"Weight" a Minute and Catch Your Breath

My training partner and I have finally committed to weightlifting as of this week, something that we should have been doing more of all along. Amazing how seeing yourself in a picture puts a new perspective on what is in-shape and what isn't. It could already be some odd placebo effect, but I already feel better having committed to this. Although we are not doing heavy weights, we are focusing on some exercises that tone the arms and legs along with some core exercises (how cool to have something other than a 6-pack of diet Wild Cherry Pepsi in my lifetime). I think this is another step in a positive direction.

Another addition to my training routine is meditation. There are a number of classes and videos available entitled "Yoga for the Cyclist" and "Breathing for the Endurance Athlete". My form of meditation isn't long or complicated. I have simply set aside 10 minutes each day for myself with complete silence to refocus my energy, catch my breath and prepare for the next day of training (and living and working). I have slept better the past two weeks than I have slept in quite a while. Guess there is some truth to the mind-body connection!

Seeing is Believing

What a difference a picture makes...my training partner and I got the opportunity to look at the pics taken at the race this past weekend. Needless to say, last night was a totally different kind of workout as a result. We began lifting weights like we should have been doing all along. Seeing yourself in pictures and not looking like all of your hard work has paid off truly puts things into a different perspective. So, this starts what I will call "OPERATION FATBLAST"...

In addition to the weightlifting, crunches, squats, lunges, etc., we decided to forego the indoor trainer training and head out on the open road to do an exploratory ride. This resulted in 50 minutes of continuous hill climbs. Excellent workout but boy were we suprised by where the roads took us! :) LOL.

Tonight is an aerobic swim workout! Long segments of continuous swimming.

Report from Race #2 - Langley Pond International Distance Triathlon

I would be lying if I didn't start this blog by saying how relieved I am that today is behind me. This being the longest distance race I have completed since beginning triathlons last year, I was very apprehensive about everything that today would bring. Nervous would have been an understatement for what I was feeling.

The race setup itself was quite unique - to get out of the swim, you had to have enough strength after swimming to get yourself up on a floating dock using your spaghetti arms. This was followed by an uphill run on uneven terrain of rocks, grass and dirt for what seemed like 1/4 mile to get to the transition area. Of course, this was all done while barefoot. (Not Cool). The first hill climb on the bike could not have lasted longer and we got to do it twice (Really Uncool). The finish line for the run...let's just say you get to see the finish line but you have to pass it, go all the way down to the end of the dam and then back to the finish line (Not cool and totally cruel). Lastly, it was HOT today...hotter than I had planned in my head.

My overall race performace was what I would describe as average. I was much more pleased with the wetsuit swim that I had anticipated. Although, I must admit that it felt like they were moving the farthest yellow buoy the closer I seemed to get to it. Still can't get used to being kicked and swam over. I really want my own lane! I was very proud of the bike leg. Felt really good and focused on pacing. I took an opportunity to use the first loop as not really a warmup but a chance to check out the route so that on the second loop, I knew where I could boogie. The last road we biked on a route that Jeremy decribed as a sucker with a stick was the bomb. Shady and multiple downhills. This made up for the first part of the sucker route that I wish someone had bitten off before we ventured out. That climb was tough. Then, there was the run or should I say, the walk. I totally seemed to shut down on the run. Honestly, I did shut down. Less than a mile into it, I was just over it. I didn't want to run today. At mile 3 or so, I was pleasantly surprised when I met a new race-day friend named Jim. He and I finished the remainder of the run leg together. We walked, we talked, we ran, we walked, we ran through some man's water hose (what a pleasant surprise for him to allow all of the runners to run through his hose as he sprayed us the entire event) and we walked. Jim and I learned a lot about one another throughout this grueling process. I was not pleased AT ALL with my run performance today. And, looking back on it, I probably did not do so well after not drinking AT ALL on the run. I have to consciously tell myself to drink and was so dreading the run that this seemed to slip my mind.

After all was said and done, I never expected to place in my Age Group. My competitor from the NW Tri Club who admittedly finishes last passed me on the run. As I saw her disappear ahead, I thought many, many thoughts. We changed clothes and hung out for the awards ceremony. When all was said and done, I took 3rd in my age group. Proud of the award but not proud of the run performance. The things I learned today: Pacing makes a big difference. You have to make yourself drink. Kicking is not really necessary when you are wearing a wetsuit. And, once you stop and walk, it's easy to stop and walk again and again and again.

