Triathlon!

I did it! We did it! It's done!

This past Saturday, I woke up at 5.00am (ugh) to get picked up at 5.45am (ugh) to drive out to Clearwater, MN. We arrived to hordes of people with bikes and wetsuits and the like... let's just say there was a lot of spandex going on. It was a pretty surreal experience. We checked in, got numbers written on our arms and calves, got our velcro ankle-chip, and set up our little corner of the transition area with our bikes and helmets, shoes and socks, clothes and drinks. We got a lot of swag with the event--one of those little drawstring backpacks, a swim cap, a towel (like shower-size, not hand-towel-size!), a slew of propaganda, and even a little squeeze pack of some sort of mid-triathlon-energy-boost gel. KC tried it and said it was nasty. I stuck with my sports drink/water mixture (the sports drink on its own was way too sweet for me).

Anyhow, we had to walk to the other side of Warner Lake (located at 9:00 on the map linked above) and then swim in waves across the lake the long way. KC was in heat 5, and I was in heat 8. Well, more correctly: I started with heat 8. I ended with heat 11--meaning I was passed by a group of 30 people, twice. Boy, I am slow. And I really, really, really can't swim in a straight line without My Favorite Swim Coach Ever, Jess, paddling along in front of me or beside me. I kept heading off into the weeds. One time I almost swam into one of the lifeguard kayaks. But I finished!

I didn't panic too much in the water--just a little, because let's face it, the lake was naaaasty, and the triathlon director said something about fish when he was giving his preliminary directions--and I made it out in 24 minutes. That's not absolutely terrible, but it was the third slowest swim time in the entire race. So much for being middle-of-the-pack! To be honest, it was a little discouraging, because it was pretty clear that I was way behind everyone else in my heat. But I was glad I could finish the swim, and considering the fact that 9-ish months ago, I could hardly swim, this wasn't too shabby.

The transition from swim to bike was pretty rough--four and a half minutes. I spent unnecessary time trying to find my hair binder. Oh well. The bike itself was nice--fairly flat, pretty scenery, well marked and lots of volunteers on every corner stopping traffic and telling me which way to go. It was hard, though--very windy, and I really haven't done many bike rides that long, so I was pretty sore by the end of it. Last Friday, I did practice getting my water bottle out to drink while biking; and I can do it, but only at pretty low speeds! So I only took two pretty small drinks the entire ride; I did remember to drink before hopping on the bike, though. That helped.

The transition to the run was much quicker, at least--less than a minute, I think. Pretty easy to drop the bike and run. The run itself, though, was a challenge for me. I apparently lack the mental fortitude to just run when I don't want to. Ha! So I actually walked quite a bit of the 3.1 miles, finishing around 33 minutes. An 11-minute mile isn't terrible, but considering I ran a 10-mile race with a faster mile time, I was a little ashamed of myself. Not really, though--I just wanted to finish and that was fine. And, in terms of overall placement within each individual event, my run was the best: Of 319 competitors, in the swim I was #316 (garrr), in the bike I was #285, and for the run I was #258. Overall, I was #259. I think... the individual events might be slightly off, but that's a good ballpark.

So: overall, good experience. That includes training, the event itself, everything. The actual triathlon-ing that I did wasn't all that great--I don't like swimming by myself in gross lakes, or even biking or running by myself all that much. I much preferred training with my friends--that was great! But the atmosphere at the race was fantastic, and the event as a whole was a lot of fun. A group of us went out for lunch afterwards, and just had a nice time. Will I do another triathlon ever? Maybe! Not this year, that's for sure; but next year? Perhaps. I have at least one friend who's interested.

If I were to do another tri, I do know exactly what to work on now: Sighting (looking up at something so I can swim in a straight line) for the swim, drinking on the bike ride--and also just biking harder!--and then running outside consistently, more than the 5k race distance. I'd like to think I could drop quite a bit off my time if I worked on those things. But for now, I'm just glad that I know how to swim now! That's definitely a skill I want to keep up.

Now I must end this ridiculously long post: I will conclude with a picture of KC and I at the finish line with our medals! Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement through this process. It has been a lot of fun!

Dress Rehearsal

Yesterday was indeed a dress rehearsal of sorts. KC and I and our fabulous swim coach Jess went down to Cedar Lake for a mini-miniathlon. It started off as a very strange experience--the environment at the beach where we started was almost too hipster to breathe. Also, there is a lifeguard on duty Thursday through Sunday, so we had to sneak off to the side and swim out through a bunch of weeds so we wouldn't get busted for leaving the tiny roped-in swim area.

We swam maybe a third of a mile or something--definitely less than half a mile, but out a bit and back. The actual triathlon (which is tomorrow, by the way!) is a straight shot across the lake. That will be nice, at least for me. KC's natural swim stroke would have him swimming in large clockwise circles. In the lakes, at least, I follow so close behind Jess that I can always see her feet, and that keeps me going straight (and not panicking that I am left alone to die in the middle of some gross lake). Hopefully in a group I'll be able to keep a relatively direct route across the lake.

So after our little swim, we ran up the beach to our waiting clothes and threw them on. Do you know how hard it is to get shoes and socks on while drying off wet sandy feet? There was definitely a lot of sand inside of my socks. I hate sand inside my socks. Oh well, at least I know what I'm getting myself into. I was able to pull on my tanktop pretty easily, so I may just throw it on over my suit then, rather than waiting until after the bike ride. Who knows. Anyhow, we biked off along the Greenway for a few miles, just to get a feel of the transition from swim to bike. I think tomorrow that transition will be a bit more harried--running up from the lake to the transition area with the bikes. The bike ride itself felt really good though. My friend Jordan helped me tune up my bike a bit on Wednesday--he removed the rack on the back and tightened my rear brake, and took the whole thing out for a spin to make sure everything felt right.

