Blog Wordle

I haven't posted in a while, but I will soon, really.  In the meantime I did an updated Wordle to see what changes it might capture compared to an earlier Wordle where I was still very focused on swimming.  No surprise the swim still dominates, but there is a lot more balance for sure.  Not sure how much to read into it, but my new Wordle is a LOT more streamlined...hopefully life imitates Wordle!

New Wordle


Old Wordle


As a quick update, I won't be doing any more Tri's until the Spring.  Mentally and physically it is time to recover and focus on work and supporting the Support Staff.  My more relaxed training plan for the off- season is to focus on biking and swimming with only three workouts a week including the occasional soccer game.  The focus is on working out with friends and enjoying the fall without pushing myself to any extremes.  It has been a nice change so far.

Some Consolation (?)

Well, if you look at enough statistics you can get the answer you want.  After a lot of rummaging around, I found the rankings for just my category of Novice Men, and here things look a little brighter, 17th out of 45!
Of course for many of them, this was their very first triathlon, but we will leave that alone for now.

The guy who was next door in the hotel and who was very nervous about the swim looks to have turned in a good swim, and came in overall a little below me, so I am happy for him and perhaps a little for me as well.  The guy immediately below me ended up there after a 2 minute penalty, so clearly he coveted my spot, nice try buddy!  I even managed to post the 10th fastest run in this crowd.

That's a lot of trying to make myself feel better, but it isn't really working.  The post-racedom depression  just seeps in--mostly because your worn-out body infects your mind, and because the build-up is over.  Since this is the end of the race season for me, I only see a winter of training ahead.  I know I didn't have the race I should have, and I did not train the way I should have.  So yes, the pitty party will continue until moral improves.

Brutal Reality, I am getting worse!

Well the numbers don't lie, I am getting worse at triathlon not better:

Place            159 /279
Percentile      43%
Swim Rank   213 /279
Swim Time    0:20:25
Transition 1   0:03:08
Bike Rank    188 /279
Bike Time     1:03:00
Transition      0:01:28
Run Rank     89 /279
Run Time      0:24:42
Total Time    1:52:41

I had a SLOWER speed on all three legs than last triathlon, a worse percentile and a slower time. This really sucks, and makes me mad, and should serve to motivate for winter workouts. To the pool, to the bike, and to the run.

There were some important differences between the conditions and courses, but ultimately they are a bit of a wash, with this one having shorter swim, longer bike, cool conditions, and hilly courses. It comes down to the mental and physical preparation of the competitor, and there's clearly work to be done.

I was definitely more comfortable during the swim and I was able to jog the transition, but the larger point is that any triathlon you go away from feeling good is a slow triathlon. I for sure did not train for a 2 hour race, so endurance training is in order as well.

Luray Sprint: Subjective Experience

GAMEPLAN

Swim: Warm-up the swim, sprint the start to get ahead of weird strokers and hope to avoid getting swum over, sight every 8 strokes to avoid zig-zaging down the course, have a finishing kick.

Bike: Take advantage of non-fixie bike to take little breaks on downhills and generally avoid spiking the HR to allow recovery from swim and prep for run.

Run: Use new front of foot technique and quicker turnover, no other plan beyond not bonking two miles from the finish.

EXECUTION

Swim: Followed the plan, went straighter than first triathlon, much smaller waves/more spaced out so had little physical contact with other swimmers, passed a few swimmers from previous waves, but towards the end I got off track and so had to veer hard left to exit the swim.  Had enough left to jog to transition, so that was good.  My arm form was pretty good, but I forgot about my legs and need to work on the symmetry of the rotation and pushing down chest/head when I am not sighting. SLOW transition to bike, due to bike shoes and wiping rain off goggles, but needed just a moment to get down off redline HR.

Bike: Perhaps mine was near the last wave, or my swim + transition made me really late, but only saw slow bikers on the ride.  I passed maybe 40 riders, and got passed twice.  Ripping downhills with a big gear is fun, had to remember to give legs breaks.  Long false flat followed by two hills, last hill I was in my lowest gears and had to power the end out of the saddle.  It seemed to be over pretty quickly all in all. 

