Ocean Swim...Next Stop Europe!

OK, so up until last weekend, this was my idea of going in the ocean. 1) tip toe in up to my knees or so; 2) stand around and chat with someone...anyone will do...I don't need to know the person; 3) sachet a little further, perhaps up to mid-thigh; 4) splash a little cool water on the top half of my body; 5) pronounce myself refreshed; 6) return to beach chair.

Last weekend, Jackie, Janice and I arrived at Coney Island for my first Aquathlon. There were different distances available. We registered for a half mile swim followed by a 3 mile run. We were there bright and early. Among the first to get into the transition area and set up our things. This gave us lots of time to get the lay of the land and sea. And too much time can be a bad thing. The longer we waited, the more anxious I got about swimming with the waves. And not touching bottom. And not even seeing bottom. And getting swept away, all the way to Europe. And jellyfish. And sharks. And I was just short of claiming to see the Loch Ness Monster when finally the race started.

Two milers went in first. Then one milers. Then us. In our white hats. The water was freezing. 61 degrees, although not technically freezing, sure as heck feels like freezing. We had to swim out straight, get around a buoy, then swim parallel to shore to the next buoy, and return to the first before swimming in to shore. Jackie did great, she got right after it. My hero. And God bless Janice. She had to pep talk me all the way out to that first buoy. I would not put my face in the water. I kept complaining about the cold and the waves making me seasick.

We got around that first buoy and I figured, OK, now I'll be able to work with the waves easier. Ha. I kept trying to put my face in and swim normal...but I couldn't get the hang of breathing with the waves. And every time I took a breath to my right, I thought, "Next stop Europe." This was clearly not helping. So I switched to breathing towards the shore and that made me feel infinitely better. Thank you Amy Taylor for yelling at me for months on end to breathe to both sides! Now it is no big deal and once I calmed down, I was able to get the feel of the water and the waves and lo and behold, the turn-around buoy was just ahead. The swim back to the first buoy was like nothing and we were done before I knew it. In fact, I was going along so much better that I almost swam on the wrong side of the buoy because I got to it more quickly than I anticipated and hadn't sighted in a few breaths.

I was the next to last out of the water. This did not make me happy at all. I was through transition in no time since I had no wetsuit to contend with. And with no watch and no split callers, I just ran as fast as I could for 3 miles. There was no way that I was going to finish last!! Consequently, I ran my fastest 3 miles ever...breaking the 9 minute average pace for the first time. I was so excited!! Pace was 8:56. And get this....I won my age group. There were only 3 people in the age group. But still. Ironically, there were no age group medals though. Doesn't that just figure!?

Fast forward to this morning. We were at Point Lookout with our beloved Excel group. Janice and Jackie were not there...but they would have been proud of me. With minimal fuss, I got in the water, right up to my waist. The temperature was lovely. When swimming into those waves, I still kept my head above water...I need to work on this. But once out far enough, just got moving right along with the pack and was keeping up just fine, swimming at an even, calm pace. Nancy (who will never see this post) was my buddy. We did great until we turned around. Then we had a devil of a time sighting the buoys and/or the other swimmers. We hung together and kept going after a few brief discussions. We exited the water a little early, but were pleased with ourselves none-the-less. And the best part was that I enjoyed it today!!! (I only thought about Europe once or twice. LOL)

Doing the work

Alarm went off before 6 this morning. Time to put my feet on the floor, get up and do the work. But I knew how bloody hot it was going to be. Today's assignment was a tempo run. Total mileage of 6. Two easy, two harder, two easy. I lay there for 30 minutes, wrestling with the will to part company with the pillow. It didn't help that Joe was not parting company with his own precious pillow. I must have repeated it a half dozen times, "Get up, put your feet on the floor, there is work to be done." At last, I did it. I'd like to say that I won. But that would be silly since it was a battle with myself. How can you say "I" when "I" is on both sides?

