Prior to the Shamrock Shuffle, I agreed to write a blog post about me and my experiences for another site (The Imperfect Journey). That one turned into many more. That site is currently under construction, so I am posting everything that I had written for it here. Some of these will be re-posts, and some will be new (queued for their site). All of these will start with TIJ Blog Post.
Sunday was such a perfect day for a swim; Monday was not. I thought that Mother Nature would scratch Monday night’s swim like she’s done so often this summer. But we were fortunate enough that the storm held off until we were done.
We got in about 600m during the swim, both in deep and shallow water. I still need to work on the breathing part, as my head is coming up too much at points and taking me off course. It was interesting to swim the laps back as the storm kept threatening and would then move around us.
After a break for the 4th, we picked up the training again, with Mother Nature smiling for the first time in a while. Weather was in the low 80s and the water temp was about 70.
We were fortunate to have very little traffic during the adult float, and thus were able to get in about 1000m before it ended. As we left the beach, there was a long line and people were continuing to show up. So it was a REALLY good thing that we had gotten our swim in during adult float. Although practice in that crowd might have been some good race-day prep.
But instead of staying around, we went for a 4 mile run/walk. It got hard towards the end as the humidity picked up and we weren’t in the shade. But we made it back. 🙂
As a finale to the first three-day run of sessions, we headed to Oswego for another bike/run session. It was great to see the new Oswego Cyclery store — great layout and more space for them.
With the Camelback on for the first time, we headed out for the normal ~9mi ride. It had been 2 or 3 weeks since the last bike session, so there were a couple of hiccups along the lines of the first one. But once we got going, it all came back just like riding a bike!
One of the challenges for me was learning how/when to grab the straw from the Camelback. Doing so meant taking one hand off, which was a concern. But it all worked out well. More practice is definitely needed with both the Camelback and the drinking process.
After returning the tandem, we went for the normal 3 mile run. Unfortunately, about 1.75mi in, the IT band on my right side got extremely tight. Yes, that was painful both during the last 1.25mi and even more so post-run.
But no pain, no gain. At least tomorrow’s a day for R&R before the second three-day run starts.
I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped me to this point, and continues to help me, with this journey. Several of them have surprised me with needed gear out of the blue. Today was another example of that, as one of them gave me a Camelback. This was something that I still needed for the bike, as there’s no possible way for me to reach down to a wire cage.
I am working on a way to make sure that all of them to this point get visibility on race day.
After yesterday’s ‘fun’ IT band stretches, followed by another set in the AM, I was a little more loose today. Good news, for the most part.
We started off with 700m in the pool between the deep and shallow ends, including experiments on positioning the golden tether so I could get my left arm higher up. More testing is needed, but good results for the day.
This was followed by a 4.5mi run, during which nothing felt tight. The photo at the top of the post is from where we turned around. Great view, but quite the challenge to get to the top of the hill.
While everything was loose during the swim/run, a tiger was clearly hiding under the surface. The post-run IT band stretches were painful to say the least. Think root canal without novicane…
Today’s brick session started off well in the pool. We did 550m between the shallow and deep ends. Even more so since this was the first session without the wet suit (being repaired). However, things did NOT go well with the run.
About 1/3 of a mile into the run, it started hurting when I tried to run. We stopped, and Terri helped to stretch out the IT band. But it wouldn’t allow me to run much. We did 3 mile with the vast majority after that point walking. One small upside to that was finding the FD/PD memorial, which I had never noticed before.
While there was pain during the run, that was minor compared to what I felt during the post-run IT band stretches. But I’d rather have that minor pain now than 4+ months of PT and being sidelined. So those stretches will continue…
I know that a common saying if not an actual quote is that there’s a thin line between genius and insanity. And based on what many of us do on a daily and weekly basis there is also a thin red line between passion and insanity. That thin line is made in the blood from our scrapes and breaks as we chase our goals.
At this point last year I was struggling with how in the hell am I going to get ready for this 5k? That was my first race and the goal was really just to finish. As I mentioned in an earlier blog it went really well and was a start of the insanity.
As the year has progressed the snowball has continued to grow. From an original plan of three races at the beginning of the year to now a minimum of 11 will the 12th planned in January 2016 It’s a little overwhelming at times. But the way I continue to look at it is reaching that first stretch goal and then pushing towards the next one.
So back to the original line about insanity and red lines. Earlier tonight I made the commitment to do itu in September. The swim will be about twice as long as the August triathlon and open water There’s also a possibility of getting run into by the crowds and maybe ending up with a bloody nose. Even with all that I’m still excited to push forward towards it and continuing to build up distance and endurance after the August triathlon.
Am I insane for trying to do this much in my first full year? Some may say so but I look at it has just continuing to push forward. And with all the good people I have in my corner I know it will all work out even if it isn’t perfect.
Don’t worry about the labels Just be confident in yourself and abilities. everything else will take care of itself. Take a walk out of your comfort zone and go do something incredible!
As this was our last session until July, my coach decided to make it a brick session (run / swim).
The swim was 200m in the deep end sandwiched by 200m in the shallow end. We then went for a 4mi run, which is longer than the normal run portion of the brick sessions.
Knowing that we’d lose a big chunk towards month’s end, we made the most of the session at the beach. This included our first trip into the deep water.
Centennial Beach goes from zero depth to 15 feet, and the Triathlon on 8/2 will be swum in Ms going from zero to 15 feet. The pool itself goes immediately from 5 to 15 feet with the drop off.
Overall, things went really well — both in the shallow and deep ends. We ended up doing 750m total, which is the longest swim to date.