For our final leg, we dropped off our bikes in the van we drove, then ran off to Lake Calhoun. We ran a little bit around Lake Calhoun but mostly around Lake of the Isles. The run is now the part that I'm most worried about. I think the big issue yesterday was that it was pretty hot and muggy and I got really dehydrated. I forgot to drink right after the swim, and I don't have enough coordination to reach down and grab my water bottle while actually biking. I'm going to take my bike out this afternoon and practice that, because it'd be really good to be able to drink during that bike ride. Otherwise I'll be hurting a lot. Also, KC just took off at the beginning of the run, so I felt like I was dragging behind. I need to remember that it takes me a little while to get into the feel of things with running. The triathlon tomorrow has an out-and-back run, so we'll probably have fans at the beginning and end of the run--plus I'll know to pace myself for the first half, grab a drink at the water station on the far end, and then kick things up a notch for the last mile and a half.

So that's it, as far as my preparations go! (Aside from, hopefully, figuring out how to multitask with the bike and the water this afternoon!) KC and I will be heading out bright and early tomorrow morning--he's picking me up at 5.45am! Ugh. Early to bed tonight, that's for sure! There are 11 heats, so maybe 30 people or so per heat, with about 3 minutes between heats. KC is in heat #3 and I am in heat #8. The Main Event begins at 8.00am, so I will be starting around 8.24am; so I can hope to be done around 10.00am! I wonder if that guess is close at all. I guess rain or shine this thing's going to happen; they'll delay for lightning if necessary but otherwise we're triathloning no matter what! I am pretty excited--check back Monday for the full report!

Triathlon Lite

My partner-in-triathlon-crime KC and I completed a mini practice triathlon yesterday! We were inside the gym, because the weather was uncertain and we didn't want to get caught in the middle of a lake in a thunderstorm! But we still followed the swim-bike-run pattern, doing our best to have as little time as possible between each event. The swim-to-bike transition was bizarrely unrealistic, since we had to hop out of the pool, dash back through the locker rooms, throw on some clothes, then head upstairs to the stationary bikes. That transition was also bizarrely irregular in terms of gym workouts, as I was dripping wet as I climbed onto the bike! Getting clothes on over a swimsuit is a bit of an issue. My newest brain wave (meaning, an idea I had just now) would be to slip on some shorts for the bike ride, then pull on a tank top at the end of the bike ride once the wind has dried off my top half a bit. I think that might work nicely.

Anyway, back to yesterday's miniathlon. We swam for 17 minutes (it was supposed to be 15 but I set my watch wrong and was too lazy to switch it), then biked for 20 and ran for 15. It was a pretty accurate half-triathlon; I'd anticipate the real deal to be very generally 30-40-30 minutes, for the swim, bike, and run respectively. If I were to guess more exactly, I'd say the swim will take less than 30 and the bike will take more than 40, but I like to run a 10-minute mile, so that brings me in at 30 minutes almost exactly. I've been looking at last year's results, and seeing that even the end-of-packers are finishing the swim in 20-25 minutes. Maybe I'll catch the right wave and be up there too. I'll admit, yesterday, I was flying through that pool. I totally lapped KC (and totally threw that in his face afterwards. I'm not very nice sometimes...), but actually a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was doing flip turns and he wasn't. Those flip turns, man--they definitely gave me the competitive edge yesterday!

The bike part was also just fine. I felt good, and the transition didn't seem too hard except the initial part of running out of the pool and trying frantically to get into some clothes. Putting on the socks and stuff is hard. But I have a pair of mesh shorts that will go on nice and easy, and I plan to just bike in my running shoes. I'm not fancy enough to own a triathlon suit or biking shoes or any of those biking clothes that involve spandex. Maybe at the end of the day you're more aerodynamic or something, but you're still also wearing spandex in public, which is a phenomenon that belongs with scrunchies and crimped hair back way before my time.

Anyhow. Based on last year's results, I would guess the bike will take me 45-50 minutes; so with a steady pace on the run, if I finish in these average times for the swim and the bike, I can expect to finish around 1 hour and 40 minutes. Again, guessing from last year, that puts me solidly in the middle-back of the pack: 230 or so out of 367. That sounds just about right to me! I hope I can just enjoy myself the entire time. That would be ideal. I felt good and really was enjoying myself the whole mini-race yesterday, aside from a brief while at the end when I was getting pretty tired. But I imagine that will be fixed by the adrenaline of heading to the finish line and seeing all of my fans there cheering. (Seriously! We've got a big fan base coming out to watch us! It's awesome!)

KC and I plan to have an even more miniature miniathlon on Thursday--mostly just to get the feel of the transitions in a more realistic environment. Other than that, we're taking it easy this week and making plans to take our awesome swim coach Jess out for a big celebration after the race! I'll admit--I'm getting pretty excited!

Climbing the Wall

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

I know people here are more focused on the Fourth of July, but on behalf of my dear friends who happen to be Canadian, I want to also celebrate with them. I very nearly went to Canadia with two of my dear Canadian friends, in order to celebrate this grand holiday in person, but instead I stayed here and went for a run. Lucky me.

It was a pretty great run, though--I'm glad I did it. I've been having trouble getting the miles in that I should; I've been hitting some sort of wall around 2 or 2 1/2 miles (usually... earlier this week I totally called it quits after half a mile. I blame the 105-degree heat. Never mind that I was inside on a treadmill...); since my triathlon ends with a 3.1-mile (5k) run, I was starting to think I was in trouble!

Today, however, I did it! I ran 3.1 miles over my lunch break (again, inside on the treadmill). How in the world I managed to muster the motivation (mmmmm... alliteration) is beyond me. Hot weather totally drains me. Case in point: Yesterday, one of my (Canadian!) friends and I were supposed to go to the beach, but we couldn't even summon the energy to do that and instead she took a 3-hour nap while I laid on the couch and watched a movie and dozed. Heh. Well, anyhow, when I got to the gym today, they had the semifinals at Wimbledon playing. What can I say? It was exactly what I needed. There's nothing like superb athletes playing tennis to keep me going on that treadmill. Also, I happened to catch the Nadal-Murray match, which was fabulous. As a tennis player and in fact a left-handed tennis player, I really appreciate watching Rafael Nadal. He is incredible. Go Southpaws.

