Sunday, February 3, 2013

A Snow Day Swim

It's Sunday, and therefore SWIMMING day!  Last night I ran 5 miles on the 'mill, so I was looking forward to getting in the pool for a nice long swim.  I always see the swim as a way to stretch out all of my muscles.

I got up when my alarm went off and got ready in about 5 minutes and headed outside to my van and this is what it looked like outside....

My neighbor's house...not mine.  She has her own beach that walks out into her pond.  You can't see all that because of the snow cover.  It was still snowing out and my road looked like this out my windshield...


Not fun driving, but there were few cars out at 7:45am.  The only thing I could think of was that the water should feel warm if I was cold by the time I got there.


The parking lot was a mess.  Doesn't this entrance look appealing for a school pool??!?!


The water looked crystal clear though and that's all that matters to me!

I swam for 55 minutes and got in 2500 yards.  I did 1000 swim, 200 kick, 1000 swim, 200 kick, and then 100 cool down swim.  I felt great.

Did I mention that I really would like to try some triathlons this year?  I enjoy swimming, I've done some running, and a long, long time ago, I used to ride with a group that did trips on the bike (not fast, but far.)  I love all three sports and I think it would be fun to try to do them all together.  However, I'm scared to death of the transitions.  I know this sounds stupid, but I just don't think I know how to handle the clothing issues.  I can't imagine biking and running in WET clothes.  I already chafe when running. I use body glide and it still happens.  I'd need to completely change and I know this isn't possible.

I hope to sign up for a few triathlons in June, July, and August.  I just have to get over my fear of the clothing and transitions.  I have....um...well... a large chest area.  I can't run in a swimsuit... I'd give myself a black eye or two.  It just isn't going to happen.  The next option is to wear a sports bra under my suit and just bike and run with that.   UGH!  Not sure I can do that.  I have horrible, horrible scars from a chafing incident from my first 10 mile run in the heat when I sweated so much and my bra rubbed.  I couldn't wear anything that resembled a bra for weeks.  It was so raw.  So... if anyone has any advice, send me a comment or something.  I'm scared, very scared!

Today was a good day.  I swam, went to church, then my husband agreed to take all the kids to do something fun while I cleaned the house... how nice.   I did get a lot of cleaning done and I was able to control my eating.

Here is my dinner:

YUM!  With hot sauce and all.  I wrapped it up of course, but this is the inside. Chicken fajita with cheese in a tortilla.

'Night all!






4 comments:

  1. You dont need to be scared of transitions, they are exactly what they sound like, transitioning from one sport to another, just a couple of practices and you will be fine. As for the clothing, there are tri specific shorts and tops that dry ultra fast that you can swim, bike, and run in. All in one outfit. Here is an example of what I mean (http://www.trisports.com/pi-wmnstriclothing.html)

    I have done the Maumee Bay Triathlon a couple of times, a very good beginner friendly course, in my opinion.

    If you have any triathlon specific questions, feel free to email me, tri_diesel@yahoo.com

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  2. Thank you for the comment on my blog, email me, so I can respond to it

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  3. BDD can probably handle most of your questions, but I thought I'd jump in too. I did my first tri in 2011 and wore my swimsuit and then pulled bike shorts over it for the bike and run. And the chafe wounds made me scream in the post-race shower. BAD idea. The next week, I went out and bought tri-shorts and a tri-top (which had a built-in bra that was pretty supportive though I am not heavy chested). I know several bigger busted gals wear compression sports bras under their tri tops. I've done three more sprint tris and a duathlon in my tri gear and it really does make a huge difference. I also got speed laces for my tennis shoes which shaved off some time in T2. My bike shoes are velcro though I did my first two races on platform pedals just wearing my running shoes which made T2 super fast because I just had to rack my bike and take off my helmet and go. Be prepared - it is kind of addictive. Feel free to stop by http://climbingthosehills.blogspot.com/ if you want to ask more questions. I have a couple book recommendations too.

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