I might not be the fastest cyclist or the fastest runner, but when I'm in the water, you stand no chance. So, follow me, a Florida-based triathlete and competitive swimmer, on my journey training, racing, and looking for the next new challenge.
Pool where I've been training and will continue to train with a team
This law week was pretty exhausting as it was my first week back on a swim team.
I've been looking around for quite a while for a team that I would like to join. And, I FINALLY found one.
I first decided that I would like to start training with a swim team a few months ago. As a lifelong swimmer, the swim portion of a triathlon is my only real advantage. So, I have to do as well with that advantage as possible. And, although I've done very well training on my own, it's just too difficult to work on proper pacing when training alone.
I also did a few Masters Swimming Meets this past summer just for fun. And, I really did fall back in love with the sport again. Of course, the surprisingly quick times I posted at those meets was pretty exciting as well.
So, I looked around and eventually found a very competitive swim team at the long course pool where I've been training (a long course pool about 45min away). And, I'm very excited to now be a member of it.
Hopefully, by training under a new coach and alongside some pretty quick swimmers, I'll be able to pull back down my 100 pace times with the goal of excelling in both triathlon, pool, and open water swimming. Granted it will be pretty nice to have that extra team motivation to get out of bed in the morning to train...even if the drive to the pool is, kind of a trek. Although, the Dunkin Donuts I pass while traveling from the pool to my office is a pretty big perk as well!
My Ironman may be over, but, my triathlon season is not. I still have an Olympic Distance Race in a month (Escape to Miami), a 5K Open water Swim Championship a week after, and, I’m closing out my season with a Half-Ironman (Miami Man) a little over a month after that. I still have about 2.5 months to go in my 2012 triathlon race season and I’m struggling to figure out how to re-tailor my training for these events.
After racing 112 miles on a mountainous bike course, there is no doubt that the 26 miles of the Olympic course is going to mentally fly by. But, that doesn’t mean that I can just sit back and enjoy the ride if I want to place well. I need to turn up the gear and power through the course hoping that my muscles can handle it. But, can they? In a month from now, will my muscles even really be there anymore? I don’t know.
It’s hard to force myself to back off of my intense Ironman training in favor of quicker, more intense workouts. I feel like I’m going to lose all the strength that I have gained over the past few months. But, no athlete can continue year-round at such an intense level. Yes, I still need to train hard for my Olympic and Half-Iron races. But, it’s a different sort of training. I need to add more speed work and decrease the amount of pure endurance training. I just hope that I can handle it mentally.
Right now, I KNOW that I’m still in great shape. But, I fear that I’m going to lose it. I fear that I’m going to go out too hard with the endurance base no longer there to back me up. And, that fear is what, I think ultimately, could be my biggest hindrance in doing well in my upcoming races.
So, I've created a new plan....I'm going to work hard to overcome this fear by mentally leaving my Ironman behind. For now, my upcoming races need to be the focus of my season, and not the race that has already come and gone. We shall see how it goes. Although, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...
This past weekend I competed in another Master’s Swim meet. I signed up for the race as a fun thing to do before the final push towards Ironman. At this race I had some challenging competition. There was a girl in my age group with seed times far faster than mine in both the 400 and 100 Freestyle. I naturally assumed she was probably pretty close to the top of her game and was a bit nervous about racing her since I had slower seed times and, being in the height of my Ironman training, didn’t even know how my body would respond to being forced back into “sprint mode.”
But, I was going to compete in this meet t have a good time and to just ‘see what I could do.’ Yes, I was ultimately expecting to get beaten. But, I also figured it would be nice to have somebody else in the water to push me.
First up was the 400 freestyle. It was the very first race of the day. At my last swim meet, I only had a decent showing in this event. I remember that I had finished the race barely exhausted. And later, upon reflection, noted that my split times were equal but a little too slow for what I thought I might be able to hold.
So, I stepped up to the blocks and looked over at my competition. Being a long-time distance swimmer in college, I usually step up to the blocks with the intention of swimming my own race. Yes, I of course would also like to win the race, but ultimately distance races are about pushing yourself regardless of how fast the people besides you are swimming. But, not this time. This time I was going to try something different. I finally had somebody to ‘race.’ I was going to push myself much harder than last time and was going to use my competition of a guide.
