Black Cat!

I put these pictures up before, but this is the suit I wore at my swim meet and this is the suit I wore yesterday, today, and will wear tomorrow for swimming. It is Halloween week after all!

So yesterday before swimming I said something to the lifeguard that needed to be said for a long time. She almost always talks to Coach Joe during our swim lessons and always did during masters practice. Some days she is a little better about it, but last week she stopped and talked a lot. It is frustrating, because a lot of the time, I'll want to ask a question and I will have to interrupt her to ask it. Or wait for her to finish whatever she is saying. Or sometimes she keeps talking even when he starts talking to us about swimming. Ahhh! It is frustrating!

So when we got to the pool and got ready to start and she starts talking right away, I had had it and was not exactly nice but made it clear that it was not cool for her to be interrupting the swim lesson. She huffed off and sat in her lifeguard chair. I felt a little like a jerk, but really, she is the one interrupting our private swim lesson. Claudia teased me and made a meow sound and put her paw up. I did too, I was wearing the suit...I'm glad I finally said something, because having our practice uninterrupted made it one of the best, most focused sessions we've had in a really long time.

200m wu w/ fins

100m breast pull w/ flutter kick w/ fins

100m surf kick wearing fins (kick with head up)

300m IM, oh man the 75m fly was U-G-L-Y!

6x25m technique instruction on fly, back, breast

4x75m on 1:30 fl,bk,br technique on odds, fast free on evens (free in 1:09 and 1:06)

100m easy pull

3x100m IM on 2:10? descend in 1:50 something, 1:47, 1:44

100m easy pull

6x50m w/ :10 rest in :43, :47, :45, :45, :45, :45

100m easy pull cd

2050m total

Then, work on flip turns! Yeah me! Having Claudia try it with me helped make me not so scared and having Joe break it down make it easier. First we just tried the underwater push off the wall. Then the flip turn part. It took me several tries to actually get close enough to hit the wall with my feet.

It was a great workout! I learned a lot of stuff to work on for all 4 strokes. For free I stretch out too much when I start the catch, sort of delaying the start of the stroke. Kinda of a bad habit I developed from trying to minimize my stroke count by rolling onto my side and kicking (at least this is my hypothesis). For fly, oh so much, but for now, I am breathing too long and early and I worked on changing my hands on the recovery and entry. For back, I am working on not having so much of a "bobble head" ie moving my head around while swimming, and on my scissor kick. For breaststroke, rolling my fingers out, timing my kick and breathing, and keeping my head in line with my spine. A lot of stuff to work on right? I can do it though.

Yesterday and today were rough days for me. I have been going through a lot of stuff and that combined with my neck ache and fatigue all ganged up on me. Both days I had bad migraines. This morning I blew off swimming and slept in. Poor Matt was there all by himself. After work I swam. It felt so good to work out. I don't like swimming by myself though. I like having a coach there giving me a workout, giving me feedback on my stroke so that I focus more on what I am doing. I feel like I improve the most that way. Or have friends there so I do a better job of sticking to the workout so that I at least don't totally slack off. I slacked off a little. I had a workout, but I modified it quite a bit. To do kicking because I didn't feel like putting my face in the water as much.

400m-alternate 100m swim, 100 kick

300m-25 scull, 25 swim

200m-50 drill, 50 swim

100m build

8x200m on 4:00, back, kick, IM, free, kick, back, IM kick, free

100m cd

2700m total

He may look sweet...

But I think Cooper is trying to kill me. Yesterday morning I was taking Cooper and Frito for a walk at, oh 5am. The grass was dewy, it was dark, and of course, there were some deer out. Cooper decides that even though he has zero hunting instincts, he wants to chase the deer. Then Frito does, gets clotheslined on Cooper's leash cause he can't see in the dark (I'm not joking about this, he actually ran into a closed door full speed in the dark last night too). This causes his leash to jerk, making me slip on the grass, whacking my head on the pavement. OUCH! Luckily, no concussion (I think). Just some lumps/soft spots on the back of my head. And now some serious neck pain. Like bad. I was putting China Gel from Esther on my neck all day today. I smelled so minty fresh. Okay, maybe not.

As I was changing to take the dogs out for a run after work, Cooper was doing his normal "I am so excited to run" spins and head butted me! Really hard! I screamed so loud he slinked off with his tail between his legs. We still ran. It was cold and windy and I couldn't turn my neck at all so I was sure I was going to trip on a curb or something, but we made it back safely. Only 3 miles. We did 3 miles this morning too.

I actually swam right after I hit my head on the sidewalk on Monday. Me, Matt, and Claudia. I got there late. I had a good excuse this time...

4 x 100 free descend on 2:15

1 x 200 free Stroke count
4 x 100 on 2:30 50 Kick/ 50 Build, each 100 diff stroke
7 x 100 on 2:00 Free
3 x 200 Kick w/ fins on 3:30

100 Warm Down

2400m total

I didn't make it all the way through the workout and altered it a bit. And I am scared to do the flip turns. Water up the nose. I have to make myself do them tomorrow. At the bottom of the workout it said this:
EACH DAY… DO A LITTLE MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU CAN!

