Chronicles of a fish: the days of surf and turf

T-Shirt Swim

Because Fridays tend to be my rest day if I take a rest day, when I don't take a Friday off it's then like a bonus day. Today was a bonus day. Yay!

Gorgeous out....water was 88 degrees....body felt grand....feet still really white. Note to self: work on tanning feet this weekend. And because today was a bonus day, I felt I had carte blanche to be a little unconventional by digging out my trusty 100% super absorbent cotton t-shirt with "Cool Cucumber" written across the chest and donning it for tonight's swim. I used to wear this shirt all the time a few summer's ago while swimming laps - it creates great drag and gives me more bang for my buck by forcing me to work harder. Tonight I wanted that extra drag.

3,000 yards in predictable Friday fashion:
400 each swim, pull, kick, pull, swim
200 each swim, pull, kick, pull, swim

I'll be wearing this shirt from time to time during my swim sessions over the next few months leading up to the August triathlon that I have yet to sign up for but have ordered a tri suit for (so excited!). It's an awesome feeling when the shirt comes off and you are effortlessly skimming the surface due to the lack of weight and drag.

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Somethings that you learn early on in your training never seem to leave you, those that coach juveniles probably realize that they are leaving lasting impressions deep deep down in the sub conscious that automatically comes to the fore when needed. I see that in some of your swim sessions and every now and then the voice of my first coach pops in to my head.
Running technique, is leaning forward the result or is a more efficient, economical running style the desired output? We were always thought to run tall and drills would be focused on this with our coach shouting encouraging from the side lines. When we gathered, the advice would be 'picture a thread attached to the top of your head and someone pulling you upwards, then get your hips to push slightly forward', both of these get you off your heels and more onto your mid-foot. Whenever I'm tired I repeat in head 'run tall, hips forward' in that same voice that's ingrained in my memory from 30 years ago.
I've just google'd run tall, hips forward and there's quite a few articles: http://goo.gl/X0e1g

Thanks for the info and google link. I found it funny that my thread with your post popped up as the second blurb , but I had a quick look at some of the others and there are some interesting nuggets in there. I watched a video on posture and I could see what a "slight lean forward" looks like, and this does make sense to me.....along with running tall and not bouncing up and down and so on. All good things I need to concentrate on while running. So thank you again.

And, regarding the voices of my swimming coaches of years past, oh there is still an involuntary recall of some of their pearls of wisdom - funny how that happens. However, there are some non-technique tid bits using very colorful language from a wound-tight female military coach who wielded a yard stick during practice that I'd like to forget.

Kurt Godel wrote: »

I'm gonna try this. Have to say, DD, your log is a mine for swim training tips. Lately I've found myself passing on some of your sage advice to others, you should write up a post collecting all your tips so we can staple it to the inside of our goggles.

Shucks, thanks!
Make sure the shirt is cotton so it absorbs the water to max the weight and drag. I can't exactly remember why, but I did cut out the sleeves in the shirt - perhaps it could have been that the sleeves were messing with my stroke, which you don't want to do.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Used to have to do that when I was doing lifesaving. Bloody tough it is.

Yep, had to practice saving someone while fully clothed - remember that well. You'd practically sink to the bottom.

The clothing thing started for me when one of my coaches would make all of us who qualified for an annual Allstar meet practice in various degrees of dress in preparation for that meet. The point was to create drag so we'd be forced to work harder and get more power, and then the bonus was the physical and mental boost in the way you'd feel sans clothing for the race - high, strong, and fast. We'd wear the clothing for two weeks solid leading up to the meet, then we'd take them off only the day before the meet to experience the awesome and weightless way we'd feel. In some respects, it was similar to shaving before a meet - part of the psych, but with real physical benefits.

Proper Bike Ride

So, is it normal to feel violated after you've just been drafted off of by 3 total strangers??? :eek: I was motoring along pretty well for the first 6 or 7 miles and I had passed 4 people - hubby was behind me somewhere, he lets me go ahead of him and then he catches up with me by the time we finish our first out. Any way...as I said, I passed 4 people (two groups of 2), but shortly after I passed the second group, apparently a lone cyclist caught those 2, then those 2 hooked on with him, then all 3 attached themselves to me!! Sheesh!!! Two of the three passed me, but I ended up passing one of them and totally dropped the third. Hubby was not far behind and caught back up to me after all the drama.

