TAPER WEEK & Last Swim Practice

I just got back from our last swim practice of the season. Four and a half months flew by and all that's left between me and my first triathlon is a few 'taper' days of light workouts before I take off for San Diego.

Last week I wrote about some trepidation about my training, but after this weekends workouts, I'm sure I'll get through it, maybe even with a smile on my face. On Saturday, we did a light swim, practicing the in-water start. This race doesn't start from the shore, rather, we go out a distance and all bob around in the water until our wave (age group) is signaled to start. So after a light 10 minute swim, we did about 18 miles on PCH on our bikes, practicing transitions, and then did a 2 mile run. It was hot as HELL, and we didn't start practice as early as maybe we should have either. 9 a.m. was when we got in the water so by the run around 11, it was boiling and that 2 miles was really really rough. A quick dunk in the water was sooooo nice, and after I left the beach at noon, it already felt like a full day.

Sunday was equally as eventful. I went to bed early, or actually my body forced me into bed early b/c I could barely hold my head up...and was up at 6:30 to go down to Manhattan beach for my first LA Tri Club swim. About 100 people were there, and I was happy to finally find some TNT'ers to buddy up with. Jihan and I ended up swimming a bit over a mile together, slowly but surely, around the manhattan beach pier and back to the beach. It felt great afterwards. It was just such a beautiful day, amazing really, and I can't imagine why I had never done that swim before. Now I had 'accidentally' forgotten my running shoes for a 'fun run' afterwards. But being the incredible athlete and slavedriver that she is, teammate Jiyhan convinced me a 4 mile run barefoot along the beach was the best thing to do. So we did it.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of running around in my bathing suit, or RUNNING in my bathing suit, but i did it. 4 miles with 3 of my teammates to the hermosa beach pier and back, in the boiling hot sun, with a couple quick dunks in the water along the way. Breakfast at Uncle Bill's pancake house afterwards was the perfect chaser.

So after a great weekend of training, and a light run yesterday, I am now in taper. Granted, I have sorta been tapering for 6 weeks :), but this time it's on the schedule. And I'm actually getting excited. On top of that is some bittersweet sadness. I found out Coach Brad won't be at our race and that truly is sad news because he has been so instrumental in all of our progress. tonight my teammates are at the bar, but honestly I couldn't bring myself to go. It just seems too soon and kinda sad to be reminiscing already.

But it really was an incredible season and as I start to slow it down in order to be ready on race day, I will reflect, as Brad suggested in an email today, on how far I have come...from not being able to run a mile to being able to run 6...from not being able to breathe left in swimming to being able to breathe in both directions...from having major saddle sores biking, to building up calluses :)....

more reflection to come...

It's all coming to a head...

Hopefully that head will be crossing the finish line.

But to give a quick update b/c i'm too tired and hot to elaborate too much.

I graduated from grad school a week ago. I would say that my workouts have been less than stellar if they happen at all.
I ran 6 miles with my brother Dan last Saturday and had a blast though was so SO tired the next day.
This past week I was in New York. I ran a couple miles one day and walked a lot, but there was no swim, no bike ride and quite frankly I feel pretty guilty about it. This was our final build week and i've blown it.

Tomorrow we'll have our last Saturday team practice. I feel sad, disconnected, and wonder where the last 4.5 months went?!? We are doing a mini-triathlon, and then if I don't feel too antisocial, will be hanging at the beach with everyone. It's hard not to feel a bit out of it when most of our team went to, and had a ridiculous blast, in Maui for their triathlon. But It'll still be nice to be around some new friends again, after several practices away.

Sunday, hopefully i can do the Manhattan beach morning swim and whatever else is on the schedule and then things wind down till the race next Sunday. Mellow practices and 'recovery', though I've done so little in the past 2 weeks, and the prior setbacks with my neck that if anything, I need to recvoer from all the crap i've been eating.

Anyway, I'm getting nervous and just hoping my body can hold up. Today i'm going to go spend a $200 gift certificate at my favorite women's sports store and maybe the retail therapy will get my head back in it.

Quickie...

