Second Open Water Swim

On Labor Day, I dragged Greg back out to Stonelick State Park so I could venture out into the open water again. I tried to drag other friends too, but they weren't interested.

This time, it went WAY better! It didn't take me long to get used to the water. I could just swim in it without freaking out. It did take a bit to get my breathing warmed up, but c'est la vie.

I swam a couple 6ish minute sessions. I kept getting really worn out. After a break on the beach, I went back out to swim 20 minutes. I learned I needed to kick less and then could keep my breathing in control.

So for race day, that will be the plan: kick barely, think pull buoy exercises, reaching and pulling. I'll get through it more enjoyably this way!

Allergy Season

The brick workout wore me out some, but not too bad. I got a swim in Monday, and did an "easy" run that evening. It was a 10 min/mi pace, which felt a bit rougher than it should have normally, but I think I was just tired. Tuesday I spinned in the morning. It was a hill interval class and I actually kept it kinda easy. My heart rate didn't get above 160. Tuesday evening J ditched yoga for a spinning class because she didn't go in the morning. That was pretty disappointing to me, but I decided I'd not go and give my shoulders a break before Wednesday's planned 1 mile swim. When I woke up today (Wednesday), my shoulders hurt pretty bad. I didn't go in the morning and opted for an early afternoon swim instead. I warmed up about 200 yards and then did 35 laps (down and back, 50 yds=1 lap). My my it was rough. I had a bad asthma thing going on, and my arms just hurt. I tried to keep my form, but I was terribly slow. I wanted to stop somewhere in the 20s, but I kept going and did the entire mile. 

When I left, I noticed how bad my asthma was. I sneezed a few times and that didn't help anything. There was a ton of congestion in my chest. By the time I got home, my breathing was shallow and I felt terrible. I took two puffs on my inhaler and relaxed. I still feel icky, and my chest feels tight, but I blew my normal suckiness on my peak flow meter. 

I have an allergist appt tomorrow and I'm glad. I guess I need to be on some more medicine. I'm really frustrated with the breathing issues and how my inhaler makes things worse when I exercise. I hope to get some help in place before next Sunday. 

Holy crap the tri is NEXT SUNDAY!

1 mile in the water!

This week the pool is closed due to maintenance. They drain it and clean it and I hope paint the air tubes above because they look pretty nasty. The competition pool is open however. I didn't swim Monday because I was in the water Sunday practicing my open water swim. I figured I'd swim Wed and Fri in this cold cold competition pool.

I was nervous about negotiating that side - it's where the swim team is and I didn't want to interfere. I went Wednesday after lunch (right after lunch to be specific...after a "your last day as a contractor" Mexican lunch). There was only one other person there, so turned out to be a good time.

The water was certainly chilly. But after a lap down and back, it felt fine. The competition pool has a movable floor. I thought it was the entire floor, but it's just half. The rest is the deep end. So it was the coolest thing to start swimming, looking down at the bottom, and then see the floor slowly moving away from me as I progressed into the deep water. I am not sure why this was so awesome, but it was.

I warmed up some. Some freestyle, some pull buoys. Then I was going to swim my half mile, like last week. About 3/4 of the way through it, I was having such a good time I thought "why don't I just keep swimming?" I thought about how hard the open water was and had already made my decision to increase my pool distances. And last time I had taken a short break then went another 1/4 mile. Maybe I could swim a full mile straight?

And that I did. It was pretty easy, and by the end, my breathing was even fine. I was going slow of course. I did it in 44:35. And I think I was swimming meters in this pool rather than yards. I'm slow and steady. I don't push off the wall either.

That evening, I rode my bike from the house around the neighborhood. I went 14 miles and kept it easy. Later I was exhausted!

Thursday my legs were sore and my arms...oh my goodness was I sore. I decided I'd run, but keep it easy. It was ridiculously slow. A 10:50 pace overall. But at least it felt easy, aside from my legs feeling like bricks.

