Bricks

After a double long workout on Friday (consisting of a short swim and a long bike ride) I chose Saturday as my rest day (mainly because I woke up and just wanted to spend some time relaxing and not have to rush right off to the gym. It was a nice relaxing Saturday morning spent watching a movie on demand (Temple Grandin with Clare Danes...if you haven't seen it, watch it, its phenomenal) and just the kind of motivation that I needed. The movie essentially is about an Austic woman, diagnosed in the late fifties early sixties, who refuses to allow her disability to be a hindrance. By never making excuses for herself, and allowing herself a built in excuse, she far exceeds anyone's hopes or expectations both educationally (she gets a PhD) and professionally ( she apparently is a very well known expert in Animal Husbandry). It was a great message about never giving up and always believing in yourself and your abilities which was a great motivator for me, now that I am just a hair over two weeks away from attempting this.

Today, was my "heavy day" and for my long workout, I did a 30/30/30 brick. Thirty in the pool, thirty on the bike, thirty walking. Since I swim at a health club pool, I did all three stations at the club instead of doing the bike and run (walk) outside. I decided when I was in the pool that I would either swim the 750 or swim for thirty minutes, whichever came first. I complete the 750 in just a hair under fifteen minutes. The water was fast, of course, because it was just be and two old men in the pool, but woohoo for a fifteen minute 750.

On the bike ( a stationary bike) in thirty minutes I went twelve and a half miles.... at a moderate and not back breaking pace. So, that is still under the fourteen mile marker I should be hitting, but if I did twelve in thirty minutes (even if it was on a stationary bike) my confidence is starting to buoy that I will be o.k. come race day.

Proceeding the bike was my run. I did just about two miles in a half hour... respectable. decent... for me anyway.

I had a dream last night that I did the course in 2:32 certainly not "average" but definitely a time I wouldn't be ashamed of. So that has become my target-- 2:32. That would give me an hour for each the bike and run legs , twenty minutes for the swim and twelve minutes for transitions. I think it is doable.

My husband wasnt too fond of the idea of setting a time for myself. He thinks that I am setting myself up for disappointment and that I have been saying this whole time that the goal is to "Complete, not Compete" but what is so wrong with setting a goal. It's not like I'm saying I want to finish with the elites. 2:32 is a respectably low and I think pretty attainable goal, as "Triathlon Training for Dummies" says that the "average" person finishes it in 1:45. So that is giving me almost a full hour longer than "the average person" .

I followed Slow Fat Triathletes advice and tried out my "triathlon gear" today, which included my tri suit, which I had ordered on e size smaller than I am, because I was factoring in the change in body shape. Yeah.... it's too big. Thankfully I am still bustier than the average person who apparently wears this Tri suit, so it does a fine job of keeping the girls stable, but everything from the bust down is not anywhere near the "second skin" it is supposed to be. When I get in the water, the legs balloon a bit which, causes drag, which I'm not all that concerned about... but it does not stay against my legs like I want it to.

I'm probably going to need to buy a pair of spankie pants or something similar to wear underneath the tri suit. Chafing is my biggest concern... with thighs that could light a bonfire from their friction, I was hoping the suit would prevent them from rubbing together. Too late to get a smaller size, this one took almost two weeks to get here. So I will need to think of something.

I feel great ... surprisingly I felt great through the whole hour and half of working out and I feel great now! I was really dreading todays workout because my greatest fear was that I would feel like hell at the end of the workout and then I would be questioning whether or not I was capable of doing this triathlon after all. But considering how un-hellish I feel.. my confidence is certainly cautiously optimstic.

The rest of the day today will be spent outside enjoying this gorgeous weekend. Tomorrow is a long bike ride, a cookout with friends and of course... the Hawks game.

Have a great rest of the long weekend... and LETS GO HAWKS!

~Millie