I DID IT!!!

oh man. i can’t believe it has been two weeks since the tri and i haven’t updated this!!!

the triathlon was FANTASTIC. i had such a good time and the best part was, we finished way earlier than i thought we would!!!

before i forget, here are pictures…go ahead and just skip right over the one of my in my bathing suit

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=66818&BIB=4758

so here’s a summary:

we got to genesee park around 715/730 on sunday morning. we went to our transition station and set up everything – bike clothes out first, towel to wipe our feet on, sunblock packets out and ready to be applied…then we stripped down to our hot one pieces (with sports bras underneath of course) and pranced in front of hundreds of strangers in our swimsuits to the swim start. my dream come true really. i wish i had strapped a waterproof camera to myself for the whole race because its reallly hard to describe how incredibly overwhelming and scary it was to walk into this sea of women in swim caps, just waiting to start this darn thing. while dana searched for more sunscreen, i decided to go hop in the water and test out the temperature. it was a lot warmer than i was expecting and kind of pleasant actually. by the time our wave was supposed to start, it was 830am – the sun was shining and it was fairly warm out. so after getting out of the water, we went over to the start and joined all the other red swim caps. we pushed our way to the front  a little and ended up being in the very start of one of the waves for our “open ages” group. so my greatest fear was realized. we were in the front. people were going to swim over me. but then, as i was gawking at all the cute boyfriends/husbands/families cheering on their ladies getting ready to race, i heard, “CAITLIN” and saw my mom and Brian cheering us on as we were getting ready to get into the water. that, combined with dana by my side made me feel lots better and as we waded in the water listening to the lady on the bullhorn telling us how great we were, i was suddenly excited?! and ready to get out there. then of course as the gun went off i started off swimming as fast as i could, in the hopes that no one would swim over me or pull on my leg/arm/foot/etc. and of course, as fast as i could was WAY TOO FAST and i got really tired really quick. luckily, i didn’t panic and we made it to the first buoy. about halfway to the second (of three) buoys, i realized we were swimming a lot faster than i had estimated we would. dana was great and talked to me the whole time. she would say things like, “watch out for that person…are you swimming towards the buoy?…you’re doing so awesome!” and it didn’t hurt that some of the “angels” on surfboards/paddleboards/in kayaks were hot lifeguard looking guys. especially because i knew that a light yellow paisley/floral one piece and bright red swim cap is my best look SO FINALLY, we round the second buoy and we’re in the home stretch. up until this point i had been swimming sidestroke and breaststroke with my head above water mostly. on the last leg of the swim, i thought i would give crawlstroke a try. i put my face in for maybe two strokes and i freaked – it was too much. then i had to pee. which was really distracting and slowed me down a bit, ha! anyways, we finished up the swim pretty strong and as i got out of the water and up the boat ramp, i probably would’ve fallen over if dana hadn’t been reaching for my hands. my legs were pure JELLO. so shaky.

we made it to the transition area and changed pretty quick. we hopped on our bikes and started off along lake washington blvd. it was beautiful. dana kept me updated on our mph speed (goal was to always be at or above 12mph) and i quickly found out i was pretty comfortable on the bike and was able to go faster than i expected. now, let’s not forget – i’m still the spaz that didn’t learn how to ride a bike until i was 12 and still can’t take my hands off the handlebars…and don’t even get me started on shifting gears! it was a miracle i never fell off the bike, but i had plenty of typical caitlin awkward moments on the 12mile ride. like when we were going up a really steep hill where you have to ride single file, i decided to try to make it up the hill (and didn’t) and then got off my bike rather than go backwards and messed up the person behind me. she didn’t necessarily swear at me, but she was not too pleased. then we rode across I-90 which was one of the coolest things i’ve ever done. the weather was perfect, it was such a gorgeous view and it was a beautiful ride. bike ride was definitely my favorite part. of course, at the turnaround (you literally get to a part on the express lanes of I-90 where there is a big truck parked and you do a u-turn) i didn’t quite turn hard enough, and almost rode into the barrier in the spazziest of ways. but of course, i got back on the bike and started the trek back! i was halfway there. all along the way, other people riding are cheering you on and it is just really, really great (i need some new adjectives). every now and then i’d get this crazy surge of energy/strength in my legs and i’d pass people (on a slight incline!) and we ended up finishing the bike 8 minutes faster than i predicted!

