My Longest Swim - Ever!

I am SO happy! Rick, Hollon and I set out for the lake this morning for a swim before Soma. My goal today was to swim a mile without holding on to Rick's boat for a rest. By the way, today's swim would not have happened had Rick not agreed to be our safety boater. Thank you SO MUCH Rick for giving us that time...I know it was boring...but seriously appreciated.

I also wanted to try my wetsuit before Soma and I'm glad I did. My arms are chapped from rubbing the seam, however my bike shorts under my suit worked perfectly.

So, the water wasn't too bad and I felt pretty good. We circled the buoys again and again with just a few stops to catch my breath and see how far ahead Hollon was. A mile is a long way in the water! I never doubted my ability to do it, but I wanted to feel good during and after. Some things to work on - my left shoulder. I cannot get my left arm to come out of the water much and it's dragging me down. I've had five people (three were coaches) tell me my left arm doesn't look right but my shoulder doesn't want to lift that high so it was a little agonizing out there. A handicap I will have to learn to swim around...I'm just not sure how yet.

I spent some time breathing on the left but because I could barely get my left arm up it was a challenge to catch my breath. I did the best I could and moved back to right side breathing.

So, did I get the mile done? Was I able to go that far without help? YES!!! In fact I went OVER a mile! Okay, not very much but I'm stilling counting it. :) I'm SOOO happy. I accomplished tons today and will be better prepared for Soma now.

A Super Fun Weekend

This weekend was great. Rick held his night race on Saturday so he and I did some riding Saturday afternoon and put out some checkpoints. That race was so much fun! Everyone had a great time and the fire pit hit the spot...it was so cold!

Today there were so many events going on in town that it seemed I knew folks in all of them. Race for the Cure had Tim, PBR had Dave, Windy, Vickie and Brigid and the Phoenix Orienteering race had me, Rick, Dave, Tracy and Ron. Adventure Racers were out in full force today!

Rick and I did really well Orienteering. We ended with 510 points out of 700+ so I'm happy about that. We went for the furthest CP's with the most points and were faster then in past events. Rick's navigation was spot on so thanks for a perfect "race" today Rick.

Tomorrow we are swimming out at Saguaro Lake...I'm going for my first mile! My longest swim was 1000 meters so I have to double that. Let's see how it goes!

Swimming

Thursday's I meet with Cliff, my swim coach, and I'm quickly learning that he's no more lenient then Dave is!

Today we spent time breathing on both sides and WOW, I felt like a beginner again. Everything just kinda fell apart so I have some work to do. HUGE difference in my strokes when I do them properly...my arms and shoulders felt like I had just left the gym. It was exhausting.

This week was good, overall, but I'm getting bored I think. My mind is starting to wonder and I feel the need for a change...I'm just not sure what that means yet. I want to add more hours now that it's nice outside but I'm a little fearful of burnout. I've been thinking about joining another swim club, but don't want to get boxed out again. hummm.....much to think about.

I need to get the lead out on some 1/2 marathon training too! That's it!!! I'm going to make some commitments and get this stuff on the calendar NOW.

Today's workout TRUMPS all others!

That's right I'm going to say it again...today was the HARDEST WORKOUT YET! So it doesn't sound like a big deal but from my sore butt's perspective, it SUCKED! I rode 37.8 miles on the CompuTrainer today. It was one Ironman loop to be exact plus with my warm up I'm at about 40 miles.

Now, I've done 40 miles before but on the CompuTrainer I don't stand up to release the pressure and I can't stop when I need a rest. This was my first NON-STOP 37 miles ever and it wasn't pretty. I'd swear that Dave has eyes in the back of his head because every time I stopped to try and stand he'd yell at me "keep pedalling!" From the kitchen I hear, "keep pedalling!" From upstairs I hear, "keep pedalling!" The whole house echoed, "keep pedalling!" My mind was fighting me and all I could think about was how red my a** felt. How far can I go, I'm thinking....how long before I say that I can't do anymore because it hurts to much? Why did I decide to do the Ironman anyway! My thoughts were heavy but my will power was strong enough to handle the load - for that I owe my trainer who is steadfast and firm with me.... He does not give an inch and that's exactly what I need for the task at hand. I would surely take a mile!!!

There was a potential meltdown which he quickly took control over, "You're fine, it's okay Kim, you're doing fine" and some punchy laughter that really raised my spirits...there is a silly side of Dave too.

By the time I was done I had been on my bike for 2hr45min (approx) and burned 800 calories (every girls dream) and finished what we started. A huge thanks to Dave for putting up with my whining, making me laugh and holding my feet to the fire all at the same time.

Rocky Point...

Where do I start about Rocky Point? A HUGE thank you to my support group, Rick, Leslie, Sonja and Jennifer! We really had a great time and leaving today was pretty difficult for me. I wanted to stay another few days. Thank you for everything team.

Since yesterday I've been thinking about my blog and what I wanted to say. Should I really bash the company that put this race on?? Is that the right thing to do? What will that accomplish really? I decided that just telling the story and leaving the rest up to you is all I needed to do.