Back to the topic at hand: triathlons. Mine is coming up one week from tomorrow--eek! I'm feeling pretty good about it. My triathlon buddy KC and I did another great lake swim (felt so much better than the last one, plus we avoided most of the seaweed-y areas so I didn't even scream once) and followed it up with a bike ride, to get the feel of moving from one activity to the other. It was a little unrealistic because our transition time was pushing ten minutes--no good for race day! We did happen to run into someone else who's doing the Graniteman, though; how random is that?! It was fun. I doubt that I'll even recognize her on race day, though, oops. Anyhow, I think I'll try to get a long bike ride in tomorrow or Sunday, and then early next week KC and I will practice the transitions: swim to bike and bike to run. I hear the bike to run transition is actually harder. We'll see how it goes! I can't believe how close this thing is.

My Achilles' Heel

As the fates would have it, my Achilles' heel is, in fact, my Achilles' heel tendon. For the purposes of this triathlon, then, my Achilles' heel has been the running. In other words, I haven't been doing it. Oops.

This is potentially a little tiny bit of a problem. I am competing--well, that's an overstatement; how about participating--in a triathlon in two and a half weeks (eeks!) and I have yet to run the full distance my training regimen suggests. The final leg of the triathlon is a 3.1-mile (5k) run. At this point in my training, I should be running about 40 minutes. The program I have definitely over-trains the trainee, so that you're absolutely for sure ready to go on race day; I'm hoping to complete the run in less than half an hour. I train at a 10-minute mile on the treadmill, but probably run closer to a 9-minute mile outside; and who knows how I'll be feeling on race day. Anyhow, I've still been calling it quits around 2.5 miles. Not cool.

To be honest, I really don't know what my hangup is. I've been running inside recently--the last two times I've had runs on the schedule, it's been raining or obscenely hot or something--so that might have something to do with it. But both times I also happened to be on a treadmill next to someone I knew, so we could chat it up during the run, which usually helps keep me motivated. Apparently "usually" in this instance means "not so much."

Anyhow, part of my struggle with running is my Achilles' tendon, as I mentioned before. It gets really tight when I run if I'm not careful. About a year and a half ago, it froze up to the point that I could hardly walk for a week. I took so much ibuprofen that I think it's still coursing through my veins, rested and iced constantly, and after a few days things settled down. I happened to mention it to my boss when I was getting an adjustment, and he started working on my calves to get them loosened up. It hurts something fierce, but it's helpful! I also him adjusting my feet, because something happens that he explained but I have forgotten--maybe it's called my metatarsal arch? Anyway, basically the ball of my foot goes bonkers from running and it hurts a lot but then he fixes it. I think I need to have my feet worked on this afternoon again, come to think of it. Maybe that will help me get motivated to get moving. We'll see.

I think I will try to hit the gym this evening for a run. I do need to go a few more times before the month is up, so that my insurance covers some of the membership costs. My training buddy is out of town for a few days, but we might try another lake swim on Sunday or early next week! I need to go for a few more long bike rides in the next few weeks, but then I'll be good to go for race day! I'm really appreciating the more relaxed approach to triathlon training. Maybe I'm just that lazy, but at least I'm enjoying myself!

Lake Swim

That's right, folks: I swam in a lake. A gross, murky, seaweed-infested lake full of sharks and shipwrecks and squids and probably the Loch Ness monster in there too. At least, that's what my crazy brain kept thinking every time I had to put my face back in the water. I miss my nice clear pool water! I want to see that blue tile stripe showing me where to go! But I have done the lake swim and will do a couple other lakes in the coming three weeks (eep!) before The Big Day.

Let's share some more details. First, a picture! (I don't have a lot of those, sorry. I'm not one of those people that wants to put pictures of myself sweating on the Interwebs.)

Thanks to the magic of cell phone cameras, we have this picture of me, my friend/swim coach Jess, and my training buddy KC. This was shot moments before we plunged into Silver Lake, shown behind us. Just look at us in our swim caps! My roommate Anna sat on the beach with our stuff, and she reported a child saying of us, "They must be really good! They have hats!"

A few details about the swim: First of all, it was c-c-c-cold. Hopefully another 3 weeks will warm up the lake in Clearwater! It was manageable, though, so I'm not worried about it. Second of all: I am SO THANKFUL for Jess! Without her, we would have been... well, sunk, pun more or less intended. KC would consistently swim off at a 90-degree angle to the direction we wanted to go; and I freaked out every three strokes or so about the nasty murky water. Thanks to goggles, I could open my eyes underwater, but I couldn't see anything. It was gross and kind of nightmare-ish for me. I have anxiety about deep water a little bit. Oh, also, any time I would swim by a piece of seaweed I would scream. Couldn't help it. It's gross enough when it touches my leg when I'm not expecting it, but when I put my face back in the water after taking a breath and there's this piece of something nasty staring at me, waving in the current or whatever, it's kind of terrifying. Seriously, I would never survive in the wild. I better stay away from the ocean.

Anyhow, the solution that the three of us came up with was pretty great. KC would swim to one side of Jess, so she could keep him steering in the right direction. Then I would swim close behind Jess, so I could see her feet and knew that I was not left alone to die a murky death in the middle of some godforsaken lake. (Did I mention I have anxiety about deep water?) With that foot security right in front of my face, I made much better progress, except when we swam around an island that had enough seaweed by it that I had to stop every stroke and a half to scream. But the swimming part itself was not bad. The only problem was that I was not relaxed in the water at all, so I was having a much harder time breathing. Hopefully a few more lake excursions will get me accustomed to the ick. Also, on Race Day, there will be hundreds of people swimming together, so unless I'm really super awful bad, I should be able to see other people throughout the duration of the swim. That will help a lot.

