Week 18 was a physically challenging week and I'm glad that today is a rest day!- Tuesday - swam 1.5 miles; biked 90 minutes
- Wednesday - ran 10.2 miles
- Thursday - Biked 1 hr; ran 20 minutes
- Friday - swam 1.7 miles
- Saturday - open water swim ~.8 mile; brick (bike 1hr; run .5hr) twice
- Sunday - Biked 47 miles (3.3hrs); ran 9 miles
Within the few seconds of swim start, my body wanted to just shut down because it was so darn cold. Immediately, my breathing went into overdrive, I felt all that I could do was inhale rapidly but I couldn't exhale any air. My legs stiffened up and wouldn't kick. A full panic attack was in process and I had to think hard to stay afloat. I tried to do the breast stroke, but my legs weren't moving and I felt so constricted in my lungs. Need to stay up, control breathing and not drown, I kept telling myself...so I flipped over on my back to stay afloat. (I'm the one in the bottom center of the photo).Coach Tom was next to me all this time and saying encouraging words. I told him to get Doug to come over right away in his kayak because I needed something to grab onto otherwise I was going under in another minute. When Doug arrived, I grabbed onto his kayak and said that I needed to take off my skull cap because the strap was choking me. He thought that it would make me cold if I didn't have it on. I was already cold; being able to breath was #1 priority.
Once I unstrapped the chin strap and removed the cap from my head, I was able to fully exhale and no longer felt constricted and was ready to swim. I made it to the first buoy and then out to the second buoy. The swim back to the dock was facing directly into the rising sun and made it difficult to sight. The water was really choppy from the wakes resulting from passing fishermen's boats. When I was walking back to the transition area, a fisherman on the shore said to me, "Are you crazy to go swim in the lake? Don't you know it's cold??!!" Buddy, the same thought went through my mind when I woke up that morning.
Following the open water swim, we did a three hour brick session - bike 1 hour, run 30 minutes, bike 1 hour, run 30 minutes.
We concluded the afternoon with Coach Dave going over his favorite points from the book The Triathlete's Guide to Mental Training. He said that he has spoken to the author, who has agreed to speak to us in the upcoming months.
Sunday morning, I wanted to sleep in, but knew I had to complete a 47 mile bike ride ~ more difficult because I'd be riding alone. I chose a route that allowed me to explore Solano County. I saw a lot on my route which began at the Benicia waterfront, up close to the Valero oil pipelines, California National Guard Armory, along Suisun Bay past the Mothball Fleet, along the marshes with beautiful white egrets, the Jelly Belly Factory (where I stopped to rest and get a handful of free jelly belly samples), thru beautiful Suisun Valley's wine region (I never knew this was here so close to home!), over a 100-year old historic United States bridge built in 1909, onto Historic U.S. Route 40, and back to my start in Benicia.After my 3.5 hour bike ride, I drove home, ate lunch, changed into my running gear and went on my 9-mile run along the Walnut Creek canal trail when I really wanted to take a nap instead.
2 comments:
I feel your pain -- Lake DelValle = sucks! ;-) My experience there was equally as uncomfortable and mentally challenging...I just kept thinking to myself "The Hawaiian ocean is nothing like this -- so why am I torturing myself in this awful lake?" But I guess, if you can swim in a murky, green lake, you can swim anywhere! So kudos to you! =)
Dear Jennifer ~~ When I was 14 years old, one day I was out hiking with my dog. We came to a lake in the hills near where I lived and wanted to see what was on the other side. Being 14 and not very savvy, I decided to swim across the lake with my dog. Halfway across, I got tired and started to panic. I started to struggle and the panic increased. I looked over and saw my dog swimming strong beside me with a very content look on her face. The panic subsided and I completed the swim across the lake. To this day recalling the event still gives me a chill, yet, if I hadn’t done it I wouldn’t have known what I was capable of and seen what was on the other side. Think of your dogs swimming along side and how much they are enjoying it with you. Maybe this mental picture will help in your quest. Good luck – every person and every animal at 365 is pulling for you!
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