Impromptu Triathlon

Having set my sights on the Square Lake Triathlon in September, I settled back into the usual humdrum of law school and exercising when I had time or the weather cooperated. Enter Ann, a fellow law student and great friend, the Fruit at the Finish Triathlon, and why I decided to enter.

First, the chance to see the St. Johns/St. Bens campus, which I have heard about since my relocation to the Twin Cities was a huge incentive for participating. The bike and run course were to wrap through campus, the Lake Wobegon Trail, into the school arboretum and throughout a set of woods. A lovely way to start a spring morning in April!

Next, I was tempted by the indoor swim. April is way too cold for lake swimming in Minnesota, and I am still pretty scared of unknown lake creatures lurking in the depths. I can't do flip turns, but I knew my swim time in a pool would be far faster than my lake time last summer.

Ann also assured me that this was a relaxed race, not that competitive, and a great way to start the season. I was initially a little nervous, because I haven't been training anywhere near as hard as I did last summer, but with those words of assurance, I paid my $17 and made the commitment!

Flash forward to April 30. Minnesota is inundated with severe storms and heavy downpours. We drove to St. Johns hoping the entire ride that the rain would stop and we would have the sunny spring day we had planned on. The rain did eventually stop...2 hours after we had finished the triathlon. Competing in this so-called relaxed triathlon turned out to be one of the most hardcore things I have ever done. The swim was great, but the bike ride. Oh, the bike ride. Limited visibility, high winds, CROSS winds, cold, stinging rain, slick surfaces, it was nuts. By the time we got off our bikes and began the 5K, my feet were numb and my legs felt like sandbags.

But you know what faithful readers? This is just one more testament to willpower and friendship. Ann and I did the race side-by-side, had a FANTASTIC time, horrible weather aside, and the excitement from the race kept me in high spirits throughout the rest of the weekend, which during law school finals is saying a lot. I saw a bald eagle and heard about a million frogs chirping to each other, totally loving the rain. Now I'm concerned that the Square Lake tri might be too far away for my increased triathlon appetite, and I'm looking for a June or July race!

Training in the Boundary Waters

Traditional triathlon training took a hiatias over the past four days, as I was roughing it out in the Boundary Waters on a camping/portaging trip with some friends. We did some canoeing and portaging, but I had planned on a lot more swimming. Unfortunately, the cold temperature and high winds prevented any of us from jumping into the lakes willingingly!

We got back into Minneapolis around 6 pm, and on the entire 5.5 hour drive back to the city, I went back and forth about whether or not I would work out once I got home. It was a beautiful evening, and eating some sugary road trip treats along the way gave me a second wind after that long drive, so I decided to run the loop around Calhoun. I did the loop in under 30 minutes, which really raised my spirits about Sunday! Lately, I have been a little worried about the racing - fearing that I won't finish or will have to walk during the running portion.

Running around Lake Calhoun has become a bit of a safety blanket. I really enjoy the loop, because it is a perfect 5k (the exact length of the run in the tri) and it is enjoyable, especially in the evening. But I also know exactly when I am halfway around the loop, I know when I'm a quartile mile away, and I'm concerned that not knowing where the end of the race is will detract from my time on Sunday. My number one fan arrives in Minneapolis tomorrow, and I'm hoping we can drive over to St. Paul on Friday or Saturday to check out the course! I think that will relieve some anxiety and get me even more excited about the triathlon on Sunday. So close to race day!!!

Second Open Water Swim

Last night I attempted another open water swim in anticipation of my upcoming triathlon. While I am hesitant to say it went well, I will say that the experience was much better than swimming in Cedar Lake. I drove up to Clear Lake, MN with my friend, Phillip, and after surviving torrential downpours and flash flooding in Maple Grove, we finally it there around 7:30 pm. The section of the lake we were swimming was .4 mile, and I thought once we swam that leg, we would have a leisurely break on the beach and then swim back. Just kidding. Because once you swim out the .4 mile across the lake, there isn't a beach or place to exit. So we just had to turn around and swim back immediately. It felt like we had been swimming forever, and for one of the first times in my life, the thought of drowning briefly crossed my mind. Then Phillip reminded me that we had only been swimming for 17 minutes, and I realized I was being a HUGE baby and started swimming again.

