This week was a recovery week of sorts. We only had to run twice, cycle twice, and swim three times. Monday I woke up and I felt awful. I was just exhausted. I had a busy weekend with Jason + my long run on Friday and long ride on Saturday. I took the day off. I woke up Tuesday and felt refreshed.
My allergies have been getting worse and worse and I still have some chest congestion... making it hard for me to breath when I am running fast. This week was much better than last week, because I didn't let my breathing difficulties get to me. I just tried to stay calm and decreased my pace as needed. I still got a great workout though! Tuesday nights are fun because I get to pump some iron. It feels great and I love the different challenge every week.
Wednesday I woke up and headed to Colonial La Fitness... I swam by myself mostly and it was boring. Ty, our coach at Lake Highland, said the pool would be ready by Friday and I can hardly wait!
Wednesday VQ was a lot of threshold work. I wasn't sure if it was the extra rest -- but I definitely feel like my threshold number has improved since last session. I did great and hit all my numbers so I was happy.
Thursday I got to sleep in and I swam after work in the pool. I decided to skip the lake swim since I was already going to have one open water swim with the Hammerhead Ocean Marathon. One day of horrible allergies a week is good enough. ha.
None of us felt good. I wanted to barf 95% of the time. It was just way too early for me. It was BLAZING hot even at 4:00AM. But, we did it. We also fueled with LOTS OF COFFEE afterwords.
Battle wounds from my run... gotta love sensitive skin and very little sports slick!
I came back after our run to this... Thank you Coach Sway! My skin thanks you! :)
After work, we headed to Jacksonville Beach for the Hammerhead Ocean Marathon. Once we got there we got our packets!
Mellow Mushroom dinner to fuel! (Not as good as Winter Park MM!)
We were all so tired from the run this morning -- I almost fell asleep at the table, until we started talking about OHIO STATE and then I perked right up. hahaha.
We woke up late at 6:30, got ready, and headed down to the beach. It was cloudy, but the sun was rising and it was beautiful.
Group Picture!
We listened to some instructions and loaded the buses for what seemed like a very LONG trip to the swim start. The buses dropped us off 2.5 miles South of the Pier.
We had a little fun before the countdown to start. I was nervous, but my plan was to focus on my form the whole time.
I get really anxious initially at open water swims during races. My respiratory rate is abnormally high and it makes it difficult for me to get in my rhythm. I stayed calm and let my body adjust and it only took about 300 yards before I found my grove and was back to my normal breathing pattern. I was very satisfied with this. At Miami Man, I had to stop and tread water for at least 1-2 minutes. Going from hyperventilating to staying calm and letting my body adjust is a huge improvement for me. I noticed a lot of the people swam out -- and I figured it would be best to stay away from the waves. Initially there were people around me, but we all spread out. I had a few problems with some zig zaggers -- but eventually I saw two girls on my right that were swimming about my speed.
The water temperature was perfect. I felt stinging throughout my body. I also felt like something went down my shirt at one point. I tried to focus on my form. I counted my strokes, I kept saying "1-2-3-PULL", focused on reaching, pulling, and my kick. It really helped me focus on my form and speed.
I came up to Jess, who is much faster than me, and stopped to make sure she was alright. She wore a new tri suit that was way too lose for her..... and needless to say she was a bit uncomfortable. After I saw Jess, I really didn't see anyone besides the two girls to my right. No kayakers. Honestly, I was a little nervous. One of the girls I was swimming next to slowed down and the other sped up. I didn't want to stay alone, so I sped up and caught up with the faster girl. She was a bit of a zig zagger herself, but I focused on keeping myself aligned with the end of the pier. I think I did a pretty good job. I finally saw a kayak and felt relieved. The faster girl took off and I slowed down a bit. After awhile, I saw another kayaker who told me to go left. After a few times looking up, I finally saw the orange buoy very CLOSE to the beach. I tried my best to do a horizontal cut to keep my distance as short as possible, but I was pretty far out. I swam until a big wave went over me and pulled me back a bit. I popped up, got my equilibrium, and sprinted to the finish line. I wasn't sore or tired most of the time. I lost a little steam at the end, but overall felt great.
Trung told me I was the first one out from our group and I was excited! I didn't have my watch on so I am not sure my exact distance, but most people had between a 2.7 and a 2.8 on their watches. I finished in 1:28! :)
Lorri won her age group and got a cute handmade award! We cheered everyone as a thunderstorm rolled in. Once our last teammate finished we ran to our cars!!! It was nasty!
We went to breakfast at the Beach Hut. It was okay. Nothing like KEKE's!
Our SHIRTS from the race!
I was hoping that I wouldn't have bad allergies with this swim, but I did. I have had enough of my allergies and I am going to make an appointment with an allergist. Lake swims will have to be every other week until I figure out a better solution to my allergies.
I woke up Sunday morning confused at what I was supposed to do. The past few days have been different then normal weeks so I was thrown off. It took me a minute to remember what I was doing. ha.
I headed to Fort Christmas for our ride and I was feeling okay. Once I got on the bike, my left leg was really bothering me. My hamstring was tight and hurting during the long run and I didn't do a good job stretching, so it took awhile to warm up. I was tired and drained from my allergies, lack of sleep, and lots of activities! I did about 51 miles with an average pace of 19.3mph. I am very happy with that especially since I wasn't feeling that great -- and I didn't draft.
I am getting really excited for the race. I am really feeling confident in our training -- and I know that once we get a few 100 mile rides, 20 mile run, and two triple bricks we will all be ready.
I was so proud of all my teammates this weekend. So many of them have really been working hard on the swim -- and it showed during the event. :)
75 Days! :)
