Triathlon tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited I can't sit still!!!!!! A moment ago, I was jumping up and down all over the room!!!!!!! I can't wait until tomorrow. I can't wait until tomorrow, I can't wait until tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow is my first Olympic distance triathlon, in case you may not have realized (well obviously, now you do)!!!!!!!

I wasn't even thinking about this race a whole bunch between the time I registered for it and now- it was just something that was in the back of my mind. It didn't seem real that I was actually doing it. Now it seems as real as the skin on my face (Was that the dumbest simile you ever heard?!).

What knocked me into this shock of reality was the planning that I just now realized I have to do for tomorrow. Tonight, I was half- heartedly thinking “oh, there is a race tomorrow". Then I (again half-heartedly) realized "Oops. I have to prepare!” By the time I started thinking of concrete details, however, the reality began to sink in. I started asking myself questions such as: What time do I need to leave the house? (I have to leave at 6:00 A.M. to be at the race site by 8:00 A.M.) How far away is the race from where I live? (54 minutes according to MapQuest) Should I start packing my gear now? (Yes!).

I can't believe this is actually happening!!!!!!

As you may recall, I haven't done a triathlon- of any distance- since the beginning of May. Now it is time to see the benefits of an entire summer of training. I've been training 2 hours a day for 6 days a week. I also got a road bike and increased my longest swim/bike/run distances- all by pretty good amounts.

This summer has basically gotten me addicted to the sport. I'm now completely addicted to training, and the euphoric way that I feel afterwards. This sport feels like more than just a hobby to me now. I love to race, but participating in this sport is no longer all about the races for me. I would keep on training- even if I never was able to race again.

This summer has shown that I have really found something in life that I love to do. I love this sport and am ready to tear the course up tomorrow! Maybe (if I am really, really lucky…) I will finish second to last place tomorrow. That is a big if- and I honestly could care less how I place! I looked at the participant list for tomorrow and I was the only one listed in my age group competing in the Olympic distance triathlon. I will still get a trophy no matter how slow I go! Horry for automatic awards!

I am SO ready to see how much I have improved in this sport over the summer. This race is going to be the true test of that. I am going to do more exercise in a single day than I have ever done in my entire life. I have built up to biking 25 miles with a short run afterwards (about a 3 mile distance). I have also done some long runs (about 10 miles). I have never, however, rode my bike 25 miles and then ran 6. It should be quite the experience! I hope to finish strong!

Anyways, next time you hear from me, I will be writing a race report. I can't believe I am doing this!

Now, if you excuse me, this typing is WAY too much focus and sitting still for me right now. I shall return to jumping up and down and screaming loud, stupid songs.

I could really use a workout right now. A 2 hour swim, bike, or run sounds like heaven. The only problem is that I have to stay off my feet to keep myself fresh for tomorrow; however, I bet I won't be wishing for more workouts in the middle of that 6mile run tomorrow!

Getting used to my new bike: A daily diary

Here is my daily diary (bought to you by my training log) of what it was like getting used to my road bike. I am pretty much used to it now, but still can not believe how fast it goes! I am so excited to use it in the triathlon on Sunday! Maybe it won't take me 3 hours to finish the 25 mile bike ride now! I am secretly hoping to finish the bike ride in less than 2 hours with my new, lightning-fast Trek Pilot 1.2. That would be so neat if I can make that goal!

Mon Aug. 18:

I got a new bike today!!!!! It is a Trek Pilot 1.2. It is so awesome and I can't wait to ride it! I test rode it in the parking lot of the bike shop, and it is SO fast compared to my mountain bike!!!

Tue Aug. 19:

I did an easy ride today (I rode for about 45 min) to get used to my new bike. Oh my gosh! It is so fast!!! I had to keep breaking and coasting to keep my speed down. I am not used to going so fast!

Tomorrow, I will try pedaling normally on the bike to get comfortable with the new speed.

My elbows are also really sore from riding my bike in a different position.

I LOVE MY NEW BIKE!!!

Wed Aug. 20:

I did another ride today to get used to my new bike. I rode for about 55 mins today. I am still getting used to the extra speed, but I am breaking and coasting less (I only did that a little on the down hills)!

I'm still getting used to the hand position too. My elbows were less sore, but my hands were kind of sore today. I am also getting used to the new way of turning. I accidentally went off the road twice while trying to turn!

I'm getting used to this bike :)

Thur Aug. 21:

I'm getting a little more used to this bike now. I was actually able to ride my normal route today- that I was originally riding with my mountain bike. I actually added 2 miles to the route and STILL finished in the same time that the mountain bike ride would have taken me (about 45 min)! I also wasn't even working that hard (I was barely sweating when I got home). I need to work harder and get used to all this free speed!

The turning is getting a little better too. I only went off the road once today!

My elbows and arms are still a little sore (though not as bad as yesterday) but I will get bike gloves to help with that.

Maybe I won't finish dead last in the triathlon Sunday. That is a BIG maybe...

Fri Aug. 22 ("That is today!" says Captain Obvious):



I love my new bike!!!

The same loop I rode today took 2:55 in May.

With my mountain bike a couple weeks ago, this loop took 1:55.

Now this loop takes 1:27!

I am getting better used to this bike now. I still have to break before I turn (which probably isn't good on the breaks) but I didn't run off the road once today.

This bike is so light. I feel like I can ride forever on it! The only problem is my hands hurt. I will get bike gloves for that this weekend.

I can't wait to see how fast I can go on the triathlon!

New bike!!!

I finally got a road bike yesterday! It is so awesome and fast! Shown above is a picture of my new bike. My new bike is a Trek Pilot 1.2 and I love it!

My mom paid for half of the cost of the $660 bike. I had to pay the other half. I am now $330 poorer, but the bike is definitely worth the expensive cost. Maybe I will actually get to finish second to last in a triathlon (as opposed to dead last like I normally place!).

I took the bike on a test ride in the bike store parking lot yesterday, and was immediately amazed at the lightness and speed of the bike. I was even more impressed when I took the new bike on its first ride today.

The ride I did today was mostly just to get used to the bike. I rode the bike up and down the street right next to my house, where I wouldn't have to worry about cars. I practiced shifting gears and basically just getting used to the new feel of the bike.

