Saturday, June 02, 2007

Triathlon training!


James and I decided to embark on a journey...a triathlon! In September we will be ready to swim 1/2 mile in a lake, bike 21 miles and run 3 miles. Thanks to Luna's classmate's mom (also on of the coach/trainers), we signed up for a 14 week intense training complete with personal trainers and loads of support from other triathletes. All levels are in the class. Of course we are at the bottom of the class here but there really are others.

Apprehensive, we began our day at 8am after my shift at work ended. "We'll check it out" combined with "what are we thinking" and "this will be an adventure". I was vehemently opposed to swimming in the lake part of the event. There are snakes and lakes are just...well...icky. So I have been trying to con James into swimming the lake for me. We train in the pool and eventually move to the lake. After a few minutes in the class I felt more comfortable with at least trying the lake. The trainer assured me he has never seen a snake in the water in the years he has been competing.

So next barrier...and oh was I ever trying to dig these up. I can't swim. I can stay afloat, swim on my back and doggie paddle but I never in my life could go under water without holding my nose. No matter how hard I blew through my nose water came in. I could use nose clips. Now there's an attractive site- goggles and nose clips.

And the next... the last time I swam I got tired after 1.5 laps. We will be swimming .5 miles in the triathlon which I think is equivalent to 35 laps. Ha! I told myself to stay int he present and take baby steps. If the coach is right then I will learn better techniques and swim. Theoretically it all made sense.

Final barrier...I'm cold almost all the time. When it was time to get in the pool I was the last. I spent more time at the ladder thinking about getting in. I got in and it was pretty warm. I was warm as long as I moved.

So off we go. There were five of us in the beginning group. My first two laps I doggie paddled and kicked too much. Next time around I focused on putting my face in the water and blowing through my nose. I got it! I see how it works. There is an accomplishment. I worked on the rest, stretching my arms long, moving my legs with my hips keeping them straight, toes pointed.

By the end I got all the pieces. Now it's working on coordination and putting it all together. That will take a bit. But, in one hour I drastically improved. I had so much fun. It reminded me of my tennis days 16 years ago. I could swim laps without exhausting myself. I did not want to leave.

I am hoping to blog again based on our experience training and finishing this triathlon in September. We'll see how it all goes.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another great adventure. Good luck with all the "barriers." What an awesome way to spend the summer.

Love and hugs to you all!

Toonhead said...

Good luck. I run marathons. It started in 2003 with a flyer that said if you can run 5 miles than we can train you to run a marathon. I thought the first 5 mile training run was going to kill me and I almost did not finish my 20 mile training run but I completed my first marathon in 6:08. I start training for my 5th marathon soon. I'm one of the slow pokes but my group is supportive and I've learned to take it at my pace and not let the others around me rush me. Finished my 4th marathon in 5:30. Take the baby steps. The training is the hard part. The race will be fun and the feeling of accomplishment is wonderful.

Will said...

Oh this will be cool!! I really want to do an ironman triathalon before I die (might that possibly kill me???) but I've decided to set myself some intermediary stuff like running a marathon (in disney no less) and biking a few more of those awesome weeklong roadtrips like I used to do with the lung association. The swimming is the major killer for me... I can swim.. badly. I hope to change that this summer too, and get a membership where there's a pool so I can get good at it. A bit of advice... don't worry about snakes. The noise and commotion from swimmers will send them quickly away from the area.

Do the kids know how to swim? You improving yourself might be a good opportunity to pass on useful skills to them so they don't have the disadvantage with water that you are working to overcome. That's my plan with Q... and he loves water.

C. Arenas, FNP-BC said...

Thanks!

SC- I think we are addicted to adventures now.

TH- Nice story. very inspiring.

Will- You did those BAMMI rides, right? Honestly Id love to ride more than anything. We started the little kids in swimming lessons last month. I am hoping Luna will compete later on. It's good for her personality. She has progressed fast (as has Liam) and they love classes. So more excuse for them to practice!

Will said...

I did do Bammi (Bicycling Across the Magnificient Miles of Illinois... 500 miles over the course of a week, for those who don't know what we're talking about). I miss that.. a LOT. Riding alone or as a group across the miles of fields and farms was really fun. I may see about doing RAGBRI.. the Iowa(?) ride that's similar.