Mini Tri

Yesterday I did my own version of a mini-triathlon. I've been biking to/from work everyday (approx 7 miles round trip. Clocking over 30 miles during the week. Not like I'm keeping track.), and then did my usual Wednesday night 1K swim WITH the run this time. OK OK... not the whole run, but at least part of it. So I didn't do all 3 events together per say, but I did them all in less than a 12-hour period so I'm going to count it.

Needless to say... I'm tired. My BODY is tired. But last night I was in endorphin heaven!! #worthit (Yeah. I'm single in my mid-20s & get my kicks from swimming in seaweed & having helmet hair. Don't judge me.) Not only did I accomplish all 3 events *that I will eventually be good at* in 1 day, I knocked about 12 minutes off my swim time from last week and was still able to run. Again this does not mean that my time was good... it means my time was less embarrassing than the week before.

I cannot get over the fact that in less than 1 month, my swimming skills (while still less than mediocre) have improved SO dramatically! This is fantastic news for anyone who wants to start up swimming too, eh?? It's fantastic news for me at least because I'm totally motivated to get out there next week & take even MORE time off my swim and do the WHOLE run. Fingers crossed.

Gotta give another big shout out to the peeps. Yes, you. I know you're one person who might not think the thing you said/did made any sort of difference but it did! I mean... collectively... having so many encouraging words, tips and having so many people willing to put in the time to help me out is unreal. I'm feelin' the love, y'all!!!

I know I probably sound super lame getting excited over a not-so-great swim time & being able to ride a big girl bike, but that's where I'm at. I'm sure a lot of you are thinking "Aw. That's so cute. I remember my first race". Yeah yeah, I know. I'm still working on taking off the training wheels & floaties while you got 1st place in Iron Man 3 years in a row and qualify for the US Olympics. I GET IT. I'll get there too... eventually. Bear with me, just don't pity me.  :)  #laughatmypain

Back on track: I'm stoked. Tired, but stoked. I can only hope that my progress continues as it has been the past few weeks. I realize that there will be plateaus, but the fact that I'm actually doing what I set out to do... & can actually DO it is pretty great. Just don't ask me how I'm doing on an "off" day ;).

If I can still inject humor into it, I will still blog about it.

<3 E

Three Strokes, You're Out

So I went for my third ocean swim today, & although I'm still embarrassing slow I AM getting better. Disclaimer: this does not mean I'm good. This just means I'm less worried about dying & can now focus more on my strength & technique. Instead of doing the backstroke & singing Sara Evans "A Little Bit Stronger" or channeling my inner Dory, I can actually swim quasi-proper now although I still sing songs in my head to make it go by faster. It's a survival self-soothing instinct to not think about sharks, seaweed, drowning, etc.

A few of us started a Saturday morning swim group that is the same course we do on Wednesday nights (1000m). Yes I signed up for a extra day of torture a week... for FUN. I just feel like the more exposure I get to the water the better I'll get. And it helps that I'm training with the fastest swimmers :). Like many other aspects of life, when I want help & advice to get where I want to be, I ask the people who already are there. I like to pick their brains and find out how they got to that place and try and soak up as much advice as possible from them because they're the ones who have been on the journey and are "walking the walk".

The only downside to swimming with the bests in a non-race environment is that they swim ahead of me but then wait for me to catch up. My secret is out!! There is absolutely no way that I can hide how slow/bad I am when all eyes are on me. I'll chalk it up as a good lesson in being humble. I am thankful to have all of the pointers though. It's the little things like where to enter the water, how to start the race faster, how to get my wetsuit off less spastically.

I'm also at the "light switch" point where I had previously thought I had pleeeeenty of time to train, to now thinking "oh shit. I have A LOT of work to do in the next few months". So I'm upping the training but having serious doubts about whether I can do it or not. I can tell you one thing: I'm tired and my body hurts EVERY DAY.

I'm thankful for all of the outside help & my motivation to meet my goal, let's just see if I can actually pull it off!