These are the things I noticed while taking my new bike on its first spin today:

1. This bike is so much nicer than my previous steed- a $100 piece of crap from Wal-Mart.

2. This bike is so light!

3. The gear shifting on this bike is so much different than that of my previous bike.

4. The hand position is different too. My elbows are kind of stretched out and sore today, but I'm sure I will eventually get used to this new position.

5. This bike is SO light. I can actually lift the bike many feet above the ground. My other bike, I may have been able to lift an inch off the ground.

6. The suspension on the bike is very different. I can feel every little leaf and bump now. Now I see why people complain about bumpy roads in triathlons! On my old bike, I never felt any of the small bumps!

7. This. Bike. Is. So. Fast. The speed I can maintain pushing as hard as I can going downhill on my mountain bike is the same speed I can now maintain while barely pedaling on the flats!

8. Going faster is kind of scary! I had to keep braking and coasting because I wasn't used to all the new speed! I WILL get used to the new speed on this bike, and I WILL be comfortable enough to pedal normally and fly down the roads (They don't call this bike a 'Pilot" for nothing!).

9. This bike has no kickstand. I had issues leaning my bike against the wall today; having it clatter to the ground twice and making me look like a HUGE klutz!

10. I love my new bike and can't wait to ride it again tomorrow!

P.S. My mom and dad also got new road bikes yesterday too. My mom got the Trek 1000 and my dad got the 1.5 model of my bike. They couldn't stand me having something nice that they didn't have! All they had before they got these new bikes were 20 year old Schwinn mountain bikes, so they needed new bikes more than I did!

A quick stop in my school in the summer

Yesterday, I had to go back to my school (in the summer time!) to get my picture taken. I have absolutely no idea why my school does pictures during the summer- I guess for the same reason that they have summer homework. They don't want us to have an actual summer break!

Anyways, I haven't gotten my picture taken since middle school (back in the time when they actually took pictures during the school day…) so I had to get my picture taken this year. Actually, my mom forced me to get my picture taken. I had no enthusiasm about the plan whatsoever. I already know what I look like! Why would I want to step into a school building two weeks early just to get more proof that I have blonde hair and braces?

My mom made a really huge deal about getting these pictures taken (since I haven't had any in three years!). She took me to a salon, where I got my hair blow dried and curled. Then, my mom had me put on a ton of makeup (which I normally never wear). This makeup included lip gloss, eye liner, eye shadow, mascara, blush, and some random green and beige goo that I had to rub on my face. By the time this was all done, I was all prim and pretty. I was as ready as I ever could be to step into a school building in the middle of the summer.

Thankfully, the line to take the pictures wasn't that long. I was done fairly quickly; however, for some reason, my mom forgot to put the check in the picture order form. I had to run all the way back out to the car to have mom write me another check! After this, I had to go all the way back to the gym (where the pictures were being taken) to give the picture guy the money!

After giving the picture guy the check (thankfully, I didn't have to wait in line again!) it was time to pick up my schedule for the upcoming school year. There is not really much to say about this schedule (It’s a school schedule. How fascinating can it be?). The only thing to say is that I have all my hard classes in the morning. All my easy classes are in the afternoon.

Morning classes: AP chemistry, AP U.S. History, A.P. Calculus, Spanish 3

Afternoon classes: A.P. English (the only hard class of the afternoon), Personal Finance, Study hall.

The one thing I would like to bring your attention to is the Study hall. I wasn't expecting a Study hall in my schedule, but I got one anyway. I was intending to take Journalism, but none of the Journalism classes fit with my schedule (they would all overlap with other classes I would be taking during the same period).

I was initially disappointed when I realized I didn't get into my Journalism class; however, I realized I can still take that class next year. In the mean time, I had an awesome study hall. I became SO happy!

Having a study hall means I will now have about an hour's less homework every night! This means an hour more of focused studying for quizzes and tests (It is so much easier to study at school than at home. There are so many fewer distractions!). This also means an hour less of homework every night, an hour more of free time, and an hour more of training time!

I was really freaking out about the number of AP classes I had this year, wondering how I would ever get all the homework done every night. This unexpected study hall is such a blessing!

Ready to race!

Last running race: A 5K in the middle of December (In the middle of a blizzard! It was fun!).
Last triathlon: The OSU triathlon on May 4th.
Last swim meet: June 8th.
Last race of any kind: An open water swim race on June 28th I DNF'ed because I couldn't stand the cold.

As you can tell, it has been a long time since I last raced. It has been almost two months since my last swim race, and almost four since my last triathlon!

The whole summer I have done nothing but train, train, train. I have had some fun times involving great workouts and huge impovements on my fitness level; however, I am ready to race!

Just 11 days untill my first olympic distance triathlon!!!

I am so pumped!

Why I want to run a marathon in 2009...

<---- Me in 2009 (though probably a lot slower!)

Running a marathon has always been a dream of mine. After looking at a book on running though called The Competitive Runner's Handbook I realized a way that this dream can become a reality for me.

I was browsing through the book reading all the advice about speed work, nutrition, etc. and came across a chapter on the marathon. The chapter also had a first timer's training plan for running the marathon. A different version of the schedule, which can be found online, is the schedule I am planning on using. The schedule starts at a base of 15 miles a week- which is the amount I have been running for the past 3 months! It builds very gradually to 35 miles a week, with 20 mile long runs. It builds so gradual that I would be strong enough at the end of the program to tackle those daunting long runs; yet, this program definitely has enough mileage to get me ready to run 26.2 come race day.

I haven't decided yet on the exact marathon I am going to run, but I know I want to do one by the end of the year.

Here is one that looks intresting:

Dec 2009- Florida’s Marathon

You may be asking yourself: Why on earth does this crazy girl want to run a marathon? Here are several reasons (bear with me, this may get long!):

1. It’s a great challenge.

2. I’ve always wanted to run one… ever since I was a wee young lad (ladette?).

3. It would keep me from getting lazy in the winter with my triathlon training and losing all my fitness. (I need a good motivation, because otherwise all I want to do in the winter is swim, swim, and swim some more in the heated pool).

4. I could finally call myself a runner.

5. Running would be a nice stress reliever from all the A.P. classes I am taking this year.

6. Being able to say “I did it!”

7. Being able to see what it would be like running that far.

8. I’d be in really great shape.

9. All the mileage would help me run faster (and maybe even swim and bike faster too!)

10. Being able to set a goal and stick to it.

11. Runner’s legs!

12. It would give variety to all the swim training I am doing this winter for swim season.

13. It sounds fun.

14. To prove I can do it.

15. Better now than never!

16. It would give me motivation during the dreary winter months, something to strive towards.

17. It would be an amazing life experience.

18. I would train through all the seasons to get ready for a marathon, and to keep my fitness up to a good level. I would run outside in spring, summer, fall, and winter- allowing me to experience more of nature.