Good ride....I felt strong and comfortable. I did draft a little bit off hubby on the backs, but not like I did that first weekend when I was learning the art. Stats will reflect some of that drafting, but I am definitely improving. I still suffer and am poor on the bike, but I'm actually enjoying it. I don't clip in, don't know how and have never tried, but I feel at this stage of the game I best leave it alone for the August tri. After August, if I decide I want to participate in more triathlons, I will look into investing in a real bike (mine is cheap and not high quality, but it's my friend) and learn to clip in.

Stats per Garmin:
25.3 miles in 1:21:22 for an average speed of 18.7 mph with a top speed of 34.1 mph.

Swim

A short swim in the cucumber t-shirt to finish the day in style. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous evening here - really wish I could share it with you folks.

2,000 yards:
400 each swim, pull, swim, pull, swim. No kicking tonight!

6 O'Clock in the Morning Run

This was tough. I wanted to get a quality run in to gauge where I am running-wise, but in my decision to do a LSR at 6:00 in the morning (before the sun is up and scorching the earth) I failed to consider nutrition, possible lack of sleep, and the bike/run/swim in the sun I did less than 24 hours before. I didn't eat a thing before I ran, I barely slept last night, and my thighs and glutes were screaming bloody murder at me from pushing on the bike yesterday. Long story short, the first mile felt good, second mile okay, miles three and four were probably my best, but somewhere around mile 5 is when I realized I hadn't had a thing to eat and I was feeling sluggish, and then on mile 6 my thighs and glutes were so sore that it felt like I was tearing them up with each stride I took....so reluctantly I decided it was best for my body to stop. I had hoped to go 12 miles, but it was not to be at this time.

Will eat some breakfast now.....then definitely hit the pool and maybe another attempt at a run, but it will probably be a recovery run. With my official marathon training beginning next weekend, I will have to sort all this triathlon/marathon training out and how they can work together and not against each other.

6.7 miles in 53:53.75 for an average pace of 8:02 min/mile.
Splits: 7:55, 8:06, 7:58, 7:53, 8:03, 8:04, 5:53 (cool down at 8:25)

Trainer

Immediately after work I had to deal with a very frustrating, aggravating, blood-pressure-raising situation....so not only was I running behind on my evening session, but I was stressed and pissed and dropping f-bombs right and left. And all that negative energy translated into chewing up the bike and spitting out hard/fast miles. Each time I upped the effort, once I got to that upped effort it was easy to stay there. Momentum. I kept this crazy pace up for the first 10 miles, then I had to let it go. But it felt good.

30 angry miles.

All better now.

Tri suit just arrived. All my favorite colors - black with purple insets and green piping. Looks uber cool - just hope it fits and I like it. May test it out for tonight's swim.

Thanks! And I got the one without the built-in bra (your suggestion) and no seam in the crotch (my preference) - so win, win....unless I suck at tris and choke. Ah, but it's just for the fun of it any way, right??

Have fun with your taper. You are an amazing woman.

Field Run

Stellar evening, and it was time for a run. With the addition of swimming, my running mileage is way down and I could tell at the start of this run that my body seemed confused to be upright and moving forward quickly by means of my feet. I tend to like to obsess on one thing and hone that skill, so this triathlon training is somewhat of an emotional/mental/logistical challenge for me....and wait until marathon training begins next week! I'm a little concerned. :eek:

8 miles was on the docket tonight, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach it so I decided to just start running. The first mile felt a bit off, but I settled into a rhythm on mile two. Got stung by a bee on mile three, but I kept going. On mile four I wondered if, after only one year of running, I had peaked in the speed/pace department - haunted by thoughts that my fastest miles were behind me. Mile five brought more crazy thoughts, then on mile six I made a deal with myself to open it up for the last two miles to prove I could still run at a sub 8 minute/mile pace in the field without blowing up. I didn't blow up. In fact, I felt pretty good, and the mantra that quite randomly popped in my head on those last two miles was run like a Kenyan.

8.31 miles in 1:06:35 for an average pace of 7:59 min/mile

Splits: 8:28, 8:09, 8:01, 7:53, 7:57, 7:56, 7:40, 7:26, 2:52 (cool down at 9:10)