Training Journal #4

OH MY GOODNESS I FEEL AMAZING!

There is a reason I am not in a career that entrusts me with classified national security secrets. Or maybe those would be easier to keep to myself than things that involve me personally. My family was great. There were a few tears from mom and speculation over the likelihood of my death, but once we got past that I could sense some genuine excitement and lots of support. I need all the encouragement I can get at the moment because I am having some serious self-doubt about all of this. Its not so much a weakening of my resolve, its just a feeling of being overwhelmed by how much work I have ahead of me.

Miguel and my masters coach have mentioned the importance of cross training. Cross training basically just means exercising in ways other than the primary method in which you are training. The goal is to strengthen the same muscles in different ways. Good cross training for swimming I am told is running, rowing, and free weights. I have been enjoying the classes and the indoor track at the YMCA. Running is still such a struggle for me. In my 4th year I did a personal running experiment where I tried to run everyday (but more like 5x a week) for 11 weeks. I started at 10 min/day the first week and worked my way up another minute every week. I was running on a treadmill at about 5.8 miles/hour. Weeks 1-5 went well, but as soon as I was running for 15 minutes or longer things got tough, both mentally and physically. On week 9 I ended the experiment after almost vomiting. I kept running, but I backed myself off to 15 minutes again. This inability to run for any respectable length of time is something I find both hilarious and pathetic. I definitely prefer the indoor track to the treadmill. I may even prefer the track to road-running. I can do 15 minutes without dying at this point, so we'll see how my endurance in that arena improves.

I'm headed off to Quebec for a week-long ski trip next week, so I lose another week of training. I suppose skiing is exercise. Sort of.