Cling On (sic)

As slow as I am on the bike, I usually dread the group rides the clubs (Columbia Multisport and/or Columbia Bicycle Club) put on because I either take off with a group that is too fast for me and get dropped or ride with a slow group and end up way out in front of them.  Either way, I ride alone.  Maybe I just don’t “get” road biking yet.  Maybe I’m supposed to do something I don’t know I’m supposed to do yet.  Maybe I’m missing some roadie protocol.  Regardless, most rides I feel like the only place I’m going to see another bike is in the parking lot.  And I’m not whining or complaining, that’s just the way it is.

So after a hard run in the rain yesterday morning I spent the rest of the day debating whether I should go to the evening hammerfest known as Interval Night.  In the end, insanity won out over common sense and I went, despite feeling exhausted and foggy from all the allergy meds I am taking.

The usual suspects were there.  All of the CBC guys that I knew I would never hang with.  All of the fast triathletes I knew I would never hang with.  All of the others that I’m just a bit too fast to hang back with.  Yup… Another lonely ride ahead.

But as I sat there waiting to start I kind of got frustrated with my current state of physical conditioning.  I don’t think I have been pushing hard enough on the bike and have been accepting what I get and I wasn’t happy with that.  The riders decided to work pace lines for intervals so we broke up into groups of 4-6.  I finally decided to go with a group of two fast women riders and two fast men riders and just see how long I could hang on.  But I was going to work really hard to keep up.  The route was a 27 mile out and back and we would put in two intervals of 4 miles and 4 intervals of 2 miles, plus whatever else we decided to do.  I just decided to sit on the back of the pace line and hang on for all I was worth.

After about a 2 mile warmup we hit the start of the first interval and the line sped up.  I stuck to the wheel of the rider in front of me and tried not to pay attention to anything but the road and spinning my pedals.  I noticed that everyone was spinning slower gears really fast, so I shifted up and did the same.  We were averaging about 110-120 rpm and roughly 24mph for the interval.  I felt much better than I thought I would and ended up with the group at the end of the first interval.  And then the second.  And the third.  And the halfway point.

Although I was pleased to be with the group for this far, I knew when we stopped to regroup at the halfway point that my intervals were numbered though because as soon as my foot hit the ground, my calf cramped.  I grabbed my water bottle only to realize I had forgotten to fill it.  …doomed.

We started back up and I actually took a pull at the front.  Then the two girls in our group “chicked” me (passed me really fast and dropped me).  All I could do was grin and wave goodbye.  I never saw them again.  As we got to the top of a small rise, the two other guys in the group saw that the women had slowed down and said “Let’s get them!”  I hopped up out of the saddle and every muscle in my body seized at the same time.  I flopped back down weakly in the saddle and surrendered.  It was fun to watch them chase the ladies down though.  And once again, I finished the ride alone.

But I was encouraged.  I think if I plan better (like filling my water bottle and bring a Gu) and don’t go so hard in the morning run, I might actually be able to hang with some of the faster riders.  I’m not fast yet and I admit that.  But working a pace line helps.  And I’m also learning more about when to shift, etc. from the other riders.  I’m really glad I went.  With the speed ups, slow downs, stop at the half and running out of gas half way back, I still managed just over 20 mph.  This is much faster (almost 2mph) than I have ever done this route.  And I’m really not sore or anything this morning.  But I did decide to take today off.  I can tell I need it.  Tomorrow will be a morning run (with the Uprise group!  Yay!) and then an afternoon open water swim so today is a good day to relax.  One week to Innsbrook!

SwimBikeRun (fish) Run

The last couple of nights have been seasonal allergy hell for me.  Little to no sleep… can’t breathe… sneezy, itchy, family fun sized amounts of drainage, the whole deal.  So I forgave myself my sin yesterday morning of not getting up and going to the pool on two hours sleep.  But as with any true addict, I just couldn’t stay away and by the end of the day I had guilt so I decided to make myself feel better with a slow motion triathlon.

A slow motion triathlon is all three sports in one day but the transitions usually involve a bathroom to change in and a drive across town to get to the next group activity.  I even managed to throw in a fourth sport, fishing, as a bonus when I got done.  Kind of a redneck thing… Y’all wouldn’t understand.

