Cathy's Second Swimming Lesson

It was time for another session with my swim coach Matt. I had made a lot of progress practicing on my own for the last month, but I could tell my progress was starting to wane. I had read good advice that to maximize your training sessions, you should practice a lot to make progress but you also don't want to allow any bad habits to become "muscle memory".

I at least showed up better prepared. If nothing else, I looked more like a swimmer with my Speedo bathing cap to keep my long hair out of my eyes and my recently purchased TYR swimming suit. Furthermore, this time water in my ears wouldn't be an issue with my silicone ear plugs.

Shopping for my swim suit had proven to be just about as much effort and challenge as swimming my first 25 yards had been. I arrived to the store and found racks of European sizes 28 to 42. As a size 6, I eyed them and figured about a size 32 should do. I took one of each brand - about 10 in total - into the dressing room. As I couldn't get the first one up over my hips, I thought perhaps I had picked up a girls size by accident. Some 32s went on but nothing fit. Time for round II.

Not wanting to get fully clothed, I put back on the least wedge prone suit and quickly left the dressing room to grab another 10 suits in a range of sizes. I returned to find out I was locked out!! And, there was no sales clerk in sight!!! After 5 minutes, I saw a sales clerk in an adjacent department so I bellowed, "yoohoo!". She summoned the sales clerk with the keys, who showed up after another 5 minutes, took one look at me, and laughed hysterically. About 5 of the 10 fit comfortably. The thought crossed my mind that perhaps I should purchase 2 given the amount of effort swim suit shopping entails, but then I settled on the reversable TYR so I got 2 in 1.

So, back with Matt, he observes me swim a length, and he says my stroke is looking pretty good. I'm keeping my head down and clearly my breathing has improved since I can now swim a full length. It's my kick, he tells me, that we need to work on. He demonstrates with his hands that my legs are too far apart and not close enough to the surface of the water. He has me do a few lengths with a kick board - with my head out, no stroke and just getting down the pool with leg power. Wow, who knew that could be so hard! But, through various drills, I see what he means.

He says now that I'm getting technique down, we need to work on my aerobic endurance. After all, there's no side to hang on in open water! He has me do 4 x 50 yards. I do some but not all without stopping. The final part of the set before the cool down is a few 25 yards as fast I can. This is actually fun with my new found kicking power as I do feel like I'm gliding faster.

I'm happy that this time the hour lesson went faster and I wasn't looking at the clock like the first lesson. I get out of the pool, and this time "grandpa" asks me if I'm trying for the Olympics or something. Well, far from it, but I'll be happy if by the end of February I can swim freestyle 200 yards non-stop.

Time Management II (Cathy)

Yes, people also often ask me how I can find the time to exercise. I commute 3.5 hours per day from my home in CT to New York City and typically work a 10 hour day. Fortunately, most of my commute is through public transportation so I can be productive either for work, or reading up on triathlon training.

So, here's how I do it:

1) I'm a member of 2 gyms that are both conveniently located -- this is really key. One is in my building at work and is good for circuit type training. A big part of my training is often running down and back up the 19 flights of stairs -- who needs a stair master when you have a skyscraper! In warmer months, I love the running track that is on the top of the building with a view of the Empire State Building and the Hudson River, including the Statue of Liberty and all of the cruise ships (oh yes, and the US Airways flight that landed in the river last year). The other gym is in Connecticut which also includes the pool and is on my way home from the train station, and is also convenient for weekends.

2) During the week, I get up at 5:45am and just throw my clothes on to get the 6:30am train. I'm at the gym by 7:45am and at my desk by 9:15am. Working out in the morning assures I get it in before the chaos of the day hits.

3) I do my long workouts on the weekends. I also try and stop by the pool a couple of nights on the way home. Previously, I could never work out at night because it got my adrenaline going too much. But, I find swimming relaxes me after a long day -- as does a dip in the whirlpool, which a great reward and stress buster.

4) I don't watch much TV, except sometimes as I eat dinner or when I run on the treadmill or ride the bike.

