How many hours do you workout a week?

I have spring fever. I am dreaming of the days I can bike ride OUTSIDE with fingerless gloves, short shorts and a tank top and still sweat. I'm longing for a run with my sunglasses on and sunscreen is required. But looking at the forecast, that day is not coming any time soon.

Source: Komo 4 News

With President's day last Monday, my whole week felt a little out of whack, plus I think my body was retaliating over my active weekend last weekend, so this past week felt sub-par.

I was able to get in some great running mileage (26 miles), but swim (740 yards?!) and bike (29 miles) suffered. I got in 2 good weight sessions and 1 core workout.

I feel revved and ready to conquer this week's workouts and start March on a strong note. I have one question for you triathletes: how many hours to do average per week working out? I'm currently averaging about 5-6 hours and would like that to be more around 7. What do you think?

Run club sponsored by Oiselle

Forecasts were calling for snow yesterday and I swear every place besides Seattle got snow. I was playing with the the thought of going to the Wednesday night run group I've been going to because of the possibility of snow, but I decided to go regardless of the weather. Running just sounded good even though I had already logged 4 miles in the AM.

It started to snow just as we started to run. Lovely.

Actually the run was great. There was a few girls that kept a faster pace and I actually had to push myself a bit to keep up on a hill. Felt good to find that motivation to MOVE and CHASE.

I'm glad I did end up going because the lovely Sarah brought us all goodies from Oiselle Running because they sponsored the run that night. How sweet is that? Oiselle, pronounced Wazelle, is a local running clothing company that has a fantastic slogan:

"Oiselle was founded on the basic premise that running is more than a sport. It is a life philosophy that has the power to strengthen us—not just as athletes, but as people, teammates, leaders, and women."


And they make the cutest stuff. I snagged two pieces:

Stripey Tank

I also got some sweet black arm warmers. (photo to come later)

They just came out with their spring 2011 collection and I love it all. Their Fall 2011 collection also looks really promising of me buying more running clothes than I need. Why not wear some functional yet stylish running threads while cruising on your favorite run? 

The trainer won again

I wanted SO bad to ride my bike outside today. SO bad. I woke up, ate a honkin bowl of oats, dressed for biking, and set out on my merry way.

I was home within 20 minutes because I was frozen and it hurt to move my hands. Lame.

I thought I could get past the frozen hands by working harder, peddling harder, but my hands were perma-numb and hurt like a mother. 5 miles in and I was done. I was so disappointed. I AM disappointed. My goal this month was to get 5 outside rides in and I have yet to log one. Ugh. I guess I have to realized that it is February and it is still winter-like weather outside (40ish degrees).

So I went on a walk with a friend on the same trail I ran on yesterday, we covered probably 3 miles then got on my trainer for a 45 minute spin. It was better than no bike ride, but I would have rather been outside. It made me realize I am jealous of all you southern state livers.... After my trainer ride I did some core and dumbbell work and called it a day.

It is now 8:35 and I'm probably going to go to bed in the next 15 minutes. I live an exciting life...

City of Bellingham, I'm Thirsty

I said it was going to hurt, but it wasn't that bad.

I ran my 10 miler today with a little bit of soreness from yesterday, but it was pretty bearable. Actually, the sorest part of my body from my snow adventures yesterday are my arms, not legs. This means I'm probably not skinning in proper form (using my arms too much rather than my core), but that is for a later conversation.

The weather is beautiful again here in the PNW which made for awesome running weather. I set out on a route I haven't ran in awhile that took me down by a popular park in Bellingham that is right on the water, the onto the interurban trail where I hit my turnaround point. I ran this route a lot last summer when training for the Bellingham Bay half because it has 4 water fountains along the way, so no need to carry water. But I discovered today that each and everyone of those fountains are turned off for the winter.

Thanks City of Bellingham. The runners of Bellingham are going thirsty this winter!

So at mile 8ish, I ran into the Food Co-op and quickly bought a Larabar and gulped down some much needed H2O. The last couple miles dragged because I was still thirsty. All I could think about was a tall glass of water or Cytomax - seriously dehydrated. 