The gun went off and we dove into the water with 8 long course meter laps ahead of me. I took the first 100 out much harder than I would normally have. After the first 100, I was ahead of my competition. ..barely. But, I was feeling strong and told myself I only had 6 more lengths to go. The second hundred hurt. My body started to cramp a little bit like it always does. Yet, somehow I managed to still stay slightly ahead. And then, we hit the third hundred.
My body was getting tired and my competition started to pull ahead. This is usually the point of the race where the mental negativity starts to creep in. It’s a problem I’ve always had. In every race, it’s sad to admit, I give up mentally before my body is ready to. I’ve spoken before about the need to rely on my training when racing. But, even though I take my race out hard knowing the training will be there to back it up, I’ve always had a problem having my mental strength there as well. You can be in the best shape of your life, but if you lose the mental positivity, all the training in the world becomes completely useless. I know I’m not the only person who must struggle with this problem and it’s a very hard thing to come to terms with. But all my life, if there was ever a need to outsprint a person to the finish, I wind up losing. I lose, not because they’re faster or stronger than I am. I lose because my mind breaks before their mind does. It’s as simple as that. And, although I know it’s a problem I’ve always had, I’ve just never been able to keep those negative thoughts out.
In a swimming race like this, the third portion (here the third hundred), is always the portion where I just can’t hold back the negativity any longer. But this time was different. As we hit the wall at the far end of the pool with 150 meters left to go, I thought to myself “I’m going to be an Ironman…stay with her.” For the first time ever in a race that I can remember, I was wholeheartedly committed to giving it everything I had inside. There were no thoughts of pain or tiredness. There were no thoughts of failure as I saw her start to pull away from me. There was nothing but mental dfedication to the race and to bringing myself as close to the edge as possible. To be honest, I really shocked myself that a positive thought just popped into my head without me having to try to force it there. It was truly an amazing feeling.
As we approached the wall at the end of the third hundred, I saw her turn slightly ahead of me. Usually I have to make the conscious decision to turn up the pace. But this time, I just let myself go. I was going to sprint the whole last 100 meters. I was actually going to try and beat her. Now, ¼ of the race is A LOT to try and sprint. I would normally advise against it since the probability of “hitting the wall” waaaaay too early is very high. But I knew, deep down inside, that my training was there. I’ve always been physically strong enough to fight to the finish. And , it was finally time for my mind to join the fight.
So, I sprinted. I picked up my kick. I turned over my arms as fast as possible, and I drove into the wall at the far end of the pool. I had one 50 to go. I was closing in although she was still half a body length ahead. And believe me, you can bet she know I was there and giving everything she had to fight me off. But I didn’t let go. Twenty-five meters left. I took a deep breath and drove as hard as possible the rest of the way. I was either going to win this race or I was going to know I tried as hard as possible. I wasn’t going to end this race, as usual, knowing that deep down I had given up long before I hit the final wall.
I put my head down and finished strong into the wall just in time to turn my head and to see my competition come into the wall right behind me. I took twelve whole seconds off my previous 400 freestyle time and won the race. But more importantly, I didn’t give up mentally and my body never gave out. The training was there. My mind was there. It was a perfect race.
I went on to beat the same girl again by just barely out-touching her in the 100 freestyle. I had a great swim meet and she, undoubtedly, had a miserable one.I was proud of myself.For the first time ever I felt like a real competitive athlete.
What you should take away from my story is this:
Physical training means nothing until you’re capable of finding the mental positivity necessary to succeed. And, it needs to come naturally. The harder you try to force in the positive thoughts, the easier the bad ones will creep in as well. Positivity needs to already exist in your subconscious. You need to be comfortable with your training and know that, although you may have made mistakes along the way, you’re doing the best you can with the time and resources you have. Only once you let go of the doubts on a daily basis can you let go of the doubts in a race. And, only then, will you ever be able to draw up enough mental positivity to be able to outsprint somebody to the finish.
Today was it...my last long weekend bike ride before Ironman NYC. I only have 3 weekends left before I leave for NYC. Next weekend I have a master's swim meet, the weekend after I'm in taper and will only do about 50 miles (I know, ONLY), and the weekend after my bike will be in route to the Big Apple. So, today was my last chance to get in a lengthier ride. And, I was pretty sad about it.
