Two of my co-workers played a large part in my training up until this event. First, a manager at our company is a triathlon coach along with his wife for a company called Endorphin Fitness. Ever since I showed interest in participating in a triathlon, Brian has been encouraging me to go for it. He invited me out to a triathlon "practice" that he and few of his friends do in the summer. I was too scared to go it alone so my boyfriend came with me. We had a blast swimming in the James River by Robious Landing (James River Park) and transitioning to our mountain bikes where we completed an obstacle course throughout the park, followed by a quick trail run. It was great. I loved every minute of it. My other co-worker, Laura, is a Lunachic. She also came with me to the triathlon practice and took me out on bike rides to prepare me for the race. She let me use her road bike for the race. It was incredible. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do the race with them, and of course the support of my boyfriend. He and his son Brett came to the race to see me cross the finish line.

The weekend before the triathlon I race in the Capital 10 Miler. It was a great race to practice for the half marathon in November, plus, I did it alone, which I thought would be a good idea to adjust to doing the triathlon alone. It definitely helped. The photo above is from the Capital 10 Miler. I'll definitely post photos from the triathlon as soon as I get them.

I did however get my time results for both races:

Captial 10 Miler: 1:29:21

Sprint Triathlon: 1:29:36

Creepy that i finished both races within 15 seconds of the same time... Just sayin'.

Anyway- more to come on my races... I should probably share some more food photos soon since I have a ton, but for now I've been in training and race mode, so I'm more excited to talk about that.