Bellingham Bay (took these photos later in the day after my run)

Saw this and laughed. Probably from a running group. I listened to the demand, and ran home.

A nice boardwalk in Bellingham. It's nice to run, but on a busy Saturday it's a lot of dodging people.

Water fountains at that bathroom were not turned on either.

Before the run I rode my road bike downtown to meet up with Lelia for coffee. Although it was a 2 mile round trip ride, it was the first time my road bike has been outside this season. It felt SO good to be not on the trainer. Wind in my hair, coasting down hills...ah, love it! I'm definitely getting on it tomorrow for a chill ride around town.

tomorrow may hurt

According to my half-mary plan, I was supposed to run 10 whopping miles. But I decided to go with the trend of the past couple weeks and do my long run on Sunday instead. So what did I do today? Played in the snow!

My great and awesome friend Kirsten went up to Mt. Baker and ran around (skinned on our splitboards) for 5 hours. In those 5 hours we only made 3 runs, but we got a ton of sweaty exercise amongst bluebird skies and sunny weather. Glorious! I even got some color on my face from the sun!

As I sit here typing this, my entire body is exhausted. I'm afraid for what 10 miles is going to feel like tomorrow.

Do you ever do something the day before a big workout that ends up effecting the workout negatively? Yes, I think the run will be sluggish, but I had SO much fun today and I would never take that back, ever. :)

p.s. I totally meant to take photos, but I forgot my SD card in my computer at home. Lame.

I'm so sorry

So last weekend, I put a call out for Washington runners because I wanted to put together a team for the Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage. I got a handful of responses (thank you!) and started to get really excited.

But then my friend reminded me that we are going to do a duathlon in July which I thought was the weekend AFTER Ragnar. Well this year it is the same day as Ragnar. So as lame as this is, I'm not going to pull together a team anymore. I feel like a super failure! I'm SO SO SORRY!

If there is still interest in the group I can coordinate putting people in touch so you can form your own team. :)

A darn good 9 miler

Hey kids. I had a fantastic day today. My man-friend had a couple days off of fishing, so he came up to Bellingham to hang out. Made. My. Weekend. Plus, it's Valentine's day weekend, so we're having an early Valentines dinner tonight. :)

Since it was mega windy yesterday, I had to run my long run today. Man, I definitely made the right decision - the weather was perfecto today. I can't even believe that I'm about to say that I got a little hot on my run, believe it or not.

Don't get me wrong, I was struggling trying to find motivation for this run.

Yes, that is blue sky!

 I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the run that I could only look at my Garmin when it beeped at each mile. I wanted to run this run based on how my body was feeling, not what my Garmin said and just go with the flow. With this mindset, the miles kept ticking by and before I knew it, I was headed home. I didn't stress about my pace, I just ran at a pace that felt good and that indeed made my run awesome.

9 miles in 1:21:50 - a 9:06 pace

Hells to the yes!

Timer photo

This run gave me hope for my sub 2-hour half marathon goal for the end of March. Yes!

Don't you love it when a training sesh is so ON?!

Now, I'm on to drink a little bit of this bad boy.

Call out for Washington Runners!

Hey! This is the year the I need to do the Ragnar Relay - Northwest Passage. I just decided. Right now. SO, I need 11 friends that like to run (I don't care how fast you are) to join me in a 187 mile overnight relay run from Blaine, WA to Langley, WA July 22-23. More on What is Ragnar here.

It's like a running sleep over! 


It'll be you, me, plus 10 others awesome people, 2 vans and way too much fun. Who's in?

There is a cost, but can you really put a price to FUN AND RUNNING?! NO! It will come out to about $100 per person, but oh, so worth it.

Don't want to run, but want to be a part of the relay? Be a volunteer for our team! We'll also need 3 volunteers.

