The Post with Week 3's Swim Homework

Week  3 Homework 11/20 – 12/2   

(Complete 2-3x before class in 2 weeks)

 

Workout #1

Warm-Up

200m Easy swim – focus on tracking

100m Side Kick Drill w/ fins – Body Stretch

Set #1  (Stretch, Lift ,Tracking & Timing)

2 x 50m  “L” Drill w/ fins - lead with the same arm for the whole 50, switching lead arms each 50.  RI: 15

150m  Easy swim  w/fins – focus on recovery lift & tracking

4 x 50m  “L” Switch– pay attention to tracking & timing- don’t move head while arms are moving. RI: 15

150m Easy swim w/ fins focus on tracking & timing.

Set #2  ( Pull Power – Feeling Tension on the water) * Remember you must be well rotated to catch properly

3 x 50m w / fins  RI: 15

     1^st 50 – Swim with hands in a fist or use tennis balls – focusing on an accurate catch position

     2^nd 50 – Regular swim with hands open – feeling more tension than the previous 50m

     3^rd 50 – Swim w/ hand paddles – be careful with arm positioning – don’t drop your upper arm when initiating the catch! 

200m Easy swim focus on tension in the catch – no equipment
 

3 x 50m w /  Pull buoy  RI: 15

     1^st 50 – Swim with hands in a fist or use tennis balls – focusing on an accurate catch position

     2^nd 50 – Regular swim with hands open – feeling more tension than the previous 50m

     3^rd 50 – Swim w/ hand paddles – be careful with arm positioning – don’t drop your upper arm when initiating the catch!

200m Easy swim focus on tension in the catch – no equipment

Set #3  ( Breathing patterns)

300 Easy Swim – Working on Breathing Pattern- Swim broken into 100 m thought segments:

     Odd number 100’s  - Breathe every 5 to 6 strokes – forced long exhale

     Even number 100’s- Breathe every 3 to 4 strokes.

Total: 1900 meters

Workout #2

Warm-Up

2 x 100m Swim Easy

2 x 50m 12 Kick Switch Drill w/ fins

2 x 50m  Pull with Buoy working on switch timing

Set #1  (Hand /Hip connection)

4 x 50 One Arm Freestyle w/ fins   RI: 10

200 Swim – no equipment – focus on initiating the rotation at the same time your wrap your arm to catch

*Set #2  ( Powerful pull w/ proper rotation)

3 x 300m – Each 300 broken into:   

1^st 100 -  Pull w/ buoy and hand paddles – (hand hip/ connection)

2^nd 100 -  Extended Finish Hold  (no buoy) Hold glide/ finish position 3 counts

3^rd 100 -  Pull w/ buoy and hand paddles – (hand hip/ connection)

 

* Really focus on getting well rotated before initiating a strong catch in this set.

*Set #3  ( Technique to Power)

3 x 100m Build  by 25’s

* On this set I want you to start off slow thinking about technique and then try to put more umph into your catch and rotation to drive yourself faster through the water each 25m.

Cool Down

Easy 100m

Total: 2100 meters

The Post Where Everything Completely Changes

So in the last post I talked about how we wanted to do Ironman Florida (or Arizona) but those sell out so fast (in minutes) that we had resigned ourselves to doing Ironman Kentucky.

The main problems with Ironman Kentucky were: 1) The heat/humidity in August in Louisville (regularly gets up into the 90s) and 2) The hilly bike course (considered one of the more difficult).

Here's the elevation map for the bike course of IM Louisville:

But as we were watching the live feed for IM Florida on Saturday, November 2, Princess, Hippie and I started texting back and forth: Should we try to get in to IM Florida? Would the other two be willing to do Charity spots if one of us got in and the others didn't?

IM Florida is considered to be one of the best races for first-timers. It's a flat course, it's in November, it's in a crowd-friendly city.  Here's the bike elevation for IM Florida (in Panama City Beach):

 

 Although both may look hilly in the pictures, the actual key is to look at the gain numbers. Kentucky is 3x more hilly than Florida on the bike.

And for someone like me, already not real confident on a bike, who lives in Virginia Beach, (aka: Least Hilliest Place on the Planet), the thought of eliminating some serious hills was thrilling.

So we decided to go for it. We'd try to register for IM FL and if none of us got in, then we could go back to Kentucky and if one or more of us got in the others would do Charity spots and we'd all help fundraise.

Ironman registration for the next year's race opens the day after the race is run in the current year. (So IM FL was Nov 2, 2013, and registration for 2014 was on Nov 3) Registration opens first to athletes who just finished the race.  If every single athlete who raced IM FL on Saturday had decided to sign up again on Sunday, there would be no spots open for anyone else. But since that's kind of like asking a mom who just went through labor 10 minutes ago if they're going to have another kid next year, a lot of athletes don't sign up.

Volunteers at the race have the next level of priority. If you want to make sure you get a spot in IM FL, volunteer for the race the year before. Volunteers can sign up for the race before registration opens on line.

Getting whatever advantage I can for registration.

Then, after athletes and volunteers sign up, IF there are still spots available, they open to the general public online. And for a flat, fast courses like IM FL and IM Arizona, there aren't many spots left by the time they're available online. That's why they sell out in minutes.

But we were determined to try. So at 1pm on Sunday we were all sitting at our computers, on the correct page, ready to hit refresh over and over. I personally was using: 3 iPads, 2 iPhones, and my laptop. I had my 9 year-old assisting.

Princess, Hippie and I were frantically texting each other through the whole process. First one of us got in -- hooray! Then another and finally another! ALL THREE OF US WERE IN (although one of us had to use an Ironman Foundation spot). It was stressful, but worth it in end.

