Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Another Quote of the Day (I can't help myself)
"Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars." Frederick Langbridge
Quote of the Day!
“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you’re not, pretend you are.”
––Muhammad Ali
––Muhammad Ali
Ironman baby, Ironman
June 22nd, 2008, that's the date.
It's official, one year from now my buddy Chris and I will be competing in the Ironman Cour D' alene in northern Idaho. 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, 26.2 miles of running ....and a lifetime of bragging.
Well, that's what the ironman official video says anyway. I think it should go more like, 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, 26.2 miles of running ... and a hell of a lot of work to get there.
We talked on the phone after signing up and agreed that this was a huge undertaking. We both just competed in the Pacific Crest Half Ironman in Sunriver, Oregon this last weekend, and it left us pretty tired.
The idea of running out onto the beach after that 1.2 mile swim this weekend, and jumping back in for a second lap, is pretty freaky. The 1.2 was hard enough (and slow enough, but more about that later), 2.4 is just plain daunting. What's more, the 112 mile bike course has been changed for 2007 and on at CDA (Cour D' alene), and it looks really tough.
On top of all that... to run a marathon? I just don't know. I ran my first marathon in May, with no swimming or biking before it, and it just about killed me. Of course, I didn't train for the distance, but still, very difficult.
What's the hardest thing you've ever done? What's the furthest you've ever pushed your physical and mental limits? Have you challenged yourself to the absolute maximum in your life? Is now the time to start?
I have my answers, do you have yours?
So the Half Ironman:
Chris beat me again. Damn that Chris Rodes! He finished in 5 hours and 4 minutes and I was 5 minutes behind him (in time anyway, physically, we started in different waves so we were further apart).
That's pretty incredible, to swim 1.2 miles, bike 56, and run 13.1 over the course of 5 hours and end up within 5 minutes of each other, we're pretty closely matched.
The swim was sad, not terrible by any means, but not good. I had a swim time of 44 minutes, 4 slower than my goal, and about 10 slower than where I really want to be. I hung back a little at the start and just really never got in the mix, ended up swimming alone the whole time and even going a little off course at 2/3 way through. I came out of the water all but dead last time wise (370 out of 443), had a very quick transition and headed out on the easy bike course.
Oh, wait a minute, the bike course we thought was going to be easy turned out to be pretty tough. My time was 2:30, a pretty fair bike time for rolling hills, which put me 84th time wise for the bike and in 122nd place.
Now the run, that was the bad part. 1:50 it took me, far from my goal of 1:30 or better. Right away on the run I had terrible cramps in my sides. My legs actually felt pretty good. In fact, my legs felt pretty good the entire time, I just couldn't get any more out of them because of my stomach and how tired I was. I walked every aid station, drinking gatorade, pouring water on my head and even stretching at every station. I probably threw away a good 5 minutes, but I felt like I had to have a reason to get to the next aid station. In any case, my body just is not used to trying to run 13 miles quickly after biking for so long. I ended up finishing 97th out of 443, and 9th in my age group.
So for now on, I'm going to do one long brick workout every single week, at least 50 miles on the bike and 8 to 10 on the run. People have all these different training philosophys and techniques, but here's what I think it comes down to: You have to DO in training what you expect your body to DO in a race. If I only ever bike 56 miles and run 13 in a race, how the hell am I going to expect myself to place high up at the finish? I can't, that's just it. You have to teach your body to do it. It's the same with everything in life, like they say, 'the losers are our figuring out how to do what they want to do, while the winners are busy fumbling through it, making mistakes and eventually succeeding'.
I'm so keyed up right now to go workout, but unsure of whether or not it's a good idea. It's only Wednesday, and I just raced hard on Saturday, how soon is too soon? I don't know! No one does! It's all individual. I think I'll swim.
Lastly, I was freaked out about signing up for the full Ironman, but mainly because it costs 500 bucks. I'll get ready to race physically, but that 500 bucks is huge! Well, it just so happens I got an email last night and I'm got a small modeling gig for Thursday and the pay is 400, so there you go!
I also found out yesterday that the listing appt. I went on last week (and did not get hired for), I lost out to the Leske Group, one of the bigger players in the area, so though, yes, I was dissapointed to not help those people sell their home, I was happy that they said my presentation was just as good as the other guy's. I'd rather loose out to a professional than a nobody, you know? The only reason they went with him, they said, was because he had shown them houses a couple months back and they never purchased, so they felt obligated to use him if his presentation was as good as mine.
