Countdown to Race Day

We are now in our taper week. This means we get easier workouts this week as we let our bodies recover from the past 3 months of hard workouts. This will give us more energy on race day.

We went to the Captain's workout last Sunday morning. Our mentor, Meggen, watched the kids while David and I joined the group for an open water icy swim. Later, after warming up we put the kids in the double jogger and went on a 3 mile run with Mai around the bay. I must say, the kids were amazing and took it all in stride without a single whine. (Wahooo!!!)

Sandi

Off to our last Saturday training

One more week until the race -- wow! Today will be our last Saturday training, with a short swim and a long bike ride. We're trying on the wet suits in the pool just to be sure they fit, too. Back later for more!

Pool Workout

David and I went to the pool together today and got to share a lane. It was good to get used to swimming next to someone. I also had the opportunity to prove to him that I can swim 200 to 250s without taking a break. When he sees me in the open water swims it is barely 15 before I am out of breath. We both had a great workout.....tons of flow!!

I finally went back to the doctor to see what is going on with my lungs. He said my airways were very swollen and constricted. He thinks I had a full blown pretty bad asthma attack during our practice triathlon last weekend. This is probably why I couldn't breathe more than 8 strokes at a time during the swim....and the continued wheezing during the run. We are not sure if I am developing asthma or if it is just a lingering issue from my cold the week before. I am now using a steroid inhaler to get the inflammation out as well as an inhaler for exercise. Fun, fun.....At least I will be in tip top shape for our triathlon. I can't believe it is next week.

Sandi

Final full track workout

The time for the triathlon is coming closer. We had our last real track workout last night, and I’m already missing them. Not that I will miss the mad scramble to leave work and the reckless speeding up highway 85 to get there on time, but I will miss the team and the camaraderie. I’ll even miss Liz’s “high skipping” and Ken’s seemingly interminable plank drills.

This morning I had to wear a suit for work (not a wetsuit, but a business suit, tie and all). The suit was tailor-made for me during my visit to Hong Kong about three months ago. Thanks to all this training, the pants are now significantly more roomy. So perhaps I discovered another hidden cost of triathlon training: the need to pay a tailor to take in my clothes!

One last thing: our Team in Training triathlon fundraising team total is quite short of our goal. If you can, please click on the left and contribute something to help both those who are fighting blood cancers and those who are researching cures. Thank you!

Practice Triathlon

David and I survived our first sprint distance practice triathlon at Steven's Creek Reservoire. It was a lot of fun, once I got out of the water.

I am still struggling with not being able to breathe in the open water swims. It is like a big vise is squeezing the air out of my lungs and I just can't breathe in enough air. I know it is all mental, I can swim in a swimming pool--even swim well now. Thank goodness our coach, Chris, was there to help me through the anxiety!! I know I can't drown in the Bay so I am not sure what the cause of my panic is exactly. Maybe my sensitivity to cold water? Poor Chris had to swim on his surf board with me 10 paces up. I would swim to him, realize I was okay, then he would go ahead and have me swim up to him again. And again, and again. He is trying to get me to break down my swim 10 strokes at a time. Breaking it down into manageable increments to keep my mind off panicking.

I was the second to last out of the water and quickly transitioned to the bike. I felt good on my bike except for a side cramp I developed in the swim. I think I ate and hydrated well on the bike. It was a 12 mile bike ride, the first 6 of it being mostly uphill. Did I say how great I felt on the bike :-)

As I finished my bike ride my chest started to feel tight. When I have a chest cold I tend to get a little asthmatic. I did not bring my inhaler (I really did not feel very sick, mostly just coughing at night--so I did not even think about it). Early in my run I started having more difficulty breathing. At the end of the race (3mi) I was wheezing pretty hard. I am going to have to really try to stay healthy before the big race! My inhaler is ok but it can make me jittery and elevate my heart rate which is not the best thing when working out at this level.

I will post some pictures when we get them!
Sandi

Tribute To Our Coaches

David and I have come a long, long way in our journey of triathlon training. I can not believe there are only 2 1/2 weeks left!!! We could never have done it without the positive and caring attitude of our coaches. When the going has been rough, and I mean really rough, they have always been there with the most encouraging and positive support.

