friday thoughts

 - why am I always having a good hair day on the days I need to hit the gym at lunch?
 - riding outside tomorrow. should be interesting. high of 28 degrees. will be testing new cold weather gear.
 - Splash'n'Dash on Sunday. I'm actually going to do it this time. 1000m indoor swim followed by 5k outdoor run. then more running with teammates.
 - will also be trying on new team unis.
 - speaking of which, Triple T tri top designs are out. they look tight. per usual.
 - looking at going some place warm soon. wait. even TX and Atlanta are getting dumped on with snow? f*^k!
 - thank you Lincoln and Washington for President's Day. and that I have a job at a bank. three day weekend in store!
 - the above is much more exciting to me than valentine's day, which is just another day. I guess I don't understand why we only show our love one day a year through obligatory flowers and candy.
 - not that flowers and candy aren't nice and yummy...
 - because the tulips sitting on my kitchen table are beautiful. and the chocolate covered strawberries were delicious.
 - the half hour on the treadmill at the gym just now seemed to take FOREVER. much longer than the 80 laps on the indoor track on Wednesday.
 - tomorrow will be the 5th and final day on the bike for the week.
 - and Sunday will be the 5th and final run. but only the 3rd and final swim.
 - perhaps I should get in the pool more?
 - I'm leaving early again today to kick off this 3-day weekend.
 - and I'll be hanging with an old high school friend. should be entertaining.
 - Oh, and Winter Olympics start this eve. I like the Olympics.

And then it came up...

So, I came out of the water feeling ok. My feet were a little chilled and I was in a bit of shock. I checked my watch...about 55 mins. I made the 800m run to T1. Official time turned out to be 56:17 for the 3k swim. Good enough for 7th fastest swim in my AG, which isn't incredible, but definitely good for a non-swimmer!

I got my wetsuit off, put the helmet, sunglasses, shoes on and ran out of transition. This was the first time I recall hearing screams for me. By first name. It was the team manager, doc and travel agent. I realized a bit too late...but once I did, I was a tad overwhelmed with emotion. It finally sunk in that I was across the world competing!

I mounted after the line and set out for loop one of four...

The wind was still pretty strong and I had taken in some gulps of salt water. I tried to stay with my typical routine of just taking in water for the first half hour of the bike. I felt thirsty, and i kept drinking...but then I'd want to burp...and a burning, salty, acidic vomit would come up. I'd swallow it back down and hope it would go away.

I hit the first loop around 36 mins, just a little over 20 mph. ANd that was where things got interesting. Bottle exchange on the left! We obviously had to ride on the left, pass on the right...but attempting the bottle exchange scared me. But I did it! And quickly filled my aero bottle and crunched back down for lap two.

It was time to start taking in some calories. My gut was refusing. I had a package of Clif Shot Bloks and i took a couple of those in. Again, wanted to belch and release some the bloat in my gut, but all that would surface was some stomach acid. Swallow it back down. I looked at my fingers. They were swollen. I worried a little, sipped some more water. The sun was beating on my back. I started to feel like "oh crap, there are another two loops after this". And then, one of the Aussies I met and had coffee with the day before came up from behind and smacked me on the ass. I screeched in shock. This was followed by another Aussie passing me, who looked over and said "Don't think i'll try that". Miraculously, my spirits were lifted!

I came around for lap three where I saw dad and the Team Manager, who told me to just work on picking them off. I was more concerned about working on getting in some calories. I was afraid I was going to fade.

But somehow, I kept it up. I ate a few more Shot Bloks. I remember, from running the mile in high school, that the third lap tends to be the most difficult to keep up the pace, so I just focused on spinning my legs, going hard into the wind (thanks to Coach E, who gave me this advice at IMKY) and staying relaxed with the wind to not burn out my legs.

Before I knew it, I was headed back into town, off the expressway and into the crowd. The shouting and cheers were incredibly uplifting. Around the turn for the last time and onto lap four...

I was so excited at the prospect of being nearly through with the bike. My arms were getting burnt. And my fingers were staying swollen. And I hadn't yet peed. But, I knew it would be just a short 35 mins before I'd be on my feet again.

It was just when I was imagining this that a male teammate came by and turns his head and says "Come on, USA! Push it! Ok?!"...so I took off after him. We headed back into town and i took in a gel and more water. I was still feeling bloated, but no longer nauseas. I knew I'd be ok. As I headed into transition, I glanced at my watch. I was under 2:30, so I'd held a 20 mph average on a super windy course. Good enough for me.

Now, time to see if my legs (and stomach) would hold up...

Have Mercy!

OK, so I took it easy for a couple days. I took the entire day off Wednesday...

And then went to masters practice on Thursday. That was fun. I know I've said it a million times, but I love those guys I swim with. They're just good people. It's funny how swimming is for me...well, it's like so many other things, i suppose. When I believe I can do it, I can. with ease. But when I doubt my ability, I struggle. Thursday was just one of those days where I was like "ok, i can do this. no problem". and i did. and i still laughed the whole practice.

After a long freakin' day at work, a short run. And yes, i added some short speed intervals. But it was short. I also emailed coach to tell him that i wasn't feeling tired, that my tt time was slow but not horrible. He's heading out to Kona in a week, along with a super speedy girl that's in our training group. And we all did IMKY. He just responded "we're all a little fatigued. i don't want you to show up to your race feeling flat. you need to recover". Well, why didn't ya say so?? ha ha! he just wants me to shut up and listen, but i have to question question question... but I'm learning to trust.

Friday was some time on the bike trainer and then a short time running on the road. in the rain. it's been raining for, like, four straight days.

And then I had some fun on Friday night.

Today, I slept in. It was still dreary and wet. So, I chose to ride the trainer. Again. And I wanted some distinct instruction. SO, I slipped in the "Have Mercy" Spinervals dvd. It's two hours of the most difficult workouts from the previous 8 spinervals dvds. I had only done this once before. It was about 6 months ago. And it was the most difficult bike workout I'd ever done. The thing is rated a 10 on the intensity scale. and they tell you to make sure you have a towel for the sweat. And it's needed.

Today, it really wasn't so bad. I mean, yeah, i almost fell over swimging my leg off the bike after the 2 hours were up, but really, it was just another training session. And I didn't have to slow down or not follow the gear instructions. I did it all. As instructed. and I loved it. I was totally soaked 20 mins in. So after 120 minutes, I'd soaked through my towel. It was glorious.