Fridays are reserved for long training days. I am lucky enough to have coverage for the gym with three different shifts of volunteers from 6am-1pm so I can train. This morning I decided to sleep a little longer than usual, having yet to wake feeling rested since Honu. Out the door and down to the pool by 6:45 am to try and get 2.4 miles in before the dual dentist appointment at 8:30am for the kids. I think it will take about 90 minutes, so I'll be cutting it close. By the time I get there and get ready, gel and water on the side, I have about 75 minutes to safely make it out of the pool and over to the dentist in time. Maybe I can still make 4225 yards. Ironmoms sometimes have to swim faster to get their workouts in anyway.
The first 20 minutes I didn't even look at my watch, feeling one with the water like my old swim team days in high school. Back then, we swam everyday, outside in the winter at a country club where the steam would billow off the water as we churned through our practice. I thought about those days where I really learned how to swim well, after my initial lessons as a child from Richard, the swim instructor with the billowing voice, thick black beard, and cheery disposition.
The coaches of my swim team were quite the pair my freshman year. One was younger, probably in his 30's with a superman type swimming body and bright red hair. It's hard to tell age when you're 15. If you weren't in high school or college you were just an adult. The other was older and wiser, probably in his 70's, and much shorter and wider. The two together were a comedy act each practice, cracking jokes and poking fun at each other. We swimmers covered lap after lap practicing technique, trying to get faster, or just trying not to drown. They knew their stuff. While I was never very fast, I learned every stroke and can now see the value of daily swim practice, picking apart each component and practicing hard. I have never liked going from dry to wet, and still don't. This was a true test of grit and gumption. Swim season was in the winter, and it was often raining and snowing in Oregon. We swam every day for 3 months, sometime twice a day. This is the first time I learned mindful meditation, and visualizing success. We would lay on the wrestling mats after practice, doing strength exercises, stretching, and meditating. The coaches were very motivational, posting quotes on our lockers before each swim meet. I still have one of those papers today, and have used it as my mantra often when feeding a baby at 3am or putting my business together in the wee hours of the morning:
After the quote he wrote: "You've put in the time, now it's time to race."
I have a feeling I will be playing this over and over in my mind at 8pm when I'm running on the Queen K, heading to the finish line in October.
The swim will be my best event compared to the masses in Ironman. I have swam in the ocean since the month we moved here in 2007. Some friends invited me to swim with them at the pier. Having never swam in open water, I was nervous. Sharks, jellyfish, waves, currents...is it really safe? What if I get tired? I agreed to tag along, and luckily these fast swimmers were also patient and very kind and loving people. They helped me build my endurance swimming in the ocean. I started swimming with them regularly and they taught me how to sight, stay calm in the waves and currents. The first time I swam with the dolphins, an event I would enjoy regularly in years to come, was simply amazing.
There is nothing more magical than coming across marine life when swimming in the ocean. It is always exciting and draws a swimmer back time and time again if the opportunity is available. I eventually built my distance up to swimming 1.5 miles, out to the coast guard buoy with these ladies.
Being a former swim instructor, I eventually began teaching others how to swim in the ocean too. For years I went out multiple times a week, coaching nervous swimmers along until eventually I had some great swimmers heading further and further out each week. One day I had two sessions back to back, each going out to the 1.2 buoy. I eventually paired the two together, but I realized I had just instructed 2.4 miles of swim lessons in 2 hours, half of which was swimming side stroke. The cut-off time for the Ironman swim is 2 hrs 20 minutes.
Now as I approached my cut-off time for todays swim I realized I was not going to make 2.4 miles. The last 15 minutes of my swim I really pushed it, thinking as I often have, "It's not that you don't have enough time, you're just not going fast enough!" Every 5 minutes counts in swimming. Swam for 5 extra minutes, skipping the time it would take to put on any make-up and fix my hair. I thought about letting Jeff get started at the dentist with the boys, squeezing in a few more laps. I have been there, and I couldn't do that to him. I made it to 3800 yards, 2.16 miles in 1 hr 22 min. Time to go. You never know how Kona traffic will be. I threw my Swim Bike Mom Tri*fe kit on for my bike ride after the dentist, pulled a dress over it and headed to the keiki dental clinic, goggle marks and all.