19. Being able to call myself a marathoner.

20. Increased self-confidence for setting a goal and sticking to it.

21. It would prove me to be something other than the last one picked in gym.
22. The excitement of crossing the finish line.

23. As proof that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.
24. The cool T-Shirt and finisher’s medal.

25. The running would make me stronger mentally and physically.

26. Running is so relaxing and makes me feel so good.

27. I would really get to know myself through all those long runs (as if I don’t know myself already!).

28. It is a challenging goal, yet it is something I am capable of doing.

29. I would never be sitting at home bored. I would be outside running!

30. I would get lots of mental toughness for training in the winter months (i.e. getting outside in 20 degree weather, long treadmill runs when it is too icy outside, etc.).

31. Running is a great stress reliever. Any problems I have before running always seem to go away during a run.

32. Seeing if I can beat the infamous ‘wall”.

33. I want to do an Ironman triathlon and run ultras one day- this is a great first step!

34. It gives me something to look back on with pride my whole life.

35. It will change my life.

36. How would I know if I could finish a marathon if I have never tried?

37. Conquering all those voices in my head (No, I am not a psycho!) that tell me “I can’t”.

38. Just thinking about running one makes me SO happy. I can just imagine what finishing one would feel like.

39. It wouldn’t matter so much that I am slow. There is a whole bunch of pride just in finishing.

40. This quote says it all (although I have no idea who Mike Ness is!): "Reach for the sky because tomorrow may never come."- Mike Ness

One last shout out to all the marathoners reading this: Great job on accomplishing this amazing goal. I hope you are as proud of yourself as I am of you!

A long training day

I just finished (about 2 hours ago) the longest workout I have ever done!

The workout was a 2:50 bike ride, followed by a :30 run. I finished tired and hungry, but still feeling strong. Because of this workout, I now know that I will definitely be able to finish the Olympic distance triathlon I have planned (for exactly 2 weeks and 2 days from today)!

The bike ride, I am sure, was at least the distance I will be riding in the triathlon (if not longer). It was so calm and relaxing being on my bike that long. I did get a little hungry half way through the ride though. I decided to eat a gel to boost my energy so I could finish the rest of the workout. Taking the gel definitely helped my energy levels!

The gel was a Carb Boom Apple Cinnamon flavor. I never took in any calories while working out before today (because I didn't really need to) but this gel was great. I got it for free as part of the samples of stuff they give away at triathlons. I am thinking about ordering more of this gel to have during my triathlon at the end of this month. I wonder if there is anywhere I can get it, besides online. I’ve never seen it in stores before.

After finishing the bike ride, my legs (particularly my quads) were SO tired, but I was able to make it through the run (without walking, none the less). The :30 run felt great! I am really starting to love running. Even though I enjoyed my bike ride, it felt great to get off the bike and run! The run felt great too, but I was eager to get home and have lunch! The Carb Boom definitely helped tide me over, but I was ready for some real food!

It was great being able to finish a workout like this. It gave me so much confidence for the Oly. I had no idea I was capable of a workout like that. I wonder what I will be able to do next year. Maybe a marathon?

Olympic Glory...

Okay. I might not be going to the Beijing Olympics. To tell you the truth, I won't be in those kinds of Olympics at all, unless purple hippos start dancing.



The kind of Olympic glory I am talking about is the glory of taking on my first Olympic distance triathlon. Okay, technically I am not doing an Olympic distance triathlon. In reality, I am doing a "mini" distance triathlon. I like calling it an Olympic distance triathlon better though. Who the heck calls a triathlon a "mini"? It sounds too cute and fluffy to be a triathlon distance! You would pet something called “mini”, not race it for several hours...

... Which brings me to my major point about this distance: I AM SO NERVOUS!!!! I can't believe I am actually signed up for a triathlon of this distance. In addition to my nerves, I am also really excited for the day I can race. I am really looking forward to seeing what the distance is like, and how I will fare in a race this long.

I would be counting down the days to the race- that is, only if the date (Aug. 24) wasn't so close to the day that school starts (Aug. 26). It is weird to both look forward to, and dread a single date. I REALLY DON'T WANT MY SUMMER TO END!!!

Do you want to know what the official distances of this race are? Sure you do- that is why you are reading this post. If you don't care, go read something else! Sorry, didn't mean to offend you... you can care about whatever you feel like (tear).

Anyways, here are the distances of this triathlon (drum roll please...) 1000 m swim (so easy), 24.9 mile bike (so intimidating), 6.2 or 6.55 mile run (not sure of which distance- two places on the race website say two entirely different things).

My main questions:
Did I really sign up for this?
Am I sure I can do this?
Am I sure I can finish this in one piece?
What if I am not ready?
Oh my gosh! 25 miles of bicycling? Am I sure I can do this?
I wonder what a 6 mile run will feel like after bicycling 25?

And about the race:
What should my nutrition be like?
How can I make sure I have trained enough?
How hilly is the bicycle ride?
Will it take me 5 hours to finish this race?
Will I finish at all?
Should I get slicks for my mountain bike, or just leave the bike alone?

I guess I will find these questions out when I go to the race. I hope the race goes well. My mom made me pay $83 of the $93 entry fee myself. Ouch!

At least the entry fee isn't as expensive as a ticket to Beijing!

My blog in Spanish

I just discovered how to translate my blog into Spanish.

Give it a try. It is awesome, especially if you are fluent in Spanish!

Okay. That is all.

Can you tell I'm bored?

A great fun weekend

I had a great time seeing my cousins this weekend! They didn't end up coming until 10:00 on Thursday night. This was okay though, since it gave me all of Friday and Saturday to visit with them. They also didn't leave until yesterday at 5:00 P.M. Their late departure time gave me almost a whole extra day to visit with them.

During this time, we did lots of shopping, since many of my cousins needed new back to school clothes. I didn't really need any new clothes since I already have a ton of clothes (because I love to shop, and I haven't changed clothing sizes for at least a couple of years) but I still got two new pairs of shorts and a couple T-Shirts.