So darn and hooray!
Until next time,
It's official, one year from now my buddy Chris and I will be competing in the Ironman Cour D' alene in northern Idaho. 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, 26.2 miles of running ....and a lifetime of bragging.
Well, that's what the ironman official video says anyway. I think it should go more like, 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, 26.2 miles of running ... and a hell of a lot of work to get there.
We talked on the phone after signing up and agreed that this was a huge undertaking. We both just competed in the Pacific Crest Half Ironman in Sunriver, Oregon this last weekend, and it left us pretty tired.
The idea of running out onto the beach after that 1.2 mile swim this weekend, and jumping back in for a second lap, is pretty freaky. The 1.2 was hard enough (and slow enough, but more about that later), 2.4 is just plain daunting. What's more, the 112 mile bike course has been changed for 2007 and on at CDA (Cour D' alene), and it looks really tough.
On top of all that... to run a marathon? I just don't know. I ran my first marathon in May, with no swimming or biking before it, and it just about killed me. Of course, I didn't train for the distance, but still, very difficult.
What's the hardest thing you've ever done? What's the furthest you've ever pushed your physical and mental limits? Have you challenged yourself to the absolute maximum in your life? Is now the time to start?
I have my answers, do you have yours?
So the Half Ironman:
Chris beat me again. Damn that Chris Rodes! He finished in 5 hours and 4 minutes and I was 5 minutes behind him (in time anyway, physically, we started in different waves so we were further apart).
That's pretty incredible, to swim 1.2 miles, bike 56, and run 13.1 over the course of 5 hours and end up within 5 minutes of each other, we're pretty closely matched.
The swim was sad, not terrible by any means, but not good. I had a swim time of 44 minutes, 4 slower than my goal, and about 10 slower than where I really want to be. I hung back a little at the start and just really never got in the mix, ended up swimming alone the whole time and even going a little off course at 2/3 way through. I came out of the water all but dead last time wise (370 out of 443), had a very quick transition and headed out on the easy bike course.
Oh, wait a minute, the bike course we thought was going to be easy turned out to be pretty tough. My time was 2:30, a pretty fair bike time for rolling hills, which put me 84th time wise for the bike and in 122nd place.
Now the run, that was the bad part. 1:50 it took me, far from my goal of 1:30 or better. Right away on the run I had terrible cramps in my sides. My legs actually felt pretty good. In fact, my legs felt pretty good the entire time, I just couldn't get any more out of them because of my stomach and how tired I was. I walked every aid station, drinking gatorade, pouring water on my head and even stretching at every station. I probably threw away a good 5 minutes, but I felt like I had to have a reason to get to the next aid station. In any case, my body just is not used to trying to run 13 miles quickly after biking for so long. I ended up finishing 97th out of 443, and 9th in my age group.
So for now on, I'm going to do one long brick workout every single week, at least 50 miles on the bike and 8 to 10 on the run. People have all these different training philosophys and techniques, but here's what I think it comes down to: You have to DO in training what you expect your body to DO in a race. If I only ever bike 56 miles and run 13 in a race, how the hell am I going to expect myself to place high up at the finish? I can't, that's just it. You have to teach your body to do it. It's the same with everything in life, like they say, 'the losers are our figuring out how to do what they want to do, while the winners are busy fumbling through it, making mistakes and eventually succeeding'.
I'm so keyed up right now to go workout, but unsure of whether or not it's a good idea. It's only Wednesday, and I just raced hard on Saturday, how soon is too soon? I don't know! No one does! It's all individual. I think I'll swim.
Lastly, I was freaked out about signing up for the full Ironman, but mainly because it costs 500 bucks. I'll get ready to race physically, but that 500 bucks is huge! Well, it just so happens I got an email last night and I'm got a small modeling gig for Thursday and the pay is 400, so there you go!
I also found out yesterday that the listing appt. I went on last week (and did not get hired for), I lost out to the Leske Group, one of the bigger players in the area, so though, yes, I was dissapointed to not help those people sell their home, I was happy that they said my presentation was just as good as the other guy's. I'd rather loose out to a professional than a nobody, you know? The only reason they went with him, they said, was because he had shown them houses a couple months back and they never purchased, so they felt obligated to use him if his presentation was as good as mine.
So darn and hooray!
Until next time,
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Quote of the day!
