BRICKS!!

Well, the water boil order was finally lifted...yay for clean water! I mean come on...I live in Boston, I love that dirty water..haha...but clean water is nice! So, today was my first BRICK workout...it was awesome! Unfortunately I spent the ENTIRE afternoon after work online looking for bikes on craigs list...haha...so by the time I was ready to work out it was about 5:15 and as I was putting on my shorts the clouds rolled in and it started thundering. Sweet. So much for a nice outside brick workout. I was kind of dreading going to the gym, yesterday it was so hot in there and I was really looking forward to working out outside today. I guess that will teach me not to spend all afternoon searching craigslist :( But anyway, triathletes must persevere...so I headed to the gym to cycle and run on the machines.

I started feeling kind of nauseous when I was cycling..I ate a Luna bar about 20 minutes before the gym...not sure if this is the culprit or not, but I just kept on going, taking deep breaths whenever I felt nauseous. The ride was actually awesome despite feeling kind of sick the whole time. I was sweating like crazy, working my legs hard, but still keeping my heart rate totally aerobic. It was great! I rode 8 miles in 30 minutes...not bad for me.

Then I hopped off the bike and headed to the treadmill. I ran for 10 minutes like my training schedule said, then I walked for 20 minutes. I wasn't so nauseous anymore, but I was having stitches in my sides while I was running and walking. I don't know why, probably gas...haha...but I realized something while I was walking. My mentality has COMPLETELY changed. Two months ago I would have said "ugh, I don't feel good, I'm going home to nap." Tonight I said, "shut the hell up Lauren, a few cramps is not the end of the world, keep moving your ass!" It's pretty crazy that someone's mind can transform like that so quickly...pretty awesome too!

I also noticed how much my running ability has improved. I have gotten to the point where I can monitor myself while running. By that I mean that it used to be that when I was running, all I could think about was how much this sucked. I have noticed lately though that I am thinking about my heart rate...is it stil aerobic? Do I need to control my breathing? I'm also thinking about my form...are my shoulders relaxed? Am I trying to keep my feet hopping off the ground as quickly as possible? Am I "sticking my butt out" and relaxing my back? It's pretty neat to be able to think about all this stuff while running...definitely an improvement.

I also am able to push myself to run harder. Despite my cramps today I pushed myself to run a few intervals at 6.0 (which is the pace of a 10 minute mile...fast for me), and I ran the last 30 seconds at 6.2. I was proud of that.

During the walk I got super bored. My music just wasn't keeping me occupied, so I started playing with the incline on the treadmill, increasing it by .5 every 30 seconds. I got up to an incline of 9 before my time was up. It kept me occupied and gave my glutes a nice workout. This is another change in my psyche...the fact that I am bored walking is pretty cool.

My stomach is still not feeling perfect tonight...just kinda crampy, but I am proud of myself for still getting a hard workout in. I was soaked with sweat after my workout, and that felt damn good! Tomorrow I have personal training...yay!!