Week 2: Impromptu Bike and Swim Class

How funny is this?! So, I’m typing my daily update just now while listening to the latest Triathlon Podcast of “Get Your Geek On.” Yep, I am a geek, but we all need something. Well, a couple of months ago, they actually aired a quick segment with me just before the Eagleman Half-Ironman in June. On this week’s show (Tuesday, August 15th) , they very randomly gave the update of how I did. How funny is that?!? Yes, my “silent goal” was a sub-6:00 and I came in at 5:44. Woo hoo! I think I’m still in awe. I had actually sent them a note letting them know I had gotten a slot at the 70.3 World Championship Race. My goal in the email was for them to let other triathletes know how relatively simple it was to get a slot. Basically, I stuck around and remained patient. I don’t care who you are. It’s always fun to hear your name being broadcast (this being said even after spending 13 years in the radio biz!)

So, back to the training for IM70.3!

Wednesday Afternoon: Impromptu Bike Ride

With Shawn deciding to work late, I decided to throw in another impromptu ride on Wednesday evening instead of the planned Thursday evening. I don’t know about most of you, but my bike is in my car about 90% of the time anyways, along with outfits for various sporting events that may strike inspiration in me at any time. I’m a sporting goods store on wheels these days with extra shoes, socks, towels, shorts, helmet, bike pump, etc. This was also after a tough running workout in the morning so I wasn’t sure how the legs would hold up. Now, I also have to admit. The devil tried to play a little trick on me. Two of my co-workers were going out for sushi and drinks after work so that they wouldn’t have to sit in traffic. I can’t tell you how close I was to skipping the ride and partaking in a spicy tuna roll with extra wasabi. However, I had already made dinner for later AND I wanted to take advantage of this “free time” for exercise. I started off on what I thought would be about an 1hr 30 min ride. Instead of going to Tarrytown, I opted to ride through Barton HILLS instead. It too has decent bike lines and plenty of climbs, twists and turns to make the ride interesting. One of my favorite climbs is to the top of Mountain View Road. I swear, there are moments when the bike is standing completely still between pedal strokes. However, when you crest the hill, you feel like you’re on top of the world—or at least on the top of this steep road in Austin, Texas. About 45 min into the ride, Shawn called and was leaving work. I rode back to my car and called it a day after an hour. It was a great hour of solid riding and hill climbing. I finished feeling completely satisfied and proud that I didn’t give in to the nasty devil himself.

I got home and heated up the dinner that I had prepared earlier…Turkey taco salad with black beans and salsa. Of course, I also capped the evening with a glass of red wine.


Thursday Morning: Swim Workout

A little surprise awaited us this morning at the pool. After 1600m of warmup, drills, fin work and paddle work, we had to do a 30-min Time Trial Swim at 85% effort. Essentially, 85% effort is supposed to be a sustainable effort over a long period of time. It’s the “pace run” of swimming. It’s an effort that you should be able to do on race day and not feel completely spent afterward.

Chrissie placed me in Lane 2 with three others and off we went. Honestly, I didn’t expect to finish. I hadn’t really done an extended long swim in a while. Plus, I was in a lane with faster people so I was automatically nervous about not keeping up. In many ways, it felt like a little race. The watches beeped and I started last of the group. A couple of laps into it and I was feeling very relaxed. Wow…this isn’t so bad. I was even right on the feet of the guy in front of me and thought about passing him on one or two occasions. I opted not to mainly because it meant that I’d have to hold that position for about 20 more laps and I didn’t know if I had the endurance. I also realized that I felt relaxed because I was catching some of his draft. Never mind that, I’m just glad I was able to stay right on his tail. The two others in front of us had a significant lead. They did end up lapping both of us. No surprises and no bruised egos. I just kept swimming. About 20 minutes into it, I noticed that the lanes seemed to be getting less crowded. That meant it was 7:00am and several people had to leave regardless of whether they were finished or not. I, on the other hand, still had 10 minutes to go in my swim. JP lapped me about 2 more times during the course of the swim. We stopped after 30 minutes and I still felt good. My form was beginning to fatigue, but my breathing was steady.

I ended up doing 27 laps for 1350 meters. That equates to a 2:15 100m average. For me, that’s an improvement. A good improvement. Maybe I’m turning a little corner. I don’t know. Most of all, I just have to keep patting myself on the back for getting my butt out there and “tri-ing.” Not only do I try, but I complete the entire workout damn near every time. I’m frequently the very last person out of the pool, but I don’t care. There’s something so elating about being present and accounted for from start to finish. There’s got to be some payoff for that somewhere down the road.

With every lap, I swim farther and farther away from the little chubby girl with big boobs!!

Nutrition:
5:30am 1/2 Balance Bar and 1/2 Clif Bar
9:30am 1 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch and yogurt, 2 pieces of string cheese
12:30pm Zone Bar
2:30pm Hummus and Bell Peppers on Wheat Bread, spoonful of Peanut Butter (weird combo, I know)
7:30pm Turkey Taco Salad with Black beans, salsa and cheese