Today's swim

No class today, I just went and swam on my own. 2400 yards in a little under one hour. That is probably slow. At that pace I would do the 1.2 miles swim in the triathlon in about 53 minutes. Meh. But at least I swam the distance. And I am very glad about that.

Teaser

Fodder posted his teaser a couple of weeks ago on his blog. Here is mine. Not all of the dimensions are correct, such as seat post length and saddle to handlebar drop. But the frame is largely correct. I rode the Curtlo in to work today so that Neil could get the last few measurements.

Timed 500

I didn't get to run last night. Work called and asked if I could come in for a couple of hours and like a sucker I obliged them.

This was the morning of our timed 500 at the Triathlon Training swim class.

Here is the workout that I did.

Warm up: 300 yards easy
12 25's w/ 10 seconds rest after each
Timed 500 yards
100 yards easy (both freestyle and breast stroke)
8 50's at 1:15 each

Total yards--1600

My 500 time was 9:42. I was tapping the girls feet in front of me for each leg of the final 200 yards but she wouldn't let me pass. And with the traffic coming the other way, I didn't want to try and pass her until the final length. I guess I could have done around a 9:30 otherwise--so not a big deal.

Nice Day

It has been a nice day thus far. Too bad I have to work tomorrow and that the weather is supposed to turn a bit cooler.

Rode 40 miles like it was 20. I felt good the whole way. My legs were a little tired on the last couple of hills--meaning I had to drop out of the big ring. I felt like I could go much longer. I even sprinted the hill up my street to home and it felt good to have some POWAH.

Tonight I would like to get out and go for a run. Not sure if the schedule will allow it, but it would be sweet.

Now if tomorrow morning's timed 500 swim goes well it will be the topping on the cake.

Kids are Disease Factories

I am sick again. Not too sick but bad enough that I didn't ride today and that I may not go to swimming tomorrow. Maybe this is what I get for being all cocky about my fitness the other day.

Pooped

Did 37.5 miles with Dave (formerly known as DTP). For the last 16 Bridget came along too. It was a good day. It was the most I have ridden at one time in months. Normally I do 13 miles to work and then 14 miles back home eight hours later. But doing the longer amount didn't feel bad, except my rear end wasn't used to it.

I got home and took some allergy medicine which within a couple of hours knocked me out. The boys go to bed around 7:30 and went and laid down too and didn't wake up until 10pm. Now I am going to hate it getting back to sleep for the night probably. Maybe I should just take some more of that stuff...

My buddy Fish is doing the Oceanside, CA 70.3 Ironman in a couple of days. I had originally signed up to do that, but finances prompted me to withdraw (travel expenses with the bike would have been huge). It was cheaper to withdraw take the hit and then sign up for the Boise 70.3 Ironman in June. I hope he does well. All he seems to do these days are triathlons.

I do the occasional triathlon. I don't really like them though. I enjoy the challenge and the fitness benefit that training for one gives me. But the actual events are only good once they are done. There is just the biggest sense of relief/accomplishment after the long distance ones. The sprints are a little more fun. Except for the panic attacks in the open water--that I never like too much.

But the training--without having the 70.3 distance triathlon hanging over my head I would not have been riding this much during the winter. It has paid off though. Today when riding with Dave (formerly known as DTP) we both pretty even riding on the flats. But anytime a hill came up--I could hold my speed. He could not. That is what riding to work on a singlespeed nets you compared to sitting at home riding on a trainer for hours (which is what Dave (formerly known as DTP) does). The legs felt pretty strong. It is nice. Really nice.

Again, the usual disclaimer must follow. I don't think I am in world class shape or anything, but for me--I am in pretty good shape right now. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of months if my training continues and it goes well. I am still freaked out about the swim--but thanks to yesterday, not as much.

I rode to the pool today, which is about 5 miles away. I started off by doing a 500 yard swim. That was a little tough. I did it in about 11 minutes. For comparision last year I was doing them in about 9:30. But at least I was able to swim that far without a break. Then I swam six 100's, each in 2:30 including rest. For the first four of those 100's I was swimming them in about 2 minutes and so I had around 30 seconds rest. I needed it. Then I decided to slow it way down to see what happened.

