distraction

so, apparently... one doesn't "chat" with the other swimmers when taking part in an open water (lake) swim.

hanging out on the beach before the swim, sure!

hanging out in the lake after the swim, why not?

but people find it distracting when you're swimming along and trying to hold a conversation at the same time.... (sorry Melody!)

what can i say? i was doing my recovery stroke (face out of water, perfect opportunity to talk!)

truth be told, i think it helped to distract me too... i stopped thinking about being anxious, too busy with intermittent talking... and that made the return portion of 3/4 mile swim (freestyle and side stroke both) so much better!  (for me)

when i think more about it, if i can distract myself with conversation with friends, i can do most things for a lot longer (and with more enjoyment) than i can on my own.

20 mile run in the freezing February rain, solo... brutal.
20 mile run in the freezing rain, with friends... not so bad.

cycling hill repeats in May heat and humidity, solo... 1 lap
cycling hill repeats, with friends to commiserate about the heat and humidity... 3 laps

swimming in the lake solo... i'm freaking out so i think this is far enough for today!
swimming in the lake with friends... i'll distract my freaking self by talking to you and just keep swimming!


you want to do what now? okay, i've never done that before, and i don't know if i can do it, but i'll try to keep up with you as long as you'll let me natter... (that's my motto).



how do you feel about chatty activity partners? do you appreciate the distraction, or find it... well, distracting? or are you the chatty one?

an evening of discoveries

One might say that I had an eventful evening yesterday...

Got home from work a little later than usual. Found that the postman had left us a couple boxes on the front steps. Running goodies from Left Lane Sports (new Smartwool socks! gotta have woolies for winter running this year). And a box full of 1oz packets of maple syrup from Slopeside Syrup (who needs synthetic goo when you can have all natural and delicious tree juice?!)

Found a dead raccoon by the shed while replenishing the bird feeders. Poor little guy... I knew he was around. He's been getting into the bird seed, and the compost. And while I didn't want to have him hanging about the place, driving the dogs to distraction... I certainly wished him no harm. So, had a little moment of horror, nausea and sadness, and then had to dispose of his body.

Took Remsen for a high speed 1.5 mile hike/ jog/ fall all over the place on the ice...When walking on ice, it can be hard enough to stay upright on the ice on one's own, but with an 80 pound dog (with a low centre of gravity and high level of torque) pulling enthusiastically... it can be quite the adventure!

Maya and Lando were much more sedate... happy to be out walking and socializing.

Had a quick bite to eat, and then headed once again to the pool. Swimming lessons (not coached by TNT, but by an instructor at my local pool) started last night. Even though I can tell that I am improving weekly, I thought that some additional instruction on the nights that I'm scheduled to swim on my own anyway couldn't hurt.

Let's just say, the first lesson was a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting structure and instruction... but didn't really get it.

What was NOT disappointing, however, was the maple syrup. Ran for 30 minutes on the treadmill and then had a shot before hitting the pool. It was delicious. And kept my energy levels up for the full hour of swimming.  Huzzah!!

unexpected results of triathlon training

Is it just me, or does anyone else wake up at 3 in the morning because they're so hungry?

I don't normally wake up for anything other than the alarm (or the sound of any of my dogs scratching to go out)... but twice this week I've had to force myself to go back to sleep after waking up hungry. I think it's the evening swimming... I have been snacking a little after evening workouts, but I don't want to eat a lot right before bed.

My schedule is all out of whack!

The problem is, I don't normally work out in the evenings when I am marathon training... and when I do, I typically run with one or more of the dogs. Effectively killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. I also used to have only two dogs, so running with one, and having a cool down walk with the other meant all three of us got the exercise we needed. And, when marathon training, I was running at best two evenings mid week, and two weekend mornings. That left plenty of evenings at home to maintain my home, etc.

Now, with three dogs to walk (two of whom don't like each other much, and anyway 200 pounds worth of dog is too much for me to handle at one time)... and with swimming or biking AND running in the evenings, I now find my entire evening is consumed with exercising either myself or my beasts!

I know lots of my teammates are scheduling their workouts in the mornings... I've thought about that. But, I already struggle to get up at 5:20 every day for work. Can't imagine getting up at 4:30 to workout... The gym and pool aren't even open at that time.

What do you think? Is it just a matter of giving it some time to get into a routine? Or do all triathletes find their training impinges upon the rest of their other daily activities?


Am I whinging a lot these last few days? I feel like I'm whinging... It's not that I'm not excited to be trying something new. I WILL rise to this challenge. It's just that it's very immediately more of a challenge than I had mentally prepared myself for.