Today I'm toying with swimming easy. But I don't want to thrash my legs more for the group ride Saturday morning. Casey probably isn't going to make it, and last time he had to pull me along in the beginning. I'm nervous I'll be dropped. So maybe I won't go if he can't go, and I'll do a brick instead. Still haven't done those yet...

First Open Water Swim

Today I went to Stonelick State Park to try open water swimming. I've never swam in a lake before. Swimming from a  boat out to water skis with a life jacket on does not count. 

I was super nervous about it, and really, didn't even want to do it. I kind of just wanted to ignore the issue and just face it on race day, though I knew that would be terribly stupid. So I made Greg go and be my "lifeguard". What I really wanted was a bunch of people out there in the water. 

After looking at the signs on the beach area to make sure there wasn't a known algae bloom or e.coli, we walked down to the water. The whole area looks run down and pretty dumpy, which didn't help my nerves. There was one other person sun bathing, and parents with their tween picking up random things by the water. It was strange- the girl reminded me of myself. Stuck hanging out with her parents, she picked up a snail shell excitedly, telling them about it. Then she said "do you think there are snakes in the water?"  Ugh.....

Actually getting in the water was the first thing to overcome. Walking out on the bottom, which I couldn't see, was difficult. I wanted my legs up quickly. So when it was deep enough I did that. 

I treaded water and tried to get used to my surroundings. I slowly and calmly swam side-stroke. Then, I tried to swim. As soon as my head went under and all I saw was green, I flipped out. I scrambled back to the shore and stood up again. I don't even think I was in deep water? But I wanted to be where I had walked before and knew I wouldn't step on something weird. 

I walked back up to shore. It was terrible feeling. There was no way I could swim in that. I tried to articulate my feelings about it to Greg, what was making me nervous, etc. He didn't have much to say about it, didn't know what would help. 

I stood there a long time, occasionally recounting some horror I had just experienced. And all I could think was there was no way I could go back out there.

But, I knew I had to. 

Otherwise, I would really be dangerous trying to swim a half mile in September. 

I cried a little. I was so frustrated. Why couldn't I do this? With the decision that I wasn't leaving until I made this work, I began to think about it again. What was making me nervous? What was so scary and bothersome?

I didn't like that no one else was out there. To me, if I saw someone else in the water, I knew I could be in the water. So we moved down to where some high school girls were swimming. 

I didn't like not being able to see anything  underwater. So I thought I'd get back in, near the frolicking high school girls, and just practice being in the water. Just being. 

So I walked in again. This time I stood for a bit in waste deep water. I tried to not panic about where my feet were or what was around me that I couldn't see. Then I bent over some and got on my belly in the water and put my face under. Argh!! No!!! I immediately popped up freaked out and out of breath. I hated the green. I tried again, putting my hands in front of my face so I could get a sense of depth of what I was or wasn't seeing. Green murk- I could only make out blurred preachiness of my hands. Ok...so I really just can't see. Ok. 

I floated on my back some. I tried the breast stroke, but didn't like that. The I stood some more. I was just trying to relax. Then I decided I could try to swim 5 strokes across the area. 5 strokes and that's it. Where I could stand up if needed. It was weird how much it freaked me out to not know how deep the water was. I don't know why this bothered me. I wasn't afraid of drowning. It was just scary for some reason. 

I swam 5 strokes and kept my head elevated a lot. But I did it. The I turned around and did it again. After this I took a break on shore. 

I complained and whined about things that bothered me some more to Greg. Pockets of cold water felt like they were their own being. I didn't like seeing the current on top. I didn't like not seeing anything underwater except green. 

I knew I had to actually swim. I decided I could try to swim to one buoy, then across to the other, then back to the middle, like a triangle. So I waded back out and tried it. I immediately breathed on same side each time, keeping my head high. I found this helped relax me and made it so there was less time in the green murk. I practiced sighting, looking for the buoy. I got as close as I could stand. For some reason, here is another issue I have with things in the water. I'm scared of them. I don't know what it looks like underneath and it bothers me for some reason. Strange, I know. 