We laughed about how this should not be shown to Esther...Many triathletes for that matter...

I think I hate biking. Only because I am out of shape. I swam on Sunday. Then biked 90 mins or so. I felt crummy and my shoulders got so tight from the bike ride that it made me cranky. The scenery was nice. I just hate when I am not used to being on the bike and my body tells me so. The swim was good but I was tired from Sat.

5 x <25 kick/ 75 swim
<25 scull/ 75 swim
10 x 100 IM AT (2) (Substitute worst stroke for best stroke on even 100s)

1 x <1 x 500 Free (9)
<1 x 200 Back (4)
<1 x 400 IM--cheated on the first 100fly a little (9)
<1 x 100 Free (2)
200 warm down

3400m total

Swim, swim, swim

No XC this Saturday morning or crazy 6 am hill repeats for fun. After being achy tired and feeling like I had a fever (but didn't) most of the week, and then going out Friday night for a friend/coworkers b-day, running hard didn't sound too appealing. I am in swim mode now I suppose. I did run 5 miles with the doggies through the park, but nothing hard. Gotta get the doggies out or they get restless...

I have been swimming. Just like last year, when my biking and running are down in volume, this is a good time to make some big gains in my swimming. And in my strength too. Because of a girls swim meet at the Y, we waited until late afternoon to swim. I got there just as they were finishing up and the locker room was scary. Little girls everywhere and a complete mess! If there is a limit on the number of people allowed in the locker room, I'm pretty sure it was exceeded.

I had a workout in front of me that was 6800m long. I have never swum anywhere near that much, and didn't plan too. I did tell myself that I had to swim at least 4000m which is one of my longest swims ever. I did 4100 and swam much of it hard. When I was done, I felt completely wiped out. Good, because lately I have been getting out of the pool feeling way too fresh. It's good to get your butt kicked, that's how you get better.

1 x 200 free
4 x <1 x 50 (scull/ swim) (1:30) #1 – Fly, #2 – BK, #3 – Br, #4 - Fr
<1 x 50 (kick/ swim)
<1 x 50 (drill/ Swim)
<1 x 50 (negative split)
7 x 175 (3:00) did the 4th one backstroke
25m easy
14 x 50 (1:30) (10m above race pace, 40m easy)
7 x 150 (2:30) Free, back, free, breast, free, (fl,fr,bk,fr,br,fr), free
100 cd
PERSISTENCE IS WHAT MAKES THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE,
THE POSSIBLE LIKELY,
AND THE LIKELY DEFINITE!

The saying above was listed at the bottom of the workout and kept me pushing hard even though I was so tired.

Friday morning I got to swim with Esther and Matt! I got there a little late of course, then we chatted of course, so I only got partway through the planned workout. I was still feeling sluggish and blah, so it's probably okay...
2 x 500 (25 scull, 25 8-3-8, 50 build) :30 rest
6 x 150 AT (25 stroke, 75 free, 50 stroke) (2:30/ 3) I alternated br, fr, bk and fl, fr, bk
100m cd
2000m total

Up today, more swimming, and a bike ride. And I have to start making myself learn to do flip turns.

Goodbye Hairy...

The Hairy the hairball at the pool is gone! Sue the lifeguard was quite proud of herself for finally vacuuming the pool after a year or so. I suppose she felt that justified her hanging around for the majority of our swim lesson distracting our coach.... So how long will it be until it gets cleaned again? I do have to admit, it did look quite nice. I didn't notice until she pointed it out though. I was too busy getting tortured. The workout was great. I feel like my back and breaststroke are getting better and Coach Joe said that my freestyle has never looked better! It is relaxed and the kick is small (a good thing for me)! Woo hoo! The relaxed comment made me think about Esther's "Relax like your on drugs" mantra. Like either of us would know...but I tried to pretend I was super relaxed for the workout. My butterfly is not doing as well as I would like, but, well, it is something to work on. I just can't get the breathing right. Claudia was there and did everything but the fly. She was pushing me on the breastroke! She is quite good at it!
200m free wu (diving off the blocks! Oh yeah!)
200m IM
2x{50m fly
100m ns fr
50m bk
100m ns fr
50m br
100m ns fr}
6x100m-kick 50, swim 50 on 1:45-2:00 (depending on stroke), free, fly, free, flutter kick breast pull, free, free last 2 frees. Fins were making my feet feel really heavy today...I don't speed up as much as other people do with fins. I don't know why. I use the TYR Split fins. Other people that use them speed up a lot. Not me...One problem with my kicking on fly is that I am not kicking hard enough in both directions.