then as we rode into the transition area, we saw brian, my mom, sue and steve – it was great! i actually RAN my bike over to the racks and threw on my hat and some more sunscreen for the run. then we started running and i felt good! then, i got really tired really fast and needed to walk. and then we’d try to run again and i’d get really tired. and emotional. and discouraged. it was rough. it felt a lot like mile 10.5 of the half marathon. and freshman year cross country. when i get discouraged, i get emotional and the tears are on the back burner and i get weezy when i try to run. it’s rough. so we decided to do walk/run intervals and it was just what i needed. we got about halfway up this BRUTAL hill they put right around mile 2 of the run and i walked some more, knowing that after this, most of it was downhill/flat and i had less than a mile left. we ran past my favorite pizza place that we used to always go to when we lived in columbia city and i knew how close we were to the finish and i started running again, and i didn’t stop! it was great. dana kept giving me people to pass, and i passed some of them. as we turned the corner into the park, we saw steve and sue and then brian, my mom and LINCON!!!! it was the greatest thing ever. we hauled ass to the finish line holding hands and smiling for the cameras. i couldn’t believe it was over! we did it and i was still standing. i was so, so, so happy. it’s the most amazing feeling ever. then, we found our families and ATE. you better believe i had a milkshake. and then i slept the rest of the day. it was lovely.

thank you everyone for all your support throughout this process! i am definitely doing it again next year and i encourage ALL OF YOU (who are women) to do it too! i won’t say it’s easy but it is fun, rewarding and definitely doable. and have no fear – the blogging will continue!!

this triathlon was a great starting point for me, and there are lots of more fun things to come in the future. things you’ll want to read about i bet not intended to be so cryptic, i just want to keep blogging…LOVE YOU ALL !

 

THIS IS IT!!

oh man. it’s here – Sunday is just one day away basically. i’m FREAKING out. well not really, but kind of? i don’t really know what to expect so i’m just kind of anxious. but excited too. really excited actually! i’m excited to have dana b by my side – she’s been really supportive and great during all of our training sessions together and i know that as long as we finish together she’ll be happy! shoot, i’ll be happy too! super excited finish would be 2.5 hrs, ultimate goal is to finish in 3hrs. so when you’re waking up around 10am (PST) on sunday, just think, “wow, caitlin already swam a half mile, biked 12 and ran 3!” and then go back to your comfortable bed so i can be jealous of you

anyways, i just wanted to thank all of you for your words of encouragement, it’s been really fun to be able to blog about this even though i probably didn’t write as much as i would’ve liked. i love you all! and to thank you, i’ll leave you with some of the songs that got me through my last workout before the tri…just a quick little jog through the mean streets of shoreline, ha!

teach me how to dougie

shots!

be faithful

i like it

OK! bye everyone! next post will be post-triathlon

 

victory!

ok i’ll admit it – i’ve been just as much of a slacker with my training as i have been with this darn blog. BUT there are some days when everything is just going right in the world, when the stars align and when somehow, someway i get through THE ENTIRE workout that i’m supposed to. today was one of those days…which is remarkable given the fact that i had a horrible waking up experience (thinking it was earlier than it was, then freaking out, and had a pillow crease on my face for most of the morning), i stayed an hour late at work and i didn’t drink nearly enough water during the day. somehow though, i powered through the 30minute bike ride and 1.5 mile run BACK TO BACK. i mean seriously. who am i? i’m not going to lie, i’m patting myself on the back a lot right now.

i shall summarize: the bike ride went pretty well. i ride the mean streets of shoreline on my mountain bike that my parents gladly bought me when i finally learned how to ride a bike at the age of TWELVE. anyways, it went well – i had some moments that were better than others, but i really tried to focus on keeping up a good pace and every now and then trying to take one hand off the bike — because OH YAH i can barely take my hands off the handlebars. so if someone could be at the race throwing water at my face that would be great, because i won’t be able to reach down for my water bottle. so after the bike ride, i practiced “transitioning” which meant i rode my bike into my backyard, threw my helmet on the back porch and ran inside to chug some water. then i left my house and headed back out onto da streets for my run. the first 3 minutes were amazing. my legs felt like jello still from the bike ride so i couldn’t really feel them and what i could feel was really loose and free-ish. then after about 3 minutes, i got really tired and wanted to quit. but because everything was going right today, i just. kept. going. it was so weird! a lot of it had to do with that voice in my head that is really, really mean whenever i want to stop doing a workout. it says really mean things that i can’t even type here! but luckily, i listened to it and kept going and finished the 1.5 mile run. NOW all i have to do day off is swim a half mile before that and double the workout i did today and i’ll be golden YIKES.

