Swim. Bike. Run.

I have exactly one month before the TNT Ironman season officially begins with our first group training session.  In an email, Coach Scott outlined where we need to be with our training and endurance by that time.

Your coaches expect you to be injury free, or have been actively following a plan to become so for several months... By January, we expect you to be able to swim .5M continuously, complete a Bike 50M/ Run 5M brick, and continuous 8M run.  If these numbers scare you, try out Swim 2.4M / Bike 112M / Run 26.2M and all in same 17 hours or less.........

Swim: 30 meters

I can happily report that last night Sheila, my swim teacher, taught me how to take a breath properly while swimming.  Turns out, it's kind of difficult and takes some coordination. And practice. I have a lot of work to do. Endurance is on my side.  I've already swam up to about a third of a mile at once with no problem.  But while doing so, I was standing up to take a breath every 4 strokes or so.  30 meters is now as long as I've gone without stopping and with more-or-less proper technique. So I just have to stretch by .48 miles and I'll be ready for January.  And adding 2.38 miles will have me ready for August.  No problem.

 

Bike: 42.6 miles

The cycling has felt good since I first hopped on the bike.  And now my core is even stronger,  my form is improving, and I'm learning intuitively about how to work these gears and how momentum plays a factor.  Having some guidance in January will be great.  Last Sunday, I ate solid food during my ride.  My food of choice was black bean and bread which worked quite well, but I am looking forward to experimenting even more.  I have been excited about this for some time.  I imagine myself scarfing a whole pizza mid-ride some day a la Dean Karnazes during a run. Also, Zito's on 7th ave makes these awesome rice balls that I bet would be delicious around mile 41.  I also decided to google a calorie calculator to get an estimate of what I was burning.  Those 42.6 miles took me about 3 hours.  And in that time, apparently I burned 1900 calories.  Oops.  Way more than I had thought.  That black bean bread was probably about 300 calories.  Guidance from the coaches on this come January will also be spectacular.

Run: I got this

I'm healthy.  And am pretty much in marathon shape, which is where I plan on staying.  To be truthful, I have some plantar fasciitis that I've been dealing with since July.  I should tend to this more.  It hasn't really slowed me down, I think, because I am no longer a heel striker.  So the pain isn't debilitating for me as it is for some others.  I'm going to focus on finally solving this, so that it doesn't become worse.  Foam roller, softball, and minimalist shoes will be my friends in the coming weeks.  Ice and stretching too.  We're all gonna chillax together.

Wrapping paper designed by Emily and gifted to me.  Inside was an old fashion aluminum percolator from a general store in Indian Lake that I had my eye on.

5 Lessons Later...

Sheila, my swimming instructor, is unintentionally shackling my mind with chains.  The pace of this swim class is inversely proportionate to the rate of my growing frustration.  Last week, lesson 5 of this journey, was supposed to focus on breathing.  I was wicked excited about this, because this is my greatest weakness and fear.  Instead, we talked about floating on our backs, rehashed the previous weeks lesson, and discussed how nobody knows how to turn the fish fountain on and how it's great for birthday parties.

I am consciously holding myself back from being disrespectful by feigning interest. I continue to stay engaged and give answers as prompted, but somehow, I am almost always wrong... event though I'm right.  In week two, she asked why the last third of your arm stroke gives you the most propulsion. I answered, momentum.  She retorted, "No- it's because an object in motion tends to stay in motion."  Uh, ok.  Last Wednesday she asked the same question, so I answered, "An object in motion tends to stay in motion."  She retorted, "well, no.  It's momentum."

In all honestly, I don't care about these things.  I just want to make progress.Well, it's more than that.  I want to make progress at my pace.  Anything else is a waste of time. 

Ok, I'm being harsh... The last few weeks haven't been a waste.  My stroke mechanics have improved drastically.  And I do appreciate the detail Sheila gives on these form issues.  And, of course. she is going the exact speed through her lessons as everyone else in the class wants her to.  She's a geat teacher.  I'm the oddball in the group.  Truthfully, it's me, not her. I guess I'm the only one trying to do an Ironman and talking beginner swimming lessons at the Y.

Yvonne, fellow TNTer and Ironman trainee, posted today that she completed her first ever 1/4 mile swim.  I am proud, excited, and envious.  I don't doubt that I'll get there, but I want to be there now. That's all.

"Next week remind me to start with breathing," was the last thing Sheila said on Wednesday.

You can bet your ass I will.