Up and Away Again

Learned a lot on the Swim on Tuesday - I've got a horrible time catching my breath - can't do two laps without needing a break before the next two laps. Coach Z was watching and offering advice. Mostly, just working through the comfort level (right now the water and I are former enemies who warily eye each other.....). It turns out I don't even open my mouth much to breath, which certainly limits the amount of sweet oxygen I can take in during the brief moment my face is out of the water during a sroke. I worked on that on the Thursday swim, but got only about 20 minutes in, since they stopped everyone to do "pace trials" which is basically a chance for everyone to get an idea of their best pace - you swim 800 yards, with a 10-second break at the half-way point.

I opted out - I can't get 100 yards in just yet - figure I'll do that the next time they do this in February. I'm still being careful right now - my back's been really stiff - after Tuesday's swim I had quite a sore rib (from a tight muscle leading from my spine around to my front), so I wasn't ready for any true exertion anyway, especially in the water where I tense up from the start right now. Also need extra time to let my neck heal - it's like an injury when it gets out of place - always need to give it some time for the spine to remember to stay in the right location before I push it too hard again...

Ran on Saturday - the temperature was 36 degrees - I dressed for 30 below, so wasn't inconvenienced by the cold.....my outfit:

Head: Ear band, beanie, balaclava, fleece ski cap
Torso: bra, polar fleece tank top, long sleeve undershirt, fleece shirt, fleece pullover, rain jacket.
Legs: shorts, long underwear, tights
Hands: windstopper light gloves, windstopper mittens.

Yep, I was sweating by the time I got out of the house and really surprised by how warm it was when I reached the outdoors.

Other runners I saw, along with dog walkers and others were much less clothen than I..... but I wasn't too hot, so can't complain....

I realized, once I began my run, that I wasn't breathing in as much as I was exhaling.... so, during the half-hour run/walk, I focussed on just that, inhaling - forcing my lungs to take in as much oxygen as possible - it wasn't easy. I forced myself to breathe in fully during the two steps on inhale to match the two-step exhale. Figure this will help me in the swim.....

My back is really stiff today - I think a lot of it is from the forced breathing. We'll see if it helps the swim on Tuesday.....

I was planning on running longer than the 30-minutes, but once I got to Pennsylvania Avenue, I realized that I hadn't brought any ID with me - no dogtag and no driver's license - figured that wouldn't be good if I keeled over, so turned back towards home, breathing deeply the whole way.

I also rode the bike for just under an hour this morning - it was warmer - about 40 degrees or so, but wet - like heavy mist/light rain the whole time. I've found that it's not good to quickly swipe the rain from your glasses - the smears bother you much more than the droplets in your sight..... I figured how to carefully wipe to stop the smears from interfering with decent vision.

Spent most of the ride working on the "pull" stroke - pulling the pedals up with each leg (thanks to my feet being clipped into the pedals) rather than pushing the pedals from the top of the stroke to the bottom.

It is amazing how much speed you gain by pulling rather than pushing - of course, right now, my thigh muscles are just beginning to strengthen, so I can't say it was easier than pushing, but it certainly picked up speed quickly. My thighs are now worn out, but at least I can justify the waffles and poached egg for breakfast!

Actually can't wait for the swim on Tuesday to see if my breathing practice pays off.....