While I was swimming, I tried practicing sighting, which involves turning your head forward to see where you are on the course, as you take a breath. It is definitely a practiced skill, but I was happy to try it out in open water, because going off course means being in the water longer, and I would very much prefer to be in the lake the shortest amount of time as possible. As I was swimming back to the beach on the second leg of the swim, I found myself thinking how great it would be to be a dolphin and have sonar. While this lake was clearer than Cedar Lake, I still could not see anything in front of me while my face was in the water, and I was slightly, read majorly, fearful of swimming directly into a sunken tree or a school of piranhas. I definitely felt more confident when I was swimming beside Phillip, which gives me hope that during the race, I will actually seek comfort in the fact that swimmers are close to me, rather than claustrophobia, which I have been anticipating feeling. Plus, all that splashing from others will drive away any creatures in the lake, right?

"Watch out for lake rats"

My first open water swim didn't go so well last night. It began when we arrived at Cedar Lake, and Jihone pushed me into a patch of algae, yelling "Get started!" Things only got worse once I started walking to the edge of the swimming area and felt unknown substances and possibly lake creatures underneath my toes. I'm not going to say that I was scared, but I will say that I had a mild panic attack when I put my face in the water and realized I couldn't see anything, even when using my goggles.

Once I had actually calmed down enough to contemplate swimming, more disasters ensued. My stroke broke down completely. I'm used to swimming four strokes, then turning to breathe. In the pool this isn't a problem because I can see through the water at all times. But in the lake, I found myself swimming in complete green darkness for four strokes until I finally took a breath and sighted.

After a brief coaching session, Jihone and I agreed that I needed to take a breath more frequently in order to see where I was going. Once I started taking a breath every other stroke, things got a little better, and by the end my confidence was back up again. If nothing else, now I know I need to do a lot more open water swimming before August 22nd. 26 days until race day!

The Road to Recovery

All you readers out there have probably been anxiously awaiting my blog posts and concerned with the lack thereof. Sadly, your favorite triathlete was stricken with a bout of strep throat earlier this week and has been out of commission since Tuesday.

Being unable to maintain my training regiment has been very disappointing over this week, but the good news is that I am nearly 100% again and ready for action. Yesterday, I did one of my favorite bicycle rides to Hopkins with Erin. We took our time to enjoy the beautiful weather, and it was a good way to get back into the swing of things without going overboard the first day. If things go well today (meaning I leave the office at a regular time), then expect a post about my first lake swim very shortly!

Tacos: Triathlete Super Food

I swam laps today, and once I was in the pool, I realized I hadn't been there in a week. So what, you might think, one week, stop crying about it already. Well, I'm not crying, but my legs are, because this workout kicked my butt. I wasn't in the water that much longer than normal, but my workout consisted of longer sets with shorter resting periods. It's exciting on one hand, because it means I am a lot closer to the actual race. But on the other hand, I was in the water swimming laps for about 45 minutes and by the time I hauled myself out of the pool, my legs felt like jelly and I was as hungry as Michael Phelps.

I'm starting to seriously consider buying some of those awkward gel packets to squeeze into my throat during the swim/bike transition during the race. They are kind of like Go-gurt, but energy and not yogurt... I have been trying to avoid looking like a real big weirdo in this race, and staying away from high tech energy foods may or may not fall into that category. I haven't decided yet.

As for tonight, I pushed the thoughts of drinking vitamin Gak out of my head, because I already had dinner plans with great friends, Adam and Rachael, and I quickly devoured three tacos at their house in quick succession. Yum! Maybe I can patent my own taco flavored energy gel and pay off my law school loans?

Even Independence Day Can't Stop this Triathlete

Over the weekend, I traveled back to the land of my ancestors to partake in 4th of July celebrations in one of the original colonies. Yes, of course, I am talking about the Keystone State, without which, this entire nation would crumble. Literally. That's what a keystone does. It was a great weekend, full of small town Americana. Local baseball games, fireworks, Pittsburgh accents, and some good old fashioned bug bites on my legs to round out the experience.