but seriously – i’m getting really excited/anxious/nervous/etc for the race. meeting dana tomorrow after work to do a lake swim. hilarity will ensue. because it will be cold/smelly/gross/etc. and i’m a big baby. haha. bye!

ps – i have some good training stories from when i did decide to train since that last time i posted, maybe i will post them tomorrow or thursday if you’re lucky!!

 

long time no post

Hi Everyone!

So sorry it has been so long! Life has been very busy – but the tri is ONE MONTH AWAY!! Can you believe it? I had planned on blogging a lot more (sorry Carol!), but I’m sure this last month will be full of scrapes, hard workouts and great blogg-able stories.

I’ve got a crazy schedule starting Monday, so this is my last weekend of making my own workouts. I’m heading to Ocean Shores with my cousin tomorrow, so I’m planning a couple of beach runs and maybe a yoga DVD?! I know, I know – THRILLING. I’m really excited to be on a pretty intense schedule – that, combined with the how quickly the race is approaching should keep me super motivated to keep up with the training.

Ok – off to the movies with my cousin, BUT get ready for Monday. I will swim 500 yds (easy) — according to the schedule. HA! 25 yds would be “easy”. 500?! If I’m not dead I’ll blog about it

 

songs that kept me running

unfortunately in this whole process, running is the one thing that has been taking a backseat lately. however, it has absolutely, positively shocked me that when i do run, i am able to just keep going no matter how long it has been. and i say keep going and i mean 25-30mins, but for me that is HUGE. anyways, as i was running the other day there were a few songs that kept me going and i thought i would share them with all of you. none of these should be a big surprise. enjoy

112 – dance with me

earth wind and fire – september

snoop – ain’t no fun

katy perry – california girls (i refuse to spell it gurls)

the roots – the seed 2.0

sorry for the ghetto youtube videos.

 

don’t worry, i’m still here :)

ok i know it’s been a while.

don’t worry, i’m still training. only have one story (not saying if it’s good/funny, just a story really). i started swimming at 24 hour fitness in lynnwood — a girl there saw my danskin swim cap (courtesy of dana) and asked if i had done the danskin before. i said no, but that i was training for it and she said she was too! she asked to share a swim lane with me to which i agreed and when she asked me about the training process, i told her that the swimming would definitely be my most challenging part. instead of saying “me too!” like i hoped she would, she goes, “oh really?”. so that’s great – she’s about to jump in my lane and apparently swimming is not a struggle for her like it is for me. however, then she says something about how getting in the pool is always the hardest part and for a brief moment i think, “oh gosh maybe she can’t even swim, if she’s scared to get in the water.” but then of course she jumps in and immediately starts swimming. i mean really?! you don’t have to adjust your goggles/swim cap/swim suit 30x each before you start your 1 lap and then take a 5 minute break? oh…guess we’re on two different schedules here. also, the lanes at 24 hour fitness are really narrow so i mean forget trying to do breaststroke while someone is in your lane (which i do a lot so i don’t have to put my face in the water, duh). but seriously, i’m still real nervous about the swim portion but i know that dana will be with me and i just have to keep swimming, just keep swimming, ha!

anyways – i feel pretty good about the bike part. i mean i’ve still yet to get back on a REAL bike, but i can do 13+ miles on the stationary bike pretty comfortably (while reading US Weekly naturally) so i’m sure the transition to a real bike/gears/helmet/etc will be SMOOTH. i have to get a bike first, but after that – you’ll never see me drive again, i’m gonna be all about the 2 wheels. ha. ha. my goal during the tri has been dictated by dana – since i’ll probably be on a mountain bike, i’m allowed to let road bikes pass me, but no one on a mountain bike is allowed to pass me. so there you go.

it’s funny that the running is the part i’m the most confident about, when it used to be something i dreaded and despised (oh wait i still do) BUT after the disneyland half last year, a 5k is music to my ears. i would like to be in good enough shape however, that i run a personal best 5K time despite having just swam .5 mile and biking 12. so that’s my running goal.

i didn’t realize that i had goals, but look at that, i do! so glad i decided to sit down and write this. i felt bad for not updating for all you kids (carol) that read this, so i kind of forced myself to (hence the all lowercase, hitting shift for some reason just felt like it took a lot of effort today). ok bye

ps here’s some never before seen LINCOLN pics to make this worth your while.