So I got as close as I was comfortable with, then turned and kicked to go across to the other buoy. As I sighted I was surprised by how much the current pushed me into shore. I took some breaks on my back when I got flustered. I eventually made it and the headed back to the middle. 

Going across felt like I was going nowhere, but Greg said I looked fast. We determined I must have been moving the same speed as the surface water, so it looked like I wasn't moving to me. 

It was rough and panicky, but I did it. Then I did it a few more times to further get comfortable. Each time toon about 4:30 minutes and made me pretty tired. I felt like I was fighting the water. And I swear there was some sort of undercurrent. The cold water I'd feel near the buoy freaked me out and with the disorientation of swimming across the swim area, it was so strange. 

The last thing I did was just try to swim buoy to buoy and back again. I practiced sighting more and I was curious if swimming "against" the current would feel different. I really think there were two currents- one on the surface and one just below. I'm going to look this up later. The last time I turned at the buoy, there was a huge pocket of cold water and it felt like something was pulling me back. I hated it. And I wanted to leave on a good note, so I just got out of that area as quickly as I could and swam a bit more. 

Soooooo by the time I left, I had conquered my fears and actually swam in the open water!! It wasn't something I'd choose over a pool. And I am still certainly perplexed by a few things. But I'm so glad I did it. I made myself do something REALLY uncomfortable; I managed to figure out how to deal with it bit by bit so that I could do it. I am pretty happy with myself for doing this. :) 

Bring on Lake Habeeb. 

Crowded pools = good tri training

Work is kicking my butt. Sundays have been late or early, and it kinda screws up the beginning of my week. I haven't been able to wake up early enough for swimming before lux. I do, but I think how it would be better if I just went at lunch, and that's what I do. 

The problem with going at lunch is it's terribly crowded. Today we were three in a lane. Eventually it went down to two. I was sharing with an older guy I see all the time. He did some back floating stuff and drifted into my lane...so I had a nice long reach and pull down his body. Shudder. I don't know what all I touched. 

I did two sets of 12x50s for a total of 1200. Then I did about 300 yards of drills. I put the bouy thing between my legs to try to feel my body correctly positioned in the water. I am so not positioning right. It was a good exercise. I think I'll look up more about it and maybe do that every time. 

Swimming is Hard

I've decided. Swimming is just really hard.

I'm going to look up some drills and just focus on those at distances. My swim Friday was terrible. I never felt I was doing anything right. I need to feel comfortable in the water, and it's just not happening yet. 

It may have been that I was tired. I'm certainly still adjusting to this increased amount of training. But dang. I can't imagine swimming a half mile right now!

I'm also going to start strength training (tomorrow) and hopefully that will help with moving myself through the water at the right height and with better ease so I can breathe. 

Catching up in July

I can't believe how quickly this month is going by! But it's been a great time, fun training and consistency. I'm starting to see results and that is encouraging. I'm going to quickly get caught up here. Forgive my poor editing.

Let's see...after the tri...

I wasn't sore. Not even a tiny bit. It was an hour and half of exercise. I did crash and take a nap when we got home, but then I was completely fine! 

Tues 7/2

I didn't want to take a day off Monday but decided I needed to whether I felt like it or not. Tuesday I was anxious to get back to the pool and have a consolation swim. I wanted to get back in the pool the same day of the tri to prove to myself I can in fact swim. But of course I didn't do that. The swim Tuesday was OK. From my log:

Did 10 x 50s. Times were around 1:13. Then did 5 x 100 really trying to breathe and turn my head properly. Did those around 2:38, but the last ones got faster 2:33.

It wasn't bad. In the evening we did yoga.

Wed 7/3

Did the 5:45 spinning class and then Ultimate in the evening. Before the game I did a lap around the park. Then I wore my GPS for the game to try to get an idea of how much I ran. It was just me and Laur, so I ended up running around 3 miles. :)  Some of that was walking and some was running.