One thing he talked about with me was goal setting. It was actually in relation to a 10 year tennis player he was coaching, but seeing as the world revolves around me :) I was able to find a connection for my own training. I often get anxious about achieving my goals and perhaps that is because I am not setting them properly. Maybe I am setting them too high, or not setting in place the right steps to get myself there. I have a lot going on in my life. Triathlon is not my life, so expecting to achieve some of the things that I expect can be unrealistic and leads me to feel anxious and then dissapointed if/when I don't achieve it. Goals are extremely important for me. I have always been a goal oriented person. Without a goal, I feel a little lost. But when I set my goals to high, I think I get a little lost too. I think I am shooting for something, but I get lost along the way, I give up because I feel like there is no way I can reach it and that anything else less than that is a failure. I think one of the most important things for me to do for my 2009 season is to make some good realistic goals for myself, that fit my lifestyle and abilities. That challenge me but that are reachable if I really push myself. That aren't based on what other people want or what they are doing--these goals will be mine!

For some reason my face has been really red and I have been feeling really warm and dizzy and achy and tired. This has been the last couple days. Not enough oxygen? The chlorine from the pool? My throat was scratchy too. But a lot of the time that is the chlorine.

I didn't go to dance class tonight. I didn't go last week because of my hair appointment and tonight because I was not feeling great.

Yesterday morning I swam. The IM Florida dudes were there in a lane together and Bob was doing 400's. I did a workout with some IM stuff, minimizing butterfly because I was tired and my breathing has been icky.
300m wu
2x{50m kick, 50m drill, 50m swim; 2x100m IM w/ :15 rest; 3x50m w/ :15 rest back first round, breast 2nd; 50m free in :42-43's on 1:00; 2x75m stroke from 50's}
150m-50k,50drill,50swim
2x50m fly kick on back
100m cd
2050m total

Then felt funky like I did today at work. Maybe it is the pool. They could be putting some weird stuff in there.

I am going to go to the doctor to get it checked out. I started googling what it could be based on my symptoms. One thing that came up was type I diabetes! Yikes! Highly unlikely but not good.

Why do I do this to myself?

Sunday was a beautiful day. Blue skies, low humidity, fall colors-so perfect for a bike ride. Just a little cold and windy. Oh and I haven't been biking much and I am out of shape for it. And, I was sore from my crazy hill repeats the day before (why did I do those? moral support for others I think...). So Matt, Genine, and I headed off for a nice 2 hour ride on my "Hill and Dale" loop from the Y over through Bedminster Township into Tewksbury Township, past Hill and Dale farm (hence the name), through the town of Oldwick and back through Bedminster before heading back into Bridgewater. It had everything a ride needed hills, nice roads, scenery, fall colors. Maybe a bit too many BMW's and Audi's out for a Sunday drive, but other than that great. But my legs, OH, so weak, so tired...

We got back, and I had planned to swim 3500m, IM workout. Gosh darn it, I was going to do it. I signed myself up for 60,000m in the October Fishtwitch swim challenge and I was behind schedule as of Saturday to make my goal. This would catch me up. I swear, when there is oxygen flowing to my brain, I am very smart. But it seemed like a good idea to do a workout with a lot of kicking in it...
400m wu
200m reverse IM order kick
200m reverse IM order
200m free
2x{2x100m IM kick w/ :15 rest
200m IM (25k, 25 swim)
100m-50m fly, 50 bk
100m-50bk,50 br
100m-50br,50fr
100m free
300m IM (75m fly wasn't happening, I did 25 fly, 25 free, 25 fly first round, then 3x100IM on the second...}
200m cd
3400m (I couldn't justify doing the extra 100m cd just to get the extra 100m)

During some of my thrashing on the fly as I was gasping for air, I started to wonder why was I doing this to myself. The swimming maybe, I have some races planned. But the biking, the running, all of it back to back, soreness, upon soreness. Yeah I enjoy being out biking and running, but it is also hurting me. This is my off season. I shouldn't be pushing myself so much.
I kept going, finished the workout. Stretched out. And took today off working out and slept in a little.

Butt Crack Super Suffer Run

I didn't end up having to work yesterday! Woo hoo! But I still packed my schedule up with a busy day.

Up first, the Butt Crack Super Suffer Hill Run with Todd, Matt, and Esther at 6am. Why so early? Well, for one, when we planned it, I thought I was going to have to work, two, Todd had to get home early to be Super Dad. So at 6am the four of us loaded into Todd's jeep and headed over to some hills in Bridgewater.

Apparently I am the only one who knows how to dress properly for running in cold weather. It was in the 30's when I woke up and the wind was blowing. No hats or gloves for anyone and Esther shows up in shorts and a long sleeve. What?! I force some gloves and a hooded fleece on her for the warm up at least. We ran the .8 mile hill loop one time for warm up. Totally dark. No street lights or anything. Then 3x.8 mile loop hard (I jog a little back to pick up the group). The first loop I talk trash with Todd (don't call a 43year old an "old man" at the beginning of a workout), so he starts off pushing the pace hard. He makes it up to the second hill with me and then drops off. It is so dark I can't see where I am running, but just hope I am going the right way. My lungs are burning from the cold air and being out of shape. Finally, the downhill. I pushed the 3 loops really hard. My legs were so dead on the last one.