5) I say no to other things (but not everything). I still make time for my book club. I recently said no to be on a charitable committee -- as much as I would have liked to, I just can't fit it in right now.

To train for a Sprint Triathlon, most training plans just call for 4 - 6 hours per week. If Barb and I can do it, you can too!

Time Management (Barb)

In our Physical Therapy office, I have often heard people say, "I just don't have time to exercise".
This was my Tuesday:
 I woke up, did laundry, went to work, did the dishes, got the dog groomed, went to the grocery store, started dinner, picked up medicine for the dog, worked out for an hour, finished dinner, did the dishes, and more laundry.  As Cathy stated, she stopped by the pool on her way home even though it was late.
People, you just have to make time!  Also, having a goal makes wanting to exercise and sticking to a plan much easier.      

Chlorine and Your Hair

When I agreed to do the triathalon with Cathy, strangely enough my first thought was, "what should I wear?"  For anyone who knows this Fashionophile this would not come as a surprise.  Later Cathy and I will give commentary on what we have learned about wetsuits.  My second thought was, "what is all of  this chlorine doing to my hair?"
My wonderful hairdresser, Brian - who has painstakingly transformed my long blonde locks from disheveled to flowing - gave good advice.  Wash your hair immediately after getting out of the pool.  Even if I wear a swim cap, my hair still gets wet.  If I don't wash it well, I can still smell chlorine the next day!  A clarifying shampoo can be used, but not more than once a week if you color.
I ordered this "dorm" shower caddy from Amazon for $4.34!  It's perfect for pool and locker room use, and I would recommend it to any swimmers.

Will I ever become a swimmer?

I enlisted a good friend who is an avid swimmer to teach me the basics and critique my stroke.  Kelly met me at the YMCA last Sunday and did her best to ensure that I make it across the lake without requiring CPR.  "Bring your elbow up higher, rotate your body more, keep you head closer to the water."  She even went under water to see what I was doing with my arms and evaluate my kick.  "You'll be fine!" she said.  After an hour, I felt like maybe I could do this.  

A retired swim coach was helping my the next week where I swim at the VA, which is 5 minutes from home.  A woman with 2 young kids asked what we were doing, and when I told her I was doing a triathalon she said, "have you done one before?"  I bravely replied, "no".   She gave me a fist bump and said, "you're awesome!"  Maybe I can do this. 

Sundays I go to the local college pool and run under water with a friend, who it turns out was also an avid swimmer for years.  So we now spend half of our time doing laps.  She said my stroke was good but I'm still swimming inefficiently and one day it would all click.  "You'll be fine!" she said.  

Sometimes people say you'll be fine when they know that you won't.  What do I think? 

 I quote The Beatles:  "I get by with a little help from my friends."  (OK, maybe a lot of help.)

It's About the Journey, Not the Destination

It's been a month since I took my first plunge into the pool. Over the last several weeks I've been focusing heavily on my swimming technique. Barb and I spoke last night and started comparing notes.

"Are you keeping your head down?...How's the bi-lateral breathing going?...You know there's a thing called a tri suit..."

I was talking to someone this week whose wife has done several triathlons, and he said she became slightly psychotic about it for a period of time. Uh yes, my reading material now includes triathlete magazine and Triathlons for Dummies (to explain the new terms I'm encountering in the magazine!) and my most visited website is http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/ . When people see me reading these selections on the train, it inevitably leads to a conversation with a fellow triathlete - even in the quiet car on Amtrak.

My husband was shocked on Thursday when I said I was stopping by the pool recently for a 8:30pm swim, after also having awoken early that day for morning strength training. And, last night at dinner my friends were amused I wasn't drinking more than one glass of wine as I obsessed about the healthiest things on the menu.

Even I am a bit surprised how much I'm enjoying my more frequent gym workouts. I had to force myself to take a rest day on Friday after having worked out every day. In the past, I've had to rely on a class or my regular instructor at my company gym to keep me motivated. Now, I have this new found motivation. This week I met Daniel Pink, the author of several books including Drive, as part of client workshop we conducted with him. In his book, he explains that we are so much more motivated by intrinsic rather than extrinic motivation. In other words, I'm not just working out to look good.