I'm not a good enough swimmer to go fast enough to actually fatigue my muscles; so in that respect, I hope I'll do all right for the other two legs of the race. I'm feeling pretty good about the swim portion of the tri. Now I just have to convince myself to train a little more with the running and the biking. I've been pretty complacent in both areas, I'll admit. One of these next couple swims, I'm hoping we'll be able to swim for a while and then get right on a bike. That transition will be weird, I think, so good to practice before The Event. Same thing with the bike-to-run transition. All right, Ruth. Let's go.

Strange(r) Encouragement

There are some strangely friendly and easily impressed people at my gym. Yesterday I went for a quick swim and the lady in the lane next to me started talking to me. She asked if my goggles worked. Strange question right there, if you ask me. But I told her all about how goggles changed my life. (Side note: I have to type that word twice every single time because I always write googles the first time! Anyone else?) Anyway, she commented on my flip turning... apparently she was in the pool during one of my flip turn lessons. She was pretty impressed with my progress, I guess. That's not the first time someone in the pool has taken note of my swim routine and talked to me about it, either! Several months ago, a lady in the water aerobics class noticed the drills I was doing in the open lane at the end of the pool, and spoke to me after class. She was very impressed with a one-arm-only drill I did.

Both of those instances were pretty strange to me. I generally don't talk to people I don't know at the gym. I love seeing people I do know there--and I often do--but sweaty or swimsuit-clad strangers? Eh... I'll pass. Nevertheless, it was pretty great to get some truly unbiased encouragement. I have a fantastic amount of support from friends, family, patients, and my boss and his wife, and I am so grateful for that! But getting a random unsolicited compliment from a total stranger is also kind of awesome, especially when they notice an area where I find myself struggling. The one-arm drill that caught the first woman's eye was really hard! And flip turns are definitely not my strong suit. (Is that a swimming pun? Oh, I amuse myself...)

Anyhow, I did appreciate the encouragement from this random lady in the pool last night. Every little bit of motivation helps! This afternoon I'll be going for a short run--should be about 21 minutes--over my lunch break. There is some fantastic weather going on outside, so I am looking forward to that. Tomorrow my plan is to fit in a long bike ride (70 minutes) and a long swim (35 minutes)--we'll see how that goes! Swim first, probably. Between the two, that's a large percentage of my day spent on training! But Friday I head out of town for a wedding, so I've got to cram things in a bit more this week. I'll definitely keep y'all posted on how the double workout goes.

Sixteen laps!

I did 'em! All sixteen laps, all at once, on a Friday afternoon. That's a pretty productive lunch break, if you ask me. In case you don't remember, sixteen laps is equal to half a mile, which is slightly over the distance I have to go for this triathlon. (The actual race distance is .41 miles, so I'm good to go.)

There were two other people in the pool, and we were all wearing swim caps and goggles; the non-swimmer in me felt like I was part of The Club finally. The lady two lanes over was not doing flip turns, and I was, so I felt even cooler. The guy in the lane next to me was the really intense guy who I see at lunch sometimes; and my flip turns next to his were terrible as usual. Also, he could swim faster than me when he was doing drills that didn't even involve his arms. Awesome. But he wears Crocs to walk out to the pool, so I think I win.

All judgment of my fellow swimmers aside, the swim itself went well. I felt good the entire time, except that I somehow have lost my earplugs so I get water in one of my ears. I spent the next two hours after my swim at work with my head tilted to the right and finally succeeded in getting the water to drain. I hate having water in my ears. (I think subconsciously I imagine it goes in my ear and straight into my brain, so that freaks me out.) Anyway, the sustained head tilting probably contributed to my stiff neck later on in the afternoon. Lucky for me I work for a chiropractor and could have Dr. Eric take a look at it.

I don't know what the deal is, but swimming tends to make one specific muscle in my neck tense up. It's at the base of my neck on the right side (I should ask my boss more specifically what that muscle is). I wonder if it's from the breathing to the side; that's a common cause of injury with swimmers, along with shoulder problems. But I breathe every third stroke so I am turning my head to both sides, so I wonder why just the one side has problems. Maybe I'm not rolling evenly in the water, so when I turn to the right my neck has to work harder? For those of you who don't know, when you swim freestyle like what I'm doing, your body is actually supposed to roll from side to side with your arm lifting out of the water. I think it helps you cut through the water, and it's also a lot easier on shoulders, back, and neck. I'll have to pay more attention to my roll next time I swim.

In other news: I didn't do any training at all over the whole long weekend. I gardened, I helped some friends move into a new house, and I did some cleaning; but I did not go to the gym or run or even touch my bike at all. Oops. It was a nice break... but I also feel like the past few weeks have been a total break for me! And I now have less than six weeks until the big event! After my 16-lap swim on Friday, I am feeling pretty confident about at least being able to finish all of the three portions; my goal is just to finish and that's it. I do have to start doubling up my workouts: go for a swim and then bike right after; or go for a run as soon as I finish a long bike ride. That would, incidentally, streamline my weekly workouts, which totally appeals to my suddenly-lazy self. Oh dear. Should I be more concerned about this triathlon? Eh... for today, at least, it is too lovely outside for anything other than carefree enjoyment of exercise!

The road to hell...

...is paved with good intentions, right? Heh. I have found myself confronted by my good intentions this week. And I had so many! Such good intentions for this blog--consistency and cleverness and helpfulness in posting! Ha. Such good intentions for my training--did I mention that my original training plan included eight workouts a week? Ha and double ha. I'm even incapable of following through on seemingly minor good intentions--like getting a new swimsuit. My "real" swimsuit is more of a sit-on-the-beach-suit, not so much an actively-swim-suit; so I've been training in a hand-me-down suit that is noticeably ancient, and have somehow never managed to get myself a new one in all these months! At least I managed to finally get myself a swim cap, which may actually squish my brains out. It makes my head feel huge and look tiny. Strange, huh?

