News Flash: I'm a BALLY Member!

While trying to think of a way to get Theresa an opportunity to swim, I found that Bally has a "two-fer" family membership, which expired at the end of October. Flavio thought it was a marvelous idea!

So I ran down and signed up Theresa and I for a membership: $18 / month for each of us! Now bear in mind that I've been paying $5 a pop to swim at either B&G or HP. So this is a dream come true!

I'll still swim sometimes at HP just because they have that awesome little trail behind the Pool - and because my punch card is non-transferable.

Settling Into a Routine

Been able to continue with activity almost every day. I LOVE how a Tri training program incorporates so many different possible combinations!

Sunday afternoon I slipped away from the family for a run! Didn't feel like slogging down the same boring Bay Trail again, and I do have a car! So I drove out, not knowing where I was going, and ended up at Canyon Middle School! Tried hard to remember what exactly was the 3-mile course I had watched Miriam and Rosemarie run so many times, and figured out something that almost added up to three miles (had to run around the track two times to bump the GPS up to 3.0).  Very steep and hilly! Most significant accomplishment was actually doing the three miles. The next day I was quite sore and my back hurt (??) but I loved it, and so did Julia!

RUN

10/27/2013

• DURATION:45m
• DISTANCE:3.02 miles
• PACE:14m 54s /Mi
• TIME:5:16 PM

Next morning, Monday, my muscles really didn't feel like doing very much of anything! But I had the occasion, and the inspiration was strong, so I set out on an early AM swim.  Headed out for the Hayward Plunge and made it back in time for waffles! Wasn't aiming for the 880, just wanted to, as it were, get wet...

SWIM

10/28/2013

• DURATION:21m
• DISTANCE:600.00 yards
• PACE:03m 30s /100 yards
• TIME:6:59 AM

Tuesday I took a sweet break!
This morning, Wednesday, I slipped off to the Boys N Girls Club near work after Flavio left on his weekly trip, since I had about an hour until deliveries might arrive. Couldn't find my freakin' swimming cap ANYWHERE! They are cheap and having a spare won't hurt, I decided.
Love the Lap Counter: we are pals.

SWIM

10/30/2013

• DURATION:28m
• DISTANCE:870.00 yards
• PACE:03m 12s /100 yards
• TIME:9:15 AM

I wasn't trying to break any records, just hit 880 yards: but looking at my log I see that this was the fastest time yet: 3 Min 12 Sec / 100 yards. Woo hoo!  And I'm still mostly limited by my breath capacity.

Tomorrow I aim to try my favorite Swim Run, where I put some clothes on after swimming and do a little practice for the Transition times. Seems to me that going from swimming to anything would be the hardest transition, so why not practice for that, too? I'll try for 24 minutes of swimming, and a 1.5 mile run. I'll see if I can get my transition time down: so far it's been 5 1/2 minutes to get out of the pool and start running. Mind you it's freaking COLD at that time of the morning! If I keep practicing this way, then 8:30AM in Pleasanton is gonna feel positively balmy!

Saturday AM Swim / Run Hayward Plunge, Second Time

I couldn't resist the idea! Even though I swam an 880 yesterday and was muscle-tired, I found the thought of swimming and running on the forest trail next to the Hayward Plunge completely irresistible!

Suited  up with my now standard regalia, and got to work! Everything is working great: my fake tri-suit, lap ring, $2 cap, Mio stopwatch.

Hayward Plunge is a much nicer pool than B&G Club, even though getting there is a hassle!
Got going in my now favorite lane -- far deep end of the pool. Set up four Prepositions -- which has been working well, but I think I need a plastic sheath to place the index card in, to survive splashes.

Swam for 24:10 by my stopwatch, which was probably a little less, since David Rosenbaum and his daughter showed up in the lane next to me! Chatted politely, invited them to join Do It Or Die Tri-ing -- since she is a Special Junior Olympics athlete! She'll need a runner and cycler, though (file for future reference).

SWIM

10/26/2013

• DURATION:23m
• DISTANCE:640.00 yards
• PACE:03m 36s /100 yards
• TIME:8:22 AM

This was more yards than last time at HP, in less time!

Then I jumped out, dried off, put long spankies top and bottom, hustled across the parking lot, struggled to put socks and sneakers on (long socks are hard; use short socks), had a drink of water and blew my nose (new additions to the routine: thinking about adding a QTip swab for the ears), fired up tracker, put on a head scarf and took off! Took about 5:15 (ugh).

RUN

10/26/2013

• DURATION:14m
• DISTANCE:1.27 miles
• PACE:11m /Mi
• TIME:8:45 AM

This was amazing! It's so wicked cold, but unbelievably invigorating! My trusty companion, Juju, had been waiting in the car and was ALL IN! She raced up the hill with me and it's hard to tell who's more excited! I felt strong and incredible. I reached the half-mile mark almost before I knew it, with only 5 minutes and some passed. I decided to stretch it out to 1.25 miles, running up to .62 before turning back.