These new clothes I got are from a store that has always been in my mall, but that I have never really shopped at before called Aeropostale. I don't know why I never shopped in there before- but I am glad I decided to look in there while we were at the mall on Saturday. They have the cutest clothes there! I decided to get some stuff there because they were having a really big sale. Everything in the store was 50% off! I ended up getting six things for maybe $50. That is definitely a good price on things!

Besides shopping, my family and I did other things such as seeing a movie. We saw the new Batman movie. I was so bored during that movie that I fell asleep. I don't like action movies! I wasn't the only one that didn't like it though. Two of my cousins and my aunt also fell asleep.

Over the weekend, my mom also took me to Pearle Vision to get my glasses fixed. I was seeing really funny through my glasses. When I put them on, it was like looking underwater- definitely a messed up feeling! It turns out that I need to get a new prescription from my eye doctor. The prescription that was in these new glasses was too strong in my right eye.

At home, I had fun visiting with everybody. It was especially fun visiting with my cousin who is a girl (all my other cousins were boys!) and only a year younger then me. We did many things such as play cards, get each other's e-mails, and stay up late. Everybody else stayed up much later than I did (maybe 1:00 A.M.) but I made it up until about 10:00-10:30 each night. This is very late for me! I know- kind of pathetic.

Over the weekend, I even had a chance for a couple good workouts. I did a 1:20 run on Saturday before visiting with my cousins all day. Yesterday after they left, I did a 1:30 bike ride followed by a :45 run. My 1:30 bike rides are definitely taking me a lot farther than they used to!

A quiz and a quick note. Quirky, right?

First, I will mention the quiz. Apparently, this is what my name means:

What Amy Means

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

I think the only thing true on that quiz was the part about me having a “type A” personality. The part about being confident and a free spirit is totally opposite of me. I am always questioning myself and I like to have everything planned Whoever said quizzes were completely right all the time is very, very wrong. Maybe this person should take a quiz about the accuracy of quizzes. They would fail! Any ways...

It is now time for the quick note:

Remember the bike ride I did in May that took me about 3 hours to complete? Today, I finished that same loop in just under 1:55. I also felt a lot fresher after riding the loop today than I did a few months ago (probably because I wasn't on my bike so long this time!). After riding this loop, I actually had enough energy to go out and rode my bike another 15 minutes. This gave me a total of 2:10 of bicycle riding today!

I hope this means I can get my speed up past 8 mph now, and will be able to complete an Olympic distance bike leg in a reasonable amount of time!

I was getting really discouraged at myself for my lack of improvement. Now all of a sudden, this whole week has been about improvement! I hope this improvement continues. I still haven't seen much improvement with my running!

In other happy news, my cousins are coming over to my house to stay the weekend! I am so excited to see them again! They live on the other side of the country and I haven’t seen them in two years. They will be arriving here at around 9:00 tonight and will be staying three nights with us. They leave on Sunday.

I also get to see my uncle, who I haven't seen in over a year, tonight. He has been stationed in Iraq for the past year. He is not in the military, but he drives military trucks there.

In addition to my four cousins and uncle, my aunt is coming. On top of this, one of my cousins is also bringing a friend. All together (in case you can't add) this is seven guests this weekend. This should definitely make for a full house. Normally, it is just me and my parents!

Lotsa food!

I have been kind of hungry for the past few days. I think part of it had to do with the big swim workouts I did over the weekend. I ate a little extra on each day that I was hungrier than normal. I didn’t eat a whole bunch extra though. I was a little hungry when I went to bed each night, but being lazy and not wanting to wake up and get more food, I thought I was fine.

Apparently I wasn’t fine. Yesterday, I woke up STARVING and remained that way the entire day. No matter how much food I ate yesterday, I was still famished and would quickly need to shove more food in my mouth! It was like I had a tapeworm eating all my food and saving none for me. Have you ever had a day like this?

All together, I ate almost 3,000 calories yesterday over a total of 5 meals. You know how most people eat 3 meals? I just ate 5 yesterday! It must have worked though. I haven't been all that hungry today.

Just because I'm sure you are dying to know, here is everything I ate yesterday. Keep in mind I am not a good cook. Also keep in mind we don’t have that many varieties of food in our freezer. You will see the same 5 foods repeated over and over again on my menu yesterday.

Okay, here goes... Are you ready?

Breakfast (7:00 A.M.): 2 Pop-Tarts
Lunch (11:00 A.M.): A bunch of mini-vegetarian corn dogs and 2 packets of oatmeal
Dinner #1 (4:00 P.M.): Amy's Organic burrito and 2 packets of oatmeal
Dinner #2 (6:00 P.M.): More mini- vegetarian corndogs and 2 more packets of oatmeal
Dinner #3 (10:00 P.M.): 2 Slim-Fast bars and another burrito

Also keep in mind that my stomach was growling violently between all these meals. Another thing to keep in mind: Eating this much food in a single day is a pain in the behind!

Moral of the story: I will no longer be lazy and go to bed a little hungry. I will eat extra food when I am hungry so my body doesn't have to play catch up with me- and give me a crazy day such as yesterday. (This advice should be pretty self-explanatory, but apparently it wasn’t for me!)

Super Secret Gear

My brand new, fixed bike is awesome! Okay, it is not really brand new- but it feels that way!

When my dad fixed my bike (it was making strange rattling noises because it was out of gear) he actually put my bike in the correct gear. It was a gear I never knew existed before! It was a Super Secret Gear!

I rode my newly fixed bike both today and yesterday. It rides so much better now! This Super Secret Gear makes it so that I actually move forward when I start pedaling. Before Dad fixed my bike, it felt like I wasn't moving at all!

In this new gear, I can actually pedal hard going downhill. I was never able to do that before. I was only able to coast downhill. That didn't make for the fastest riding! Now, being able to pedal downhill, I am able to go SO fast (relatively speaking, of course...)!

I bet right now, you are thinking "What a complete idiot, she doesn't even know how to gear her bike properly!"

Oh well. Continue thinking that, and I will continue pedaling away in my newly found Super Secret Gear!

Yesterday, I also uploaded to the computer a video about why I do triathlons . I uploaded this video because the website I uploaded this video to was having a contest.

The contest rules were that if you upload a video to their website during the month of July, you are eligible to win a bike. The winner of the bike will be selected by a raffle. You enter your name into this raffle (after you upload the video, of course!) and one winner will be randomly selected. I hope the winner is me! I really need a new bike!