The swim:

Open water at Stephen’s lake.  Six laps of a roughly 40 yard roped off area, plus the swim out and back came out to about 500 yards in race kit (wetsuit) and pace.  My tracking was wild and it didn’t help that the lane lines were loose so I ran into them on just about every lap as they drifted around.  I didn’t have anyone to play with so it got old quick.  My wetsuit seems to be just right in the fit department, but I am noticing that my arms tend to fall asleep on long swims.  Hopefully this is just a fad that will pass as I get more long swims in.  My suit is also easy to get out of and shouldn’t slow my transitions down by more than 10 or 15 seconds, so I’m cool with that.  After my “transition” out of the water (which included a romp through the splash park in my wetsuit… heh… hey.  I had to clean it off… right?).  I loaded up and drove across town to part two.

The ride:

Will I ever get any stronger on the ride…?  JEEEZUS on a Cheeto I’m slow.  The ride was hill repeats on a one mile hill.  I knew I was going to run afterwards so I only did 4 of them and with the ride out and back I put in about 15 miles.  I’m really trying to be more efficient with my pedal stroke and pull up as well as push down.  Maybe it’s making a tiny bit of a difference, maybe not.  I have no idea.  I have sweat so much on my cyclocomputer that it has failed.  I don’t know if I can save it.  My downhill, however, has never been in question and I am very fast here.  One thing I have noticed about my bike is that it doesn’t like to turn.  Since it’s a cyclocross bike, the geometry is not very responsive to road race conditions.  I have to countersteer it (turn the bars in the opposite condition of the direction I want to go while leaning the bike in the direction I want to go) to get it to handle some of the more technical turns.  Again, it’s the old “plowshare into a sword” thing.  Now if I could find a triathlon with an all downhill, no turn bike route…?  I would OWN that course.

The run:

Felt like crap for the first mile… as usual.  I watched my time closely though, and though I felt slow, I really wasn’t.  I ran 8:10, 8:05, 8:00 for the three mile route and I wasn’t pushing it.  I think that first mile is more mental and I just need to get past it and ignore it.  I might need to start taking in a few calories (like a Gu or something) and some fluid on the bike because I felt like my right hamstring wanted to cramp.  I don’t have much to say about running anymore on triathlons.  It’s still my favorite part of the event and I’m always happy to see my running shoes in the transition area.

Fishing:

Family total was 10 fish in an hour.  Four bluegill (two of which were HUGE), 5 perch and 1 bass.  One of the big bluegill nearly yanked the 5 year old into the water.  It was worth the price of the fishing license just to see her wrestle the monster (all of maybe a pound) in with her Snoopy fishing pole.  Awesome…

This morning I went to the group run with the club after ANOTHER sleepless night (I was answering email at 3am…) hoping for a decent outcome.  I was pleased with the outcome of 6.8 miles at a 7:45 pace (on a drippy, sloppy morning…) and I noticed a few things.  First, bike hills make me a stronger runner.  No question.  I now get to the top of hills that used to destroy me and I have energy.  Second, my endurance is obviously getting better.  I seem to be tracking people down in the last two miles of every run that used to drop me.  Finally, my pace really seems to be consistent (another nod to endurance).  I’m not burning out at the end of my runs anymore.  All good signs.

Tonight is bike intervals, tomorrow is a pool swim, and then there are some rumblings of open water swims Saturday and Monday.  Next week is a taper week for me, which is good since I am going to be out of town for three days…   Then Saturday is Innsbrook!  My first open water swim, my first mass start race, lots of bike and run hills.  Sounds awesome…  Can’t wait!

One run, two runs.

Sorry for the back to back posts.  This will be a short one.

This morning’s run was a tale of two runs.  When I woke up my allergies were in full force.  I couldn’t breathe, itchy, sneezy… all the dwarves except Doc.  It wasn’t raining but it was M.U.G.G.Y.  Gah…  Even with the cooler temps it was still a bit oppressive.  I took as much allergy medication as I knew my stomach would handle and sniffled my way out to the car.

The skies were so overcast that it was still pretty dark when we took off on a run called “Dave’s Devil”.  Named such not because it is a particularly tough run (one big hill) but simply because it is 6.66 miles…   The dark did little to improve my mood but as soon as we started running my nose opened up and I could breathe again.  For this reason alone I really didn’t want to stop running.