Anyways, out into the heat I went around 7. It was already 80 degrees. And the air was heavy. Ugh. Double Ugh. First mile was nasty. I was happy it was supposed to be so slow. Now, here is the good news. I was still supposed to be going slow in the second mile and no matter how hard I tried to keep slow and steady, I was going faster than I wanted. Then it was time to pick it up for miles 3 and 4. I did mile 3 45 seconds faster than target. Nice. Mile 4 was just a bit faster than target. Mile 5 was at the proper easy target. And mile 6 was pretty slow....by then the heat was getting worse.

This program has 3 key runs per week. Track workout with intervals on Tuesdays. Tempo runs on Thursdays and long runs on Saturdays. Cross-training 2 other days a week. Then there is supposed to be strength training twice a week too. All this, and it is for one day. One race. One challenge. One test of strength and endurance and mental fortitude. I keep telling myself that this is manageable. That many of my friends are training for much more grueling challenges. They are training longer. They are training harder. So surely I can manage this.

The mental training is every bit as important as the physical training. And it seems for me that it is just as challenging. I don't know if that is true for everyone. Surely I hope so. I watched a movie tonight and there was a good line in it. "You must choose your thoughts like you choose your clothes." Something like that. I must choose to think that I can do this. I must chooses to think that I will succeed. I must choose to think I am strong enough. I will go to sleep now with that as my mantra and will wake up energized for the swim at Point Lookout in the morning.

The Countdown has Begun!

Sixteen weeks till race day. Which race? The NYC Marathon. Here we go again. I simply can't believe I'm going to train for this again. I must be nuts. 26.2 miles is a long freakin way to run. And man, it is hot as hell out there. But this too shall pass. Before we know it the crisp, cool air will return and it will be bearable again.

Yesterday was the first training day of the program. It called for a track workout. I opted to do mine on the treadmill indoors due to the heat. The workout was 3 x 1600 at PR pace for a 5K with 400 rests in between. The first one was no problem. The second two were hard. Really hard. I'm blaming it on the heat. Since I had just done that pace for 3 consecutive 1600s on Saturday, I certainly should have been able to do them with rests in between. Could have been the heat. Or perhaps the miserable run on Sunday - 10 miles - again, in the heat. In any case, I didn't quite make those second two intervals. Logged 5 miles total for the morning.

And all the while, the morning TV was going on and on about the Zimmerman case. That should have been enough to make me run faster in and of itself. LOL.

Push ups.

Who among my normal girlfriends can do a real push up? Now, by normal, I mean not an elite athlete. Barbara, this excludes you. Lisa, this excludes you too. And, by real, I mean on your toes not on your knees...no butt sticking up...chest all the way to the floor...and then the hard part, back up again. Dear God in heaven, this is hard. It is my goal to be able to do one. For now, just one. Someday, maybe my goal will be to do many of them. But right now I'd be thrilled with just one real push up.

Maybe we should start a contest of some kind. Who can do the most real push ups by a certain date? The trouble is, since I'm not sure how long it will take me to do just one, I don't know what date to pick. Any takers?

New Personal Record!!!

Woo Hoo! So excited!! The stars all lined up perfectly and tonight I took 28 seconds of my previous best time for a 5K. By my watch the time was 28:06. That has earned me a pedicure with my buddy Mindy!! Perhaps I should have done a little less well so that I could earn another on its heels. Ha! It's going to be tough to make another record now, but God knows I'll try.

My honey husband was sweet enough to pace me tonight since he raced yesterday. He was the perfect combination of encouraging and impatient. The weather cooperated. I left the music home. I wore my new highlighter shoes. I ate sensibly all day, nothing heavy. And the brand new purple streak in my hair was the piece de la resistance that gave me the extra edge! What a night. So psyched!

My second time finishing in the top half of both men and women. Yippee. And even better, this was my first time finishing in the top 25% of my age group!!! Outstanding. I will now shower and treat myself to a trio of bite size Yorks.