Sporting a Wetsuit

My second day of training in the pool with a wetsuit. Much better than yesterday. There's Paige in the background in the pool trying hers out as well. I swim 32 laps in 17:10, which is faster than yesterday. I wasn't racing, but just trying to go at a nice easy pace. I felt good. That's all that matters to me right now. Then after my swim I hopped on the treadmill for 30 minutes. It feels good to be done with my workouts! Yeah!

Wetsuit, Wind and Achilles Tendonitis

Thank you Paul Dignan for letting me borrow your wetsuit. Paul is my friend Tammy's husband- he's an IRONMAN! I wore the suit in the pool today. A few people said the pool's heated. I said I know, I'm training for a race and I've never swum in a wetsuit before.

I jump in the pool. Hey, I float. How cool is that. I like that.

I start swimming. Hey, I could get used to this. This makes the swim so much easier. Then the panic began to creep in. It felt tight around my chest- like I was being squeezed...... I pushed myself through it and was able to continue. I'll practice again tomorrow. At least I know the feeling now. So hopefully I won't feel panicky again.

It's Wednesday and guess what? It's windy again. Okay, not as bad as the past few Wednesdays. But, geez.......... And today I was riding alone. Tammy couldn't make it today. Riding in the wind is really starting to bug me. I don't like it- it makes a training ride all that much harder. Tammy I missed you today!

I have a mild case of achilles tendonitis. Bummer. At least I'm treating it before it turns nasty. The doc says it's about a 4 on a 10 point scale. So, that's good news. No hill running- or fast training runs until it calms down. I thought I was doing a good thing by doing the elliptical. But, it turns out- I should just run. The elliptical can cause other issues.
Oh, the life of an athlete at 41......................
But, I'm not stopping yet. I see myself doing this into my 70's. :)

Finally my weeks of hard work are rubbing off on others in the family. Bruce jogged for 23 minutes this morning and swam this evening. How fun would it be for the both of us to do triathlon together. I think we should find one with mountain bikes- that would be right up his alley.

The swim

This is Ryan. For some reason the picture didn't upload on my previous blog.

I swam today and used the techniques Ryan taught me. My stroke has greatly improved. YIPPEE. I still need to work on my kick. I noticed during a pull drill I was ahead of 2 other swimmers that are usually ahead of me. This proved to me that my stroked technique has improved. Now if I can just get my legs to work- we'll be good.

Today I also learned to only focus on myself- I spent too much time worrying about what everyone else was doing and questioning why I wasn't as fast- I need to put my energy into the swim..........

Thanks Ryan- see you Sunday.

Where has the time gone?

I haven’t blogged in a while……… I’ve been keeping up with my training plan. Life has just been busy and I guess I’m spending a lot of time thinking about race day and all that energy was preventing me from blogging.
I ran a 5k on April 14th in 25.29 (an 8:11pace) not bad. But, I know I can do better than that. I volunteered at the Ironman on April 15th. What an incredible experience. I’ll volunteer again next year. I don’t quite see myself doing an Ironman. Maybe a half ironman someday.

I’m still a pretty lousy swimmer. This past Saturday my friend Tammy’s son Ryan helped me. He’s in high school and swims on a club swim team. And well, Ryan is a pretty awesome swimmer and he’s only 15. He swims long distance.
We met at the pool on Saturday and he could right away see what I was doing wrong. For the first time it actually clicked. He explained what I was doing wrong and showed me what to do through various drills. Some people can be great swimmers- but not great teachers. I think Ryan has the gift of also being a good teacher. By the end of my lesson I could feel myself gliding through the water with much less effort. Before I was paddling so hard and not getting anywhere. I also do this pretty hysterical move with my legs. I have to practice practice practice. Bruce was able to videotape the lesson. Oh my……… seeing myself was pretty hysterical. It’s a good thing I can laugh at myself because I sure did get a lot of teasing from Bruce. He was actually laughing at me from the pool deck at one point. He exclaimed you really don’t know how to swim.
I’m going to meet with Ryan again next Sunday. Hopefully my practicing will show by the time I meet with him next Sunday. Here's Ryan and I after the swim.

Climbing a hill……
Okay, well we live in a hilly area. I thought I had a good handle on the hills. Well, that was until this past Sunday. It was silent Sunday in South Mountain Park. That means it wasn’t open to cars. A big group from Gage Total Training got together to ride in the park. We rode out to San Juan which is lots of rolling hills. I didn’t warm up prior to this so I felt pretty crappy during most of the ride. Then they were all riding up to the TV Towers. I wasn’t sure I was going to do this. But, Tammy and Bruce said come on let’s go and off we went. OH MY GOD. On the one hand it was good to see that my training has paid off- Bruce had to stop. I thought I’d meet him at Telegraph pass, but by the time we got there I was feeling good and decided to continue the climb to the towers. Slow and steady was the theme for me. At some points closer to the towers I was standing on my pedals very slowly turning 1 crank at a time. Tammy was a head of me and I just kept on focusing on getting to the top. We were about 100 yards from the top when the big group of GT3ers started their descent. They yelled for us to turn around, which we did. Down we went. Sometimes it was a bit scary but we made it in one piece.
I think the fact that Bruce was sucking wind finally pushed him to realize that the once per week workout schedule isn’t working for him.(lol) So we bought him a bathing suit, a cap, goggles and paddles. He’s going to start swimming tonight. I hope he sticks with it. I know he’ll feel so much better if he does.

