Training Update #3

I thought twice my training was going to end this past week.
(Please support me in my efforts to raise funds by October 1st for cancer research and awareness while training for the 1/2 Longhorn Ironman triathlon by making a donation here http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/paulaslinlonghorn09 )

About 8 years ago I decided to train for a marathon. I had gotten up to 12 miles when a stick got caught between my toe and heel in the middle of my stride. I came down hard on my left ankle. I kept running and didn't think much of it until the two days later when I tried to run. Sharp pain high in my ankle would not let me run. I rested a week and tried again, then two weeks, then a month. The pain was still there and by then I had lost most of the fitness I would need to continue training.

This past week I was running in the dark when I stepped into a hole in the grass and rolled my ankle. It hurt when I did it, but I kept running, really fearing how I would feel later. Besides having the muscles on the outside of my lower leg being sore, I was fine. Then on Sunday for some reason both of my feet started to blister on the ball of each foot. I cut my run short and checked the damage later. The blisters were deep under the skin. My left foot had a quarter sized patch of blood in that spot and they both hurt for the rest of the day. I rested two days and tried to run again. It was sore but thankfully I could run and I knew it would heal OK.

These are just reminders of how fragile our bodies are sometimes and also how much of an accomplishment it is to get across the finish line for an endurance event. I pray for continued health so I can finish the race.

I also started swimming this week. I had to wait until the girls started school so I could find time to get in the pool. I now have about 6 weeks to be able to train to swim 1.2 miles in the open water. That is probably just enough time. I swam 500 meters the first time and my left deltoid and shoulder are sore! An open water swim is different than swimming in a pool in several ways. First, there is no pushing off the wall and your feet can't touch bottom. This creates a psychological barrier since you have to rely on your ability to tread water to save your life. Second, you are swimming with other people who all want to survive this leg of the race by creating forward motion...and many times they are up against you, on top of you, etc. You get pushed, punched, and kicked. Third, you end up swimming longer than the posted distance because you don't swim in a straight line. In a pool you can look down and follow the straight black line. Try closing your eyes in the pool to simulate what happens in the open water. You zig zag. You have to "sight" in open water. This involves lifting your head to see which direction you are going, finding the buoy or shore, then redirecting your trajectory.

Something else that can interrupt training is weather. I think it is remarkable that since I began this training about 12 weeks ago the weather has not caused me to miss any training. On days that is has rained, it either rained after my workout or on days I was working out indoors. I have never been this fortunate with weather and training. I am afraid this could come to an end this weekend. I see a higher than 50% chance of thunderstorms in the forecast over the weekend, but maybe luck will continue to be on my side. We will see!