A Whole Other Level of Fitness

I was told by a friend of mine that triathlon is a whole other level of fitness. He sure was right! Yesterday was my first two-a-day workout for my triathlon training. Swim in the morning and run after work. Exhausting just about sums it up!

Tuesday morning I attended my first Master’s swimming session at NAU. Wow! I knew it had been a while but I didn’t realize my technique was that bad! I took hours of swimming lessons as a child. I am not afraid of drowning, I feel as though I am a confident swimmer, I just may not swim well. That sure made light of its self on Tuesday.

The coach pulled me aside and told me that if I keep my head up like that it’s only going to exhaust me (I was already exhausted at this point). He pulled me off to the side in the kiddy pool and had me doing exercises to work on breathing. First I started by holding onto the side of the pool and practicing exhaling under water and then lifting my head to the side to inhale, then by doing the same while holding onto a kickboard and going about half the length of the pool and back. On Thursday, he told me we’d incorporate strokes into it. The hardest thing is trying to tell your mind you aren’t going to drown. I hope to get the hang of this sooner than later! After practice I calculated that I had probably done about 6 laps in the pool, which was great because I was only on schedule to do 3 per my workout calendar.

Unfortunately NAU’s pool is closing next week for 10 days for some renovations. I plan to go to the Aquaplex here in town while they are closed. They have the smallest lap pool on the planet (Theirs is 16M, NAU’s is 50M) but it will do the trick for breathing technique practice. Hopefully when NAU’s pool opens back up on the 15th I will have my breathing under control and can focus on building my stamina and getting faster in the water.

The rest of my training is going awesome! I have really enjoyed getting back on my bike! It’s probably my 2nd love after running! We went home last weekend for my sister’s baby shower and I had to figure a way to get my bike into my car. I discovered if I take off the front and rear tire as well as the handlebars it fits! Yay! Plus it forces me to learn more of the bike parts. I went for a ride on Sunday in Eagar/Springerville and overshot my route by 2 miles. I was only to do 10 and ended up logging 12! I felt great! The wind was in my face most of the time but the thin road tires really help with the drag! The running portion of the training is quite simple, I look at is as maintenance more than anything. I am running about 3 miles 3 times a week. Much easier than my half marathon training but it gives me the ability to focus on the other parts of my training that need it, swimming!

Besides that, all else seems to be going well. I am still working on my clean eating. The last week or so I’ve had to cheat here and there but the weight is slowly coming off again. I believe it’s due to the combination of good nutrition and increased training. As of today I am about 8lbs from my new goal weight. It’s awesome to put on clothes that I wore in High School and they fit! Once I pass the 8lb mark they should fit like a glove. At 185, I believe that I will have hit my high school weight and I plan to surpass it by race day! Even if it’s only by a pound.