The perfect husband/training support

Heidi:

This is my wonderful husband cleaning my bike (in 35 degrees!) after our very muddy gravel ride!  Thanks babe!  Guess this means that I will be doing this sort of support later in the year when he is training for his 1/2!

I second everything that Heather said about the gravel ride.  It was an intense first hour of a TON of hills and a lot of steep ones.  The second half was a flat (yet mucky) trail.  My legs are feeling the full 2 hours!

Cheers to a easy week!  And great training partners- and support!

More Gravel

Today was more bike riding for us. Last sunday we did 90 minutes with our bikes on the trainer. For me it went better than I was expecting, but I much prefer to be outside for most of our workouts. I dread the treadmill, prefer open water swimming & riding outside. So today we got layered up & braved the cold weather (it was about 30 deg. when we began, but thankfully little wind & sunny skies). We met up with CMC (Columbia Multisport friends) and began our 2nd gravel ride. I am falling in love with gravel rides. No traffic, we stay warm even in cold weather and get to explore new roads in the country. Not to mention the smell of farms and visiting with cows.

Gravel riding is a GREAT workout!! WOW! Our legs were burning as we slowly climbed some hills. Looking forward to next weeks ride!

Week 4 is an EASY week!!! WOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!

By: Heather

Thoughts & Feelings....

I started this training plan feeling pretty confident. I knew we could get the workouts done, but underestimated where I was physically. I thought & hoped I was in better shape. So, the first week was a little tough on me, mentally & physically. I was discouraged & really disappointed that I wasn't ready for double workout days. Stupidly I thought my jeans would be loose & begin to see the muscles growing. A little exaggeration, but I wanted to see results. FAST! So that attitude pretty much stayed until the middle of last week.

Fast forward to today. We began week 3 today and I'm feeling myself getting stronger. And have learned to be patient with myself & realized that nothing worth having is quick & easy. My attitude is excellent & my physical shape is improving also.

I am so proud of Heidi's positive attitude! And thankfully for her influence on me.

by: Heather

Congrats Dad!

Our Dad just signed up to do Kansas 70.3 with us!  We are training the same plan and are excited when we can train together.  He might do some guest posts in the future.

He is the reason our family is doing triathlon.  So we are so excited to be doing our first 70.3 with our dad- and our mentor!

Workout Weekend!

Heidi:
We started our weekend with our spinning class on friday morning.  It is so nice because our mom (nana) takes the kids for the morning so we can get our workout done.  We were sweating so badly and it was a really tough class.  I come out of that class feeling like I really worked hard!

Saturday was my birthday.  Heather & I didn't want to take time during the day (it was already jam packed with activities) so we opened the gym at 7am and started our 1400 swim workout.  We are starting to do drills which really help break up the 28 laps!  We do a 300 warm up, followed by some drills (catch up drill, arms only, 75%...) and then cool down.  It is so much better than just swimming & counting laps.  And when I am out of breath or breathing hard during swimming I know I'm doing something good!

Our second workout for that day was watching the MU girls play Baylor!  Seriously, a workout for us! We scream, jump up & down and get our heart rate up big time!  Our third workout was on the dance floor at the CMC banquet/my birthday party that night!  Heather got more of a workout than I did that night :)  I didn't stay too long on the dance floor- heather's calves were feeling it today!

This afternoon we decided to get on our Dad's trainers for a 90 minute bike ride.  We watched football and spun.  I was really dreading it- and the first 20 minutes were tough- but now that it is done I can actually say that it went pretty well!  I would have rather been on the pavement watching the countryside and feeling the rollers.  But we were treated pretty well at mom & dads.  Remote controls, water delivery, orange slices brought to us and anything else we needed!  We can't complain about that pampering!

Tomorrow starts week 3 for us!

Chasing Dad

Hello Blog Followers!
Today was a 5 mile run. Hurray! We woke up EARLY and started running at 5:00 am! Our Dad met us at the trail and really helped us push our pace. It felt really good to be running fast, well, relatively fast. The run felt good & nearly easy until we hit 3 miles. Then my legs got really tired & felt like we were running up hill (it was completely flat). It was not long until I, luckily, found a bit more energy and finished the run very strong. By finishing strong I mean it was a sprint to the end & we gave all we had in those last few minutes. We love finishing like that, kinda like we're sprinting toward the finish line in an actual race. Its been a while since we finished feeling like that and I love it!

BY: Heather

Day 9. Run

Heidi:
This morning was scheduled to be 3 hilly miles.  We could only do 3 miles last thursday so we decided on a hilly 4 miles this morning.  We build our mileage so quickly so skipping a workout or even a mile is not an option (in my mind).  I didn't want to do 5 miles on thursday before we even did 4 miles.  We had a fantastic run this morning.  We were both feeling great on our way home at 6:15am this morning.  Already done for the day and a off day tomorrow!  We have nearly 46 hours off!!

Positive thinking really helps :)

Beginning of week 2!

Heidi:
As tough as it was to have a double workout on friday followed by a difficult mtn bike on Sat it was SUPER sweet to have Sunday off!

We had a nice swim yesterday.  Our trainer that wrote our plan for us (also a friend and amazing athlete and ironwoman) told us that we can't just swim.  We need to have a swim workout.  Another friend of ours (thank you Holly!) is writing some swim workouts for us.  We haven't started that yet.  So far we're just making sure we are back in our swim shape.  Swimming is by far my favorite of the three sports.  I get in a groove and I enjoy it.   Yesterday during our 1200 yd swim Heather made up some drills for us to do.  It was a great workout.  I was so hungry the whole day!  Swimming makes me so hungry.

