Swimming is swimming... I'm not sure that it ever really changes a lot however I do get to swim open water as part of masters class on Tuesday and that is usually pretty fun! Granted, I was boating around that lake a couple weeks ago and there was quite a bit of floating green matter that doesn't excite me too much! :) Maybe I'll be lucky that my goggles fog to the point of not being able to see! In the pool - working on the flip turns... progress has been made - I can now flip, although it is never a guarantee that it will be over the top and not to the side or that I won't drive myself straight to the bottom of the pool! That's always a good time! I am much more comfortable flipping on the deep end of the pool so I tend to only do it half the time and even that is when there's no one else in my lane :) I did manage a full 200 flipping and the other day integrated them into my workout (again, they were 50s so I only needed to do them on the deep end!) We're getting there.... I can't believe how much more tired they make you - probably the lack of oxygen right!? :)
The bike... this has proved to be pretty solid so far. I was very nervous going into a 100-mile charity ride last weekend (not really sure why I was nervous... maybe cause it was 30 miles over my longest? I know realistically that wasn't going to be an issue... my mind is playing games with me this year...) Anyway... day arrives and the weather was far less than to be desired... rainy, cold and with a pretty substantial wind - YAY! Long story short, I got my legs ripped off (early on!) but had a ride time of around 5:35 (since I'm very very bad at remembering to stop my watch when I stop!) It was a solid ride - faster than I've ever done 100 miles in so that was great! All the guys seemed very content to let me pull and although that was good for my strength and mental, it kicked my ass for the later portion of the ride :) I made it through though, constantly chasing down the fast groups to try to hold on for a brief section. Probably not my smartest ride, but it was fast and made my legs burn so we'll call it a success. Ooooh... and I forgot to mention the new power food we found! They're called Laura's wholesome junk food... I know you can find them in Whole Foods here - they're like little cookie type bites that pack 110 cals for 2!!! Might be awesome race food... 4-6 in an hour (and seriously... you WANT to eat 20 of them!) and I've reached my goal! Seriously delicious...
The run... yeah, even a half hour is still work. Yikes! The good news is that I'm not feeling pain in the break area, but I am feeling some down on the inside of my shin/ankle area. I'm kinda dreading when the times get stretched out... right now mentally I can still convince myself to go out cause it's only 30 minutes :) BUT... I do know that running is the way for me to drop lbs so maybe I should get my butt out there :) Working my way up at this pace though (and based on how slow and how much work it feels like) I'm in for a tough run year! It'll come around :)
As for event schedule, I am weaseling my way out of HHH (horribly hilly hundreds - 10,00o+ feet of climbing over 124 miles) this weekend which I'm happy and sad about - I could use another mental conquer under my belt but won't miss the pain of it! The challenge will be trying to make that up :) Otherwise, I am scheduled to do a 2 day charity ride in July followed the next weekend by Chisago Half Ironman... I have never raced this before (in fact have only raced one 1/2 IM) but have heard it's decent? Hopefully flat :) Otherwise, hoping to hit Waupaca sprint in August. Still haven't decided whether I want to try an olympic in the beginning of July... honestly, I don't know if my run would be up to speed by then. We shall see I guess!
On the nutrition note... I haven't been feeling great lately so working on locking things down. Starting first with the grains/gluten and have cut out sugar (still allowed natural sugars such as fruit) I'm really keeping my fingers crossed on this one. My new favorite thing - sprouted grain raisin bread :) ha ha... simple pleasures right?
Ok, enough of my book for today. Maybe if I updated this more often it wouldn't go on for so long! Thanks for reading... hope you're having a great weekend and if you're racing - great job! I hope it was fabulous!
Smiles,
B