When I was at my worst in the cold bay, our coaches Chris, Liz, and Ken put up with my whining and crying. I don't think we give people enough credit in this world so I wanted to take some time to thank them for all of their support and hard work throughout this whole experience.

Sandi

I think I hit that iceberg!!

Seriously....it did feel that cold. When I got into the 50 degree water my body froze up and went into a sort of panicked shock. It was like someone was squeezing my lungs so hard I couldn't breath at all. I was so freaked out I really did the doggie paddle and backstroke (very crookedly) all the way to the other side to our kayaker/marker "Coach Ken." I think I muttered every swear word I could think of to keep my mind off quitting this triathlon. I think we calculated that each time across was 1/4 of a mile.

I felt a tiny bit warmed up after that length and again I tried swimming freestyle with my face in the water back across to our side. The wind picked up making it very choppy and hard to get a breath. I must say by my second time across, I was finally warmed up (and relaxed) and could swim with my face in the fridgid water. I was one of the last ones out but I did it.

I do not know what I am going to do to quell that frozen panic when I have to get back into that water on race day. I would hate to be the one the spectators all look at and say who is the fool doing the doggie paddle in this big race?!

Shortly after our practice swim we all watched in horror as someone actually went into the bay to swim with "no" wetsuit on. He must have been legally insane.

Sandi

Open water swim

Wow! What an experience the open water swim at Treasure Island was! Above is a picture of the water where we were. Yes, that water was COLD! And we learned one's body does all sorts of interesting things when it gets hit with cold water, most of which conspire to make swimming a challenge. Gotta get to work, so more later....

Moving Along

Well, we are 3 weeks away from our race!! My swimming seems to be getting better on an inconsistant basis. I have good days and bad days. On a good day I can swim the whole 1500 yards in 47 minutes! That is a great improvement over my once great 1 hour and 5 minutes!

It seems we are constantly fighting some type of kid germs and it really affects the quality of our workouts. I am fighting my 5th cold since training has begun. I guess our bodies were acclimated to the Texas germs but not the California ones. I feel bad for Kaela and Jadon who have been sick with all of these colds now for 3 months straight! We should buy stock in Robitussin and Children's Benadryl.

All of that aside, last week we rode our bikes up Mt. Eden and then down the other side. I learned the powerful lesson of "don't forget to eat on the bike". When we got off our bikes I really had a hard time running 4 miles. I totally ran out of fuel. Next time I am bringing bannanas, oranges etc..to really prepare.

Tomorrow we are off to Treasure Island for a practice swim on the actual race course. I will post pictures when we get them.

Sandi

Some pictures from today

We're really getting close to the actual triathlon: November 5 is less than a month away! Coach Chris (the one facing us in the picture... and apparently wearing something red!) told us we have two more weeks of building strength and endurance, and then two weeks of "taper" where we let our bodies rest up for the big day. I've noticed the swims are decreasing. My last three swims were 2700, 2200, and 2000 yards respectively.

There was no let up in today's bike-run brick workout. I rode 20 miles (was supposed to be 15 but we got a bit off course) and ran 5 miles. What's really wild is that I ran the first two miles faster than I've ever run. I don't even think I've run a 5K as fast as I did today. So I guess this getting in shape thing is working for Sandi and me. Thanks, Chris!

I swam well today!?

I am sorry we have been a little slow at posting lately. Training is getting more intense and we are just less than 1 month away from our big race. Yesterday was yet another swim day. I am not sure what kind of fluke yesterday was. I swam in the late afternoon, which is usually not a very good time for me energywise...I ate chicken and apple sausage right before my workout (late, late lunch)....all of which should lead up to a poor swim.

But, oddly enough my swim was the best ever! I swam and swam and swam. I did not get really tired and out of breath every length or two. I did 100s, up and back 4 lengths of the pool. The last time I kept accurate track of the amount of laps I did and time it took me a little over an 1 hour to swim 1500 yards (9/10 of a mile). Yesterday it took me almost 48 minutes. This flow never happens to me. I am the ultimate slow swimmer. I am always last in our training group. I can not understand what happened to me yesterday. The swim gods must have taken pity on me LOL.

I can only hope this fluke will continue.
Sandi