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas Edison
1847—1931
Thomas Edison
1847—1931
2 a.m.
Well,
Bryan Regan (our favorite comedian in the world) talks about how the worst day a kid ever has is the day of the science fair project, the alarm goes off and his head pops off the pillow, 'oh no. I've done nothing. I've had 6 months to do something, and I've done nothing.' And then he says, 'so I get to school and I see all these other kids with their parents their, and they're backing projects in on flat-bed trucks, one kids made a volcano, he can't even tie his shoes, but he's made a volcano? Here I am with a cup of dirt.'
So, anyway, not quite that bad, but I kind of just had a science fair moment. It's right before 2a.m. and I woke up needing water because I drank beer last night (and I dehydrate rediculously easy), and I'm laying there in bed and it hits me; I have a half-ironman in four days. Oh my god.
It's not that I'm not prepared, and well prepared. It's more that I'm lying there thinking, 'I was drinking last night? And the night before? After racing a very, very hard olympic tri on Sunday (more about that in a minute), I'm drinking? And, I've been drinking a ton of coffee, a ton. What am I thinking? There's no way I'm going to be recovered well enough to race hard!
So I decided no alcohol (obviously) for the next four days, and (gulp) no coffee until the day of the race. I'm going to drink protein and recovery drinks and do a light swim and a really light bike. In short, I'm going to do everything I possibly can to try and recover. Is four days enough time? I'm not sure, but it's better that I do what I can now then not.
So the olympic tri: It was Cascades Edge in Enumclaw, a 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run (divide by 10 and multiply by 6 for miles).
I got up at about 6am and had coffee and breakfast, Audrey got the baby up and we left around 720 or so. The whole way up there, I was saying, gee it's interesting there are no other cars headed up there, maybe it's a really small race? Well, we finally get to about a mile from the race location and then we see it, the road is just lined with cars on both sides all the way up and past the entrance, with a bunch of people everywhere, so once again, we've managed to arrive late (all though, in our defense, some people were even later than us).
As we walked toward the beach we came upon a long line of people with their bikes and gear, curious, we thought. But, it seemed the prudent thing to get in line, so we did, and someone said it was the line for packet pick-up. I've never experienced a race morning like this one, and I hope I don't have to many more times. We stood in line for quite a long time, only to finally arrive at the tent and need my usat card which is in the car. So Audrey ran all the way back to the car and ran all the way back, and then they gave me my packet. So I get my bike number on and get into the transition area (the rack where I'm supposed to set up is COMPLETELY full), with, oh, five minutes till 9o'clock, when the race is supposed to start.
So I cram my bike in with all the others and try to get set up for transition, rushing like a mad man to set my things up, clean my goggles, get my timing chip on, don my wetsuit. And it's raining the whole time. So I set my things up with my towel covering them, best I could, and went scampering down to the water, in a hurry as usual.
I jumped into the water, which was very cold, and admired just how frightening the whole thing looked. It's 50 degrees, the buoys are way out on the lake, and the whole lake is obscured by rain, it looks really grey and hazy. Very scary beginning to a day. I swam about 100 yards to warm up and went back to the beach, staying in the water. At this point we were set to begin, when the guy with the microphone announced some important changes, which we really couldn't hear. Then he said which wave of people was going.
First, it was the male sprint race, then the female sprint, then the 'tri it' first timers, then finally, us. AT this point, we've been in the water for over a half an hour, freezing our asses off, one and all. Probably not ideal, I imagined my body burning all my fuel trying to stay warm as I shivered, half in the water on the beach. When the gun went off, I pretty much said, oh no, and a guy next to me says, ahh, it's good, have fun. Well, though he was right, it's partly about having fun, I really didn't have much of it at all.
The swim was tough, as every swim I do is. I decided to hang back just a little at the start to not get beat up as much. Then I got going and looked around for someone to follow, or draft off of. I found someone and the first half of the swim was terrific, I really did great and I was surpised with myself to be hanging with everyone. Then I lost my guy at a turn buoy and everything fell apart. The second half of the swim was much slower and I had no one to draft off of. Every time I would get behind somebody to draft it didn't work for one reason or another. One guy was doing a weird scissor kick and would speed up and slow down every time he did it, another guy couldn't swim straight, and then towards the end, I just plain old couldn't go anymore. My arms, specifically my biceps, cramped up about a quarter way into the swim, I imagine from the cold, and by the end I was toast.