I was hesitant about working out while on my four day vacation. I have never worked out at my childhood home, nor did I belong to a gym of any sort growing up. Our house is located 25 minutes from the local Y, and I didn't know how my parents would respond to my taking the car and disappearing for a couple hours. But all my reservations were pushed to the side, when my number 1 fan, insisted that I maintain my training regiment. In fact, I was even treated to a new pair of running shoes!

I picked out another pair of Asics, because I was very happy with my old pair. So far these have been feeling great, and they are definitely giving me more support and shock resistance. I tested them out around the track of my old stomping grounds: the intermediate high school. A little under 35 minutes and 3.5 miles later, I was still pleased with my shoe purchase. The following day, I swam laps at the Y and successfully evaded paying the $3.50 visitor charge they attempted to push on me. Umm, I don't think so man-with-a-mullet-at-the-front-desk. I was supposed to bike the following day, Tuesday, but seeing as how Golden Eagle Jr. was in Minneapolis, and the bicycles at the Y were used to power Orville Wright's airplane, I decided to run on the treadmill instead. Thus, a very productive, yet relaxing trip. 46 days until race day!

REI Wonderful

So, as you might have inferred from my prior posts, I'm kinda obsessed with REI. Reasons why:
#1. Salespeople there are always nice to me (including the times when I have an attitude)
#2. Products are guaranteed for life
#3. They accept returns on anything
#4. The stores are pretty inside
#5. The stores are never crowded (even in MN, where people are actually willing to spend a lot of money on camping gear)
#6. Good Amazing sales (do I even need to tell you about the one time I got Uggs there for like $20?!)

Ok, those are just a few of the reasons that immediately came to mind. I bet that if I thought about it for a bit more, I could come up with even more reasons I <3 REI (like how the guys that work there are oh, so ruggedly handsome). But ANYWAY, the point of this ramble is that I returned my swimsuit and got a smaller size today. I'm not sure if my suit was no longer fitting well because it stretched, or because I lost weight, but you know what, I didn't even have to fully contemplate the "why" in this scenario, because REI takes back products, no matter what.

Oh, and what is that you say? The store didn't have a smaller size in stock? No problem! They ordered it for me, had it sent to the store, and then I show up a week later, give them the old suit, get a brand new one, and I'm on my way to the pool. Niiiiice! I'm happy to report the new swimsuit fits perfectly, and I had a great pool workout. This week's workouts are increasing again, so today I swam a total of 1,350 meters.

It felt really good to get in the pool and have a solid workout. I let my training fall by the wayside this past weekend and opted for nights out on the town, comedy shows, and beer festivals. But today was the first day of Week 5, and my excitement/anxiety about the race is beginning to grow!

Recovery Week

I didn't mention this yesterday, but it was the first day of week 4 in training. Weeks 1-3 flew by, and after the completion of this week, I will be a third of the way to the triathlon! The book calls this week a "recovery week," meaning all my routines decrease in intensity and duration for one week. Today's swim routine decreased to 800 meters, which is 500 meters less than what I swam last week. It felt very easy, and I was in and out of the pool in no time.

On the way out of the gym, I stopped to ask two important questions: when does my current membership expire, and can I go to other YMCA locations with my membership? I need to remember to renew by July 17th, and I found out that I'll be able to work out at the YMCA in PA when I am home over the 4th of July. Awesome!

Swim swim swimming

My swim workout increased today from 1,100 meters to 1,300 meters, and though the increase was fairly small, I was tired at the end. But not too tired to be eternally grateful that I finished my workout just as a man with a HANDLEBAR mustache and a speedo asked if he could share my lane. Dude, doesn't that thing give you major drag in the water? And I'm not talking about the saggy junk you are so eager to show off.

In other news, I continue to be very satisfied with the training program I'm following in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Triathlon Training. Every time I begin to feel comfortable in a workout, be it running, bicycling, or swimming, the workout increases just enough to bring that challenge back. I love that the workouts are easy to understand, and I trust the authors' advice because they are both Ironmen. In the past, I avoided following workout routines because the instructions were confusing, and I typically forgot what I was supposed to be doing halfway through the workout. That hasn't even happened to me once in the past three weeks of following the 12 week program in this book.

