129 Days and Counting

Picture above is of the Lake Placid swim course right before the start....

-Breakfast: Fiber One bar, package of fruit snacks, 2 cups of coffee.

-Lunch: Cup of Ramen noodels, handful of goldfish crackers.

-Dinner: Ham and cheese sandwich, on wheat bread, with jalapeno mustard and pepper jack cheese; handful of corn chips.

-Snacks: 24oz cranberry juice, 2 rice crispy treats, handful of goldfish crackers, quesadilla on flour tortilla with pepper jack cheese and tobasco sauce.

Training: 35 minutes swimming, RPE 6, no drills.

Bike: 60 minutes, RPE 7. 50% largre ring, 50% small, all hard effort. I wasn't going to get in a long session today, just too much to do between work and life, so I wanted to push it today. My cycling legs are still a bit weak, and today was tough. It felt good though, as cycling is my definite weak link. Lots of time to build up endurance though, and 60 minutes was plenty!

I did something this week that was stepping a bit out of my comfort zone... I reached out to a local triathlon club about joining up, and was welcomed into the Jet City Triathlon Club. I am a little anxious, as for the last 2 and 1/2 years, I have been "self-coached." I downloaded free training plans off the internet, and read hundreds of articles on workouts, training methods, and nutrition. Then, I put it all together as best I could...

And while it is exciting to meet up with other like minded folks who have bought into the triathlon lifestyle, all the weird Junior High insecurities tend to come creeping back! Is my training plan wimpier than everyone elses? Will I be the slowest IM racer? What if my bike is the oldest and cheapest one? What if I can't keep up on group rides?

Of course, all ridiculous questions, and completely irrelevent. Everyone has their reasons for racing, and this sport has a reputation for excellent sportsmanship (everyone sticks around at the end of the race to cheer for other finishers; last place gets a louder ovation than first place). Just a funny snapshot that even as we get older, and things change, the more they stay the same. :-) I never thought I'd relive Junior High!