It's pretty doubtful that I will win though. There are at least 30 other entries, and I am never lucky at winning raffles. Oh well. I can at least try; however, there is a very slight chance that the new bike is mine!


I’m glad the winner is randomly selected. If the winner was selected based on the quality of the video, I wouldn’t have even bothered entering my video into the contest.

All of the submissions so far to the website have been incredibly well-done. A lot of these people have used fancy video editing software that I don’t even have on my computer. This software gave these people the capability to add music, captions, and all sorts of other things to their videos.

Just to warn you, my video doesn’t have any of that stuff at all- it is just me talking, while sitting in a chair. Also, make sure to turn your speakers up really, really loud to be able to hear me. I got the cheapest recording device I could find (a $30 webcam) to make this video. Obviously, it means the quality of the video is not going to be the best!


If you want an idea of how awesome the bike I am now eligible to win is- click here.

All I can say is that it is one of the coolest bikes I have ever seen!

More good luck

I have had some great luck this week (especially today)! Okay, I didn't win the lottery- but it was still a pretty lucky day today!

First of all, I got my bike fixed. My bike was making awful rattling noises, for the past month or so. My dad (who is great at all things mechanical) took a look at my bike. It turns out I had the d@mn thing out of gear!

I don't ride my bike for 2 weeks- thinking something was seriously wrong with it. I thought my bike was going to fall apart or something. The only thing wrong with it: the bike was out of gear! Hahaha. I'm an idiot.

I also went to the bike shop today. I have a $70 dollar store credit there. This is because I didn't like a bike computer I got there (the computer was supposed to be held to the bike through rubber bands...yeah). I decided to spend the store credit on some slick tires for my ever-so-slow mountain bike.

It turned out that they didn't have the slick tires, however. They were out of stock. They said they will be ordering them very soon and will call me once they get a new shipment. I can't wait to get them! They are supposed to make you a lot faster. At least that is what I read on one of the triathlon forums I like to visit.

You know another thing that might make me faster on my bike...inflating my tires! When I took my bike into the bike shop (thinking the mechanics would need the bike to put the tires on it) they told me my tires were almost flat!

I never said I was smart...

In other news, road bikes are supposed to make you faster (duh-uh). I never knew how much faster though, until the guy told me (unless it was a sells pitch...).

He said that if I go 13-14 miles an hour on a mountain bike (I wish!); I could go about 18-19 mph on a road bike. I know a piece of equipment isn't a guarantee, but that sounds like a HUGE speed increase to me. I don't know exactly how much faster a road bike would make me, but I am sure it makes quite a bit of difference.

I really want a road bike (or better yet, a tri bike).Too bad I don't have that much money! The road bikes in the store cost a minimum of about $650. I'm sure a triathlon bike would be even more expensive. I only have about $1,000 saved up, and I want a car WAY more than I want a fancy bike.

I will get a road (or tri) bike eventually though. I just need a lot more money! Those bikes are so pretty...

Okay, enough with my greediness. I still haven't written about my awesome swim workout today. Yes. Another awesome swim workout. I have been having many swim breakthroughs this week!


I swam 6000 yards today! Did you hear that? 6000 yards!

I finally had enough time to swim today to finish this workout. Normally my attempts get cut short because I have to leave the pool a lot sooner. I've tried several times to finish this workout, but today I actually had the time to do so.

Are you ready to hear my workout?

Okay, here goes...

1000 free
2 X (500 SKIDS*)
1000 free
5 X (100 IM, 200 free)
500 free
200 back
500 free
300 IM

* 500 SKIDS = 100 swim, 100 kick, 100 IM, 100 drill, 100 swim

I'm actually, surprisingly, not that tired; however, I was incredibly hungry when I finished. I ate about 1,000 calories of food tonight, and am still a little hungry. Other than that and a little tiredness in my arms, I feel fine. I feel very relaxed too. A long swim (or any other workout) has amazing powers of relaxation.

I am so glad I got my bike fixed today. I actually miss riding it, and am eager to ride it first thing in the morning!

Another swim breakthrough!

Thursday night at swim practice, I had another swim breakthrough!

The main set we were given to swim at this practice was 6 X 200 hard on 3:40. As soon as I heard that set, I knew I would never make the interval. I'm just too slow. I normally swim my 200s on 4:00. Besides, whenever we have a set longer than a 25 (sometimes a 50 if I am lucky), I never make the interval. This is because I am the slowest person in the slowest paced swim lane. I get lapped a miliion times. If someone created a swim lane slower then the one I swim in, I would easily be in the new lane.

Despite being very unlikely to make the 3:40 intreval, on the first 200 I was still determined to swim hard. I knew even if I didn't make the interval, I should still swim at the intenesty that the coach perscribed. After powering through the water as hard as I could (without sprinting, and slow enough to save energy for the rest of the set) I was suprised that no one lapped me. I was even more suprised that I actually made the interval!

Okay, that was a one time thing only, I thought. Let's just see what happens after this next 200.

Suprisingly, after another hard 200, I realized that I actually made the interval again! I was even more suprised by this feat than I was the first time I made the interval. Not believing this happened, I buckled down and swam a third 200 hard.

I couldn't believe it! I actualy made the interval for the third time! By this time, I was wondering if I could make the entire interval on 3:40. I was starting to get pretty tired by this point, but managed a fourth 200 on 3:40. I was completely amazed and knew I could make all the other intervals. By this point, there were only two intervals left.

On the fifth 200, the person in front of me was slowing down and starting to get tired. I stayed on his toes for a couple laps - almost passing him- but not sure if I should. The person who was slowing down right in front of me normally laps me about 100 times on every other set

By the time I finished the fifth 200 (yet again, making the set), I was starting to get extremely giddy and tired- both at the same time. The guy that I caught up to remained directly in front of me for another couple laps. By the time I got to the end of the last set, however, he sped up. I guess he didn't want to get passed by the slowest person (by a long shot) in the lane.

By the time I finished the sixth 200 (and made the set- again) I couldn't believe I had made the entire set. That practice on Thursday was the first time I have ever made the tough intervals on a full, complete mainset in swim practice!

Just when I was getting discouraged...