Thur 7/4

Day off for the fourth. Awesome grill-out at the Gways and general relaxing time. Ian and Erika came into town and I had a good time talking with E about the upcoming tri. 

Fri 7/5

The plan was for Erika and I to go swimming! I was looking forward to have someone who knows something about swimming watch me and let me know if I am flailing like a person being attacked by a shark or look like I know half way what I'm doing. She had a few calls to do for work, so I set my bike up out on the back porch and cranked Pandora so I could have a little ride. Her calls ended early, so I only got a little more than a half hour in, but it was still something.

We met at the pool and walked right in without having to pay :)   It was crazy crowded. We were three in a lane at one point. Eventually we got to swim in a lane together. We did all kinds of things - freestyle, she taught me breast stroke, some kicking, etc. After that we went to Loveland for lunch at Paxtons and then to Montgomery Cyclery where she got some good bike shoes. It was a good swim.

Sat 7/6

4.2 mile run in the rain. It was gentle and cooling.

Sun 7/7

18 mile bike ride with Casey! It was awesome riding with someone again. We drafted and pulled. Averaged around 19 total. I couldn't pull very fast, I was really getting worn out! It was great. I just can't push by myself like that. This is what I need for the bike... I've been reading about how to split time up while training for a tri. There are many ways you can do it. One thing that was pointed out is that the longest part of a tri is on the bike. So, it just makes sense to gain your time there and be the best cyclist you can. I'm going to up my cycling days from 2 a week to 3. One will be spinning, and two will be on my bike - either a spin on the back porch or on the trail. At least one of those will be a long ride on the trail. 

Mon 7/8

Took the day off.

Tue 7/9

I was tired from work and decided to sleep until I had to get up for Lux. Then I swam at lunch, and this could have been the best happen-chance decision ever. I met Diane, a 55 year old woman who has been swimming for 32 years. She asked to share my lane. When she asked if I wanted to do sides or circles, that sparked into an entire conversation about how I don't know how to swim and how she has instructed people....... Long story short, she was immediately giving me instruction on everything. It. Was. Awesome. After I tried swimming thinking about all the pointers she gave me, I took 6 seconds off my 50 yd time without even trying. I know how I'm supposed to feel in the water now. I just need to practice. I'm so excited!!! There may be hope for me swimming yet.

Wed 7/10

Spinning was easy and intervals. I didn't wear my heart rate monitor, but it really felt too easy. I am not sure - maybe will have to start adding my own stuff in to what we do. We never progress and add gear. I think that is key to making it challenging.

And now I'm all caught up! Too long of an entry, but hopefully I'll be better about short updates going forward. There was just too much good stuff that's happened in this first part of July to not write it all down!

Oh My It's July! And My First Triathlon!

Well, it's been awhile! I have been super busy both with training, a race (yay!) and work. But I need to get an update on here before I lose my thoughts. It's been a critical time in training.

Sunday, June 30th I did my very first triathlon!! It was, in a nutshell, awesome. There were some lessons learned, and clearly I wasn't "race fit", but it didn't matter. It was fun.

I got there pretty early. I hate panicking about time. Oh wait; first I should back up and say that first I got into my tri suit. That is a feat in itself. And of course I had to pee twice after being in the suit, so I got to get into it for a total of three times :)

Back to the race site. It was a nice setup. I racked my bike near the exit, in the middle. Soon after that I saw Holly who I used to work with at Lux. It was really nice seeing a friendly face. After setting up my stuff, and mentally reviewing everything to make sure it was all perfectly placed, I went to the bathroom (trip #2) and then hung out with Greg, drinking water and listening to the peppy dance music blaring from the speakers. I didn't want to get tired, which is something that happens to me after I've been up for a little while. So I moved around and swung my legs and stretched.

Soon the speakers were announcing for the women to head to the pool area. We headed over and queued up by how fast we thought we'd swim. I was toward the back. I saw Holly again and she was wet! I didn't realize we were allowed to warm up in the pool. Looking back, that may have saved me from having to learn my big lesson of the day the hard way.