It took 30 minutes, which really isn't bad for me, way, way better than last year, and I ran to transition where I found my things kicked around and getting wet. The bike, well not much to say. My chain fell off twice, it was freezing cold and rainy, and rolling hills the whole way. Really tough bike.
Now the run, this was the fun part. This is what they had been talking about having changed. I ran out on the run, waving at Audrey and Isaac, and was directed to a path. Oh no, I thought, not another trail run. But it turned out to be so much more, a 6 mile trail run on a trail with tough hills, jagged rocks and tree roots all over, and oh yeah, don't forget the mud. The whole trail was muddy with big puddles in spots. It was basically a hard core Xterra race, but without all the preparation and expectation. The run was just plain old brutal. I mean, I don't know how the guys who won were doing it, running like 530 miles on this completely rediculous course. Two of them passed me on their way to winning, just absolutely flying, I couldn't believe it. They ran straight through the huge puddles of water and mud, not around the edge like the rest of us. I clearly have a little ways to go before i can win a race.
I didn't do bad though, around 40th out of 120 men doing the olympic. Not amazing by any means, but not bad. With a time of 2:24, it puts me right on track to break 5 hours for my upcoming half-ironman, which has been my goal for now. This year, I would like to get to 4:45 for a half. Next year, I want to move that up to 4:15. And the cool thing is, I can do it! I've improved vastly over last year. My half-ironman last year was a beastly 7 hours and 30 minutes, oh my god, huh? My Ocean shores Olympic Tri last year was 2:44, with my swim being a whole 45 minutes. And, the Ocean Shores tri was a way easier course on a day with perfect conditions. So...I'm right on track, just have to keep working to improve, that's life right?
Just keep your head down into the wind and keep working to improve, doing your best to enjoy each day as it is.
Bryan Regan (our favorite comedian in the world) talks about how the worst day a kid ever has is the day of the science fair project, the alarm goes off and his head pops off the pillow, 'oh no. I've done nothing. I've had 6 months to do something, and I've done nothing.' And then he says, 'so I get to school and I see all these other kids with their parents their, and they're backing projects in on flat-bed trucks, one kids made a volcano, he can't even tie his shoes, but he's made a volcano? Here I am with a cup of dirt.'
So, anyway, not quite that bad, but I kind of just had a science fair moment. It's right before 2a.m. and I woke up needing water because I drank beer last night (and I dehydrate rediculously easy), and I'm laying there in bed and it hits me; I have a half-ironman in four days. Oh my god.
It's not that I'm not prepared, and well prepared. It's more that I'm lying there thinking, 'I was drinking last night? And the night before? After racing a very, very hard olympic tri on Sunday (more about that in a minute), I'm drinking? And, I've been drinking a ton of coffee, a ton. What am I thinking? There's no way I'm going to be recovered well enough to race hard!
So I decided no alcohol (obviously) for the next four days, and (gulp) no coffee until the day of the race. I'm going to drink protein and recovery drinks and do a light swim and a really light bike. In short, I'm going to do everything I possibly can to try and recover. Is four days enough time? I'm not sure, but it's better that I do what I can now then not.
So the olympic tri: It was Cascades Edge in Enumclaw, a 1.5K swim, 40K bike and 10K run (divide by 10 and multiply by 6 for miles).
I got up at about 6am and had coffee and breakfast, Audrey got the baby up and we left around 720 or so. The whole way up there, I was saying, gee it's interesting there are no other cars headed up there, maybe it's a really small race? Well, we finally get to about a mile from the race location and then we see it, the road is just lined with cars on both sides all the way up and past the entrance, with a bunch of people everywhere, so once again, we've managed to arrive late (all though, in our defense, some people were even later than us).
As we walked toward the beach we came upon a long line of people with their bikes and gear, curious, we thought. But, it seemed the prudent thing to get in line, so we did, and someone said it was the line for packet pick-up. I've never experienced a race morning like this one, and I hope I don't have to many more times. We stood in line for quite a long time, only to finally arrive at the tent and need my usat card which is in the car. So Audrey ran all the way back to the car and ran all the way back, and then they gave me my packet. So I get my bike number on and get into the transition area (the rack where I'm supposed to set up is COMPLETELY full), with, oh, five minutes till 9o'clock, when the race is supposed to start.