I'm busy trying to finish the one thing that stand between me and graduation -- one STUPID little paper that I abhor more than anything -- so this'll be quick. I''ll send a good update monday.

I started working out again last saturday after 10 days off due to neck issues. I did the swim tuesday, a 45 minute run (4+ miles) yesterday, and today did a 60 minute spinning class followed by a 10 minute run (6 mph). We had our final team dinner and a majority of our team headed off to Maui today for their race on saturday. So now it's just our l ittle pack of San Diego people left for one more month...no wait, LESS. :)

I'll elaborate o n all of the above in a few days.

peace and loose necks to all,
Jess

Tomorrow will be One Month Away

I haven't worked out in a week -- my neck is finally feeling somewhat better and I will get back out there tomorrow and do SOMEthing... but something is lost when you take this much time off. You doubt yourself, your commitment, your body's capacity to perform. I'm scared that the athlete who I used to be has faded away into the oblivion of getting older. If my neck is like this at 30, what will it be at 60? It's a frightening prospect, especially since I hoped that all this working out would strengthen things, not make it worse.

I also wonder if my head is just too big for my neck. But then I think I have a thick neck, which should be able to accommodate such a large pumpkin head. :-)

I've got a major stiffie...

My neck is still pretty bad - it's painful and stiff. The chiropractor definitely helped but i would say that it'll be at LEAST one more day and maybe the whole weekend before i try to work out again.
Maybe I can do something light tomorrow; we'll see.

Huge Pain in the Neck

I suffered a pretty big setback today. Last night a s I was adjusting my pillow in bed, my whole neck just seized up. It's not the first time it has happened, but every time it does it just throws my whole world into 'pause'. It's excruciating and incapacitating, not to mention expensive (already went to the chiro this morning for a cool $95).

I'm about to begin the ice/heat/ice/heat process for the rest of the day. I have made myself as comfortable as possible on the couch, but it is all relative -- the pain hasn't stopped. I guess I will use this time to continue to read/work on the worst paper of my master's program yet, and pray that the adjustment today helps enough to get me back out training in a day or two. Thank god there's leftover vicodin in the house. I may also go in for some lidocaine injections if my stupid HMO orthopedic doctor can get me in within the century.

UGH. UGH.

Beached Whale

I seem to be missing a little thing called the "whoosh". Coming off a somewhat disappointing swim on sunday, Brad kept close track of my swimming today and well, it turns out I just am not that aerodynamic...or hydrodynamic....It's kinda like pushing a fire hydrant thru the water -- speed is not exactly the result.

My main issue is breathing. I know...small detail. But seriously, though I've learned to breathe in a systematic way every 3 strokes, both to the left AND right, it is a huge gasping desperate attempt for air every single time. Sometimes there's a wheezing noise that accompanies it. Occasionally, I drink a fair amount of water...and whether it has chlorine or salt as the primary ingredient, they both suck.

Turns out I'm a flat swimmer, or at least I just coined that term. I tend not to rotate and because of this, I'm lacking graceful, smooth long strokes, turning to the left and right with ease to get my face fully out of the water to take in oxygen. I lack the "whoosh".

So today Brad kept telling me to keep it smooth, to lengthen, to turn and keep my reaching arm out instead of windmilling desperately to make it to the other side of the pool. Finally at the end of the workout, I was told that I have to now start every practice with 400 meters of 1-arms/regular stroke...not my idea of fun. But I must be broken of my bad habits.

Now to add insult to injury, Brad had me get up on the deck. I asked "are you about to publicly humiliate me?" He said "no". But then he had me lay on my stomach on the deck and practice rolling on each side one at a time, practicing my stroke. Yeah, there's nothing quite like being ass up in broad daylight. Not that i don't LOVE my ass (dripping sarcasm), but I am kinda that person that yells 'HEY LOOK, IT'S ELVIS!' and when everyone turns to look, I rip off my clothes and cannonball into the pool. So I wasn't thrilled, but i picked up what Brad was putting down. And I realize that the bad form is only holding me back.

I think I might start a new olympic sport. Power deck swimming. Ass up.