I thought I would never improve in triathlons;however, just when I was getting discouraged with my performance, I had a major swim breakthough. Last night, at the end of swim practice, we did 2 X 25 sprint. I normally do these 25's in 17-18 seconds.

Last night I did one of the 25's in 16.6 seconds. I couldn't belive it. I thought the coach messed up with his watch, or the pool somehow shrank. I knew however, that pools didn't shrink and watches are usally very accurate. In my state of disbelief, I stepped up to the blocks to do another 25 yard sprint.

I plowed though the water as fast as I possibly could. My new time: 15.6 seconds! A whole second off of what I thought would be my best time! This two second improvement was only off a 25. I can't wait to see what my times are going to be like in the longer swim races. Too bad I will have to wait untill October for my next swim meet.

It is weird the way that fitness comes. When you first start working out, you make huge improvements all the time. I remember last year when I was first getting into shape: almost every workout would be my longest or fastest swim/bike/run ever.

After a few months, these improvements would begin to slow down. I would continue making small improvements here and there, but my times and distances would pretty much stay the same. That is how everything has been for the past several months. Now, however, I must have hit one of those huge jumps in improvement.

I can tell because my arms and legs (especially my legs- from all the biking and running I have been doing) are starting to feel a lot stronger. Have you ever had that happen during a time of getitng into shape? Your arms and legs just feel stronger?

I am sure the reason I am experincing such a huge leap in fitness is because of the twelve to fourteen hour training weeks I have been putting in this summer. I have recently been doing about 2 hours of training a day. Before this summer, however, I only trained about 7-10 hours a week. I think since I have been increasing my training so much since June, my body is finally having a chance to absorb all the extra workouts.

However it happened dosn't really matter. No matter what, I can not wait to shatter some of my previous best times during the next swim meet in October!

Oh, and some more great news: I can finally do another triathlon. I havn't done a triathlon since the beginning of May. I kept asking my parents if I could do one these past two months and they kept saying "no". They said this because because there was a whole bunch of other thngs going on through out the past few months, such as swim meets and my grandparents visiting for a month. The month of August is pretty free though. I finally have parental permission to do a triathlon Aug. 24! All I have to do now is get registered for the thing!

The triathlon is called the Great Buckeye Challenge. It is in a town called Springfield (no- not the Simpson's Springfield) only about 45 minutes from home. I am hoping to do the "mini" distance. It sounds really cute, right?

Wrong! It will be my first olympic distance triathlon. 1000m swim/24.9 mile bike/6.55mile run. I am so excited and nervous- but with a name like "mini" how bad can it be?

This Disney character would enjoy herself in the triathlon:



I hope I will too!

Wondering about potential...

I've been wondering a lot lately about potential. Most particually, I have been wondering about potential in the sports of triathlon and competitive swimming. I will focus right now on triathlons.

For me, a back of the pack triathlete, I am wondering what my potential could be if I did everything right in this sport. Is there a possibility that I could ever reach the level of being a middle of the pack triathlete (or beyond) if I did everything right in terms of training and recovery? Are my genes the only factor in my athletic abality, or is there a way I could work hard and improve beyond my back of the pack status?

For some examples, here are some things I could possibly do "more correctly". I am not saying I would necessairly do all these things, but if I did do them, how much would it help me?

Okay, here they are-

Swimming:
. Work on my stroke (ovbiously) and find ways to swim more efficiently.
. Practice very frequently, like I have been doing (5 X a week, usally).
. More speedwork?

Biking (okay, I have a lot here!):
. Get a road/triathlon bike.
. Put slicks on my mountain bike.
. Get areo bars, clipless pedals, etc.
. Bike more often (at least 4X a week, 5+ would be better if I really wanted to improve).
. Do more long rides
. Figure out how to do speedwork on the bike, and do it!
. Make sure my bike fits properly.

Running:
. Do more long runs/bricks.
. Do speedwork.
. Get orthotics or some kind of support (other than motion control shoes) for my flat feet!
. Run more often (not sure how often, since I would be using all that other time getting better at swim and bike. 3X a week? 4?).

All together:
. Figure out stratigies to make my transitions shorter.
. Follow a good training plan, instead of doing workouts randomly. (Not sure how complex I would have to go in this- would I have to follow a periodized plan like in the Triathlete's Training Bible?)

Other:
. Work on my nutrition (including eating more protien, fruits, and vegitables).
. Lift weights
. Stretch more.
. Learn how to fuel workouts properly, including what to eat during and after working out.

Okay, I think that is everything. Before I wrote that, I didn't even know what I knew (if that makes sense whatsoever!). There is still a lot that I don't know about these things though- including how well some of these things improve performance.

I don't know. I would just would really like to do well at this new-found sport!

Driving and Running

more graph humor and song chart memes

Hahaha! And that funny graph was from GraphJam.com, a funny website that I discovered that has all sorts of equally amusing charts. If you don't believe me, check that website out for yourself. Trust me, you will enjoy it. I just recently looked through about 15 pages of graphs from there.

Anyways, you probably want to know about my week- since I havn't spent much time blogging this week. Well, to sum it up in two words, my week has been all about driving and running. It has also about procrastinating on my summer homework, but that is a whole other story.

I will begin with the driving part of my week. As you may know, I am spending this summer learning how to drive. After much studying of my driver's manual, I went down to the DMV to take my driving test. I was afraid I wouldn't pass, never get my liscence, and never learn how to drive. I soon found out that this fear was for nothing though. Out of the 32 questions they gave me on the test, I only missed two. I then got my learner's permit!

I started driving school on Thursday, going to two, 2 hour classes. Today, I went to another 2 hour class. I had different instucters each of these different days, but they have both been good teachers. They were both ex-cops and had a lot of intresting stories to tell!

In the classes, we learned about things such as the fact that you should look ahead when steering. We also learned things such as how to drive at night and on the freeway. I still have 9 classes to go, and a few hours where I actually get in the car and drive, then I will be done with driving school. I then have to complete 50 hours of driving with my parents (10 hours at night) and then I can drive all by myself! The driving on my own will start as soon as January- you have to wait to drive on your own untill 6 months after you get your learner's permit!

So the driver's education has occupied a pretty good portion of this week. Another thing that took up a big part of the week was running. Not the kind where people run off the roads because I am going to be driving on the roads soon, but real, actual running. The kind that makes you sweaty and comes as the last part on a triathlon. I'm not going to describe this exercise any further, since you are not a preschooler and know what running is, anyway...

