LavaMan Newsletter1

Hi,

This is my first training update to all my sponsors.  As I stated in my original letter, I have a long way to go! J 

First I want to thank all my sponsors.  Your support and generosity are very much appreciated by me and also the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  The other news is that I convinced Kevin (my husband) to do it with me.  So now I have a training “buddy”.

Swimming:  I had surgery on my right eyelid to remove a sty three weeks ago and my eye surgeon gave me the okay to go in the pool just today.  So my first swimming practice will be tomorrow night.  I have missed two coached sessions and numerous workouts that I was to have had on my own.  So I’m already stressing about thisJ  Team in Training (TNT) said they are not concerned, but I like to worry about everything.

You all know how cold I get, so besides working up to a 1.5K swim I’m concerned about hyperthermia.  I already bought a wet suit to practice in, however the LavaMan Event will not allow us to wear wet suits.  So I have 5 months to “toughen up” my skin.  If any of you know of swim suits, swimming caps etc that will help keep me warm please send suggestions my way.

Biking:  I have done two coached bike rides each 2 hours and we went approximately 20 miles (which is about 80% of the distance of the event).  Kevin and I did this on our 15 year old mountain bikes.  Our coaches suggested we get road bikes.  So Kevin and I went to Chain Reaction bike store in Los Altos (outstanding store, in which the owner took over 3 hours sizing me for the right bike based on my size and proportions) and bought new Trek Madone  SL 5.9 ‘s which have carbon bike frames.  They are extremely light!  We also got the bike pedals that you have to clip into.  We got our mountain bikes retrofitted with the same bike pedals.  Yesterday I went out on my mountain bike with the new bike pedals, stepped into them and immediately fell to the ground.  I have a huge bruise on my left hip.  So the next hour I spent getting on and off the bike.  And then went for a one hour bike ride.  Hopefully in the next few weeks I will feel comfortable enough with the “clip in” bike pedals that I will take out the new road bike.  With the new bike I have to get use to a different sitting position, new position of the gears, and brakes and the fact that the bike is so light with such skinny tires.  It really scares me!

Kevin and I have an exercise bike in our house, so 2 to 3 times a week I try to do what is called spinning for an hour.  It is where the resistance is fairly light, but you try and keep the RPM’s in the high 90’s and low 100’s.  Well I have my first funny story.  The first time I did this I of course wanted to excel.  So I’m peddling extremely hard getting my entire body into the exercise.  When I got done, both my left foot and back were hurting.  Well it turned out that my back was bleeding from what would amount to a “rug burn”. I had been moving my back so vigorously back and forth across the back of the bike that I scrapped off the skin.  Then on my foot, I hadn’t worn socks or shoes and the black plastic strap, dug into my skin and split the top of my foot.  Since then I wear shoes and socks J

Running:  On our first day of training, we went to Foothill College and ran on their track.  We were to run for 20 minutes.  I had never run for 20 minutes straight in my life. So I took the outside lane (lane 8) and started running at a pace I thought I could sustain for 20 minutes.  The good part is I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!  The bad part is that everyone lapped me once (however they were for the most part in lanes 1-4) and one women lapped me 4 times.  Yes, 4 times in 20 minutes.  So I have a ways to go on the running front.

Kevin and I try to run 3 times a week on our own.  We run for 20 minutes, walk for 5, run for another 20 minutes, walk for 5, run for a final 10 minutes and then cool down for 10 minutes.  The total distance in the 1 hour and 10 minutes is 6 miles.  The event is around 6.3 miles so I have a little more to go distance wise and well as how do I run more of it and run faster.

Now how am I ever going to be able to do all three???????????

Nutrition and Strength Training:  Kevin and I joined Club Sport in Pleasanton and we are suppose to be doing about an hour of strength training 3 times a week.  Well I haven’t been doing that at all.  So we hired a personal trainer.  The good news is he is in the process of assessing us and then will put together a program for each of us.  So far I have learned that I’m an efficient fat burner.  In all 4 stages, I burn over 50% fat, which he has never seen except in top athletes.  So one thing that I’m good at.  However, he doesn’t have a clue why I would be so good at this, given my poor nutrition and lack of exercise.  I guess good genes. 

Now on to nutrition.  I would get an F- on this.  He wants Kevin and I to cook at home and track what we eat every day.  He has given us, how many calories, fat, carbs, and protein that we have to have each day.  The only number I’m even remotely close on is fat and there I’m way above what he wants. Needless to say Kevin and I haven’t started this part of our program yet.  But our trainer, Erik seems fairly adamant about this.  So stay tuned to what do I do on the nutrition front? J

Well that is about it for now.  As you can tell I have my work cut out for me.

Once again thanks for your support. I won’t let you down.

Take Care,

Lynn

Comments

[Tim]

Try to find out a bit about Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Pretty impressive for a voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services and has has invested more than $550.8 million for research specifically targeting blood cancers.

Tim
http://darkhollow.org