And out of the ashes again comes the blog. :)
As you probably already know if you read Meredith's blog, we're training for Ironman Austria in 2009.
Along the way is the first big goal, the Muncie Endurathon this July. It's a half-Ironman distance: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. For now, that distance seems overwhelming enough. Thoughts about the full race can wait till after that one. :)
I'm about 3 weeks into my training. Running is certainly the easiest right now, which is little surprise considering it's the only one I've really done over the last few years. We just got our bikes last week, so hopefully we can get outside on them once Downpour '08 finishes up.
Today was a swim, 1650 meters in all. The swim is what scares me the most about the triathlon. Now, I can already "swim". The challenge is turning it into something that I can do for 1.2 miles, and eventually 2.4. Right now my biggest problem is breathing. Just to test myself today, I tried to swim 25m without breathing. No problem. And yet, I always feel like I'm struggling for breath when I breathe every 4 (or 3, or 2) strokes. Definitely something that needs to go away by July.
6 comments:
i swim like a runner, not so much the typical leg drag (i've got that mastered and keep the head low to prevent that), but in that i like my air. i breath every stroke on the same side. none of this crazy bilateral stuff. i do what i can. and you know what? after a while, it becomes more natural. you get used to the the head turn, the exhale while your face is in the water, etc. it's like everything else. you start somewhere and work your way up. soon you'll be marveling at 3000m as an easy workout.
if you haven't already, though, find a swim instructor to watch you swim for a bit and get some pointers. just one session with a guy i know made a big difference.
let me back up a second, though, and say "wow". i had no idea that you were going to race it as well. that is AWESOME news! i have this weird gut feel that you're going to surprise us all with how naturally you adapt to triathlon.
I'll have to try the every stroke breath. I've tried bilateral...I'm not awful at it, but it's sort of uncomfortable still.
The first big adjustment from running was that the first training swim was actually longer than the half-ironman swim. It's not like you kick off your marathon training with a nice 28-miler. :)
yeah, i saw the crazy swim workout distance you mentioned in your email. that's kinda nuts. seriously. does your coach assume that you have a swim background already? that's the only thing i can guess.
the benefit, though, is that there is no impact in swimming, so recovery time is significantly less than running. same goes with cycling. that was the big eye opener for me when it came to triathlon. because the swim and bike don't beat you up, you hit the run with more energy than you'd think after several hours of exercise. the key is to fuel and hydrate during the bike so that you have decent levels when your sneakers (hehe...yes, i used 'sneakers') hit the road.
wow! that's so cool that you two are doing this together! good luck!
Michelle
Coach? :)
For now, I'm using a plan off of beginnertriathlete.com. We're planning on hiring a coach this fall/winter for the stretch run. I think you're right that they must assume that you have some swimming base already.
I've definitely noticed the change in impact, even in training.
I'm glad to see you're back to blogging!
I didn't realize Austria was a full Ironman! Finishing that would be a HUGE accomplishment! I can't imagine ever doing that. I'm getting tired just thinking about it! :-)
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