I am up for the challenge. I am up for the challenge. I am up for the challenge. I am up......


UPDATE:  Thanks to Anonymous for the generous donation this afternoon!! Thank you for getting us one step closer to finding a cure for blood cancers.

sad face after swim practice number two

you know that feeling when you decide to try something new... but that means you don't have as much time to do the things you used to do... and you're competent at the things you used to do but you really suck at the new things you're trying to do... and you kind of wish you could just go back to being happy doing the things you used to do?

that's how i'm feeling.

i'm so useless in the pool :(

obstacles to training as scheduled

I borrowed a trainer for my bike from a friend last weekend, and thought I had solved my "bike training in winter" problems.

Last night's workout was supposed to be 25 minutes of riding. So, I put on my bike shorts, set up the trainer and then tried to affix my bike to it... and, it won't work with my bike. At least, not without purchasing an adapter for my bike such that it will work in this particular trainer.

SIGH!!!

Three days into training and I've already missed a workout. Tomorrow's ride will have to take place at the gym, which I am fortunate enough to be able to go to, but which is certainly not as convenient (or as appealing) as riding in my living room.

This weekend, I will track down the necessary adapter. I am already feeling a little overwhelmed by the actuality of 6 days a week training, and at least 3 evenings a week away from home (at the pool).  So, removing any excuses or other impediments to doing my training is my best plan of attack.

When marathon training, I know that if I do all the scheduled weekly training, I will finish strong and probably have a good race time. But I also know I can get through the marathon without doing ALL of the training. Which, let's face it, is what happened last season with RNR NOLA training.

I can't do that now. I'm not a strong cyclist, and I'm a terrible swimmer... and the only way to change that is to do ALL of the training.

And so... I shall endeavor to do all of the training. Starting tonight with my first "on my own" swim practice (which I'm kind of dreading).

**claps hands, throws them in the air and shouts "YES!!"**

got the evening workout blues

There is something that I was not worried about regarding team swim practices, that I'm now a little concerned about... no, it's not the humiliation of being in a bathing suit in public, and it's not that my skin will be painfully dry and itchy from the chlorine, and it's not that I forgot to bring flip flops for the pool and am now convinced I'll have picked up foot fungus or something equally icky (though truth be told, all of those things have gone through my mind in the last 10 hours).

No, my new concern is the late hour.

Our team practice is Sunday night from 8:30 - 9:30. By the time we got out of the pool and got dressed and out the door, it was 9:45 and then I had an hour drive home. I don't know about you, but after vigorous exercise, it takes me a while to slow down enough to be ready to sleep. Driving on the 66 in snow and freezing rain to get home didn't help matters. By the time I made it home, chatted with my sweetheart who wanted to hear all about my new adventure, loved up the dogs a little, threw my sweaty running gear from the morning and my swim gear from the evening into the washing machine, had a shower to wash off the chlorine, and made myself some "let me help you get to sleep" tea it was 11:30. Even then, I couldn't get to sleep right away... and when the alarm went off at 5:20 this morning, it was a real struggle to get out of bed (and not just because my arms hurt!!).

Anyone have suggestions for how to get to sleep quickly after a late evening work out?

swim practice... here's hoping i don't drown, or take anyone else down with me!

Here's the thing about me and swimming. The nearest swimming pool to where I grew up was 100 kms away. I grew up "swimming" in ponds and creeks and lakes... full of fishes and leaches and weeds and tadpoles. This swimming involved a lot of wading and splashing around, it involved some floating, and a reasonable amount of head-decidedly-above-the-water swimming.

It wasn't until my family moved to the city when I was 16 that I actually learned to swim. I promptly dove into the pool, with poorly fitting goggles, and washed several hundred dollars worth of contact lenses out of my eyes... You might imagine how my mother felt about that. It also made it very difficult to see what the swim instructor was telling us to do. But I persevered. I became an okay swimmer. Comfortable in the water, at least.

I've been an intermittent splasher since then, having never really developed a LOVE for swimming.

Smacking my face on some rocks, getting pinned under a boat and almost drowning (bleeding into a river full of crocodiles, I might add!!) in the mid-90s has done little to inspire and motivate me to get my head back in the water.

Tonight, that changes... tonight I face my fears.

it's official...

i bought a swim suit for the first time in about 10 years...

i bought goggles.

i have a bike.

and training officially started this week for the TriRock Philadelphia Triathlon.


it's about to get real, people.

in 150 days, i'll be a triathlete. for now though, i'm a try-athlete...