Then 4xsteep hill reps with walk jog down for recovery. Before each hill repeat Todd started us off with a different countdown--1-2-3 toss your cookies, 1-2-3 cardiac attack, 1-2-3 super suffer, 1-2-3 pain. The first 2 hill reps were okay. Then my legs were done. I had to walk on the third. It would have helped to eat breakfast before the run. Forth one I didn't sprint as much, but ran all the way up. Then we cooled down with one .8 mile hill loop super easy. Everyone did great on the hills. Hopefully it helps Todd get ready for Escape to Bermuda in 2 weeks!

I did make time for a nap of course, then off to the mall to shop with my friend Fred. Since I was short on time and we were both looking for stuff, I didn't end up buying too much stuff. I did get some new jeans, some cute new shirts, and a hooded sweater. Only the second pair of jeans that I have purchased since college (2002!). He bought some super expensive but nice 7 jeans. I would love to get some, but have a hard time spending $150-$200 on jeans! But most people wouldn't spend $150-$200 on a triathlon, so...

Then off to the pool for a quick, but good workout. It was actually the "barf your guts out workout" that I did in march at masters practice. That's what I named it because I felt like I was going to throw up during a couple of the intervals. I didn't push it that hard on my own and did IM/other strokes on 2:00 instead of free on 1:40...
350m wu
4x25m desc on :35 in :23 down to :19
2x50m on 1:15 build in :43
100m pull with kickboard between the legs
400m--100m stroke count, 4x50m build, 100m fast in 1:29
4x25m, desc on :30 in :23 down to :20
2x50m on 1:00 in :43
100m pull with a kickboard between the legs
400m--100m stroke count, 4x50m build, 100m fast in 1:32
6x100m on 2:00 except breast on 2:15--IM, back, IM, breast, IM, free
4x25m desc on :30 in :25 down to :20
2x50m on 1:00 in :44, :42
100m cd
2850m total

Then I had to hurry off to girly time with Esther and Genine at the Spa for manicures and pedicures. Esther giggled so much during her pedicure, it made everyone laugh. They said no one had been that ticklish in a long time. So with our pretty nails and hair nice (Esther just had hers done, mine was done on Wednesday and I like it so much!) we went out to eat. After the long day I was exhausted and went to bed very early. Whew! Good thing I didn't have to work.

Friday was a low key workout day. I turned off my alarm, woke up late. Got to the pool so late that they had given up on me coming. Matt still swam with me until he had to leave for his train.
1700m total
200m wu
12x25m on :40, stroke count down, fast back, my stroke count sucks lately
4x100m w/ :20 rest--alternated IM and free
4x75m w/ :15 rest, first 2 drill, then 2 fly kick on back
4x100m w/ :20 rest--alternated IM and free
100m cd

After work I ran easy with the doggies 3 miles in the park.

It is chilly but very pretty out. Going to bike and swim today. Easy bike though. My legs are sore and I am out of shape...

Where to focus

Today I just ran. Before and after work, 3 miles, with the dogs. Morning was faster, pm was easy. The doggies love to get out and run in the fall and so do I! I'm not training for anything running wise. I was thinking about doing the Philly Half marathon and then I realized I didn't really benefit much by focusing on my running in the off season since that is my strength as long as I am healthy. I need a mental break and competitive running takes so much mental energy from me. I am excited about the swim meets because it is new and I have no expectations. I am just happy to get out there and do it. With running, if I don't do a certain time, I feel like it is sort of a failed effort. And I don't need to deal with that in my off season.

Speaking of swimming, I had a good swim yesterday morning. Scott, who I haven't seen in awhile came and took a swim lesson with me. We have total different abilities, speeds, and needs, but it was still fun to see him. I worked on my IM technique. My freestyle has been slipping a little too though so I worked on that too.

I made the mistake of saying I maybe might want to try the 400IM at the meet in Dec. Although I did say I wanted to try it IF I got good enough at fly. I didn't figure I would get thrown into a 400IM without ever attempting a 100fly. Well, it was rough, but I did it. I was so tired that my head was moving on the first 50 of the backstroke and I ran into Scott. Whoops! My timing is off on my breathing for fly which is causing my legs to sink. I breathe too late. That is what I have to work on first. One thing at time. It was a tiring workout, but I learned a lot and I think I did pretty well. I feel like I am getting a lot stronger.
150 wu
100 im in 1:38?
4x25 im order
100 free
200 im
4x50 im order (did 2-50's breast stroke)
200 free in 3:09
400im
4x100 im order
400free in 6:26? It is hard to go fast when you are so tired...
100cd
2350m total

Some of my favorites

Now that the triathlon season is long gone (for me at least), I went through and picked out some of my favorite pictures. It was fun looking back and remember all of the fun races. Since I have such great photographers there are a lot of good ones!

Bassman Spring Triathlon--Group Shot post race. Me, Todd, Armando, Esther and Matt. So COLD that day. Matt is so skinny now you wouldn't know it is him in the picture.


The initial wetsuit struggle at Bassman.



Black Bear Sprint Tri Pre Race Shot. Esther is trying to say, Yeah, I'm tough!
Run to T1 at Black Bear--yeah I'm pretty sure the guy to my right was laughing or smiling at me.