I ended up having a much better time of it. I wasn't so out of breath and after the end of the set of six 100's I kept swimming almost continuously until it was time to get out of the pool becuase lap swim was over. I ended up swimming 1750 yards and could have gone quite a bit further. I estimate that I was swimming those slowed down hundred in about 2:15 and it felt so much better. I didn't even need the rest any more.

Lesson learned: For distance I need to slow way down from what we are swimming in class. I think that the 45 minute class is better for sprint and maybe olympic distance swims than anything longer. In the past he pushes us quite a bit, which I adapt to. But when trying to go longer, I have to go much slower.

Long Week is Over

My stint working 9 days in a row at Circle P is over. Whew. Between that and training I am downright tuckered out. It is about 8:30 right now and I feel like it is nearly midnight.

Swimming was again easy this morning. 800 yards total plus a bunch of drill designed to bring about a better, smoother, more efficient stroke. The weird part is that I felt less smooth after the drills than I did before.

Right after swim class I booked it over to the 24 Fitness next to work and ran for 4.5 miles. I purposely ran 2 minutes slower than the 4.5 miles I ran on Monday. I felt fine, but the first 1.5 miles was definitely hard to get through. I just felt stiff and old. After 2 miles every things was fine, but without the snap I felt running on Monday.

Tomorrow I will hopefully get time to go for a longish long ride.

Swim Class Day One

Easy Peasy.

Warm up.

16 25's 45 seconds each

8 50's 1:15 each

4 100's 2:15 each

He started up with an easy day to see where we were all at. He asked me if I had been in the pool since my last class ended 6 months ago. I said "Nope!" Then he asked what event I was doing, "Are you doing another Half Iron?"

"Yep."

Coach smirks and shakes his head. Cause he knows and I know I have been procrastinating the day of my return to the pool. He knows I am not the biggest swim fan. Anyway, so it begins.

I was able to swim each length of the pool between 25 and 30 seconds regardless of whether the total length was 25, 50 or 100 yards. However, when you have at least 15 seconds and once nearly 30 seconds in between each 25, 50 or 100 yard interval that isn't too hard.

My right shoulder pops occasionally while I extend, which means I am weak. My stroke is coming back quickly otherwise. Not that it is a great stroke, but it is much better than it was a year and a half ago. Hopefully my endurance will comeback quickly.

After the swim I went to 24 Hour fitness where I began a 7 day trail membership. I ran 4.5 miles in 42:30. Including a warm up, but almost no cool down because I had to get going to work. My last 2 miles were at a 7.3 mph pace. HR was at 170-172. Not a great place to train for a long triathlon, but I wanted to hit my mileage goal before I left for work. I felt great all day. No soreness. I had a pretty good amount of energy all day, too. It is weird how that works. I worked out for a total of an hour and a half, but I felt better than I did yesterday when I did nothing at all.

I really feel strong. I think I am nearing the sort of shape I was in when I did the Scoggins Valley Triathlon (sprint distance) last August. At that race I beat my previous time on the same course the year prior by 13 or 14 minutes. I still need to lose some weight, but I feel pretty fit. I like it. Not that I don't have days when the legs are rubber or dead, but overall--things are going nicely and I feel more confident that I won't die (literally) at Ironman Boise 70.3.

As if I don't worry enough already...

I read this article tonight:

Triathlons Can Pose Deadly Risks...

Cold water constricts blood vessels, making the heart work harder and aggravating any pre-existing problems. It also can trigger an irregular heartbeat. On top of this temperature shock is the stress of competition.

"It's quite frightening — there are hundreds of people thrashing around. You have to keep going or you're going to drown," Mosca said.

Swimmers can't easily signal for help or slow down to rest during swimming as they can in the biking or running parts of a triathlon, said Harris, who also has competed in these events. Rescuers may have trouble spotting someone in danger in a crowd of competitors in the lakes, rivers and oceans where these events typically are held, he added.

I hate triathlons.

Swim Class starts tomorrow at 6:30am.