Thursday, February 16, 2006

thinking too much...

i have a lot on my mind but first let me get to my training from today. i started out the morning with a 6.4 mile tempo run with 3 miles at around 10k pace. i did this run in my new race flats with no sox. results:

-2.2 mile warmup: 16:30
3 mile tempo - splits:
1 - 5:57
2 - 5:42
3 - 5:29
-1.2 mile cooldown: 9:38

i felt pretty good but i am not sure about the new shoes. i have couple minor blisters but i havent run without socks in a while, we'll see.

At lunch i went to the gym and spun for 20 minutes and stretched for 15 minutes. tonight i took a spin class at 24 hour fitness. i did it with a couple of my mountain bike friends. they are big tough guys... i like watching them suffer!

ok... so today i started freaking out a bit, and probably for no reason. i was thiking about the upcoming weekend and TCSD club race and the swim. 500 meters in glorietta bay. i can run and ride all day, but swimming makes me nervous. not that i am a weak swimmer. i have been swimming since i was 3 and surfing for the last 15 years. i've surfed really heavy waves and been cleaned up by 15ft sets and Black's. The ocean and open water does not scare me in the least.

i really started swimming freestyle in 2002, but then moved san diego and just surfed everyday and didnt get back in the pool with any purpose until this past october. since then i have steadily increased my workouts and skill. i even took some lessons with Paton Mcclung from swim smarter and have been working on correcting the errors in my stroke. i have been progressing quickly and have been able to complete workouts
(provided by my coach) up to 3000 yards without too much trouble. i have been dedicated. i am at the pool monday, wednesday, and friday by 6am. i have also done some ocean swims. a couple at del mar including one in 6ft pounding surf (it was fun) and also at the cove, and i have been comfortable and found it easy with my Xterra wetsuit.

so after saying all this i was having a little panic attack about the swim in saturdays race. the only other time i have swam in anything resembling a race was at the TCSD octobers beginners race (in a surfing wetsuit and i rode a mountain bike). i did ok... i think i was 5th out of the water, but for some reason i have anxiety about it. after thinking about it some more (and probably too much) i think it's because i know how hard and fast i can push myself on my bike and on the run, but swimming... no clue. i have a high pain tolerance on running and on the bike and i will push myself. you cant do that swimming. i have so many triathlons lined up for the spring and summer that if the swim is an issue for me it will kind of be demoralizing... well enough being negative. saturday will tell me a lot.

on anoher note. i signed up for the SOMA half ironman in October. i was told it fills up fast so i bit the bullet and registered. nothing like signing up for a half IM without ever completing a "real" race.

last thing... this is way too long... i added some links to my blog... check them out.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

With those kind of times on the run and bike you'll be FINE. Don't think too much about the swim...that's what is so great about triathlon...you can have serious weaknesses in one discipline but still kick butt in the others. Sounds like you've totally done the work for it though...just remember that if you didn't have areas to improve in, it might get *gasp* boring.

You might try doing some sets in the pool - like 200s, 400s, 800s...and just see how long you can "red-line" for, going all out. Then start backing off and find a comfortable, slightly fast pace and see how long you can keep it up...then hop on your bike and see how you feel. I think you'll surprise yourself.

A big part of tri is knowing how much to use up on each leg...this may give you a better idea of how hard you can push on the swim. Have fun!!!

Anonymous said...

You are rocking, nice tempo run. You must have been really bagging it at San Dieguito. Man you are a stud on legs.

Shoes, I thought this year I would try and go without socks in my training. Really blistered my feet. The problem was running in new shoes with no socks.

I think if you went in broken in shoes without socks or if you use runner's glide with new shoes.

For the swim Saturday just grab someones foot and draft like hell, just don't grab my feet.