Running fast to the Finish at Black Bear.



I'm so thirsty!!!! The most popular guys at the race!

Mommy, please take me with you to Vancouver...
Stumbling with hypothermia coming out of the water in Vancouver. Not so funny then, but it is funny to look at the pictures now.



Getting down to business--trying to salvage some of my race on the run in Vancouver

NJ State--The prerace group shot A, me, E, and Chaz.

Rockin' NJ--Stop looking at your watch and go!

Does this helmet make my butt look big?

Complete awesomeness on the bike. Can you believe someone thought that I was cocky for wearing that suit...ha ha.

Breaking the tape for the first time! So much fun! I totally rocked!

Genine and I before our long day at Tango.

Matt and I just after we finished the first leg (the half marathon) of the Tango.

Struggling with the wetsuit some more--putting a wetsuit on a sweaty, post half marathon body is not easy.

Buckman Tri--The beginning of the disaster, Matt help me out of this straight jacket!

Post race at Buckman with Todd, Matt, me and Claudia.

Goofing off before Skylands Tri.

3 tough gals post race at Skylands

Trying to look like I have good running form...

...and having fun at the beginning of my run at Skylands.

Okay so this has nothing to do with the race, but this is my favorite picture from Nationals--Me and Coutenay with the "German Shepard" puppies.


So that was a ton of pictures but fun to go through.

Totally Random

1) Someone searched this phrase on google and somehow found my blog: "when i poke my right butt cheek, my stomach hurts". My Philly Tri Race Report to be exact. Hmm. So I googled that phrase, and couldn't find my blog in the first several pages, but I did find Chrissy Wellingtons blog under the same search, so I didn't feel so odd.


2)If you search Matty Reed under Google's blog search, Courtenay Brown's site is at the top of the list with the phrase "Matty Reed pantless!!!!" Here is another shot of my favorite towel-skirt wearing Olympian.

3) Someone also got to my blog by googling something along the lines of "sore armpits pole dancing". It was several weeks ago and trust me, you don't want to google it to figure out where my blog pops up on the list...

Anyway...

Sunday was a beautiful day. I must run and bike I thought. And I was excited about my swimming so I wanted to swim. So, I ran with the doggies 4 miles when I woke up. Then in the afternoon (you know there was a nap in there!) I biked for 1.5 hours in the Bedminster area and enjoyed the leaves,blue sky, the horse farms and the mansions. Then straight to swim.

3x300m (100 fr, 100 IM, 100kick) wu
4X{4x50m-fl,bk,br,fr for each 50 on 1st round, all bk on 2nd, br on 3rd and fr on 4th, :15 rest
100m IM :10 rest
75m easy fr}
3x{2x50m kick w/ :10 rest
75m build
75m "fast" Only sort of fast really...
50m easy all free}
3300m total

I was really tired and hungry by the end and my left elbow hurt a little. It has been hurting for a little while now. Mostly during freestyle.

Tonight I biked short after work, maybe 45 mins or so and then swam until a little girl stuck a kickboard in my lane and told me it was time to get out. Seriously she was like 12 and was kicking me out of the pool, but I was ready to go anyway, and she was nice about it so I didn't care. I thought it was amusing.

I meant to go to the track workout with the Sneaker Factory but I forgot to pack my sneakers. I was really out of it this morning...So I biked and swam instead and it was good. My butt was sore anyway from attempting to do squats and lunges and other strength training stuff last night so track workout would have been rough. It was such a nice day I wanted to keep riding but it gets dark so early now, it stinks! My swim was uneventful other than getting kicked out by little girls. 1950m of almost all freestyle stuff.

Yesterday morning, I swam only 1000m-seriously, I don't even remember what I did but almost half of it was with the kickboard, so I'm not even sure it counts as swimming. My elbow hurt and I didn't want to aggravate it and I figured after all the stuff I did on Sunday I needed to take it easy. So I did and got a White Chocolate Mocha and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin from Starbucks. Mmmm. Oh and in the evening I tortured myself with some strength training and passed out at 8pm forgetting to set my alarm, thus waking up really late.

Tomorrow after work I go to get my hair cut and highlighted! Woo hoo! Then manicure and pedicure on Saturday with Esther and Genine! And maybe shopping with Lindsay and Fred! Beauty week!

Aquapalooza Swim meet report

I did it! My first swim meet over and done. No DQ's and no belly flops. Paul and I drove to the meet together and managed to take a long way there despite using the GPS. Whoops! Thankfully, I was not in the 800m and so we actually had a lot time to wait once we got there. The water in the pool was cold!!!! Like, way colder than even the pool in Bridgewater, make me shiver during the entire warmup cold. I got in and swam 100m then Paul suggested we practice a start while we could. It was not perfect (I forgot to look back), but okay. Then I had to go pee like 20x. Darn nerves and over hydration. Then I warmed up some more with 50m free and 3x100m IM.

