It's all starting to pay-off

[Wahine]

Hi tri-buddies. I feel a little funny posting this but I need to share my victory with someone who gets it.

I am on a rest week. I just finished my 3rd month of aerobic base training and last week I logged 19 hours and 15 min training. It was really tough and I was very tired but I made it through. This is the most I've trained in one week (in terms of hours) EVER.

During my last rest week I was getting over a virus and my test sets didn't go well. So I was anxious about how my test sets would go this week.

Today was my first test set, a 1000 m time trial in the pool. I finished in 17:13, a 1:43 pace. Not that fast for a "swimmer" but pretty darn good for someone who learned to swim in adulthood. This time puts me in striking distance of my swim time at IM Can in 2003, when I was 4 years younger. I still have plenty of training time left.

I am a happy camper today.

I hope my bike TT and run TT go as well.

Thanks for listening to me gush.

[Starfish]

Wahine, I have not done a tri, so I don't know if I get it the way a triathlete would. And, I have never done anything like the volume you describe.

But, I do know the fear and anxiety that I have experienced when working very, very hard for something...the fear the comes from being on the very edge of one's limits. And then that feeling when it goes well: I'm not nuts, it wasn't all for nothing, there IS hope, and man, maybe I can even do more than I dreamed!

I don't know exactly what you're feeling, but I rejoice with you! Yay!!

[rocknrollgirl]

Rock On Yoda.....

I was going to gush a bit myself today and thank everyone for their support. My training is starting to pay off too. In spite of how beat I was on my bike on Sunday.

My question to myself is...Am I really getting better, or just better at handling pain!

Keep up the good work....

YEA FOR US!!!!!!!!!!!!

(i am sure i will be whining up and down the stairs today but for now)

YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sure you will kick some booty on the other two TT

[HillSlugger]

Today was my first test set, a 1000 m time trial in the pool. I finished in 17:13, a 1:43 pace. Not that fast for a "swimmer" but pretty darn good for someone who learned to swim in adulthood.

Awfully darn good! I can only aspire to swim that well some day! A friend recently told me that to become a strong swimmer I need to be putting in 2-3 hours of swimming a day. No, "strong swimmer" won't happen. "Adequate swimmer" will have to do. I'm not even there yet.

You're going to be great!

[Running Mommy]

And it's all about perspective! Your "fast for me, but not fast for others" swim time is like WAY fast for me!! So great job! I aspire to swim so fast!

Also congrats on getting through the high volume weeks. They are tough but you will come out of them so much stronger in the end. Just don't forget to recover and let them muscles build back up. I'm sure you did quite a job breaking them down!!

Rock on!
Denise

[LBTC]

Yay! Wahine, you rock! And so do you, RnR Girl!

I am seriously impressed with your commitment, and so happy for you to be seeing the positive results!!

Hugs and superfast butterflies,
~T~

[Grog]

Wahine, that's awesome.

You'll be a star on the bike and run, I'm sure.

Those test sets are a good idea!!

[HappyAnika]

That's great to hear! Keep us posted on the bike and run tests, I bet they'll be great with all the hard work you've put in.

[alpinerabbit]

*bows to yoda*

[Offthegrid]

That is a smokin' swim time!

They talked at the camp a lot about doing a lot of base training and how much it can benefit you. That's so exciting that it's paying off.

[colby]

You rock, Wahine! Congrats.

[Wahine]

Thanks Ladies,

You're the best. When I lived in Edmonton I used to talk about these things with my Tri club. I miss my tri club. But now I've got you!! I appreciate the pats on the back.

So this morning was my 10 km TT on the bike. It's not a true TT. You ride the trainer first off so you have optimal control of conditions. I ride for 15 min to warm-up then I ride 10 km keeping my HR within 3 beats of the upper end of my Z3. It's set up this way so you can still get a good feel for progress but you're not going so hard that you will need extra recovery time after. It is rest week after all.

The results, 48 sec off my previous best time. That was 2 months ago. My test last month was actually a little slower due to the virus thing.

So far so good.

[KSH]

Congratulations on all the swimming paying off! Feel free to share with us anytime!

[Tri Girl]

Great job Wahine!!! You're super speedy in my eyes- and we love to hear about everyone's adventures- that's what we're here for!!!
Keep it up, girlie, and you're gonna rock your IM this year!!!!

[Wahine]

Did my run test today. Like the bike test, you're supposed to keep a specific HR. I have trouble with this one, I always start out too fast and there's no way my HR going to drop unless I really slow down. So I do it more by feel. I just try to stay just below my LT threshold. Today I averaged an HR of 168, my best previous time was done at 164. So my HR was a little higher today. I was also 27 sec faster over the one mile test.

WooooooooHooooooooo.

That's a sweep. Improvements in all 3 disciplines this month. Now I just have to keep it up, kick up the intensity a little more and try to stay away from overtraining.