This week in particular, my training seems to have just gone down the drain, right behind my motivation. Swimming has not been affected so much, I suppose. I swam (swum? swimmed?) sprints on Tuesday, which was kind of random but fun. I usually just swim my allotted time at a regular pace, but this week I decided to push a little harder for my short swim. Probably good experience, but man was I pooped. I will be going for my longer swim today over lunch. I plan to take it slow and steady... or perhaps just slow and slower.

As far as my other training goes--well, that's where my good intentions lead to you-know-where. My original plan included a serious weight lifting regimen twice a week; I cut it way back after about a month, and now have not even touched a free weight in two weeks. Oops. Two bike rides a week? Well, I cut it down to one long ride, and that may or may not happen this week. To be fair, I don't have a car; I bike everywhere anyway, so I'm not terribly worried on that front. I'm too lazy to bother with feeling worried.

The two runs a week will also not be happening this week, unless I get super motivated to go for a run tomorrow or Sunday morning--but let's be honest, that's so not going to happen. I'd rather sleep. I did go for the longer of the two runs with my roommate on Wednesday, which was wonderful. We ran all around Silverwood Park, a spot I highly recommend to locals. We ran for half an hour and went significantly faster than the short run we did together last week (I was so tired and crabby about that run!), so things are looking up in the running department, aside from the irregularity in training.

I suppose all in all I'm trying to find a balance of adequate preparation and appropriate sanity as I approach this triathlon (Countdown alert: Race day is six weeks from tomorrow! Yikes!). I ran the Twin Cities 10-Mile race last October, and ended up having a terrible experience because I never allowed myself to rest! I was so strict with my training regimen that I started to hate running, my training group, and myself. Seriously, I was angry about the race the entire time. Such a badittude. (Get it? Badittude? Bad plus attitude? I love that word.) I don't want this triathlon to be that kind of experience. I want to train because I enjoy the activity, because I want to, not because I feel like I have something to prove or have to live up to someone else's expectation. Maybe I'll finish hours behind all the other triathletes, but you know what? That's just fine by me. Too bad there's already a blog titled "The Lazy Triathlete;" otherwise you know I'd be all over that.

Flip turn update

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been ages (it seems) since my last post. What can I say? Life gets busy! And I have certainly been flying around--work has been crazy busy the past couple of weeks, I've had meetings and outings crammed into every spare moment, and oh, did I mention that I'm training for a triathlon? I'm only just now able to catch my breath and think about what's been going on! 

Without further ado, then, let me give you the short-version update: I learned how to do a flip turn! Now that I'm swimming longer and longer, it's helpful not to have to stop and touch the wall to turn around at each length. Also flip turns look awesome. See?

My friend/college swimmer Jess taught me (again) how to do a flip turn, and the second time was much more successful. My flip turns are nothing like the video above, but they're getting there! I'd say about half the time I complete an amateur-but-functional flip turn, and the other half of the time my flip turns look more like this:

Seriously. Just imagine that moose being under water--one great big awkward moment, limbs all akimbo, some struggling, then quickly moving away trying to pretend like nothing just happened.

It's only embarrassing when there are really good swimmers in the pool, and I'm there flailing around, ending up in other people's lanes, hitting the floor of the pool, and generally making a fool of myself. Ah well. I've seen one guy several times when I hit the gym over my lunch break, and I happened to catch one of his flip turns in action the other day. It was so inspirational.

Also big news in my swim-training: I swam 17 laps on Wednesday! The race is just under a half-mile, which is 16 laps, so I'm good to go! I'm pretty sure I've done it before, but the problem with learning flip turns is that I suddenly lost the ability to count laps while swimming and flip-turning. Too much to think about! Wednesday was the first time I remembered to count how many laps I was doing. I'm so glad I did--earlier in my training I had estimated my finish time at 32--35 minutes. Then I looked up finish times from last year's triathlon, and the people at the end of the pack were finishing the swim in maybe 24 or 25 minutes... and I was picturing myself as a tiny little spec on the horizon of the lake at that point, slowly splashing my way to the next leg of the race!

My 17-lap stint the other day reassured me: I'm still going to be at the back of the pack, but at least it looks like my time should fall in the realm of normalcy. I was beginning to feel like I was stuck in one of those bad dreams, where you have to run, but you can only move in slow motion... what a terrible way to begin a race! So I am very glad to find that I am right on track for my swim time; and my coach-friend Jess also told me that my time will only get better from here as I continue training! I suppose that makes sense, but I had not thought of it. Hurray for encouragement! That's so key at this point in training.

Stay tuned: Next week I'll update y'all on my non-swimming training!

So Sporty

I got a new watch last week.

The Easter Bunny brought me exactly one egg, but it had money in it, not candy (best Easter egg ever!). Instead of replacing the ratty old shoes that I wear everywhere as the Easter Bunny suggested, I chose to get a watch for my triathlon training. What can I say, I have my priorities. I really should replace those flats, though. They are finally growing holes after being worn for years, all over the world, through all sorts of weather conditions (ask about the snowstorm in Amsterdam sometime!) and the time finally has come that they should go the way of all mortal flesh.

Anyhow, enough about my strange attachment to my cheap shoes. I got a watch from The Wal-Marts for like ten bucks because it was the plainest waterproof design. It's good up to 50 meters, and since I don't like deep water anyway, I'm sure that will suit me just fine. My watch is silver and oh-so-sporty looking on my wrist. I chose silver over pink and am now regretting that decision, but otherwise this watch is perfect. It's very helpful to have the time in great big numbers right on my wrist, rather than stopping mid-swim to squint up at the analog clock which I can hardly read to begin with. I use the alarm to make sure I swim long enough but know when to stop. It's a great little system!