Fine transition except I needed an extra Gu that was hard to find.  Rookie mistake to take that without water in hand and I ran out, coughing a bit rest of run. 

Run: Let the legs swing a little on downhill on the way out, the back was relentless uphill, so jogged the worst of the uphill.  I should have dug a little deeper here.  I need more mental toughness for the finish.  Ironically it again seemed to end rather suddenly at the top of the hill, when I was just getting ready to pick it up again.  Obviously hill workouts are needed and longer runs so I have something left after 1+ hours of the race. 

Next time: Swim, swim, swim…to end up in the rest of the race with people my pace, which will make me go faster for both the bike and especially the run.  The sprint distance really seems like enough, particular 750m swim.  I need to work on improving my time before stepping up to the Olympic distance. 

All alone for race day...

In the end you race by yourself in Tri, but it rarely feels that way with the crowds, training partners and others there.  But for various reasons, such and injury and having other responsibilities, I'm going all alone to the Luray race this weekend.  I am someone who never goes to movies or goes on vacation or anything else alone, so I am embracing it as "a good thing".

I looked back at my early goals for this Tri, and I only followed through on #3, getting a bike.  That is the part I am excited/curious about.  Otherwise, I am feeling pretty nervous about the condition my body is in.  I spent 10 days very recently scuba diving and getting sun burned, and my body hasn't really recovered.  I went for a run yesterday morning and felt really lousy, and that came after a tough open water swim in salt water (current and waves) in the Cayman Islands.  All and all not a great way to build up confidence, but I have to trust the taper and also know that doing some crazy "make-up" workout is NOT going to help anything.  Just making sure to eat and rest right, and get down there in plenty of time to be relaxed is going to be key.

I am pretty distracted at this point by the race, and nervous as much as I know that the swim is shorter and I should be a stronger and faster swimmer than last time.  My more modest goals for this race, use sigting and more even form to swim straighter, keep heart rate steady (no peaks) on the bike while maintaining speed, run more forward on my feet and don't hit the wall!

I know that doing better at all three legs is unlikely, I will just have to hope for the best.  

Hellifast Bike

After many trips to bike shops and test drives and hours surfing Criagslist, I got a bike, a really fast bike, more bike than my engine deserves.  In bike culture, you should have the legs to live up to your bike, and the Van Dressel Hellifast is an amateur racer’s bike (see Georgetown University Cycling team), I do NOT have a racer’s engine.  Back in Colorado, there was nothing more fun than flying by the guy in matching get-up on the latest full suspension bike, and doing it on your beater hardtail made all the sweater.  It’s going to suck to be on the other end of that.  On the other hand, if I ever do get a serious set of quads, adding an aero bar cockpit to this already sleek frame would make for a killer Tri-bike.

Huge thanks to The Wrench for all of the Beta prior to purchasing, and for having all the specialized tools, know-how, and most of all generosity, to help me put the bike back in working condition.  It still needs some work for sure (what the heck is carbon paste?), but working on a used bike and making it like new gives a great sense of ownership.

Strong Week!

Let's take a moment to celebrate the occasional week where you just feel strong, you can squeeze in a couple extra 100m of swimming, go for that extra morning run, and enjoy the confidence of having that extra effort in reserve.  I went swimming with Dr. Sprint, who has done a lot of short Tri's, and had a lot of fun going hard 9X100m in the pool.  I was so velocitized that I couldn’t slow down enough to do a longer set. 

A strong week does great things for your confidence.  At the end of last week, that meant doing  a fast 5 miles in 90+ degree weather knowing that the headache I had at the start would likely come back with a vengeance.  I pushed it all the way, and guess what, no headache!  Have to watch out for over-training in my excitement, so today is a rest day.