Over the past few months I have been going out on long training rides on the weekend. I first started out by joining a friend for a 50 mile ride. The following weekend we did 60 miles. And after that, I was forced to leave my friend behind while I went out on solo rides ranging from 70 to 100 miles.
I remember that after my first solo ride (of about 65 miles) I came home upset. The wind was too strong. I got dirt in my eyes. There were so many problems that I had obsessed about during that first solo ride. It was miserable. But, upon reflection, I don't think it was those tiny 'problems' that made that first ride miserable...I think it was the fact that I had never had to tolerate being with myself for that long.
It' s not an easy thing, having to tolerate your own mind for so many hours. On a ride of four hours or longer, your mind wanders so many times that you almost run out of things to think about. And then, when all your inner distractions are gone, there is nothing else to left to concentrate on besides the strength of the wind and the annoyance of the cars passing by.
But over time, the long rides got easier. Part was due to the fact that I was getting stronger physically. But part was also due to the fact that I had eventually learned to appreciate being along. In fact, I eventually started looking forward to it.
Today on my final long ride, I was actually excited to get out of bed. I filled my bottles, packed all my nutrition, and flew out the door. It was drizzling a little but that didn't matter. The wind was much stronger than usual, but that didn't matter either. I didn't want the rain or the wind as excuses anymore. I didn't need excuses not to ride when riding had become the highlight of my weekend.
Other triathletes do group rides (or do group rides and a short ride after) to prep for an Ironman. But, I think these athletes are greatly missing out on an amazing aspect of the journey to become an Ironman. You can't draft in the race. You can't distract yourself with chit chat in the race. You can't stop at Starbucks to catch up with your friends in the race. So you probably shouldn't be doing it in practice, either.
Biking 112 miles takes a VERY long time. And I really do feel that I am as prepared for that ride as I possibly could be. I never gave myself the chance to draft off of anyone on my solo rides. I never had anyone to block the wind for me or to give me some water if I had run out. It was just me out there. I had nothing to listen to besides the steady pace of my own breathing. I had nothing else to look at besides the beauty of parts of the city I had never seen before.
Each solo bike ride was a brand new experience. Many times I left my house without a clear route even marked. I would just follow other bikers to new areas of the city. Today, I wound up biking through the Mangrove preserve. It was beautiful and serene. And, while I was out there, I was thinking about how easy these rides had become. Yes my body is stronger. But more importantly, my mind was finally clear. After so many ours of being alone and obsessing about random things that didn't matter, I had finally pushed through to the other side. I had pushed through to the side of nothingness and yet clarity. The negative thoughts were gone. The distractions about work or home were distant memories. It was just me, my bike, and the wide open road.
After reflecting upon all my training, the one thing I know I did right was to do most of my long rides alone. And, if you're training for an Ironman, I'd highly recommend doing the same. Yes, you can train yourself physically for the race by biking with others. But, you can't train for the race mentally unless you venture out alone.
Learning to tolerate being with yourself for over 6 hours is not easy. It's hard to be forced to be 'inside your own head' for that long and to not lose hope or let the negativity creep in. But little by little you can build up to it, just like you build yourself up physically. The first few rides will be miserable, I'm sure. You will always find something else you can blame besides having to blame your own mental weakness. But, over time, you will learn to find the joy in being alone. You will learn new things about yourself and the way your mind functions each time you ride. You will stop trying to distract yourself and instead learn to enjoy the loneliness, the pain, and the exhaustion. And, you will be proud when you come home because you will know that you did it all alone.
Notice how the swimmer breathes toward the shoulder
Like most of you, I of course watched every single live final of the recent Omaha Olympic Swim Trials. Besides the fact that it’s incredibly exciting to watch the Olympic dreams of talented swimmers come true, it’s also very interesting to analyze the technique of the country’s fastest athletes and to see how stroke and wall efficiency has improved over time. Usually I enjoy watching the walls the most. The speed and power these athletes get off the turn is exceptional and a very sharp contrast to my own miserable turns. But this time I did notice something else that I found perplexing…almost every freestyle swimmer breached every other stroke.
Now, I can’t even begin to count the number of times a coach has yelled at me for breathing too frequently in a race. The way I was taught growing up was to maintain a standard bilateral breathing pattern (meaning breathing to both sides) every three strokes for distance races and possibly even more for sprint races. So, I wondered, why are all these elite athletes breathing every stroke when they too, like me, was probably originally taught not to?