 

i can swim?

I regret to inform all of you that my first (and second) swimming sessions were not the awkward, hilarious and uncomfortable situations I hoped they would be. I mean, yes – I am awkward in the water…BUT there was no drowning, no one had to hold my stomach as I kicked my legs and blew bubbles in the water, etc. Oh and I still don’t know how to do flip turns so I just have to turn around awkwardly (awkward word count = 3) at the wall like a person who…well, can’t do flip turns.

Dana and I drove out to Issaquah to go swimming with her friend Katie who is a swim team coach there. Luckily, the pool was relatively empty, so there were very few people there to witness my first attempt in a long time at this “swimming” thing. Some things I am good at when it comes to swimming: putting on swim caps and spazzing out the second I put my face in the water. Seriously – I am such a spaz. As Katie pointed out however, most people spend most of their time with their heads above water because that is what your instinct is to do (if you’re not a strong swimmer) so obviously, you’re going to be a little awkward about all of a sudden putting your head under the water again. I was never really good at the whole breathing thing the first time around when I learned how to swim and have become very comfortable with the doggie paddle, so this whole thing is a little strange, but I walked away from my first lesson feeling like I could really do this – that by August, I could swim a half a mile.

Well when I type it, it seems quite daunting, but I feel pretty good.

I went to lap swim at a public pool near my house to work on some of the things Katie and I had talked about after our last session and was immediately intimidated by the people doing lap swim – even though most of them were swimming REALLY slowly (even in the fast lane)…I tend to spaz out mid-stroke/mid-lane so I didn’t want to hold anyone up…so I asked the lifeguard if I could swim in the shallow end. HA. And I did. And it was great. Although, the shallow end was only empty because it was spring break for their swim lessons, so I won’t get so lucky every time, but hopefully I’ll just keep getting better and will feel more comfortable with lap swimming. But seriously, no flip turns.

This blog was as spazzy as my swimming. Yikes.

 

crunch time

Ok so not really, but registration for the Danskin tri is on Tuesday!!! I’m so excited!

Sorry for not posting in such a long time, I’m sure you all were just refreshing all day every day to make sure you hadn’t missed my latest post. Haven’t been doing anything too exciting – was mostly training to run in the St. Patty’s Day Dash but now I’m not – BUT I trained for it, so I am confident in my running abilities and basically just need to keep doing that (and maybe try to run faster?! maybe…) until August. It would be weird to know what it is like to run anything faster than a 10minute mile. No comments please, ha!

Anyways – my first swimming re-lesson is next Sunday! I am nervous, excited, embarrassed (?) and scared, but I know it’s going to be great. And mostly, I’ll have a lot of stories to share with all of you. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve attempted to do any sort of swimming stroke since they first taught it to me in 3rd grade. Oh yes, by the way I didn’t learn how to swim until the 3rd grade. Since then, I’ve pretty much just been a doggie paddler, so this is really going to be an event. WHICH brings me to the reason for my blog post…Dana sent me a link for some swimsuits for the Tri, and they’re all pretty wonderful. I’m serious – I’m already leaning towards the pink paisley one, because well it’s pink and it’s paisley – I mean, I’m totally picking a swimsuit for the Triathlon based on comfort and performance?

Anyways – here they are and VOTE!! I need to buy one quick though, so VOTE NOW. If you’d like more details, you can find all of these swimsuits at http://www.sierratradingpost.com

Red/Navy is the Speedo East Meets West Recordbreaker.

This next one is the Skirt Sports Tri Swimsuit…

And now the same suit in a solid instead of a pattern…

the Dolfin Competition Swimsuit – in pink and purple girly-ness.

ok this is the Dolfin Ocean Aquashape Lap Swimsuit in “Sorrento” (blue) or “Saharie” (crazy 60′s)

Ok, going to go to 24 Hour Fitness today…hopefully they haven’t cancelled my membership, it’s uh been a while. I always dread that look when they scan your membership card and you can tell they want to say, “welcome back!” or “what happened to you?”.