Away Game in Chicago

Had a great 15 minute run to warm up along Lake Michigan, followed by a 15 minute open water swim-very refreshing!  Everyone was out, including marathon training groups, with 30+ people in each, divided by pace, I overheard the organizer introducing the 8:30 minute milers to the 9:00s.  Anyhow, the lake coast is a Tri training paradise for four months of the year.

I got to practice sighting while heading toward the tower you see in the picture.  It looks like once every strokes works pretty well, although it is hard to integrate it into an efficient stroke without interrupting my flow.

4th of July Criterium Workout on the Mall!

Oh, I love the nation's capital!  I rode down to watch the fireworks on the national mall and got there a little early, so with the roads blocked off I decided to do a little criterium workout--so much fun.  If your mind is a little twisted, you can imagine that the millions of people are there to see you--off the front of the pack bringing it home on the last couple of laps like the guys above.  Did I mention it was REALLY hot and humid?

The fireworks were as great as ever, and as this photo shows, the wind was headed towards us, so the crowd I was with got a rain of ash and cinders their hair--a far cry from the digital entertainment we are so accustomed to. Try getting that out of your HD/blueray/surround sound!

Hip Hip Horray for the people at the Luray Triathlon.  They were very kind to let me switch my registration to the Sprint distance from the Olympic distance even though it is past the refund deadline--how cool is that?  Try that at your usual enormous race.  Anyhow, I feel vindicated for getting up early this morning and running 4 tough miles in the incredible humidity--at 8am crazy!  So now my target date is August 15th.  I also noticed that the swim is only 750m, which should be a nice change and allow me to go a little harder.  

Tragic death of fellow competitor in Philly Sprint Tri

Derek Valentino, a 40 year old father of two and first-time triathlete died during the swim portion of the Philly Sprint Triathlon Race.  This is a tragic event for his wife, his two teenage boys, and their extended family and I wanted to express my personal condolences as a fellow participant.

As a fellow first-time triathlete in the same race, this hits pretty close to home.  His wave started just a few minutes after mine, meaning I was likely still in the water when he ran into trouble.  Given how slow I was, he could have been quite close by indeed.  I found the large number in our wave and the close spacing of the waves meant you were constantly bumping into someone through pretty much the entire distance.

On the other hand, I remember feeling that there were quite a large number of boats, kayaks and individuals on floating platforms watching over the swimmers and saw one swimmer who was in difficulty receive quick assistance, so I have no reason to suspect that there was any failure on the part of the organizers of the race.  Indeed, the very rare occurrence of fatalities (1.5 per 100,000) during Triathlon tend to occur during the swim, and most due to heart related problems, some due to overexertion and others due to unidentified pre-existing conditions.  Like anyone who has competed in a mass swim start, I can vouch for the extreme stress involved in the start and the chaotic nature of swimming with so many others.

The Philly Tri organizers were appropriately cautious and cancelled the swim in the Olympic length race the next day.  I can imagine that competitors in that race must have felt ambivalent about this decision, on the one hand sympathy and caution and on the other a desire to complete the race for which you spent months or years preparing.

Regardless of the cause of death, this is a somber reminder to all to push ourselves within reasonable limits and listen to our bodies and to pay attention to the welfare of fellow athletes.  For the vast majority of triathletes, this is an amateur pursuit, one to be pursued with zeal but also within reason.

 

Philly Tri: The ugly

5 Lessons Learned

1. Stay away from weird-strokers—breast strokers, side strokers, and other freak strokers with their frog kicking legs and flailing arms. Once you get caught behind one of these listing ships, you need a burst of speed and you need to give them wide berth to get around. I have one word for you weird-strokers: crawl baby crawl!

2. Swim straight, stupid: I zig zaged my way down the course. What’s that boat doing in my way—oops!

3. Tri does not recognize Indy cred: Riding a fixed gear bike in a Tri means the torturous drip of riders on bigger gears passing you by with occasional moments of glory as you muscle your way up steep hills because you have to keep your cranks moving. Everyone is too blinded by the latest Cervelo airfoil passing on the left to be impressed by your minimalist ride.

