OWS

Since the hubby was off from work on Sunday, I was able to meet the "heathens" from beginnertriathlete.com out at 288 Lake for an OWS practice. Thanks to me missing a turn, I arrived a few minutes after the scheduled meet up time. There were probably already 10 people there from BT chatting it up in the water. It was great to finally put the screen names and faces together!

Honestly, we did more talking than swimming, but it was helpful talk...I got a ton of OWS tips and lots of good tri stories. My first attempt to make it to the 2nd buoy was okay. I did freak out a tiny bit, got out of breath and had to bring out the old side stroke to get myself back on track. The 2nd and 3rd attempts were a little better, but I still had to use my crutch stroke on the way in. Next, I decided to do a couple of laps around the boat (closer than the 2nd buoy), just to get more comfortable and confident in the water.

By the end of the morning, I was feeling better about the OWS, but realize that I still need A LOT more practice! Let's just say it's going to be awhile before I am doing a loop of all the bouys with the more experienced folks! There was one common theme I heard all morning - to really improve in the swim, you need to be in the water 3-4 days every week. That's something I have resolved to do starting NOW. My goal is to swim 3-4 days per week from now until my next tri in August and see what kind of change I see in my swim time. I found a good training plan in my Women's Running magazine, so I may use that as my guide. I am hoping I can meet the BTers a little more often..they're a great bunch!

I spent the rest of the day with the family just hanging out. Good times!!!