Welcome! I’m Caroline
follow me
Subscribe By Email
Search The Little Things Blog
Follow Me On Bloglovin’
Categories
Archives
Yay for holiday weekends! My last exercise recap I posted was the day of my triathlon, and life has been a bit different since then! The biggest thing this past week was that I tried pool running for the first time, and I think I really like it. I plant to write an entire post on thi soon, but I think this could definitely be a good thing for me! It’s a weird thing to go from training for something to not having a specific thing to train for at the moment! I’ve connected with my love of walking which has been pretty pushed aside lately for training! Here’s what the week looked like:
- Sunday: 5 mile walk
- Monday: 4 mile walk, 2 mile kayak (arm/shoulder muscles were SORE after this! The wind was really rough!)
- Tuesday: 2 mile walk, 1 hour Pilates barre
- Wednesday: 4 mile walk, 35 minutes pool running
- Thursday: 6.45 mile walk, 30 minutes pool running
- Friday: 3 mile walk
- Saturday: 5 mile walk
So I walked a bit over a marathon this week, and I really enjoyed it! I also got in some good cardio with barre and running!
Now it’s your turn to share! Did you try anything new these past few weeks?
This year there wasn’t a parade, but it was still quite a bit of fun! I got to celebrate at the beach which was perfect! My day started off with making homemade blueberry pancakes! Yummm! We hit the beach first thing in the morning and enjoyed a long walk before it began to rain on us! Luckily it was a quick downpour, and we were soon able to head back to the pool. After lunch we headed back to the pool, and enjoyed time out there until dinner! I started to read the second Hunger Games book again, and was reminded of how obsessed I really am with them!
A walk on the beach
Catching Fire at the pool!
Dinner was potato salad, brats, and my favorite part: blue and red jello eggs! Yumm!
I took this picture a few days after they were made, so that’s why they look a little deformed now! Just as tasty though!
After dinner we headed back to the beach and walked about a mile down while enjoying others’ personal fireworks and patriotic music. We finally found the perfect spot and settled in for the fireworks show! We were right at the edge of the ocean, and this provided one of the best fireworks displays I’ve been to! The fireworks were reflected in the water which looked really pretty, and I could hear the sound of the waves too. Patriotic music was played in the background, and it was a really fantastic moment!
The mile walk back home on the beach was fantastic too with others’ fireworks displays. All in all, it was a pretty fantastic day full of music, food, the beach, and the pool!
How did you celebrate the 4th of July? Do you have a favorite holiday?
Happy 4th of July!! Before we get to celebrating, here’s a bit of thankfulness from my end:
I’m thankful for freedom. Enough said. So thankful for it.
I’m thankful for the men and women of past generations. Those people who have gone before me to help create freedom and beauty in this world.
I’m thankful for time off of work! Time to CELEBRATE! I’m thankful for having time off to spend with those around me in celebration.
I’m thankful for the sunshine. We’ve been having too many storms lately, but I’m trying to be thankful for the moments of sunshine and warmth as they come!
I’m thankful for pools. Seriously- how fantastic are they? I’ve been enjoying going to the pool regularly for the last few weeks, in between the rain at least! I’ve been reading an interesting book on the eradication of smallpox while at the pool. Education and relaxation at its finest 🙂
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today? For those in the U.S.- how are you celebrating the 4th?
Happy July!!! I usually love the month of July, so I’m hoping that it will be a great month. Before I get ahead of myself, though, I thought I’d do a quick recap of June, as well as a check-in on my 13 Challenges in 2013 now that we’re half way through the year (eek!). Here’s how the month of June looked:
- This month was Triathlon time!! I wrote a few posts about my triathlon training: Hitting the Bricks, Final Triathlon Preparation
- I raced my second triathlon this past month, and had great success in cutting down my transition times. You can read my recap here.
- National Running Day! I shared why I’m a runner here.
- In April and May I participated in Best Body Bootcamp. I shared some of my final thoughts on the program here.
- I talked all about biking on the road again after spending the winter on my stationary bike.
- I tried my very first barre class, and it’s safe to say that I’m pretty hooked. Post coming about barre in a few weeks!
And here’s a quick check-in on my 13 Challenges in 2013 progress:
- I’ve run 90.8 miles out of 250 miles (oh yikes. This I’m pretty disappointed in, and really need to pick up my running! I didn’t guess I’d have so much fun with cross training!)
- I’ve walked 151 miles out of 500 miles (I feel like I walk SO much, so I have no idea how I am so far behind where I was last year. So sad 🙁 )
- I’ve biked 196 miles out of 300 miles. (Doing great with biking this year! I love it!)
