Swim clinic and brick workout

As I was saying Wednesday, last night was the first of three clinics for the You Go Girl Triathlon. I'm kind of excited about this triathlon because it was made specifically for people who've never done a tri and want to see what it's all about.

Last night was the first night and we focused on swimming. Here is what was on the agenda:

You Go Girl Training Clinic 1:  Wednesday, June 29^th, 6:00-7:30 pm

Discussion

• Introduction to triathlon
• Virtual triathlon swim: what to expect
• Swim tips: common complications and how to correct them

Practice/Workout

• Swim: practice what was discussed during swim tips
• Swim: practice changing lanes
• Swim/run practice:  (50-100 meter swim + 0.5 mile run)

What to bring:

Swimsuit or triathlon suit, goggles, swim cap, running shoes, socks,  shorts/t-shirt IF you plan to throw them on before running—we won’t be changing between!

I am so happy they are offering these clinics because I learned so much information last night. Kendra has been doing triathlons for 4 years and she is currently training for her second half ironman. She told us about her first tri and all of the mistakes she made. I thought that was cool because she was helping us feel comfortable. None of the people in this clinic have ever done a tri. In fact, a lot of them hadn't even been in the pool yet. So I was like, okay, at least I'm not the only one. We talked about transition, we talked about changing lanes, etc. and as it got time to get in the pool and practice, I was getting nervous. The lanes look small when you've got all these people swimming in it and what if I run into someone, what if the person behind me gets mad because i'm not going fast enough, what if I have to stop, blah blah blah blah blah, freaking out, freaking out, freaking out, freaking out...

I got in the pool and started swimming behind this girl. Normally when I swim, my breathing is wild, I have a hard time getting it together, and I have to stop every 25 meters. I was so focused on not running into anyone, i didn't even think about my breathing... in a good way. I was swimming pretty smoothly and the only time I had to stop was when the girl in front of me stopped. And she stopped a lot, so I was fine. Once I got out of the pool, I felt much better about the swim. Not that I swam super fast or anything, but I was able to get through it without getting injured and 100 meters went by pretty quickly. My ADD my actually come in handy for this!

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This morning, I did a brick workout, kind of. I took a spin class and then ran a mile on the treadmill. It takes me about a half a mile to get through the weirdness I feel in my legs from switching to the run, but after that, I feel pretty good. I ran a mile in 9:45 which I felt was pretty strong for having done a 45 minute spin class.

My training this week has looked like this:

Monday: 4 sets of 30 second sprints, 4 sets of 60 second sprints, a warm up and cool down mile - 3.5 miles total

Tuesday: Holly's boot camp - i was supposed to swim but I didn't :(

Wednesday: 10 sets of 60 second repeats with a 90 second - 120 second recovery - warm up and cool down mile - 4.6 miles total

100 m swim with the group and 100 m on my own

then a 5 minute run after the swim

Thursday: Spin class and a 1 mile run

I hope to swim tomorrow and I have a 5k on saturday (Red, White, and Blue Shoes 5k) plus I'll add 3 miles to finish my long run

Next week: I will be at the beach so it'll be interesting to see how I keep up with my training during vacay... very interesting... 

I am a triathlete, wait no, duathlete, wait no...

Today was my first brick workout. Let me start by saying I have no desire to do a triathlon and I've been saying that for a while. But, a lot of my friends are triathletes and because of that, I've been doing endurance style workouts. My friend, Lori Levasseur has been riding and swimming with me. Holly Di Giovine, like no one who reads this has ever heard that name, has been helping/leading rides, so I've gotten a LOT of cross training in for my marathon training. Lori is showing me drills for the pool and helping with my technique... she deserves a medal because i'm not a strong swimmer... at all.... Imagine my phoebe running in the pool. Yes... that's me...

SO TODAY WAS THE DAY OF THE....

BRICK WORKOUT

To be honest, it was way more fun than I thought. The Caine Halter YMCA is having their annual Sprint Triathlon on June 18th, so this was a course preview. Holly was nice enough to host this preview with her Team Primo Victoria and they invited some of us novices out for a tri try. :)

I'm the one with the black tank and white hat

Source: Holly Di Giovine's camera 

The Bike: 8.35 miles, 37:05

We did a small 3 mile loop that we circled 3 times. It was super hilly so my biggest challenge was shifting. I'm still learning and getting comfortable and the biggest problem I have is switching between big gears, or my front gears. They're a little bit more difficult to switch and so I don't love doing it. I almost always knock the chain off, which happened this time, and have to stop and put it back on. 

What I loved:

*The speed.... I'm getting more comfortable with downhills and even dropped my chest forward a few times to gain speed. Max speed was 31.5 mph which is good for me. That usually makes me nervous

*The alone time... I was pretty much by myself and I got to think and really just pay attention and enjoy what I was doing. 

*The challenge: this is hard but in a different way. I actually like cycling better than running and this was the same. 

What I didn't love: 

*Changing gears all the time. I'm assuming this isn't always the case, it just happened to be a hilly course

*Not being as comfortable with traffic laws - I wasn't sure how long I needed to wait at lights when turning left, blah blah... I'll learn

*Not being faster!!!! That will come with time

The Run: 3.16, 32 

This was definitely different but what I will say is that since I knew this would be tough, I broke it down to a run 3, walk 1. By doing that, i could run at an efficient pace and feel good doing it. My legs were super heavy and it was a weird sensation for the first mile. 

What I loved:

*I already felt warm so the first mile wasn't as terrible as it is when I just start out running 3 miles

*I felt good because I knew I was challenging myself in a different way

What I didn't love:

* heavy legs - haha

* 10:10 pace...

Those are things that will improve I'm sure. 

All in all, it was a lot of fun and I'm sure I'll do it again. If I can get my crazy swimming under control, maybe I'll even do a tri... 

Last thing: I wanted to try to make my breakfast look pretty like other bloggers, Fit Foodie Finds, Peanut butter fingers, etc. Here's my first attempt

I need to work on it