Training Update

The last two weeks have flown by, but I have seen great improvement in my training since I started, which is a relief. I am beginning to feel like I won't utterly kill myself by the end of the triathlon race.

My biggest weakness has been in swimming. When I was young I was a pretty decent swimmer. I loved it. People often asked if I was on a swim team or suggested that I should be on one. I didn't ever make it there, but was inspired to became a lifeguard instead due to saving the lives of three people from drowning. Well, those summer days sitting high on the lifeguard chair came to a close and my love for swimming quickly diminished by the freezing body of water that was the only option to swim in.

When I first began swimming laps at the local aquatic center two weeks ago I made it about two laps (50 meters) before almost drowning myself due to lack of oxygen and exhaustion. (2 LAPS!) It was at that point that I had the thought that I was in over my head in signing up for this triathlon. But persistence pays off my friends! On Saturday I swam nearly a mile without coming close to drowning or getting completely exhausted. I have been building up each time I have gone to swim laps by breaking up how many laps I swim in each set. Saturday I warmed up for 10 laps doing several different types of strokes, swam 16 laps (a quarter of a mile), rested, and then swam another 16 laps, plus an additional cool down laps. That's quite an improvement if I don't say so myself.

The challenge next is to swim all 32 laps without stopping and then practice swimming in open water in my wetsuit. The advantage with a wetsuit is that it helps you float, keeping your body parallel with the water which makes swimming a lot more efficient. At least I know I won't drown during this event because my wetsuit is also my flotation device.

My main focus has been on the swimming training, but I have also trained here and there for the biking and running section. This week I am putting the finishing touches on training so I will be prepared to get out there and cross that finish line in one piece and still breathing.

5 days and counting....


On another update note:

- The owner of the house I am renting from has decided to put her house up for sale. A realtor has already come by to price the house and both the owner and her maintenance guy have been busily getting the house into tip-top shape. They offered for me to move with them to the house that the owner wishes to purchase, but I am wanting to stay in my branch boundaries. With the housing market these days I am not too concerned about being homeless anytime soon. But, back to house hunting once again.

- I am getting the swing of things with work and have trained most of my clients pretty well with having a set, consistent schedule each week with them. This is a HUGE help to getting in my hours and reducing the rate of cancellation each week, not to mention my sanity. But as of today I lost HALF of my clients - three out of town for a month, one going into a 90-day treatment program (teenager), and the last refusing service until her daughter is out of her 90-day treatment program. In my nearly two months of working I have worked over 30 hours ONCE in a week. Having 5 clients drop out from under my feet is not helping. I'm seriously considering other employment that will guarantee me full-time hours so I can at least have enough to pay my bills. So, back to the dreaded job search again....blah.