4. Not enough endurance training? You son are jogging the run—an ignominious end to a decent race. The wall came for me 2 miles early, run pace: 7:59. By comparison, my last mile in the MARATHON was a 7:20!

5. This bears repeating: If you spend the swim on your aerobic threshold, and repeatedly spike up to it on the bike, the run will suck.

Goals for the future

1. Have a strong all-around sprint tri. That means regularly training all three sports, including multi-sport days. I will emphasize open-water swimming skills, cardio endurance, some speed work and light weights.

2. Start training with a Tri-club.

3. Reward myself with a nice road bike.

Philly Tri: The bad

I got beat, roundly beat, by my training partner. It wasn’t luck or skill, he’s been serious about training and I haven’t. I paid for the two weeks where I didn’t train much for work and vacation—I simply didn’t give the Tri the same devotion I did the Marathon. The times tell the tale, although it could have been worse:

Total Time: 1:48:02

Place: 68/133 in my age bracket--just missed 50%

Swim	00:24:02
Trans1	00:03:21
Bike	00:54:43
Trans2	00:01:25
Run	00:24:29
Swimrank	927
Bikerank	767
Mph	16.4
Runrank	244
Pace	00:07:54

Training Partner Time: 1:41:59

A good training partner lets you know how much he could have beat you, by telling you after the race that he smoked a cigar and drank the night before the race—yeah that burns. My claim to fame, and only shred of dignity was a 15 second win on the bike, where my ride was clearly an advantage in the gimp race between my fixie and his alley salvage mountain bike. This close outcome insures an arms race going into our next Tri, and by my logic, the bike I buy has to (again) be faster than the bike he buys to have a chance to win at least one leg of the race.  

Philly Tri: The good

Mission accomplished: completed the 900m open water swim with enough left over to finish the bike and run. Five Eight months ago I couldn’t swim more than 50m without stopping, clinging, and gasping for breath. To the JCC enforcers who helped my swim cardio and rhythm, to the support staff who took the class with me and still swims faster with no training at all, and to my training partner who meets me out swimming 3 times a week, and got dared into the whole Tri thing in the first place, thank you! An open-water 900m in 24 minutes is an accomplishment, for me anyhow.

Good training plan: without my focus on the swim, I would not have made it out of the water let alone having anything left for the rest.

Good race plan: hydration and eating was great, my heart rate settled down on the bike, and transitions were quick and smooth. Except for the tired walk out of the water, I even jogged the transitions.

900m swim all at once! (April 18 retrospective)

Well today was finally the day, I have been feeling stronger in the swim and decided it was just plain time to go 900m without stopping. I started out just doing a warm-up, but felt good enough that I kept going and was even able to finish strong.  What a huge confidence booster!  It took about 24 minutes so my pace was somewhere in the slow 2min/100m pace.  After a break, I was able to do a celebratory 100m pursuit with my swim partner.  As the slower one, I start out and then he starts later and tries to track me down while I try to keep it interesting.  Something about the flight or fight aspect of it appeals and I keep thinking that someday I will give him a run for his money.

Having the 900m off my back means that I can turn my focusing on form and speed knowing.  A couple more long swims are in order, including one even longer one to make up for any water current and other complications in open water.

(April 25 retrospective)
Both the swim partner and I weren't feeling great today, so we did 5x100m sprints (with long breaks) instead of a longer workout.  My times were in the 2:40-2:07 range, whereas the beast in the lane with me managed one 1:45--wow.  Speed work is exciting after the grind of longer workouts.  At the same time, I am not sure how much I can translate that into faster speed over a longer distance.  Arm strength and technique seem to be limiting factors more than breathing at this point.  It is nice to see the cardio come along, or is it that the musculature and technique are better so I am not needing to breath as hard?  With swimming, it is hard to tell.