I was unable to ride my bike this week. The chain feel off my bike last week and I didn't know how to fix it. I got my dad to fix it later, but my bike was still making a loud, obnoxious ratting noise. I decided not to mess with my bike and am choosing not to ride it- at least untill I bring it to the bike shop for the mechanics to take a look at it.

Since my bike was being so annoying, the only thing left for me to do was run (and swim, duh). This meant that I ended up running 5 times within 4 days. Don't ask why I spent so much time running- maybe I was going for a new world record. All I know is that last week, I ran the most I have ever done in a single week. On the last day of this "running festivity" I did two runs (that is how the 5 runs in 4 days thing came about) totaling about 2 hours and 15 mins. Even with my excruciatingly slow running pace, I probably ran at least 10 miles that day!

My legs are still a little sore today, but I am recovering well. My 4 days of consecutive running were from Monday-Thursday. I ended Friday with a nice, long 4500 yd swim and 20 mins on the stationary bike at the health club. Today is a complete rest day. I start again with the workouts tomorrow. I hope my bike gets fixed for this coming week though. I need some practice so that I can do an olympic distance triathlon this summer!

In other news, not only did I do the most running I have ever done this week; I also did my biggest workout week. My workout totals seem to be getting higher and higher every week! They will stop getting bigger soon though. I don't want to end up with 20hour weeks like someone in the peak of Ironman training- that is, untill I am training for an Ironman...

Okay, here it comes. Are you ready?

Swimming: 7 hours 55 mins

Bikig: 25 mins (Hey, my bike is broken!)

Running: 4 hours 38 min (No, that is not a hallucination!)

Yoga: 1 hr 25 mins

Total: 14 hours 23 mins (Yes, you read that right!)

Ending this post with a funny GraphJam...


more graph humor and song chart memes

Intresting Google Searches

My blog has a neat tool that allows me to see how many people are visiting my blog. It also shows what websites they were visiting as they got referred to my blog. It also tells me the Google searches that people make to arrive here.

Here are some of the searches that people have made. There's nothng wrong with these searches, I am just woundering what was going through people's minds as they made them!

"Doing an olympic distance triathlon in 13 weeks"- Someone has a good goal. I hope to finish an olympic within 13 weeks myself.

"Cockitil sounds"- My bird makes plenty of sounds. "SCREECH!!!", being the most common.

"triathon" + "two swim suits"- Those things go together very well, especially if you are scatter-brained like me and forget one swim suit. You would always have a back up!

triathlons why- "Why not?", is my only reply.

P.S. If you are one of these Google-searching people who took the time to visit my blog, thanks for stopping by. For whatever reason you came here, I hope you found what you were looking for!

Week of 6/29-7/5 workout totals: Prepare to be amazed!

I normally don't do workout totals in this blog, since no one really cares, but I have to post these totals. This is the biggest workout week I have ever done! I'm sure sometime in the future, my biggest workout week is going to be even more gigantic- but as for now, this is what I have:



Swimming: 5 hours 55 mins



Biking: 5 hours 11 mins (I never did this much bicycling in a single week before)!



Running: 1 hour 27 mins (kind of puny compared to the rest, but when you do that much swimming and bicycling, you have to sacrifice something).



Yoga: 1 hr 15 mins

Total: 13 hours 48 mins!!!

I bet you didn't see that comming!

Thought for the day

Facebook games are so addictive! I just spent a couple hours playing some of them. My favorites are the Srabble game, the Word Twist game, the Parking Wars game, and the Slot Machine game.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, go to the Facebook website and put in a search for these games. After several hours of entertainment and happy computer fun, you will be thanking me!

Happy independence day, by the way. It is great to be a free American!

Just an edit

Just as an edit, I have mentioned my 2008 training totals in a previous post. Here they are again:

2008 totals
Bike: 18h 18m 51s - 16.4 Mi
Run: 29h 26m 04s - 68.5 Mi
Swim: 140h 13m - 65275 Yd
Strength: 4h 43m
Yoga: 6h 00m

You may notice the distances look very low for the amount of time I had been training.

Just as an explination so that you don't think I have replaced Mr. Snail:



The workout distances were only from the workouts where I actually recorded distance. In all of my workouts, I record time, but only in some workouts do I record distance. This is usally because I don't have accuratly measured courses to track distance. Sometimes (such in swimming) I don't want to count every lap I swim, especially when a coach is designing the workout (and I don't have to worry about designing my own).

So in short, I am not Mr.Snail (Mr. Snail just gave a huge sigh of reilef). Those distances are only from a couple of workouts- not all of them!

Whew! Okay. Over and out!

One year triathlon anniversery!

I offically became a triathlete one year ago today! I never thought I would stay with the sport so long. When I used to workout, the longest time I ever did it consistently was for about 5 months. This was from a few years ago when I was running almost every day. I never did run more then 4 miles at once though. Now 4 miles would be considered an easy run!

I love working out consistently a lot more than just randomly starting and stopping (which I have done for the past few years). I hate the feeling of gaining fitness, only to lose it all a few months later.

I started keeping a workout log on the computer this January. This log actually totals up all the workout distances I have done thus far. Since January first, I have done this much:

2008 totals
Bike: 18h 18m 51s - 16.4 Mi
Run: 29h 26m 04s - 68.5 Mi
Swim: 140h 13m - 65275 Yd
Strength: 4h 43m
Yoga: 6h 00m

This is not including everything from June through December of last year!

Also, this past year, I have done 4 triathlosn, 2 5K races, countless swim meets, and a bicycling event.

I wounder how far I will have came a year from today?

Ice skating!

I swam the VCS open water challenge in Lake Erie yesterday. The water was so frigid, I am suprised the lake didn't freeze over and become an ice skating rink!

I began the journey to this lake on Friday. This was a day before the meet actually began. I had to leave this soon in order to make the four hour drive to Sandusky, Ohio (where the meet was held). My parents and I left at about 5 O'clock in the afternoon on Friday. We arrived at the hotel at about 9 O'cock in the evening.

I can say nothing about the drive except that it was incredibly LONG! I am not a huge fan of long car trips. They are so boring and mind- numbing! This car trip did, however, give me plenty of time to work on some of my summer homework. It also gave me plenty of time to study my driver's handbook, which I am going to memorize cover to cover. I really want to learn how to drive!