The first mile clocked at a record-breaking 10:25. Felt on fire! This was the first shot in my "new" Asics, which I bought "lightly used" on eBay. They felt great, and while I'll use them for now, Mary's encouraged me to get a fitting at Road Runner and buy some real shoes and insoles. She's a nurse: on her feet all day and then training for a marathon, and she says this has solved a number of foot pain woes.

I absolutely love this workout and can't wait to try it again, and build up to a full 880 swim and and a three-mile run! At this rate it won't be long!!

Of course I'm not worried about the cycling, and probably won't train on that for a while, maybe when the weather warms up! I've got to get all our bikes tuned up first...


Sunrise this morning at the Duck Pond: went to the Plunge right after seeing this majesty. 

Oh, and Juju, cuz she was with me the whole time. 

Swim w/ all the right stuff

The most successful swim yet, possibly the first real swim!

SWIM

10/25/2013

• DURATION:33m
• DISTANCE:900.00 yards
• PACE:03m 42s /100 yards
• TIME:8:15 AM

This morning I went for my Friday swim with all the equipment I've been lacking: I had my SportCount lap-counting ring and a stopwatch, in addition to a swim cap and a towel (forgot last time!) and my impromptu tri suit: bike shorts and jogbra.

I went to the Hayward Plunge, set my water-resistant stopwatch and jumped in with my new ring lap counter. I set up 4 Greek prepositions to work on, and went at it. Awesome!

I've found that perhaps my strongest stoke is back crawl. I've never liked or been good at the regular crawl; don't really like putting my head in and out of the water all the time. Even in my youth I used to do very well at back crawl, so I decided to work with that. I swam back crawl out as fast as I could, and then swam back breast stroke or lazy back stroke on the way back, just to catch my breath.

The lap counter ring was marvelous! Best part: I could go back and forth without touching the sides, which I think is critical for training for the open water swim. I kept worrying that I wasn't going to remember it, but I always did. It's just the ticket for keeping track, fun and easy. When I first got it I regretted not getting the ring that has a Combo function of laps and time, but honestly, timing at the poolside is fine. I replaced the battery in an old MIO stopwatch that I got for Miriam a hundred years ago: it's water resistant, and I don't care if it stops working (do NOT want to bring the iPhone to the poolside!).

Still felt WINDED; air is my restriction. That is, I could swim faster if I could breath better. But finished strong and felt exhilarated! I'm just loving this!

The tired feeling after is marvelous and unique: different from a hard ride or hard run. I suppose because it's so complete, so thorough in the using of muscle groups and cardio-vascular too.

Then there's the part about being cold, before and after. It's one of the harder things for me since I do NOT tolerate cold well; but I also think that doing this is going to ramp up my metabolism somehow. Is that "Bro-Science?"

SportCount

It came! My lap counter, silver model. Fits on my finger. Push a button with the opposing thumb. No timing function, just lap counting. 

 Now I wonder if I should have ordered the combo model? $10 more ... But it's too late now, I'm already thinking about a heart rate monitor !

Other Preparations

In addition to scoping out and buying tickets at two different pools, I've been acquiring equipment and working on treadmill in between.

Treadmill: Started at 30 minutes at full incline with a max speed of 1.8! Dist 0.69
Next workout was 20 minutes, and actually hit 3.8 (full speed). Dist 0.89
Then a quickie, with 18 minutes until Sysco delivery showed up, with Mx at 2.8. (Dist ??)

Realized I need some stuff!

First: a tracking app. MapMyFitness is a great tracker for running, good sharing tools, but not suited for triathlon. BeginningTriathlete has nice tri-sport logging, but no real share feature. (Or I can't find it).

Neither one has a good place for a blog, so I started a new BlogSpot to record my thoughts.

So I'm double-logging until I can figure out whether to stay with BegTri or MapMyFitness.

Then, I needed some stuff.

Ordered:
Ring Counter SportCount to keep track of laps. (Used pennies, paperclips, but it makes me touch the sides. I need to swim continuously without touching the sides!

Tri Suit from Korea, $24 free freight. We'll see how it is. Meanwhile my bike shorts from Century ride work great for swimming, and dry quickly!

Sneakers, bid on some eBay bargains. Won one so far, we'll see.

Goggle, $1.99 Free shipping!

Swim Cap, Latex, $2.50, doesn't keep my hair that dry (or I don't know how to do it).

MapMyFitness has a heartrate tracker that integrates: Seriously thinking about it.

That's it for now!

First Three-mile Run

Went out to the Bay Trail, went left. Actually ran 1.5 miles out, took about a three-minute break, then started back. First mile came in at 16:02, second mile at 15:03.

More like slogging than running!

Felt like crap and the laughing snails were annoying. But I did it!

And the sunset was AMAZING!

Tried to take a picture but my freaking phone has no space! #firstworldprobs

Duo-thlon - First Shot!

Oct 23, 2013

http://www.mapmyfitness.com/workout/415751363

When I went to the Hayward Plunge the first time, two thoughts collided and produced a plan: 

Thought 1: Right next to the pool is a lovely little jogging trail that winds up into the forest. 

Thought 2: Poor JuJu, she loves the run with me while I exercise, I should take her for a little run after swimming.