Now, for a quick update on the non-swimming parts of triathlon training: My roommate and I went for this week's long bike ride last night. We biked out to Snail Lake Park, which I would highly recommend for anyone in the area. The trails are great for cross country skiing in the winter, and just as fabulous for biking or running in the summer. It's so beautiful, in fact, that my 58-minute bike ride turned into a 90-minute bike ride. Oops! But I think I might do my training more like this from now on, because I bike everywhere, so I go on many 10-, 15-, or 20-minute bike rides throughout the week. Rather than adding a 35-plus-minute and a 58-plus-minute bike ride on top of that (my current training plan has me biking, swimming, and running twice a week each), I plan to just go on one extended bike once a week for my training. I think that will work out well with my schedule as well as my training needs. Plus I get to feel all important as I custom-design my training plan!

So that's where I am for now. Stay tuned, though: Tomorrow evening, my training buddy KC and I are both going to try to learn flip turns! We'll see if he has better luck than I did the last time I tried to learn.

Social Swimming is Weird

Last night I experienced a "social swim" for the very first time. I had never even heard of such a thing. A social swim simply means that you're sharing a lane with more than one other person; so instead of going back and forth on one side of a lane while the other person swims on the other side, all three or four or however many people swim in long skinny ovals so you don't run into each other.

Here's the story: I was at the gym with my dear friend and occasional swim coach. We were going for a swim first, and then at the end she was going to try again to teach me how to do a flip turn. It'd be a really helpful skill, now that I'm swimming longer distances. Plus I would feel awesome. (Unfortunately, the last time I tried to learn the flip turn, I kept running into the floor. Yowch.) Anyhow, after only ten minutes of our swim, the pool was suddenly invaded by Aqua Fit--one of those really strange water aerobics classes mostly attended by people much older than I, to put it gently. My swimming buddy and I were already sharing a lane due to lack of space; now we had to share it with two other women! Hence the social swim idea: If we all just swim in ovals, keeping to the right, we can all four use one lane.

The problem with this arrangement was... I'm sorry to say... me. One girl finished up her swim pretty quickly, but the other three of us were socially swimming for probably half an hour. And let me tell you, I am slow. I'm not the slowest of the slow (occasionally when I'm swimming on my own I will "pass" someone in another lane, and I get really excited for myself), but compared to My Friend the College Swimmer and the other swimmer in our lane, I am slow slow slow. I had to stop at the end several times to let the others pass me. Ah well, I'm learning.

Part of the strangeness of this social swim was the Aqua Fit class (did I mention that many of the women are actually wearing sneakers in the pool? And that this particular class was led by a very middle-aged woman in a seafoam-green bikini? I found this very interesting). The class takes up most of the pool and does a lot of kicking and bouncing and things that create a very weird current in the single lane at the end. It was probably good practice for swimming in a lake! Seriously, a few times I thought I was going to be swept out to sea or dashed into the side of the pool.

So that was my latest (mis?)adventure in the realm of swimming. In other news, training is going pretty well. I was able to stay on track (minus one bike ride) even with a trip out of town last week. Most importantly, I am coming to terms with the statement My goal is to finish. This is very true of me and this triathlon. I realize more and more that merely crossing that finish line will be quite an accomplishment; setting time goals for myself is just plain unhelpful at this point. Truth be told, I probably will be at the end of the pack. And, to keep up this honesty thing, I have to admit that I don't really like that thought. But it will be all right. Just a few months ago I could hardly swim from one end of the pool to the other; so finishing a half-mile swim alone, not to mention the other two activities, is a pretty big deal.

When It Rains, It Pours

After two weeks of no swimming due to an unfortunate incident, I found myself quite excited to get back in the pool. I also found myself coming down with a hum-dinger of a head/chest cold, which kept me away from swimming for almost another entire week. I didn't go to the gym at all in fact; I even took a morning off work, slept as much as I could (twelve hours one night!) and just tried my best to recover.

At looooooong last, I found myself finally feeling up for a swim on Wednesday night. I was so excited and energized! But I also felt a smidgen of fear about how the swim would go--after almost three weeks' break, how much endurance would I have lost? Would I be back to the proverbial drawing board? (Could I say... back to the diving board?)

Well, folks, I'm very happy to report that all was not lost during my several-week-long hiatus. I swam about ten laps total, with at least three consecutively--and I felt that I could have done more! I think I'm finally finding a rhythm of swimming that feels comfortable. I can swim without getting so out of breath that I'm gasping for air after three laps. That's quite an accomplishment! Once I have a sustainable pace, I just have to keep building on laps... all the way up to sixteen! I've got quite a way to go, since I'm only at 3 right now... but it will happen!

I also checked in with my triathlon buddy K.C. We hit the gym together last night, planning to go for quick treadmill runs. Unfortunately for me, in the rush of getting picked up for the gym, I completely forgot my running shoes. Not good. (Maybe my subconscious knew I needed more time to recover from my sickness?) Anyhow, I ended up going for a "brisk walk" while K.C. jogged away next to me. Maybe I'm a terrible person, but I found it encouraging to hear that he has also been a bit lax in training recently. We both need a bit of a kick in the pants, it seems. Well, I will be heading out of town for Easter this coming week, but I hope to continue training in the meantime and perhaps even get in some training runs or even swims at the hotel. Do people even swim laps in hotel pools? What if the pool is filled with awkward preteens? What do I do then?

I think my imagination has gone a-wandering. I guess I'd better just focus on swimming when it's time to swim, and let those tweeners do their own thang.

Happy Friday, y'all! Hope you have a great weekend.

On the Road Again

I had to take a week off my training after my accident--I tried to go for a run last week and it kind of messed my head up, I think. I needed regular adjustments again after the fall, but I'm getting better very quickly, it seems. The cuts on my eyebrow/eyelid are mostly healed up, although I still do have a really freaky-looking half-red eye. If I look at you sideways, you can't see that my right eye has any white in it at all. It's pretty sinister. I feel like I should use this to my advantage while it lasts, but I'm not exactly sure how.

