Chlorine is good for you right?

We had our second group swim on Tuesday. For some reason I was even more nervous than the first one! Heck, I should be an expert by now, right?

The first few lengths were so hard. I don't know if it's the whole 6am thing or just those initial warm up laps but I was ready to stop after 2 laps! I guess it's similar to how those first 10 miles on the bike always seem the hardest then after awhile you get your groove and life is good.

We focused more on body positioning and started trying to roll properly to get our air. I could definitely tell when I was doing it RIGHT. It felt so much easier. The problem was I'd get it right for about two strokes, panic would ensue and then the flailing. Practice, right?

We also worked with pull buoys on the last set of drills. They are foam pieces you put between your legs for support so you can focus on just your upper body technique. It was an odd sensation. The first time my legs kept flopping left and right kind of like a fish fin. I'm sure it was quite hysterical looking.

In case you've been wonder what exactly is a swimming work out here was our plan for Tuesday:

Warm-up, 5 minutes
Do some bobs…

Drills:
• “Swim” with board, relax shoulders & breathe to the side
• Long glide freestyle, like speedskating.

Newer to swimming:
2 x 25s “swim” with board focus on exhaling underwater, followed by 1 x 50 easy freestyle, 4 times through. Heads & tails.

8 x 25s long glide freestyle, easy, 2 bobs in between lengths. Rest approx 10 sec. (or 60 seconds or 90)

4 x 50s, practice breathing every 4 strokes, roll head with body to get the breath. Rest 15 seconds after each 50. Cough up water for 30 seconds.

Warm down, bobs optional
Total distance: 800+

Pull Buoy:

First week, DONE!

Whew! This first week of training has been a whirlwind.

We started last Saturday with an orientation then a quick run (~2.3 miles) with my new TNT family. Yep, I'm going to be spending a lot of time with this group for the next 5 months and by the end, it will feel like family. One of the bonuses to working with Team in Training.

Sunday we had a bike clinic then a 14 mile ride along the waterfront. It was pouring rain but we better get used to that - it's Oregon afterall.

On Tuesday was our first team swim. I've been freaking out about this for weeks now. On Monday night I packed my gym bag in anticipation of the 6am meetup time. New swim cap. Check. New goggles. Check. Swimsuit. Check. My goal on this first workout was to swim a length of the pool (25 yards in this pool) and NOT drown. Coach Jane had us start by swimming a lap (50 yards) just so she could see where we were at in ability. I only inhaled a little water but holy cow - just that was tiring! Is 6:30 am too early for a margarita?? She taught us some breathing techniques and body positioning and then we did some laps with a kickboard so we could practice exhaling under water. After 8 lengths of those (interspersed with more instruction and some bobbing to practice breathing) we attempted a lap without the kickboard. FAIL. Back to the kickboard but each time we needed to inhale, we used one arm to stroke. Couple lengths that way then finished it out with some real swimming. I was pretty exhausted by then so I managed to inhale about a gallon since I couldn't seem to lift/rotate my body anymore. All in all, it went better than I expected. It was still extremely hard though. I was completely wiped out!

Wednesday was a run day so I headed out at 6:40 am for a 25 minute run. I could definitely feel the week of training was starting to drag me but I finished it out strong. Thursday I hit up my gym at 5:15 am to practice the swimming drills we learned on Tuesday. Wow - it was even harder since there was less waiting on other people and instruction. I was in the pool for 30 minutes but I'm guessing only half that was actual swimming. The other half was panting at the end of the pool. It's gonna be hard work to condition myself for this but it can and will be done.

Yesterday was our next group training and the beginning of our second official week. We met at the Portland Running Company for a clinic on running shoes then we headed out for a 3.1 mile run with a short break for some dynamic stretching. I felt really good on this run - better than I have when running in a long time. I don't know if it's the training, the people or the cause. Probably a little bit of all three.