Pride.

WOW. What a day. The good news? My nightmares were all for naught...my legs worked, I owned the transition and had a blast. 

Some details: 

The swim killed me. It was way harder than I remember when I swam with Pete. In training I was able to do that distance in 12 minutes, freestyle the entire way and feel good. Today- 16:05-- and as my good friend Lisa said..."breast stroke the shit out of that lake"...and I did, along with a little backstroke thrown in there for good measure. When I got out of the lake I was dizzy, could barely walk...definitely didn't breathe right. 

Then I got on the Black Locust and she did me proud....as in, she didn't break down. I did the bike in 1:07 which wasn't horrible, especially on a hybrid...had I been on a proper bike it would have shaved that down a bit more. I got lots of laughs for my skateboarder helmet and my upright biking stance...it was a good time. 

Next came the run, which I was dreading the worst BUT I OWNED THAT SHIT. And by "owning it" it means that I paced quicker than goal...12:54 per mile. There were 2 big uphills...I walked those. But on the flats and downhills I did the "Emma Shuffle"....fuck Cupid. 

All in all 2:08. And I would do it again for the badass arm tattoo....

Here are Paul and Laura Lynn as we set up our transition area...it was dark. 

In retrospect I had an odd feeling today. A feeling of self pride. I'm often proud of my friends, family, peer, and my team for sure but I can't remember the last time I was proud of myself. Today I'm proud of myself. 

Worst dream ever.

So I had my first triathlon nightmare. #TriMare if you will. I want to get it out so I don't make these same shitty mistakes tomorrow.

First:
1. I didn't set up my transition-- the end.
2. I didn't bring a helmet.
3. The run was first and I couldn't make my legs move.
4. When I finally found my bike (and there were only 2 people who hadn't picked theirs up) the tires were flat.
5. I did lots of crying
6. I had no water or drank or food of any kind.
7. I had to pee in my dream but then couldn't find bathroom

Then I woke up in real life (hence the 4:30 AM post) with a horribly sore throat. I'm going to cancel all of my plans today (other than taking my bike of course) and drink liquids and sleep.

What I learned from my dream:

1. Give all you have because you never know what's next
2. Preparation is the key to an easy mind
3. Visualize myself completing the swim, bike and run
4. Take an Advil when I wake up tomorrow

What may have caused the dream:

1. I haven't trained this week at all. I've been in a horrible funk since Monday that I'm having a hard time shaking.
2. I haven't been sleeping well since Monday-- odd patterns, hotel beds and tonight at a friends house.
3. I'm nervous about doing something I've never done before.

OK...gonna try to go back to sleep now.

Bikes and dogs and Tri Kits and Pete.

So my first official "brick" workout was yesterday-- Paul, Laura-Lynn and the recently crowned Ironman Christina headed up to "Swim with Pete" again and then headed to the Budweiser plant for a 14 mile bike ride. A couple of quick notes on the workouts: The swim is going well-- I really like swimming in the lake better than the pool:
1. The water doesn't bother me nearly as much when I get it in my nose or mouth
2. The fact that you just keep going until your loop is up seems to be much easier than flipping every 25 meters.
3. Being in nature is calming for some reason
4. I was able to do all 400+ yards without stopping and doing the freestyle the entire time for the first time-- I think I'm timing around 12 minutes! GO ME.

The bike is a struggle but I enjoy it:
1. I hate hills but I was able to pedal through all of them and never got off
2. I struggle with the though of "saving my legs" for the race and or what is to come on the bike course-- It's a disadvantage that I won't have ridden the bike course
3. When I get off the bike my legs feel like jelly-- not quite sure how the 5K is going to go but I'm determined to give it my best.

A few extra notes:

1. I bought a tri kit (tank and shorts-- 100% spandex). I'm pretty through it's see through. I definitely look a bit hilarious but what the fuck.
2. A dog tried to kill me on my bike ride and by "kill me" I mean-- he charged at me, sounding like a horse and chased me while salivating at my calf until I smoked his ass on a hill-- had I not been about to crest a crazy downhill I would have been toast. No shit. It was scary, I cried and praised the tri gods for me being on the hill and not crashing (my first windy downhill) and not being eaten by a dog that looked similar to THIS:

This week my focus will be on my eating, hydrating and training. This Thursday I head out of town for 3 nights for a great friends wedding and plan to find a spin class while on the road.

Monday: Swim
Tuesday: Spin class
Wed: Run and strength training with trainer
Thurs: Swim & bike
Fri: Run & Spin class
Sat: Strength/core (in hotel)
Sunday: off

Running Sucks.

Ok. So today I was supposed to work out with my trainer and then run a 5K. I got there about 10 minutes early to pump out about a mile before our workout and warm up. No problem.
Then I worked out with my trainer-- awesome. I'm feeling strong & relatively agile-- I used to hate the bosu ball and now I OWN IT.  Then I got back on the treadmill-- this time with headphones/music-- fuck this whole running without music. I'll do it for the race but I refuse to do it any more for training without some sort of distraction. I got about 1.75 miles in to my run and stopped. I wasn't out of breath. My legs were sore but not finished. I just was hating every second of it. What the fuck is wrong with me? I really enjoy my time in the pool and on the bike-- even though both are terribly difficult-- but I'm hating my time running. Sorry this post isn't more positive. I've also worked out for 7 days straight and really need a rest day-- so I'm taking 2 days off (mostly because I'm having a small outpatient procedure tomorrow)..and then back to the swim and bike on Saturday with my man Pete.

