Week 3 of Training

I have begun my third week of training for the half ironman.  February 8th I did my first triathlon.  It was the Indoor Triathlon at the JCC in St. Louis.  I picked the sprint distance because I had never done one before and I was really nervous.  It was a 400 meter swim, 8 mile bike ride and 2.5 mile run.  I feel pretty happy with how I did.  I finished in about 50 minutes.  I was really nervous about how I would feel after the swim, but I actually felt great and my legs weren't tired at all for the biking portion.  I really pushed my run too and finished the 2.5 miles in 21 minutes.

After I felt great, but by the evening my hip flexor was really bothering me on my right side.  I thought stretching it would help, but it didn't do much.  Then I decided to run 8 miles on Sunday morning and I think that was way too much on a hurt hip.  I could barely lift my leg up on Sunday night and then my right calf muscle started spasming.  The pull in my hip just started causing problems with my whole right side.  I ended up swimming last Monday and did one 30 minute bike ride and one 3 mile run and that was it until this past Sunday.  I really took it easy because the last thing I wanted was to really pull something.

This week has started off great though.  On Sunday I biked for an hour, Monday I ran for 45 minutes and then swam about 1200 meters and then today I took a spinning class and got there early so I could do 25 miles on the bike.  So far I am feel great.  I am starting a paleo type diet tomorrow and I am going to try to keep it up for about 2 weeks and see if I get more energy.  I typically eat pretty healthy, but I love snacking and eating chocolate and salty foods.  I am hoping with having a pretty strict diet I will stop craving all the nasty foods I want all the time.

I can't believe that I only have 16 weeks before the big day.  I am getting nervous about the increased time commitment.  I am already finding it hard to keep up with the household work, grocery shopping and errand running while trying to fit in my workouts when the kids are at school.  I just keep telling myself that this a once and a lifetime goal and I can do it all!!!! Positive thinking.

I am off to do some sit-ups and read and then in 40 minutes I have to pick Samuel up from school.