- I’ve swam 3.2 out of 15 miles (when I set this I didn’t realize how little access I’d actually have to the pool. But I’ll definitely get in a few more miles before the end of the year!)
- I’ve done 121 minutes out of 250 minutes of planks for the year! (I actually thought I was farther behind on this, so I was happy to see I’ve spent 2 hours doing planks so far this year :D)
- I challenge myself to go through all the clothes I own: I’ve gone through about 90% of my clothes so far, and have managed to get rid of a few bags! It’s felt great to get so much cleaning done!
- I challenge myself to finish the article I started in 2012. Ummm- have not done anything on it. So many other work things and other article options have popped up that I’ve been focused on those. I’m still planning to work on this article.
- I challenge myself to do 13 races this year (in person or virtual): I’ve done 7 races so far this year.
- I challenge myself to read 12 books this year. I’ve completed 5 books and am in the middle of 2 right now, so I’m right on track and really enjoying this challenge.
I wish I had done something with a number of pilates sessions I’d do or something like that since I’ve been really into that this year as well! Overall I’m pretty happy with that, even though I haven’t hit all my mileage. I’ve taken down a bit of cardio and added lots of strength training, and I’ve been enjoying that quite a bit!
So, that’s my June Recap/Update on my 13 in 2013 challenge.
Now it’s your turn to share! What was your favorite part of June (or: What are you most looking forward to in July?)? How are your goals going for the year?
It’s just been a really crazy and busy last 48 hours, so it’s late on Thursday night, and by the time this posts it may technically be Friday. This week has been much better than last week, so that’s been a great thing! In that light, here’s what I’m thankful for right now:
I’m thankful for having the chance to race my 2nd triathlon! I had so much fun this past Sunday as I headed to the beach and ran into the water at the start of my 2nd tri. The race was fun, albeit pretty scary at one point, and I’m so thankful I took the jump into triathlons! So fun!
I’m thankful for sunshine this week. Oh, sweet sunshine. It’s happy rays bring joy to my heart and a smile to my face. Every afternoon I’ve found a way to be outside in the sunshine, and I’ve taken not a single moment of it for granted.
I’m thankful for flowers and gardening. This goes along with being outside in the afternoons. I love having the space to plant flowers and tend to them throughout the summer!
I’m thankful for fresh summer fruits. Specifically I’m loving peaches, watermelon, and cherries right now! YUMMMM! I’ve been sitting out on the porch in the evenings and eat fresh fruit as the sun sets. It’s so nice to have the time to slow down, breathe, and enjoy the moments of summer.
I’m thankful that Big Brother has started. Oh gosh- this one is a little embarrassing. I got sucked into Big Brother at my job during the summer of 2008, and I’ve watched every season. Embarrassing, right? I love the mental and psychological components of me, and it is fun for the counselor in me to watch all of it unfold.
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today? Are there any TVs that you are embarrassed that you watch (but still really enjoy!)?
The weather also had a chance of getting really really nasty, and I was just hoping that the race wasn’t cancelled! After I had set up my transition zone we were notified the race would be delayed 15 minutes as a line of storms was coming through. I immediately ran back over to cover up my shoes so they wouldn’t be soaked, and then after those 15 minutes I re-set up the Tzone. We got delayed another 10 minutes standing out at the beach, but then we were off, but not without the rain. The rain really messed up my bike, but let’s start at the beginning:
Swimming (1/4 mile, 11:28): I really enjoy the swim, which I know is atypical for many people doing triathlons, but I do realize that I could get faster. I do the breaststroke which is definitely a slower stroke, but I was still expecting to come in about a minute faster. Like I mentioned, the wind was really strong, and that led to really chopping waters and it was definitely much more difficult to move forward than in the lap pool! Of course there was the typical being kicked or hit a bit at the start, and I think it’s so important to stay calm and keep your breath even when that’s happening. Three times in this short little swim I took a breath and was met with a huge mouthful of water. Again, not what happens in the lap pool, but definitely something to be prepared for in races! I kept swimming and coughing as I went, and it was just fine. The swim was fun and it went far too quickly for me.
Running out of swim to transition zone
Transition 1 (2:55): On of my big goals for this race was to decrease my transition time. My last T1 time was 4:20, so Sunday’s tri was a huge improvement! There was a long hill to run up (some of it was sand, some was pavement), and I had my goggles and swim cap off before I hit the bike rack. I threw some water on my feet to rinse off the sand, and threw on my shoes, socks, helmet, and sunglasses. I had debated not putting them on because it looked like it was about to storm, but decided to anyways. This was a great decision! I ate 2 shot bloks and was off!