So I cram my bike in with all the others and try to get set up for transition, rushing like a mad man to set my things up, clean my goggles, get my timing chip on, don my wetsuit. And it's raining the whole time. So I set my things up with my towel covering them, best I could, and went scampering down to the water, in a hurry as usual.
I jumped into the water, which was very cold, and admired just how frightening the whole thing looked. It's 50 degrees, the buoys are way out on the lake, and the whole lake is obscured by rain, it looks really grey and hazy. Very scary beginning to a day. I swam about 100 yards to warm up and went back to the beach, staying in the water. At this point we were set to begin, when the guy with the microphone announced some important changes, which we really couldn't hear. Then he said which wave of people was going.
First, it was the male sprint race, then the female sprint, then the 'tri it' first timers, then finally, us. AT this point, we've been in the water for over a half an hour, freezing our asses off, one and all. Probably not ideal, I imagined my body burning all my fuel trying to stay warm as I shivered, half in the water on the beach. When the gun went off, I pretty much said, oh no, and a guy next to me says, ahh, it's good, have fun. Well, though he was right, it's partly about having fun, I really didn't have much of it at all.
The swim was tough, as every swim I do is. I decided to hang back just a little at the start to not get beat up as much. Then I got going and looked around for someone to follow, or draft off of. I found someone and the first half of the swim was terrific, I really did great and I was surpised with myself to be hanging with everyone. Then I lost my guy at a turn buoy and everything fell apart. The second half of the swim was much slower and I had no one to draft off of. Every time I would get behind somebody to draft it didn't work for one reason or another. One guy was doing a weird scissor kick and would speed up and slow down every time he did it, another guy couldn't swim straight, and then towards the end, I just plain old couldn't go anymore. My arms, specifically my biceps, cramped up about a quarter way into the swim, I imagine from the cold, and by the end I was toast.
It took 30 minutes, which really isn't bad for me, way, way better than last year, and I ran to transition where I found my things kicked around and getting wet. The bike, well not much to say. My chain fell off twice, it was freezing cold and rainy, and rolling hills the whole way. Really tough bike.
Now the run, this was the fun part. This is what they had been talking about having changed. I ran out on the run, waving at Audrey and Isaac, and was directed to a path. Oh no, I thought, not another trail run. But it turned out to be so much more, a 6 mile trail run on a trail with tough hills, jagged rocks and tree roots all over, and oh yeah, don't forget the mud. The whole trail was muddy with big puddles in spots. It was basically a hard core Xterra race, but without all the preparation and expectation. The run was just plain old brutal. I mean, I don't know how the guys who won were doing it, running like 530 miles on this completely rediculous course. Two of them passed me on their way to winning, just absolutely flying, I couldn't believe it. They ran straight through the huge puddles of water and mud, not around the edge like the rest of us. I clearly have a little ways to go before i can win a race.
I didn't do bad though, around 40th out of 120 men doing the olympic. Not amazing by any means, but not bad. With a time of 2:24, it puts me right on track to break 5 hours for my upcoming half-ironman, which has been my goal for now. This year, I would like to get to 4:45 for a half. Next year, I want to move that up to 4:15. And the cool thing is, I can do it! I've improved vastly over last year. My half-ironman last year was a beastly 7 hours and 30 minutes, oh my god, huh? My Ocean shores Olympic Tri last year was 2:44, with my swim being a whole 45 minutes. And, the Ocean Shores tri was a way easier course on a day with perfect conditions. So...I'm right on track, just have to keep working to improve, that's life right?
Just keep your head down into the wind and keep working to improve, doing your best to enjoy each day as it is.
Friday, June 15, 2007
20 dollar workouts
Cascadeds Edge, the Olympic Triathlon is this Sunday (the 17th)!...and that means, that..(gulp)..the Pacific Crest Half-Ironman is one week away. Excuse me for just a second...
Ok, so one week, that's fine, I'm ready. To prepare for the Olympic Tri this weekend I signed up for an open water swim clinic I attended on Wendesday (seriously, is Wednesday not the most rediculous thing to spell?),
So I paid 20 bucks to attend this clinic up in Enumclaw at Nolte State Park (where the tri is being held), and I showed up with probably 7 other people and a swim coach. The thing is, most of the people had little practice swimming in open water (like, none so far this year), and a couple people had never swam in a lake. So the coach talked for a few minutes, but all the tips were for total beginners, tips on how to get in the water and site and such.
I'm not sure exactly what I was looking for, but I didn't really get it. I guess I went in hopes of learning some tricks that allowed me to stay with the pack, or maybe discover what I was doing wrong.
