Good morning!
Last night I got some exercise after all. :) Eric and I took our bikes out for a spin around the block. I am SORE though. Not from my groin muscle, but from sitting on the seat! I think I am going to need to invest in some padded bike shorts! Does anyone have any recommendations? The seat is even padded too, but it didn’t seem to help much.
Otherwise, it was a great bike ride!
Ahhhh…Spring, how I love thee.
Everything is just so fresh.
Including this juice I made…
I had some random things to use up in today’s juice: Celery, beet, carrots, ginger, grapefruit.
Along with a mix of delicious Four O’Clock Japanese Sencha and White loose leaf tea:
Cleaning out the loose leaf steeper is such a pain in the butt! That is why I love this huge loose leaf pot because I can make a huge batch of it at once. The tea gets cold, and yes I drink it anyways. ;)
I made another bowl of delicious Vegan Overnight Oats last night!
Coconut Maple Syrup Vegan Overnight Oats
Last night I threw into a bowl:
- 1/3 cup regular oats
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 mashed ripe banana, leave a few chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate Amazing Meal Powder
- Tiny pinch of sea salt
Directions: Stir the above ingredients and place in the fridge (covered) overnight.
In the morning, throw together this quick and delicious topping…
This is one of my favourite pancake toppings and it is so easy.
Reduced-Sugar Overnight Oats/Pancake Syrup:
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Mix together and pour overtop!
I actually enjoy this topping much better than nut butter! It is soooo good. The syrup coats the oats and you get a taste on each bite. I highly recommend it!
Triathlon Talk
Last night Eric and I started to plan out our TRY-A-TRI training. :) We have under 6 weeks until our Try-A-Tri.
The course consists of:
- 375 meter swim
- 10 km bike ride
- 2.5 km run
The course is very hilly (think murder hill), but luckily we can train on the actual course and prepare ourselves.
Now that my groin muscle is feeling better, it is time to get back into the training.
It will be about another month until we are able to do open water swims (and even then the water will be frigid), so Eric and I looked up a local indoor public pool that is about 15 minutes from us.
Confession: Eric and I are both grossed out by public pools. We seriously hate them. I have a huge fear of hair and band-aids and it takes a lot to get me into a public pool! However, we are in this together and are going to support one another! We will get over our fear…
After looking at the Adult Length Swim schedule, we decided on swimming twice per week:
- Monday night, 8-9pm
- Wednesday night, 8-9pm
The days might vary here and there, but we are going to try to stick with Monday and Wednesday nights to have some consistency. There are some great swim drills/workouts online that we can try once we have built a bit of a base up.
I also need to get myself a swimsuit for swimming laps asap. A bikini will NOT cut it.
I was doing some reading on Triathlons last night and I came across the Brick Workout.
The Brick workout “refers to training on two disciplines during the same workout, one after the other with minimal or no interruption in between, just as you would do in a race. Usually when people talk about bricks they refer to a bike/run workout, but bricks could also refer to a swim/bike workout or to a run/bike workout.”
I will likely be incorporating some Brick Workouts into each week. Because I have a half marathon just 1 week prior to the TRY-A-TRI, I will need to make sure that I keep up with my long run each week and then incorporate some brick workouts here and there.
I feel like there is SO much I don’t know about triathlons and I feel like I have a lot to learn. It will be a huge learning curve, but I kind of like the challenge of trying something new!
Today’s question- Have you ever taken up a sport or activity and had a big learning curve at first? What was it?
I’m off to do some bakery training! :)
yeah, so i think u are so amazing.
I just signed up for my first tri too! It’s one month before my first marathon, eek! I’ve been swimming, but I just bought my first bike, and I cant wait to start riding. …and I’m totally with you on being grossed out by hair & bandaids.ewwwwww.!!
One brick session a week would definitely help you with the ‘dead legs’ feeling you get starting running after the bike. You can also use it to practice your transitions! If I were you I would do a long run, a long bike ride and then a medium bike ride followed by a short run each week, plus 2 swimming sessions.
Hi Angela,
I agree with the above comments that padded bike shorts are a must, especially for long rides (training) and bike racing. However, for a try-a-tri (since this is a short distance), I would recommend Sugoi tri shorts. They have thinner padding, but you can also wear them under your wet suit for swimming and for your running part. You will waste less time in transitions if you wear tri shorts and a tri tank top. This is what I wore on my very first try-a-tri last year.
Good luck with training, and don’t forget the brick workouts, especially bike/run, they really, really work.
You may find my post on triathlon training extremely helpful. Then again, you may not. But you’ve honed in on one of my key training strategies: no bikinis. Because otherwise people will laugh at you.
http://lifeinbalancesortof.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/spring-training/
I’m less than 8 weeks to my Tri. I am officially panicking.
Good luck!
I’ve never done a tri but I have great bike shorts that are actually capris from LL Bean. They help the butt and are stylish.
Since your doing the try a try for padded bike shorts I recommend trying some on at a store, and then hitting ebay up and buying some designed for triathlons. You can get ones that you can swim, bike and run in, the padding is a little thinner, but it saves time on the transitions. You can find them on ebay a lot cheaper (the same pair of shorts at a tri store here were 160 and I found them on ebay for 30)! I’m currently training for a sprint triathlon, and my butt is slowly getting used to the seat. So I would definitely recommend getting bike shorts, but if your going to spend money you might as well get ones you can swim in, since you said you needed a new bathing suit anyway :). You can even find tri shorts that have removable pads. I’ve done quite a bit of research on clothing for tri’s so if you have anymore questions let me know I might be able to help.