After 3 heats of the 800 and several heats 0f the 100m back, and then 1 heat of the 200IM, it was my turn. Heat #2, lane 5. Yep, I was the fast seed in my heat. Woo hoo. Fast among the slow pokes...I warn the volunteers at my block that this is my first meet EVER so I may be twitchy on the block. They were very nice and reassured me I would be fine. I am glad there were no super strict people. Before I know it we are up on the blocks, take your marks and BEEP! Off I go!

I forget to look back again, but make it into the water okay. My fly is going okay, but right away I see the girl to my left is ahead of me. I start to die a bit on the second 25 of the fly and she is pulling away more. Here's my feets during the fly.

Okay, onto the back--I made the clean turn (thank goodness, I was worried most about this turn!), and tried to relax my breathing. I forgot about my technique (ie straight arm recovery not so good here), but did try to focus on the beams in the ceiling to keep a straight line. I think I made up a little ground on the girl to my left here.

Clean turns onto the breast stroke. I do the pull out thing, not great but not too bad. I focus on trying to catch the girl next to me, but it seems like our pace is staying about the same. I tried to think about what I needed to do with my pull and tried to push to get closer to her on every stroke. Onto free. I slowly start to pull her in a little. I have a lot of work to do. Last 25 she is getting closer. I give it everything I have. Not enough though. I finish in 3:23.92. I was hoping for 3:30 or better so I thought this was great. She finished in 3:22 something.

Here's the girl--Polly I think, that beat me in the IM. We were both super nervous before the start and we finished 1-2 in the heat!

Out if breath post IM.

After this I had a few hours until my 200free. I cooled down 200m free, then ate and drank some, signed up for massage/chiropractic and stretched and sat around and did a lot of talking and watched other events. Here's a pic of Paul in the 50m Breaststroke. I think he did awesome, but for him, he says it was slow...

By the time it came for my 200m, I was like, bleh, do I really have to swim again? I did a 300 free wu in the ice cold pool then shivered until my event started. I was in Heat 4 of this event, so much faster people. Just before my race started, by Yikes! cap started to rip. Oh no! I couldn't swim without a cap. Some guy pulls a TNYA cap out of his speedo (I didn't have time to go back for a new cap), so I did have a cap. That caused some stress. I was lucky someone was there to give me a cap last minute. My dive off the blocks was good, then I went out way too hard. I was taking too many strokes and went into oxygen debt really fast. My legs and arms were burning after the first 50. That was the longest 200 of my life. I really wished I was doing IM so I could switch strokes. And because I haven't been swimming free as much or hard the past few weeks. I came into finish at 3:01. Not too bad, but not stellar. Oh well. 200m cd then some food and drink.

A few more events to wait and then the 400m free. I was starting to dread it. What was I thinking? I should have done more free training leading up to this, learned some flip turns, etc. Paul said, just think of it as a negative split so I wouldn't go out crazy fast and blow up like I did in the 200 and I also wanted to relax and take nice long strokes. I think it was my best dive, but I am not sure. Then off nice and relaxed and long. I still felt out of breath, but I think it was mostly nerves. First 100 in 1:32, second in 1:37, third in 1:35ish, then I tried to kick it in and finished in 6:16 according to the people with the stop watch. The silly gal that I am, I didn't touch the timing pad just right and the time didn't record until 6:22. Doh! Here's me in my 400 free...

It was a lot of fun. I can't wait to do my next swim meet and see how much I can improve. It was interesting being at an event where I am one of the slower people. Not something I am used to but good for me, because it is good motivation to improve.

I met so many nice people. It was a long event but a good one. The singing of the Star Spangled Banner and Oh Canada were beautiful, probably the best I have seen at a sporting event. It was a nice facility--built new this year I think. So clean, no hairballs anywhere. Oh, and there were even cheerleaders at the event. And of course everyone loved my cat swimsuit! So many people asked where I got it from.

I was so tired when I got home I took a nice long nap. Frito has the right idea.

Almost time to go!

I am up early because I can't sleep! I am so used to getting up at 4:30 that on the weekends sometimes I wake up that early, even when I don't want to.

I leave for my meet soon. It is going to be a long day. I stocked up on lots of food to eat all day while I wait for my events. The 200IM is 3rd, 200free is 11th, and the 400 free is 15th and last! My new Splish swimsuits got here on Thursday! And were as nice as I expected. I got them really small so they would be tight on in the water, but nothing makes you feel fat like trying to squeeze into a suit that looks like it is supposed to fit a 12 year old. I wore the catsuit to swim yesterday morning. It felt very fast. Not like a cat be would swimming. I also bought some cat ears to wear around if I felt like it.
I did a short easy swim to work on my IM turns and technique.
1500m total
300m wu
3x100m IM
100m--scull 25, 25 br
50m-25 fly, 25 bk
50m-25 bk, 25 br
50m-25 br, 25 fr
200m drill (free)
50m-25 fly, 25 bk
50m-25 bk, 25 br
50m-25 br, 25 fr
300m cd--alternating 50m bk, br, fr

My ribs/abs are stile sore from my Wednesday dance class. Just when you think you are in shape, you try something new and BAM--you are sore for 4 days. Anyway, they are not too sore. I have been having some fun goofing off showing some of my silly moves like the dork that I am.

