First Swim!

Last Saturday I got in the pool for the first time in 14 years!

I'd been dreading this for a while but I figured the unknown (how bad my swimming really is) was worse than the known (it can't be that bad, right?), so I made a swim date with my friend/former competitive swimmer/former swim coach and off we went to a local community pool.

Ofcourse this was preceded with the painful experience of getting a one-piece swimsuit (who new getting a decent one piece would be harder than getting a bikini?), but that's a story for another day - or never - I digress.

So we meet at the pool, hop into our bathers and head for the pool deck. At this point I start to worry that the 1.5 hr lane swim time slot we've showed up for probably won't be enough time for me to even GET IN the water (it takes my FOREVER to get into anything below 24 degrees) but much to my surprise, the water is super warm and I jump in without a problem. (Family and friends : True story, no lie, I have a witness!)

Anywho, the next hour and a half was spent doing various 25m length combos to warm up, show my friend my front crawl, practice arms only, practice legs only, and then practice based on some specific feedback. Turns out my crawl isn't as bad as I thought. Granted, to date it's relied heavily on my kick and my arms have contributed nothing but a pretty little windmill movement but it's nothing a few tweaks can't fix (JD, I hope you were being honest and weren't just sugar-coating it :).

Needed tweaks:

- keep my hands closed
- rotate my body more in the water to get more power from my stroke
- extend my stroke all the way past my hips
- alternate breathing.

Overall I think I swam about 1km that day. Not bad for my first time out.

Here's a great vid my friend shared with me that addresses some of the issues listed above.

"C" is for Complete!

Wohoo! I'm finally managing to complete my weekly training schedule - it's been two weeks now. All it took is a little time management and determination. I'm feeling a lot better about my training now than I did in my last post. Feels like I'm finally "getting in the zone".

The past two weeks have looked as follow ....

Two week ago
Monday : CrossFit
Tuesday : running (speedwork)
Wendesday : Est. 50K bike (trainer)
Thursday : 45min. run (hills) + CrossFit
Friday : Rest day (w/ 1.5 hr. massage!)
Saturday : Long bike  (+ a swim!)
Sunday : Long run

This past week
Monday : CrossFit
Tuesday : Missed running
Wednesday : 45K bike (outside!) + Running (speedwork I should have done on Tuesday).
Thursday : 45min. run (hills) + CrossFit
Friday : Rest day
Saturday : Long run
Sunday : Long bike (trainer)

Boy did I ever need that massage last Friday. The ride on the trainer was particularly brutal. After about the 1.5 hr mark my calves started to seize on me every 10 minutes or so, so I kept on having to stop and stretch them out. Then Thursday's hills left my hammies pretty sore. Here's where the mental training begins ... pushing through the pain and soreness.

The "F" word : Frustrating

This past week's training was a total wash.

The week started off with some unexpected travel which cut out my long run on Sunday. I made up for it on Monday (typically no run/bike day), but missed CrossFit.

Tuesday's speedwork didn't happen (still travelling).

Wednesday's bike ride didn't happen and CrosssFit was just pathetic.
I figured I'd start to see some negative gains eventually due to my increased endurance work but I didn't think I'd see it so soon. Grr ... I hate looking at the WOD board at the end of the day only to see my times and weight dropping behind that of people I was matching just a little while ago.

Thursday & Friday : training got skipped due to work drama.

Saturday & Sunday : hubby and I went camping for the weekend.

So frustrating week to say the least. Camping was good though. The complete disconnect was needed and very much appreciated. It gave me a chance to put some decent thought to my training and build a new plan of attack. I'll implement this week and see how it goes.

Next time I'm super frustrated,
I just need to look at this picture :)

Need to get my sh*t in order ...

A week and a half into my training and it's obvious I need to get my sh*t in order. It already seems like there aren't enough hours in the day and my training is pretty light right now compared to what it eventually will be.

Sooooo, like people who track every expense in a given time period to see where their money is really going, I'm going to track my time over the next week to see where it really goes. I'm hoping this will help me find some wasted time that I can put towards training. A few things I've already identified :

- Need to use my mornings (i.e. prime running time)
- Spend less time getting ready for work.
- Leave work at work.
- Need to go to bed and wake up at more regular times.

Training for this past first week wasn't bad. I haven't yet felt run down or super tired. But, I'm sure it's on its way.

Tuesday - speedwork run (treadmill)
Wednesday - CrossFit (as a substitute for not making it out biking)
Thursday - run (outside)
Friday - CrossFit
Saturday - bike (on trainer)
Sunday - nothing (should have run)
Monday - run (to make up for Sunday - treadmill)

Saturday's bike ride was in the basement on a trainer due to this weekend's torrential downpour. Interesting learning : I have no problem running on a treadmill -- time seems to pass pretty quickly. On a trainer though, time goes by painfully slow. Ugh. I'm going to need to find a way to change that given the cold months are coming up quickly and all my rides will soon be indoors.

  

Basement trainer set-up - thanks to my awesome hubby!
Yup - that's an old PEUGEOT bike. I'll replace it with mine
once the weather turns cold.

Training has officially started!

So it's good to know that a few people are reading this and as a result have nagged me about not posting in a while (Thanks VM). Really. I appreciate it. It keeps me honest about my training. So here goes ...

Over the past few weeks I've continued to work out, even up'd my game a bit by running a few times per week in addition to my CrossFit workouts, but I can't say I've been training for the Ironman per say as I haven't been doing anything really ... organized (for lack of a better word). Until today!

Today was Day 1 of my first run/bike program. (Program provided by the tri coach I mentioned in my last post, who I've signed up with for the next three months to see how it goes). Today's workout involved speed work:

2 x 1 km (1:30 rest btw) First at 10K pace, second at 5K pace.
4 x 500m (1:00 rest btw) All faster than 5K pace.
2 x 1 km (1:30 rest btw) Both at 5K pace.

I didn't get home until late and once dinner was done it was dark and raining so I headed to the gym. Although I would like to do as much running as possible outside, no matter the weather so that come race-day I'm prepared for anything ... not today. Instead I just added a bit of incline to the workout. I was also thinking that, given the workout was speed work, the treadmill had the added advantage of being able to easily monitor my pace and distance.

The work out went well. I was feeling pretty good after (although looking back at it now, I probably could have and should have done the 4 x 500m faster), so I threw in three rounds of Cindy for good measure (since I missed CrossFit the other day). Not my best idea. First off because I couldn't remember Cindy properly (instead of 15 squats, I did 15 burpees - which did me in) and because the bar I did the pull ups on had a crap grip so I almost flew off and landed flat on my back. LOL. All is good though. I will live to see another day.

I'm happy to say I did this after a tough ride on Sunday -- a 56 miler from Kanata to the Gatineaus, up to Champlain Point and back. (Thanks for the company DG!) It was a good mental/physical check to see where I stand with my biking. At 56 miles, the ride was exactly half the Ironman biking distance (112 miles) and somewhat comparable to the hilly Lake Placid bike course. The ride took us 3.47 so if I can maintain that pace for two rounds, I'll be looking at finishing the bike portion in just under 8 hours. I hoping my training can get me down to 7 hrs.

That's it for now. I need to get more sleep (she says as she signs off, 1.5 hours after her intended bedtime).