Anyhow, back to training! Because... I am. Last week I was still biking around to get to work etc, but nothing of any great distance. Aside from my one disastrous run early in the week, that was all the exercising I was doing. I did go to the gym once--to sit in the hot tub. Someone's gotta do it, you know? But last night I hit the gym for reals, meaning I went for a moderately fast-paced 15-minute run. I didn't want to go too far or too fast on my first workout in a week. It felt so good though! My body missed working out. I still can't swim for another few days (my cuts need a little more healing time before I impose goggles onto them) but I will be lifting weights, running, and biking this week. I'm so glad to be (somewhat) back in the swing of things!

Oh, PS--I added the link to my triathlon on the side! Check it out!

One step forward, two steps back

Triathlon training officially began on Sunday, March 20th! The first week was a bit of an adjustment (Is that a pun? Is anyone else amused at my chiropractic humor?) as I was making the shift from working out three or four times a week to having eight different workouts to complete every week. That's right, my triathlon training is eight days a week. (Get it? Catch the reference? Admit it, folks, I'm a hoot!)

Ahem. Anyhow. My first week of training was fantastic! I really enjoyed getting into The Actual Training. The first week was quite manageable, also: Running 15 and 20 minutes, Biking 25 and 40 minutes, and Swimming 12 and 20 minutes--all of those spread out across the week so I don't do the same thing two days in a row. I also lift weights twice a week, which I think improves my performance in all of my triathlon activities. (Also I love lifting!) And I'm not actually training eight days a week; I double up on two days since my activities are still pretty short, so I can even have one whole day of rest!

Alas... now for the two steps back: On Friday afternoon, I biked over a patch of ice and hit my face on the ground. Whammo. Oh--did I mention that I had just finished my second swim for the week, hitting the gym over my lunch break? And did I mention that I was trying out a new path hoping (correctly) that it was a shortcut back to work from the gym? For Friday, at least, it was a shortcut out of work and into the ER. The good news is, I don't have a concussion; I didn't have to get stitches because Dr. Moses said the cuts are too close to my eye, so he glued them up instead; and aside from a nasty multi-colored right eye, headaches, and a spine that looks a bit like a boomerang, according to my boss, I am just fine. (Side note: I am so glad I work for a chiropractor!) The bad news is that I can't swim for 2 weeks--no goggles or chlorinated public pool water on this wound for a good long while. Ugh. Also, it looks gross. That's bad news too, let's be honest.

But I will be able to continue with the biking and running portions of my training; I will just have to avoid icy trails and stick to the nice dry roads! I'll keep you posted on my progress in those arenas!

Status update

It's officially official: I am registered for the Graniteman Triathlon on July 9th! This is for real now. And since it's for real, let me update y'all on the triathlon situation. My group of friends doing the tri has been slowly dwindling; so now only one other guy and I are registered. How does that phrase go again--the few, the proud? ... I wonder if I can apply that to non-Marines. 

I am spending a fair amount of time in a marine setting (like that segue? Nice, yes?) as I still attempt to learn to swim. I feel more and more confident and relaxed in the water, which is exactly what I need to be feeling. On Wednesday, I swam a ladder (in 25-yard lengths: 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1) over my lunch break and it was fabulous. I think that 5 lengths (2 1/2 laps, 125 yards) is the longest I've gone so far--but today I'm planning to squeeze a set of at least 3 laps (150 yards) into my workout once or twice. My Wednesday ladder totaled 625 yards, which is getting close to the 750 I'll need to get to before the tri. So the distance begins to seem manageable--I just have to figure out how to do it without stopping! Killer.

As far as the other two sports involved in the triathlon go: My biking habits are sadly lacking at present. I popped my rear bike tire just before the first big snow last fall; and since that snow never went away, not to mention that it's been snowing every 36 hours since then, I just haven't gotten around to fixing it. (I am not yet hardcore enough to bike all winter long--next year though!) That's high on my to-do list. Once I get a new tire, I'll be biking everywhere again, and I'm really looking forward to it. Yes, it's still cold. But I would rather bike 20 minutes in the cold than walk 45 minutes in the cold, especially now that the snow is starting to melt during the day and turn the sidewalks into long, skinny skating rinks. I also plan to take a spin class or two at my gym once training "officially" starts. I'm still in the pre-training, I think. Now that I mention it, though, I'm not entirely sure when I actually do start real training. Better look into that...

And what about running? you ask--How's that going? Well, my friends, it's going. I have been running at the gym occasionally; I'd guess once or twice a week. I've generally only gone a mile or so, because I tend to run after lifting weights. After about an hour and a half at the gym, I start to feel like a gym rat and need to leave immediately. But enough excuses--I ran just over 2 miles the other day and started to remember that I sometimes do enjoy runs in the 20-to-40-minute time range. I'm even thinking about the 5K at the end of the triathlon; should I try to increase my speed some on this run? It'll be at the end of the event, so maybe I will want to die. On the other hand, it'll be at the end of the event, so maybe I'll have crazy amounts of adrenaline and will just fly the entire run. But I ran the Twin Cities 10-Mile at well over a 10-minute mile pace, maybe 10.30 or so. I'd like to do 3 miles (5K) at a faster pace, I think. And if I want to go faster, I better set a concrete goal so I can train with that in mind. I think a 9-minute mile is feasible... What about 8? Or 7:30? Any thoughts on this one?

Flip turns and various other things

I'm halfway through my second week of a "learn-to-swim-in-3-months" program. Hurray! It's so helpful to have a plan like that. I'm still not sure how I'm going to fit the 3 months of this program and the 4-month triathlon training plan I have into the 5 months before this triathlon... For now, I'm just trying to keep my head above water right down in that water!

Even more helpful than this swim plan was an actual swim lesson that I got from my friend Jess this past Sunday. Not only was Jess a competitive swimmer in college, but she's also a teacher now, so she's really good at explaining things and encouraging and thinking of creative ways to help me figure out how to do what she's telling me to do. For example: I wanted to learn to do a flip turn. When you're doing lap after lap in a 25-yard pool, stopping and turning around at the end of each length gets really old. Plus, flip turns are so cool! In my mind, if I can learn a flip turn, then I'm a real swimmer. Based on my experience on Sunday... we'll see if I ever get there.

