Tri-Training Update - Week 6

Wow, I cannot get started today. Our air conditioner died and the repair guy was at our house until after midnight last night. I still got up and got a walk/run in, but right now I am having a hard time staying awake. I have Miller tonight and am pretty sure telling a 2 1/2 year old that we are going to go to bed extra early at 6pm won't work. How I wish I could bottle his energy!

After our workout this morning, my mom and I were walking down the stairs to the locker room when a woman noticed we were both yawning. She laughed and told us we weren't supposed to be yawning - working out is supposed to give us energy. I laughed then but now it makes me a tad angry. Working out IS supposed to give me more energy. Eating better is supposed to make me feel better. WHEN is this going to happen? I signed up for this tri in April and in a mere 41 days I will (hopefully) be a tri-athlete. I have ramped up my training and instead of feeling energized I feel exhausted. This is even after I took this weekend off and slept until my body naturally woke me up (after 10am!!).

I am amazed at how crowded the gym is at 6am. When did society get so gym obsessed that everyone needed a gym membership? Was it Olivia Newton-John's Let Get Physical? Is being healthy the status symbol that will define this decade? How many people have gym memberships but never use them? Do all the people at the gym enjoy it? Do they get energy from it? Don't get me wrong, I am glad I work out and immediately afterwards I feel great. I love sweating and I love the feeling of sore muscles. It keeps my mental sanity in check. Usually. This week something is off.

I first noticed it yesterday. I was up and ready when the alarm went off, got out of bed without hitting snooze and had time to make myself a protein shake (Juice Plus of course). I got to the pool in record time and got in the water a full 30 minutes earlier than last week. I did my usual warm up of 250 meters and then began my clinic work. My mom and I decided last week that we need to set aside time each day for clinic work. I developed a schedule and then did some research on the day's topic: breathing. I was armed with knowledge and imagined myself speeding through the clinic drills because of course, I am now the female version of Michael Phelps (I even ate at Subway last week!).

Cough, cough, sputter sputter....I swam 5 strokes and ended up with a nose full of water. I still have no idea how, but somehow working on my breathing messed up my ability to breathe. I did this for about 15 minutes, with no luck. Every time I tried my "improved" technique, I ended up sputtering and coughing. So I did what I imagine every hard core athlete does in these situations; I gave up. I didn't give up swimming, I just stopped trying the new technique. Somehow I jinxed myself and couldn't get back into my usual old rhythm. I must have looked pitiful because the lifeguard got off his chair and actually came and stood at my lane. I stopped the freestyle and went to my old standby, the froggie looking stroke (so maybe I need to read up on the names, but other than that - totally female Michael Phelps) to finish my workout.


I did a yoga class last night and am just not a yoga fan. I didn't leave there relaxed or peaceful. I left hot and feeling fat and not graceful with a tight hamstring. This morning the hamstring was still bothering me, I was tired and couldn't get warm. I also ate 5 minutes before yoga (I know - mistake. Where were you last night?) and have felt pukey ever since. The chlorine in the pool usually dries out my skin in a good way, but this week I am broken out all over my body and feel greasy and gross. More than anything right now I want to curl back into bed and have a do-over. Gertie my Gut is making an even larger than normal appearance over my waistband and I am also having an "Everything I touch turns to crap" week at work and it is only Tuesday!

But I will get up again tomorrow for another swim session and hopefully be able to breathe. I am just going back to basics so I should feel confident in that. I'm not going to let one bad week derail me. Maybe that is part of the reason people work out: because they can control what happens. Life gets so hectic and so much of what happens is out of your control. You can really only control how you feel, what you think and what you say. The rest is all up to other people. So maybe working out is the one area that they can control. Maybe the energy comes from knowing that you did something positive, that you are trying and that you aren't giving up. Or maybe there is a secret energy drug that they are giving out that I am not privy to yet. Either way, I will get up again tomorrow morning. I bet it will be a bit harder than it was yesterday. I also bet I will go to bed as soon as I put Miller to bed tomorrow night and might fall asleep before he does!

I know I am going to be glad I did it though. And in 41 days, when I can proclaim myself tri-athlete, I am going to feel proud, accomplished and exhausted! I am glad I work out, but seriously, if they are giving out secret energy drugs, will someone clue me in??