The race started late, and I don't mean a little late either. We didn't start until 11:00! I'm not sure how HOT it was in Phx but in Mexico it was HUMID AND HOT. I have a unique perspective here. I understand how events can start late (though ours never do) so I tried to not let it bother me. Until I realized that the water in my bike bottle would be hot and I would be running in the middle of day when the sun was at it's peak...then I was getting pissed along with 200 or so other racers.

Why the late start? Well, the ocean was so rough that one of the buoy's made it's way back to shore. I totally get it...but what I didn't get was the 2o minutes it took to decide if they actually wanted to go and put it back. What? Are you kidding me? Yes...the person in charge seriously could not decide what was best and was surrounded by angry racers. Taking it back out set us back some too. They also could not decide which side of a buoy line to start from so we all lined up on one side, were told to move about 100 yards over and about 15 minutes later moved back to the first place we started. Yes...it's getting hotter and hotter by the minute. Now we had to wait for the Olympic swimmers to go before we started. The waves were really bad and getting worse. Okay the race finally starts and nobody can swim through those pounding huge waves so we are all pulling ourselves forward by holding the buoy line. Then some guys are coming back saying it's too dangerous for us to go back. Personally I heard two people calling for help and though I could only reach one, I lost sight of the other. Guess who is waiting for us towards the beach on his jet ski?? The owner of the company putting on the race. Not to see if everyone was okay but to collect our chips. You know, he didn't want anyone getting credit for coming out of the water early and all. I told him that people were calling for help further back and his reply, "I know but I have to take all of your chips first". Um....excuse me?! Half of your sprinters are calling for help and you want my Fing chip? I knew at this point I would never participate in any of his events again.

I pulled myself out of the water and went for my bike. Down a steep hill slow because now the sand was blown all over the roads and my first turn is just at the bottom of this hill. Two laps, I'm out of water and pretty pissed at this point that I don't have any aid stations on the course. I'm thinking that I only have a 2 mile run and I'm done with this event. Water down my body, put my running shoes on and off I go. Cramped because I had been out of water and couldn't get my shot blocks eaten and just HOT as hell.

The best part of the day was seeing my friends and Rick at the end and proud of me just for finishing this poorly planned out event. The water was so choppy that their professional kayak boaters could not stay afloat. Why did they let us in the water to begin with! When your rescue boats can't stay afloat then perhaps it's time to make the event a duoathlon instead.

Another bone to pick! Oh, I'm just getting started here. My girlfriend and I were looking at the results and the first thing I noticed was the person in 2nd place did the swim in 11:58 minutes. No, I'm sorry but I don't think so! He didn't get HER chip so she's taking 2nd place from somebody who did do the swim and THAT really upsets me. Some of the good swimmers made it..and deserve a reward but some came out of the water early and didn't get their chips taken so they are now getting credit for an event they did not finish.

I look forward to redeeming myself at the Soma Quarterman race where I know the event will be properly managed with enough event staff that I can feel safe.

Mexico, here I come!

Well, I'm leaving for the Rocky Point Triathlon tomorrow and I'm pretty excited. After this race I officially become a triathlete!

Cliff kicked my butt today swimming. He told me to start swimming and not to stop until I see the blue buoy in the water.... okay, about 15 laps into my swim I'm thinking when is he going to put the buoy in the water? Okay, 20 laps later and I'm getting worried because no buoy. "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming" ugh...

FINALLY I see the buoy and not soon enough. My arms and shoulders where exhausted but now I really know what a good stroke feels like. One minutes rest and I'm off again. I did 1000m today! Nice job and it was really tough.

So I won't post again until maybe Sunday or Monday and I'll post pictures for sure. Wish me luck!

Becoming my own hero

Since this is my own blog I get to write whatever I want...right? This past week or so I've been a little hard on myself and well, there is only one reason for that - my "monthly friend" has arrived. Damn it!!! I have a race this weekend too and I'm a little put off by the whole damn thing. eerrgg I'm bloated, hungry, irritable and tired all at once. What - did you say something to me??? Yeah, I didn't think so!

The good news is that all the negative junk I've been giving myself these past few days is about over. (a big sigh of relief) It seems about once a month (go figure) I get a pep talk from Dave about my internal dialog when I'm training. I do put a ton of pressure on myself and when I'm not close to living up to my own expectation I allow myself to crash and burn feeling down right pissed when I'm done. - Side note - I just realized that poor Dave is surrounded by women who have "monthly friends"...how does he cope with the ups and downs of all our emotions? Poor guy. Job well done today Dave. -End note-

When I train, whether it's with Dave or not I always hear his voice in my head and at times I'd like to stick a pencil in my ear. (that's the irritability talking:) No, seriously I hear him yelling at me to do this or do that and I need it...I like it...it does help me. He gave me some good tips today on how to have positive dialog with myself and basically work on becoming my own hero. He didn't use those words exactly, but that's pretty much the goal. I work hard, I do well and there is room for improvement even for the best athletes. Some days are good and some days are not and that's just the bottom line for everyone.

What I need to focus on is working hard even when I get tired instead of just giving up. I can take a beating so stop being a baby and suck it up! (I'm having internal dialog now). Pull yourself together :0