When we arrived at the hotel (it was a Hyatt) I was extremely suprised about how nice it looked. Everything about this suite-type hotel was extremly modern looking. This included the TV!

A neat screen saver type-design was flasing across the TV. I must have stared at this design a good 5 minutes after I walked in the room. I never saw anything like it before! The next thing I did after arriving in the hotel was to immediately fall asleeep.

After I woke up the following day and ate breakfast, me and my parents had to begin another hour long drive; this time we drove from the hotel to the place where the swim meet was located (the closest hotel my mom could find was an hour away from the swim meet).

After arriving at the meet and checking in, the first thing I did was to test the water and see how cold it was. I knew it was not going to be very warm, after hearing someone say that "it was the coldest water we've had in a long time" but I was still curious about the exact temperature.

Oh my gosh! The water was freezing! It felt like ice from the deepest parts of the freezer! It felt like Antartica in the winter! It felt like being barefoot in the snow!

Did I mention it was cold?

I spent the entire hour long warm-up trying to get used to the water. I stuck my feet in first. This was followed by my legs, followed by my waist, followed by my face. This warm-up (a.k.a. "freeze up") did not happen all at once. Every time I dipped a new part of my body into the water, I would have to run back out to dry land for a minute to warm up.

The only reason I was doing this "freeze up" in the first place was to prevent myself from hypervenilating when the actual swim race started. I also did not want the shock of stepping into cold water for the first time; I wanted to get used to the water gradually.

By the time "freeze-ups" were over, parts of my body were turning blue. I was also shaking like a leaf. The last thing I wanted to do was to get back in the Antartic waters.

I had to step back in eventually, though. The race director was calling for my wave to start!

While waiting to start, I was extremely nervous. I was also still shaking like a leaf. By this point, I would have rather gotten my head cut off then to go back in that frigid water.

By the time the horn blew to begin the race, I had to put all these doubts aside and just enter the water!

Oh my gosh! The water was frigid! I waited for the longest time to put my face into the water. By the time I mustered up enough courage to do so, the entire pack of swimmers was already long gone. For the rest of the swim, I was on my own.

By this time, I was not concered with swimming fast. My goals were just to survive the race, not freeze to death, and not get lost. With no pack of swimmers in front to guide me, I had no idea where I was going.

Eventually, I got so lost that a lifeguard pointed out the rest of the course for me. I followed her instructions while still freezing myself, but not yet ready to quit.

As I kept swimming, the water would continue to get deeper. This added depth brought extra coldness. Oh my gosh! It felt like the coldest day recorded at the North Pole, minus about a million degrees.

As I rounded the buoy where we were supposed to turn, I kept getting increasingly cold. I started woundering about quitting. I could not take these freezing temperatures any longer.

How should I do it, I woundered. Should I just swim to the shorelone about 100 yards away, or wait untill I finish this first lap (out of 3) and just stop and not do any more laps.

Thankfully, I did not have to think through this puzzle much longer. I started swimming with my head up. It must have been an instinct thing, with my body trying to conserve its little remaining heat.

Another lifeguard came to me and asked me if I was okay. I told him that the water was freezing and that I wanted to quit. He called down a boat to pick me up. By the time the boat arrived, two other swimmers also decided to quit. Apparently I wasn't the only one that found the water freezing!

The boat arrived, but we had to swim what felt like a mile in order to reach it (and was probably only about 25 yards). By this time, I could barely move my arms and legs because they were so cold and stiff. After doing an intresting compination of arm and leg dragging, doggie paddle, and breaststroke, I finally reached the boat.

A lifeguard had to literally drag me on to the boat. Like I said, I could barely move my arms and legs (making climbing on a boat impossible).

When I arrived on the boat, me and the two other people that had to quit all looked freezing. One boy's cheeks were bright red. My mom later said my cheeks were tomato-red as well (she also said my nose was blue).

When I arrived on the boat, I huddled myself in a ball, shaking like a leaf. I was also covered in goosebumps. I was overjoyed to be out of that freezing cold water! After an awesome 5 minute boat ride across the lake, it was time to offically quit. I gave the race director my number and walked off the boat. We had to walk across some knee-deep water in order to get off the boat, and to shore. I ran through this water as fast as I could!

When I arrived back on shore, I huddled myself in a towel for several minutes. I also later took a hot shower and changed into some warm clothes. I felt really bad about quitting, but knew I couldn't have physically went any farther- even if I had wanted to.

I remained shaking and freezing cold for about half an hour. I was still a little chikled even after the shower! I was only in the water for a total of about ten minutes during the race. No telling what would have happened had I decided to go farter.

After another long car trip, I was glad to be home. I had a fun time during this trip. It was nice seeing a new side of my state that I have never visited before, and despite the frigidness, the lake I swam on was a beautiful lake.

I was so glad to get home though!

Revealing the secret...

I saw the light! (a.k.a. I actually learned a little bike lingo today).This means I can tell you exactly where the Secret Gear on my bike that makes me go oh-so-fast is located.

120 degrees north of the equator!

Never mind. I'll begin now with the awesome terminology I learned.


On the chain rings, I put the gear on the middle setting (my bike is a triple) and with the cogs (I have 7), I put it on the smallest cog (and shift to bigger ones when I go up a hill).

See, wasn't that neat! Can you belive a back of the backer who can only crack 10 mph going down a hill can actually say (err..write) those teams!

If you don't know what that means either, here are the definitinons.

Chainrings - Those are the gears in front, by your pedals. Most bikes have either two or three chainrings. Bikes with three chainrings are called "triples". How many does yours have? The biggest one is called the "big" ring, while the smallest is called the "small" ring. If you have three rings, then the very smallest is sometimes call the "granny" gear. And yes I have a granny gear.

Going from the smallest to the biggest rings will make pedaling "harder" but "faster" given the same cadence. Likewise, going from the big chainring to the smallest(smaller) chainring, will make pedaling "easier" but "slower", again for the same cadence.

Cogs - These are the gears by on your rear wheel. 9 or 10 cogs is the usual today. Here the opposite is true regarding easy/hard, slow/fast. Going from bigger cogs to smaller ones makes it harder to pedal, but you go faster for the same cadence while going from smaller cogs to larger ones makes it easy to pedal, but you go slower. Again, given the same cadence.

This was all explained to me by a nice person on beginnertriathlete.com who is great at helping confused newbies.

You learn something new everyday!