Thanks to Teresa, my parents and Jaime for coming out and supporting me today. Jaime has been my friend since elementary school. We've stayed in contact over the years but recently just really reconnected on a 3-day getaway in Charleston (love her!). I couldn't have been happier to see her at the start and at lunch with my family and friends. Oh yeah, I know that Jim will never read this and probably never know but what a difference he made in my event today. GO MARINES! :)

Like a Dying Fish

Imagine peering out over the water at your favorite lake...you stand back and admire the beautiful landscape. The sun is shining brightly over the calm waters below. Then something catches your eyes in the distance. It's an object that you can't readily identify. It appears to be a fish, floating on top of the water but floundering in place. That was what I looked like yesterday in my second attempt at swimming in my wetsuit. I am beginning to think that there truly is an art to wetsuit swimming. I just hope that I can accomplish and master it before the Olympic distance triathlon tomorrow which will undoubtedly include a W-E-T-S-U-I-T! OMG!

On a positive note, I learned what the term "chicking" means. Apparently, I "chicked" one of the male tri club members. Yesterday upon arrival, I felt like I had entered a village holding the head of the beast I had slayed in my hand upon being congratulated, applauded, etc. by all of the other tri club members. I knew that I had beat a male on the bike this past race but had no idea how significant it was not only to him and the club but should be to me. He told everyone that "that Tonya girl from Lexington beat me on the bike...she smoked me." I had to chuckle with pride given my recollection of him stating to me that when it comes to triathlons, "the swim is just an obstacle to me getting on my bike." One girl said $10 for every time I "smoke" him on the bike. Sounds like a good bet to me!

Report from Race #1 - Greenwood YMCA Sprint Tri

Let me start by saying, it's a new year and increased training, nutrition, etc. has shown worth the investment...

My training partner, Midge, and I both competed in this event. Last year, she not only beat me overall but she beat on the bike segment which earned her major kudos and bragging rights and me some harassment from other cyclists. This year, I was a little more determined and a little more focused. In all the hype of the race, I had initially put down my swim time as the same as hers thinking it would be cool to start the race together. As the race start drew closer, I emailed the event organizer and added 20 seconds to my time just so that I wouldn't start with her and could calm my nerves. She is a much better swimmer than I am. Lo' and behold, we arrive at the event and not only did they NOT change my swim time to the amended time, they had me seeded to start before her, right before her. This meant she would literally be on my heels the entire swim, actually all three events. What I realized after starting the swim was that it actually pushed me harder...it did the same for me on the bike and in the run. I could see her gaining on me in the run...this and a friend of mine telling me that she was going to catch me, pushed me to be steady. I even asked volunteers, neighbors and everyone I'd run past if they would give the girl in purple behind me a brownie or something just to slow her down (I even tried to get a cop who was directing race traffic to give her a moving violation of some kind). I fully expected that she would pass me. In the end she didn't and after viewing the results this morning, the outcome was that she took first in her age group but I beat her by 7 WHOLE SECONDS! :)

Overall outcome for me - 2nd place swim AG, 1st place bike AG, 5th place run AG and 3rd overall in my AG. I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. I felt good throughout the race and was much more confident than last year. I hope this sets the tone for a good season! :)

Pre-Race Thoughts

My first triathlon of the season is upon me - the Greenwood YMCA Sprint Triathlon. Not a long race - 300 yard swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. I feel like training-wise, I am in much better shape than I was last year. I think my key continues to be pacing. I have picked up a few pounds or it sure feels that way so I don't know how that will fare for me. My knee has started back having a slight pinch in it but it's workable. This race will definitely tell me more about that and my overall training thus far but all-in-all, I am ready for a good event. I hope to beat my time from last year if only by a small amount of time. Mentally I am better prepared and hope that my anxiety level will be greatly diminished in comparison to last year. Anyway, full report after the event on Sunday. Swim Bike Run...Gotta Tri! :)

Double Your Pleasure...Double Your Fun!

On the agenda today was a double brick workout before I could actually commence my Easter activities. This was my first double brick workout and in order to get everything done and have fun today, it meant beginning my workout at 6AM. The plan included cycling 10 miles, running 2 miles, cycling 10 miles and running 2 more miles. I admit the more advance and varied the workouts, the prouder I am at the accomplishments whether BIG or small. This went really well. It was a very good workout actually.

The bike start was a little slower than usual. I had a tough time hitting the hills with the temp being cooler than anticipated and the fact that breakfast had just been consumed. Once I warmed up, I felt good which proved to be reflected in the times for the second brick compared to the first. Tomorrow...off day! :)

My Milestone - What A Difference a Year Makes!

