Monday, January 12, 2009

Family's are Amazing

Well I've been pretty busy as of late. It was beginning to feel like between work and training I wouldn't have much of a life for some time. Well the family (Heather, Benjamin and Nicholas) decided to get in the mix. What a blessing!
My schedule recently has been to get up at 5am, get dressed and drive 30 mins to the Y. Mondays are my swim day, Tuesday I do spin, Wednesday I run, Thursday I'm back to the pool, Friday I get on the bike trainer and Saturday or Sunday I do a long session of something (usually a run or bike).
Well Nicholas kind of started the whole I want to train thing. It magically happened after I got off the trainer two weeks ago. He asked me to put his bike on the trainer, so I did. He rode for more than an hour. The following night when I got on the treadmill, Benjamin rode the trainer (actually they fought over it). Last week Benjamin got up at 5 with me to go to the pool. This morning he did the same and swam a good 30 mins. All of the folks I swim with were amazed at his effort and determination. We're working on stroke specifics...he's coming along nicely from his doggie paddle:).
The one I'm most proud of is Heather. She is really doing well. Actually she's kicking some major butt! Over the past several years she has wanted to run a marathon, but due to our work schedules or my class load she felt that she didn't have the time to train for anything. She did do the breast cancer walk in DC (60 miles) a couple of months ago. I think due to seeing how much training has helped me, she was bitten by the bug.
We did a mini triathlon this past Saturday and she did great! The lifeguard didn't show up on time, so we only got to swim for 30 mins. Then we did a difficult spin class for 45 mins and then we ran for 45 to 60 mins. We both felt great afterwards. My HR avgd 156 during the exercise. It got up as high as 188 bpm. I was varying my pace between 8.43 min/miles and 10 min/miles during the run with a 15 sec break for water and carbs after every mile or so...I was trying a bit of interval training. It felt great!
Heather can go and go...she has a history of hurting herself, I think because she is missing the typical pain receptors that the rest of us have. I'm trying to continuously remind her that she needs to pace herself...kind of a "Constant Injury Monitor"...asking her to listen to her body...what hurts, what type of pain is it and why?
I was so psyched when she asked me if they allowed late entries into the IM. We are looking to do a triathlon in April together. We began shopping for a ladies bike...wo, do I wish I was making the money I used to...it'll come...patience "grasshopper" patience.