We all walked down to the water, I swam a little to get used to the cold, and then joined the group at the start of the swim. They set up a buoy 400 yards away, on the other side of the lake and we were to swim to it and back, ready, go!
It was at this point that I figured it out: No, I didn't figure out the secret to open water swimming, I figured out, Hey! I should start holding swim clinics! I mean, I'm out here swimming anyway, why not hold a clinic? I'll get my workout, even get to swim with some people and make a little money... if I hadn't been swimming I would have rubbed my hands together like Homer Simpson's boss (Excellent Mr. Smithers, Excellent),
I started swimming out a little ways, kind of watching what other people were doing, and two people seem to be swimming much quicker than the others, so I went with them and drafted on their feet. By the turn-around, one of them slowed down and so I drafted the other one the whole way back, and I was a little nervous that she would be pissed off because I kept accidentally hitting her feet the whole time, but when we reached the shore she gave me a big high five and said I was terrific (the unexpected can be so nice sometimes). Turns out she thought I was a pretty good swimmer (which was news to me), and she, along with the coach, both seemed to be pretty good swimmers, so that was exciting.
All in all, it turned out to be a really good thing attending the clinic. I was able to focus on drafting, even stopping at one point and letting the two people on the way out get away from me and then working really hard to catch up. I was able to take it easy at points and watch what other people were doing and figure out what I wanted to do (which was really key, because in triathlons so far I haven't done this, I just go swimming along hoping not to get kicked anymore and hoping not to lose too much time). And finally it even gave me a little more confidence being told I was a pretty good swimmer, which, again was news to me.
So, here's to hoping this Sunday's race is a huge success. I'm going to race without a watch this time and just go as hard as I possibly can in each part of the race,
Have a great weekend, and if you weren't planning on it, go find something to do outside!
Ok, so one week, that's fine, I'm ready. To prepare for the Olympic Tri this weekend I signed up for an open water swim clinic I attended on Wendesday (seriously, is Wednesday not the most rediculous thing to spell?),
So I paid 20 bucks to attend this clinic up in Enumclaw at Nolte State Park (where the tri is being held), and I showed up with probably 7 other people and a swim coach. The thing is, most of the people had little practice swimming in open water (like, none so far this year), and a couple people had never swam in a lake. So the coach talked for a few minutes, but all the tips were for total beginners, tips on how to get in the water and site and such.
I'm not sure exactly what I was looking for, but I didn't really get it. I guess I went in hopes of learning some tricks that allowed me to stay with the pack, or maybe discover what I was doing wrong.
We all walked down to the water, I swam a little to get used to the cold, and then joined the group at the start of the swim. They set up a buoy 400 yards away, on the other side of the lake and we were to swim to it and back, ready, go!
It was at this point that I figured it out: No, I didn't figure out the secret to open water swimming, I figured out, Hey! I should start holding swim clinics! I mean, I'm out here swimming anyway, why not hold a clinic? I'll get my workout, even get to swim with some people and make a little money... if I hadn't been swimming I would have rubbed my hands together like Homer Simpson's boss (Excellent Mr. Smithers, Excellent),
I started swimming out a little ways, kind of watching what other people were doing, and two people seem to be swimming much quicker than the others, so I went with them and drafted on their feet. By the turn-around, one of them slowed down and so I drafted the other one the whole way back, and I was a little nervous that she would be pissed off because I kept accidentally hitting her feet the whole time, but when we reached the shore she gave me a big high five and said I was terrific (the unexpected can be so nice sometimes). Turns out she thought I was a pretty good swimmer (which was news to me), and she, along with the coach, both seemed to be pretty good swimmers, so that was exciting.
All in all, it turned out to be a really good thing attending the clinic. I was able to focus on drafting, even stopping at one point and letting the two people on the way out get away from me and then working really hard to catch up. I was able to take it easy at points and watch what other people were doing and figure out what I wanted to do (which was really key, because in triathlons so far I haven't done this, I just go swimming along hoping not to get kicked anymore and hoping not to lose too much time). And finally it even gave me a little more confidence being told I was a pretty good swimmer, which, again was news to me.
So, here's to hoping this Sunday's race is a huge success. I'm going to race without a watch this time and just go as hard as I possibly can in each part of the race,
Have a great weekend, and if you weren't planning on it, go find something to do outside!
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