This was really a tale of two runs.  The first half of this run was miserable.  I ran right up against the lead pack in the first mile.  It seemed like they were going slow.  I felt tired but was having no trouble hanging with them and then at about mile two, they took off and dropped me like a rock.  All I could do was put my head down and run.  The first small hill we hit felt like it was draining my energy but I also seemed to be catching some people that went out with the lead pack, so I stuck with it.  About half way through the run there is a BIG down followed by a BIG up.  Not so much in grade OR length, but a combination of just enough of both to be a challenge.  I lengthen my stride out on downhills and lean forward a bit to gain some free speed and this really seemed to be working for me.  I caught up to a group that is usually a little faster than me.  I figured they would drop me again on the uphill but somewhere about half way down the hill I seemed to all of a sudden feel better.  I had energy and legs.  I surged on the uphill and stayed right in the middle of them.  I was even able to pull away on the flat at the top of the hill without much effort and I didn’t feel winded.  The rest of the run was spent picking of those who went out a bit too fast.  We got to the top of the last hill before a big downhill to the finish and the skies opened up and began to pour on us.  But this only lasted a moment or two and by the time we got to the bottom of the hill it had stopped.  It didn’t matter anyway because about 1/4 mile into the run I was pouring with sweat and the rain actually felt good.

I finished just under 8 minutes per mile average.  This was a surprise since I felt much slower, especially in the first half.  It was nice to hear people saying I looked strong today.  Especially since it didn’t feel that way.

I think I will jump on the bike trainer tonight and just spin for an hour or so.  The weather is too sketchy today to get caught out in a downpour.  Besides, it’s momma’s night out so there really isn’t enough time for anything else.  I need to work really hard this week on the bike and then take it easy next week since I will be out for work most of it and it’s a taper week anyway.  My first open water triathlon is June 6th!

First REAL open water swim

On Memorial Day, most people are celebrating our armed forces and the sacrifices they have made to keep us safe.  There is also time to relax and enjoy what most consider the kick off for summer with a barbecue and a few cold ones.  Then there are those few, sick, twisted individuals who think it would be a good idea to swim a half mile in the rain.

…that would be me.

I drug the family out in the mud to the lake with the promise of some fishing if they would go with me to my first real open water swim.  They agreed and after a stop at Bass Pro Shop for some bait.  I had never been to this lake before so I didn’t know what to expect.  Finger lakes is a state park about 10 miles from my house that is a combination of small lakes and old quarries that have filled with water.  It’s a beautiful area that is a multi-use space so there are off roading trails for bikes and quads as well as mountain bikes and hikers.  There are some primitive campsites and a few areas designated for swimming.  It’s actually quite a find to be so close to home.

The lake we chose to swim in is actually just about perfect for open water practice.  It is dogleg shaped and is narrow.  It’s only about 75 yards wide and is about 550 yards long.  So you get a perfect opportunity to swim up to a half mile with only one turn.  There are plenty of trees on the bank to sight on and the water is decent.  There are only a couple of spots where you have to swim through a plant or two, then you are in open water.

Here are my impressions of my first open water swim:

Even though it was 68, breezy and rainy, with a water temperature about the same as the air temperature, I was comfortable to even a bet warm in my sleeveless wetsuit.  The hardest part (besides cramming my fat ass into the suit) was walking out over the mushy, rocky bottom until I could get to a point where I could start swimming.

Equipment:

I’m still not used to swimming with a cap.  But the rules for swims with teh club are that you have to wear one.  Mine never seems to fit right and when I got done it was sealed tight, but full of water…?  Weird and kinda funny at the same time.  I desperately need to get some “no fog” fro my goggles.  About 400 yards into the swim I ran into a self induced fog bank and had to stop for a second to clear my googles.  Kinda hard to sight what you can’t see…  My wetsuit performed admirably.  I just got the tiniest of rubs on the underside of my upper right arm.  Otherwise it was comfortable, buoyant and warm.  Almost too warm at points.  It didn’t bind or impede me in any way.  It was a nice security blanket for my first open water.

