Dave the Virgin Triathlete

Very nice weather, so we ran in the park. We ran (jogged fast) for 10 minutes at a time, which allowed me to rest and so we could verify the accuracy of our jog meter things that tells us distance. We went about 3.5 miles or so. I felt better toward the end but need to work on breathing. I think I've finally overcome my shins slowing me down, so for both swimming and running I have to work on cardio fitness more. We were ambitious so we also swam for an hour. We're both better although Vareen's able to swim more laps at a time than I. That's what I get for sitting in a office all day. I'll catch up to her! At this point, I now like swimming better than running. Who would have thought?

We had our second swimming lesson today. I'm quite impressed that our coach told us that our strokes are great and we may not need him too much longer. He was being kind since he still gave us lots of things to work on. We did things like swimming with one arm or swimming without kicking. We're both really comfortable with the strokes but still get out of breath too quickly. We swam for about 1.5 hours with some rests and then worked our upper bodies with weights afterwards. Needed a nap later.

Rode by bike home today. It's only about 4-5 miles but I did it as fast as possible, then carried my bike up 4 flights of stairs. I think my heart almost exploded.

This evening I did some swimming on my own for an hour. I feel much better and am able to swim the 20 meter pool in about 27 seconds which is the same pace I need for the triathlon. However, I have to do it 38 times in a row for the triathlon! I swam about 30 lengths tonight, but rested a bit after most of them. I am now able to turn around at pool end and do a couple laps at a time. This is progress! In the weight room, I also worked on my legs and chest after swimming.

While I've not been posting my updates for some time, I have been much better about working out. I've really been focusing on the swimming and have made real progress. Vareen and I both spent time just getting used to doing the more basic strokes and getting used to the "breathing out underwater, breating in overwater" thing. We have progessed enough to feel that a swim coach would really help us improve our strokes for the tougher front crawl. We had our first lesson today and he showed us how to lengthen our arm stroke, keep our head straight down unless breathing to the side, and to keep our arms underwater more on the upstroke. Basic stuff to swimmers but will really help us. We still get out of breath too easily despite our general fitness, and this causes us to get sloppy in the interest of getting more air while swimming.

Back to the gym today but the pool was closed. Our swimming last weekend showed progress but I'm still pretty terrible in doing the front crawl. I do about two laps and I'm out of breath. I'm just not adjusted to this exercise and so timing the breathing with my strokes is even harder when I'm breathing too hard. Today, we just worked out in the free weight area, focusing on upper body. I've gotten stronger - pullups much easier than in the past. My calfs are sore from yesterday, but otherwise okay. 5 months to go until the triathlon.

Well fortunately I've been better at working out than in updating this blog. I've been working out each weekend, with not too much happening during the week. Today, I did a trial duathlon (biking and running) to compare times to those who did the triathlon last year. I did the biking 20 minutes faster than the average triathlete but the running was about 8 minutes slower. Of course, I hadn't done the swimming which would have slowed these times. This was really the first time I'd jogged the entire distance without stopping. Perhaps doing it after the bike riding actually helped my legs warm up.