Bye friends!

 

it’s hard to be this uncoordinated

Here’s the thing – I’ve always felt like I had a little bit of rhythm. I’m not the most musically inclined person, but I can usually find a beat and go with it. So, walking into my step aerobics class at the gym, I figured I’d have a hard time at the beginning as I usually do with workout videos that involve a lot of stepping up and back and side to side, but OH WAS I IN FOR A TREAT. Some one really should’ve been taping me — every time I messed up, I felt like I looked like the “before” person in an exercise video infomercial on TV. I was a DISASTER. Everyone else had clearly been to the class before and knew what the teacher was going to say basically before she said it. “What was she saying” you ask? Oh just some common terms like L-step, cross diagonal, turn step, rubino (turns out she was actually saying repeater) and another term I misunderstood when she was actually saying “pivot”. It was rough. I was always turning the wrong way (as you all know, I don’t really do “left” and “right”), I was always three steps behind, and I thought I was clever hiding on the side, but OH NO, every now and then we would all turn and I would be in the front!! One of the positive things I can take out of this is that I probably made everyone else in the class feel better about themselves. Oh and also! when we would turn, I would get to watch this old lady in the corner who was also three steps behind everyone else but at least she knew the steps!! It was fairly demoralizing and embarassing, BUT who do I have to impress in an all girls step class in Mountlake Terrace? That makes me sound kind of snobby but you know. There was a girl in the back however, who seemed to be a little less confused than I was but she also looked determined to not break a sweat, so at least I know I got a better workout than her. I guess?

Anyways – by no means am I upset about this…well I mean it would’ve been great to know what was going on a little bit, but I’m not torn up about it. IN FACT, I did a very un-Caitlin like thing and ASKED FOR HELP at the end of class. Which is kind of sad if you think about it, but it definitely helped. The teacher was super nice and showed me everything I asked her about.  I do think she was a little shocked at how even though she was standing right in front of me, I still kept going the wrong way but she seemed to have some confidence in me and told me I “actually did really well for it being your first class”. Which I know was a lie, but was nice of her to say

Lovely little run at the skate park today with Mama Sner and yoga tomorrow!

 

24 hr people watching

It’s official. The world does not want me to take a spinning class.

The first time I tried to go to a spin class coincided with my first day at the gym, and I had some serious issues with my membership paperwork. By the time I got everything to print out, it was 6:40pm and spin started at 6:30pm. Then, last week I had my gym bag all packed up, my water bottle and towel(s) ready to go (I wasn’t sure what the sweat-level would be with this spin class) and I arrived at the gym 15 minutes before class started (as instructed) and was TURNED AWAY because it was full already. So sad. BUT the biggest win of the day was that instead of leaving and going across the street to McDonald’s (not even kidding, there actually is one across the street) I actually stayed and WORKED OUT. Re-read that part if you need to, it is pretty remarkable I know. So anyways, I picked an elliptical with a good view of the spin class so I could assess whether or not I wanted to get there TWENTY minutes early next week. I hopped on the elliptical with a really great magazine, ready for a workout. Oh wait, I was reading a Vanity Fair from APRIL 2008. Which I had already read when it first came out, which was random that 1) I read Vanity Fair and 2) that I remembered reading it. So, imagine my dismay when a middle-aged man hopped on the stationary bike in front of me with TWO brand new tabloids! I mean really, what a joke. Here I was staring at a magazine that was published before I graduated college (ugh so gross/unsanitary now that I think about it) and this guy who probably can’t even tell the difference between the Olsen twins – I mean really. Luckily, after my elliptical workout I discovered where they keep the good magazines and hopped on the stationary bike with the Kevin Jonas Wedding issue of People and pretended like I was in spin class (for 15minutes).

I also went to my first bootcamp class last week – let’s just say I was reminded of how terribly un-coordinated I am. Left, right, forward, lunge, etc – it’s all a little much for me. But it was a great workout and I really liked the teacher, so I’ll probably go back. And today I did some more cardio and checked out all the “juiced” guys in weights area…some pretty sweet tats at the 24 hour fitness in Mountlake Terrace – shocking I know.

Goals for this week – workout or run everyday, drink lots of water and try ZUMBA on Saturday – because clearly, I just enjoy humiliating myself at all costs.

Bye!