On learning to love the pool

At first, swimming was just that thing I had do so I could make it through the triathlon. Last year, though, I found myself loving open water swimming.

But the pool was still the pool, and up until recently I equated lap swimming to running on the treadmill.

I'm down injured right now (still.) Since February, swimming has been all I've been allowed to do.

(It stinks.)

(One tiny upside: It's an excuse to wear sneakers to work every day.)

(But it still stinks)

(Occasionally I miss my heels.)

(Just occasionally.)

But in the past two months I've really embraced swimming, and brought myself to a point where I look forward to getting in the water.

LEARNING TO LOVE THE POOL STEP 1: BE A BETTER SWIMMER

Last year, I just wanted to get good enough to make it through the race. But since the running shoes are hung up for the moment, I might as well learn how to do this correctly.

That's by no means knocking the people who taught me how to swim. Randall's tips ring through my head to this day.

A friend from work and I signed up for a master's swim program in March, and this was really helpful. The coaches helped me with my stroke. I wasn't bringing my arms far back enough, making too small a circle, not reaching far enough, focusing on this was a godsend.

Then they told me that I was picking my head up too high to breathe. This was and still is harder to master, but I'm working on it! A woman at the Y gave me a good tip: try to keep one goggle in the water (don't actually do it, but try). It's working!

In the master's class I learned the proper way to do breast stroke, I learned the fly kick, and the back kick (which I love and use for all my cool down laps.)

I've gotten a lot faster, which has made swimming much more enjoyable, because I feel like I'm actually getting good at it instead of flailing around in the water counting laps.

The lifeguard at the Y even asked if I was on the swim team yesterday.

(Perhaps we all look like we're in high school when we're wearing swim caps and goggles.)

STEP 2: EMBRACE THE THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS

When I step out of the pool, I feel so cleansed, even though the first thing I want to do is shower.

The mental health benefits of running and cycling are wonderful and I miss it, but swimming is different somehow. The New York Times even wrote about it.

The pool is the only place where I'm forced to detach myself from my iPhone. If there's a chance work or someone might need me, they get the message that they're probably getting used to seeing by now: "I'll be off the grid for an hour or two. I'm going swimming."

Sometimes I even tweet it, so there's no question, I'm inaccessible to the outside world when I'm in the pool.

Swimming in itself is so mechanical. There's so much to the stroke and the kick. There's so much counting involved, laps and strokes. As a result, everything else in your head gets pushed out.

Then, when you get out, you're thinking clearer. That lede I didn't know how to write? That thing I couldn't think of before? That's when it comes to me.

It's good to get a break.

(Usually no one misses me.)

STEP 3: HAVING A PLAN

After seeing someone else with it at the Y, I ordered this book for myself: Swim Workouts for Triathletes by Gale Bernhardt and Nick Hansen.

The book has 75 swim workouts, drills, training tips and plans. Right now I'm not following a plan but have been doing the endurance workouts and really like them. They're anywhere from 2,200 to 2,600 meters and take me a little over an hour. Yesterday there were sets of 3-5 laps, alternated with drills and kicks.

I really only have one speed in the pool, so I'm not that good at doing the workouts that require you to vary speeds, but I'm getting better. Having workouts broken up really makes them go by quicker, and the tips in the book have made me a much better swimmer.

(I really hate that buoy.)

(The book's authors love it.)

SO…

I can't wait to brush the dust off the Asics.

But I can deal with the pool for now.

High elbows… catch… follow through…

Review: Garmin 310 XT

After my Garmin Forerunner 305 died, I just used an iPhone app to log my miles. But in half-iron training, the long rides eventually tested the battery life, so I was back on the market for a GPS watch.

I ended up with the Garmin 310XT, and two weeks in I have been very happy with it. I still use the Runtastic app on the shorter runs.

I paid $179 for a refurbished model on Amazon and I'd never know the difference between that and a new one.

Eventually I'll upgrade to the Garmin 910XT, which can do more, especially on the swimming front, but it was out of my range so I know I'm doing without a few features.

I'm a data junkie so it's nice having all the numbers. Sometimes I have to force myself to not look at it though! I was psyching myself out by staring at the settings during the Quakerman Duathlon.

Setup: The 310XT is very similar to the 305, so I had no issues setting it up. It's really easy to customize the data fields and you have a lot of options.

Swimming: The watch is waterproof, so you can wear both it and the heart rate monitor under water. The vibrating alerts freaked me out a bit at first but it's nice for being in the water when you can't hear it beep. The distance on the swim is by far not accurate, but in the watch's description it never claimed to be. Someday I'd like the stroke counts on the 910XT but this works nicely for now.

Multisport mode: I used this for the first time during my event Sunday. When you turn on multisport mode you can customize which sports you'd like to use and whether or not you'd like transitions. This made it really easy, I just hit the lap button as I was running in and out of transition so my times were accurate. It kept a total time in addition to a lap time, and you could see the details of each leg.