The Swim:

It took me a long time to find a rhythm.  I’m sure it was just the nervousness of being in a new situation.  I found that my breathing was a bit labored even though I was barely kicking.  I’m sure this was stress.  I usually breathe every 4 but had to drop it to every two to keep me comfortable.  Sighting was easy (except when my goggles fogged up) but I did find that I pulled to the right when breathing every two strokes so I kind of swam in a bit of an arc.  Once I got out to the half way point I tried to really focus on tracking and relaxing/breathing.  I worked on tracking every 8 strokes.  If I was on, I did another 8 strokes.  If I was off, I corrected and then checked every 4 strokes until I was back on line.  I tried to force myself to breathe ever 4 strokes.  I did have to occasionally do a catch up breath but by the end of the lap I was back to an easy 4 stroke breathing pattern.  I realized that even though I really didn’t have to, I was kicking quite a bit.  This is an old habit with me.  I kick when I’m not comfortable.  I tried to force myself to relax from the waist down and swim “through the tube”.  This seemed to help and I’m pretty sure I swam faster toward the end.  I briefly entertained thoughts of doing another lap, but I was pretty tired and since it was my first time I decided to declare victory and wait for another day.

Final Thoughts:

As intimidating as it was standing on that bank and looking down that long lake, I think it went OK.  Lots to work on of course, but the jitters are gone now when the mention of an open water swim comes up.  It would be nice to swim open water a couple more times before the race, but if not, I’m OK with it.  My first open water swim is about half the distance I did yesterday and from my understanding it’s the run/bike that is the hard part of this one.  LOTS of hills! Still, this swim did a lot to allay my fears about “real” open water.  It was really kind of fun.

Krak-A-Dawn ride

Had a good, leisurely 5.5 mile run last night.  It was beautiful outside and I needed a recovery run so I went to a trail close to my house and just took off in a direction for a while.  My relatively flat run was interrupted only by one monster of a hill, but I felt ok going up it and knew it was the only thing between me and the rest of an easy run so I just put my head down and pretended it wasn’t there.  It didn’t work, of course… but I got up it ok and went on about my business.

It has been windy so much for the last month that last night (and this morning) the absence of wind was noticeable.  Especially when I stopped and a flash flood of sweat began to pour off my shirt and shorts.  Ewww…  Ahh… summer running.

This morning I was up bright (questionably) and early (definitely) for a new ride called the “Krak-A-Dawn” ride.  We left at 6 am for a 24 mile loop around the outskirts of town.  Good group and fun to ride with.  They stopped to wait fore everyone to catch up a bit too much, but that was ok.  Still got a nice ride in and then threw in a bonus brick mile just to remind me how much it hurts to run right off the bike!  I hope they keep doing it because it was an enjoyable route and the people are nice.  I’m a little faster than most and dog slow compared to the rest, so I was sandwiched nicely between them so I didn’t get lost.  I’m really focusing on high cadence and spinning the pedals in a circle (instead of mashing big gears).  It seems to be helping not only my speed but also how tired my legs are at the end of the ride.

The rest of the day today will be spent remodeling and I might just take tomorrow off.  Then I’m out to a local lake on Monday for a real open water swim and a picnic with the family.  Happy Memorial Day!

Busy pool

I was back at the pool this morning.  As much as I tried to convince myself not to go, I found myself staring into the water blankly at 6:15… as usual.  The pool has been unusually busy this week and today was no exception.  I jumped in a shared lane and did 400 warm up but still didn’t really have a plan for the workout.  I toyed with the idea of making this an endurance day by swimming a slightly shorter overall distance, but swimming a longer distance main set.  I felt fine on the warmup so I went with it.  I decided to do 1000 yards with a pull buoy and then 200 straight swim and call it a day.

Of course, half way through the swim I found myself surrounded by other swimmers and had to stop for a second to explain that I was in the middle of a long run, going kind of slow and that we needed to circle swim and they could just tap me and I would let them by.  It was a little irritating at first buy I got over it and it really wasn’t an issue.

A thousand yards in a 25 yard pool is MONOTONOUS.  The hardest part is keeping count of your laps.  I felt very comfortable the whole way, didn’t kick at all and probably should have swam harder as I wasn’t really even tired at the end of it.  I do think, though, that if I am going to do longer distances I should really save it for open water.  I’m glad I did it, but it was a little boring.

