5:00 P.M. Tuesday, I left the office out on my motorcyle with a back pack stuffed to the gills with my wetsuit, towel, running stuff, showering stuff and more. I drove across town through rush hour traffic and a ton on construction. I was happy to get in to the town of Bay Village where our tri club was holding a swim training in Lake Erie. I had arrived a bit early and took off all my gear and chilled on the beach for awhile and listened to the lifeguards banter. I had called TriSara to make sure where we were meeting. Time kept ticking by and I started to wonder where everyone was and then my phone rang and it was TriSara wondering where I was....I was at the wrong beach! Oh well, at least I was in the right town so I was not far.
Then I had to gather up all my crap and re-stuff it all into my backpack and hop back on my motorcycle to find this other beach...oops, my bad! I am now late for the training. As I arrive at the right beach, I really struggle to get my wetsuit on. My zipper comes completely apart at the part at the bottom and getting it together and zipped was proving to be quite a challenge for me to do by myself as everyone else is already swimming. Finally, I make my way into the water and start my swim. First swim in the wetsuit and I am liking this added buoyancy as I can use every bit of help I can get in the water. TriSara helped me with some pointers including the notion that it would be very helpful if I tried to breathe opposite instead of every 2 or 4 strokes as I currently do. All in all, it was a short swim (maybe 500-600 yds) but it felt OK with the exception of my goggles that were leaking like crazy...what gives? Maybe I should not have worn them to the bar!!
To sum the lake swim up, not too bad. Water was not the cleanest by the beach and the slippery rocks at the entry were not my friends. I like the wetsuit. The thought crossed my mind that it would make for an excellent X-men costume except after trying to get it on Tuesday, I now know that I would be a sweaty mess trying to wear that all night and it would be a pain in the butt if I had to go to the bathroom...so much for that bright idea!
At any rate this morning I finally made it to the pool for a short swim. I have been slacking a bit in the pool which is where I need to focus the most. I tried trying to breathe opposite every 3 strokes. This was extremely uncomfortable for me. It was definitely not my best swim. Not only was my breathing making my swim uncomfortable, I felt like my lower body was still sleeping. It just did not want to work and I felt all over the place. I am going to try to resolve to get my ass to the pool at least 3 times a week as it is where I am the weakest. I was happy to tighten down my goggle straps and they quit leaking.
I am thinking my lower body stayed in bed this morning during the swim as it was pooped out from yesterday. Yesterday I did a 11 mile loop on my bicycle at noon and then I went down to the Wednesday training session with New Vision Cycling. Every week more and more people come! We started with a nice warm up to the start of the training session. We did 5 climbs of a 2.5 mile hill which were supposed to be at a Zone 5 and then the recovery periods were the return trip. These were supposed to be time trials but I did not bother timing myself yesterday. At any rate, each climb was exhausting but I got them all in. It seemed like no sooner would I get to the bottom and I barely had time to take a drink and I was heading back up again. My favorite part of these sessions is the final recovery and cooldown knowing I had put in a solid day's training. All in all 42 biking miles for the day. Scheduled time was 124 minutes, actual time on the bike was approximately 160 minutes. And then as I finally hit the hay for the day, I fell into a deep sleep yet woke up dreaming (or was it a nightmare) about hill repeats...........
10 comments:
daisy, i cannot breathe on opposite sides for the life of me. i feel like zoolander...my head is lopsided and cant turn to the right. so for my triathlons i breathed on my left every 2 strokes. different breaths/strokes for different folks!
You did great! Lake Erie can be freakin' scary. Especially last night with lots of dead friends floating around...YUK
X-men costume--you crack me up! You and your costume parties! :)
It's always hardest for me to do the discipline I am weakest at (cycling--esp. on hills) Just like life, it's more fun to do what comes easy, but I believe you grow more from moving outside the comfort zone. Great job on leaping outside of yours on Tuesday!
congrats on your first swim with the fishies!
It took me over a year to get used to bilateral breathing. Keep at it and it will feel better.
I am amazed you pack in so much training throughout the day. Think quality not quantity.
Do you consume anything post-workout? It may help you feel better the next day.
You know next Wednesday Night's ride is supposed to be some beastly climbing. Don't forget to pack some oxygen.
You rock woman! I can see you on the motorcycle with your backpack of tri gear. Too cool!
Yeah, the wetsuit does help. Half the battle is getting it on! I learned to breathe bilaterally this year and it does help a lot, especially when sighting.
40-some miles of hill repeatsm that is hardcore. I know why you slept well!
Qcmier...yup, I had to eat something after the workout...being it was after 9:30 by the time I got home and showered, last night I made some tuna noodle casserole for some late night dinner.
I do try to think quality not quantity...some days end up more, some less and I would say pretty much by weeks end I am typically right at about the time I am supposed to have put in according to the schedule.
Swimming in a lake? Much braver than I ever could be! Kudos to you!
yeah for Lake Erie! I have many fond memories of swimming in it as a kid! (We used to scream if we saw a dead fish!)
Congrats on keeping up your pool swims even tho they may not feel great at the time. I had an awful swim today-totally bonked from my ride yesterday and a run this morning.
Some are great...some ain't. I live for the great ones...they will come sooner or later!
It has taken me awhile to try bilateral breathing. And when in a race I still don't alway practice it.
Great job on the bike.
Not only does bilateral breathing balance out your body over the long haul of the swim, it gives you options. If you can breath on both sides comfortably, you can turn opposite if the sun is in your eyes, follow buoys, turn away from someone splashing or bringing their arm awfully close to your face, etc.
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