I Can't Believe Myself

I decided to go swimming yesterday morning.

Then I thought what the hell, and added a bike afterwards.

Then while I was biking, I had this craaaazy thought... I could run too.

And that is how I completed my first mock triathlon.

But I wouldn't be me if I just left it at that, so let's start from the beginning...

I rode my bike to the Y and locked it outside. It pained me to leave her there alone in the hot sun. As I was walking away, I was wondering whether I should have given her a hat or slathered on some sunscreen.

I got to the locker room and set up a mock transition area. My shoes were untied and laid out with my socks on top of them. My shorts were hanging next to my towel. My keys and watch and helmet were on the top shelf ready to go. It was time for the swim.

Going to the pool was a little awkward because it was unusually packed. Normally, there are one or two lanes open, but this time, everyone was swimming 2-to-a-lane. One woman said she'd be done soon and I could have the entire lane. Another woman said I could join her. I thought the former bid was a better deal than the latter, so I waited patiently.

She finished her laps and left me a whole glorious lane to myself. All was great, except I was in the lane closest to the clock. Therefore, I could only READ the clock when I was in the middle of the lane. But who stops for a break in the middle of the lane? I knew that I had gotten into the pool around noon, but other than that, I had to estimate my time on the swim.

A quarter mile (7 1/2 laps (375 meters)) and about 8 minutes later, I hopped out of the pool and headed back to the locker room. None of my transitions were done while running because I don't enjoy making a fool out of myself at the Y... or slipping on the pool deck for that matter.

I put my shorts on over my bathingsuit, threw on my socks and shoes, grabbed the rest of my stuff, and left the building.

My bike was short and sweet. After going 25 miles the other day, 6.2 was a BREEZE. Since I knew it was short, I was able to push myself to go a little faster than usual. It was at this point where I decided to add the run. I was already 2/3 of the way done and I still felt great, so I figured there was no harm in trying.

Here are the final numbers for the bike portion:

Distance: 6.2 miles
Maximum Speed: 18.3 mph
Average Speed: 14.8 mph
Calories Burned: 250.8
Fat Burned: 31.4
Total Time: 24 minutes 17 seconds

That time has drastically improved. When I first began this whole fiasco, I was completing the 6.2 miles in over 35 minutes.

I chained up Reagan again and headed out on my run. When it first began, I was tired, but I expected it to be worse... I figured I would be walking half of the distance.

I stopped for some water at the halfway point and then headed back. The only other time I stopped was for a flock of geese who were crossing the bike path (and freaking me out). I finished the 1.55 miles in 16 minutes and 22 seconds.

When it was all over and done with, I was in total disbelief. I just completed the ENTIRE distance for my triathlon. It took me 1 hour (with some slow and lengthy transitions). It is SUCH a relief to know that I can do it. The open water will definitely throw a loop in the plan, but I can do the distance.

It actually crossed my mind that I should have signed up for a sprint distance triathlon. The Chicago Sprint is a half mile swim, a 14 mile bike ride, and a 3 mile run. When I originally decided to do this, I just assumed that there was no way I would be able to do that by August. Silly me.

One of the best parts of yesterday is that I spent the entire hour in public wearing only a bathingsuit and a pair of tight shorts and I didn't feel like hiding under a rock. It's not that I've lost any weight (although my mom claims otherwise), it's just that I feel far more confident wearing that when I have the ability to back it up. That way, on-lookers can think, Well... she's not super skinny, but look at her go! , instead of thinking, Look at that chunky girl trying to be athletic!

The upsetting part about yesterday's events was the sign I saw at the pool. If you recall, the Y pool was closed RIGHT as I arrived to swim on Monday... so me and the Y pool people are not on good terms to begin with. But I walked in and saw a sign that said "The pool will be closed for maintenance and cleaning from August 11 until August 19." Wha?! That's EIGHT days of no pool leading right up to my race. BOO THEM. Although a little anti-swimming part of me inside is rejoicing. There are three training days left until it closes, so I better go hardcore before then (probably tomorrow or Saturday).

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After yesterday's triumphant accomplishment, I decided it was time to step up the speed a little bit. Now that I'm confident in the distance, I can work on not coming in last place. So I decided to do another 1.55 mile run to see how my time has changed over the months.

On a side note, in order to listen to my Ipod, I have an armband which velcros around my upper arm. I never un-velcro it, I just slip it on and off. But today when I put it on, it was too big. I was running and it wouldn't stay up. So I had to tighten it quite a bit. All of this got me to thinking... maybe I AM losing weight... just not where I expected to.

Back to the run... I did the 1.55 miles with a water break in the middle. It felt a little faster than usual. I finished in 14 minutes and 49 seconds. When I got home, I went fishing around through my blog to find the times from my previous 1.55 milers. But I hadn't done one in AGES. And back far long ago, I didn't have a stopwatch, so all times were estimated according to the clock in my car. My inaccurante time-keeping lead me to the conclusion of 15 minutes for the first two times I ran the 1.55. Well, that's not much faster at all! So I'm hoping that my 15 minute timings were just way off, cause it's a little depressing to think I only cut off 10 seconds.

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In good news, my wetsuit is officially on its way! I wasn't expecting to recieve it until the week of my race, but I got an email that said it would be here the 11th (the day the pool closes (gurr)). That's great because I'm heading downtown Chicago with Ryan the weekend before the race. Now I can try it out in Lake Michigan. I've swam in open water... I've just never SWAM in open water before. You know.... huuuge difference.

15 days!