Take Your Skirt Off, Cancel Your Manicure, and HTFU

Not only am I not running, I am also not swimming, and not biking.

I am, however, doing copious amounts of dips:



and when I say "copious," I mean, well, 10. OK, 15, now up to 20.

Cuz...well...

It's cold outside.

I quit my gym.

I have a bike trainer, but it's broken.

My favorite running trail looks like this most days:


and my other favorite trail looks like this:


How did I manage in prior years?? Did I just HTFU?

As to swimming ... um, I have no excuse as to why I'm not swimming.

After my sad half-mary, I took 14 days off to recover. I am quite sure this is not a recommended recovery plan.

But just yesterday, I kicked my own ass and ran 3 miles, after 21st C. Mom strongly suggested it. Which is good, because, let's not forget, I have yet another half-mary scheduled for Jan. 30 in the great state of Runner Susan.

And not only that, did I mention that in all the commotion of last fall, somehow, someway I managed to sign up for this??

Eagleman Half-Ironman. 1.2 miles of swimming fun, 56 miles of biking fun (that part might actually BE fun) and 13.1 miles of running fun)

Which is June 30 (165 short days from today).

I'm just not into it.

I mean really. Not. Into. It.

I want to take up knitting. Or reading. Or baking. Needlepoint! Raising orchids. Raising guppies. Something that doesn't require, you know, sweating.

This is how I'm feeling at the moment.

My current ennui might be in part due to the fact that I'm not training with anyone. I'm not in any group. I've been training alone since September. It turns out? That is not so much fun.

So, I've once again signed up for the Montgomery County Road Runners Speed Development Program. That was a great motivator last year, even though it wasn't the most welcoming group of people. It still got me all kinds of PRs. So hope springs eternal.

And I'm trying to decide what to do about training for this insane 70.3 distance.

I adore D.C. Tri Club, as you know. And they even have a half-iron training program. But...really, there's no one who is at my speed in that group. And that gets discouraging after a while. There's another, way pricier group here in D.C., Team Z, that has a lot of success with folks like me. (I'm not sure why, but some people seem hesitant to recommend these guys, even though everyone I know who has trained with them just LOVES them.) It's about $80/month, and I'm quite sure they will help me get the job done.

So why am I hesitating??

Because I am not all in for Eagleman.

I'm just not.

I'm wavering.

I could still cancel.

I don't even know if I'd get my money back.

I just don't know if I can commit to the kind of training I'll need to do.

I need a bike trainer that works.

I need to feel more comfortable riding outside on my own.

I need to get better at swimming.

Right...but why am I hesitating??

What to do??

Anyone Seen My Triathlon Training Around Here?

So, I went and hired myself a swim coach, and she's awesome. We meet at 6:00 a.m. Monday mornings, and for 45 minutes she tells me stuff like: press your "T", rotate from your hips, watch your breathing, don't cross the midline, TRY KICKING EVERY NOW AND THEN, and? Move the water! "Can you FEEEEL the water??," she asks. "You need to FEEEEEL the water!" It takes every bit of control to resist saying, "I'm in a POOL."

I crack myself up.

My second swim lesson was yesterday morning, and I don't know what I was doing all last year, but I'm pretty sure I was not swimming because holy mother of god, I'm getting introduced to muscles I have never met before.

Apparently I've never kicked before in my life. Apparently all those books that say triathletes should not worry about kicking? I took them a leetle too seriously.

And? I don't pull. At all.

So yesterday I learned to kick. And pull.

I was sore afterwards but in a good way.

I could NOT wait to get in the pool today to try my first HIPster*^TM pool workout using my newly acquired skills. Not only had I learned new skills, I had also learned how to read a workout. It's like a foreign language:

Workout 2B, 1400 yds
Warm up: 500 choice

50 swim
100 negative split
150 swim/drill/swim by 50
100 negative split
150 swim/drill/swim by 50
100 negative split
50 swim
Rest :30

100 pull, DPS
100 kick, build each 50

Cool down

The best part is I know what everything means!

Just for kicks I timed my 100s and they were all in the 2:30 range which is quite thrilling (if still sucky) since just 2 weeks ago they were in the 3:30+ range.

Afterwards I went to work and ate a bunch of crap because I was so proud of myself. (Way to reward yourself, Jeanne.)

But today is Tuesday and that stands for track with a capital T and that stands for Trouble.

After my awesome swim in the a.m. and my awesome (if screwy) race on Saturday, I had completely convinced myself that I deserved to take tonight off. But the fear factor kicked in just in time. I came home and before I could think about it changed into running duds and off I went.

6x800 at interval pace = 5:00; plus 2x200 at race pace = 1:05.

WE DID NOT FEEL LIKE DOING THIS. WE DECIDED WE WOULD JUST DO 4x800 and go home.

I ran with two girls who slipped away from me because their recovery and threshold paces were the same. I was honestly going to throw in the towel, if not throw up, just because I deserved to, when another chick, Jenn, came alongside me and said she was doing 6 repeats and well, that was that. It takes so little to talk me into things. Don't ever offer me drugs, k?

GOAL: 800 @ 5:00

1) 4:46
2) 4:56
3) 5:00
4) 4:57
5) 5:13
6) 4:47

200: 1:05
200: 1:05

Tomorrow is spin class. Too cold to ride outside at 6 a.m. Although eventually I will have to actually get on a bike again. I'm guessing.

P.S. D.C. Spinster (aka Peter) was just elected president of the DCRR club! Read his speech here, and leave him some comment love.

^*D.C. Tri Half Ironman Program (HIP)