Less than a week to go...

The ticker on the left keeps running down. We're in the final phases.
Saturday Sue and I ran about 2.5 miles, then yesterday we biked 9.4 (with the last mile or so in a downpour). I need to stretch some, so we're doing yoga tonight. Then we want to get in one more swim, and a bike-to-run. Then rest leading into the big event on Sunday.

Swim Intervals

After work, Sue and I went for a swim. I wanted to test out the new tri suit, and I always need the practice anyway. I was struggling a bit at first just getting used to it, but I did feel like my butt was more bouyant.
We did countless laps working on my stroke, and I still don't think I have it quite correct. And then coach Sue decided we should do some 100M intervals. 5, to be exact, resting after each for 30-45 seconds. I did the first one in about 1:45, took 45 seconds, and then was progressively slower on each of the next 4. My rest time was shrinking, too, because I was going on the :00 or :30 on the clock. I was so tired that I think the push of the wall for the last lap took me about 20 inches.
Today we are going to do some running, so it's Sue's turn to work.

What Was I Thinking?

I did my usual short run (3.5 miles) last night. But I committed a cardinal running sin: I drank a big glass of water about 10 minutes before I started. Wow is that unpleasant! There were definitely a couple of times, especially climbing hills, where I thought I was going to hurl. But that is the kind of struggle that makes one stronger, right? So I toughed it out, and then when I got home took the dogs for a nice stroll to warm down.

I couldn't eat for many hours though: bleh!

Swim Practice

Last night, Sue and I met with some people from Central Penn Racing for an "Open Water Swim" practice session. In a triathlon, you have a huge mass of people starting all at once, all hitting the water at the same time. So you need to get used to swimming with people all around you, bumping you, kicking you, and raising big frothy splashes where you are trying to breath.
We did a few lengths with six people in the lane (and it's a narrow line, maybe 6 feet across). It was fun and educational, and a lot more difficult than it sounds. But I was feeling a lot more confident in the water, including being able to get my breath back after getting a nose- or mouthful of water.

And in other news, my trisuit should be waiting at my house when I get home.

Finally Bit the Bullet

After lots of searching and thinking, I finally went with the Louis Garneau Pro TriSuit. It's a little bit more than the other suits I looked at, but I just had a better feeling about it. I took my lovely wife's advice and went with my gut. I'll let you know how it works out.

A New PR

I've had my new bike almost a month now, and today I really wanted to see what it could do. So I did one of my favorite rides, the 15-km Loveville Loop. My previous best (on my old bike) was about 32 minutes. I was pretty certain that I could break the 30-minute mark on the new bike, so that was my goal.
I was flying along, really trying to push it. I know that course well, so I know where I can power through and were I need to ease back. And even though my seat post came loose with about a mile to go (and in fact when I finished my seat was all the way down to the top bar), I made it in 27:37. Imagine if I hadn't had the Incredible Shrinking Seat.
Then I tried to do a transition to a run. Wow, what an eye-opener! I had to stop maybe a tenth of a mile in, my legs hurt so bad. It was partly the whole bike-to-run thing (biking is mostly about leg extension, and running is about contraction), and partly because I went way too fast. I just felt like I was going so slow compared to the bike.
So there's a lesson learned.

Bad Day at the Pool

I don't know what was going on today, but swimming was a disaster! My shoulder was so tight (the left one for a change), and my breathing was all ragged. I plugged away as best I could, but had to take frequent breaks. And by the time my shoulder really started to loosen up, I was exhausted.

At the end I started to feel a little better, and regained some length in the water. Overall though it was a very frustrating session.

Looking for a Tri-Suit

The quest is on to find a Tri-suit. For the initiated, this is a garment (one- or two-piece) that is worn for a triathlon. It’s designed to work for swimming, biking, and running. This is as opposed to a wet-suit, which you only wear for swimming, and have your biking/running stuff on underneath.

So far my searching has been frustrating. I’m not finding any good, one-stop place to compare suits side-by-side. I have some recommendations to work from my friends at Central Penn Racing, but there’s no place locally to buy, so the rest is online. So there’s been all kinds of search through various sites. But if I’m going to pay ~$100, I’m going to get what I want.

So here’s what I have so far:

Sports Basement has some side-by-side for me. It has the Sugoi for $105. I have a Sugoi singlet that I really like, so this is a possibility. It also has the Orca Elite and Orca Distance, which were recommended to me, for $120 and $80, respectively.

Amazon has a Louis Garneau suit, also recommended, for $99.

Double Duty

I did some intense work yesterday in the blazing sun. First, I ran a 10K in the morning, and did a really poor job of pacing. Then in the afternoon Sue and I went to Whipple Dam for some open-water swimming. At first I was having trouble exhaling underwater, but I got over that. The bigger issue was not being able to see anything. I would have to lift my head up to see where I was going, or if I was going to crash into anyone, and then I'd have a hard time getting my head back down.

I managed to do a few 200's non-stop, although they weren't pretty. I'm curious now to see if I can swim a whole 800 without stopping if I don't first run 10K.

Taking a Rest Day

I am just dragging today. It occurred to me that it had been about 8 days since my last rest day, so perhaps this is my body's way of saying, "hey, take a break, friend." I'm going to heed that advice.
But tomorrow, I'm going to try to swim at least 600 yards.

Lots of Swimming

Friday I did 500 yards for the first time ever. That was after I'd done about 200 yards to warm up. It still takes me a while to get my shoulders to loosten up. My form was pretty ragged from laps 10-15 or so, but I pushed through that and finally felt almost good after that. Then Coach Sue had me doing 100 after 100 after that, refining my hand position and things like that. I actually don't know how far I swam overall.

Sunday we did a 20-mile bike ride, with an average speed over 16 mph. Then we watched the World Cup Final at our friends' house. He is from France, so it was fun to watch the game with him and hear him cursing out the players in French.

After that we went swimming at the outdoor pool. Since we had eaten a ton a pizza, and chees and crackers, and yogurt with fruit, we didn't feel like doing serious laps. So we just played around for a couple of hours in the water.

We needed to get some running in, so last night I ran with Sue and Joseph for about a mile and a quarter, and then I went out and did another 3.5 or so, at a pretty decent clip.

Today is upper-body strength training, and then probably swimming on Wednesday.
We're running out of training time, so we're picking up intensity over the next two weeks before the tapering starts.

Ran a 4K

Yesterday I did the 4th-Fest 4K. I did pretty well considering how little I've been running this season. You can read all about it here.
Today Sue and I swam. I need to ween myself off the pool boy, so I was alternating hundreds (one with, one without) stopping only long enough to get or remove the poolboy. I did that for the first 500 yards, then took a 30-second break, then did another 300. After that, I did a few hundreds with Sue so we could work on form, and also so I could build up more endurance.
I think in the end I wound up doing like 1100-1200 yards. My shoulders are a little sore now, but OK.

We are going to go to Whipple Dam on Sunday to try open-water swimming again. We had done it last Sunday, and the water was so cold it was painful. (Seriously, I'd be surprised if it was over 60 degrees.) We did about 200 yards, and my form was terrible, and I couldn't breathe. Then the lifeguard/park ranger types kicked everybody out of the water (and off the beach) because they saw lightning. Don't get me started about the silliness of that...