Tri Class #4: Run/Swim/Run - MUST EAT

Today I trained on my own, but I did the planned workout. 20" easy run, 1k swim, 3 mile hard run. Or at least I tried to. The warm up run went ok (did about 2 miles, very easy run), but there's room for improvement on the rest.

The swim is the reason I trained on my own today. I know that if I was in a group of people, I will try my hardest to keep up, which would end up with me just flailing. What I really need to do is just concentrate on my stroke. I need to do the drills and go at a slow pace in a familiar environment so I can get used to the new things they are teaching us. I'm glad I did this in a pool on my own instead of with the group in the ocean.

For the swim, I discovered I can't swim 1000 meters without stopping. Heck, I have a hard time swimming 100 meters without stopping. I did the first 200 doing a normal freestyle. I played with my hand/finger position. I tried my past method of fingers tightly together and hands rigidly cupped, and then compared that with fingers slightly apart and hand somewhat cupped but relaxed. The difference is huge. How did I never try playing with my hand position before? I could feel so much more leverage with the new hand position. I love it when something so easy can make such a huge difference.

I also focused on pushing down a bit on my upper torso, really reaching at the top of the stroke, and pushing through the water with the elbows high and bent. Although I was trying to get all this down, it didn't seem to be coming together yet. It's a bit overwhelming all at once. Each 50m took about 1:30 at this point, I'm slow as a turtle, but in my defense, I was really trying to be deliberate, not fast (probably would have been worse if I was trying to go fast).

The next 200 were the same freestyle, but with fists instead of my hands open. Very challenging, but the most interesting thing was that my times for swimming with my fists were only a few seconds longer than with open hands (1:35 vs. 1:30 per 50m). I wasn't sure if I should be discouraged by this or not. Either it meant that I'm so bad that it doesn't matter what I do with my hands, or the other mechanics are starting to come around and I'm getting faster.

Next I did 100 just kicking. It about killed me. No kickboard, just head down in the water with hands stretched out in front. I feathered my hands whenever I needed to come up to breathe, which by the end was very frequently. I'm having a hard time keeping my feet below the surface, they keep wanting to pop up out of the water. I'm working on making the water 'boil.' I can feel the difference when I get it right, but I can't seem to hold that consistently. It's taking me about 1:45 for each 50m for this.

For the next 200, I went back to normal freestyle. I came to the end of the first 50m and looked at my watch, 1:15! How is it that I'm tired, but I'm going a full 15 seconds faster than the first 50? That must be a fluke. So for the next 50, I checked again, 1:14! I realize I'm the slowest person in the pool, but who cares, that's a huge improvement for a single day, and I'm very happy. It means there's hope for me.

I did another 100 with fists, and 100 just kicking, and finished off the final 100 (YAY) with normal freestyle (1:16). By this point, I'm exhausted. I've swum further than I ever have before and I'm very pleased with myself. I drag myself out of the pool, and head for the showers, then I realize, I still have to run another three miles. Ugh.

I briefly considered bailing on the run, but I realized that it would set a bad precedent for the days I want to train on my own instead of with the group. I had to stick it out. So, I head for the car, pull on my running gear, and set out. Here is where I made a huge mistake. I've had this beaten into me time and time again, and I definitely know better, but yet, I did it again. I didn't eat. Or drink. Stupid girl.

I forgot to bring a water bottle, another whopper of an error due to me not prepping everything the night before or using a checklist. So I just had a few sips of water from a nearby fountain. Why didn't I eat? I don't know. I even had an energy bar in the car. One I like! I don't know what I was thinking. Laziness perhaps, the desire to just get the run over with.

But I paid. The run sucked. This distance should have been nothing for me. I should have been able to run that distance and really push it hard, instead, I barely limped in. I probably ran that distance at a slower pace than my warm up run. My throat felt tight and my lips were dry. I felt weak and just had no energy at all. I even had to walk a bit. Quite a humbling experience.

From now on, I eat between events, and I'm leaving water bottles in the car just in case I forget. Warm water is better than none at all.

Next up:
flip turns!
Keep working on swimming mechanics.
Try accelerating through the stroke (I forgot that today)
Once I get more comfortable with this, try counting stokes.

Lessons learned (and relearned):
Prep everything the night before.
Use a checklist.
EAT between sports, and during when possible.