Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good

This fantastic quote came to mind this morning as frustration began to manifest itself as quite the grumpy disposition. A walk with my dogs on a blue-skied, warm and breezy Saturday morning ended up being the starting point for a downward spiral of negative thinking.

I had been pondering how much my training bites right now. It's intermittent, it's intensity is inconsistent and it's - well, it's embarrassing. I'm a triathlete afterall, not a dog walker.

Midway through the walk, I realized a quiet soreness in my hamstrings. This surely wasn't from all the running I'd been doing lately. Then I remembered something I'd done earlier in the week.

I had been having a conversation with my husband as we were both sitting on the couch. During our talk, I told myself, "Just get up and start doing some squats. Just do a few and keep listening." So, I did. The soreness I experienced this morning was the result of those squats and my disposition soon changed to match the sunny skies above.

You see - to me - the soreness in my hamstrings was a thank you from my body in having gotten off the couch to do just those few squats instead of waiting around for a perfect time to do them, and other exercises, all at once...because it likely would not happen.

One thing I did not incorporate at all last season was strength training. When I only had a certain amount of time to train and I needed to choose between SBR or strength training, I chose SBR. This season, I did not want to put it on the back burner again so I decided to incorporate a few, important exercises like pushups, crunches and squats.

I completed Day 1/3 out of Week 1/6 in the Hundred Pushups challenge and never got further. In my mildly obsessive-compulsive mind, I needed to have built a perfect scheduling structure in order to do them at all. Because I need to drop at least 10 pounds, I wanted to do the strength training before doing any SBR. The trouble is, my schedule never afforded it and I never did anymore pushups.

Here is my point: My perfect set up would be to spend 30 minutes, three times a week doing strength training before I do cardio. I just don't have that time. My alternative (good) set up must then be, do these activities - intermittently - throughout the day, because right now, I'm not achieving any benefits at all.

Here's to hoping that throughout the next few weeks, my body will have sent me many more thank yous on behalf of other muscle groups.

A financial and fun gift all "tried" in to one

In my last entry, I ranted about the approximate 50% increase in a race fee. I have since discovered some good news.

There is a local multisport store and a timing chip company who have partnered together to offer races for 10 bucks a pop. That's right, 10 bucks!

You do have to be a USAT member, though. No problem. Already am.

There is no swag, no food, no drinks, no awards. No problem. Will be bringing my own and I never podium anyway.

They're offering five of these races throughout the summer on Wednesday nights at the same state park. Our tri club trains there every Saturday in all three events, so it'll have the feel of a training day, just with a little more pressure to speed up in Transition.

In my quest to save money, I plan on doing at least three of these, and am very excited that they're giving folks this opportunity.

I'll let you know how they go.

I'm just not that into it afterall I suppose

It was going to become my tradition.

My first triathlon was a women's only, .25-mile swim, 12-mile bike and 2-mile run. It was the inaugural Tri for the Cure and it was a life changing day for me. As soon as I finished the race, I began thinking of finishing it the next year - with better times.

I signed up for it again the following year and killed it. I improved my time overall by approximately 25%. Another great day at Alum Creek.

I was planning on always doing this triathlon no matter what my schedule, to establish it as my own, little, triathlon tradition.

I went to register for it recently, wanting to take advantage of the early registration prices, only to discover that the early registration fee, that had been $45, was now $65.

So much for saving money.

I understand costs go up for businesses. I understand that 75% of the money goes toward a good cause. I understand that, compared to other regions in this great country, pricing for triathlon registration fees is very good to us here in Ohio.

I also believe in the free market. This is a good race company, but they've increased the price past my threshold. So, as a result, I have taken this race off my schedule.

If I were to sign up for this Sprint race on race day, the price would be the same as my half iron distance race later on this year.

So much for a tradition being born.

I'm optimistic, though. Another jewel of a race could catch my eye, or I might just do an open water swim race that I might not have done had this been on my schedule.

Give me a cloud, I'll give you a silver lining.

Give me a price increase like that, I won't give you my dollars.

Beware the ideas of March

My good friend Melissa blogged about the Ides of March today and her confession that she'd accidentally typed in "ideas of March" into Google served as a source for a little mid-month inspiration for me.

I am, therefore, embracing the typo and offering a lesson, not only to you, but to myself:

Beware the ideas of March.

March is a strange time for us triathletes. The winter is opening the back door, ready to walk out. Springtime has its grip on the front door, ready to open and enter once Winter takes its final steps.

March is a little bit of both Winter and Spring, but really not much of either.

The excitement that the season ahead holds can make us want to do crazy, crazy things. As we get a taste of the warmer weather, we begin to imagine all the races we'll conquer, all the personal bests we'll set and how we're really going to get up early and train in the pre-dawn hours of the morning.

All of those ideas are great, but it's important to step back just a little and get realistic. For me, I want to do two races a month, but since I'm training for a half iron distance race, that's just not practical. I want to get up early in the morning and train, especially as it gets lighter outside. The reality is that I'm not a morning person - at all - and I must adjust my life to get the training done in the evenings.

So, follow your own Marching orders, just beware of the ones that run you into the ground.

Ironman challenge and last minute me

I have all kinds of excuses (weather, sickness, change in job schedule), but the fact remains I'm short of my goals.

You see, I'm doing one of those train the Ironman distances in a month challenge: Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. Right now I'm at:

• 950 yards (or a little over a half mile) for the swim
• 64 miles for the bike and
• 12 miles for the run

Oh, and I have until Sunday to complete it. So, here's the plan.

I'm taking a spin class Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. I'm averaging about 20 miles per class, so that'll nudge me right over the goal and then some.

On Tuesday and Friday, I'll run 5 miles each day and on Sunday I'll finish out the remaining 4.2 miles.

On Thursday, I'll swim 1,500 yards and on Sunday I'll finish it out.

I'm running out of time on this challenge, but by golly I AM going to make it! (That's right. You just read someone use the phrase "by golly.")