Size: The watch is a little bulky and bothered me during my first long run with it. I got used to the Forerunner though, which was the same size.

Bike mode: There are more than one bike categories, so you can set a different profile depending on what kind of cycling you are doing.

Battery life: Great! It is supposed to last for 20 hours. The most I've ever used it for is 5, and the battery life only went down slightly. The charging clip was a little weird at first, but I figured it out.

Accuracy: Any GPS watch will be slightly off, and the distances Sunday were very close to the course estimates.

Heart rate monitor: I love it! If you leave the watch on, it also gives you a resting heart rate a few minutes after you hit "stop".

Satellites: Compared to the iPhone app, it does take awhile to find a signal. If I'm starting out at a different location than where I finished previously, I do need to turn the watch on 5 to 10 minutes beforehand so it can find a signal.

Syncing: Sadly, I haven't been able to sync it up yet. I don't have a home computer and I can't install new programs to my work computer, and there's no way to get the data directly onto the iPhone without a $40 ANT stick.

Race report: Keuka Lake Triathlon

I am a TRIATHLETE!!!

For reals this time. It's not really official until you breathe into a wave, get kicked in the face and feel the clock ticking in transition... that indoor stuff didn't count. (Related: I am a duathlete and I am a marathoner)

The Keuka Lake Triathlon was a fantastic whirlwind kinda weekend. All in all, I'm thrilled not only with my results but by the fact that I felt SO prepared, and feel like most of the decisions I made were the right ones.

The blow by blow in a sec (you folks get the rambling, I'm already halfway through the bottle of wine I bought in wine country version. Should have bought the big bottle. I'll do a more coherent version using a couple of those professional writer skills for Scootadoot later this week!)

First and foremost, the results! The goal I told everyone else is: Finishing not last. The goal I secretly told myself: 2 hours.

• Overall time: 1:47:21
• 820 yard swim: 24:00 (3:12 per 100 yards)
• T1: 3:12
• 13.6 mile bike: 50:00 (16.56 mph)
• T2: 2:00
• 3.1 mile run: 27:40 (8:55 minute mile)
• 168/260 overall, 55th of females, 12/20 in my age group

Ok now the play by play:

SATURDAY

Philip and I went down to Penn Yan Saturday afternoon with Flower in the backseat and way too much stuff. (Only let him navigate if you have plenty of time to spare.) Got there in time for the clinics. Bummer that more people didn't go... they were excellent. Got some great tips on my running form and felt much more prepared. Chugged lots and lots of water.

Had a burger and fries (what I was craving) at Timmy G's, a cozy little restaurant downtown, and a glass of Hazlitt Cat red wine. 

Stayed in the dorms at Keuka College. It was definitely... a dorm. Ahhh, a plain white room with three twin beds and sandals in the shower. 

Far from a hotel, but a cheap bed for the night, and the best part: I could see the lake (and transition) out the window. I sprung for air conditioning, and burrrrr, it sure was air conditioned!!!

BEFORE THE RACE

The alarm went off at 5, and I commenced the: Peek out the window to see how crowded transition was, set alarm for ten minutes, go back to bed. I finally got Flower out of the car and claimed my spot (third bike in, perfect) at 5:45. 

I set my transition the way Mary taught us and put some plastic bags over it to keep it dry, and got marked. I found Sarah and Kelli who were also doing their first triathlons, it was so wonderful to know people there. In addition, the two people next to me in transition were from the Rochester-Area Triathletes!! I am totally joining. 

I went back up to the room to foam roll one more time, and made my first big mistake, I forgot transition closed an hour before my wave!! I smiled, gave the "it's my first time" plea, and got the crew to hand me my swim stuff. 

I doused myself with cooking spray, put my wetsuit on over my spandex shorts and sports bra, and went down to the water.

SWIM

I watched the olympic tri folks take off, then waded into the water as soon as they let us.

It. Was. COOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!

I slowly inched in, finally sucked it up and put my head under. Came up in shock. BURRR!!! I didn't want to be That Person Who Runs Out Of The Water With Her Tail Between Her Legs, so I stayed in, and slowly acclimated. The water was never nice, but it was tolerable. I did some swimming back and forth a little, then met Sarah on the shore. 

We met a girl from Buffalo, Katie, and us three first timers waited nervously until our wave was called. We filed through the chute, and then it was our turn. One minute. 30 seconds. 10 seconds. Horn. 

During the transition clinic, Mary told us some swim horror stories that left me wondering if I should have been taking the aqua kickboxing class at the Y to prepare. 

Fortunately, my wave was cool. Everyone spread out, and I was only kicked twice, and kicked someone else once. So water combat skills weren't necessary, but I employed her spitting in the goggles to get rid of fog strategy.