I’m hoping to get a run or ride in today as well and then another good ride in tomorrow, possibly a longer brick?  Sunday is open right now and then Monday (man I love long weekends!) the club is doing an open water swim at this cool old quarry with a lake that is very narrow and about 500 yards long.  That should be fun.  Next week will be my last good week for training and then the week after that I travel for a couple of days so I will have to train as I can.  Two weeks until my first open water triathlon!

Game Changer

Wetsuit.

Get one.

Oh. My. Goshngolly.

I have been fretting about open water swimming since well before my first triathlon, which was a pool swim.  Since I had already signed up for two open water swim triathlons after it, I was feeling the urge to get in a lake and get used to it.  But the problem is that we have had a relatively mild spring thus far and the temps have remained too cool for anything but the pool.

But the promise of warmer temps got me to asking lots of questions about wetsuits and open water swims.  Finally I talked with one of our more experienced triathletes who said that he basically swims with a wetsuit any time he gets the chance.  He said it just makes sense.  It makes you faster, saves your legs for the bike/run, makes you feel safer, etc.  At his urging, I finally went in and started talking with the local shops about them.

I took the opportunity to try on several and I’m so glad I did.  See, my engine runs hot.  If it gets much over 70 degrees, I’m sweating.  I can wear shorts in 20 degree weather.  I knew from back in the day when I had a wetsuit for surfing, that fit is critical and they are, for me, HOT.  But thinking that perhaps the tech had changed a bit, I first grabbed a long sleeved or “full” suit.  After doing the “I’m putting my wetsuit on” dance, I finally got it on (a little baby power or bacon grease might have made the process easier) and as I was tugging and poking it to get it set right I realized something.  I was baking in my own juices.  I literally felt like I was melting.  A quick mental assessment of my situation made me question how the hell people can actually put one of these on and then exercise in it?!  It also felt very restrictive in the shoulders.

I peeled myself out of it as gracefully as I could (think: banana peels itself) and stood there in my tri-shorts for a few minutes to get my body temp down and stop sweating.  My generally hot feeling jeans felt light and breezy when I put them back on.  I immediately trudged over to the racks, plopped the vetoed full suit back in it’s spot and began discussing other options.  Amy (my coach and the business owner) suggested I try out a sleeveless.  She checked her size charts and discovered she had one my size in the back.  She came out, handed me the box, smiled and said, “you tear it, you bought it” and shooed me out the door and on to the lake.

I had swam 2100 yards that morning so I had a good swim, and I couldn’t believe that I was actually considering doing two swims in the same day (the addiction has, indeed overcome me).  After a few hours back at work I scurried out the door and headed to a local lake at a big park in town that has swim lanes marked off.  A quick check of the air temperature showed about 80 and I estimate the water temperature was between 65-70.  There were two other triathletes there testing their gear out for a big triathlon this weekend so I even had people to swim with.

I gingerly stepped into my wetsuit, remembering to turn it inside out all the way down to the calves to make it easier to start and then pulled and tugged for a few minutes until I got it into position.  Zipping it was a bit of a challenge as it was cut a bit tight for me right about the bottom of the rib cage so I carefully tugged until it got past that point and then it zipped up the rest of the way so fast I thought I broke the zipper.  I bagged up the rest of my stuff and headed for the water.  I have to say I LOVE the sleeveless design.  No binding or rubbing.  I had full range of motion.  Love it! And since I am going to be doing nothing but midwest triathlons for the first year or two, the extra protection of the full sleeves is kind of lost on me.  If I branch out and start doing colder water stuff later then I will look at a full suit.  But even then I will probably just rent one until it becomes routine to do open ocean or mountain triathlons.

I dipped a toe in the water and it was, indeed, cool, but I was already sweating from wearing so much black neoprene so I was happy to get in.  This lake slopes gradually out to the swim lanes which range from 6-10 feet deep.  It’s actually just an area of the lake that is roped off with a couple of buoys to practice tracking on.  It’s about 40-50 yards long and has enough room to practice open water turns too.

My impressions of everything related to open water, triathlon swimming, wetsuits… everything… changed instantly the first time I took off on an open water lap in a wetsuit.  It was fun… REALLY fun…  I actually felt like I was swimming, not beating the water to death or dragging my lead butt through it.  What a huge difference.