How about a Swim-Run?


Went to the Hayward Plunge, used paperclips to count laps.

Swam in bike shorts and jog bra. 22 laps would be a half mile: I took about 25 minutes to do 13 laps, then got out. 520 yards - closer to my goal of 880!

Dried off as best I could: (forgot towel!) then put long spankys over bike shorts, and long jersey over jogbra, socks and sneakers, and a head scarf. I timed myself from when I got out of the pool: This took five minutes, but included leaving the pool and walking to the car!

Then I ran behind the Plunge on the awesome little hilly trail: ran half mile up and back. Even though the mile was hilly, I ran it in 12:37, best mile time, yet, after swimming! I was very psyched, and happy to bring Juju for the run, since she has to wait in the car during the swim. She loved it and so did I -- the woods are fragrant with Bay Laurel and rich clear morning air. I even sprinted up the hilly steps to the Girl Scout cabin as I finished my mile!

Even though in the triathlon, the leg after swimming is biking, I figured it would excellent practice -- both in terms of practical equipment use and fitness -- to lace up sneakers and run right after swimming. It was excellent! The long spankies over the swim gear worked well, I stayed warm (until I stopped moving!) This was an awesome workout and I think I may try it again tomorrow, although I'll be sure to bring a towel!

First Swim at Hayward Plunge

Oct 21, 2013

Got up early -- decided to go to Hayward Plunge for the first time, since they open at 6. Could swim and be back by 7:10 to make Theresa a waffle! Dilly-dallied around trying to find my purse, and a proper swim top (decided to swim in spanky bike shorts, but the swim top I had, though dazzlingly stylish for a Nicaraguan beach, was very uncomfortable!)

Traffic was terrible getting there, even though it was 6:10am when I left. Later found out that Bart went on strike!

Wore my arroyo swim coat (ASC) over suit with slippers. Bought a Hayward Plunge 15-trip pass and a swim cap; didn't actually get wet until 6:30. (Decided last week that even though i generally detest swim caps, it would be valuable to have dry hair for biking and running after the swim. )

Free swim: Pool width is 20 yards. Used a stack of pennies on the side to count laps. Worked diligently at not touching the sides while turning / but had to touch sides to move pennies each lap. Waiting for my counting ring!  

Did 12 laps and ran out of time -- quick towel dry and put on ASC. Works like a charm! Made it back for waffle time. 

Latex $2 Cap did not keep my hair very dry. Either I didn't place it well or it just sucks. 

Swam 12 laps @ 20 yards, 480 turned out to be 1/4 mile. Still very winded, swimmingly really slowly and feeling  quite exhausted after. It's wonderful!! 

First Run

Oct 17,2013

Walked out the to Bay Trail, went left, and started running. Aimed for two miles: ran out one and back one. Just about died! The snails were laughing and waving as they passed me by.

Starting to Swim

Oct 18, 2013

So the first thing one needs is a pool! Recently I decided to go into work by  10am on Fridays, giving myself an easy morning. Suddenly that morning has changed to Swim Day. The Boys and Girls Club near the warehouse has morning lap swim, I visited to get schedule and pricing, and then eagerly awaited the day.

Lap Swim: width only (short end taken up by water exercise class) at the far end of the pool. No one could tell me how wide the pool was, but I decided to try to keep track of how many laps I swam anyway. With a rudimentary counting system, I jumped in and decided to swim for about a half hour. I found that while swimming is boring and hard to listen to music or otherwise entertain oneself, it is a great time to work on memorizing Greek forms; worked on the Article paradigm!

Swam about 40 minutes, struggling for breath. Could not swim crawl at all (too much wheezing!) Swam leisurely backstroke, sidestroke, breastroke, anything to keep going! Kept the pace slow so I could keep breathing.

Swam 28 laps, then got out and walked heel-toe along the edge of the pool, counted 52 lengths. On my way out the class instructor whispered to me conspiratorily: "45 feet!" When I looked surprised, she said, "I saw you!"

Did the math: 28 times 15 x 2 = 840 yards! My goal is 880. Not bad! I was exhausted and cold for a long time (warehouse is chilly) and decided a swim cap might not be such a bad idea.

How It Started

Oct 6, 2013

Miriam came back from supporting Jaime Kraut at a Triathlon. Of course, Jaime's a beast and no one's surprised. But Miriam told me that Jaime's aunt, an old lady "about my age" had also competed, and came in 5th in her age group.

I was astonished to hear that it was a "Sprint Triathlon," with a 1/2 mile swim, 12-mile bike ride and 3-mile run! Of course, at PowerBar, Triathlon = Ironman, which is a very long swim, 110-mile bike ride and a 26-mile run -- takes all day!

I'd never imagined that a triathlon would be in reach for me (since the 100-mile Century Ride almost killed me!) but suddenly I realized that I could do it!

I was overjoyed when Miriam and Jaime told me they are signing up for another Sprint Triathlon at Shadow Cliffs next summer, June 28, 2013. Sign me up! 12 miles seems like child's play to me, so the biggest challenge would be swim conditioning, and running without getting too injured up. Bring it on!