I officially began training this week! I am very excited. I started out with my usual exercise routine, running, walking, strength training and I added swimming to my regimen.
I hired Coach Anne Wilson for my swim coach. I found her by searching “Total Immersion” in Phoenix. As I mentioned in my last check in that Total Immersion is the method I knew would work best for me.
We started by meeting at the pool. I had to start by getting ~ in~ the pool. Not such an easy feat when I’m used to lounging around in a 90 degree pool in the summer evenings. The pool was heated, but come on – 80 degrees in Phoenix is a bare minimum!
I had to remind myself that triathlon water would be FAR colder and I would have to toughen up if I was going to be able to get to that point. I gracefully went down the laddder, trying to look like I didn’t think the water was cold.
Anne told me to start swimming like I “normally” do. I didn’t think that asking for a floaty would be appreciated, so I faked it. I started swimming down the lane as best I could without getting water logged. Of course I did NOT put my head in the water and I had forgotten to bring goggles. Within about three strokes my heart was racing and I was out of breath.
I willed the panic not to set in while Anne took several videos of me swimming during which I was fairly certain there might be some confusion between me and a whale – okay large dolphin. Since you’re reading this you probably gathered that I managed to get through the swim without drowning which was a win for me. I think Anne sensed that she wasn’t going to get more than a few laps out of me so she dismissed me to go get dressed so she could talk to me about the the videos and my – ahem – technique.
Feeling completely self conscious in a bathing suit, I went into the locker room to change only to find that there really wasn’t anywhere to change in private. Great. Now I would have to unpeel the 10 year old swim suit that I jammed my flabby body into while the housewives of Scottsdale were standing around gossiping about how no one understands how much they volunteer. I decided to look really busy while they finished up their 1st world problem discussion.
I had difficulty getting out of the wet bathing suit and then as I’m sure you can all understand, putting on dry clothes while not ~completely~ dry yet can also have its challenges. Most notably- the sports bra was deciding to curl up in the back and I had to contortion in order to remotely pull it down over the place it was meant to be.
I hopped around trying to get my jeans on, also not such an easy task while damp. Finally I was dressed well enough to venture back out of the locker room and find my trusty coach who I’m sure was going to say something akin to “we really can’t work with that.” To my surprise, she actually said I wasn’t horrible! Yay for small victories. She went over my poor technique and described how she would help me fix some of the bad habits I had.
I was hopeful! I went home and promptly passed out. Literally – I was wiped! It is amazing how many calories one can burn swimming.
The next day, I ran the fastest mile I’ve ever run – 10:50. I know that is really not so great for a regular runner, but it was nice to see that I had improved. Running with Moxie (our black lab) helps! I also ran with music and I felt that pushed me a little harder than a podcast.
Friday, I had some poor stats from my Oura ring and my readiness was not the best so I decided to do P90X. Let’s just say I eased into it – only doing about half the exercises but it felt good to be back with Tony Horton – who really was one of my inspirations to get more healthy back in 2010.
Overall, the week was good! I have a lot of improvement coming, but I think I did a good job of not overdoing it, while mixing up my training. I know from my Oura stats that I need to focus on sleep.
