On Thanksgiving Day, I hopped over to my gym for the "Turkey Tri" - basically an indoor triathlon where you do each event for time (go as far as you can in a certain amount of time). The Turkey Tri was a 15 min swim (lap pool), 30 min bike (spin), 20 min run (treadmill). It was just for grins & giggles - nothing was officially counted or paced. The only thing I did was wear my Polar thingy-mcbobby so I could see how many calories I burned to put a dent in the gazzillion I was planning on consuming with wanton abandon.The swim was fine, we ended up doing 45 min on the bike and I did 20 min on the treadmill at an 10 min pace (always amazes me how much faster I can run on that infernal machine vs. on the road) HUMPH. I wore the tri-suit I bought for my first triathlon because I didn't want to do any changing. I had a blast and burned 980 calories for my trouble.
*mental note - wear Polar on a real triathlon...wonder how many calories I burned at Nations*
While running on the treadmill, the swim trainer was across from me and said, "I saw your Nations swim cap. Why aren't you coming to my Triathlon Swim Training Group Class?"
Well, ummm, errr, see-what had happened was....
I wanted to say that I didn't know about it, but I saw it on the schedule. It is at 5:30am on Tuesdays and 7:15pm on Thursday. Too Early, Too Late sounded like some pretty lame azz excuses .
"I'll see you on Tuesday."
He was waiting for me this morning. I shuffle over all sheepish as everybody is already in a lane, following the workout and they LOOK GOOD! I was feeling mighty pitiful and - well - actually scared because everybody had on those awesome training bathing suits (I had on a regular ole bathing suit - with a damn skirt) and they had training GEAR. I had me, my googles & swim cap.
Rob immediately sensed my nervousness, put me at ease and said "No worries. We will get you up to speed in no time. Everybody is at a different level. Let's work on YOUR stoke. Don't worry about anybody elses."
I exhaled.
He put me in a short lane and had me do 12 laps so he could watch me and see what I needed work on. Rob told me that I looked pretty good, just a FEW things to work on, but I was doing great. He put me back in the regular lap lanes with everyone else and started me with DRILLS.
Jesus be a lifeguard. I for sure thought I was gonna drown - AND I CAN SWIM!
I had to do the following:
- 200 (6laps) of Zipper Drills...to get my elbows up out of the water. On each stroke I had to pull my had up along my body as if I was pulling up a zipper on the side.
- 200 of this Core Drill where I was SURE I was gonna drown. Put a kickboard in between your legs - hold it there (kinda like a shark fin) - then touch it with your hand as you bring your stroke back. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! I got it though. I sure does work your core, makes you elongate your stroke and twist w/waist instead of shoulders. HARD AS HELL.
- 200 of a Catch Drill - swim with kickboard out in front. Hold w/one hand and catch it with other as you bring your stroke around.
- 400 - just swim freestyle and practice what I learned w/o the props.
- 100 - Kick drill. I kick like I'm riding a bike. Had to practice using whole leg - WOW what a difference when you glide on top of water vs. drag your ass through it.
I'm going back - at least 1x/week. I'm going to rock my next Tri.
Oh, as a side note...Triathlon's are an expensive hobby....in addition to needing a new bike, I need to pick up some swim training gear that Rob recommended. I gotta get me a Pull Float (core work) and some Training Fins. Sigh. I blame Becca. Yes I do.
How About a Threesome? Swim, Bike, Run!