A year and a week ago today, I had prepared to compete in my first triathlon ever. As I waited for my turn to enter the pool, my HR registered 131bpm on the girl's watch in front of me. We giggled as her watch picked up the reading from my HR monitor (she wasn't wearing her strap). My first pool swim was 300m. I had practiced so hard to be able to complete the swim in a respectable time. Halfway through the swim, I hit a wall...I was panicky and exhausted. I made it through the swim and completed my first triathlon in the Novice category taking first place. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement.

Fast forward a year later...I will be doing the same triathlon in one week. This morning I entered the pool at the YMCA and swam 2200 yards (1.25 miles) without skipping a beat. My stroke was solid and I didn't even feel out of breath. Following the swim, rather than taking a nap, I went cycling. Quite an amazing transformation from last year to this year. I couldn't have been prouder.

Today I also utilized two new products that I found to be really good products. Infinit is a nutritional aid for endurance sports. Very good product that I tried for the first time. You must drink water with it and you do approximately a bottle an hour. You build your own formula from flavor and strength of flavor down to the amount of protein and caffeine you want in your particular formula. The second product used today for the first time was the SportCount Lap Counter. It looks very much the fad ring-watches from the 80's. It has a small strap similar to a watch strap that allows for perfect fit and simply has one button on it that you push to count laps. Having done 88 lengths of the pool today, it couldn't have served me any better.

Tomorrow is my first double brick which will be a bike-run bike-run brick. One week until triathlon season kicks off for me. I will race Age Group this year. I am anxious but excited to see how I do competing against other women who have raced either one year like me or many, many years. The countdown begins...

Polar Bear Swim

Three of us embarked on my first wetsuit swim this afternoon after my return from a trip to Charleston. Water temperature was 58 degrees. Is there really more to say when you are wearing a sleeveless wetsuit? Oh yeah, it was cold. One of my fellow polar bear swim buddies said there's an old saying about wetsuits-there are those who pee in their wetsuit to get warm and there are those who lie about peeing in their wetsuit...sure was a cold swim!

Have Pool - Will Swim?

I'm not exactly sure how it always happens like this but the swim segment of IMAZ training continues to be a frequent topic of my blog. Unfortunately, today is no different...

Understand, I only needed to accomplish 600 meters in the pool yesterday because this is a "recovery week". No problem, right? Wrong. I arrived at the pool ahead of schedule and quickly claimed an open lane. This was a much smoother process than previous swim sessions. One of the three swim teams that use the facility was present and swimming their laps. At first glance, the coach appeared to be a few team members short of a team. The coach indicated that only 2 of her 12 swimmers had decided to show. I told her she should commend the 2 for their commitment and she giggled and said, "And they were on Spring Break last week so they didn't know the water was cold." Hmmmmm, what exactly does that mean? Well let me tell you!

The community center where I swim is in a not-so-great area of town. The center itself is a very nice facility though with numerous activities and a large number of participants really on a regular basis. In keeping with the needs of the community and the center, the aquatics director (who harasses me all the time yet doesn't look like he's swam a day in his life) ordered a new pump for the pool. Perfect! I am sure a pool of this size definitely needs a state of the art pump to filter out random things that I always observed when I swam much slower. The problem with that accompanied the acquisition of a larger pump is the fact that the pool might also need a bigger pool heater! With that said, the new pump is causing the old heater to shut off automatically and not regulate the pool temperature. What this means for the swimmers is that the existence of a heated pool become only a facade. And, I cannot begin to tell you how cold the water is when the heater is not functioning properly. It became quite apparent to me upon my SLOWWWW entry into the pool that there was a high probability that the absent swim team members had actually been tipped off and if so, how do I (and the two swim team members who missed the memo) get put on the phone tree?

Once I acclimated to the wetsuit-appropriate water, I quickly found a rhythm. I reached 400 meters and then it happened! I looked at one of the swimmers in a neighboring lane and said, "Are those lights always on?" Several random emergency lights around the pool had popped on. Surely I would have noticed those before. This quick observation was rapidly followed by "EVERYBODY OUT OF THE POOL!"...With 200 meters to go (8 lengths, that's all I needed), we received notification that a transformer had blown. All power in the facility - LOST, and with that went that new state-of-the-art pump and that tired old heater

I sat on the pool deck with my swim partner trying to determine what the next course of action would be. To wait or not to wait? After 10 minutes of warming up wrapped in a cozy beach towel, the decision was made that if the water was cold before, a return entrance into the pool would mean getting acquainted once again with the cold water that was most likely even colder now that the pool heater had REALLY been given a break. So we left...200 meters short of the goal. For the second swim in a row, I'd been cheated by fate...destiny had intervened for reasons which I still do not know. Frustrated, I left.

The good news in all of this? The recreation area at Lake Murray near my house opens today! Have wetsuit - WILL SWIM!