Flip turns require a quick, tight flip in the water. You propel yourself downwards and around and then push off the wall with a twist. My problem so far is the whole buoyancy thing--there's nothing against which I can propel myself downwards and around to even get to the wall! I end up with a very deep, not very tight flip, which generally ends with me pushing myself off the pool wall and straight onto the pool floor. I only did a few flip turns in our practice, largely because I kept scraping all or part of my person on the bottom of the pool. But I will try, try again, I suppose.

Of course, flip turns are a very small part of what Jess showed me. Equally helpful was the swim cap she let me borrow! Gosh, my head felt funny. It floated in the water differently, the whole thing was a very strange experience. But I intend to get my own--yet another step towards becoming a real swimmer. Also, Jess told me to focus on keeping my hips up and head down--to be long and flat in the water, rather than dragging my legs behind me. I'm learning to think about that as I swim, and it's great! I can already feel the difference.

Also, Jess adjusted my hand placement. When I put my hands in the water, I was placing them almost directly over my head, rather than directly over my shoulder. With time, she said, I could develop some serious shoulder problems. I've already had to have my boss, Dr. Eric, work on my shoulders a few times. Swimming is hard on those joints and muscles! My whole upper back (sometimes lower back too) gets really tight. So I'm also trying to remember to point my hands directly above my shoulders on my stroke. Jess said my elbows were nice and high, as they should be, and that I was doing well for how short a time I've been swimming! What fantastic encouragement!

Slowly but surely, I am learning! I had an "endurance" workout today (my plan has one day of drills, one day of endurance, and one day of drills and endurance work). Today's workout included a warm-up and cool-down, with three sets of two laps in the middle. Two laps does not seem so far; I've done it before. But it's been a while, so it was challenging--especially doing two continuous laps, resting briefly, then heading right back into another two laps; and then doing that again! I went into the first set too hard, I think, so I had to dial it back and swim at a more relaxed pace for the second and third sets. Two laps is as far as I go this week and next; but the week after that it jumps up to six! Yikes!

All I can say is, hopefully by then I can do a flip turn.

Inspiration in limbo

I kind of despise this training-for-the-training phase of my...well, training. It is, as the title of this post suggests, a feeling of limbo. I feel like I've been going for months without getting anywhere; but I also haven't been all that disciplined about swimming, to be honest. Shame on me. Granted, this phase is bizarre and motivation-draining, but I really have no excuse. So today I decided to kick my swimsuit-clad heinie into gear. You'll have to wait for the unveiling of my master swim plan, but for now let me tell you about how I am getting over my own inertia.

I am very strongly externally motivated (hence my needneedneed for work-out buddies), so it comes as no surprise that my new-found training vigor did not just spring forth from my subconscious. I had two inspirations: First, one of my patients here at the chiropractor has been asking me how training is going. (You know who you are.  :) Hi there!) It really is helpful to have that little reminder--other people know that I'm doing this. I'm not alone in a vacuum. I'm just alone in a swimming pool. Ha! I kid, I kid. Thanks to those of you who have mentioned this blog and offered support and encouragement--it is so appreciated!

My second inspiration came very unexpectedly. I ran into one of my college professors at the gym last night. This guy was one of my advisers, one of my favorite profs, and actually one of--if not the--best educators at my school. Oh, and did I mention that he's an Ironman triathlete? Yeah, this guy's insane. I have a vague memory of a story where he completed an Ironman in Texas... in the summer. I have three things to say about that: Yuck, yuck, and yuck.

But back to my point: This professor and I chatted briefly about triathlons. Not only was I able to voice my phobias surrounding this event (fact: I have bad dreams about Things That Live in Deep Water), but I was also able to hear the voice of his experience, and it was so encouraging. In his first-ever triathlon, he came in second to last. And now he's competing in multiple triathlons this summer. Multiple, everyone. He mentioned four or five specifically, "plus a few others." Those are his words exactly. Who is this guy, seriously? Anyhow, it was helpful to see that even Triathlon Man himself had a humble start. Maybe I'll be okay after all.  

Indecision

Here comes the "but."

You know how people sometimes say things that sound like stand-alone statements, but you can just tell there's a "...but..." clause that will be following quickly? Well, that's kind of what I'm going to do here. My last post ("I've found a triathlon!") sounded like a stand-alone statement, a done deal. This post, then, brings the "but," which is this: Maybe I didn't after all.

It's a pretty simple story. I did indeed find a triathlon, and it's quite perfect for me and I would love to sign up for the New Bri Tri. But, but, but... My triathlon buddies are out of town for several very legitimate reasons like weddings that weekend. And I really want to do this triathlon with my triathlon buddies.

Have I mentioned that I have triathlon buddies? I just read that research shows weight-loss journeys are far more likely to succeed when attempted with friends or family. I think the principle holds true for Very Big Things like completing triathlons. I need people to keep me accountable and motivated, especially for an event such as a triathlon that requires months of preparation. And especially right now, when snow is falling outside my window as often as not; when I wear long underwear at work and drink hot water all day long (not even tea, mind you, just plain hot water... I'm such a weirdo), and when my trip to the gym last night consisted of a long soak in the hot tub and absolutely nothing else--it is at times like this when I need that extra boost.

 So: the New Bri Tri is not for me. We're now looking at a July 9th triathlon which is out in Clearwater or something. I have no idea where Clearwater is. Two of my tri buddies are off adventuring in South America for a bit, so we'll nail down the details once they return. Until then, I'll try to conjure up what motivation I can to get back into the pool. I'm able to swim 2 whole laps together now, so... I'm getting there! My next goal is to learn the flip that competitive swimmers do at the end of the pool to turn around.