My bike is slow...or am I slow?

Because I'm officially insane I decided to go for a bike ride today as my training and headed out to a trail that I had heard about...The Silver Comet. It takes about 20 minutes to get there which isn't bad considering everything in Atlanta is outside of the city center. This trail is AMAZING.

The website said it was FLAT....but now I've learned that what may feel flat to a runner does not necessarily feel flat to a bike. And considering that I'm riding a hybrid and not a road bike (and for the record I was the only non-road bike on the trail) my bike feels every single hill and it's quite hard to keep momentum.

I decided that I would do 15 miles-- 7.5 miles out and then back. This was my longest ride by 6 miles and let's just say by mile 7 my ass hurt pretty damn bad. The good thing-- I really enjoyed the ride. But it was tough....my mile times ranged from 3:36 to 7:45....that's a pretty big rang. I'm also not sure what part of my foot to be pushing from-- have lots of questions.

This week I'm going to try and head up to ALL 3 SPORTS and get my TRI Kit....that way on Saturday I can swim in it and then bike in it.

SO...here's the bad part. I worked out with my trainer on Friday and am ridiculously sore...so I'm hoping that's the reason that when I got off my bike I could barely walk. I mean, there would have been ZERO CHANCE today that I could have then run a 5K. I walked about 1/4 mile and had to stop. Mostly it's my inner thighs.

Tomorrow is a AM swim.
Tuesday is AM swim and run and then PM spin class.
Wednesday is morning workout with trainer.
Thursday I'm having a small medical procedure so I'll take both Thursday and Friday off and then Saturday will be open water swim and then bike.
Sunday will be a run.

SO MUCH PREPARATION.

We Swam with Pete...and lived to blog about it.

One of my Tri inspirations, Christina, who for the record is doing an IronMan tomorrow, told me about this Open Water Swim situation called "Swim with Pete". She gave me Pete's email address and told him that I had 3 newbies wanting to come out...so he sent me directions and the details around the swim.

We weren't sure what to expect other than to show up in a parking lot at Red Top Mountain on Lake Allatoona-- so we did. Paul, Laura-Lynn and I were ready to go.....and so was the rest of Atlanta's Triathlon community. There were more Multi Thousand dollar bikes in this parking lot and in-shape people in one place than I've seen in a while. It was a little intimidating.

Pete, an older man, who I presume to be a swim coach of sorts, gathered us all together and gave instructions about the buoys-- the distance between them, how to help someone if they are drowning, etc. Lucky for the 3 of us there was a 400 yard loop laid out really nicely which is the distance of our swim for the race.

We all swam it once with Laura Lynn and Paul handily kicking my ass. Then we chatted with Pete for a while...he gave us some great tips and we went at it again. I decided to go it alone for a third lap and finally started to feel more comfortable. Swimming is fun...but it seems to be about a rhythm which I haven't yet found-- and I gots rhythm.

Pete gave me some great coaching while I was swimming too...every 10 strokes look up and see the buoy...go at your own pace...try to stay calm-- he reminded me there was no prize money on the line...

Next week, we'll go back and bring our bikes so we can bike afterwards.

PS...turns out I wasn't too embarrassed to walk around in my bathing suit, which for the record...doesn't happen normally without a cute coverup and great sandals...

I hate running. HELP A SISTA OUT.

So. Today was a running day-- I wanted to run 2.25 miles and I did. But the entire thing sucked basically. I can't help but continue to look at the monitor.... .10 miles, .12 miles, .22 miles, .45 miles....it's similar to torture. Sometimes I cover up the treadmill with a towel so I can't see it but that last about 2 minutes.
Basically I'm bored silly. But...I've got to keep running. Next week I'll bump up to 2.50 miles and by the end of the week 2.75. I'll be an ultra marathoner before you know really.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Tomorrow is an early morning swim and then a late morning strength training. AND THEN SATURDAY...well, let's just say I'm going with 2 co-workers to a group open-water swim and it could lead to complete and utter hilarity.

My visit to an Atlanta City Pool

So much info from this past weekend (I swam in a lake, hiked, did another bike ride with a decreased time per mile and went for a walk and saw 11 bunnies-- and every 3 bunnies equals a wish-- I digress).

But...I just returned from my first visit to the local Natatorium...and it turns out-- there's one about 5 minutes from my house-- it's like it's meant to be.

Getting up at 6AM isn't ever easy but the thought of trying out my new suit and the new adventure made me up for the challenge....sort of.

But then, I got the the pool and noticed a sign that said it was closed...but I know Atlanta better than that. And I went on in....I have no doubt that at least 4 schmucks a day see the sign and walk back to their car-- it's really sad actually.

I forged ahead, found a person asleep at the front desk-- woke him up-- told him I had bought a 10 pass "splash pass" and was directed to the pool. There was only 1 other person doing laps...probably because everyone else thought it was closed, so I took a lane and started swimming.

IT WAS AWESOME. And by awesome I mean, I swam 8 laps which I believe to be 1/4 mile in about 9/10 minutes. I wasn't able to swim all of them in the free-style...I had to breast stroke 1 lap. And I have so far to go with working on my breathing. And my goggles fogged up. And, and, and, and. BUT....the biggest hurdle has been overcome. I found a pool. And it's awesome and empty and close to my house. Something tells me this could become a morning ritual. :)