Training Log Archive: kissy

Body Pump! I went a little light on the weights, but still felt the burn (or it could have been the Bern).

C • the Bern 1

I decided that the rain/sleet/hail/snow mix that had been coming down since yesterday morning was not going to stop, so I just plunged in. It wasn't that bad once I got going, but when I turned north at the end of the park, all of that mess was coming right at me.

This was a little slower than last time, but my legs felt a little dead. Plus, I did 12 x 30 intervals and found that I had to walk in between them. But, I'm still happy with my running and with the fact that my knees are hanging in there.

Since it was snowing outside, there would be no biking on the trail. So, I went to the gym and did the Around the World program again, but at a tougher level. There was some degree of sweating going on.

Swim practice with my training team. We raced 25s...4 of them. I was paired with Rene, a woman who I've been swimming with in practice since Day 1. She beat me each time, but not by much. And she's about 10 years younger. I was happy with that.

The last early Sunday morning practice. I find it so ironic that when my kids were younger, I let them know that they could do any sport they wanted to except swimming! I was not going to get up early on the weekends to take them to practice. Well, look at me now.

This was a really good practice. The coaches took away the lane dividers and first had us swim our warm up like usual, just without the dividers. That was fine, with just a few crashes. But then they put out three balloon "buoys" and we spend the rest of the time swimming in one mass group around the buoys. First counter-clockwise and then clockwise.

That was quite an experience! It was a good start to getting the feeling of being surrounded by people, touching other people, getting kicked, swum over, etc. I was frantic at the beginning, but then was able to settle down and remember all of the pointers my coaches have given me...focus on my breathing (most important so I don't panic!), stretch out my arms, keep my legs kicking. I'm kind of excited for when our open water practices begin in June.

My friend, Lisa, and I went out to Boulder to survey the race course. We drove the bike course just to see what it was like. Not too bad, but we'll know better next time when we ride it.

Then we ran the running course. Our coaches taught us how to use a metronome app to keep on pace and train you to take smaller steps to begin with. What a difference that made! I improved my per mile time by 3 minutes! It really made me keep going at a steady pace. I was so happy after we finished this. It definitely gave me more confidence for the race.

Afterwards, we stopped at Starbucks on Pearl St. in Boulder and sat outside in the sunshine, drinking our coffee, and deciding that we had quite a good life.