Week one of training went pretty well. Last Tuesday, two team members and I were at the pool for practice before it closed for the SEC championships for two weeks. One my mentees was there and she is a very experienced swimmer. Nothing to worry about there–she’s going to do very well! One of my co-mentor’s mentees was there as well, and she was flying down the lane. I mean flying! Wow! And there I was just plugging along like I normally do in the lane beside the two new triathletes. Sputter, cough. Yeah, swimming still isn’t my strongest suit, but I’m focused on improvement, so I’m in the right place.
The challenge is still with my catch-up stroke–breathing at the right time and quickly enough that my arm doesn’t drop before the other reaches it. I learn well by watching, so it was helpful to stop and watch the other two girls for awhile and mimic them. I can do about 50 meters with a textbook stroke, but then I forget to breathe efficiently and I end up falling back into the habit of dropping my arm. A lot of it is getting a stronger and more regular kick behind me. I have a tendency to try and take care of all the power with my arms.
I ran for the first time in a few weeks (just because of work schedules and weather, I’d managed to skip it for awhile) on Saturday morning! Brr. Fourteen degrees! But I got two miles in and moved on to pilates, which was fantastic. I put my mat in a sunbeam, so I was able to warm up effectively. I was chilled to the bone before changing out of my layers and into dry clothes for the class! Layering is certainly an art. Apparently you need to layer as if it’s 20 degrees warmer than what it really is, because that’s how your body will feel after warming up. I had too many layers on my torso Saturday, but my gloves, socks, and hat worked well.
Spinning indoors on my trainer has been much more effective and enjoyable than I had suspected–the group I train with is very fun and they are motivating! Jim works us hard. Last night we did a straight four minutes on the hardest gears. I thought I was going to pass out. But, as always, the endorphine rush afterward made it all worth it.
Fundraising is under way…slowly but surely!
I hope everyone is staying warm! Good grief. I’ll never complain about July temperatures again!