Becoming Aquaman

I've really been trying to buckle down the swimming portion of the triathlon. Luckily, I subscribe to another blog with a writer who is trying to get back into Ironman after accumulating some rust. LAtely, he has been working with a swim coach. I read his advice, do my best to apply the tips given, and put my time in the water. Check him out at Rust to Ironman.

3/23 - I set out to do a 1.5 km swim. With class until 3, errands to run, dinner to eat, and work at 5:30, I didn't have a lot of time. I can't see the clock without my glasses on, so it's hard to tell how long it takes me. I feel a lot stronger now than I did the three times I swam before my first tri. I will NEVER make the mistake of not preparing well enough. After all, proper preparation prevents poor performance.

3/24 - Work started at 10, so I set out at 8:20am to start the 35km ride to Changhua. It rained a little Friday night so the ground was still wet in the morning, which put dew on my leg hairs. The ride there was going to be about 55 minutes, but a marching band crossed the intersection and I had to wait it out. I was in a major hurry on the way home, so I set out with an hour and ten minutes to ride home and shower before my wife picked me up for dinner. I had to run every red light. The push was totally worth it and was a fine workout in preparation for Taidong.

3/27 - Run with Bigfoot. 6x600 and 6x1000. I pushed on the last few 1000's to try and not be last. I actually finished first in one, but only one. Every time I join them I feel even stronger. We'll see in the long run how this focus on speed work turns out.

3/28 - Lauren and I went to the pool together. I had a track meet the next day so I took it easy. My calves were still a little sore from my run with Bigfoot so I focused only on arms.

3/29 - Track meet at Taichung Sport Center. I totally forgot that I signed up for the 200m and the 400m. The day was long, I didn't do well, and had to go to work right after. Now my calves are really burning!

3/30 - I had an hour and a half to finally do some swim intervals. This was my first REAL swim workout. I googled "swim workouts for triathletes" and found plenty of advice. I choose the following workout:
Warm up - 600m. 25m with fists, 25m regular swim. Going from fists to open hands makes me feel like I have paddles!
6x300 at faster than race speed. The last repeat I did 400 to make my final distance 2500m. I feel plenty sore already (my swim was 6 hours ago) and am confident that on my next tri, I won't be dizzy going from the swim to the bike.

I'm debating whether or not I want to ride to work tomorrow. Sleeping in is sounding prettttty nice.