RUN BIKE SWIM
Starting the day more motivated then ever, I banged out 36 laps without stopping, or putting my feet down on the bottom of the pool. Then I went on to do about 24 more laps, with stops in between. (Have to chat sometimes!) Then, I took an hour long water aerobic class which incorporates a lot of strength training---something I don't get enough of! (Now I really want to try another open water swim, but they are hard to come by. Swimming is not allowed in any of the local lakes.)

Looking back to all of my posts, my blog entries have been almost exclusively about swimming. That's about the way my training has been going also. I have barely focused on the run or bike aspect! I said at the beginning that I didn't want to give up my "fun" classes, so I have been doing them and then spending the rest of my training time in the pool learning how to swim! The SHEROX triathlon provides a free training program to all participants, which consists of an email in your inbox every morning, telling you what your workout should consist of that day. And so, every day for the last few months, I opened my training program, looked at it, and said "yep, not doing THAT today," and sent it to my virtual trash bin

Biking? Kurt and I had our bikes fixed up, and I have had an occasional ride outdoors. Other than that, one cycle class per week. My bike is a mountain bike, which is apparently going to slow me down in the triathlon when compared with the hybrids or shiny tri bikes, but it's mine and it's what I'm using!

And running? Have I said that I think every step of running is a form of pure torture and I hate it even more than swimming? I have not trained much for it. After I first took a run and realized I could go the distance, I had gotten on the treadmill on occasion, and usually had not even gone the 3.1 miles. I started doing some 5K runs outdoors just to get some run time, so I have three of those under my belt, and other than that, not much additional run time. And I have never run more than 3.1 miles, which I should be doing! Even last time I was on the treadmill, I was at about 3.0 and I told myself I was just going to go to about 3.3. But, as soon as LED display told me I hit 3.1, I stopped. I could not take another step. My head will not go past 3.1 miles, and so my legs have no choice but to stop!

I started to step up the biking and running a little more last week. I should note that my "fun" classes aren't exactly easy; they are hour-long high-intensity cardiovascular workouts every day. So, water class, step class, spinning class, boxing class and athletic conditioning class have made up the base of my weekly workouts with swimming or running before or after. So, between my jump in the Schuylkill last weekend and my jump into the lake this weekend, I have been working hard. I participated in a mock-tri the day after my Schuylkill swim, and swam 1/2 mile in the pool, biked for 45 minutes indoors, and ran 3.1 miles outdoors. I made it through and went on with the rest of my day without problem. I was told I should rest the next day, but I swam about 50 laps (the first 35 without a stop) then ran 3.1 on the treadmill. The next day I took a spinning class and swam; the next day I had my last (5th) swim lesson, where I did not learn anything new, but corrected some bad habits. At the end of the lesson my evil teacher hooked me up to a tether in the pool and had me swim against it as it was pulling me backward. The next day I ran 3.1 on the treadmill and boxed for an hour, gloves on. Friday was a "forced" rest day; I had a continuing legal education class scheduled that day, and I need to take a certain amount of credits before my deadline! Saturday I did an outdoor ride; somewhere between 16 and 23 miles, and Sunday I jumped into the lake and floundered around! (Didn't get much physical exercise that day, but the emotional exercise drained me as though I did!)

This week is supposed to be a high-intensity week; next week I am supposed to taper off, and then...the day.
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