So comment on this post, or email me dailysweat [at] gmail [dot] com if you're interested. Right now I have some people in mind that should be contacting me, or else I'm going to come get you - Rebecca R., Kirsten M., Diana Tri's, Abbey C. and Alissa R.

Spinervals - Sweating Buckets

I got a Spinvervals DVD from P over at Adventures of an Average Athlete awhile ago and I had yet to try it out until today. I almost started to watch Despicable Me, but decided I would probably get a better sweat if I watched the DVD.

It is a 45 minute workout and it lives up to it's name "Sweating Buckets," I was dripping. The whole DVD is intervals (hense the name) - different speeds, different gears, different amounts of time. It was great! It's like spin class at home!

As I type this, my legs are feeling a little worked, but not super-duper sore - next time I'll push myself a little harder to really feel the burn.

I was supposed to run a 9-miler today but like Diana said, it's a freakishly windy day here in Western Washington - so I'm putting it off until tomorrow. I'd rather run in the rain then the wind.

Do you just spin on your trainer, or do you use a DVD like Spinervals?

The beginning - Oly training

It has started. Official training for my first Olympic triathlon. It is 16 weeks away and that gives me ample time to  train, train, train.

I am following BeginnerTriathlete.com's 16-week training plan to guide me through my training. Up until the end of March, I'll be running more than the plan requires for half marathon training, but other than that addition, I'll be sticking to this plan.

Funny thing is - the triathlon I want to do, The Onion Man Tri, is in Walla Walla, WA, which is over the mountains and through the woods aka a really long drive. I don't want to go by myself, so I'll only register and go if I can recruit either someone else to go and do the race with me or get my family to go. So we'll see if I actually sign up.

So here's to training and becoming a lean, mean, triathlon machine. Or least try to be one. ;)

Running on your lunch break

Those drills I was talking about yesterday, well they made me super sore today. Especially my inner thighs. Ouchie. But it's progress! One day of soreness in the right direction.

Today I did something that I've been wanting to do for awhile. I ran on my lunch break. I have an hour to change, run, shower and make myself presentable, so I went into it with this plan:
- 5 minutes to change
- 30 minutes to run
- 25 minutes to shower and get ready

I ended up needing more than 5 minutes to change before the run, so I had less time after, but I was only gone from my desk for 1:05. Plus, you couldn't even tell I had just gotten my sweat on, bonus!

Although it was exciting that I ran on my lunch break, the run itself was blah. My legs were sore from those drills and I think my body was a bit surprised to be running in the middle of the day. I usually only run before 7am or after 5pm, never ever at noon. 

I don't know how often lunch runs will happen because I usually need to get in more than just 30 minutes AND the majority of my lunch breaks are usually spent at my desk working. I guess you wouldn't call that a break, would you? But now I know, it can be done.

I drove up to Bellingham tonight to relieve my sister and her family of me for a night. :) I hopped on the trainer for 50 minutes while watching the 2nd disk of season 8 of 24. I think I've expressed my love toward Jack Bauer on this blog once or twice. :)

Hipstamatic pic of my Masi

Sweaty!

Running drills to get fast

Last week I met up with a cool girl that I met via twitter, Sarah, for a run around Lake Union. I was super excited to have someone to run with. We chatted the whole way and the 6 miles flew by.

Sarah just put together a weekly run group out of the gym she works at that started tonight, so I was super excited to go and get to know some other local runners. Since it was the first run, it ended up to be at a slower pace, so we could get a feel of where everyone was at. We did 3 easy miles in about 30 minutes. At that pace, I could have ran forever, but it was nice to just run a chill run.

After, Sarah put us through some drills that she believes can really improve speed. We did these high knee/kick things, skip/hops, lunges and butt kickers. She recommended Googling Shannon Rowbury, who is SUPER fast, and look at the drills she does. Here is a good video I found on drills that she does. I'm going to try and incorporate some of these drills into my workouts to teach my body to get faster!

I had NEVER thought about these kinds of drills helping my running. I have been in the dark! I'm excited to see what kind of results yield from them. Maybe something like a sub 2:00 half marathon? hehehe