Training Log Archive: kissy

Today was a practice tri day, and of course, the first thing up was swimming. Remember how I mentioned I might be unstoppable? I was wrong. I panicked today, soon after starting my second lap. The water was pretty choppy, and I kept getting big mouthfuls of water shoved down my throat. After a few of those in a row, my breathing was knocked out of rhythm and I panicked. I flipped on my back and pretty much back-stroked that entire length. Then, horror of horrors, I stopped at the far buoy, stood up for about 30 seconds to collect myself, and then headed to the finish. Not a very proud moment, but I made it and even with that pause, I was 5th out of the water...out of 11.

Transition 1 time: 3:45. It was a ways up from the lake to the bikes and then it took a bit to get my wetsuit off. I almost forgot my gloves, but I probably didn't need them for that short of a ride. No one passed me in the transition zone.

Yay, biking! I took the first few minutes on the bike to calm myself down after the swim and to drink some water. Then, I just enjoyed the ride. It was an out and back, so I could see how far ahead the other women were, and then see how far back the next ones were to me. It was a good ride, but I need to practice shifting a little more.

Transition 2: 1:35. This was much faster because no wetsuit and no run up from the lake. Slid off my shoes, helmet and gloves, and put on my hat, shoes, and race belt. I felt like I was forgetting something, but I wasn't.

And here's where I got passed. I stuck with my 1 minute walk/3 minute run routine, and it worked fine. I actually think that starting out walking for the first minute allowed me to calm down and collect myself from the bike, and get mentally ready for the run.

My knee felt a little sore, but even worse was my stomach. I had to visit the bathroom several times this morning...I'm not sure what was causing it. I hadn't eaten anything weird over the last few days, but something was not settled in my stomach/intestines. It hadn't bothered me in the swim or bike, but as soon as I started running...there it was. I even thought of stopping at the rest room on the way out, but figured I could last a mile. And it was just a mile...there was an option to go 2 miles, but I knew my stomach wouldn't last that long.

I ended up as the top finisher for the triathletes who ran just a mile...we were split pretty evenly between 1 milers and 2 milers, so I'll be happy about that. But I think I'm going to go more often to the lake, on my own, and practice swimming without stopping.

Total time, including transitions = 42:34

This run was absolutely not going to happen. I kept waiting for the weather to cool off, but it just didn't. And as it got later, I got less and less motivated. I was just about to write it off, but some little thing clicked in my brain, and I thought that I really should do it. And that's all it took. I put on my shoes and headed out the door.

I also decided to slow down the metronome a little. I wanted to find a pace where I could keep going on my 1 / 3 method without have to stop. So, I slowed it down a bit, but enough that I could keep going, and I ended up going faster than when I was trying to keep up with a faster pace. I'll keep it here for awhile.

Open water swimming, but I forgot my Garmin, so I have no idea if I swam on the beach or not.

This session was fantastic! I can't believe I was crying and panicking just a week ago. I swam 5 laps today, which is the length of my race in July. I stopped after each of the first 3 lengths for a few seconds, and then I just swam non-stop. Yes!! I might just be unstoppable. ;-)

C • woo! 2

Back in the pool to work on form. And to have a nice, relaxed swim workout vs. the franticness of open water.

Back to Body Pump.