I liked the buoys because it split the swim up. I probably still zigzagged a lot, but when we practiced at Canandaigua Sarah told me her strategy, breathe three times and spot, and it worked. 

I found myself out of breath at the first buoy and my heart sunk a bit. Maybe I was too dependent on having the wall to pause at. We turned, and I settled into a nice rhythm, switching to breast stroke a few times. I had to straighten out a couple times but I felt smooth up until the next turn around point. 

Getting back was rough because there were no buoys, I was just sighting the arc in the distance. I psyched myself out a few times thinking I was closer than I was and ending up tired. Then there was someone I just couldn't get around. But I made it. 

I stripped off my cap and goggles, ran up the stairs, and peeled off the wetsuit as I ran into transition.

BIKE

I was prepared for the transition. I got my padded shorts and tank on (a tri suit would be nice), took a honey stinger, remembered the helmet before unracking the bike, and took off. I wish I would have done gloves too, but that's ok. 

Mounting the bike was a little rough, so was unmounting, but no embarrassments. The hills weren't bad at all -- all the practice on Route 65 and spinning paid off! I passed people uphill, got passed downhill. 

The only flub, the velcro strap on my saddle bag was cutting into my shorts and I ended up with a bruise and a hole in them!!! 

The ride was smooth, we rode through some rain and headwinds but nothing I couldn't handle. Average pace was 3:34, close to my 3:30 goal. 

RUN

Another smooth transition. I got the clips off, Asics, knee straps and compression sleeves on, and was out through the gate in two minutes, slurping a Gu as I went through. 

I had used the iPhone with the Runtastic app on the bike, but my hands were shaking so bad as I came through transition that I couldn't unlock/reset it, so I just left it behind and ran naked.

I feel like I started off too fast. Calves started to ache, so I backed off the second mile, then picked it up at the end. 

It was hot, and I dumped water on myself at the second water stop. I ran in hard, and finished dripping wet and grinning as Mary, who was announcing, called my name. Wonderful!! 

I finished exhausted, but probably could have handled a longer race! 

AFTER

Another perk of staying at the race site: A nice shower after. Then I inhaled all kinds of yummy food, sat in the sun for awhile, and headed home, doing a little wine tasting on the way in at Yates Cellars... yummmm Reisling. Shoutout to Philip for driving home... I was beat (though I should have taken advantage of the situation by stopping at a few more wineries on the random backroads he turned down...)

Lizzie and Brandy stayed with a sitter who had a big yard, so we're spending Sunday night laying around lazily and fighting for leg room on the couch.

I'm sad I don't have any photos from the race :( It looked like there were official race photographers there though!! 

Much more confident for Musselman!!

Random ramblings for a Tuesday (mostly about food)

It's been awhile since I've done a random ramblings post. So why not?

-I swam 2,000 yards last night in 56:09. I think my fastest time for this distance was 53-something, but I was still excited. Before then I'd done exactly one swim in three weeks, which I got done but didn't do so well because I still was having trouble breathing. I had similar trouble breathing the last five laps of the effort, so I kept my head up for the cooldown.
-The water was warmer then usual at the DFC. While I should be getting used to cold water, warm water was nice.
-I bribed myself with nachos from Moe's Southwest Grill to get my lazy butt in the pool. Definitely had an eyes bigger than stomach moment. They were delicious.
-Putting a Moe's Southwest Grill in between my gym and the parking garage is cruel and unusual punishment.
-I'm really hungry today.
-I'm again trying to track my food. I've given up counting calories, I eat too many salads and crockpot concoctions, so I've just been tracking in a Google Doc. Mission for the week: More protein. Hello, Chobani.
-So far I've consumed two Wegman's club packs of strawberries in four days. Delicious.
-Earth Balance coconut and peanut spread is delicious. I cut the middle steps and just eat occasional spoonfuls.
-Why did I open this soda? I don't even like soda. I don't want it.
-I started to write a bunch of scardy-cat bullets about the Keuka Lake tri, but then I decided to make it its own post.
-The Chase Corporate Challenge is in one week. Excited!!!
-Breaking news gotta go.

Playing catch up

See you in a few months, non-stationary bike.

Have I really not blogged since the Autumn Classic?

I'll use my usual excuse, I've been busy :)

This is one of four posts I'll have in the next few days... I need to write about my most recent trail race, the 1,000 burpee challenge I took on and some great new songs for spin I've discovered!

The election was... the election. Crazy busy up until the end, when we all got the results the pollsters said we would get. For a slight peek into my professional life, check out the fact checks myself and my colleagues were able to put together. I'm quite proud of what we were able to do!

But enough of that! Some updates on how my Musselman training is going (and other randomness that I feel like writing)!