The line was slow to move, which gave me plenty of time to be nervous. Someone mentioned how we have to hoist ourselves out of the water at the end and that made me nervous. I was SO NERVOUS. I didn't even realize how nervous I was until the next day. As it became my turn, I stood on the matt and chatted with the man who was spacing us out 3 - 5 seconds each. Then he told me I could go. I jumped in and my breath was taken away. I think it was the cold, though I also remember it not being that cold. Then I tried to swim, except I just couldn't. Instead, my chest heaved back and forth spastically and I was hyperventilating! Crazy. I panicked, my eyes growing wide. What was going on? Why couldn't I swim. I stuck my head in the water and tried to go, except my chest did its own thing, quickly pumping back and forth, making me take in water. I switched to the side-stroke. I was bewildered and confused and not happy. I felt like a loser in the swim (there were some people walking in the pool. WALKING. And I didn't want to be associated with these "non-swimmers" who weren't even trying. I was trying, trying hard. But I just couldn't swing it. I side-stroked my heart out and probably made about the same time as I would have free-style.

As I climbed out of the water, which wasn't bad like I thought it'd be, I heard Greg say "the worst part is over, Steph." Those were the truest words. I couldn't believe how the swim went. My head was spinning with bewilderment as I trotted to the bike. But I had made it at least.

Bike! My favorite part! I was so happy to get on my bike. I threw on my shoes without socks and trotted out to the mounting line. Then I started an easy spin out of the park. When on the road, I tried to pick it up. But my breathing was still crazy. I climbed a steep hill and then kept climbing for quite a bit as the course wound around the back side of a golf course. It wasn't until the second lap that I could focus and get faster. My cyclometer is off, so my pace wasn't showing accurately. I ended up averaging 19.5 mph, but thought I only did 16. Not bad for only a couple times on the bike!

Back in transition again, I found my feet were wet still, and it was hard to get my socks on for the run. Slow transition, but I jogged out and took some water. On the bike I managed one Gu, but couldn't stomach another. I was wondering if I'd conk out on the run. I started slow and steady. I have been reading about taking the first 10 minutes to get in a rhythm, so that's what I tried. Slowly increasing my effort. I picked people off left and right, which was kinda fun.

I could see Holly up ahead, but didn't think I'd catch her. I knew we were about the same running pace. However, about half way through I noticed the gap was closing. So I decided to try to speed up and get her. I waited until I wasn't on a hill and then went by, saying a breathless "hey Holly!"  She said she was wondering when I'd catch her ;)

At the end, I felt like a rock star. It didn't matter that I was finishing back of the pack and slow (turns out it was more mid-pack...that's right. ME. MID PACK.)  I was sooooo happy with myself. I loved being in my little race bubble zone, pushing...hurting...figuring things out, etc.

Triathlon is different from duathlon. And it's different from the marathon. Despite the terrible swim, I really really enjoyed it and I can't wait to do another one! I'd like to do another one before September, so I can get in the water and be comfortable swimming in open water.

So Tired

So Sunday night I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. working. It was late. And it sucked because I had to be at Lux the next day. Big difference from being able to take breaks the next day after a night like that. Monday was also my day off from exercise, which was good. However I felt antsy and went on a 2.5 mile walk when I came home from work. If I didn't, I would have just crashed and then not been able to sleep later. It was a pretty good walk, though slow.

Tuesday I swam. I chose to sleep a little more in the morning and went during lunch while at work. I'm not busy there and could get away for a while. I looked up a swim workout I have on a training schedule and ended up modifying it some because I just didn't have the energy to do all of it. I ended up doing 10 x 25 yards very quickly. This ended up being 30 sec each for me.  Then I did 6 x 50 yards quickly. These were about 1:08 - 1:11 for me.  Then I did 2 x 100 which were 2:33 and 2:28.

I'm slow.