So, so long Kentucky! We'll be doing Ironman Florida in Panama City Beach on November 1, 2014!

This does mean I will have to defer my guaranteed entry to the NYC Marathon (scheduled for Nov 2, 2014) to 2015, but I decided that was worth it. So Panama City Beach, here we come!

The Post Where We Actually Pick a Race

So once I decided to do an Ironman, I thought it would just be a matter of picking what race I wanted, paying the rather exorbitant fee, and signing up.

Then, of course, training until I almost died and racing a grueling 17-hour event. No problem.

I knew I wanted to try to train for the Ironman in conjunction with training for the NYC marathon (for which I'm guaranteed entry on Nov 2, 2014). I found out that IM Arizona was November 16, 2014 -- almost perfect for training for both events at once, although perhaps just a bit too close together. No matter, I'd take it.

Me with Princess & Hippie at various crazeries

I was ready to sign up. I mentioned it to my two partners in crime, Hippie & Princess, and they were wildly enthusiastic about us all doing IM Arizona together. We were thrilled at the thought.

But then we found out IM Arizona sold out in less than 1 minute last year. Less than ONE MINUTE.

The chances of one of us getting a spot when registration opens on November 18 was slim. All three of us getting a spot? Near impossible.

So we reevaluated our game plan and looked at all the Ironmans available in the second half of 2014: Lake Placid (July 27), Boulder (Aug 3), Louisville, KY (Aug 24), Madison, WI (Sept 7), Lake Tahoe (Sept 21), Florida (Nov 2), and Cancun (Nov 30).

I sent Princess & Hippie a painfully long email discussing what I thought were the pros and cons of each

race. Some only had charity spots available so were twice as expensive, some would require air travel (and with 10 kids between our three families, that could get quite expensive), and some were known to be pretty brutal courses - not necessarily good for three IM novices.

In the end we decided to go with IM Louisville.

It's within driving distance for everybody (I live in VA, Hippie & Princess live in IN), it's a relatively good time of the year for the kids in terms of school, it's not an expensive place to visit (like Cancun or Tahoe would be), and most importantly it wasn't a race that sells out in less than five minutes (it usually sells out about 4-5 months in advance).

The REALLY REALLY bad thing about IM Kentucky: August in Kentucky. Hot and humid. And hot.

Not the conditions I would choose if I was going out to, say, cycle 112 miles and then run 26.2 miles just for fun. But if allows me to complete an Ironman with my two besties? I'll take it.

The Post Where Janie Decides to Do an Ironman

So I've gone and done something pretty stupid. Again. Nothing new.

I've decided to do an Ironman in 2014. 

Just to make sure everyone is clear, that would be a race that consists of: a 2.4 mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run. IN THE SAME DAY. It takes the average person around 15 hours to complete. The maximum allowed time is 17 hours.

I went down the checklist of things I knew I should consider before making the decision of doing an Ironman:

• Not being a great swimmer and no real experience with open water swims - CHECK
• Being a terrible cyclist with a huge fear of traveling fast and/or falling - CHECK
• Sick to death of running - CHECK

But seriously, I thought about the triathlon races I'd done that would make me think I was ready for something like an Ironman:

• Number of Sprint Triathlons (.46mi swim, 12.5mi bike, 3.1mi run) I'd completed - ONE (3 yrs ago)
• Number of Olympic Triathlons (.93mi swim, 25mi bike, 6.2mi run) I'd completed - ZERO
• Number of Half-Iron Triathlons (1.2mi swim, 56mi bike, 13.1mi run) I'd completed - ZERO

Obviously, given my currently level of triathlon fitness and experience, I was ready to take sign-up and begin training for an Ironman.

I've been a runner since 2010 -- picked it up as part of a mid-life crisis set. I've run a couple of marathons, a dozen or so halfs, and a bunch of crazy races (like 200-mile Ragnar relays, Tough Mudders, and various other local races). I'm not fast by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm pretty consistent. But lately running had just not been keeping my interest.

So, of course, the obvious solution was to do MORE running, and add swimming and biking to the mix.

I blame Kona for this choice. In October they broadcasted the Ironman (IM) World Championships on the Interwebs from Kona and found myself watching all billion hours of it, entranced.  I made this post on Facebook in jest:

I swear on all that is true and right: I did not post that status with the intention in my mind of doing an IM. But for days afterwards I couldn't get my own statement out of my head:

Sometimes I wonder if all my racing craziness isn't leading up to an Ironman.

I came to this conclusion: yes, my racing craziness was leading me to an Ironman. Even with all my glaring inadequacies (listed above) I decided I wanted to do one. And that 2014 was the right year (for reasons I'm sure I'll discuss further in the future). I talked about it with my hubby (who prefers to be called Capt Awesome for this blog) and we researched costs and schedules.

Capt Awesome knows me well enough that we have installed the "3-day Rule" at our house. When I bring up something crazy I want to do: get a puppy, move to Germany, buy the entire boxed-set of Friends on Blu-ray -- and certainly an Ironman fits in the "crazy ideas" category -- he doesn't tell me no. He just tells me to make sure I still want to do it three days from now. If the idea still seems *fabulous* after three days, then it's a go.

Day one - Check.
Day two - Check.
Day three - Check.

Three weeks later - Still check. In 2014 I plan to become an Ironman.

And hopefully not die.

This will be my blog and training log. It won't be clever or witty -- I'll save that for my regular blog. (I realize not everyone who wanted to know about my writing or life in general would want to know my training or vice versa, so I thought I should keep them separate.)  I'm sure this blog won't be pretty (I sure as heck know my training won't be), but it will be honest.

There's more, of course... My partners in crime, selecting a race, choosing training plans. All part of the...dumb fun.