Weekend Re-Cap

Saturday, July 30 – Open Water Swim
The hubby and I went to the triathlon clinic held by Onurmark on Saturday. The clinic would not only give us an opportunity to get some good tips about each aspect of the sport, but it would also give us an opportunity to swim the actual race course for the upcoming Bridgeland Triathlon.

The clinic was awesome. I think it gave the Hubby some great first-timer information and it was a good for me to hear all the things I’d heard before, but may have forgotten. Once we signed in, we headed over to the swim start and got some great open water swim tips from local swim guru, TJ Fry. The crowd was mostly first-timers and TJ did a great job of getting a laugh here and there during the clinic, which I think helped get some of the nervousness out. Finally, it was time to swim.

This is where we swam and will swim again at our tri on Sat. Doesn't look too bad, does it?

The the race coordinators asked people to line up and start in waves, which was excellent practice for the real deal. I could tell the hubby was nervous, but after watching the 1st few waves go, he lined up and made his way into the water. I definitely know how he was feeling…even now I get the OWS jitters. But this time I was actually feeling really calm about everything. I was just ready to swim. And for once, I had one of my best open water swims ever!

FINALLY!

I forgot to start my watch, so I have no idea of my time…it wasn’t really about that. In fact, my swim felt pretty slow. What was awesome is that I didn’t have any of my typical “freakout”. AT ALL. NONE! I just swam and kept going. And it was almost all freestyle! I did revert back to my side-stroke when I was trying to sight, but it was one stroke and then right back to freestyle. I did get kicked and bumped. A lot. But, I only worried about what I was doing, blocked out everyone else and just kept swimming! For those of you who remember this post, you know that this is a HUGE milestone for me.

While I don’t want to get too happy about this until I’ve done the same thing at a race, I actually feel like I’ve finally gotten over the hump. I can finally swim (not gasp and panic) in open water!
I wish I could say the same thing for the Hubby. What he experienced was a typical newbie thing. He struggled a bit – it sounds like he had a tough time with the breathing (which has always been my problem). Again, I know exactly how he was feeling, because until this swim I was always getting that ows “freakout” – you know, where you just can’t seem to catch your breath and everything you practice in the pool goes completely out the window! But he finished! I was so proud when I saw him coming to shore…he did it!

I was hoping to get in one more swim on the course, but I think the clinic started a little late and by the time we walked around to the start again, the course was closed. Bummer. The woman coordinating the swim did let a couple of us swim out to the 1st buoy and back, which was nice.

Next we headed over to the transition part of the clinic. Again, great information and great tips from On Your Mark. The hubby and I decided that the clinic as definitely worth the $20 we paid and the drive across town! I think we’re pretty much ready for next weekend’s race…well, as ready as we’re gonna be!

Sunday, July 31 – Long run, 11 miles
I actually considered running my long run on Saturday evening, just to get it over with. But, it was dang hot at 7:30 pm and I knew it would be at least 10 degrees cooler in the morning.

Yummy goodness in every box!

For the 1st time, I ate a Pop Tart before my run. Any excuse to eat a sugary sweet Pop Tart is fine with me - I love me some Pop Tarts, but don't eat them because, let's face it, they're crap. And maybe that Pop Tart helped, because I felt fantastic for a majority of my run. My original plan was to head back to “base” (i.e. my house) every 4 - 5 miles where I could re-fill my hand held bottle, grab a Gu or Endurolytes, etc. But, I had some Bee Stinger Chews with me and by mile 5, I still had some Gatorade left in my bottle so I kept going. I didn’t make it back to “base” until mile 7.5, which is when I re-filled, Gu-ed and took 2 more Endurolytes. At that time, my pace was an unimpressive 11:35. But, I swore I would just run what felt comfortable and not stress about those 11’s. At this point, I still felt great and even comptenplated running 12 instead of 11.

I headed back out for my final few miles. The run still felt great, but around mile 10, I just wanted to be done. (Did I really consider doing 12 earlier?) I made it back to my house and looked at my watch...I still had another .20 to do! Ugh, I hate it when that happens...I just wanted to go inside my house and shower! But, I kept going and finally my watch beeped - 11 miles done @ 11:27 pace. Whoot, I'm back in the double digits! And, I was right - the temps were cooler. Only 75 degrees, versus the normal 82.

After showering and having breakfast with the family (thanks to my sweet Hubby), the kiddos and I hung out while the Hubby went out for his 2 1/2 hour bike ride. What do you do when it's going to "feel like" 102 degrees and your kids are bored silly? You build and indoor tent, of course!

I have a feeling we well be getting out our old sheets again this summer. As much as I love to be outdoors and take the kids to the playground, it's just too fricking hot to be out there.

Do you use pop tarts before your long runs or something else? What do you do to beat the heat on your runs? With your kiddos?