Tuesday evening I did yoga. It was hard for me to breathe. I wasn't having an asthma episode, but maybe because I'm tired or maybe it is just acting up I had very shallow breathing and couldn't do the u-jai (sp?) breath. It was a very relaxed class, which was nice.

Today (Wed)  I spinned at 5:45 a.m.  And now... I. Am. Wiped. It was a great class with sprint intervals of sorts. Seating sprints, jumps, standing sprints, etc etc. All short amounts before things switched. But man. I am so tired I can't walk fast. If I could put my head down I'd conk out for sure. Last night there were a bunch of storms that came through, so I was awake comforting Harley a bunch and just worried about the storms in general. I'm sure that has something to do with my tiredness, but I'm also wondering if I am just a bit over-trained at the moment. It's frustrating because I haven't lost any weight. I can't believe I haven't with all the work I've been doing. Maybe I'm losing fat and gaining muscle? I don't know. I'm just really frustrated about it. I suppose I should eat less. I thought I already was.

Tonight is Ultimate... and I certainly need a nap prior to that! Then I am forcing myself to take Thursday off. Friday I'll run. Saturday will be another rest day. Then I hope to do really well at the triathlon on Sunday!!!!! :)

Friday Swim

At the Ultimate game on Wednesday, I had a collision with my own teammate, whose name is Jeff. Someone yelled for him, I thought they said "steph" and we both went for the Frisbee. My shoulder got slammed by him. Turns out it was still sore when I swam, which made turning and breathing difficult. It wasn't a very good session, but here's what I did:

1. Warm-up side-stroke and 50 yards freestyle
2. 4 x 100 yards with a minute/minute and half rests in between
3. 8 x 50 yards with a minute rest in between (because the 100s were sucking)
4. 1 x 50 fast.

Still got in about 900 yards at least.

Funny thing: I was the only person in the pool! So I got to be the show for the lifeguard. That was pretty annoying and intimidating, since I don't feel I swim well.

Monday slog and 1000 yards

Having my run cut short Sunday thanks to the dog bite, I decided I'd run Monday instead of it being my day off. In reality, I'm thinking Thursday might be my day off anyway. Ultimate can really beat me up and I've been spinning the same day. Seems like Thursday makes sense as a rest day.

Anyway, I was soooo sore from the cross-fit stuff. But I vowed I'd do it no matter how slow and just keep my heart rate down and burn some calories. I went 3 miles. My pace settled in at a turtle-paced 12:00 minute miles. But my breathing was easy and it was quite pleasant. I'm not surprised. My body is just really tired.

But I can't seem to stop.

Today I had to work in the morning dark and early at 5:00 a.m. I should have worked last night but just couldn't get myself to sit down at the computer. So I worked and planned to do my swim at lunch time since I was working at Lux for the day.

It was a pleasant experience, though the gym is very crowded at that time. I had a lane though. I warmed up with some side-stroke and then about 75 yards. Then I started my watch and went for 200 yards (8 laps) and stopped.

5:24. OK. So maybe a 10:00 swim at the end of this month's practice triathlon isn't so possible.

I did it again and was consistent. And then I thought I'd switch up my kick for some reason. For the third set, I kept my knees together and tried to just flutter my feet more, quicker and closer together. It felt completely different! I think my butt was out of the water some and I didn't feel like my body was dropping as much, and therefor dragging. And when I stopped at the end, the watch read 5:13! So it's definitely faster and felt better. I need to look at some more instructional videos. I finished out the last 3 around that faster pace. It felt really good and I'm not tired.

Tonight is yoga. I'm predicting it to be a bit rough as I'm still sore all over! :)

400 yards straight

So I signed up for a triathlon in Mason that is at the end of this month. I am not ready for a race yet, but I thought it would be good for a few reasons. 1) I also just bought a tri suit so it will be a good chance to test that. 2) The swim is in a pool so that will be a good way to ease into swimming with tons of people. 3) it's right here in Mason- so close and easy logistically. 