There have been a few freak nice days but for the most part the bike has been shelved for the season (tear). I'm glad I got in as much riding as I did before it got cold and dark. But now it's cold and dark.

I set a goal of doing three lifting sessions, three swims and three runs or spins each week. Haven't gotten there yet, I will this week!

I've realized I'm not very good at resting. My initial instinct when I took some time off after the election was to pick up some extra spin classes. (I've got a song post coming.)

I am getting AWESOME in the pool. Well, nowhere near awesome. I'm still pretty pathetic, actually. Right now I'm up to two and a half laps without stopping, 25 lap total. Given that I couldn't even do the breathing thing three months ago, I feel awesome.

I'm really noticing improvements in my strength, thanks to my trainer. I can do 35 pushups, 47 decline crunches and hold a 4:00 plank. And some other benchmarks I can't recall at the moment.

I still haven't been running much, but every time I do it seems to come back naturally, so I'm going to keep focusing on swimming and strength and pick up on it in the spring.

Lizzie Dog is upset that I am not sharing my Wegman's salmon with her. I guess I could spare one bite.

Trader Joe's is finally open! Just in time for me to realize that I could find most of the things I missed there at Wegman's. But no matter! I got some ginger pear tea, frozen mahi mahi and cheap Gluten Free waffles. YUM!

McKenzie's seasonal reserve hard cider may well just be the death of me. And I have a P!nk song in my head.

Ok, that's all I got.

Swimming lessons Day 3

I've had my third swim lesson, and today I feel like I graduated from hopelessly-thrashing-around-in-the-water to "you actually look like a real swimmer!", as my instructor pointed out.

I still can't do more than a lap before getting winded, but when I started I could only do a half lap before I had to tread water and cough the water out of my lungs. It's still a long way to go before 1.2 miles but it's progress!

I got insanely lucky with the lessons. They're supposed to be group lessons at the Y, but I'm the only one in the class. The first day the instructor really didn't know what to do. Even though I had asked for Red Cross Level 4 she said the only thing she could really teach was how to help people get in the water and do basic movements. But, the lifeguard on duty does Ironmans, so they switched places, and he was awesome! Then the instructor Tuesday does triathlons. Both Alex, the new instructor, and Randall, the lifeguard, have been teaching me with an open water swim in mind, so all the form and technique I've been learning is specifically geared toward what I'm training for. They taught me to rock back and forth and extend my arms more.

Monday and Tuesday it was hard to focus on anything else but breathing. They tried to teach me about strokes but it was hard to focus on my form because I was more worried about, well, you know, not drowning.

But today, the breathing came easier! Alex helped me form my stroke so I move faster in the water, and it worked.

One swim lesson left in this session but I'll probably do more down the line. Yippee!!!

Swimming lesson Day 1

I'm already over 1,100 hits for the month. Traffic actually has been way up the past three months, even though I had several lulls where I didn't post often during the move. Thanks for reading, all :)

This week I'm taking swim lessons at the Carlson Metro Center YMCA in Rochester. Tonight was my first one, and all I must say is: Swimming is hard! I left the Y feeling kind of defeated, but after chatting with a few Facebook friends I realized that the only thing holding me back is the breathing, then it will get easier! So tomorrow I'm going to go to the pool before my lesson to just practice that (maybe alternating with some quality time in the sauna) and hopefully by the end of the week I'll have it down!

I'm getting nervous about Musselman, mainly because there's an eight-hour cutoff time. It took me 4.5 hours to do the bike, I know I can get faster but... I'll need 2.5 for the run and at least an hour for the swim. That cuts it close! Maybe I should find another race... but I so want to do this one!!

334 days til the race!

Must read! "Unplug and Then Plug Back In Excited"

Here is just a fantastic article about the importance of rest from Running Times:

"When race day seems an eternity away it is sometimes difficult to rally the mental focus necessary to get back into the swing of things.

"Then upon coming back, who among us hasn’t cursed about an “easy” 4-miler never feeling harder? There are both mental and physical components to address in order to ensure you are fresh, restored, and then ready to rededicate yourself to the upcoming season."

I'm in the second week of two weeks off and I must attest, it is difficult. The worst part was getting an email back from my pace coach advising that my first "long run" should be 4 miles. 4!!

(Ok ok I did cheat a bit. I ran just one mile yesterday. I had 10 minutes to kill before yoga.)

I haven't taken the time completely off, as the article advises. I've been doing a lot of indoor cycling. I have even made two attempts at swimming, which I'm sure were pretty comical to the lifeguard and other people in the pool as I treaded water halfway through my laps gasping for air. I took a kickboxing class.

But now I'm reminded why I took this rest period. I feel recovered now. I don't walk around with something constantly aching. And further, before this little hiatus I was secretly dreading every run, but now I can't be more stoked for Saturday!