And the answer is that they breathe every stroke in an attempt to supply the body with a greater, more consistent, flow of oxygen. Obviously this makes total sense. The more breaths you take, the less oxygen deprived your muscles become, the looser your muscles stay, and the faster you can ultimately swim….in theory, obviously.
You’re probably asking yourself at this point, why are the elite swimmers breathing every stroke and the rest of us are still taught to breathe every three? Well, you just answered the question yourself. There are two types of swimmers…the elite and then everybody else.
Me and Gary Hall Jr. after an open water swimming event in '07
Although we must take note of the amazing technique of the elite swimmers, we cannot apply all of it to our own swimming. And that’s a very important thing to realize. For most of us, bilateral breathing tends to even out our rotation forcing us into better technique. Take away breathing to one side and you’ll no doubt find that your body will begin to flatten out. Although you’ll be getting more oxygen to supply to your muscles by breathing every stroke, your body rotation will suffer. And, once you lose proper rotation, your speed will undoubtedly decrease thus defeating the whole purpose of making the change in the first place.
The only reason why the elite swimmers can change their breathing pattern is because they’re good enough to still be able to maintain proper technique. Most of us would not be so lucky.
In summation, although it’s exciting to watch the Omaha Trials and the Olympics, and although there are certain technique pointers we can take away to apply to ourselves, changing our standard bilateral breathing pattern is not one of them. And if you have any doubts, you can refer to my quick “Breathing Cheat Sheet” below. Happy swimming!
Swimming Breathing Cheat Sheet
Practice Pool Swimming:
Bilateral Breathing. Breathe every third stroke alternating sides to maintain rotation. Focus on maintaining a consistent and even rotation pushing your shoulder towards the bottom of the pool as your hand enters the water. As you rotate, instead of turning your head directly to the side to breathe, turn your head to the side and back towards your shoulder. The body rotation causes a small air pocket located directly above the shoulder. Exhale while your face is still in the water and then inhale from that above-shoulder air pocket for quick and efficient breathing.
Try to do some sets practicing longer bilateral breathing to practice breath control. For example, do 8 x 50s breathing every 3,5,7,9 stroke by 50.
Race Pool Swimming (Mid-Distance and Distance):
Bilateral Breathing following the same breathing technique as practice pool swimming. Breathe every third stroke alternating sides to maintain rotation. Take at least one stroke off the wall after a turn before breathing to not break your momentum off the turn. On the last lap, hold your breath from the flags into the wall in order to have a strong finish.
Race Pool Swimming (Sprint aka 100m and under):
If above 50, do Bilateral Breathing following the same breathing technique as practice pool swimming and Race Pool Distance Swimming. Feel free to hold your breath a bit longer on the last lap in order to really drive to the wall.
If only 50, breathe only as necessary. The goal is to finish as fast as possible, try to breathe less often but try not to lose proper body rotation.
Open Water Swimming (Lake):
Bilateral Breathing following the same breathing technique as practice pool swimming. Lift your head every once in a while to spot the buoys but try not to break stroke. It should be a very quick head lift and is not meant to be a break to breathe. Take one breath at most when lifting your head. If necessary, take one Breaststroke stroke to allow more time to spot the buoy but try to integrate the stroke seamlessly into your freestyle.
Open Water Swimming (Ocean):
Be conscious of the waves and in what direction you are swimming. If swimming into the waves, Bilateral Breathing following the same breathing technique with head lifts as Open Water Lake Swimming. If swimming parallel to the waves, breathe every four strokes and only towards the beach side (you don’t want to breathe into a wave and get a mouthful of seawater). Don’t breathe every other stroke even though you might be tempted. Breathe every four in order to maintain proper stroke technique. Otherwise, follow the same Open Water Lake Swimming protocol for buoy spotting.
The other day I was in the pool after work and feeling great. About ¾ of the way through my workout I felt my calf muscles start to tighten. Hoping not to get a cramp, I eased up on my kicking and wall push-offs but it was too late. During my final set, I pushed off the wall and then BAM…a massive knot formed in my left calf leaving me cringing in pain floating with my buoy in the middle of the pool. I slowly pulled my way to the wall swearing to the lifeguard that I didn’t need any assistance. I climbed out onto the pool deck and tried to massage and calm my extremely knotted muscle. That was the end of my pool workout. In fact, that was the last major workout I would do the rest of the week. Two days later and I can still barely walk.
