Triathlonious

Saving Lives One Mile at a Time | Fighting Leukemia and Lymphoma

Neighborhood Swim/Bike: 700ft of climbing, 7miles, 1mile swim

I've been waiting to do this workout since I started training.

The club pool is just up the hill from us, a 3 minute drive.

There are also literally miles of trails and backroads within a half mile of my front door, but between my front door and the trails is a steep mile of climbing. The workout I've been waiting to do is to bike to the club, swim a mile at the club, and then bike back.  

So today, I did it! I'm stoked.

The climbing wasn't too bad and certainly better than the first time I tried cycling up the hill a month ago.

We've been having rain in the bay area, so the pool was empty for most of the mile swim. Swimming alone allowed me to focus on my pulling and form.

I've been taking my workout sheet with me. The last two full workouts have been 2600 yards, about a mile and a half. By focussing on the individual drills I'm able to get through the workout without killing myself.

1.5 Miles in the Pool

I did my first mile and half pool workout. A big part of swimming is developing an efficient gliding stroke. That is, for each stroke actually riding the glide. It's pretty exciting because I'm getting there. The 2600 yard workout isn't killing me either!

To see what a gliding stroke looks like, check out Michael Phelps' stroke. See how one arm is always out in front of him, lengthening his body, allowing him to glide.

Labor Day training at Lake Tahoe

We spent the Labor Day holiday at Camp Jameson Beach in South Lake Tahoe with three other families from the neighborhood. 

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Lake Tahoe, while not as salty or rough as the San Francisco Bay, is cold enough to warrant a wet suit when swimming long distances. I loved swimming in the Lake. The water is clear with a coarse sandy bottom. Swimming in the wet-suit made me more buoyant, so with each pull/stroke I went a little farther, but the wetsuit also decreased my shoulder rotation, so I had to really focus on my form to make sure I didn't get sloppy and inefficient. This was my first mile swim in the open water  this season and it was epic.  

The roads around the lake were also pretty epic for road biking. From Camp Jameson, it was a 5 mile up hill ride to Emerald Bay. Again, the lack of granny-gear (a small chainring (gear)  that makes going up-hill easier) made this a real workout. Well worth it!

I've only got four weeks left to reach my fundraising goal and I'm only 35% of the way there.