Swim, Bike, Run, Rinse, Repeat.

Life has been hectic lately!! Whew!! It's Tuesday, and this week has worn me down already. With only 4 more sleeps until Disney for Terron and I, though, the mini-meltdown I had last night was neither unexpected or long-lasting.

Figured I should catch you up on a few things... 

Swim -- Sunday night's swim was interesting to say the least. Sitting there watching Terron's swim class before mine, I was wondering how I would possibly stay awake for mine. Got my second wind as I hit the water thankfully. Led the lane during our 800m warm up before coach started talking. Remember in my previous post when I mentioned that I hate being the center of attention. That's the last time I mention that... haha. After warm up was done, he was talking to us about his plan for building endurance, and how he has a passive way to correct our strokes. "... and Melanie, who has only been with us for about the last 8 or so weeks, has improved dramatically without even barely saying a word!"  Thanks coach..... oh great. Everyone is looking at me. Feeling strong that night, I continued to lead the lane for the rest of the workout. He said it was an easy night, an easy night it was not.  After some hard kick sets, coach approached me as I pulled myself out of the pool at the deep end. "Um, you ARE signing up for the Burlington swim meet right?" I gave him a half smile, raised my eyebrow a bit, and asked if my 'wanting to spectate' excuse would work again. He said no, and that he wanted and needed me to compete with the team!! What a confidence booster!

Then the pin that deflated the ego..... thankfully something about which I can laugh. At the deep end, coach split us up in to 6 relay teams of 4. I was in the second heat, lane 6, wall to my left. First relay was 50m free. No problem.  Except that I'd have a huge one. I have a really hard time with my goggles flipping up when I dive in, so I tried putting them under my cap.  Ugh, they still completely flipped off. As I came up, I quickly tried to empty them mid-stroke...but ended up with a goggle full of water. Sometimes I might still be able to see, but not this time, I was wearing my contacts and they were burning.... I had no idea where I was going, how far until I would reach the end, except that I was totally going crooked and swam into the wall. Yep, the wall on my left.... Took that moment to empty out the goggles and continued on my merry way. Got back, and one of the girls asked if I was ok... she laughed hysterically when I told her what had happened, as did I.  Despite my little blunder, we STILL won that relay! :D I'm signing up for the swim meet. February 7th. Gulp.

Bike -- January 16th. Toronto, Canada. Typically we have feet of snow on the ground, with a wind chill in the minus teens or twenties. I wish there was someone to take a picture. Home alone saturday morning, above zero temperatures, beautiful sun shining, and a 40min ride on the trainer scheduled. I contemplated for about 5 minutes, then made my decision. It took about 15 minutes to have my tire changed from the indoor one to my regular tire, I was taking my new tri bike for it's first ride on the road! I was excited and nervous. Happy and worried. UA Cold Gear tights, bike shorts, UA Cold Gear hooded top, bright orange race shirt, black cycling jersey with fall colored leaves on the back, UA beanie for under my helmet, shoe covers, thick cycling gloves. Ready to roll. So EXCITED!!!  I got maybe 500 meters from home, approaching a traffic light which was red, so I coasted along. I look to my left as I hear a voice... and older lady sitting in her fur coat and fur hat, gloved hands calls out the window "I love your outfit!!" I waved, said thank you, and wanted to say but what about this sweet bike?! But I'm sure she wouldn't understand.  As we both started moving forward from our standstill, she waved again as she accelerated.  Too funny... nothing like looking cute while having fun!  Few things I noticed on my bike. I use my quads a WHOLE lot more than when I was on my roadie.  Wonder if I used my calves more on that bike, maybe contributing to the burning of my shins while running afterwards? Hmmm.  I also had Shimano SPD pedals on my road bike -- I could clip into it on either side; now I have Look Keo full carbon pedals, which I can clip into on one side only. Will need to get used to this.... had a few awkward starts from a red light. Being in aero on this bike-- so much more comfortable... it's the beginning of a beautiful relationship :)  I only rode for an hour as I was getting cold.... took most of the day afterwards to warm up, but I was STOKED to have that first ride outside

Run -- Dear Treadmill.

Many people don't like you, I, on the other hand, have tried to defend you, even on this blog, to point out some of your good qualities! The warmth you provide being indoors during the cold winter months, your consistency, helping me keep pace. And this is how you repay me?? If this doesn't change, our relationship will suffer, and I will have no option but to sever all ties with you effective immediately. I've been *almost* exclusive to you during this base building phase... but the few short runs I have had outdoors have been glorious. I'll tell you why. Even with the wind, the hills, the cold, the changing scenery, my pace is where I imagined I would be. But with you, treadmill, you SUCK! Maybe it's me, but don't get your hopes up, but know that you're walking a very thin line with right now, very thin.

Signed, Faster Than You're Telling Me

Anyone else have this issue? I'm not fast.... but I don't get it.  Perceived effort while running outdoors with all the elements, etc seem lower while my speed is higher.  Treadmill, my pace is very slow for a higher perceived effort.  If I were to set the treadmill up to match my outside pace, I can't hold it very long!! What's up with that?  Is it because I can't visualize it, the scene doesn't change, and the monotony of it all? Is it me?!  (If it is, please don't tell the treadmill, I wouldn't want him to have the satisfaction of knowing...)

So that, my friends, is what I've been up to! Yes, I'm still doing P90X.. in fact, today, I finished week 4. This week was a recovery week, and admittedly I missed two of the workouts due to time constraints... I've mentioned before that on the workout side of things, my tri stuff is more important to me at the moment... so if it's a choice of doing nothing, tri workout and/or P90X.. I will always try to fit in at least my scheduled run/ride/swim.

I will be in lurking and catch up mode until I'm back from vacation, I'll try to comment as much as I can! Be safe!!