Biking (10 miles, 46:03): This leg really disappointed me, as most of my training rides had this portion coming in 6-8 minutes faster at least. Right when I hopped on the bike the wind picked up, and a few miles in it started to rain. At this point I was so happy that I had my sunglasses on because the rain was coming at a fast speed and smacking the glasses, and it would’ve HURT to not have them on! At one point it felt like tiny bits of hail were hitting me- ouch! I’ve never ridden my bike in the rain, so this was a new experience. My gears on my bike are pretty shotty on a good day, and with the rain, ever time I changed gears my bike would slide a bit on the road. This was the scariest bike ride I’ve ever been on in my life, and I knew that I needed to go slowly if I didn’t want to fall. Someone wiped out right in front of me at the turn around point, and I just barely missed crashing into them! The wind was also blowing really hard on the second half of the course, such that there wasn’t much coasting down the hills. I had to pedal hard to propel myself up AND down hills. A tough ride, and I was happy to have it over!
Running my bike into T2- see the puddles on the road!
Transition 2 (1:17): I was so thrilled when I looked up my results and saw this number! I knew my transition was fast, but I had no idea it was this fast! I didn’t wear cycling shoes, so in this transition I just had to run my bike to the rack, take of my helmet and sunglasses and grabbed 3 shot bloks! My T2 time from my last triathlon was 3:19, so I cut 2 minutes off this transition! Awesome!
Run (3.1 miles, 35:51): This was only a few seconds different than my 5k time from last summer, and while I would’ve loved to cut time here, I was still happy with the run. I brought no garmin or phone with me, so there was no 3:1 method going on here, which is different for me. I kept up the pace I had wanted though, so that was good. I felt much stronger this run than last year, and didn’t have heavy legs like I did in my bike/run bricks during training. This is where my calf pain from my barre class the day before really came out. I remember thinking a few times that it felt so tight that I was worried it was going to tear. haha.
Finish Line!
Total Time: 1:37:30
In the transition zone after the race
The weather and barre class definitely brought some factors against me, but I really had so much fun in this triathlon. My biggest focus on training was doing quick transitions during my bricks, and I mentally ran through my transitions over and over again, and it paid off! I shaved a number of minutes off my overall time by cutting time here, and I’m happy about that! I learned that it would be beneficial to bike a bit in the rain to get used to it for race day, and I also learned that I need a better bike:) My free road bike isn’t ideal for racing! In terms of what I wore, you can find a post on that here (All the gear was the same except I wore a different tank).
In terms of my POTS, things went pretty well today. Of course my run pace is slow, and I have to take walking breaks to bring down my heart rate. I consumed lots of salt the day before the race, and I ate 5 margarita shot bloks that have 2x the sodium in them! POTS can so vary from day to day, but today was as good of a day as I can ask for with racing and my health! At the end of the day, I recognize that I am so lucky to be able to even be able to exercise, and even more lucky that I can race with POTS.
The final week of tri training is complete (ok- and my tri is complete, but you’ll have to wait until this week to read all about it!), and I’m feeling really sad about it. My weeks will still likely include all three sports most of the time, but I’ll definitely miss having a competitive purpose for it! This week my intensity in workouts has really decreased, so I’m feeling a bunch of pent up energy! I even turned to baking cupcakes to try to deal with some of my stir-crazy feelings, and I hope that my neighbors all appreciate their special cupcake delivery that they got (I made FAR too many cupcakes for myself!). Despite tapering, I stayed pretty busy this week, but like I said, I slowed way down and decreased my intensity (minus Saturday- don’t even get me started). Here’s what my final week of training looked like:
- Sunday: 11.74 mile bike, .6 mile walk
- Monday: 1.8 mile walk, 1 hour pilates
- Tuesday: .57 mile walk, 1 hour pilates, .5 mile swim
- Wednesday: 3 mile run, 1.10 mile walk
- Thursday: 1.5 mile walk (SLOW after dinner- instead of a walk maybe this would better be labeled “slow shuffling while enjoying nature). Today was for all intents and purposes a rest day.
- Friday: 1 hour of gentle piltates, .6 mile walk after dinner
- Saturday: 1 hour pilates barre class *
So, while the week looks busy, it felt like a huge step back for me. My pilates workouts were more focused on gentle stretching than on anything strenuous, and I made sure that none (minus saturday) of my workouts were pushed so much that I was sore the next day. Mission accomplished!
