Round 2

I'm committed. I registered for my second triathlon today and I can't back out! It will be on July 26, so just less than 5 weeks to get faster and stronger. This one is a little different than the last one. The swim is 600m instead of 400m, the bike portion is 11.8 miles instead of the 12 miles (not much different) but I think it is more hilly than the last course. And the run is 3.1 miles, a full 5K where the last one was 3 miles. That's also a subtle difference. I've been resting my legs ever since Zumba last Monday to try to heal whatever is going on with my feet. I think it is plantar fasciitis but I'm no doctor. I want to be able to train well instead of just keep re-injuring myself so I'm going to take it slow back into the running. It's so frustrating though because I really want to be able to run faster and need some time to work on that. I may not be a faster runner in the next 30 days but eventually I will right?

Another way I'm trying to get faster is by losing some weight. When I started training for the first triathlon, I thought that the increased activity would just naturally make me lose weight. Well, that didn't happen and I think it's because I eat a lot more than I realize. I found this great website called Spark People that helps you track calories in as well as calories out and the nutrients you are getting from your food. It reminds me of the Weight Watchers online tools but better because I can track to make sure I'm getting the vitamins and minerals I need and a good balance of carbohydrates, fat and protein. Just the past couple of weeks, I have been recording what I eat most days and it has really opened my eyes to my snacking habits. Hopefully, writing all this stuff down will help me actually drop some pounds and automatically make me faster! Just losing 5-10 lbs. seems to make a significant different in my pace. Just imagine running with a weighted vest on or something. Even with 10 lbs. added it makes running so much harder! This may be part of the problem with my feet too. I suspect that I would be so prone to this injury of putting strain on a tendon in my foot if I were putting less weight on that foot.

I posted my training schedule to the left if anyone is curious what I'm doing to get in shape and train for these triathlons. This schedule is from the book Triathlon Training in 4 hours a Week by Eric Harr. It has been a great book to get me started and it has training plans for 4 different levels depending on your prior exercise experience and each plan is for 6 or 8 weeks leading up to the event. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in doing their first triathlon. Let me know if you want to do the one July 26 (even though it's only 5 weeks away, it's not too late!)