Well, the blog is all caught up now, apologies to my loyal followers for falling off the blogosphere into no-internet-at-home space.  Now that the semester is over, and the Philly Tri is coming up, I will try to do better.

Amazing 10K with Cousins (April 3rd Retrospective)

Consider this a (very delayed) echo of my cousin the Concerned Scientist about how amazing it was to meet up with them and run Hain's Point under a canopy of cherry blossoms at their peak.  $7 to run a race is so great compared to the $35, particularly when you can just ride your bike to and from the race, can we say multi-sport workout?

Never has a 10K been so celestial, running under an arch of dark limbs and fluffy white and pink puffs stretching from either side and nearly touching in the middle.  I was lucky to have Concerned Scientist there so I ran the first half a little slower with him, so I didn't overdo things.  At around 5K I picked it up a little and ended up around 48 minutes.  Given that I haven't been running much at all, I felt pretty good about that, and figure I can expect that to be my split at the end of the Olympic length triathlon at the end of the summer.

Florida = Tri-training Heaven

I am taking Spring Break every year!   Englewood, Florida is a beautiful gulf coast key with calm ocean beach on one side and docks and mangroves on the other, what better place to spend a few days.  Shall I go for a run among the live oaks with Spanish moss and palm tree estates?  No, I’d rather hike with armadillos.  But my dreams of an ocean swim were crushed by the freezing cold water temps.  But the support staff knows how to motivate; she waited until I was warmed up and dizzy from short-lapping it around the kiddy pool.  I made the mistake of mentioning the ocean again, “Well that’s why we came here isn’t it?” more laps, more grumbling, “Why don’t you just give it a try, you’re going to regret it if you don’t.”  I didn’t stand a chance.

Swimming in a cold ocean is really different.  In a lap pool all the focus is outward, looking through the water, avoiding the guy coming the other way, where’s the wall?  In the ocean, your senses close myopically, keeping your body moving, buoyancy means you don’t have to turn much to get a breath.  Then the focus turns to the thermodynamic battleground your body has become.  The cold seeps into the outer layer of flesh, held at bay by the furnace created by windmilling arms.  If you don’t kick much, the water seems warmed by the time it gets back there. 

I felt triumphant for my little 400m swim.  Then people on the beach kept commenting in hushed voices, “that’s the guy,” some even stood up from their chairs as I swam by.  I left the beach feeling like a real champ, like the harbinger of Spring—head on in, the water’s fine!

This motivational coup emboldened the support staff to ask for a promotion to trainer, but enthusiasm declined when responsibilities were outlined.  So, I am still looking for a roller-blading water carrier in a velour jumpsuit, any takers?  My one regret, that the current didn’t take me out to sea, so the support staff would have had to strip down to her bikini and save me...maybe next Spring Break!

Work week note: tri-training adds another layer of satisfaction to riding the fixie to work— a linen pant leg tucked into an argyle sox tucked into a brown suede shoe—if only all sport could be so dapper.

Long Time No Blog

Long gaps in blogging mean inconsistent training, but after being back at it a month I have the form I had prior to the snowpocalypse or powdermagedon thing. The (no longer) bearded training partner is a great motivation to get to the pool 2-3 times a week, and I am back to doing respectable workouts (3X300 or 2X400 yards or meters plus some shorter swims). Just this week, I seem to have found a rhythm that I can keep the whole way. When you are coordinating so many moving parts, it is a big help to have consistency and repeatability. I have a kicking rhythm that seems to work, two kicks on the non breathing side, one long/hard one on the breathing side. So it is lopsided, but seems to give me a little lift to get longer breaths prior to pushing the chest back into the water to lift the legs back up again. When I went for a 45min run last weekend, my body reminded me, for the rest of the week, never to take 3 months off running. I am tired enough from swimming, how are you supposed to train in multiple sports, seriously?

Next week it is off to FL where the support staff seems to think I should practice open water swims in the Gulf of Mexico. It sounds cold and scary but also a good idea. Mostly it is all about separating ourselves from our laptops and work—badly needed for state of mind and body.