I ran 2x on Thursday, before and after work. Just because it was nice outside and I felt like it and the doggies like to run in the fall. 4 miles in the am, 3 in the pm.

It's time to start getting ready to go. Hopefully all goes well!

Hip Hop for Suburban Soccer Moms

I went to my first Hip Hop Dance Class tonight. I guess most of teh class wasn't there, so they combined us with the "little girls" class (probably ages 12-18??). I was the only new person there. 3 girls, 3 other adults and 2 teachers. Warmup starts, fun music and I am doing well, I'm thinking, I am gonna do awesome at this. A 15 year layoff from dancing and I didn't lose a step...well maybe a few. I danced from the age of 4 to 13. Here are some pictures from my days as a little ballarina. Who knew then I would be fumbling around in a hip hop class (who knew what hip hop was) as an adult in suburban NJ with a bunch of Soccer Moms?

When warmup and basic steps are over, we get into learning the combination steps. Since I am the only new one, I am behind and everyone already knows what they are doing. Sort of. No time to look 'street', just get the steps right! Oh no, I can't do that either. Oh well, it was still fun. I definitely have to practice a lot!!! It was fun just to do something different, put myself out of my comfort zone, and to move to some music.

This morning I did a swim lesson to work on my starts and my IM technique and turns. I didn't swim all that much (definitely less than 1000m). I did at least a dozen starts at the beginning. I need to work on looking back when I start and not at the water. Coach Joe made me dive in the water while looking straight at it to tech me why I should not do that--belly and face smacker! Hey that is not a nice lesson, but it taught me not to do it. Then I had to dive looking back at one of those swim noodles right before I went in the water. I kept looking at the water towards the end. Then I had to tell him how many fingers he was holding up when I dove in and that seemed to help make sure I looked back.

Then onto practicing the full 200 IM. Start and everything. First round I did not get DQ'd but I got lots of tips on things to improve in fly, back and breast and in my turns. So I worked on those strokes--backstroke was the easiest for me to "fix" quickly. The others will take some more practice and time. he also gave some tips to make me quicker off the turns. I am going to be so fast! Once I start doing flip turns--Watch out! Second round of the practice IM, I got DQ'd because i got flustered on my fly to back turn and started the back stroke on my stomach and then quickly flipped over...Yeah, I know...I need to practice those a bit more, hopefully I don't get flustered on race day. I am excited and nervous. Once the IM is over, I really don't care about how I do in the freestyle events. It is just getting past the first one and past the new "scary" stuff.

No love for the Doggies

I got an email today saying that the Rogers Rescue calender will be for sale in mid October and the 18 photos were picked. I am guessing since I wasn't notified, that means Cooper and Frito's pictures were not selected for the calender. They are quite upset and are venting their frustration over a good game of tug of war. How could they not want my cuties in the calender? Well, they will be in there, just not featured in a month. Super Cooper so wanted to be Mr. October. Well, they will always be the cutest dogs in the world to me.



Cooper is content playing tug of war all day...

But Frito is so sad...He thought this would be his big break into the doggie modeling industry.

My arms are sore! Especially my triceps. I took it really easy today. I swam with Esther, Bob, Matt, and Claudia. Esther needed to take it easy anyway because she did a half the day before. She did so well and I was super excited for her and spent the first 10 mins at the pool just talking to her instead of getting in and swimming. It is so fun when she is in Bridgewater to swim. Here is her race report: http://tri-for-fun.blogspot.com/2008/10/i-3-bassman-es-last-tri-race-report-of.html. By the way, she refers to me as fb (fast bunny) and cm (coach maija) in case you are wondering who the heck she is talking about. Oh yeah, and I think she took a picture of the famous hairball today, so we may post that soon! Anyway, the workout was easy and I was tired, but I still did my fastest 200IM ever at the end. I haven't been timing them much but still it was nice to see some improvement on such a tired slow day.

200m wu

4x75m w/ :15 rest alternated 75 free, 75-fk, bk, br

4x50m drill on 1:10

4x100m on 2:15, 100m free; 100-50m back, 50 breast; 100-50m fly, 50 back; 100m IM

200m easy kick

200m free mod/technique

200m IM in 3:39

100m cd

1800m total

After work I got a massage down in Hillsborough, much needed. For once I wanted to work on my upper body more than my lower body. Wow, that never happens.


I found a couple places to take dance classes. Some really good ones in Hoboken on Thursday night, which is a little ways away, and one in Flemington on Wednesday night which is closer but doesn't sound quite as fun. I may try the one in Flemington this Wednesday just to see what it is all about.

Been a few days

The suits have been ordered--The Cat suit and Superstar suit (with matching cap!). I will likely wear the Cat suit for Aquapalooza on Saturday. I was at Dunkin Donuts this morning and ran into Paul who is going to the meet with me. His partner may come to watch, so maybe he can get some pictures of the black cat diving off the blocks (aka ME!)

I got run down with some stress and a slight stomach bug that I am pretty sure I caught from the office. It may have just been stress and food making me sick though...

