First of all, few things in this world have the ability to make my eyes tear up instantaneously. One of them just so happens to be this magazine. I started receiving it shortly after completing the Steelhead 70.3 last year. Apparently, they thought I deserved a free subscription after paying the exorbitant entry fee. (Little did I know that the entry for a full Ironman would be even more ridiculous!) The magazine is called Lava and is billed as a magazine for "serious triathletes". I'm not sure if I qualify as "serious" but I'm trying! My first opinion was that there were waaaay too many advertisements in its pages. But they are effective! Each time I open one up, I find new gadgets to buy for my current bike and I am constantly drooling over my dream bike (which cost about as much as the car I'm driving!) Each issue gets even better and sends me on an emotional rollercoaster. One page tells the incredibly inspiring stories of Kona champions and shows me what hard work and dedication can do. I get so inspired by reading their stories and feel like I can conquer the world. Then I turn the page and read a story about how grueling the last ten miles of the bike is and the thoughts running through your mind as you head into T2 anticipating a full marathon run. These stories are the ones that fill my head with doubt, make me question my sanity, and I wonder what I have gotten myself into. But when all is said and done, I put down each issue a little bit more excited.
Now we move on to today's training. Today was the first actual day of workouts in my training program. One the menu was swimming and a 30 minute run. After a short battle with myself to get out of bed, I managed to get my ass out of bed and head to the pool. Thankfully, the snow hadn't really begun yet so I didn't have too much to brush off of my car. The workout was a little brutal. I totaled 3950 yards this morning. Warm up: 200 kick on the 4:15, 4 x 50 drill on the 1:15, and 3 x 200 (25 kick, 25 swim) on the 3:15. First set: 40 x 25 kick on :30 [(ez, fast, underwater, fast, ez, fast, fast, underwater) x 5]. The main set was the same for everyone but our intervals were different. The base time was your fastest 100 free time rounded to the nearest 5 seconds (this was a recent fastest 100 time...not a lifetime best). So my base time was 1:00. The intervals then were your base + 5 seconds for the first 12, your base time for the next 8, and your base time - 5 seconds for the last 4. The main set for Niles and me in lane for therefore was: 12 x 75 on the 1:05 then 1:00 rest, 8 x 75 on 1:00 and 1:00 rest, then 4 x 75 on the :55. It was TOUGH! I made the first 12 easily. Then I made the next 5 comfortably and was touch and go for the next three. Finally, the last 4 were too fast and it was just touch and go. But I finished. And I felt GREAT afterwards! Niles and I were quite impressed with ourselves, not only because we made the times, but because we stayed in throughout the whole practice :-)
I was also supposed to get in a 30 minute run today. There wasn't time to run after swimming and before court. So I originally was going to head into the gym to run on the treadmill. Apparently, the impending Chicago blizzard had other plans for me. The weather was ok after court and I could have made it to the office. But, the snow was supposed to start early afternoon. I did NOT want to chance it and get stuck out in the burbs at the office all night with the storm. So I called it a day and went back to work from home. Running didn't happen today but at least I had an excellent swim practice.
Let's see what tomorrow has in store for my training!
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