Yoga Pose – Squat
Here’s a link to an article on Active.com on how to do the squat pose from yoga. It’s a fairly detailed description not only of how to properly do the pose, but also of the benefits of the pose. Sounds like a pose I should be doing regularly!
How Crazy Is This?
Posted by sheila in Race Events on August 10th, 2009
Help me decide, or give me your thoughts/comments/opinions…
In my race schedule for this season, I had picked to do the Oxnard Splash-n-Dash on Sept. 13th. But I didn’t realize when I picked that (which I have not yet registered for) that it is a 1 hr 45 min drive from my house. Yikes. Such a long drive for a relatively short race. I was going to do the long course (1000 meter swim followed by the 4 mile run).
I looked for alternate events that have an ocean swim on a weekend between now and November when I’m not working or already doing another race. Kinda tough. Iron Man & Half Iron Man distances are too much for me right now!
But look at this: Mermaid Tri in Santa Cruz on Sept. 27th. Instead of Oxnard Splash-N-Dash Sept. 13th. Is it crazy to drive 5-6 hours on Saturday for a Sunday race? And then pretty much drive right back home? And if I drive that far, I’d want to do their Olympic Distance course, not the Sprint distance. Am I up for an Olympic Distance for my 3rd triathlon? What if we stay overnight on Sunday and drive back at the crack of dawn on Monday. My 7th grade daughter would miss school. That is wrong and bad. I shouldn’t take her out of a day of school for my race. Sigh. But I want to. Don’t want to drive right back on Sunday.
Also, my older daughter goes to UC Santa Cruz, so we would get to see her (if briefly) that weekend if we drive up. Hmmmmm.
So…
- Which event? Oxnard Splash-n-Dash Sept 13th (“local” but pretty far) or Santa Cruz all women Mermaid Tri Sept 27th?
- Am I nuts to do Olympic? I can already swim 1.5km and running a 10K is nothing. Just have to up my bike mileage which is pretty low right now (max dist of 15 miles).
- Take my daughter out of school Monday or drive our butts right back on Sunday?
I should be able to make these kind of decisions myself… I guess I really just want to do Santa Cruz but driving 5.5 hours up and back Sat/Sun just seems like such a drag. Boo!
Race Schedule August 2009-March 2010
Posted by sheila in Race Events, Training on July 29th, 2009
OK, I’ve finally made some decisions about my racing schedule. Since I just finished the San Francisco Half-Marathon this past Sunday, I found that I had not signed up for any further events, nor did I have any training schedule.
Not to worry. I did a 6 mile bike ride yesterday. And today I did my own triathlon: 1500 meter ocean swim in 45 minutes; 3 mile run in 23 minutes; later in the day 14.8 mile bike in 1 hr 6 minutes on a hilly course. Tomorrow I will swim laps at the pool.
Anyhow, I do need to sign up for events and put together some more training. And I’ve finalized my events up through March 2010. Here they are:
Aug. 2, 2009 (Sun) 5K Paws for Cause
Aug. 16, 2009 (Sun) Hansen Dam Triathlon
Sep. 13, 2009 (Sun) Oxnard Splash-n-Dash (I think the long course)
new -> Sep. 27, 2009 (Sun) Mighty Mermaid Triathlon Santa Cruz (olympic distance)
Oct. 11, 2009 (Sun) Long Beach Half Marathon (completes my California Dreaming award)
Nov. 7, 2009 (Sat) Catalina Triathlon
Nov. 26, 2009 (Thu) 10K Turkey Trot at Dana Point
Feb. 7, 2010 (Sun) Surf City Half Marathon – I think I have to do this every year. I’m a legacy runner for this race.
Mar. 7, 2010 (Sun) Napa Valley Marathon
Mar. 21, 2010 (Sun) Los Angeles Marathon
Apr 23-34 (Fri-Sat) Ragnar Relay L.A. (Santa Barbara to Dana Point)
OK, so I have to get my credit card out and start registering for some of these. And tomorrow I’m going to have to hunker down and start writing my training schedule for at least through November 2009. That is always so much work.
