so, in case you haven't noticed, i'm not that great at blogging. trying to keep a regular blogging schedule has become a bit of a joke for me, but i'm trying. really, i am.
let me 'splain, no wait, there is too much. let me sum up.
last thursday, i swam about 1100 yards. pretty easy pace, just getting in a bunch of yardage. one thing that was interesting to note about that night - i did a 200 straight, and i wasn't that tired. i also got a mini-pep talk from one of my coaches. i'm finding that i need a lot of encouragement with this race. i just am finding myself racked with doubt. (so start making with the comments people!)
then, saturday was a big day. everyone was to do their respective race day run distances... so, of course, mine was a 10k. and, hell, i have a hard enough time running 1 mile let alone 6. but i did it! it took a hell of a long time, but i did it (and in 10 minutes less than i thought). even though i was exhausted afterwards, my legs were like jelly, and i knew i was going to be super sore the next day, when i finished the distance, i actually smiled.
and sunday, the training schedule called for a brick. if you've been keeping up, you know what a brick is - hell on earth. but i was determined to keep with the schedule even though i could barely get up and down the stairs (try carrying a bouncing baby up and down stairs when your legs seem to have a mind of their own - that's an exercise in concentration). so at 5:00pm, i got on my bike and rode 12 miles. two loops up and down san vicente between ocean and bundy. then i threw my bike into the car (which turned into about a 2 minute transition) and ran for a little over a mile. i seriously thought my legs were going to fall off, and i would be stranded on san vicente, just a torso on the greenbelt there. but i did it! and as i was driving back home in the car, i smiled.
and last night was a swim. i crafted my work out plan and was planning to leave the office at 6:00pm, so i could get home to hang with joel and cassidy, but i didn't leave until almost 7 - you know how it is. so i made up my mind in the car that i would only swim for one hour, and if i didn't finish the work out, oh well. so, here's what i did:
100 warm up
4x50 1:30 interval
2x50 drill
4x100 2:45 interval
2x50 drill
1x200
1x50 kick
2x50, 2x100, 1x200 pyramid
1x50 kick
2x50 sprint
100 cool down
that's 1900 yards. what the work out called for. in one hour. more than a mile in an hour. know what i'm doing now? i'm smiling.
it's one of the mantras of triathlon - "nothing new on race day." so, saturday was the team's opportunity to practice our transitions. this was my chance to practice getting in and out of my bike cleats while on the bike. see, it's like this. you leave the cleats clipped onto the bike, and when you come out of T1, you get your bike, and start pedaling with your bare feet on the top of your cleats. then when you get up some speed, you bend down and put your shoes on. (this, i learned is virtually impossible.) after the ride, coming into T2, you take your feet out of the cleats while on the bike. (this is possible, but requires much practice.) at any rate, it involves some serious maneuvering and bending on the bike... while balancing. needless to say, while i was practicing, i tipped. :) i have a bruise on my elbow, and my shin is all skinned up. but it's all good. i at least got to practice a couple of times.
so sunday, i decided to go for a run, but joel and i ran a million errands (read: went shopping) before that. so we ate dinner, then i went for a run at like 10pm at night.
remember how i mentioned "nothing new on race day?" right, well, you're supposed to also practice nutrition so you know what you can and can't eat before the race. based on last night's run, i now know the following: i can wolf down two slices of pizza and a tall caramel macchiato from starbucks before a 40 minute run.
so we had swim practice today, and work was so crazy that i didn't get a chance to leave until about 715p. so i ended up going to the 745p swim. here's our workout:
100 warm up
25 fast
50 recover
75 fast
100 recover
75 fast
50 recover
25 fast
75x4 build
50x2 golf
2x100
total yards= 1100
whew. i didn't realize how much we swam tonight. good workout! i actually felt really good during practice. i figured out that i was trying to get my "power" from the wrong part of the stroke. once i fixed that, i felt so much better, and i was going faster without more effort. that feels nice. thanks, coach jamie!
i'm considering going for a 6am ride tomorrow. i'm taking bets for whether i'll actually go or not.
so yesterday was a brick work out, and it being our 4th or 5th training session together, it came up pretty fast. for those of you who aren't familiar with the term, a brick work out is usually a training session that consists of two of the tri sports, usually a bike and run which is what we did yesterday. we did this bike route - whose name is totally escaping me right now - that took about 30 minutes or so. it was pretty hilly, and there were lots of turns - so if i had to do it by myself, i would surely get lost. then we rode for another 10 minutes, for a total of 40 minutes, then did a 15 minute run after. i thought i was going to just freeze up right after the ride, but i actually didn't. it was somewhat encouraging, but i'm still needing frequent encouragement... i heard that the treasure island bike course is six of those loops, full of hills and lots of turns. yikes! then throw a six mile run after that. in the words of sam beckett, "oh boy."