Most people have gotten a cramp (most commonly referred to as a “Charly Horse”) like this before. I’ve gotten then a few times during pool workout in college, but they seem to strike more frequently at night. I’ll be sound asleep at 2 am and then suddenly jerked awake into a screaming fit as my leg tightens and my muscle bulges from the side. If you’ve experienced this before, then you know exactly how terrible a Charly Horse can be. And, if you have no idea what I’m talking about…then be very glad because it’s absolutely miserable.
My Charly Horse was so bad the other day that it literally caused my muscle to pull itself. I’m supposed to be in the middle of my most intense Ironman training (I’m less than 1.5 months away) and now I’m forced to ease off and struggle to quickly recover from an injury that was totally pointless and completely preventable. So, I figured I’d do you a favor and remind you of why a Charly Horse might happen and how it can be prevented. And maybe, you won't wind up in my terrible situation.
Most Common Factors that contribute to a Charly Horse Leg Cramp:
1) Muscle Fatigue (check for me)
2) Heavy Exercising (yup, I got that one too)
3) Dehydration (Maybe I should re-think my cup of afternoon coffee)
4) Electrolyte Imbalances (perhaps I need to up my sports drink intake…or perhaps I need to decrease it)
5) Medications
6) Sitting, Standing, or staying in the same position for long periods of time (I’m an attorney…sitting for long periods is unfortunately part of my job)
How Charlie Horse cramps can be prevented:
1) Hydration ( I DEFINITELY Need to up my water intake at work)
2) Regular Stretching (I frequently finish my morning runs and then have to immediately get ready for work forcing myself to skip stretching)
3) Gradual Training (um, only so much I can do here)
4) Getting up and moving around more frequently when sitting for extended periods
5) Eat Bananas and milk to overcome potassium imbalances (Just picked up a bushel of bananas for breakfast)
Last Thursday I had a little bit of a breakdown after my easy 5 mile run. I had slept through my morning workout and had intended to swim AND run in the afternoon instead. But, storms rolled through (as is typical in Miami during the summer) and I was only able to get in a short run. Since I was forced to take completely off on Wednesday due to a day in court for work, I needed to do much more than a 5 mile run on Thursday. But, I didn't do it and I felt horribly guilty about it.
After my run I came home angry. "At this rate, I'm not going to finish the IM" I told my Boyfriend. I feel like I haven't been running as much as I need and I haven't been able to do any hill workouts on the bike. Yes, I understand that work gets in the way sometimes and that one or two missed workouts isn't the end of the world. Ultimately, though, I broke down because I feel like I've gone backwards from where I was physically a month ago. I'm not waking up early enough. I'm not going out hard enough. I'm not logging enough hours.
"You're not going backwards" my boyfriend responded as he tried to console me, "you're just plateauing."
And, after much reflection, I'm trying to convince myself that he's right. Perhaps I'm not feeling myself get any stronger because I'm already as strong as I need to be to increase my training without feeling the effort.
This past Saturday I went out on an easy 80 mile bike ride by myself. No drafting. No chit chat with somebody else to distract me. Just me, my bike, and 5 hours of pure inner reflection. When I got home I was tired...but not too tired. A month ago I would have been completely wiped after a 60 mile bike with some drafting. Now, I biked 20 miles more than that and, although slightly crampy, I didn't feel like I had given that bike 'my all.' Eighty miles later and I was feeling guilty for some reason.
Clearly I'm not going backwards because I'm biking farther than I ever thought I could. I'm swimming more yards than I ever have since college. I'm running more consistently without having severe shin pain. So why do I still feel like I'm so weak? It's because my Boyfriend is right, I think. I'm plateauing in my training to the point where even long workouts don't seem 'hard' anymore.
I'm not sure whether or not this is a good thing. I'm trying to think back to my years of college swimming to try and remember if I ever felt so stagnant strength-wise in the pool. And, I think that I did. I remember that every year after winter training trip, my times would get slower and my body would feel more sluggish in the water. After so much training, it only makes sense that my body would start to break down as workouts no longer seemed challenging.
