Final Workout!

Tuesday: Bike ~14.5 miles
Wednesday: Swim 300 yards, run 25 minutes
Today: Swim ONE MILE!
Tomorrow: Absolutely nothing. Woot!

I took my bike for another spin with the 14 tooth cog. 36 hours from race day and I still don't know which one I'm going to ride (14 vs 16). Way to put off things until the last minute, huh?

I did my final run on Wednesday and my last swim tonight at Masters class. I hadn't planned on swimming that long or that far, but I ended up doing 3X500 and a 150. I also found out the pools is yards, not meters, so I went a whole mile tonight. Morgan said that my form was really good throughout which surprised me; I expected that as I grew more tired my form would get sloppy. I feel really good about tonight's workout; I'm going to stretch well tonight and tomorrow and enjoy my in-laws coming into town to cheer us on.

I probably won't be on again until Sunday, so wish me luck! Or at least send good thoughts that I don't drown or DNF.

Better. Not great, but better.

Monday - Wednesday - OOT for work so no training (boo!)

Thursday - Master's class, swim ~1200 meters

Friday - Day off

Saturday - Run ~4 miles

Sunday - Bike ~20 miles

Today - Open water swim (about 300-400 meters)

Our wetsuits came in on Friday and we had a chance to test them out today. My husband took the picture for me.

The water was probably 60-62 degrees, but that suit made all the difference! Yeah, it was really cold at first, but after about 10 minutes in the water I was able to put my head down and swim freestyle! Yay! I think the trick for me is doing some backstroke to warm up; this allows my head to get acclimated to the water so when I put my face down its not so cold. Looking up and sighting was easy as well. It still took my breath away and I was dizzy afterwards, but nowhere near as bad as it was last weekend.

It appears by using good ol' Google that I am not alone in this dizziness. There seem to be two trains of thoughts on this:

1. The water going into your ear is cold and causes vertigo, so wear earplugs.

2. Your blood circulation changes when you're swimming and trying to save your legs. Try kicking hard the last 50 meters or so to get the blood flowing again.

It looks like the majority say earplugs have taken away their dizziness completely in the cold water, so even though its a big "no-no" to bring something new into the mix on race day I may have to bite the bullet. I don't need to fall off my bike on the 16% grade hill (I should have taken a picture for all of you to see. It's going to be pretty interesting).

I switched out my cog on Sunday to 14 teeth (from 16). It's harder to start pedaling, but I get a lot more speed. That 16% grade hill is the only thing I'm second guessing. I'm going to give it one more ride tomorrow before I decide. My biggest fear is giving up my legs just to shave 5 minutes off the bike. Not worth it.

5 days to go.

Scopin' out my nemesis

Friday's workout: Day off

Saturday's workout: Run 60 minutes (~ 4.5 miles)

Today's workout: Open water swim (I think I went about 350 meters)

We made our way over to Highline State Park today to check out the course. My husband (we'll call him "M" because I'm tired of typing out "my husband") couldn't swim with me because he has stitches that won't come out until this week. We found a spot for him to sit with my bag and I made my way to the water.

Now, I knew the water was going to be cold. The race website says that the average temperature at 7:30am is 67 degrees. I have no idea how warm the water was today. We went around 12:30, but it has been overcast all weekend so I didn't think it would make a huge difference. I expected the water to take my breath away; it was just a bit shocking the first time. I can't imagine ever doing a polar bear swim after feeling that water today.

There were two other lap swimmers in caps and wet suits. I made small talk with one; his name is Ryan. This is also his first race, he watched it last year and told his friend Dave (the other one in the water) that he would try it out this year. We chatted about water temperature, why he's choosing to wear a wet suit (buoyancy mostly), and the bike course. I guess the bike section is hillier than he expected, and he hasn't trained for hills at all. The next two weeks will be no fun for him.

