Nearly in Heaven, in Week Twenty-Seven

I had a big week! Sunday I had my swimming lesson with Trip Hedrick. Aside from being an accomplished masters swimmer and coach of the Iowa State Cyclones and other teams, he is a great teacher! The gift from my massage therapist (Amanda) was an hour session with Trip to improve my freestyle and help me become a more efficient swimmer. We had the entire Beyer pool to ourselves, which was great as I was expecting to have the rest of the lap swimmers to contend with and navigate around. He surprised me after he had me swim a 50 just initially just check out what needed work. He said I was the first triathlete he's worked with who hadn't been ruined by Total Immersion. I had to laugh to myself because I knew I had used some of the TI principles to develop my stroke to where it is... But, what he really meant was that I didn't have a problem with excessive body roll. As we got more into the lesson, I realized he was actually re-introducing some of the TI techniques into my stroke but controlling the extent to which they affected it.

I've always done drills in my workouts, but this was an entire lesson of just drills. He introduced me to some pool toys I had not used before (because I really had no idea what to use them for...), and at one point, found myself swimming down the pool with my feet tied together, a pull buoy between my legs and a weight belt tied around my waist. Thankfully the pool wasn't very deep or I might have been slightly more concerned for my safety! I came away from the workout with a lot more clarity:

1. I am a better swimmer than I thought.
2. I know what is wrong with my stroke (and now some idea of how to correct it).
3. I can use "pool toys" without fear.
4. If I'm ever thrown into a lake with a weight belt on and my legs tied together, I'll be a better swimmer when I finally reach the shore.

It was a great hour (plus some), and I will probably be trying to get back into see Trip again in a few months to get a check-up on what I've been working on. Although I estimate I only swam about 1000-1200 yards, they were some of the most valuable yards I've swum all year. For that reason, my weekly yardage was down, but my swimming is better!

Because I keep switching which workouts I do on which days, I got a lot more running in this week than was scheduled, and lots less cycling. Actually, as of Friday night, I had only been on the bike a grand total of 30 minutes, and that was at the gym (not on a real bike). As this is a step-back training week and a very busy personal week, I cut out a 30 minute recovery ride on Wednesday.

The weather forecast for Saturday was 65 and mostly sunny, but it was still in the low 40's when I got up. I headed out for the 8 mile run with the running group and quickly realized I was over-dressed for the run. I basically cooked myself in sun for the remainder of the run, went home, showered, then put on shorts for the rest of the day! When Sparkle got off work we headed to Skunk River. She wanted to test ride a couple of new bikes as Ronn had sold her old bike last week. And I wanted to try out the Cannondale Ironman again. We used the weather to our advantage and took the bikes out on the road. The wind got progressively stronger throughout the afternoon and soon, it was no good for riding - more hazardous to our health and well-being than beneficial to training. And the wind shifted to blow out of the north, which meant the temperature dropped as well. We did two test-rides of about 40 and 15 minutes each. Sparkle rode a Cannondale R900 and a Cannondale Synapse. Both are really nice bikes, but pretty distinctive in their feel. Less than 5 minutes into the second ride (on the Synapse), she knew which bike would be hers.

We got back to Skunk River and told Ronn he'd sold 2 bikes. Sparks got the Cannondale R900 outfitted with a new computer and some cool water bottle cages. It's a red and black/silver bike that just looks fast! I told Ronn I was ready to sign up on the Cannondale too, and that's when he dropped the bomb - he'd already sold the bike to someone else. I was bummed, but now I'll get a 2006 model, with better specs and a pretty cool, but simple paint job:

So, my new bike is a 2006 Cannondale Ironman 3 Aero Slice in Race Red. Further specs can be seen at: http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/06/CUSA/model-6RM3.html (link displayed especially for my Uncle Jeff who nearly weekly asks if I bought a new bike yet...). I decided on the Cannondale over the Quintana Roo for a number of reasons. Both bikes have nearly identical geometry. The component specs are pretty similar - actually the QR is slightly ahead in this category, but that also increases the price... Cannondales are made in the USA and have a lifetime frame warranty as opposed to the overseas construction and 3 year warranty of the QR. Last but not at all least, the Cannondale just looks cooler and I know that every other person in the transition area won't be riding the same bike! I've even started thinking of some pretty cool graphics that I may add to the frame to make it more "mine." Ronn is ordering the bike on Monday and I should have it by the end of the week or start of the following week! More pictures to follow when I get it home! I've picked out a new computer, saddle, and pedals. My next goal is to get some new shoes. The only left after that is to just get on and ride!

Running is really going well. It's still what I love to do most. My hamstring still gives me some fits, as does my right foot (that's a newer pain, but nothing to worry about - I think...), but the regular massages are making such a difference. My IT bands are really painful at best, but Amanda does a great job of freeing them up while I practice Lamaze-type breathing to get through the agony it causes. I don't fear the weekly longer runs like I thought I would. Actually, they are where I get to de-stress from all the stress caused by trying to fit in all the other training! Tuesday night I found a new route for a 6 miler, and I'll be using it a lot more this summer. It's a perfect loop that sends me through town and then north of town about the right time to watch the sun set over the cornfields with nothing else on the horizon but blue skies. Anyone who thinks that Iowa cornfields are lame, needs a reality check. There is really nothing more beautiful than an Iowa sunset.

Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: about 3700 yards
Bike: 75 minutes (about 45 of that was outside!!)
Run: 24 miles
Cross-Training: about 60 minutes of lunges, squats, and core with various clients throughout the week.