A Chlorine Rash for the Holidays

You name it - I'll get it. While swimming today I remember feeling a burning pain kind of like jelly fish are stinging you over and over. Don't ask but I know what that feels like...anyway. After swimming I ran to Menards and Home Depot and noticed my neck burning. I got home and Olaf said "Who'd you get the hickeys from?" Hmmm - I was circle swimming with a guy at Masters this morning. I figured it's just another allergy to add to my long list of things I love that I'm allergic to. (horses, hay, wood, grass, mold, dust, cats, dogs...the sun, moon, air OK maybe not those last three but it sure seems that way some days.) I took Benedryll because I'm use to allergic reactions but that hasn't helped me. It's rare to be allergic to chlorine because allergens are proteins and chlorine isn't. Phew! I was ready to wear a garbage bag in the pool and duck tape it on me so I could still swim. Apparently I have a chlorine rash and from what I read it can take a while for them to go away. It will be interesting to see what happens after tomorrow because I have another swim day. I have 4 large 'hickeys' on my neck and some spots on my back. The worst part is that I have to go to work tomorrow and wearing anything that rubs on my neck really bothers it. So what sounds better when people ask what's on my neck - a hickey or a rash?

Frustration and Confusion

I was so frustrated last week with training. I have been biking REALLY hard and my heart rate is at 91 - 95 and I should be at 135 - 145 just for base. I have even cranked up the resistance on my trainer.

Running I'm at a 8.5 MPH pace and my heart rate is at 110 and I need to be 120 - 130 for base. When I started I had to run/walk to keep my heart rate 120 - 130 and usually it was over pushing 140. I went to swimming and brought my info to my coach and she said this is great, my body is rebuilding itself and my heart is stronger so I can work harder and my heart works less. She said I need to run harder/faster and get my heart rate back into 120. I just can't keep that up for 30 - 45 minutes or better yet for 2 hours biking! I would have to be running 9 - 10 MPH to get it there. 10 miles per hour...so six minute miles for an hour. I'm no longer confused but still frustrated at how hard I have to work and I'm still not working hard enough yet giving it all I have.

This is a great article that explains it all, one that is rarely written about low heart rate training and the benefits it gives your body.

http://www.counterpartcoaching.com/hadd.pdf

Suffer-O-Rama

I ordered a cycling DVD called 3.0 Suffer-O-Rama. What a name for a DVD! The warning on the back says that "This exercise program may result in injury". Ya think?

I registered for the IronGirl the end of Sept today. It will be cool to see how I do compared to last year without training and this year after the IronMan. It's on the 27th...so not too much rest time after IM. Maybe I'll have to have Olaf wear a wig & pink racing skort and race as Bridget. Oh wait, look, he did run the Iron Girl in 2008. Go IronGirl Olaf!

Warning - this is gross!

I was in the middle of my swim workout yesterday and threw up!! I had vomit in my mouth but didn't want to have to stop my workout or even worse have the lap pool shut down due to toxic fluid in the pool. I ate my own CHUNKY banana tasting vomit! Woo hoo!! That right there should make me an IronMan. I really wish I had a toothbrush or mouthwash. Nasty! I'm learning why training starts so far in advance. As you go through this process you find yourself doing things you wouldn't normally do just so you can get your daily workout in. It's an obsession now.

Now if I could just figure out how to pee off my bike seat during the bike portion. I heard that's what the elites do. I'm not that graceful so I think I'll stop and use a port-a-potty.

What's RB?

Good question - one I learned the answer to today at Masters Swimming. Restrictive Breathing!

Seemed like fun at first until you keep going and going. We had to swim a set of 100's. Each one we had to breathe every 4, 5 or 6 strokes. (normally I breathe every 3) Then 6, 5, 4. After you breathe so little doing 4 and 5 is not that bad at all. That wasn't too bad except there wasn't any rest time listed so I was doing them all back to back but that's not a big deal. When I was done she added a rest interval. Opps!

Next drill for RB was swimming under water as far as you can. Sounds fun, right? Well the first one was fun the next 11 were not. I made it to the end the first time but after that about 3/4 was the farthest I could go. Then you get to 'normally' swim back take a 20 second rest and do it again. For some reason when I swim under water I go to the bottom of the pool. The person circle swimming with me was wondering what I was doing. So each time I went I had a nice ear squeeze.

After swimming on Sunday I also water jog for an hour. I guess 1 hour of water jogging is like running 4 miles. I typically come home, eat something and take a nap. I ordered my own aqua jog belt today. I'm hoping to get it by the 22nd because I will need it at the Y. I asked to use their belts but they won't lend them out for use during the pool. So what's the point in having them?

I'm back into my workouts 100 percent except for the run - that one is lagging. I'm hoping to get it completely on track by mid January. It's so nice to be able to do everything again. Yesterday I had a long bike and run. I watched Legends of the Fall. I figure out how long I have to bike and choose a movie based on time. That movie was 2 hours 15 minutes. What a nice long ride in the middle of winter.

My workout scenery has changed a little. I got sick of looking at the ugly paneling in our downstairs and ripped it all off about a week and half ago. After a tub of spackle and a huge paneling bonfire.... and lots of glue scraping we have no more paneling, new paint, new mantel and tile. Here's the before and after. The lovely coral color was under the paneling. I have wanted to update this room since first looking at this house. Once the paneling off and the cement was on the fireplace there was no turning back. No more red bricks!! Now it's done and I can bike and run in peace without paneling!!

Easy Does It

I have been to Motion Care three times now. I have been taking mental notes each time they manually move my hip out of spasm. I don't have anymore appointments until Jan - they are that busy. : ( I was having some pain yesterday and showed Olaf what to do and he was able to clear it up. This might just get me through to January. I have been biking and swimming on schedule and exactly what my training says I should do. Running is another story. I'm basically walking with some jogging and at most I have done 2 miles. I have also started water jogging after masters on Sunday. I'm a prune after nearly 3 hours in the water. It's a slow start but I'm not too worried about it yet, it's still early. Plus I have to get through the 2.4 mile swim and 112 mile bike to even think about the marathon...when I get to that I'm cool with walking, crawling, limping, whatever it takes. I'm just glad I did start training as early as I did. I have a new schedule for December to work from - finally no repeats like November was. I used Octobers training plan for November since I was injured for most of the month.

I found out the YMCA I go to is having an indoor tri the third weekend in Jan. Can't wait! It's just like the one at the U of MN (TRI U MAH). Swim as much as you can, bike as much and run and they total up your miles. You have 30 minutes for each event. At the U's last year I was 9th place female out of a couple hundred women. I was thrilled because I hadn't trained that much for it and really didn't know what to expect at all since that was my first Tri. I actually wore super padded biker shorts - how embarrassing. I was the only one wearing them and we had a really padded seat on top of that. I'm excited to see what I can do this year. Maybe I can break the top 3!! Best part of an indoor tri - no worries of someone swimming over you, kicking you, a flat tire, or the rain - BONUS!