| Elizabeth's profileShadow & CurvePhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
|
T minus one and counting: A test drive"On your mark, get set, go!" Queen, Bicycle Race
Everyone knows the fundamental differences between a Vette and, say, a Pinto. It would be laughable to even question whether one is faster over the other. But I did.
My bike coach, Steve, generously offered to loan me his (new) bike for the tri. It's got so many names on it I can't possibly discern the actual name of the bike but at the cost of a grand I'm willing to bet that it's a halfway decent piece of equipment.
I brought it home and took it for a test drive, er, ride. Up the street, down the street. It was like riding liquid lightning. It took nearly no effort to get it up to a good speed which is a good thing: I need all the energy I can get for the 4 mile run after the biking is finished. But I wanted to see how my own bike stood up against Steve's, so after my test ride I grabbed my bike and did exactly the same thing. Up the street, down the street. I was astonished at the difference. By the time I hit my top speed on my own bike I was huffing and puffing--something I didn't do riding Steve's bike.
Guess which one I'll be riding tomorrow? Rubber meets asphalt"It's about time for my arrival" Christina Aguilera, Dirrty
Well, it's about damn time. This morning I finally made it outside and rode my bike. Why has it taken so long? That's better left for another blog.
I met up with my biking coach, Steve--another guy from work. They are all so generous with their time! At any rate... he rides. Constantly. So I was pretty excited and a wee bit aprehensive about us getting together to go for a little jaunt. Our time was short but very productive. I discovered that my seat was situated far too low, effectively hindering my efforts, and once that was fixed my strides were much easier. This allowed me to focus more on how much my ass hurt. Ugh! Talk about saddle sore! I wonder if that will ever stop?
No matter, I was really enjoying myself. Nothing beats the feel of a cool breeze in your sweaty face, the smell of fresh cut grass and wildflowers, and the flow of a river, outracing you alongside the trail. We managed nearly 9.5 miles during our short ride which gave me hope that I can finish the 12 miles needed for the tri in less than an hour.
6 days and counting...
A change in scenery"Those who run seem to have all the fun" Madonna, Hung Up
It's time to get off the treadmill. Yesterday I managed to break away from work for a little bit and get a nice 2 mile run in (shh!!). As I work just off the end of a runway at an airport, this provided me the opportunity to sorta reinact that bit in Top Gun where Tom Cruise (before he started jumping on couches) races alongside a F-something or other on a motorcycle. Of course I wasn't going that fast.
Perfect weather, perfect quiet--except for the roar of jet engines and the beat of the music playing in my ears--and an empty road. What more could a runner ask for? Oh! Yes! A slight breeze. Had that too. All this added up to perfect running conditions for me and I soon found myself halfway done, wondering how I got there.
If you're wondering how I managed to get away from work long enough to run: let's just say that I took all of my smoke breaks at once (I don't smoke) and brought my gym bag--along with a change of clothes--with me so I could de-funk myself. As I didn't stink for the rest of the day, I'd say that worked out nicely. Lappin it up"The number one question is how could you ignore it" Linkin Park, Nobody's Listening
It's very difficult to ignore a pool. It sits there, deceptively calm, waiting for me to finally get in and get to work. 9 laps in a pool await me in August so I figure that it's about time for me to get in the water and try out these laps.
Back and forth...one...back and forth...two...back and forth...damn, this would have been much easier if I hadn't forgotten my goggles. I think I'm over looking like a dork wearing googles in the pool. I used to be able to leave my eyes open under water but since I'm getting older my eyes have become far more sensitive. So goggles 1, vanity 0.
But for this round of laps I don't have them. I forge ahead, swimming the length of the pool when I quickly discover a few things: I definitely won't be able to do this tri without the goggles. Breathing is going to be harder than I thought. My triceps tired out pretty quickly so I'm going to have to do some overhead presses. Lastly, this is hard work. I tend to forget that swimming is one of the best exercises because it uses all the major muscle groups.
Back and forth...one...back and forth...two...back and forth...three... Learning to swim"So get off your ass and come down here" AC/DC, Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
At one point, in the not so distant past (this morning), I thought I knew how to swim. Reality hit me like a poolful of chlorinated water.
Lucky for me I have a swim coach. A former co-worker, Greg, used to compete in high school and in college and he offered to hook me up. How could I refuse?
We met at my gym right after the water aerobics class let out. Unfortunately for me there were still a handful of people in the pool that seized the lanes as soon as they were roped off. Sneaky bastards! Swimming laps seemed out of the question so we moved on to the Flip Turn.
If you ever want to look like an idiot please try to perform a flip turn in front of an experienced swimmer. Your ass will pop out of the water, your legs will flail about and your hands will be all a flutter in an effort not to sink to the bottom of the pool.
Practice, people. Training for the Tri"You don't really want to know just how far it's gone " Don Henley, Dirty Laundry So I'm a slacker. Life has this tendancy to get in the way of my plans and it did just that after my announcement. So instead of walking away from from this challenge simply because I lost out on some training time I'm digging my heels in and getting busy. My biggest mistake has been mistaking exercise for training. The 20 or 30 minutes I put into exercising before teaching a class does not a training session make. And it sure as hell won't prepare me for a quarter-mile swim, a 12-mile bike ride or a 4-mile run. It seems that I actually have to get on a bike and get in the pool. Who knew? Would you believe I have yet to get into the water? Please stop laughing at me. Today I got on a bike. Ok, so it was in the gym but it was still a bike. I biked for maybe a half hour and went only half the distance I need to complete my ride in the Tri. Man, my ass HURT! But I'm sadistic enough to enjoy that burn. What stops me cold is realizing how long this Triathlon just might actually take. And how much work. But I got Faith on my side. Thanks, Alba! |
|
|
