Random Friday Musings

Cheers to the weekend.


- I know that title is probably extremely misleading. The "musings" part leads one to believe that they have arrived on some kind of blog with deep thoughts and intense contemplation. Right. I am SO not a deep thinker. I even had to look up the word musing.

- This was supposed to be an actual post, but I just got back into town from a business trip and I got tired of staring at the blank screen with no words coming into my head. Lack of sleep has my brain fuzzy and the thought of writing an actual comprehensive blog post just hurts my head. Or it might have been the late night wine. I guess we'll never know.

- Silk Chocolate soy milk is one of my favorite post workout treats. Wonder what it would taste like if they made soy milk in a "cake batter" flavor.

- I raced another sprint triathlon recently and I have yet to put a race report up. It was my second triathlon and as good and as fun as the first race was, this one was equally as bad. I totally freaked out on the swim because of the cold water and rain and couldn't put my head in the water. No really, there were polar bears floating on ice caps out there. Ok, maybe there weren't, but it really was cold and I wigged out in the open water. I then had a bike malfunction during the bike portion and cried like a little girl. I am truly glad that I wasn't wearing my usual "race mascara". That would not have been pretty. My time was better then the first triathlon and my run time was better, but really, there is no other way to put it other then: I sucked it.

- I really need to revamp this blog. Even I'm getting turned off by the colors and layout. And hey! Did you know that it has been 355 days since my last race? Yeah....time for that to go.

- My race season ends with only three events: The Copper Triangle bike ride, which was an 80 mile ride over three mountain passes and a net elevation gain of 6,000 feet and two sprint triathlons. Three events leave me hungry for more.

- It has been in the upper 80's here in Denver and I am ready for fall weather. I say this and it will probably snow next week.

- Currently searching for 2012 race events, but for now, it is time to rest, relax, and enjoy fall and pumpkin spice lattes.

- I should have labeled this post Random Friday Crap.

Have a great weekend!

I *Heart* Swimming

Well it's September. I figure I better go ahead and get my September post up since a once a month posting is about my average these days.

After my first triathlon, I sat down and thought about what worked and what didn't work for me during the race.

Here's what worked:

1.) The bike. My average MPH wasn't bad, it could be faster, but that will come with more bike training.
2.) My nutrition. I think I know the right amount of fluids and nutrition that I need during the bike and run.
3.) My T2 transition time of 38 seconds. I had the fastest in my age group and fourth fastest overall. I think I should get a medal for this.

What didn't work:

1.) Lolly gagging around during the swim. There's no reason to be thinking about the mud and plants under my feet or all the decaying dead bodies at the bottom of the lake that were staring up at me as I was swimming over them (I need to stop watching Forensic Files)
2.) Sitting down and staring at my feet in T1.
3.) Having to walk/run the run portion.

I think the run portion will work itself out as my cardio comes back to me. I'm not sure what to say about the feet thing in T1, hopefully that won't happen again, so I guess the one thing left to really work on is the swim part. I need to get some confidence in my swimming.

Here's what usually happens when I go to the pool:

Oh look at me, playing around taking pictures under the water. Thank goodness I shaved my armpits.



My friend Jill and me. Lookie at our pink kick boards, aren't they pretty? They are kids sized, but we ordered them anyway because everyone needs a pink kick board.



I decided that I am going to get serious about swimming, so I signed up at "The Swim Labs" swim school to have my swim stroke analyzed. The unique thing that the Swim Lab does is they put you into a giant tank of water also known as the endless pool, which creates a current down the middle of the pool. This current allows you to swim in the endless pool while a swim instructor evaluates your swim stroke and video equipment record you as you are swimming so that you can see the areas of inefficiency and what needs to be improved upon.

I walked up in there pretty excited about my lesson and the first thing I notice is all the little kids running around. I'm the only adult with a swimsuit on. Peachy. The rest of the adults are gathered around a huge glass plated window where they are able to view all lessons that are happening in the endless pools.

Well shit.

Then I notice all of the TV monitors located above the viewing area where you could watch as they video taped the swim lesson/analysis.

Well crap.

My swim instructor came out to get me and I immediately ask him about the cameras.

"Yes, those are there so that parents can watch their children" he replied.

"But my parents aren't here! Does my lesson have to be broadcast!!!"

I must have looked absolutely mortified because he assured me that the parents would be watching their children and not my lesson.

Right. Why would you watch your kids when there is a floundering whale trying to stay afloat in the middle tank.

I quickly forget that I was in a giant fishbowl with an audience once I became absorbed in my lesson. The lesson itself was pretty cool and it was neat to be able to swim and then watch the video replay on the monitors. He also put me swimming side by side with an Olympic swimmer and pointed out what I needed to improve on. Overall, my stroke is actually pretty good and he gave me a few pointers and swim drills that I could work with the next time I go to the pool.

If you are a competitive swimmer or just suck like I do in the pool and want to improve, I would highly recommend finding a place similar to the swim lab and having your stroke analyzed. I found it to be a fun and useful experience.

Well this has gotten to be a novel and I'm sure no one really wants to read a book on a swim lesson, so I'll be signing off now.