Tag: guides

National Beatings – Week 2 (3/20 – 3/27)

[Still not me in above photo, but pushing towards being in a similar one this summer.]

Week 1 of Nationals Beatings went much better than week 2 did. I think part of that was analogous to how my swim/bike/run workouts by myself usually go. Starting out too fast, burning too much from the fire and dropping back in the long run.

While week 2 was a frustration, not only will I rebound in week 3, but I was able to contain the frustration. I got in what I could, worked through trying to get normal life projects addresses and then moving forward. I’ve learned to this point that there’s no use in dwelling on the past when things fall apart. You just try to find things to work on correcting, refocus and then move forward again.

Even in the frustration, there were some really good things that came out of the week. One of these was starting to work with a new guide. I believe it’s going to be a great fit, and she’ll be guiding me for my final qualifying chance in May. The first session went well and we were able to work through several things in the pool. I am confident that we’ll be rocking it in May given all the time between now and then.

Another of these really good things will be covered in the next blog…

Back to National Beatings. It’s not going to be fun, but this is what it’ll take to get back on track. It’ll all be worth it in the end…

Indoor Tri Wrap-up & Training – 2/28/16 – 4/14/16

MITCS

First of all, sorry for the long hiatus. Life has been extremely busy since late February and I haven’t had much time for blogging. This and the next few entries dated prior to today (5/20/16) are all ‘ctach up’ articles that have been in my queue to post.

After the last Indoor Tri post, I did two more – the final event in the MITCS series and the final event in the ET series. The first went really well; the latter had bumps. Specifically, towards the end of the bike at ET I felt really constipated. So I lost 4 minutes of the run while I was still taking care of that.

Overall, the Indoor Tri season was a great experience. Not only did it give me an opportunity to have targets to push for as I was training, it also gave me experience for the outdoor season. I plan on doing both the MITCS and ET series next year. I will not do Life Time again – IMO it was far too crowded, and just not a great experience. Combined with the fact that it’s the only for-profit race that I’ve had to pay for my guide, just not on my list for next year.

I greatly appreciate everyone who helped me throughout the Indoor season. Specifically Coach Joe, Todd, Lee & Steven who all really helped to make it work out.

In between the Tris and once the season ended, I was back into the pool. Although it isn’t a big jump, I was able to cut another 10 seconds off of my CSS time in the pool. I know that every little bit helps.