I made two laps around the outer edge of the swim beach, that way if I got freaked out I could grab on to the rope. I have no idea why, but I couldn't breathe out under water at all. Every time I tried, it felt like there was too much pressure. I ended up swimming two laps (~350m) with my head above water. That was definitely not a good idea. I was so dizzy by the end of the second lap I was sure I would lose my lunch right then and there. We left today with me dizzy, nauseous, frustrated and a little freaked out. I came home tonight, broke down and bought a wet suit for buoyancy and warmth. Every bit of psychological advantage I can get in the water will help. We're going out next weekend to try the underwater breathing again. Wish me luck!

Nothin' but freestyle, baby

Yesterday's workout: Swim 700 meters
Today's workout: Swim 1350 meters (all freestyle!)

The normal swim coach wasn't there tonight, so she sent her brother as a substitute. I told the guy a quick back story - race in two weeks, been swimming for six months, anything is helpful, etc. I also told him not to be afraid of being mean. By the end of the lesson he was stopping me every couple of laps to bark out what I was doing wrong. He did give me some very good tips though:

- Keep my knees together so my kicking is more efficient
- Don't separate my fingers
- Dig my hand into the water half way through my stroke and keep my arm on top of the water, not in the air. He told me I should be making an "S" shape.
- Keep my arm tight when I come up for air. My arms flail about when I come up for air.
- Try to breathe out of the side of my mouth. I'm bringing my head above water more than I should need to.
- Don't look ahead of me when I come up for breath, just tilt my body and come back down.

I could definitely notice a change in my efficiency over the course of the hour. I was able to do 200-300m at once without freaking out. Yes, I was tired at the end of it, but that's the farthest I've ever gone without having to flip over and do 25 meters of backstroke to catch my breath.

We might try and go out to the park this weekend where they are holding the race. I'd like to get in the lake and try it out. The temperature of the water is supposed to be around 67 degrees at the start of the race, so if I need to rent a wet suit I should do that soon.

Fifteen days to go.

I went. I swam. It sucked.

Today's workout: Swim ~700 meters, run for 30 minutes

So, I didn't exactly make it to the gym yesterday. By the time I got around to going it was eight o'clock. The best "punishment" I could think of was to get up at 5:45am and head over to the gym to swim before work.

I went. I swam. It sucked.

I haven't swam in a week. I was having the most horrible time breathing this morning, its almost like I forgot everything Morgan taught me. I think I wasn't getting everything out before coming up for a breath, at least that's what it felt like. I started Googling for answers, and I found this: http://swimming.about.com/od/freeandback/a/breath_freestyl.htm. What is the #1 issue? Not letting out all of your air before coming up. By George, I think I'm on to something! As hard as it was, it felt great to go this morning and it felt even better to go running tonight.

My co-worker came over and my husband watched the little one while we went running together. Its a 1.82 mile loop door to door, and I think we could have done two but I was worried about leaving my husband alone with the kid for that long. Don't get me wrong, he loves children. But the little one was not very happy that mommy (co-worker) left her, even for 30 minutes. I'm sure as time goes by, she'll get better with him. But for now, its Mommy or Bust.

I DID IT!

Today's workout: Bike to work (8.71 miles according to MapMyRide), swim 700 meters

I can't believe I did it. Today, I swam 500 meters without stopping. FIVE HUNDRED METERS! I know it doesn't sound like much, but those ten laps felt like they would go on forever.

This is the distance I have to swim in the triathlon. Of course, I'm swimming in a pool and the race swim is in open water, but lets enjoy my baby steps for a moment, mmmmkay? I couldn't do the whole thing freestyle, but here is what I did to be successful:

100m freestyle
25m backstroke

Repeat this two more times

125m freestyle

I felt so accomplished at the 475 mark I decided to freestyle the last 25m. The breathing technique that Morgan gave me at the last master's swim class really helped. I have a problem with holding my breath under water, which is just taking more energy than it should. So, I asked her about it and she told me to hum under water. It sounds crazy, but I've been able to get a pattern down where I get all of my breath out before I come up for more oxygen. Sometimes I can make it four strokes; if I'm feeling tired I can only make it three before having to come up. But, I know that I can modify things as I go to make it work.