I am swimming IM like crazy. My turns for that are getting better, the likelihood of a DQ is getting smaller and smaller. Woo hoo. Today I did a long swim with Paul and we saw Super Oscar there so he joined us. He gave me some tips on my swim stroke, and then kicked my butt in the pool. He did swim IM in college so I don't feel so bad that he was swimming 200 in my 150 time even though he is 20 years older than me. Then I went for an hour+ easy bike for the first time since nationals! I picked my bike up before the swim. It was so fun to ride and I missed it so much. The weather was beautiful and I didn't want to stop, but I knew I would pay for it later. During my ride Esther called to tell me that she had finished her first half iron in 6:02 and with a 37 min swim!!! And she was relaxed and had fun the whole time. She sounded so excited. Hooray for Esther. I am so proud of her.

I ran 6 miles easy aerobic pace with the dogs before work yesterday. Loved the cool fall morning weather and enjoyed the easy pace. Frito stalked some bunnies and we had lots of fun. After work (and lots of munchkins!) I swam by myself at the pool. I felt tired, but I think all the swimming I have been doing is paying off. I did 2550m of mostly freestyle with lots of drills.

I really want to find a dance class, preferably in NJ and not NYC. I danced for a long time growing up and I enjoy it. I don't want to do ballet--something fast and fun, hip hop or jazz or something. I haven't been able to find anything for adults as of yet that is not during work hours.

Some swimsuit choices

So, I picked some already made swimsuit choices from Splish. Or I may just Rock it out in my who rocks suit. Not sure which one I like the best. Especially for my first swim meet. This is an important decision. It is all about how I look since I will not be going that fast!

1. The Halloween look--can wear for the race in October, training in October and to scare Cooper since he doesn't like cats. Will a black cat be bad luck? Maybe just for everyone else...
2. The Shark--I had this suit in blue before and I loved it. It made me want to swim fast. Bob, who I swim with said he liked having a shark chase him in the pool.
3. Tiger suit--I like it, but can I swim in anything with out a cute fishie or something written on the butt?
4. The Superstar Suit--Cute, but sure is a lot to live up to.

All 4 suits may require me to break out ID to prove that I am indeed over 18.

Feeling like a real swimmer

I dove off the starting blocks yesterday. Several times. And I did not do any belly flops! I almost feel like a real life swimmer. Coach Joe was able to come in and coach us this morning. Not many people are into swimming now that the season is winding down. Just Bob, Todd, and I did a lesson with him. Chaz was on his Don Fink Ironfit schedule.
I practiced dolphin kicking off the wall and streamlining. I kicked maybe a little too much. I am not in shape for it. I am no Micheal Phelps. It put me in major oxygen debt for my intervals. It turned into a good workout at least and I am learning all sorts of new thing. Usually my arms get tired first, but with all the kicking and new stuff, I was breathing hard instead. I totally FOFO’d the beginning of my intervals too.
200m wu
3x100m-50m w/ 4 kicks on side, 3 strokes, 50m easy, :15 rest
3x300m-1st and 3rd hard, 2nd easy work on technique, 1st in 4:47 (100 in under1:30), 2nd in 4:50
150m easy technique
200m hard in 3:11 (like the band from the late 90’s)
3x100m IM (my last one was in 1:47 I think…)
then work on diving off the block
then work on IM turns
I was so scared when I first stepped up on the block. It felt so high up. I did my first dive off the side of the pool to get the nerves out. Then Todd stayed and watched me dive the first time. I had to look back at him just before I dove. I was so nervous before diving that I was shaking and Joe said that at my meet they would call everyone up out of the blocks if I was doing that. Okay, relax, no shaking. I did a few and the last was my best one!
Then my IM turns. Now that I know how to do them properly I can save some time there. My back-breast turn was wasting a lot of time I guess. Can’t wait to get back in and practice!

After work I went to do a track workout with the Sneaker Factory group. I haven't done one with them since May. Most of the usual crowd--getting my butt kicked by guys in their 50's. The workout was 3x{2x800,1x400 w/ 400 jog after 800's and 200 jog after the 400's}/ First one we went out conservatively in 90, then picked it up on the second lap for a 2:55. Second one was similar in 2:56. Then my 400-40 sec at 200, then 83 at the finish. My legs felt heavy, my arms were so tired when I tried to pump them. This IM training has worn me out. Round 2, 800 in 2:59, 2:57, then 400 in 84. My body felt so dead that I figured it was better to cut it short there. I felt like a quitter, but no reason to push it right now. I did a 1 mile cd and stretched.

Monday morning I swam too, but was so tired it was slow. I swam a freestyle workout with Todd and Claudia. I focused on technique and tried not to fall asleep in the water.
3x300--100 swim,100kick, 100 drill
8x50m alternating minimizing strokes and build
3x{150,100,50 w/:10-:25 rest (depending on interval)}
100m cd
2300m total

I am excited and nervous about my swim meet coming up on Oct. 11. I want to get a new swimsuit for it. I'll have to pick one out in the next couple days. Any suggestions?