I’ll give a serious try at a 900m swim when I get back. I almost felt like it today, but I didn’t want to practice bad form/frantic swimming toward the end. I have been mentally calming myself at the end of longer sets to stay in form and keep breathing steady. It is really good for your confidence to finish the last long set and not be out of breath.

This story of a tri-athlete resonated for me because the author also imagines the discipline of working out and success in racing will sort things out in other aspects of his life. I too thought the marathon was the key to resolving basic questions about myself, but as this author’s life shows, that is asking a bit too much of a race and perhaps not enough of yourself.

I'd rather Wordle than Workout

Wordles are word clouds that you can make up from any website with an RSS feed, and other sources. Anyhow, just to try it out I made one up from this blog, which seems pretty accurate. I'll post about actual workouts soon, really. Click on the wordle to get it enlarged.



The wordle seems pretty positive, which is great, but also pretty body obsessed, which makes sense. I am a little troubled by how many different places migraine shows up--the font is not proportionate to how it feels at the time!

Overall, it is so easy to read too much into a wordle, so feel free, and make your own.

Peace and Tranquility in DC

As a kid who grew up in the woods who is now stranded in concrete jungle, my favorite places are those little spots in the city where you can find a moment of tranquility and peace.  I thought I would list a few scattered around the city in case you find yourself in need. 

The Capitol Grotto (At left): cool fairytale seclusion in the summer on the Capitol grounds.

Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens: acres of huge lotus flowers make cloud-city landscapes in the summer.

Bishop's Garden at the National Cathedral: roses, sculptures and contemplative nooks to sit in.

Old Stone House Garden: to take a break from shopping Georgetown to eat a cupcake with your honey.

Down goes 900m, down goes 900m, down goes 900m!

Ok, so it doesn't rank up with the climactic ending of the Sunshine Showdown (Foreman vs. Frazier), but no less momentous, for me anyhow.  I just knocked out the fabled 900m workout, and a week ago I was definitely an underdog.  I don't think anyone will be calling me Mr. Foreman anytime soon, but I did feel like the "Big Man" as I got out of the pool.

For any of you who are wondering what all the hoopla is about--and there is a bit much of it, the swim portion of the Philly Sprint Tri in June is 900m. Granted I have to do it all at once, through a crowd of crazy Tri-ers or whatever they (we?) are called, in open water, but I will savor my victory. 

It was a little sloppy and the muscles were screaming by the end, but it feels great. I did 2 X 350 yards and finished with a 200 and a 150. My reward is likely to be another migraine, but until it hits, it was totally worth it.  Totally neglected Cobra attack on the water, and even "over a barrel" today, and I was reaching too much and lopsided, but I got it done.  Next workout will be focused on technique--I promise.

You are not going to believe this...

I didn't want to go swim today, I just felt cold and weak, not the sore and tired kind, the powerless I want to spend the day in bed because I feel drained kind. That would have been a huge mistake, because I swam today like I could go forever, like I found the rhythm I have been searching for for months now, and I didn't see any reason to stop, not at 250 which was my goal, not at 300 or 400, and then I might as well go half the distance and once you are at the other end of the pool, might as well come back, then I kept feeling comfortable so I topped it off with a final flip turn and I finished with 700m all at once! My body did it like it was the most natural thing, while my brain rode along on exclamation marks. I had time to work on various parts of my stroke, the cobra water strike, going over the barrel, let’s try different kicks, don't forget about bending the left arm...and on and on. I wasn't even out of breath at the end, just starting to lose form enough and I wanted to go out feeling good, and leave the final hurdle 900m to another day.




