Tuesday night MBBC ride

During Monday's ride, the women recommended that I go to the Tuesday night ride because its a faster pace and I could get a lot out of riding with that group. So I met up with the Mt. Baker Bike Club and rode with the medium pace group which was about 8 riders.

We averaged 17 mph and did a total of 15 miles. I forgot to check my cateye to see how long it took...a little under an hour I'm guessing. The ride was great! I loved meeting new people and getting more pointers on riding in a group.

The one thing that semi-sucked about the ride is that it POURED. Well mabye not poured, but definitely rained hard. I was soaked 10 minutes into the ride (no rain jacket). There were puddles in my shoes and my padded bike pants felt like a wet diaper. Plus a lot of dirt on my face.

Yeah, riding in the rain is not ideal, but hey, it's only water, right?

The mistake was not having a towel in my car afterwords. Note to self: Always keep a towel in the car, no matter what the weather is doing.

Monday night ladies ride

Greetings! Before I left Camas on Sunday I went for a run near Lacamas Lake. It was a nice trail that had small inclines right on the shore of the lake. I didn't have my Garmin with me, so I'm not sure how far I ran, but I was able to log about 45 minutes.

Yesterday, I awoke to a sore left knee...boo. I don't know if it was from the run or the fact that I sat in a car for 4.5 hours, part of which I was in traffic, contantly having to push in the clutch. I HOPE it is just sore from shifting on a new clutch (I was driving my boyfriend's car) because no injuries are welcome here!

I hopped in the pool after work yesterday and did the swim workout on my tri training schedule: 10 x 60 yards. I also added 200 kick, 100 swim and 200 pull. A lovely 1100 yard swim that felt SO EASY! Part of the swim however, I felt as though I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. I would inhale and get it as much air as possible, but it still felt my body wanted more. Weird!

After the swim I ran home, grabbed my bike and headed to meet a new Monday night ladies ride that was starting up. I didn't know what to expect as this was the first meeting of the group and no pace/mileage was determined, so I didn't set any expectations. Either I was going to get a gnarly workout or just have a nice cruise. The latter was the case.

I was the youngest of 6 women that showed up by probably 20 years and I immediately took the lead with my natual 15-16mph pace. I realized I was going too fast and wanted to be respectful to the group, so I slowed to around 13-14mph.

A mile or two into it, me and another rider broke away from the group and started chatting. She gave me a lot of advice when riding in a group and said I'd be better suited for the Tuesday night ride (same routes, but faster). We took a different route than the rest of the group that added 3 more miles and ended up complete 17 miles in 1:10. Yes, this is slow for me, but I didn't care. It felt good to just ride, spin my legs out and not care about speed. If it weren't for the group, I probably wouldn't have even got on my bike yesterday because it was raining a tad.

I DO want to try the Tuesday night ride, but I think that'll wait until next week. I have a run planned tonight and don't want to get too pooped. Plus, my left knee is still a little sore.

Do you ride in groups often? Is it even beneficial for triathlon training? Isn't drafting not allowed in most triathlons?

Swimming in a new pool

I'm in Portland for the weekend, and I had the opportunity to swim in a new pool this morning. I usually swim at the Y in Bellingham and that pool is only 20 yards, but the pool I swam in today was 25. What a difference 5 yards makes! I could really get into the swim instead of hitting the wall after a few strokes.

I did a repeat of what is on the YMCA triathlon training schedule for the week, but since the pool was 25 yards I only had to do 10x50 instead of 10x60. After I completed the 500 yards, I did the following:

100 kick
100 swim
100 pull
100 swim
100 kick
100 swim
100 pull
50 back

Total: 1250! That is my longest swim to date and I felt great! My breathing was under control for the most part and my arms were just starting to get tired when I ended the workout. I think I need to start swimming in a longer pool to get more out of my swimming...otherwise I feel like I get too many breaks each time I reach the wall.

I usually do my entire swim workout all crawl stroke. Should I be alternating strokes? I don't really know what I'm doing when I try breast stroke and doing back stroke doesn't feel as if it'll improve my triathlon swimming. What do you think?

I love tail winds

Yesterday there was a decision to be made: battle the gnarly winds and bike outside or go to spin class. Rebecca (my biking buddy) and I chose outside! It was partly sunny, just really windy and a bit cold, but felt good to not be inside.

By the way, pre bike ride snack was an apple with peanut butter and cinnamon.

We set out at a good pace - 16mph - and headed for the county. Once we turned West, we were smashed with strong winds that knocked us down to 11-12mph! I kept thinking, "This is only going to make me stronger! Resistance training!" I usually get pissed at the wind instead of welcoming it as an opportunity to get stronger. This ride I was more positive than negative, but I did yell "LAME!" once or twice...

We rode out 15 miles, turned around and rode back the way we came. It was SO satisfying getting the tailwinds on the way back - we were crusing easily at 19mph!

The only body part that gave me troubles on the ride was my butt on the seat. Since I was uncomfortable, I didn't want to put a lot of weight back there, so I made up for it by putting more weight in my arms, which made my arms ache. I need to invest in a new saddle, because I know proper form is very VERY important and my seat isn't allowing that.

We did the 30 miles in 2:05. Not to bad for the wind. My triathlon training schedule from the Y only has me riding once this week for 20 minutes. Well I smashed that out of the park. I'll be adding quite a few miles to what the schedule says because I'm also training for the Seattle to Portland which is 3 weeks after the Padden Tri and definitly need to log miles for that one! : )

Question: Have you purchased a more comfortable saddle?

Today is rest day for me..tomorrow swim and run! Happy Friday!

Craving veggies & Triathlon Nutrition

I don't know what the proper nutrition is when training for a triathlon, right now I eat what sounds good to me and try to be as healthy as possible.

I have been CRAVING fruits and veggies lately (a good thing!), so I made a yummy salad to have at work for lunch today. I'll supplement the salad with some steamed yams and black beans. Too much fiber? Yikes!

Salad consumption happened in my cube at work

I'm trying harder and harder to look at foods before I eat them and think, "How will that make me feel after I eat?" Will it make me feel like crap on my run later? Will I burp up onions and garlic when I'm on the bike? Will I get hungry in an hour after eating this? I try to take these questions into consideration to decide what is best for me to eat at that time.

Also, I look forward to what workouts I have planned later in the day and try to fuel properly for them. Obviously, the harder the workout, the more protein and carbs I eat.

Question: Do you find it easy to fuel yourself during triathlon training? Do you keep a food diary? I'm open to any advice on triathlon nutrition.

Tri for the first time

Hi! I'm Megan from Mego Blog and I wanted to start a new blog dedicated to my first attempt at a triathlon. Here, I'll talk about my training, what I learn along the way, nutrition and the adventure of doing a triathlon for the first time.

My first triathlon is in 12 weeks - the Lake Padden Triathlon in Bellingham, WA. I hope you find my postings educational, fun and inspiring. I'd love to hear what you think. Feel free to leave a comment or email me at m.fay@live.com.