First, let’s talk wetsuit.  Or, more accurately, buoyancy.  Swimming open water with a wetsuit is, to me, exactly like swimming with a pull buoy (the little foam buoy you put between your legs for swim drills).  I barely had to kick at all.  I felt like I was on plane and swimming through the water instead of dragging myself through it.  The suit provided no restriction and kept me perfectly warm without being hot.  All of the effort of my arm stroke was actually being transferred to the water to pull me through.  So that’s what it feels like…  The suit also provided enough flotation so that when I stopped to adjust things or talk, I felt like I could relax and not worry about sinking.  I didn’t have to tread water.  All in all, the wetsuit was fantastic.  Even if I did look like a baby orca…  I don’t care.  See, I am COMFORTABLE enough to be confident on a bicycle or the run.  But I still haven’t felt COMFORTABLE in the water… until yesterday.

Now, about open water.  Yes, you can’t see.  Yes, there are floaty bits and the occasional inadvertant sip is nasty tasting.  But I. Loved. It.

It was awesome to be able to get into a rhythm.  The wetsuit let me breathe every 4-6 strokes so I could concentrate on even, balanced strokes.  Sighting is easier than I thought it would be.  I just tried to relax and focus on a balanced stroke.  Every 8 strokes I popped my head up just above water, eyes forward, and checked my line.  If I was on, I tried to push the next sight out to 12 strokes.  If I was off, I adjusted and checked on the 4th stroke.  If I was back on, I went back to 8.  I swam several laps where I only had to check twice in 50 yards.  I also liked being outside and in the water.  The sun felt good on my back.  With a wetsuit and proper training, I am definitely certain that I could swim much greater distances, and with less effort.  I WANT to swim now.  How sick is that…

I tried, albeit carefully and slowly, to simulate exiting the wetsuit as I came out of the water and Amy was right.  It was much easier to get out of once it got wet.  I dropped the zipper and peeled it down to my waist as I came out of the water.  Then when I got to a safer spot I peeled it down to just below the biggest part of my calves.  Then I stepped on one leg as close to my foot as I could and then pulled quickly with the other leg.  My foot popped out easily.  I repeated on the other side and I was out.  Cool!  It will definitely slow down my transitions a bit, but I think the time I make up in the water with the suit on will balance that out.

After all of that, this morning’s run seemed a bit of an anticlimax.  A flat, out and back, interval workout on the trail.

But.

It was 7.8 miles (long for me) and I managed to hang with the lead pack to the halfway point.  I felt strong and didn’t tire out the entire way.  And I averaged a 7:46 mile pace.  If you take out the 8:33 warmup mile we ran, the average drops to 7:34!  I’m loving my legs right now.  Over the last month I have dropped a full 30 seconds per mile off my average.  And I have as yet to really push myself in a race…  Now I just gotta get better on the bike.

A little go, and a little no go

In a tale of two workouts, last night I went over to the usual spot for the start of the hill ride and patiently waited for the chatter to die down so we could finally get going.  I blew through 15 minutes of my alloted time (my DW has a planned mommy break on Tuesdays that I try desperately not to interfere with) waiting to start and by the time it was on the route had changed to a grueling two hour slog up some really ugly hills that I really didn’t want any part of, so I just headed to a close local hill that was tough enough to give me a good workout and banged away on my own.  This was the “no go” part of my workout.

I just felt sluggish.  Like I had no power.  My middle chain ring even seemed too hard (granted, this is a STEEP, albeit short, hill) and I thought I might even have to drop down into my granny gear (a convenient feature on my Kona…!).  I managed to slug through 7 repeats in about 30 minutes (the hill is about a third to a half mile long from stop sign to stop sign) but felt aweful.  Just weak and slow.  It was definitely a workout I was glad to see the end of.

Then I jumped in the pool this morning for the “go” portion of the workout.  Six hundred yards of drills, then 3 X 4oo back to back (30 seconds rest), then finish with some 50 yard sprints.  I felt surprisingly good.  In fact, I timed my last 400 and it was 30 seconds faster than my fastest time ever!  …yes, I counted my laps properly… ;p  And my 50s were: 52, 51, 50, 48!  The times themselves aren’t great by swimmer standards, but the fact that the splits were negative pleases me.  It means I’m getting stronger in the water.  I doubt I will ever be “fast”, but better is always good.