We swung by his new school to pick up paperwork to register him for Kindergarden which starts in August. Time flies. Then I dropped him off at Preschool and headed to NELHA for my bike ride. 2 hrs and 28 miles. Lots of hours, lots of training, but it's for a once in a lifetime opportunity. I really really like triathlon. But I love my family. After Ironman it's all about my boys. But for the next 4 months, we're working our way toward Ironmom. I know they will be proud.
The first 20 minutes I didn't even look at my watch, feeling one with the water like my old swim team days in high school. Back then, we swam everyday, outside in the winter at a country club where the steam would billow off the water as we churned through our practice. I thought about those days where I really learned how to swim well, after my initial lessons as a child from Richard, the swim instructor with the billowing voice, thick black beard, and cheery disposition.
The coaches of my swim team were quite the pair my freshman year. One was younger, probably in his 30's with a superman type swimming body and bright red hair. It's hard to tell age when you're 15. If you weren't in high school or college you were just an adult. The other was older and wiser, probably in his 70's, and much shorter and wider. The two together were a comedy act each practice, cracking jokes and poking fun at each other. We swimmers covered lap after lap practicing technique, trying to get faster, or just trying not to drown. They knew their stuff. While I was never very fast, I learned every stroke and can now see the value of daily swim practice, picking apart each component and practicing hard. I have never liked going from dry to wet, and still don't. This was a true test of grit and gumption. Swim season was in the winter, and it was often raining and snowing in Oregon. We swam every day for 3 months, sometime twice a day. This is the first time I learned mindful meditation, and visualizing success. We would lay on the wrestling mats after practice, doing strength exercises, stretching, and meditating. The coaches were very motivational, posting quotes on our lockers before each swim meet. I still have one of those papers today, and have used it as my mantra often when feeding a baby at 3am or putting my business together in the wee hours of the morning:
"The heights of great men, reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight.
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night."
-Longfellow
After the quote he wrote: "You've put in the time, now it's time to race."
I have a feeling I will be playing this over and over in my mind at 8pm when I'm running on the Queen K, heading to the finish line in October.
The swim will be my best event compared to the masses in Ironman. I have swam in the ocean since the month we moved here in 2007. Some friends invited me to swim with them at the pier. Having never swam in open water, I was nervous. Sharks, jellyfish, waves, currents...is it really safe? What if I get tired? I agreed to tag along, and luckily these fast swimmers were also patient and very kind and loving people. They helped me build my endurance swimming in the ocean. I started swimming with them regularly and they taught me how to sight, stay calm in the waves and currents. The first time I swam with the dolphins, an event I would enjoy regularly in years to come, was simply amazing.
There is nothing more magical than coming across marine life when swimming in the ocean. It is always exciting and draws a swimmer back time and time again if the opportunity is available. I eventually built my distance up to swimming 1.5 miles, out to the coast guard buoy with these ladies.
Now as I approached my cut-off time for todays swim I realized I was not going to make 2.4 miles. The last 15 minutes of my swim I really pushed it, thinking as I often have, "It's not that you don't have enough time, you're just not going fast enough!" Every 5 minutes counts in swimming. Swam for 5 extra minutes, skipping the time it would take to put on any make-up and fix my hair. I thought about letting Jeff get started at the dentist with the boys, squeezing in a few more laps. I have been there, and I couldn't do that to him. I made it to 3800 yards, 2.16 miles in 1 hr 22 min. Time to go. You never know how Kona traffic will be. I threw my Swim Bike Mom Tri*fe kit on for my bike ride after the dentist, pulled a dress over it and headed to the keiki dental clinic, goggle marks and all.
I made it to the parking lot at the same time as Jeff and the boys. They greet me with joy as if I hadn't seen them in years, as is the case every time I see them. We go in and get called right away, and they are champion patients, which is not usually the case. Who likes the dentist anyway? No offense Dr. Nitta.
We made it out cavity free and teeth so shiny Tamatoa from Moana would be jealous. (As was mentioned by the dental hygienist. Man he was good.) Jason said he was a little scared, but he did it anyway. He wanted to know if he did a good job. I told him that being scared but doing something anyway because you know you should is called being brave. He was very brave and I was very proud of him. So glad I didn't miss this.
We swung by his new school to pick up paperwork to register him for Kindergarden which starts in August. Time flies. Then I dropped him off at Preschool and headed to NELHA for my bike ride. 2 hrs and 28 miles. Lots of hours, lots of training, but it's for a once in a lifetime opportunity. I really really like triathlon. But I love my family. After Ironman it's all about my boys. But for the next 4 months, we're working our way toward Ironmom. I know they will be proud.
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