Last week somehow turned into a rest week. I guess it makes sense after the week before’s pummeling of my body. On Sunday after the swim it kind of shut down. I could feel myself lagging in the water. I felt ill. Somehow I made it through the swim and spent the rest of the day on [...]
This past week has been kind of full of swim workouts. I swam three times and I’m loving it! It feels so good to get back into my swimming groove, even though I have felt less powerful in my stroke and my right shoulder has been bothering me (more on that later). This morning I [...]
It’s been so long and so much has happened. In fact, I don’t even know where I left off. It was last summer or last fall or something, right? Well, I’m not going to dwell on the past – I’m here to write about right now.
Right now, or approximately, I am just starting to [...]
Today I was in my bathroom and I had my first unique “You know you’re a triathlete when…” moment. Mine is this: You know you’re a triathlete when you realize that you have not showered in your home for many weeks! I realized this when I saw that my “home” towels have not moved from [...]
Last week I had to take time off of everything so that I could deal with some personal life stuff and felt bad about it everyday. In fact, I made two (TWO!) attempts to get to the pool, but the one time I forgot my swimsuit and the next time the pool was closed due [...]
Yesterday in the pool, I felt very strong. I did the workout my coach had set out:
300m choice
2 x 900m (100m flutter kick, 200m back stroke, 300m freestyle, 200m breast stroke, 100m flutter kick)
200m choice
TOTAL: 2300m
I do believe my coach is torturing by making me do 200m [...]
My second day of “back to training” week was a success. The biggest part of the success was actually making it to the pool! Over the past 6 weeks or so, I had tried over and over again to get my butt to the pool. However, I just couldn’t make myself get out of bed [...]
This morning my alarm went off at 5:30 and I cringed. “Already?!?” I asked myself. I contemplated not going to the gym and pool, but I knew that my training buddy would be waiting for me. I contemplated calling her, but if I’m going to be awake enough to look for her number, call her, [...]
Since triathlon is a multi-sport, it’s no wonder that it draws people in that are proficient multi-taskers. This is definitely one of the reasons that I became hooked on this sport – not getting bored just training in one sport and when injured being able to do a different sport more. However, the past 4 [...]
I have really been focusing on my swim for the past couple of months. I’ve always considered it to be my weakness because I use my legs a lot and have little upper body strength. However, with my coaches help, I’ve been increasing my strength through calisthenic exercises and through freestyle pulling.
With my foot [...]
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- What a great day for the #VancouverMarathon! Beautiful weather & scenery for this gr8 day. I made my time goal by 1 minute! 4:59 YES!!! #TNT 2012/05/06
- #VancouverMarathon Race Day! I cried so much tonight! I am so grateful to be running tomorrow. Why? http://t.co/HK0o5TK4 Love to you all! 2012/05/06
- A new blog post about my experience in Vancouver! http://t.co/ajiErKnV #VancouverMarathon, #TeamInTraining 2012/05/05
- @DarcyB We did it!!!! 2012/05/04
- Off to #YVR for the #VancouverMarathon! 8 months of fundraising for #TNT and training. I can't believe we made it! Woohoo! 2012/05/04
VT has a new look!
Purple has a new meaning in my life as it is the main colour of Team in Training, a group that raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This cause is very near and dear to my heart as my friend and main training buddy had Leukemia & Lymphoma when he was a child. Blood cancer can be very deadly, so I am thankful for the treatment and care that he got.
It is for this reason that we decided to run a marathon together with the Team in Training group in Saskatoon. We have a goal of $5,500!
What is VT?
This website is one that I, Crystal Clarke, started in 2007 with big ideas. It is morphing slowly into a resourceful website for vegans and athletes alike. I put my personal touch on this website in the recipes and the training blog, as I'm a writer & a vegan triathlete. So what is a vegan triathlete? Well...
vegan. n. vee-gahn. - a person who refrains from using any animal product whatever for food, clothing, or any other purpose.
triathlete. n. someone who participates in races consisting of swimming, biking, and running in that order; there are several varying distances with some standard distances:
Sprint: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Half Ironman: 2km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run
Ironman: 3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km runPlease leave comments! I love reading and replying to comments. Cheers!
Who am I?
My name is Crystal Clarke. I'm a vegan triathlete. I've been vegan since 2002 and a triathlete since 2003. Since then I have completed 1 Ironman, 4 half IMs, several Olympic triathlons, and many other triathlons, duathlons, running races, and biking races. My goal for each race is to finish. I'm pretty slow, but can be a middle-of-the-pack person if I'm not injured and train consistently.
In addition to being a vegan triathlete, I'm a writer, I'm an Agrologist, I'm a soil scientist, I'm a knitter, I'm an anti-consumer, I'm an environmentalist, I'm a budding Buddhist, I'm a yogi, I'm a student of life, and I'm bipolar. I'm a lot of things! I don't fit into any one category - that's what I think sets me apart from other athlete blogs.
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