The swim is only 400 yards. So today in the pool, I decided I would try that distance straight. I warmed up and realized that my breathing is all whack. I'm at the end of a cold and it's kinda in my chest now. Not bad, but enough to make it weird. I took a few laps to settle everything down. Then when the timing clock seemed to be at an even number (it is hard to read) I began.

The first 100 was pretty easy. It got harder and harder and my form certainly got worse as I went. I coughed a few times in between turning around. But I pushed the last 50 and made it somewhere around 11 minutes. :) That's horrifically slow, but not bad for a sick girl who just started swimming maybe a month ago? :) 

It was a good reminder of how tiring the race is- after than swim...well then I have to bike 12.4 miles...and then run a 5k!

Yeah- like I said, I'm not ready for a race, but it will be good practice and FUN :) 

Friday Early Swim Before LeMons

I got to the pool the earliest I ever have on Friday. We were leaving for Joliet, IL as soon as we dropped off the dogs, so I had to get there early. The earliest I can go with my membership is 6, so that's when I got there.

I was sore from yard work and Ultimate, I soon discovered. My neck was tense. I took it kinda easy. I did 4 x 200 for 800 yards total. It was challenging to do 200 yards, but I did it! I'm pretty happy, but still have a hard time believing I can ever swim a half mile straight. Certainly glad I started this swimming thing when I did.

The rest of the weekend was car racing! Very physically exhausting. My neck hurt, my lower back on the sides hurt, and my legs hurt in places they've never hurt. More on that later though...

Today is my rest day and I need it. I hope I can get to bed at a decent hour tonight. Not sure what I'll do tomorrow morning. I don't think I should swim. Maybe I'll bike.

1000 yards

Swim day! I thought about doing 200 repeats, but after a shaky warm-up that had me super breathless even though it was easy, I realized my body was a bit tired and I'd be fine just doing 100s.

Warm-up:
50 yards side-stroke, 50 yards freestyle.

Main Sets:
5 x 100 yards with 45 sec rests in between.
2 x 200 yards with longer rests in between.
2 x 50 fast with rests in between.
total: 1000 yards

It was a pretty sloppy swim overall. I felt tense. And now, I am absolutely exhausted. My eyes are baggy, I could fall asleep if I put my head down, and I'm moving slowly. I feel like a kid that played really really hard. :)

I'm hoping I can cram everything in this week. It's rough with work being super busy while trying to get ready for our next LeMons race. A lot to do. I'm hoping I can swim Friday morning at 6ish or 6:30 before we leave for Joliet.

900 yards and a couple of them 200s

Friday I swam...and just kept swimming. I did 100 repeats, as I proved to myself I can in fact go 100 yards slowly, instead of just 50. Then of course I wanted to see if I could maybe go 200?

I warmed up with 50 yards of side-stroke and 50 yards freestyle. Then I went into the 100s. Primarily after the first couple, I would do 50 yards breathing every 3 strokes (so taking breaths on every other side) then the last 50 would be every other stroke (same side every time). I did 25 on one side and 25 on the other. I began to notice that one side of me was much much smoother for breathing than the other side. I thought at first it was something to do with the current, or if I was at the end of the 100 and was tired. But I kept switching things up and just noticed that one side rocked while the other side felt clumsy and slow.

I have yet to look this up, but I suppose like anything it makes sense for one side of my body to be more dominant than the other, even in swimming.

After the 5 x 100s, I did what was going to be the last 100. But after I did it, I just kept going to see if I could maybe do 200 without stopping...and I did! I rested after that and then did 200 again just for good measure. I could really feel it in my arms. My shoulders were starting to burn.

100s!

I tried it, and it wasn't pretty, but I was able to swim 100 yards straight, 6 times. I also threw a 50 yard dash in there. So a total of 650 yards today. 

Sometimes I go down the lane and it feels great. Other times I feel like everything is wrong at the same time. 

I think I'll look up some more videos this weekend. I know it seems stupid- looking up videos for how to swim. But there are some drills that seem like they'd help, and, well what other options do I have? 