The sport with a big learning curve for me was swimming! But now I love it! And try to remind yourself that there is a lot of chlorine in the pools to kill germs. It helped me.
Have fun!
Hey Ange!
I notice that your coconut oil is not virgin or extra-virgin. I know that we should eat extra-virgin olive oil, but I am never sure about coconut oil. I buy extra-virgin just to be safe, but I’ve been wondering about this for a while. Do you know? Or does anyone know who could inform me? :) Thanks!
At first I was grossed out at the thought of swimming in a public pool as well, and had a bad experience in one place, however, I found another natatorium in our area, really close to my job that keeps their pool relatively clean and sanitized. And to be honest, open water is just as dirty, but you just can’t see it. Eeeek! LOL!
Oh yes, “BRICKS”, definitely incorporate those into your weekly training, at least one day. The most important one for me personally was the bike to run brick, as your legs will feel like jello initially coming off of a different type of rotation of your legs. Swim to bike is not too bad, unless you become a little dizzy from being in the water. The distances you guys will be training for are really good for your first. My first was a 500 meter swim, 14 mile bike and a 5k run. You’ll do great, go in with a mentality that YOU WILL FINISH! If you can do well in the bike and run, this triathlon will be a piece of cake! Another great site for swim workouts, www.swimplan.com. Go to www.swimoutlet.com for good buys on swimsuits. I wear the Speedo Endurance one piece, lasts a really long time. I agree with Katie on the soreness of the butt does eventually go away. If you eventually end up getting hooked to Tri’s, you can invest in a trisuit. They come in 2 pieces or all in one. I own a few 2 pieces, where the top is like a running top but easy to swim in and the shorts are awesome, they are made with a pad in them and are like cycling shorts but not so thick you feel like you have a diaper on and can withstand being wet. I have 3 suits, one is made by TYR and the other 2 are Zoot. Look at www.terrybikes.com and you’ll find a few items there too. You’ll also want to wear a swim cap.
A workout I really had to learn was Bikram Yoga, but once I did, I love it when I get the opportunity to go.
I think everyone who tries a new sport has a learning curve! Some may take longer than others.. ;)
When I first joined a swim team, about a year and a half ago, I was verrrry intimidated by the other swimemrs (most of them had been swimming competitively for their whole lives). I had always known how to swim but as for endurance, speed, and stroke technique.. I was pretty much lost.
It became very easy for me to be super disappointed in myself. But I’ve really just decided to stop comparing myself to the other swimmers! I try to concentrate on how I’m swimming vs. other practices instead of comparing myself to someone else. I think this has helped me a lot because I’m actually enjoying getting in the pool again! For a while, I got so discouraged that I’d dread practice because of the workout intensity but also because I punished myself the whole time for being slower than other people. I’ve learned it’s not worth it and swimming is supposed to be FUN!
Eek, that was longer than anticipated! ;)
Good luck with your public pool!
You have definitely convinced me to try the overnight oats tomorrow (or tonight)! I love that you topped them with coconut oil and maple syrup…I read that on Alicia Silverstone’s website and have loved that mix ever since. I feel so clean eating that way and can not believe that people really prefer the fake corn syrup stuff compared to real maple syrup…it is SO GOOD!
I haven’t really tackled a new hardcore fitness event or sport, but I did go sky diving in college in Switzerland…that was amazing! I hope that I can fit a marathon into my life in the next few years though!
You might need to take a week or so to get used to the seat. The soreness definitely diminishes over time. You can also buy padded seat covers that fit right over the bike seat.
PS – Public pools gross me out as well!
skip the padded shorts and invest in a good seat for your bike, butt soreness will be gone in 1-2 weeks depending how much time you spend on the bike!
good luck!!
I am that way with running right now. Lots to learn.
Good luck, I’m sure you guys will do great!
I’ve been a runner for a long time, but I did my first duathlon last year. A duathlon is run-bike-run (no swimming). I did a few brick workouts and felt like they really, really helped. I would do a bike workout and then immediately after do a short run. Actually I would do a little bit of running after almost every bike workout, even if it was only 10 minutes. It takes awhile to get used to running right after biking. Your legs feel really heavy. Practice helps a lot.
I would like to do a triathlon sometime but need to learn how to swim first! Oh and my friends who do triathlons say there are special padded shorts for triathlons as opposed to regular biking. They are thinner so you can swim, bike and run all in the same outfit. Good luck!
Hey Ange –
I’m a swimmer and just wanted to pass on my fav source for good swim suits – www.swimoutlet.com. My favorite inexpensive but good quality suits are the Dolfin Uglies one-pieces (search for Dolfin Uglies). In my opinion, they offer some of the best coverage (they cover your butt and don’t ride up too high on the legs). Take a look at the sizing chart and then order one size bigger. For example, I’m 5’6″ around 127 lbs. and normally wear clothing in 4-6, so that would be about a size 32. I ordered a 34 and it was perfect.
I’ve done a couple of sprint triathlons and actually did a few brick workouts in my Dolfin Uglies suit and wore the suit during the races. I felt it was a good way to try triathlon without spending a ton of money up front. Triathlon can be an expensive sport! But also incredibly fun. :)
HTH!
My recommendations for bike seat comfort are, do not use a padded seat, I know it seems like that would be more uncomfortable but once your sitting bones get used to it you’ll be fine. Also, a good pair of cycling shorts is key! I wear Sugoi. :)
I enjoy Fox Racing Bike shorts, ’cause I have a hatred of spandex & the Fox ones look like board shorts!
i just figure i can always shower after being in a public pool…but i’m pretty oblivious to germs anyway :) you guys can do it!