I made some lemonade!

You know the old saying...

...Or something like that ;)

I am excited to announce that I am now a bilateral breather!!!  And this all happened because of my neck injury from a few weeks back.  See? Life handed me lemons, and I made some frickin lemonade out of em! Tonight was a really great swim for me, despite the pool at the gym being freezing due to a broken heater.  I swam 2000 yds at a fairly decent pace, and my neck and shoulder weren't bothering me much at all...thanks to BILATERAL breathing!  :)  

This is a huge step forward for me, especially when I remember where I started from.  Thirteen months ago, I started training for my first triathlon and did not know how to swim with correct technique.  In fact, I spent most of my adult life avoiding pools.  When I did swim, I kept my head out of the water, or I held my nose.  I was also an expert at dog paddling :)    I cannot thank my friend and training buddy enough for teaching me all the proper freestyle techniques throughout these past 13 months.  She has been so patient and beyond helpful.  I am incredibly blessed to have access to her expertise (and her friendship!). 

In other news...today I checked out a new triathlon store that just opened 2 weeks ago in Atlanta.  It is only about 5 miles away from my house (in Atlanta traffic that takes 15-20 minutes, but a heck of a lot closer than going outside the perimeter!).  If you live in the area, you should check it out--Podium Multisport.  They are super helpful and carry Hammer Nutrition products (that's why I went there). 

Ummmm...so....there's only 18 days until RACE DAY!  Whaaaat?  It's crunch time...literally...gotta keep working on strengthening my core!   

It's funny what comes up when you type "crunch time" into the Google image search engine :)

This is looking like a busy week in all aspects of my life, but I'm gonna keep trying to make lemonade and try not to let stress overcome me.  

Hope your week is going well so far and that good things come your way!

Blahhhhh

Yep, that pretty much sums up my long slow distance (LSD) 75 minute run for today.

No matter how hard I tried to move my feet faster, they were stubborn as all get-out and would not move!  I tried playing mind games, thinking positive, cheering my legs on "you can do it, come on, I know you can!".  And all I got in return was annoying pain from a developing water blister on my big toe, a numb left buttcheek and tingling/numb left shoulder blade. 

When I got home and looked in the mirror (HUGE mistake by the way!), not only did I feel like I was dying, but I literally looked like my head would explode at any moment!  Splotchy patches of bright red welts on my face covered in a nice layer of sweat, and my face and neck were itching like crazy!  Is it possible to be allergic to your own sweat?

I envy the people who run laps around me in the park--their legs taking big, graceful strides, as if that is what they were born to do.  And then there's me...taking small 'quick steps' and hoping that no one mistakenly thinks I am having a heart attack due to the color of my face. 

 Maybe I need my own personal hippo to chase me around and make me go faster!

So what went wrong tonight?

I did learn my lesson after last Friday's long run and ate pretty much every 2-3 hours throughout the day, making sure to eat a banana just before leaving the office so that it would have time to digest before the run.  I brought water with me and hydrated throughout the day.  But there was one missing piece of the puzzle that I think really did me in: lack of sleep.  I was exhausted all day from going to bed too late last night.  Adding to the mix was stress at work because of this pending government shutdown that is looming over our heads (If there is a shutdown I will be placed on furlough along with 800,000 others...so it is somewhat stressful being in limbo).   It seems this combination of stress and lack of sleep really worked against me. 

As I was running, stopping to walk three times while I gave my legs a pep talk, my mind kept wandering to an article I read this week by Jeff Galloway .  He gave tips on tackling any run, any hill, any obstacle and is a proponent of incorporating walk breaks into your running as a means for muscle recovery. I actually had the honor of listening to a lecture he gave last year on the art of run/walking.  He is an Olympian and still a marathon runner; both he and his wife use run/walk techniques throughout training and races (and they finish with good times!).  That article came just at the right time and kept me going today. 

After sitting and cooling down some, I haven't changed my opinion about the run.  It was blahhh and I was disappointed in myself.  I didn't run as far as I would have liked (I did about 6 miles at a sloooow pace), BUT I kept going, and that counts for something, right?  Just please tell me that counts for something!   :)

Now I need to get ready for bed so I can wake up at 6:45 for a bike ride!

UPDATE: 27 Days 'til Race Day!

What I'm really thinking: OMG! OMG!  Ok...breathe...breathe...you can do this. OMG! OMG! 

I am freaking out just a little (nowhere near Nicholas Cage crazy, thank God!), mostly because this season has not gone quite as expected so far.  I had to delay my training start date by a week due to a terrible, horrible flu-like illness.  After that I injured my ankle, and then last week (Friday) got whiplash in a minor fender bender, which made me miss a few days.

~Just to update since my last post, I took 3 consecutive days off to give my neck a chance to heal a little, then went to the chiropractor again Monday, and he said I had all the signs and symptoms of a neck sprain--that's right people, I sprained my freakin neck!  This chiropractor happens to be a triathlete himself, so I asked him his opinion on if I could swim, bike and run yet.  He said to try it out, and if there is sharp pain at any point, then stop.  He also advised that I might need to wait a few more days to swim since it would require a lot of head/neck movement.  So off to the gym I went that very day and I spun away on one of the spin class bikes and did some leg strength training.  :)  Aint nothin gonna keep me down!! ~

I was pleased that I was able to keep up with my training for the most part this past week.  Of course I proceeded cautiously and was very tuned in to how my neck was feeling during workouts. What I discovered was that this injury could have some positive effects since it made me run with correct form and posture.  I say 'made me' because if I slouched at all or collapsed my form I would get neck pain. With cycling I was most uncomfortable if I tensed up too much, so my neck reminded me to open up my chest a little more and relax.  Swimming did prove to be a little challenging, especially since I usually breath unilaterally to the left, but I made more of an effort to work on right side breathing and am actually finally making some improvement!  The swim stroke still irritated my left neck and shoulder muscles, but actually I think the worst part of the swim was getting my tight swim suit on and off! 

The highlight of this week was the Saturday bike ride.  My training buddy and I ventured outside the city to ride on the Panola Mountain and Arabia Mountain Trails, which are part of the PATH system in Georgia (nice paved paths for pedestrians and cyclists to use).  We woke up early at the crack of dawn on a Saturday and braved the 45 degree temperature.  We basically had the entire trails to ourselves though, so it was well worth it.  I don't know why we were so shocked at the amount of hills we had to climb--you'd think names like Panola MOUNTAIN and Arabia MOUNTAIN would have given us a heads up on what to expect!  We both did our longest runs of this training plan the night before, and boy were our legs mad at us!  By the end of the ride it felt great though...such a sense of accomplishment to conquer those hills, and the last ones were against the wind! 

                                     One of the signs at the Panola Mountain Trailhead.  

The first sign we saw that we didn't get a photo of said "Water? Sunscreen? Snacks? Entering Remote Location".  At least it didn't say "Mace? Pistol? Emergency Flare Gun?" That would have made me more nervous.

         And this is me being happy on the trail--also, I hate simply standing and smiling  for photos :)

So, yes, I am nervous and freaking out a little that the first race of the season is rapidly approaching; however, I think that this week I have proven to myself that I can overcome obstacles and push myself beyond what I thought possible!  I also discovered a great way to relieve stress this weekend.  Did you know Saturday was International Pillow Fight Day?  Below are some pillow fight shots I took in Freedom Park, Atlanta, GA.

 Hope you had a great weekend!  Enjoy your week :)