Sink or SWIM! with WittyCityGirl - CLOSED (Page 24)

Ugh, Tim, that stinks about the ear infection.  Good luck trying to get on the wagon this week!

Hey Laura, I hear you on the weather.  It's going to be a sad race season for the folks racing at the end of May through June this year.  The rain, wind, cold, floods, etc were tough to deal with mentally and not conducive to training.  Maybe this 5k will light a fire under your butt to get moving more consistently.

Good luck with the house stuff!  That stinks about the double whammy of losing out on a home and $$ if things don't pan out.  Good luck!!

I'm eagerly waiting to hear how it turned out!

Suzanne, way to go!! Nice job sticking to it when it got tough.  I'm glad you wrote down your lessons learned, too.  Pacing yourself is going to help a bunch in your next race!

Johanne you're setting some pretty big targets for the rest of us to live up to -- a PR by 25 minutes at the Olympic length!  Congrats on the great result.  It really makes all of the training pay off. 

Have to admit, I'm a bit jealous of you having already got your first race in the books for the year.  Getting antsy for mine at the end of the month.

Ok, I'll fess up. I finished last year with my one and only Oly and there were a couple of issues. One was as soon as I got in the water my goggles started leaking and T was too far to get up there for my extra pair. I wear contacts and I was afraid my contacts might float away so I swam with my head out of the water the whole time plus I was riding my hybrid bike so I had to pedal really hard....and slow! My goal last year was to just do the distance. This year I was a little more determined and I have a road bike now. Yea! It was a really fun race. Running well in the heat is one of my goals for the year so this was a good test of what I can do. What that will be is run more in the heat because I was toast.

Last year I did a March sprint as my first tri ever so to me this year I feel like I'm a little late getting started. We're spoiled with the California weather. i'm doing last years Oly again in September and I'm excited to see the difference a year will make.

What is your race at the end of the month? It's so fun to get the season started!

Johanne

Johanne still a huge improvement in my book -- you learned where you had challenges and adjusted.  I've got an event at the end of July with a 500 yd OWS.  Last year it took me 28 minutes to complete / stopped about a dozen times on kayaks.  I'm going to be ready this year and I'll take the 15 minute gain in time with NO regrets!!!

End of month is a sprint with a pool swim.  Just looking to kick off the season, BUT guessing that I'll PR rate wise on each of the three disciplines.  Hoping that my son decides to join me.  It's the day of the state track meet and he wants to go with some buddies.  However, think he may change his mind.  Really more interested in seeing what he can do that what I can do!

Congrats again.

Thanks Curt I had the same experience with my first sprint. By the time I finished I had most of the surfboard kids escorting me to the swim finish. I'd love to do that sprint again just to see what I can do. I love the idea of repeating at least one race each year for comparisons sake since courses can be a little different. 

I've never done a race with a pool swim. Do you share lanes? It sounds like it can be chaos! I hope your son does join you. None of my kids (they are all in college and have no interest in taking the time to train right now) are interested in tris but I have a niece and nephew that have been doing them for a few years so it's fun when we race together

Sounds like you did good Johanne. Love the new swim milestone you reached. Congrats on the new PR.

Congrats to all the racers out there! Looks like some great work (and fun!) was had by many!

So, after a weekend of zero workouts (if you don't count ripping up carpet, moving furniture, cleaning out the attic, loading a dumpster, etc) I went to the pool this AM determined to get some real work done. I get in with only one thought -- just swim. No plan, no sets, drills, just me, the black stripe, and my head. After the 300 yard warm up, I just kept going, and 1500 yards later, I'd finished a mile. Was an easy comfortable pace (1:43/100; 31:12 overall), and I didn't think about not swimming, just went forward. Overall a big psychological boost for me after my recent lame swim workouts. Feel good after as well. Good way to start the week!

Yahooo!!  Nice job!  Some days you just have to tell yourself "suck it up, Buttercup" and do something with or without a plan.  Hope the mo jo stays with you.

LOL! Today was one of those days. Now I'm all fired up for a good bike workout & run tomorrow.

2 days in a row!!! Woohoo!!!! Did a 600 yd swim at lunch.  Felt better, but still not great.  Did all but 100 with pull buoy.

The second hundred felt really good as far as my breathing, but by the last 100, my form was horrible.  I did notice one of my big problems is when I take a breath my forward(?) arm does not stay out it front, it sinks, so I'm basically losing that stroke.  Any ideas on drills to fix that?

Scheduled for a 45 minute run tonight when I get home, going to try my darndest to get it in.

Ya'll are my accountability group.

Thanks!

Tim

Mike - Sounds like you werr channelling Dory from finding Nemo - "just keep swimming" - good work on getting the full mile in

 Tim - good work on getting to the pool 2 days in a row. Hope the run goes well.

Me - not sure what I'm doing today except that I'm going shopping again. May try a short walk in but we'll see what happens. I'm still sort of in recovery mode.

Tim-I guarantee that my coach would happily assign catch-up drills! When that was my most noticeable problem (1 of many), that drill became my new best friend. I'm betting Sara can describe it better than me if need be...

I did attend the practice run through for my tri on Sunday...it was an eye opener! First: the swim--500M--also my first open water swim, the first time swimming in a wet suit, AND really cold wind making the really cold water awfully choppy...needless to say, I made it only halfway (SLOOOOOWLY too), and then was hauled back to shore...Second:The bike--okay, I already couldn't get my breath (that was sorta scary and weird) normal for quite some time, but the bike course also is 8 miles--ALL UPHILL; no I am not exagerrating--seriously it was a hill then some flat then another hill, etc...then at the half way point some of the steepest switchbacks I have ever seen--I couldn't make it up on the bike, so I said fine, its practice, I will walk it...nope...the legs said no way. so back down to my little truck...(thankfully THAT was all downhill.) I would have had to come back down anyway after the ride, as that was the only way to get to the run course. So I then drove up the bike course (all back county roads--very rural and pretty); so at least I know what to expect. Third: the run course; Actually, of everything, this course wasn't too bad--I didn't run most of it, and settled for walking briskly--but I did do the whole thing.