*But, about Saturday. I’ll explain more about the “whys” behind this soon, but I didn’t have much choice in taking this barre class on Saturday. I would never encourage a barre class the day before a triathlon, and even though I tried to decrease the reps and intensity, I still found myself ACHING after the event. So much for racing on fresh legs!
In my spare time, like I mentioned, I’ve been baking and have had time to actually sit outside and enjoy the sunshine! Sometimes taper doesn’t feel too bad after all!
Now it’s your turn to share! How do you deal with your extra energy during taper weeks? What is something you accomplished this week?
The course I’m doing is a short sprint: 1/4 mile swim, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. I really wanted to sign up for the Olympic, but knowing that I only had 4 weeks to train, I thought that wouldn’t be wise. I wish this race was in another month so I could’ve signed up for the Olympic! It’ll be interesting to see if I can get my transition zone times down- they were pretty long last summer!
There’s a chance of storms on Sunday morning, and i’ll be really bummed if the race gets cancelled because of them! Other than that, I’ve tapered and am doing my final race day preparations: fueling, hydrating, resting, etc (I wrote an entire post on race week preparations)!
But now, it’s time to race!
Now it’s your turn to share! Do you have any pre-race rituals? Would you like to do a triathlon one day (or if you’ve done one, what’s your favorite triathlon memory)?
Gosh, it’s been quite the week. It hasn’t been the easiest of all weeks for me (lots of things going on!), but there have been lots of good moments along the way, and I’m choosing to focus on these things today. That’s the thing with gratitude; things don’t need to be going really well for us to still find things we’re thankful about in our life (remember: life isn’t all or nothing!). That being said, here are a few of the things I’ve been thankful for this week:
I’m thankful for my water bottle. Now that summer finally (FINALLY!) has arrived, I’ve had to increase the amount of water I drink each day (hey thanks, POTS, for that!). Water bottles make it so easy and convenient to stay hydrated on the go, and I’m so happy that they were invented!
I’m thankful that summer has arrived. We’ve finally hit a few days in the 80’s, and I’ve been able to go to the pool once and pull out my tank tops. REJOICE! It’s been so nice after almost a month of rain every day to be able to just enjoy being outside.
I’m thankful for evening summer walks. There’s something about going on a walk in the summertime that is just wonderful. I went on an almost hour-long walk a few nights ago as the sun was setting, and the whole time I could only thing “this is perfect”. I try to fully enjoy these moments and live in that present moment (along my 13 challenges in 2013 guidelines).
I’m thankful for chips. While they definitely aren’t the most healthy food out there, they are DELICIOUS! Again, because of my POTS, I am supposed to be putting extra salt on all my meals. You add training into that, and I pretty much constantly crave salt. Chips are such an easy and convenient way to eat salt, so they are one of my go to snacks! YUM!
I’m thankful for Arrested Development. This has been my go to funny show since the end of May, and I’m slowly working my way through the first 3 seasons, which I haven’t watched since either 2006 or 2007. I can’t wait to sit down and watch the new season:)
I’m thankful for my backyard. The trees and all the flowers I planted have provided a very calm space for all the crazy going on around me, and I’ve utilized my lounge chair back there for a number of hours every day as I work (I’m typing from there right now!). I’m so thankful I have a beautiful view to enjoy.
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you thankful for today? What do you do to create a calm environment when there’s a lot going on around you?
Throughout the winter I was worried that my biking workout wouldn’t be enough, and I’d feel out of shape once summer hit. I’m happy to say that my winter bike program worked wonderfully, and was immediately able to hit the hills I live around with very little problem this month! The only real pain is sitting in the saddle for my longer rides- OUCH!
These past four weeks I’ve been biking in preparation for my triathlon this coming weekend, and it’s been fun to bike for a purpose! However, I want to have fun and enjoy biking as well, so there’s been some of that too! Last weekend I had an exciting moment as I hit a new distance PR!
I’m planning to continue these long rides throughout the summer, but I have no final distance in mind that I want to hit; I just want to enjoy the journey! Like I mentioned earlier, part of enjoying the moment has also been enjoying the nature I’m surrounded by on the trails. While I’m not a huge fan of stopping all the time, I do sometimes stop once to take a picture. Here are some of the great scenes I’ve seen on my last few rides.
Top: Bluebells in bloom, biking around a lake. Bottom: deer (hard to see), turtle (it glared at me after taking this)
Fun, right? I’ve enjoyed training rides and more “for fun” rides now that it is finally getting to be nicer weather. The stationary bike isn’t that bad at all, but it’s been fun to hit the trails and feel the wind in my face!