There were a couple of times where I just couldn't make the whole 100m freestyle, so I would do the breaststroke for 10m or so to catch my breath. I wish I had a video camera to see how ridiculous I looked trying to be a "froggy" in the water.

The best part is that my fabulous husband bought me a heart rate monitor for our wedding anniversary. I was able to time myself, and I did 500m in 15:28. I'm certainly no Michael Phelps, but my goal of 20 minutes for the swim leg of the race seems easily attainable. The HRM came with a footpod that I'll try out tomorrow when I do my brick workout.

Side note: I was coming home on my bike and signaled at a stop sign that I was turning right (so it looked like I was waving). Some high school kid thought I was waving at him and waved back from his Jeep! BWHAHAHA! A good end to a productive and encouraging workout.

Heaven. . .

Friday's workout: Day off! (very important)
Saturday's workout: Run 45-50 minutes (about 3.5-4 miles), swim 600 meters
Sunday's workout: Bike ~12 miles (mileage per MapMyRide)

My husband I and went out of town this weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We went to Avon, Colorado (at the base of Beaver Creek) and stayed at a beautiful hotel right next to the Eagle River. There is a trail that goes from Avon to Edwards (about 4 miles one way) that I followed for my long run on Saturday.

I was in heaven.

The scenery was gorgeous. I turned down my MP3 player so I could hear the river rushing past me while I tried to keep up. I wasn't going even close to the same speed, but the river didn't care; it was just happy to have the company. Of course, you can't see the river in this shot (it is on the left side), but you get the general idea of the view.

The hotel we stayed at also boasts the largest pool in the valley at 25m. It's a saline pool as well, so no clorine to make your skin dry and itchy. I was able to go 350m without stopping on Saturday, which I'm happy with considering the whole pool length debacle of two weeks ago.

Back to work and reality tomorrow.

I can haz breath?

Today's workout: Bike to work (~5 miles, I met my husband at the gym and we threw my bike in the back of the car. I know, I'm a wimp), swim 950 meters

My gym just started a master's swim class on Thursday nights and this is our second week going. I met the girl teaching it in the locker room one afternoon while changing into my bathing suit (don't all good stories start out this way?).

Are you a swimmer? She said.

I try to fake it. I replied.

I thought I was doing pretty well until I started going to her class. Man, does she kick my butt. I found out from her last week that the pool is only 25m long, instead of 50m like the woman up front told me. I didn't even know how to swim until late last year; I don't know how long a pool is. All this time I thought I was doing great, but it turns out I was only going half as far as I thought. I found myself pretty upset last week; wondering if I'm going to be able to swim 500m without drowning. My friends keep telling me that I'll be fine, but I just can't seem to shake this off.

I almost drowned when I was six. We were in Kansas City visiting my grandmother in the hospital. I wasn't allowed to see her because you had to be 14 to enter the ICU. So, my cousin took me to a water park called Oceans of Fun for the day. We were in the wave pool and she went to go flirt with some boy (she is 10 years my senior) while I was left by myself with an inner tube to keep me afloat.

I lost my grip and slipped through the middle.

All I really remember after that is seeing blue water and legs and feet. I remember trying so hard to swim up to the surface, but as hard as I tried the waves kept pushing me down. I think the harder I tried, the deeper I ended up going. I don't know how I got back above water, but from that day on I've been scared of drowning. I could only go in pools where I could touch the bottom standing up. Lakes were out of the question unless I had a life vest on me *and* another to hold on to. Over twenty years later, all that little girl sees is blue water and legs and feet.

I guess that's just another reason to do this triathlon, to overcome my fear.

I will make it across the lake.
I will not drown.
That little girl will no longer have to be afraid of the water.