So after all of that, it wasn't time yet for the promised buffet, so I said 'screw it, I'm tired and really hungry' and took off for home...

I was exhausted--after getting a big meal into me, I made it home and fell asleep for about 4 hours.

So I wasn't happy with my performance at all--but--it was a practice run, and this triathlon is reportedly one of the hardest ones in the area; leave it to me to choose a ridiculously hard one  for my first. In any case, I talked to my coach and she is tweaking my training over the next two weeks--I know I will improve. Either way, I will be happy just to finish--even in last place.

I still managed to hit my training tonight--lots of biking and hills--but I made it through it and I feel great as of right now! Tomorrow's a rest day, then back to the grind!

Despite what may seem like coming up short in your practice, I see this as an extremely positive thing for you to have done. You now know what the course is like, you know what challenges are there for you, you've done an OWS practice (A BIG deal, and smart), and overall it seems like your attitude is set for a great result on race day. This is your first race, so finishing is a great goal to have. You'll do great - just trust your training, enjoy it, and let the awesomeness of crossing the finish line just wash over you when you get there. An incredible feeling!!!

While you may not feel like it, you did great!!!  Last year when I gave my first tri a shot it took 28 minutes for the swim.  My biking was 4 mph below where I trained and the run felt like a crawl.  I was wiped out and actually slept most of that afternoon / felt terrible.  It let me know where I needed to work and made me focus more on the long, slow workouts to build endurance.  Two weeks later, did another tri and it was a lot of fun / made it through easily.  Think it's part of the process going through tough times. 

You just crossed a major hurdle and should be proud and excited about what's in front of you.  Take your time and enjoy the next week's training -- you deserve it!

Mike & Curt -- cheerleaders extroidinaire!

Did a hard bike interval workout this AM, and it was awesome. I'm really loving riding (even when its on a trainer).  Hoping to get in a run tonight, and back to the pool tomorrow.

Seems my clothes are not fitting so well anymore. I've noticed the past 10 days or so I've needed to use one more notch down on the belt, but my weight hasn't changed according to the scale I'm using. Maybe just a 'repositioning' of where the weight is? Either way, its pretty cool, although I really don't want to have to buy more clothes. I'm on set #3 in the past year. Its the most expensive part of triathlon!

Lots of GREAT conversation on the thread today!

Kate-you'll remember your first "tri" experience and compare a lot of other races to what you did this past weekend and you'll be proud of how far you've come after each race!  It's the wonderful thing about triathlon-you can't control how you place overall but you can control how you improve from race to race.  You'll see that you'll find many ways of getting faster here and getting faster there.  There are so many ways to improve that each race will be an accomplishment.  Keep up the great work.

To the rest of the group

As far as flailing swim form when one gets tired, tis best to just go back to the tried and true catch up drill.  Stay relaxed and work on distance per stroke, NOT speed.  The hand that enters the water "catches up" and tags the hand that was out in front.  On race day, it is more beneficial to you to save your energy for the bike and run and not waste it on the swim.

Think you're definitely on to something here.  When I do the catch up drill, I'm able to swim really, really easy.  Feels like no effort at all.  While it's a bit slower, it does move me forward -- and is actually FASTER than I was three months ago.  I plan on using the catch up drill as my back up plan in the OWS if I start to panic.  The other thing it does is force you to relax.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

I have to agree--the catch-up is one of the few times in which I feel somewhat comfortable swimming--the only thing I'm still fighting is my breathing--I can never get all of the CO2 out of my lungs, it builds up and then I'm wheezing after little effort...My coach suggests trying a deep yoga breathing, but I just can't get a grasp of it. We tried doing something where I basically let all the air out of my lungs to try to sink in the pool--either I'm very buoyant or some air remains--I'm thinking its the latter....

So, any thoughts???

oooh spa day---that sounds wonderful!

I forgot to mention earlier: The bike route does attach to the run route, and on race day the second transition is at that spot--during the practice, I was alone, and I figured either I would have to ride up to do the run and then ride back, or just bike up then back, then drive up to the run...that part was not very well thought out on my end. On race day, my husband will be parked at second transition--which is also where the finish line is, and I'll be able to set up my transitions the day before....Oh well, I am not going to stress about that too much--I've got enough other things to freak out about (aaaahhhh!!! Finals!!!! ug.)

Noticed my calendar was free this PM and the forecast looked good so I took 1/2 day vacation.  Hit the pool on the way home and decided to HTFU and actually push myself a little bit.  Did 6 x 100 at times of 2:12, 2:07, 2:08, 2:07, 2:07, 2:08.  Was going off at 2:45 so rest was not excessive.  Was tired but not dead.  Really happy with this set as I've never gone under 2:00 for a 100.  Then did 200 yards of breast strokes and kick board.  Finished with 400 yards straight.  100 splits were 2:41, 2:45, 2:51, 2:49.  Not speedy, BUT was just kind of relaxing and cruising along.  Did some checking and back in mid-February, my fast times for 100's were around 2:10, but could not hold it for more than a single 100.  Sets then were ending at around 2:35.  In addition, my "easy" swims were around 3:10.  Nice to see progress!

After a quick drive home, jumped on the bike and headed out for a ride.  Did 11.8 miles at 18mph -- even with the 15 mph wind!

Think I could get used to this 1/2 day working thing.