It's hard to not get down on myself mentally though. It's hard to shake that feeling of sliding backwards. But, I need to remember that feeling comfortable now is a good thing. My workouts are getting longer and harder. But, they don't feel that way because the base training is in the bank and my body is now rising to meet new physical challenges with ease. I've done the work, my body is strong, and workouts are feeling easy for a reason.
I've plateaued. And, I'm pretty sure I need to be okay with that. What do you think?
I am an EXTREMELY competitive person. When I go out for a run and see somebody in front of me, I always feel the need to catch up and pass them. When I don't do a race, I always log online and look up the results to see how I would have placed. However, in a race, I am so zoned into how I feel myself that I rarely inspire myself to go faster and to catch a person in front of me.
Over the past year I've thought about the competitive things that I do and have realized that I use my competitiveness in the completely wrong way. Why am I competitive about races that I am NOT in and yet lose my competitiveness in the races I AM in?
All throughout my swimming career, I had been told that I am a "practice swimmer." I work incredibly hard in practice with the ability to hold an "at-or-near race pace" for incredibly long sets. Then, when I race in an actual swim meet, I don't go very much faster. People I crushed in practice now somehow beat me. I can always push myself to new levels in practice but come race time, I can't rise to the occasion. I'm not exactly sure how I can fix this problem...but, I'm working on it.
First Place- I obviously know SOMEWHAT 'how to race'
Last year while training for the ING Marathon (my first full marathon) I came to the conclusion that I can't always run and pass people when I'm training. Ultimately, what the person in front of me is doing has no bearing on what I'm doing. The person in front of me might look slower than me BUT they might also only be out for a 3 mile run. Myself, on the other hand, might still have 10 miles left in my distance run. So, if I'm doing 10 miles and they're only doing 3, should I be running faster than them? Probably not. I'm only hurting myself and my training by feeling the need to 'beat' them. My goals are different than every other person out there and it's important to keep that in mind. The key, in essence, is competing against myself in training and not against others.
As to the need to log online and look at race results to see how I would've placed, this practice both has benefits and a down side. The plus is that it gets me excited for my next race and motivates me in training. The down side is that I'm spending so much time fixating on races I never competed in. Then, I get upset when I don't perform in my own races the way that I had imagined I would. The problem here comes down to a problem with myself. By the time I hit a race, I've already created a mental image for how well I expect myself to perform. If I beat those people that I thought I would...great. But if they beat me, I'm crushed.
Looking focused at IM 70.3 Miami
When I set such high expectations for myself it's hard to ever live up to them. So, although I find it fun to check other race results, I think I need to constantly keep in mind that: I wasn't in that race, so I can never really know how I would have done. It's fun to imagine how I would have placed. But, it's important to realize that my thoughts aren't real. Ultimately, the way I perform in a race comes down to how I feel at that very moment and NOT how I expected that I would perform. Staying in the moment is essential to competition. It's going to take a lot of hard work on my part, but I'm going to try.
Lastly is my issue with being a "practice" athlete. How am I so able to push myself in training and have issues with pushing myself even harder in a race? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe I just really enjoy the thrill of pushing my body on a daily basis. I admit that's it's not as easy to push myself in a run as it is in the pool. Maybe I just really enjoy swimming. I'm not sure. But I don't think that I've ever really left a triathlon knowing that I pushed myself as hard as possible. I think I'm still too cerebral. In a race I'm so caught up in my mind that I don't really 'let go' and allow my body to test itself.
So, that's this seasons' race goal...to stop thinking as much and to let my body take control using my competitiveness to my advantage. The training is there. I just need to let my body embrace the competition and really test itself. Hopefully I'll be impressed with the results.
Out biking after work with mascara running down my face
I started work this week and so far it has been pretty awesome (not to mention the fact that I seem to be working at the only law firm that keeps normal-people hours). Training has been a bit more difficult this week because of work exhaustion and my body not being used to sitting behind a desk all day. But, I still managed to get in a few great workouts and have a long weekend of intense training coming up.
As of my last "Training Update" Post I had yet to hit my mileage goals for the month. But, I made it happen right in time. 75 miles on the bike? Check. 12 mile run? Check. So, regardless of the fact that I've been a bit exhausted this week, my training is coming along nicely and I'm really hoping for a good showing two weeks from now in Haines City.