It was our last 1200.  Saturday we jump up to 1400!  It was exciting to start week 2.  I'm feeling excited about the plan.  I do not look or think about a month or two from now- or the last few weeks.  That creates anxiousness for me.  I take it day by day and am excited about the strength I'm building.

Saturday Gravel Ride

Heather:

Due to winter roads full of black junk & salt we decided to take a gravel ride with our mountain bikes The temperature was nice, almost 40 with clouds. Mom & Dad took the kids after church, so Phil came along. We road from our house & quickly discovered a mountain of a hill. Our workout plan said "bike 1 hr steady". It said nothing about monster hills, but we did our best & made it a brick (walked part of the hill, to our credit it was super long & steep).

It was a great workout & came home muddy & completely warn out. We are getting stronger each workout and learning to be patient in this journey. Nothing is happening quickly. And we are enjoying the ride.

On a side note: This was the first time we've been on a bike and smelled wood burning stoves. We felt hard core for a few minutes!

picture: you can not tell how muddy we were, but we're done with our ride & still smiling! LIFE IS GOOD and we're thankful for bodies & families that allow us to do this.

Friday Jan 15th

Heather:
Due to weekend plans we decide to do a double workout. It sounded like a smart choice and the really great news was Sunday would be a day off. We did our spin class. I won't speak for Heidi, but I struggled. And rightly so, it has been months since I have spun or been on the bike.

After spin class we quickly changed out of sweaty bike shorts & put on our swim suits. It was just a swim, right? This should be no problem! OMG!!! Our arms would not work properly. It was a terrible swim. I thought my arms would begin working at some point, but really don't remember feeling strong. Big issue was we did not eat anything between these workouts. STUPID idea!

This first week of training was good. I remain focused & have learned lots. Mostly that I'm not ready yet for double workout days. Well maybe a morning workout followed by afternoon/evening workout.

Run Day

We got up early on Thursday morning (4:50am) to meet up with our usual running T/Th run group. We were scheduled to run 4 miles flat. Due to nasty trail conditions (ice covered/snow packed). We had to run a long hill to get our flat run completed. We got about 1/2 mile up the hill and our good running buddy Barb tripped on a snow/ice chunk that probably feel off a vehicle. She feel hard and it was quickly decided that I would run back to get  my car & pick up Barb. When I got back to Heidi & Barb there were several other runners who stopped to help. Long story short, we did not get our 4 mile run completed on Thursday morning, but instead helped a friend (who without doubt would have done the same for us). Thankfully Barb was okay & a little sore. And also I'm thankful that Heidi & I were able to get 3 miles done later in the afternoon. We didn't have time to get the 4th mile done before I had to get to Ashton from school.

Day 2

Heidi:
Day 2 was scheduled for a 3 mile hilly run.  We headed out at 5:30am this morning in what was forecasted to be 12 degrees.  I was dressed for 0- just in case.  Heather was dressed for 20- which it ended up being.  We joined our tues/thurs running group of about 50 others (the group ranges- up to nearly 200 on our record setting day) and took out on the not-so-snow-packed trail.  My knees weren't feeling so great and then we hit the pavement and I felt great.  The run was fantastic and I felt like I could have easily done another mile or so.  Good thing because on thursday it kicks up to 4 miles- and we add a mile each week until we hit 12.  That will be the week before our 1/2 marathon in St. Louis on April 11th.

Rest day tomorrow!!

Day 1-Swim workout

Heather:
After several weeks of waiting for this day...January 11th. It is here and our first workout is completed. It felt easy and I wanted more. So, I got more. Body Combat. It has been my favorite workout class for about a month. Did not want to sit on my bootay for a month, waiting to begin 70.3 training. Unfortunately I fell in love and don't want to stop. As of now, I'm wishing I would not have taken on a double workout today, but this is not suppose to be easy, right? I think a hot bath would make my body feel less sore.

The swim felt great. It did not take as long as I thought and I felt stronger in the pool than I was expecting. What more could I ask for? My goal for this training plan is to take one day, one workout at a time. Sounds easy, but I'm thinking some days that could get shortened to, one hour at a time.

Really excited about this journey and getting into great shape. Probably the best shape of my life. Thanks for reading & stay tuned. Some days this blog may not be rated PG!!

thats all.

Let the Journey Begin...

Heidi:
Tomorrow starts the beginning of our training plan.  21 weeks, 147 days.  In the end we will complete 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run.  Just thinking about it brings on so many feelings.  The first one being anxiousness- the second being excitement.
I know I can do anything I set my mind to.  I just have to set my mind to do it!  I have paid the entry fee so that in itself sets my mind!

I am excited about getting my body in that good of shape.  About having that much dedication to myself.  I am excited about the journey and I can't think of a better training partner for this journey than my sister.

I thought about starting this blog because when Heather & I train together there are many roller coasters of emotions. During our 1/2 marathon training she was the one pulling me through most of the training runs.  They were cold, dark, snowy and long.  When it came to race day I was having extreme feelings of anxiousness.  I didn't know the course, the hills, the flats and exactly how far 13.1 miles was!  By the 2nd mile I was feeling great.  Heather was hurting and struggling.  By mile 10 she was really struggling and starting to tell me to run on.  I was just thrilled that for once I was pulling her along.

That is how our training goes.  One day she's high and pulls me and the other day I am pulling her.  I would never be doing this without her.  Because, honestly, I just like the social aspect of it all!

Cheers to our journey - and livin' our dash!