I have too many choices tonight for workouts.  I’m overwhelmed.  I can either go to Traknight and run hills, go to the Wednesday ride and RIDE more hills, or I can go to Stephen’s Lake and swim some more in open water for the first time EVER!  I’m leaning towards either swimming again or running hills.  I know I need the bike time but they are doing the same hill I did last night and I just don’t know if I have the heart to do it again.  Decisions… decisions…

Catch up drill

Horrific weather on Friday afternoon (tornado warnings, 3+ inches of rain per hour, etc.) put the squash on my afternoon ride/run plans.  Then on Saturday we spent the day in St. Louis at my son’s Karate tournament and I was pooped when I got home so I didn’t do anything.  So yesterday I decided that I would do a swim/bike brick to catch up.  Got to the pool… no goggles…  crap.  I swam about 300 yards total but that was all I could tolerate.  My eyes were on fire and I just couldn’t tolerate it.  Then I wandered, bleary eyed, out to the van, put my bike together and took off.  It was a beautiful day and I just cruised around town.  I seemed to pick the busiest roads I could but I was looking for a few hills to conquer and didn’t want to stray too far from home.  The promise of my first steak for dinner in over 2 months had me drooling the entire ride…!  I charged and barged my way through traffic and ended up with about 18 miles.  Not great, but they were good miles so I’ll take them.  The steak was worth the wait…

This morning I went to the pool and put in 2100 yards.  I felt slow and sluggish but my endurance was there.  I felt like I could have kept going and my last 800 was easy to get through.  Of course, once I got home I checked my email and found out that there is an open water swim tonight.  Although I really want to do this, I know better than to try to do two long swims in one day.  Especially when one of them would be my FIRST open water swim.  Not smart.  I keep hoping the wetsuit fairy will show up at my door but I’m not convinced that’s going to happen.  What I don’t want to do is drop a ton of money on a wetsuit and then end up using it 3 or 4 times and that’s all.  The water is still just a little cold to do more than a few laps so the only other thing I can hope for is that it warms up (which it looks like it might) enough to make outdoor swims a bit more tolerable and then just go polar bear and swim without a wetsuit.

Still in a hole

After a hard run on Tuesday, a track workout Wednesday night and the looming thought of running this morning and then riding this afternoon, I decided on the way to the run this morning that I would back off and recover today.  The route, called the rain run (I’m not sure why… other than we run it in the rain or just after a rain… or when the trail is messed up due to rain…  OK… Maybe I do know why we call it the rain run…), took us up the trail in the early morning light and then through downtown, across campus and then back down the trail.

I ran with my old running buddy Kathy.  She has been training for Boston all winter/spring so we haven’t seen each other much and it was nice to catch up and find out what she was up to.  It made the run go really fast as well.  I run by myself so much (due to my pace more than anything else) that running with someone is almost unique now.  I was glad to have the company though as I was tired and just a teeny bit sore from traknight.  Not enough to complain about, but noticable.

Tonight I am going to ride alone with the group again.  Don’t think about that too much.  What it means is, just like my running pace, I am somewhere between the B group and the A group in speed.  Since cycling especially seems to be a pack sport, I can either ride slower than I normally would to stick with the B group or ride alone because I have NO CHANCE of keeping up with the A group.  The B group has been riding about 16-18mph on this route but the A group seems to be going about Warp 3.5 (23-25mph).  Since I am riding about 20mph right now, I ride alone.  This isn’t a complaint, it’s just the way it is right now.  I just need to get faster on the bike and that will take time (and losing more weight).  Until then, I enjoy the scenery and dream fast dreams.

Then after that is over, if I still have any energy, we have the club monthly meeting tonight.  We are going to be getting more details about Club Nationals so I want to hear about that.  It’s also another chance to pick brains and get to know people.  I know most of them, but they don’t know me yet.  So it’s always nice to get together with them.

The rest of the week is a swim, maybe a ride and that’s about it.  My son has a karate tournament in St. Louis on Saturday so that day is shot (but should be fun).  I may try to sneak in one more swim on Sunday.  I think next week I need to do as many bricks as I can.  I’m also looking for as many open water swim opportunities as I can get which means the weather needs to warm up a bit.  I never thought I would hear myself say that!