So, from no events to 9 events. Really, though, I’ve been thinking about most of these for a long time. Just hadn’t committed to the registration and written out my training plans. Working on it, working on it!
First Swims in my New Wetsuit
Posted by sheila in Tools and Gear, Training on July 2nd, 2009
Me on the left & Nina (Twitter friend) on the right at Santa Monica Ocean Swim.
So I bought an xTerra Vortex 3 last Friday, June 26, 2009. And I was eager to try it out. Wanted to make sure it fit properly and was easy to move around and swim in it. So I planned to go to Huntington State Beach on Monday and get in a short ocean swim.
The original plan was to hit the beach before noon, short swim, picnic lunch with Jenny on the beach, play and relaxation time before heading home. Unfortunately, due to a comedy of errors, we didn’t actually get to Huntington until 3 PM. I talked to the Life Guard briefly, put my wetsuit on, and ventured out.
In watching the surf before I suited up, the breakers hadn’t looked too large to me. So about 20 minutes later I was wading into the surf. Life guard had said water temp was 62˚. It didn’t feel cold to me at all, especially with the suit on. Waves still looked ok, and I proceeded out to my chest. I felt the cold water coming through the suit at the zipper on the back. Just interesting, not a problem. Kept going and got out past most of the breakers. But there was one row left to get past, and they seemed pretty big. I was not comfy with it. I decided to go back in and try ocean swimming in my suit another day.
In Which Sheila Brings Home a Wetsuit for Keeps
Posted by sheila in Tools and Gear on July 1st, 2009
Jenny at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas after Wetsuit Purchase
So I’ve been going back and forth over the whole wetsuit thing for a while now. To buy one or not? Finally decided to buy one. Then which one to buy? And how to buy? Or to rent?
Basically, I plan to do enough tris that rental costs would add up quickly and be more than a purchase price. Plus I want to have the suit available to me for practice and to become comfortable in it. And even though I have a few friends who’ve done a number of tris with no suit, I have so many people encouraging me to get one not just for warmth, but for bouyancy as well, that I decided to go ahead and buy.
Early in June someone on Twitter posted a sale link to xTerraWetsuits. Half price deal on some of their popular, top-of-the-line suits (sale ends June 29, 2009 but Read the rest of this entry »
Wetsuit adventures or Sheila vs. The Wetsuit
Posted by sheila in Tools and Gear on June 25th, 2009
So as a result of one of my previous posts/questions here about whether to buy a wetsuit online or mailorder, I was urged by several people on Facebook and Twitter to NOT do that and to go to a local shop and try suits on. Someone else also suggested using wetsuitrental.com as a good alternative to try a suit and have the rental fee go towards the purchase of a used suit. Which sounds good.
So today I went to the San Dimas location of Incycle Bikes. I called first to ask if I could come in to try on wetsuits, and they said, “Sure.”
When I walked in I was asked if I needed help by the same guy I’d talked to on the phone. He sized me up visually and decided I should wear an xsmall. Which kind of surprised me, because Read the rest of this entry »
Triathlete Humor
Here’s a dang funny list of ways to check whether you might be a triathlete.
Should I Buy a Mail Order Tri Wetsuit?
Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice, Tools and Gear on June 20th, 2009
So I am planning to buy a tri wetsuit at some point this summer. I’m always the cautious type, who generally buys from local vendors (rather than mail order), especially clothing, so that I can try it on and make sure it fits. But this is such a good deal on a wetsuit… regularly $400 for half price ($199). Seems like good quality. XTerra brand. On sale until late June. 30-day money back guarantee, and size switch options/guarantee. I’m usually between 115-117 pounds (trying to take it down a few) and 5′3”, so I just fit into the WS size, on the borderline really with WM.
Vortex 3 Fullsuit $199 (Reg. $400)
I’m so nervous about choosing the wrong size or something that doesn’t fit me right. I’ve never tried on ANY wetsuit before, nor obviously swum in one. What should I do? Buy this one? Or give it a miss and go to a local tri shop and get fitted for one there? Help? Advice?