Week Nine

IN SEARCH FOR SOME WARMTH
The theme for this week for sure is COLD. Those of you who know me know that I hate being cold, and I seem to be cold all the time. This week was my free trial week for 24 Hour Fitness so that I could try out the only indoor pool in the area. I was excited to walk into a muggy warm pool room and not freeze on the way there. I got into the pool and the first thing I noticed was that I could not even see the bottom. It was so murky and dirty! All the lanes were taken, so I hopped in to share the lane on the right hand side. I actually had to sight where I was going so that I swam a straight line, since I couldn't really make out the painted lines on the bottom of the pool. After awhile, the man who was in my lane got out, and I had it all to myself for awhile. Then, another man hopped in and started doing exercises by the wall. Since he wasn't actually swimming, a third and fourth person came in (friends?) and started swimming, too. It was ridiculous - I just couldn't share the lane with them because they had no concept of lap etiquette. But, as luck would have it, someone cleared out of the lane next to us and I hopped over to finish my workout. At some point, I felt eyes on me. When I got to the wall, a man was sitting there looking at me. He said, "You swim reeeeeeeeal good!" At that point I knew that this indoor pool was not going to be the solution to my "warm while swimming" dilemma.

So, back to the drawing board in the search of somewhere to swim where I am not shivering... I went back to Simpkins Swim Center, where it's nice and clean, and noticed that their recreation pool was empty. So, I hopped in there, and it was 86 degrees! I was in heaven. It was almost too warm. Almost, but I loved it. The only problem is that it is shorter than the lap pool, so it's really hard to monitor for distance. But, at least my quest for how to swim without freezing is solved.

OUR FIRST PRACTICE TRI
Swimming in that 86 degree pool definitely did NOT help for today, though. We had our first practice triathlon - a sprint distance. It was 34 degrees out at Stevens Creek Reservoir. I was as prepared as I could have been: wetsuit, water socks, squid lid, extra cap over squid lid... But nothing could have prepared me for getting into that ice bath. As soon as the freezing water started to seep into my wetsuit, I felt like my spine turned to glass, as though it might shatter if I moved the wrong way. I also did not yet buy swimming gloves, and my hands could barely move. The race started, and I couldn't put my face in the water for about 20 yards or so. When I finally started swimming with my face down, it went numb. My breathing was so shallow that I felt like I was at altitude.

T1 (the first transition) was so hard because I had no fine motor coordination. I was able to get off my wetsuit and socks okay, but putting on my layers was another story. Putting on my gloves was so difficult because I had no control of what finger went through which hole. I decided not to wear my leg warmers because I thought my legs were actually warm enough. The truth was that they were numb, and once I started cycling, they warmed up just enough to really hurt, especially with wearing the wet tri shorts. During the ride, it was so hard to shift, again for lack of fine motor control. I couldn't feel my feet for most of the ride.

By T2 my fingers were doing okay, although I still couldn't feel my feet. I wondered if I could actually shatter my foot bones from the pounding while running if they were so numb. About 2/3 into the run, I finally started to feel that welcomed tingle - the blood coming back to bring my feet to life again.

After finishing, I put on my cool new Ironteam parka, but I never did really warm up until I got into the car and had the heat blasting. I came home, crawled right under the covers, and woke up a couple of hours later. I know it's one of the worst things you can do for recovery, but I felt like I had no other choice!



Here's a pic of me after finishing the tri. I think I was really happy that I was about to go get some layers on!















EVENT UPDATE
Okay, I did it! I registered for Ironman France. It's going to be a very hilly ride, and I'm going to need to work my butt off over the next 6 months. I acknowledge that it is possible that I may not finish, so I'm going to register for Vineman as well, so that I know I'll have a second chance. Even if I don't finish, I know that I'll be a much stronger athlete for having trained for it.

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 60 minutes strength and spin 60 minutes
Wednesday: Track practice (4 miles total)
Thursday: No time
Friday: Swam and ran 2 miles
Saturday: Hiked 4 miles
Sunday: Ironteam sprint tri

Body Check: I never really know with my knee. Last week I thought it was doing well, and now it hurts when I squat down or stand up. It's a very specific point under it, more on the shins. The back is the same - no pain, but very tight in that general area. I felt a little bit of sciatic "sensation" during the climbs today.

Total Fundraising to Date: $1941