Training: Week 1

This weekend directly following our info meeting in Oakland I went immediately to Sports Basement to use my 20% off coupon and get ALL the gear I needed- including a bike (AH! big purchase). I ended up getting a Felt Women's ZW30 road bike- and I'm absolutely in love with it.

So this is completely embarrassing, but I was fairly clueless when I went to Sports Basement to make my purchase. You'd think with a brother who is a serious cyclist I would know a thing or two, or at least know that "kickstands" apparently don't exist on any bikes worth over $300. Ooops. Luckily my

new friend Sports Basement Vinh who was the first employee I spoke with just completed his first triathlon at Wildflower, and he was able to guide me through the gear getting process. Since I'm trying to be somewhat serious about this, I got clip-in pedals. That means I wear these special shoes that have cletes, and you have to clip in to the pedals.

THIS MEANS YOU ARE STUCK TO THE BIKE! It took some serious practicing to learn how to accomplish this whole clip in/out process comfortably, but I seem to have gotten the hang of it. The scary part is SO many people have told me they've fallen. Sports Basement Vinh said basically you forget that you're clipped in, you stop, you fall, you get a scar, and that scar will be the reminder to make sure you clip out everytime. This absolutely terrified me, but when I went to a TNT fundraiser at Tonic this weekend I ran into one of our mentors (Aurora- LOVE her), she said that she's actually NEVER fallen because she's super anal about clipping out and just extremely cognoscente of it. So I've committed to doing the same, and so far so good- no falling over- yet.

Per our training schedule we have workouts that are designed based on our event (sprint, olympic, or half-ironman) and our ability level (age, elite, pro). I've decided that I'm doing the olympic distance (why not push myself- I have 4 months!), and decided I'm probably in the middle "elite" group based on my current level of aerobic activity, so all my workouts will be based on these levels. The workouts start out really easy, and get increasingly more difficult and build upon themselves.

Monday: Swim 25min (did workout at BayClub pool before work- bonus biked to/from work)

Tuesday: Bike 35min (went on 45min bike ride in the Presidio with Zac Toy- picture below)

Wednesday: Swim 25min (went to Dailey Method and then used BayClub pool after work)

Thursday: first coached workout- running at Kezar Stadium

Friday OFF!

Saturday: Captain- led run at Marina Green (skipped- ran 30min on Marina Green later in day)

Sunday: Coached bike in the Presidio (skipped- they said it was more of a bike fit and instruction session than a hard workout)

This will be the only weekend I skip the coached workouts- I tried to make up for it on my own but probably won't be able to do that once the training gets more difficult!