The Open Water Swim

Call me a chicken. Call me a fool. I don't care, as long as I still have my limbs, which I do. Open water swimming Florida is a test of courage. When every lake is inhabited by alligators (over 2 million of the suckers in Florida), it takes a bit of courage to go jump in a lake and start doing laps. Especially when the water's so murky it's the color of coca cola and you can't see your hand in front of your face underwater AND you're swimming right next to a bunch of marshy grasses. That was me on Sunday at Lake Mary Jane, the lake in which my triathlon will be held.

I'm registered for the Moss Park Triathlon on August 18th. Moss Park is located in SE Orlando and is home to Lake Mary Jane. The water was a toasty 82 degrees, but it was slightly scary. I managed to swim laps for 30 minutes and got used to putting my face in the dark water. That was my goal for the day - swim laps in the lake without having a panic attack. As sick as this sounds, I was happy when a family with little kids jumped in for a swim....I figure gators prefer human veal over the chewy old Bessies like myself.

I also did an open water swim at Wekiva Springs last week - it was fantastic. There's actually a swimming hole right over the actual spring. 45 million gallons of pristine water pour out of a rocks spring every day and feed into the Wekiva river. The water is a crisp 72 degrees, but it feels so good on a hot day. And, the water is crystal clear. It's stunning and not scary at all. I will happily swim endless laps in that spring.

I've actually signed up with two coaches to help me prepare for the triathlon. I meet with them on Monday mornings for a 1.5 hour cardio workout - swim, bike and run all in 1.5 hours. Then on Wednesday mornings I meet them for an hour of strength training specific for triathletes. The rest of the week I do additional swimming, biking and running on my own.

Whew...I'm tired!

Bloggus Interruptus

When I converted my ‘old’ blogger account to a ‘new’ blogger account way back in January, all of the sudden I couldn’t access my account to add or edit posts. Then all of the sudden I could.

So I am not participating in the Danskin triathlon as planned. I waited and waited and waited for registration to open and then suddenly while away on a business trip registration opened, filled and closed in THREE STINKIN’ DAYS!!!! Can you believe that BS? Three days? Oh baby, was I mad. Oh well.

In my frustration I abandoned all tri training and focused on running. I’m running a 15k on Sunday. It’s the Disney Minnie Marathon Weekend, Women Run the World 15k. Two friends from my book club are running with me. I’m also kayaking the Wekiva River in Central Florida on Saturday, so I should be pooped come Sunday night. Between the race and the kayaking, I’ll get a nice upper body workout on Saturday and lower body on Sunday!

Depending on how the 15k goes, I’ll either find another 15k a few months out and see if I can improve my time or register for a half marathon and train for that distance. I’ve found that for me I get more enjoyment out of running longer distances rather than running faster. I’m a slow running, but I don’t mind. When I go for long runs I listen to an episode or two of This American Life and find myself chugging along with a big grin on my face while Ira Glass entertains me.

First Tri Workout

I did my first official triathlon training workout. Back-to-back 12 mile bike ride, 3.5 mile run & quarter mile swim. I'm pooped!!!!

I've set a new mileage goal for January. I've cut back on my miles in order to accomodate the biking and swimming I'll be doing. I don't want to kill myself!

January Goal = 80 miles
Miles Completed = 11 (run/walk = 8.5/2.5)
Miles to Go = 69