One Last Tri - Week 10
Being less than two weeks out from my first triathlon ever, the nerves have really started to set in. I have never completed an open water swimming event, nor have I completed a triathlon. Typically while training for races this is the time that I start slowing down how much I am training and begin to focus more on nutrition and rest. I want to ensure that I am consistently taking in enough water while not pushing myself too hard to keep the risk of injury low. I don’t believe there is much work I can do to increase my level of fitness at this point, training is more about maintaining and staying limber and mentally ready.
Sunday - Wetsuit Testing
I’ll be honest here, I had so much trouble even getting into the water to test my wetsuit. My nerves got the best of me and I started completely falling apart! It took everything I had, and some motivation from a friend, to put my wet suit on and jump into the water.
What an incredible feeling of relief when I finally did! I started swimming and felt even more comfortable than when I was in the pool, partially because of the increased buoyancy of the wetsuit, and also because the water felt so much cleaner and fresher than the pool water I was used to. Almost instantly my feet were going numb due to the cold water, and this caused a problem that minimized the amount of swimming I did, but I still was able to move down the beach for a short distance before turning and heading back. I realized that my wetsuit can press the button on my watch and screw up any tracking that I want to do. This was nice to realize because I believe it will be easy to work around on the day of the race, I am glad that I am aware though.
My plan is to do one more open water swim before the race in a place that is warmer than Lake Superior’s 40 degree water before the triathlon.
Monday - Rest Day
With a focus on sleeping I made sure that I was in bed by 9, allowing for some time to read and a full night’s sleep before waking for work the next day. I have also began to go through my kit and making sure that I have everything I will need before race day.
Tuesday - Long Cardio
I began this workout with a 50 minute elliptical; high cadence and staying mid zone 2 for the entire race. It took me much longer to warm up than I expected and in the future I will need to plan in warm up miles instead of warm up minutes. After reaching a zone 2 heart rate of around 135 bpm, I stayed there for about 35 minutes and then started reducing the resistance until I was back to a low zone 1.
Immediately following the elliptical, I went to the indoor running track and started a high cadence, slow pace jog working to stay in zone 2 while keeping my cadence up. My focus was on good running form, working to place each step rather than opening up my stride and going fast.
I followed this workout with a solid lower body stretch and a short period of meditation. I was visualizing the race, warming up, struggling through the difficult spots, getting in and out of the water, on the bike and back off, and then running the final miles as I ticked them off one at a time. It was a really encouraging practice and increased my confidence going into this week.
Wednesday thru Saturday - Rest
My job consists of walking nearly 10,000 steps on a daily basis. So by default I am still spending the majority of my day on my feet moving and being active. My evenings were spent meal prepping, stretching, and reading about triathlon training techniques.
As the race gets closer I can truly feel my nervousness and excitement for the new adventure that I have placed in front of myself. It’s amazing to think back, just a few years ago I was unable to run more than a mile, and now I am a little more than a week away from completing my first Olympic distance triathlon. From alcoholic to athlete, these last few years have been a pretty incredible journey.
