1. I finally got around to buying a pair of bike shorts when I was in PA for Easter, and last night I tested them out. Holy crap, why did I wait so long to get a pair? They were amazing! My butt didn't hurt once the whole ride! That little bit of extra cushioning works miracles, I tell ya!


The only downside to these babies is that I'm going to get some super awkward tan lines this summer. Runner tan lines were bad enough, but bike short tan lines....I'm pretty much dreading them.

2. Did you know it's possible to blow a tire while riding on a trainer? I had no idea, but my aunt told me she's blown three rear tires doing trainer rides. This makes me extremely nervous and I did my ride last night with pretty low tension to avoid any problems.

3. When I was home for Easter I hit the pool with my mom for a masters swim class, and I found out a lot of her swimming buddies are doing the Philly Tri too! I was super excited and asked them for lots of advice and got some details on the bike course. They assured me the bike course isn't that hilly and there aren't too many tight turns, which is one of the things I'm most nervous about. My turn radius is not good. I really need to work on it. But I am so excited that there's going to be a good group of people that I know doing the tri in Philly. That means I'll have lots of friendly faces to hang out with before the race starts when I'm feeling super nervous!

One more day til the weekend! Happy Thursday y'all!

One of the things I knew I was going to need for my upcoming triathlon was a wetsuit. The Chesapeake Bay in early May is certainly not going to be warm enough to swim in without one.


My original plan was just to rent a wetsuit for the day since buying a wetsuit isn't cheap.

But then I signed up for more races, like the Philly Tri in June, which is oftentimes wetsuit legal, and an open water training clinic also in May.

So that's at least two, possibly three, events where I knew I'd need a wetsuit.


Wetsuit rentals vary in price, but the average seemed to be around $60 per event.

Assuming I'd need the wetsuit for two of the events that would be about $120. Kind of pricey, but still cheaper than shelling out several hundred dollars for a wetsuit.

I was all set to just go the rental route, making sure I actually liked triathlons before I spent even more money on gear for races, but then I got a tip from a friend that a local bike store was getting out of the wetsuit rental business and was selling all its old rental suits for $75.

To me, that's a steal.

I called the store to find out if they still had any in my size and lucky for me they did. So I bought it.


So how do you decide when you should rent and when you should buy a wetsuit?

Consider renting if:

• You're new to the sport
• You're only signed up for one or two events
• You live in a warm area where most races aren't wetsuit legal, but a few early season ones might be

Consider buying if:

• You're planning to do lots of races
• You live in a cooler climate and will be dealing with lots of races in cold water
• You can find an awesome deal on a wetsuit that will save you a ton of money on rentals

If I hadn't found such a great deal on my wetsuit, I never would have bought one for my first season as a triathlete. But in the end, spending $75 to own a wetsuit is going to save me a ton of money on wetsuit rentals.

Did you rent or buy a wetsuit for your first triathlon?

Well I'm back in DC after a wonderful long weekend in PA.

Seriously time at home just goes by way too fast.

As a result of my travel plans I had to be a little creative with workouts last week to make sure I could fit most of them in before I headed out of town.

I was fairly successful, only skipping one run because I was busy doing family stuff at home.

Previous Weeks:

Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven

This Week:


Monday: 2100 yard swim


After my 25 mile bike ride last Sunday and my 10 mile run last Saturday, my legs needed a break. I switched some things in my schedule so I could get my swim in on Monday as a form of active recovery. I followed a workout from my mom's master swim group and knocked out 2100 yards without much of a problem.

Tuesday: 5 mile run

My legs were a little sore and tired when I started this run, but they loosened up nicely and the last miles were my fastest ones by far.

Wednesday: 60 minute ride, 6 mile run


I had to squeeze in two workouts on Wednesday because of my travel plans, so I decided to do them back to back as a brick. The 60 minute ride on the trainer was nothing exciting. Mentally, I struggled to finish it because I was looking forward to the run.

Unfortunately the run totally sucked. In the beginning my legs felt awful and tight and sore and well, like bricks. They eventually loosened up, but by that point I had no energy left in the tank because I had done a really, really poor job of fueling properly. I hit the wall hard at mile five. The last mile was pure torture with a lot of walking mixed in.

Thursday: Strength training

I woke up bright and early to meet Emily at the work gym to get in a quick strength session. I focused mainly on upper body and core, with a few leg exercises thrown in.


Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Rest

I had planned on running at least one of the days I was home this weekend, but it just didn't happen. I probably could have fit it in if I had wanted to make a real effort, but I was enjoying my time at home and enjoying a little bit of relaxation. Skipping my run just wasn't that big of a deal for me. Plus I finished reading the last two books in the Hunger Games series. Finding out the ending to the Katniss/Peeta story was slightly higher on my priority list than running this weekend. Don't judge.