Practice makes permanent

....or so I’ve been told. I hope that is the case with my swim skills. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve improved a lot since this time last year. With a few improvements, I expect to see BIG BIG BIG gains. Those improvements involve my catch and pull, so that I’m actually pulling the water and not so relaxed when I pull.  Pulling with a forced intensity so the resistance is noticeable and I move forward with efficiency. Also, getting into a rhythm with my breathing. Swimming four strokes before breathing so that I don’t start to feel like I’m not getting enough breath. I’m going to work on that this week and test it during My Next Tri this coming weekend.  The benefit of that tri is I actually can swim freestyle and sidestroke or limited backstroke if I tire. But the goal is to freestyle it.  Lastly, I want to become a little more intense. :-)  I have to chuckle because my nature is so laid back. However, I need to turn it up a notch and get fired up a little when I participate in these events.

I’ve been practicing with my clips. Yikes! I can’t believe I’m actually riding with them. I will ride MNT with them. The course is 10 miles with some hills. I’m going to practice a couple times this week.  I'm reminded of the mental aspect of trying something new. I have to focus on shifting to the right gear, keeping my cadence, and not thinking so much about my feet being clipped in. If I do that, I’ll get through the race.

Keep moving forward…

One last long swim practice

This will be the Irongirl teams' last long swim.  I can’t believe it!  Our training season is almost over and we are less than 2 weeks out from Irongirl.  Todays practice will involve swimming further than race distance.  We will swim 600 meters. I’ve been reading a lot on staying present and not worrying about what other athletes are doing around me.  A key tenant of the book is to have fun while swimming and go at my own pace. So, instead of panicking, I decide to swim the entire distance backstroke. I don’t want to stress. I figure worse case scenario—if I have to backstroke the entire 500 meters at Irongirl, it would be nice to know how long it might take. Would I be able to complete it before the cutoff time?  This would be my chance to see. 

So, we get in the lane and I start.  Of course, the faster swimmers head out but I’m not going to panic. Oh, I forgot to mention, the swimmers training for the Oconee Olympic would be swimming 1300 meters. I knew some if not all would catch and pass me. Again, I didn’t panic and figured I could use this to simulate later waves where swimmers would catch and pass me.  On, I go, settling myself down..singing ‘Expect a Miracle’ by the Clark Sisters, ‘Control’ by Janet Jackson, ‘Lose Yourself by Eminem and I’m chugging along. After 450 meters or so, I get a bit distracted and remind myself, I can do all things through Jesus Christ..by now, the Oconee swimmers are passing me.  A couple times I swallow water or get water in my nose and choke up. I hate that choking feeling. It's so unnatural to feel my body seize up like that. I eventually regroup and keep going. Tuning out others and not worrying about being the last person. The goal is to finish before the cutoff and have fun.

Finally, I’m in the last 50 meters. Out of my peripheral vision, I see Cameron and a few others cheering me on. I make it to the end of the lane, climb the ladder out and hear Coach Beth say 30 minutes.  Whoo hoo!! I’ll take that. 600 meters backstroke in 30 minutes. That’s better than 40 or 50 minutes! Better yet, I accept that I’m much calmer on my back and will no doubt swim some of Irongirl on it. I know that due to limited visibility I don’t want to swim the entire thing on my back but I’m willing to swim some or most of it.  The goal is to finish the swim way before the cutoff and have fun doing it!

A takeway from this practice is to work on swimming 100-200 meters continuously over the next week. Not sure if I’ll reach that goal but I’m going to try.

Keep moving forward…

Tri brick workout - putting it all together

This was a good workout. I had a couple anxious moments during the swim but was able to work through them by holding on to the kayak and talking with Coach Jo.  I remember becoming so angry with her after swallowing water and having a coughing spell.  She later explained knowing that I’d be able to settle myself [I did] but I was still mad.  In hindsight, I understand how important being able to keep focus and/or settle myself down during the event will be.  I’ve got to stay focus and swim my pace/race while not worrying about others.  After returning to shore from the buoy swim, I wanted to swim more along the shore to get comfortable with the water. We did that and also practiced side stroke.  I felt a bit better.  Then asked about practicing the start.  So, I ran into the water and ‘dove’ in to simulate the start and it didn’t feel too bad.  At this point, I realized I need to get in the water 3-4 times before the last TNT swim on 5/19. If I have to drag Jesse to the lake to watch me, I will.  Turns out Dee was thinking the same so we agreed to come back to MAP on Monday.

I go to transition to the bike for the 5 mile out and back route.  My bike feels good. We are given cue sheets and I head out on the ride with Dee & Shana.  My gear shifting has improved a lot. I’m much more relaxed and even practice arm signals. There may be hope for me.

T2, dismount roll my bike to the rack and head out for the run.  The transition went well although my legs felt a big wobbly. Shana decides to run/walk with me.  We chat a bit during the outing before returning to our bikes for the second 5 miles. I realized I didn’t put air in my tires before the first ride.  I’ve got to not skip on that.  Complete the second files but decide to not run a second time.

I leave on a high note. It was a good practice.  

Is it possible to have a love/hate relationship with the sport of triathlon?  I love the challenge and beauty of it.  I also love the physical conditioning required and how good I feel.  I’m having a tougher time with the mental aspects of it.  This is a first for me.  I’ve achieved a lot in my life and usually meet/exceed my goals.  This one is throwing me for a loop. 

Sunday, April 29 was my first open water swim [ows] the training season. For those that don’t know, you basicly go to an open body of water and swim.  The water may be cold or warm, there is no wall to hold onto or push off of, and there isn’t a black line running along the bottom for guidance.  Also, there may be murky water, limited visibility, fish, debris, rocks, and other sorts of stuff that you don’t have to worry about in a pool. 

So, coming off my practice last Wednesday, I was fairly confident that today’s swim would go ok.  That wasn't the case. I woke up physically tired.  I actually thought of not going but then decided to push myself and ‘just show up’.  That’s usually half the battle.  "If I show up, I’ll get excited being around my friends and coaches, which would result in motivation and I’ll complete the yardage with no problems. I would be a domino effect."  Yeah, right!  Tired, cranky, limited mental ability Theresa showed up.  The water was cold and shortly after rounding the 1st pole, I looked way off into the distance, saw the 3^rd pole and decided it was too far away.  That did it, there went the little mental strength I had and I gave up.  Now that I’m writing this, I realize the importance of that mental decision. At that point, I didn’t care, I wanted out. 

I completed maybe 150 yards, changed direction—swam to the shore and announced I was done. No words of encouragement would change my mind. I actually, thought wow—is this considered giving up or does it count since it’s practice.  You know you can’t do this during the race.  Yeah, I know but I’m doing it today. I have a lot of solo conversations when training.

Two days later, I realized the important role mental strength will play in this event.  I will have to dig deep, say prayers, talk to myself, whatever it takes to finish. I know this, having told myself on a daily basis.  I have to say this is one of the toughest things I've ever had to do.  One of my coworkers has this on his email signature:  

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.  

This is my great opportunity.  I'll keep moving forward…