Plus, guess what readers?! In addition to building stamina and muscle, I have also lost weight. I stepped on the scale for the first time since making the decision to sign up for the triathlon, and I have lost seven pounds! It felt awesome to see success in one solid number.

Tomorrow is my "day off" from training. I won't be doing anything in an official capacity, but I'll still ride my bike 12 miles to work and back. I might have to step it up on my ride home to make it to Gigis in time to meet Erin for happy hour. Although, I can't think of many things that are more motivating than a glass of wine with a great friend!

The Night I Won $4

See the horse coming in second? That horse won me four freaking dollars the other night at Canterbury! I know, pretty amazing. I bet you've never heard of anyone cleaning up like that at a race track. Next time I will have to make more of an effort to place bets. Figuring out whether the odds made it worth it to place a bet combined with semi-complicated betting machines made me less than enthusiastic to place bets. Too hard. I just like watching the horses.

I felt vaguely guilty for drinking beer and eating nachos and hotdogs instead of working out that night....nah actually I didn't feel that guilty at all! But I'm back on the path of straight and narrow now. I ran 35 minutes yesterday, and swam laps today. I have been following the swim workouts without adding up the total meter length of each workout, and I realized today that I've been swimming over half a mile already! Horray! A half mile (the length of the swim in the triathlon) is approximately 805 meters. I swam 1,100 meters today, no problem.

Looking back on the workouts from week one, I am already feeling a sense of accomplishment. The first week I swam 800 meters and felt sore and tired. Three weeks and an additional 300 meters later, I'm feeling confident and strong in the pool. I signed up for this triathlon to challenge myself and to have a reason to work out other than being obsessed with losing weight. I still have a long way until race day (78 days!), but I am extremely happy with my decision to sign up and have already seen the positive mental and physical effects of training. It's a good feeling.

Summer Is Officially Here!

I went on my usual 45 minute bicycle ride yesterday and the day before that I did a 35 minute run on the treadmill. Both felt pretty good, even the run! The only interesting thing that happened was running into a flock of 20 Canadian geese on my bike ride near Lake of the Isles. Groups of them were gathered on either sides of the path, and I had to cycle through the gamut. I fully expected one of them to snake its head around and snap at my legs, but luckily rider and birds kept to themselves. One would think that this much exercise would be enough for me, and I would spend the rest of the time eating chips and watching Law & Order re-runs, but I have been surprisingly active otherwise.


As promised, here is a picture of the Greenway, my route to school. Riding to work two days a
week gives me an additional 24 miles of road time and time to improve upon my RPMs (revolutions per minute). I have been able to maintain 80 RPMs pretty easily, but getting closer to 90 has been a little difficult. I'm supposed to be between 80 and 100 RPMs, so 80 is by no means a failure, but with a higher RPM I would obviously increase my speed as well.




Today's activities involved a canoe trip to Lake Nokomis with Erin, Caleb, Sogn (the golden retriever) and Jihone. The lake was pretty empty and we found ourselves a nice secluded spot on the beach. At one point, Jihone and I took the canoe out on a little adventure to explore the other areas of the lake. Long story short, after jumping out to swim, he attempted to get back in the canoe...and we flipped. Ha! The canoe filled partially with water, and on our attempt to get back in, the canoe flipped again and filled COMPLETELY with water. Onlookers from the shore began to gather and watch as Jihone and I laughed our heads off and wondered whether this canoe was going to sink to the bottom of the lake. After getting a good laugh in, Erin came to our rescue and helped us swim the canoe to the shore so we could dump it and paddle back to our original location. All's well that ends well right?

Back in the Pool

I drove directly from work to the gym last night to get some laps in before meeting friends at the fabulous Tin Fish for dinner on Lake Calhoun. Normally I swim much later in the evening, and for some odd reason, the compulsive planner in me did not check the lap pool schedule for the earlier times in the day.

I had just finished the work out portion of swimming and had started on my cool down laps, when something happened...swim practice. These little brats took up every lane, and I was forced to dogg it out in the open water portion of the pool. Luckily I only had 200 meters left, so it really wasn't that bad.

