A Penguin in Tri Clothes

I should not be blogging right now. I am tired, feeling down and just generally not in any sort of state to be writing and possibly infecting anyone with my mood. Why am I tired? Who knows, it's been ailing me since Tuesday. It could be related to my lingering sore throat, or to not enough vitamin B, or not enough Iron, or the weather, or the kids, or, or, or. I know it's not not getting enough sleep because I have been going to bed early every night. Miguel actually suggested I'm getting too much sleep and that's why I'm tired. !? I started to wonder if he was secretly giving me decaf in some twisted attempt to get us off caffeine. Whatever it is, I'm riding it out.

I have been hanging out a bit in the active.com community forums. There's a newbie running forum where a lot of people are doing c25k and so I've been following their progress. And that's where I was introduced to a new term: the penguin runner. Now picture a penguin...short, round, slow, tends to waddle. Sounds about right. So someone posted a quote by John Bingham on the active.com site:

If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.

I had to look up who this guy was - John Bingham, a former couch potato turned marathoner. He wrote a column called The Penguin Chronicles for Runner's World Magazine and eventually a book, The Courage to Start. Of course I love this guy now. And I found a new term to add to Athena (an overweight triathlete).

I am an Athena and a Penguin. Try dressing up like that for Halloween. Actually, that would be funny. I would have to get a penguin costume and then put triathlon clothes on top. That might be better for Bay to Breakers. Whoa, I'm getting off course here.

Is this a fitness blog? Yes, I do believe it is. On Monday I went to the gym and did c25k Week 5, Day 2. Two 8 minute runs with a 5 minute break in between. Did I do it? You know I did! Wow, I'm already feeling a lot better than when I started this post. Ok, so after my victorious jog run I hit the weights to do chest, triceps, core work and then 5 minutes on the stair climber before my stretching/cool down.

Tuesday was another gym day, this time I did the bike. The random route was sort of easy so I upped it to level 5. Things were going along fine until near then end when the bike tossed out 3 minutes of level 8 resistance. Ugh. I have this whole rpm scheme, looks like this:

Levels 1-2: 100+ rpm
Levels 3-4: 90+ or 100+ rpm depending
Levels 5-6: 90+ rpm
Level 7: 80+
and now, with the addition of level 8...
Level 8: just keep pedaling

I think I like the challenge. Maybe. Sort of. Anyway I'm probably going to stay at Level 5 because I don't like to go backwards. Unless I have to of course. After the bike it was legs, shoulders, core work and then 5 minutes on the stair climber before I cooled down and stretched. I did some fancy sideways climbing on the stairs (I wonder, is that bad for the knees?) and left the gym feeling content.

On to tri news. I asked my local tri club about renting wetsuits and got all sorts of tips, etc, even an offer to do a practice swim! Now there's a good idea being I've never swam in the bay. Someone also suggested I join North Bay Aquatics in one of their practice swims. One of them is described like this, "Boats take you out half way to Angel Island and you can practice swimming into the finish area." Ok, that sounds scary to me. I think I really need that practice swim. I'm going to look into wetsuit rental, rent one, and then follow up with the guy that offered to arrange a practice swim for me. Once again, thank you nice people of the world!!

Today I plan to go to the gym and do Week 5, Day 3. That's a 20 minute run people! It will go well, I will have plenty of air, strong legs, and a good mind. Oh, and I want to read The Courage to Start - anyone have it and feel like loaning it to me?