The advice published to beginner triathletes is to just focus on finishing the triathlon rather than being a top finisher. This weekend, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie "Peaceful Warrior" based on the book by Dan Millman, a former college gymnast who in his youth in the 60's was on a path to the Olympic dream when he had a terrible accident. He learns wisdom through the character Socrates - it's about the journey not the destination.

And so, as much as I'm starting to get a little obsessed about my latest endeavor, I'm just going to enjoy the journey.

Goggles and Earplugs

The most challenging part of the Tri for both of us would be the swimming.  We both had numerous swimming lessons as kids, and the only thing I remember about it was that it was early on Saturday mornings and it was cold.  Basically I hated it.  Cathy told me to get goggles and silicone ear plugs, so I stopped at the local sporting goods store, where a former swimmer helped me pick out a few things.
Tuesday:
Text from Cathy to me:  Goggle malfunction, "Grandpa" at the pool said "you must be a beginner."
Text from Me to Cathy:  "Goggles = success, Earplugs = failure, Headline:  Woman does dog paddle for triathalon.
Thursday:
I chuckled to myself as I texted Cathy a picture of me in the locker room wearing my swim cap and goggles entitled, "conehead on crack".  Which I later found out went to a male colleague of hers whom her company had mistakenly assigned her cell number, and all of her calls and texts were diverted for a few days.  Go me!

The Beginning

It all started on a Sunday evening, my sister Cathy texted me:  "Want to do a triathlon with me, it's in Early June?"  "1/4 mile swine, 10 mile ride, 2 mile run."  It sounded reasonable.
I replied, "I'll have to check the baseball schedule" as it is my son's final season playing college baseball.  Cathy took the liberty to check the schedule and texted me back that it would be over in time for the event. So I had no excuses.  
I had spent the last 22 years going to the kids' baseball games, soccer games, basketball games, and ice hockey games.  Thanks to my sister, it was time to do something for me - with her!  This is the (sometimes hilarious) story of two 40 something sisters and beginner triathletes, cyber training together from 2 different states.    

New Year's Resolutions

I did get one serious 45 minute swim in at a lap pool in Kauai, Hawaii. It was a rainy day so we decided to go to the local athletic club. I at least had earplugs this time. I practiced keeping my head down, butt up and doing bi-lateral breathing. I felt like I had made some progress, although the pool was shorter than my gym and I still got out of breath. At least this time the whirlpool didn't tempt me to cut the workout short.

As I watched the New Years fireworks over Poipu beach, I thought about what my New Years resolutions should be. I wasn't quite ready to declare I could do a triathlon. Upon returning home, I started researching triathlons and reading more about swimming techniques and watching some swim videos. I couldn't believe that the NYC triathlon and a local CT triathlon sold out the day they started accepting sign ups.

I return to the pool. Uh oh - I realize what it will take to do a triathlon swim is actually double my original calculation. Perhaps a classic beginner's mistake - a "lap" is a really 2 "lengths". I focus on improving my breathing. My reading revealed a tip to start breathing out immediately when my face returns to the water as I realize that I've been holding my breath and therefore building up CO2, causing me to get out of breath. I make some progress.

I've decided I better just go ahead and sign up for a triathlon. Otherwise, I may miss out and, besides, it will motivate me. As I search, my mission is to find a short swim. I'm confident I can handle the bking and running distances of any sprint triathlon, but the swim is going to be tough. Once I realize I will be committing to an overnight stay, I decide to search Pennsylvania thinking that I could at least see my family. And then, it hits me - wouldn't it be great for my sister Barb to join me. She's in good shape but like me, the swimming will be a challenge.

I'm delighted she's agreed to sign up with me for a June 5 sprint triathlon in Quakertown, PA, which is a approximately a quarter mile swim, a 10 mile bike, and a 2 mile run. With a lot of practice and commitment, I think I've found a way to fulfill 3 New Year's Resolutions:

1) Successfully finish a triathlon
2) Engage my creative side by writing about it
3) Stay connected with family