Swimming has by far been my favorite portion of training, and I think the biggest reason for that is because I don't sweat. Well, to clarify, I do sweat. It is a cardio workout, people. But I'm not sweaty because I'm underwater. Very unlike the experiences I have running or biking where when I begin to sweat, I quickly start to hate the fact that I have clothes on, or skin, or the world in general. Like today on my bike ride to work. My head was so warm, and I only can push the helmet back so far off my brow until I start to feel guilty and slam it back into place! AND speaking of, I FINALLY remembered to bring my camera, so I'll post a couple pictures of the Greenway tonight.

Days 3, 4, & 5

Friday, Day 3, consisted of a 45 minute bicycle ride around the Chain of Lakes. It was a cool, overcast evening so the trails weren't crowded. After a quick shower, I spent the rest of the evening working on my upper body strength with three games of bowling at Memory Lanes. I could barely shift gears on the drive home, but it worked somehow.

On Saturday, Day 4, I swam laps again, adding one more lap to the warm up and changing the workout to 6 x 100. It was a windy day, so I wore my new jacket on my bike ride to the gym. Sidenote, I didn't buy that jacket from that website, I got it from REI. A totally normal store.

Anyway, swimming felt pretty good. I am still working on bilateral breathing. I breath on my left side, so transitioning to my right has been difficult. But the books I've read have suggested bilateral breathing, because it allows you to sight better when in the water so you don't go off course, which adds time to the swimming phase. Right now I'm adding time because I keep sucking down pool water every time I try to breath on the right side. I'm hoping balance will happen at some point soon. Also, chlorine makes my hair feel like sheep wool. Solutions?

Today was Day 5, and guess what I did today? Nothing! Day 5 was a resting day. Pfffff. This triathlon training is going to be a freaking breeze. I am the best at resting. I had brunch with some awesome friends at the Herkimer and drank wonderful beer brewed by Gustavo. Then I watched 30 Rock and The Office, and THEN went to Rachael's house and ate delicious grilled cheeseburgers. Day 5 resting - check!

And, as a special treat for reading until the end of this post, here is a picture of my new favorite dinosaur: Protosaurus. Photographed at the Field Museum in Chicago.

First Official Day of Training

It begins today: Week 1, Day 1, of the 12 week training program I am following to prepare for the triathlon. I'm really excited to begin a strict training regiment, because I think it will provide structure to what has been a very unstructured work out routine.

I swam laps today and did the following work out:
4 x 50 warm up
6 x 75 workout
6 x 25 cool down

Swimming felt great! I was able to keep a nice pace and finished the workout in about the twenty minute time span that the book indicated. My arms are a little sore, but I think that will wear off by tomorrow.

And best of all, I managed to get to the pool at a time when there weren't a lot of other lap swimmers, and I got my own lane! I know, I know, I should be prepared for swimming in a group seeing as how I will be swimming en mass in Lake Phalen during the triathlon, but I'm just not ready for human contact yet. When I am swimming and someone brushes against my arm, I tend to use my former lifeguarding skills to knock them unconscious in an effort to survive. Nevermind that we're in a lap lane no deeper than 12 feet, I'm fighting for my life here people! So as you can imagine, its better for everyone when I get my own lane.

Tricks for not appearing lazy whilst swimming...

I went swimming today at the Y, and I think I swam about half a mile. I didn't keep an exact count of my laps, but I know I swam at least 16 laps, and the lifeguard confirmed that a half mile was 18 laps. So I was somewhere around there.

Now I'm home, freshly showered, and exhausted. Swimming is something that I really enjoy, but it is an activity that is energy draining. I swam 10 laps freestyle without stopping, and then I did a little trick I like to call the goggle check.

The goggle check is a way to catch your breath in between laps without looking lazy. Instead of stopping at the end of my lap and just hanging out by the edge of the pool. I take off my goggles and attempt to "adjust" them. Sometimes I even take it a step further and pretend like they leaked mid-lap, and I really need to fix them before I begin again. Ha! My goggles don't leak. They are made by TYR, cost $15, and I purchased them at Midwest Mountaineering. Believe me, they are top notch.

And yet, I continue this charade in my attempts to fool anyone who may be observing that I need anything but a break. After a well timed goggle check, I finished up with some more laps consisting of backstroke and breaststroke before heading out. I felt a lot better swimming this time around, and hope my comfortableness level continues to increase.