THIS WEEK'S FAVORITES:
FAVORITE WORKOUT: Yesterday's afternoon Brick. 20 miles of biking at race pace (19-20) followed by 4.5 miles of running with an 8:22 average.
Clearly excited to test out my new helmet
FAVORITE NEW TOY: My new Rudy Project Wingspan helmet. Feels super light! I'm hoping the lightness of the helmet will make my neck less knotty at the end of a long ride.
FAVORITE MEAL:Monday's Turkey Franks and Beans dinner. Hahahaha. Do you remember the last time YOU ate Franks and Beans?
FAVORITE MOMENT: Signing and filing my first court document as an Attorney!
Although this 70.3 isn't my main focus of the season, I have been working extremely hard trying to build my leg strength and have been really starting to feel a difference in my training. I've been doing workouts 2x a week at EBP Cycling Lab on a bike trainer and I have been feeling stronger each time I go. I think for me, personally, it's a lot easier to push myself on a trainer than it is outdoors. On a trainer I can't let my mind get the better of me and I can't pull back to give myself a break. There is no coasting on a trainer. So, when I hop on the trainer it's about 1-1.5hrs of pain. However, when I get on my bike later in the week, it's not nearly as painful as before (especially when I have to climb the Rickenbacker Causeway). I feel stronger and my legs look stronger and I'm incredibly excited to test myself on the 56mi bike in Haines City next month.
Me and my Cervelo taking a break on Key Biscayne
Additionally, because I've been building general strength in my legs, I've noticed a difference in my running. Although I'm not logging nearly enough miles on the run, I've been holding a quicker and quicker pace when I finally do get out there. I know that I should be running much more but I'm also trying to hold myself back so as to avoid my regular shin problems so early in my training. I was also using compression leg sleeves to help with shin pain but those got stolen the other day and I can't afford to replace them. Major problem there!
I still have yet to hit my max distance goals for my run and bike this month but I hope to hit my goal of 75 miles on the bike tomorrow followed by a 12 mile run on Sunday and a rest day on Monday. Here is to hoping the wind isn't nearly as bad as it was last weekend!
Okay, so I'm not a single man, the books aren't black, and they don't contain the phone numbers of random women. So why call them my Little Black Book(s)? Because they contain every workout, every race time, every split, and every thought that I EVER had during my collegiate swimming career at Brandeis University.
My "Little Black Books"
After every workout I'd come home and log my workouts and feelings about practice into my swim book by hand. I had originally bought the first book in Chinatown at Pearl River Mart for about 2 dollars and didn't know what to do with it. I don't keep "feelings" journals.
So, the summer before I left for college, I decided to start logging my workouts in the book and made comments to motivate myself. When I felt great at practice, I let myself know. When I didn't feel great at practice, I'd just thumb back through the pages to see all the practices I DID feel great at. I meticulously logged in the book each day until I filled all the pages and needed a second book. In all, I logged hundreds of workouts, thousands of sets, and a ridiculous number of yards.
Nowadays, logging workouts is easy with online sites like Garmin Connect (which I presently use) and Training Peaks. You can upload your information easily to these sites, calculate weekly totals automatically, and can share your workout and training accomplishments on just about every social media site with the click of a button. But, there is something therapeutic about keeping a personal, tangible workout journal that just can't be replicated by using an online site. There is a certain amount of personal reflection needed when keeping a log by hand that is missed when the computer does it for you. It's really hard to get a sense of your own mental and physical progression when technology creates a mental disconnect between you and your training.
One of my MANY entries
Don't get me wrong, these online sites are extremely useful should be utilized to their full potential. But, I urge all other athletes to try and keep a book like mine in addition. I'm not talking about a computer Word Doc...I'm talking about a little, tangible, pocket-sized journal.
Log your workouts, log your aches and pains, log how you felt each day, log your weekly totals and then, after a couple of weeks, see if you haven't gained a much better understanding of yourself and your physical abilities. I know it's fun to post your miles and pace on Facebook to make others bow down to you, but as athletes we must remember why we train to the extent that we do. We ultimately do this for ourselves and not for our Facebook friends. And, with the many hours we put into training, we can find the time to take an extra couple of minutes each day to log our reflections by hand. It's about time that we bridge the technological disconnect and really make our training our own. So go out and buy your very own Little Black Book. You won't be sorry that you did.
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