Tomorrow morning I'm braving a 5:45 spinning class. With my new schedule at Lux, those morning classes are the only ones I can hope to fit in. And the benefits of spinning I think will be very helpful for this tri training. 

I really hope there's good music. 

Swimming Progress

Thursday I was going to run a very easy 2 or 3 after work. But my legs were really tired, and we went to Shaun's funeral. It's just surreal that he's gone. I really thought he'd make it. It's hard to believe. 

I did walk a mile Thursday, which felt good. Friday I was back at the community center in my stinky suit (got a new one today) for another 10 x 50yds. Also- I found out that the pool is in fact yards not meters. 

I had been reading up on swimming, since I really don't know what I'm doing, and came across an interesting tidbit about kicking. Apparently, when doing distance swimming (like in a triathlon) you aren't necessarily supposed to kick like crazy, or like a sprinter. Two events follow where you use your legs, so saving them a bit is recommended. I got to thinking about how I kicked and was pretty sure I was kicking like there was no tomorrow. Then I also thought about how out if breath I get when using just the kick board to kick (and my head is above water, no arms). Soooooo maybe I should try this barely kicking thins and I'll be able to breathe...

It turned out to be true. I was able to breathe every 3 strokes the entire 50 each time. At the end, I did my last 50 and then immediately kept going to see if I could. To my pleasant surprise, I was able to do it. :) 

So Tuesday in the pool I'm going to jump to 100s. Or at least 75s. I have a lot if other things to work on with swimming but it was nice to see this progress. 

First Swim

Tuesday is swim day! I didn't even have to get up that early to throw on my suit, pack clothes for work,  and pack all the other stuff for the day. I did forget a towel for showering, so I had to use a couple little sweat towels provided by the gym, but no biggie :)  Other things I learned: I need to get "gym bag only" makeup, deodorant, etc. I'm just not that good at remembering everything, so this would make getting to the gym regularly even easier. Especially considering swimming and all the extras needed for that.

So, anyway...got to the gym, put my stuff in a locker and walked out to the pool. Another change since I've swam last is my hair is longer which means swim cap. Such an odd thing to put on the head. I got my ears tucked in such a way that I don't think I'll need to use my ear plugs.

Some people don't run and can't imagine being able to run 1 mile. I don't swim and can't imagine being able to swim a half mile. But that's the distance I need to work up to. I'm approaching it like a beginner runner; starting slow, taking breaks, methodically build up the distance. I don't know any other way to do it. I can't remember how long I've ever swam. I've gotten into the 1000s of yards I believe, between some different strokes and the kickboard. But I've never swam continuously more than 50 yards. Sooooo....I have some serious work ahead of me. :)

I started this swimming endeavor with 10 x 50 yards. So down and back 10 times. It was a workout suggested in my Multi-sport training book. I tried to make it super slow so I could go longer and not have issues breathing. For the first 25 yards, I was breathing every three strokes. Then turning around, I did that for maybe a quarter of the way then had to switch to every other stroke. And then at the ened I was out of breath. :/  A lot of work ahead of me. Depending on who you ask and how long the pool I swim in actually is (yards or meters - I should ask the front desk next time I'm there what the distance is of the leisure pool), I'm looking at a distance of somewhere between 33 - 36 laps. Continuous laps. Right now I can do...two :) It's a half mile to the end of our street. So it's like all I could do was make it to the neighbor's mailbox, lol.   It is a bit daunting.

I feel fine today from the swim. I was definitely tired for the 10th lap, my form (if you can call what I do in the water having any form at all) was really falling apart. I found something about a cross-over kick for long swimming. Sprint kicking will wear you out too fast, so it's recommended to barely kick at all. I had no idea! I thought you had to kick like mad while swimming. This makes me wonder if I can breathe easier next time if I take the legs out of the equation.

We did yoga for the first time in 8 weeks last night. It was pretty miserable. But also proof that yoga ws in fact making me stronger.