I wish I knew for sure what did it, the pancakes I had with the parents in the morning, great coaching from Ironwoman--early roll and breathing, for sure had something to do with it. Best of all, the support staff got to share the victory with me after inspiring it. I imagined each time I came back to the wall that she was still out of the pool and wondering, "When is he going to stop, isn't he done yet? Doesn't he know he can't go that far?" A particularly shapely and feminine foot went by me in the pool and it occurred to me might be hers, but I was in too positive a mindset to be worried about eating her dust (wake?)--which is exactly what I was doing of course. Anyhow, with all of the hard work over the last few months, and in spite of the slacking over the holidays, today was the single big breakthrough that I needed. Now I can start working on swim speed and oh yeah, the other two disciplines as well!



Post victory note. We celebrated with some great crepes at Le Chat Noir, which was great except that the sunlight coming in was really bothering my eyes. For our hubris, we both got handed vicious migraines, but even that could hardly dampen my spirits. What, a migraine after an unusually long workout, where have we heard of that before? Flashbacks to those early long runs during the marathon training. At a higher lever, beyond the raging left side of my brain, I couldn't care less, nothing could dampen my spirits.

MRI of migraine

Ironwoman Strikes Again

As always, sessions with the Ironwoman are very upbeat and super-helpful, and best of all filled with images of the ideal to carry me through to the next session like, don't be tentative as your hand reaches for the water, strike like a Cobra! 

As I understand it, this is an idea somewhere between stretching for a long stroke and the "going over a barrel" image to have a bent arm entry.  It turns out that this phrase has a nasty but perhaps apt history as it relates to the torture of me trying to swim.  Rename the blog, Over a Barrel and Still Swimming?

Since she swam next to me, she was able to see the problem that I forgot to mention, straight arm on the left (bad) bent arm on the right (good).  And even better, fix it! 

The problem: If you try to get your mouth out of the water to catch a breath after you start the stroke on the opposite side, it is harder to roll your core over, so you end up pushing down with your hand into the water with the opposite arm to bob your head up to catch a breath--really inefficient and it feels like you are having to push to reach for air.  Worse yet you can damage your shoulder, if your muscles ever get strong enough (no danger yet), and your window for breathing runs out when your opposite arm is extended--really bad. 

Simple solution: roll your body over sooner when your opposite arm is straight in front and the same side arm is at your side (really easy because everything is in a line), then you can pull with bent arm, which is much more efficient, and you start your breath sooner so you have more time to inhale.  It also apparently means you don't have a crook in your neck after swimming--how great is that? 

Added incentive to keep training, when you become an Ironwoman, you get to go to the Canary Islands where the Ironpeople go to get pounded into high carbon steel with gorgeous sorroundings. 

I probably didn't make 600m today, but I learned a whole lot.  Additional piece of advice, focus on drills you find hard (kickboard, one arm stuff) not the ones you find easy (pool bouy).  That's why she's the Ironwoman!

Holiday Training Fail, New Year's Resolution

Seeing...that the defendant swam only 2 times in 2 weeks over the holidays,
Seeing...that the defendant is now getting worse rather than better at swimming,
Let it be resolved...this will not happen again.

Punishable by: shame in front of my 6 regulars--love you all!

Yeah, we all have holiday regrets, no not buying my brother and his new wife a huge bean bag called a Love Sac, no not spending Christmas Eve digging my dad's 4-wheel drive out of a stream bed--smooth one pops.  That's the good stuff.

The pool is not subtle, it reminded me in no uncertain terms on Saturday, that (1) I still suck at swimming,  (2) if I don't keep going to the pool, I will suck even harder--in that out of breath I feel like I am drowning kind of way.  So I did my 600m limping and went home tail between my legs.  Only 1X200, it about did me in. 

So today (Monday) redemption was mine: a 270m long swim feeling strong and a total of maybe 750m.  I was floating along the top rather than sinking to the bottom, elongating my stroke and my air intake.  Ok, so that isn't that different, something about swimming on a shorter pool you feel like you are getting somewhere quicker. 

So I am back on the wagon again.  As always, I can only blog the bad news once I start digging myself out. 

Shout out to the parents and cousins who came up big on the Tri-gear and books for Christmas--thanks guys!  Hope you all had happy holidays and a healthy and happy New Year!