Carrying on

I wrote a tiny bit here about my best friend who had cancer.  She passed away earlier this week.  She had been sick for two years and although we knew she was dying, I had not fully accepted that she would one day be gone forever.  The past couple of days have been very difficult.

The last time I saw her we just hung out and talked about so many things.  I told her that I was going to be doing a triathlon in a couple of weeks and she was so impressed and proud of me.  I'll be carrying that with me as an incentive to do this race and to give it my all.  I'm going to race for Lora.

I've been feeling very depressed and kind of lackadaisical all week, so I was not exactly enthusiastic about having to jump in the pool today.  But I suited up and got myself into the water and began my laps.  The more laps I did, the easier it felt and I really started to get into a place where only breathing was on my mind and it felt good to feel empty for a change.

I think all of those hours of watching Olympic swimming on tv have paid off a bit because after scrutinizing their techniques and kind of mimicking what I thought they did, I got into a groove that felt really natural today.  Gosh, I may have even felt like a swimmer.  Dare I say that?!

Oh!  And I really had to laugh at myself today...
There is a sign next to the pool with all kinds of reminders and rules.  It also states the distance of the pool:
Each lane is 25 yards.  33 laps or 66 lengths equals one mile. 
Guess who read that as 66 laps equals one mile???   This guy!
This whole time I've been thinking that I needed to do 33 laps to get in a half mile.  WUT??
And that is after I had calculated everything out at my desk at work weeks ago!  I had a cheat sheet on my desk that told me that I needed to do 17.6 laps for a half mile.  But I'd go to the pool, see that sign and somehow that cheat sheet was completely erased from memory.  I know, I'm a weirdo.  Sheesh.

Soooo - last week when I said that I had gone a little over a quarter mile...yah, I actually swam a half mile.  Doh.  Hello confidence booster!

I did the Tour de Tonka this weekend and ended up just sticking with the 26 miles.  It was for the best.  I was so ready to be off of my bike at ohhh...mile 11 that I knew I had made the right choice.  The weather was perfect for the ride - overcast, cooler and a bit rainy.  I had some technical problems though - my front tire was nearly completely flat for the first 5ish miles.  Thankfully they had bike mechanics at the rest stops who filled up the tire for me.  Then somewhere around mile 10, the screw came off of my shoe cleat so I couldn't clip in.  The same thing happened to me at the Saint Paul Classic last fall and I was able to get another screw at a rest stop.  I stopped at the rest stop around mile 16, but there was just one guy working on bikes there and he didn't have any extra screws.  He straightened out the cleat for me and tightened it the best he could, but at some point it became crooked again and I couldn't clip in for the rest of the ride.  It wasn't so bad, but I made a major mental note to pack an extra wrench and screws for my next ride (race)!!

Half Mile

Today is one of those - oh my god, what am I thinking!?? - kind of days.
The triathlon I'm now racing includes a half mile swim.  I've been assured by others that I will be able to do this, but I haven't been convinced myself yet.  I swam a little over a quarter mile today at the pool and felt really great, but to do twice that?!  In open water?!  OH.BOY.

Aaaand we're back to being scared again...

This weekend I'm doing the Tour de Tonka, which is pretty much right out my parents' front door.  I am pretty sure I'm going to do the 26 mile route, but that 43 mile route keeps calling my name...might be a race-day decision (haven't registered yet).  I just keep thinking back to the last 40+ ride I did last fall, which was emotionally very tough on me.  I've no guarantee this ride will go the same way though.  That one could have just been a bad day for me.  I can't stop imagining how awesome it would feel to conquer that distance again with much less strife.  Darn my competitive nature!  Plus, those Olympians who I find on my tv constantly these days really make a girl want to kick some booty!!