I did it........

I swam with the group for a 2nd day. My legs felt like lead though. I needed to use the pull buoy through some of it just to get through. By using that your legs stay still and you just pull with your arms and upper body. They need to get stronger anway.......

Cate woke up early today (5am) so that helped me meet the group @ 9:30. She went down for a nap around 8am. I ran during that time- 35 minutes @ a 9:09 pace. I needed to keep my HR under 146. It was a good easy steady run on the treadmill. I set the treadmill on an incline of 1. By doing so, they say this helps mimic outdoor running.

After my run, I stretched, showered and then got my things ready for swimming. I peeked my head in Cate's room @ 9:10- her eyes opened. YEAH. So, I quickly got her ready and off to the Y we went.

I felt excited about meeting everyone for the swim. Today, it didn't matter to me if I was slow- all that mattered was that I got there, and I for now anyway, got over another hurdle.

I need to focus on positive thinking more and keep the self-doubt door closed. Opening that door doesn't do me any good.

I'll do my strength training a little later today. Tomorrow will be another rest day because I'm going to rest for a 5K race on Sat. morning. Caroline and Sara will do the 1 mile fun run, and we'll even get Cate out there in her baby jogger. So, it truly will be a family affair, except for Bruce who will be in a golf tourney on Sat. We'll miss you hon.

A little bit of nudging

from Coach Jane today was what I needed.

I haven't been swimming with the group that much. I was doing my swim workouts on my own. I guess because it's safer that way. By safer I mean I don't have to feel "uncomfortable" if I didn't want to. And then of course I wouldn't have to feel embarassed.

I had my workout in hand. Coach Jane asked if I was going to swim with them today. "Well...", I said. (Feeling intimidated. Intimidated because all the Ironman athletes are coming into town and some of them are swimming in the Y pool. Here I am - the girl learning to swim.)

I told Coach Jane, "Well, no - I have my workout...", and then tried some lame excuse of why I was just going to do the workout alone.

THANKFULLY, she told me she had read my blog about DETERMINATION and then mentioned that someone else new to swimming was doing the workouts and they were improving. That's all I had to hear!

So I got in the middle of Coach Jane and Coach George. Jane modifies the workouts to my ability and George kindly explains what it means when Jane says we're going to do it on the 1:20. I think I might have that finally figured out.

It was clear to me that I hadn't been pushing myself in the pool. It was also clear to me that I won't improve unless I push myself. So, I need to do these group swims. It is also clear to me that I need to focus on what I can do rather than focusing on what I can't do. So, for instance, just a short 8 weeks ago I could barely do 4 laps. Now 12 laps is the warm-up. I have come far, and with hard work I'll continue to improve. But nothing comes without hard work.

Define Determination

Determination:
noun
1. firmness of purpose: will, or intention full of ambition and determination

With that in mind.....
Would I let the fact that I had 30ppl coming to my house on Easter Sunday deter me from my goal? Would I let the fact that I didn't have my usual "support team" (Caroline, Sara and Bruce) home on Saturday morning hold me back from my long run? Well, that was a question I didn't have the answer to until Saturday morning.
This Saturday morning, when Bruce got up @ 4am to do is last Sat. testing shift @ DHL. He left the house @ 5am. I dragged myself out of bed, dreading the 1:15 long run I was supposed to do with no company (except for Cate in the baby jogger). I didn't even make my usual oatmeal and coffee. I had whole wheat toast and coffee. I still was going through the motions, not really taking my morning run seriously. Not thinking that I was going to be able to run this 1:15 with the baby jogger. Hoping for a way out. Wondering when Cate was going to wake up? Hoping she'd sleep late, and I wouldn't have enough time to run and get ready for the Easter Parade.
Just at that moment, I hear her on the monitor. Her morning gurgles..... It was 5:50am. Cate was ready to get up- that meant I needed to run.
We got ready. I dressed Cate. Dressed myself. Strapped on my heart rate monitor and watch. Grabbed water. Secured her in her baby jogger. Turned on my Ipod and off we went. I warmed up by walking fast up the hill to the trail parking lot, and then off we went. The entire time I was thinking I was going to quit. I just didn't want to do this, and I was just looking for an excuse to turn back. But, I couldn't find one. Before I knew it I was at the Y. I saw a bunch of people from the Y. Some I've biked with. Some run in a group I run with (the fast ones). I stopped, took off my long sleeved shirt, tied it around my waist and kept going. It was seeing them that helped me keep going. I was almost halfway there. I couldn't quit now- it was almost over and soon enough I'd be patting myself on the back.
Before I knew it, my time was over. I DID IT. Finally, I got over that hurdle of running with the baby jogger on a long run ALONE. It really wasn't that bad.

I know now I have it in me to achieve whatever I want. You just have to WANT IT. I guess that's what DETERMINATION is to me.