Feeling a bit like a stuffed turkey myself when I woke up this morning after all of the Thanksgiving festivities last night, I decided that it was about time I got my act in gear and got my first “official” triathlon training plan workout underway. My right knee has been acting up this week in my classes and I really…let’s say that again for effect…really don’t want to have to sub out any of my classes next week. So of the swim, bike and run…I chose the workout that will put the least amount of strain on my knees…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LET’S GO SWIMMING!!! 😀

I really love to swim, I always have. I know so many people who are afraid of the water. “Too cold”, “too slimy”, “dangerous”….but I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always been at home in the water, and the water has always been kind to me. I was about 3 years old when I started swimming lessons (fist bump to my mom and dad for starting me so young – it’s the only way to go), and in one of my very first lessons, a nasty 6 year old boy took my Arial Little Mermaid doll and threw her into the deep end of the pool. Fearless little Sara went off on a crusade pattering down the deck and jumped right into the deep end of the pool after her with no flotation device! I guess I was just so comfortable I didn’t see how anything could go wrong. That, or it was going to take a hell of a lot more then a little bit of water and a nasty 6 year old to get between me and my Arial.

As I’ve gotten older, that gutsy little 3 year old has evaporated and I’ve become a very cautious, fearful person. I’m not really sure at what point it happened, because I used to be very brave. When I was 13 or 14 my family went White Water Rafting in the Ottawa River. We had gone down an enormous rapid in our raft called the “Waikiki Wave”. 3 out of 5 rafts flipped over and everyone went out. After we had pulled up to calm water, the Guide let us know that if we wanted to, we could get out of the raft, walk back up the river bank, jump into the water and body surf down the same rapid that we just went down. Who do you think was first out of the raft and jumping in?

Age and maturity are funny things. When we are young, all we want is to be older. I willed away the days until I was 16 so that I could drive. Then until I was 18 so I could drive alone. Next I counted the days until I turned 19 so that I could get into the bar, and then once I turned 19, my sites were on 21 so that I could go into casinos and bars in the States if I needed to.

The irony is that once we get “older”, we wish fervently for that gutsy, youthful mindset all over again. The “get out of my way I’m coming through” attitude that makes little kids ride their tricycles like demons through a crowded street. The “if I fall, I’ll just get back up and try it again!” attitude. I lost mine somewhere between the ages of 14 and 18. Come to think of it, I lost a lot of my spark between the ages of 14 and 18. In my early adult years, I’ve managed to get most of that “spark” and passion back. But the bravery never did come back to me.

Anyways. Sorry. That was a bit of a detour. Back to the swim 😉

I got to the pool right on time for the swim and picked the “slow” lane to start out in. I felt a bit self-conscious because I was wearing my Old Navy flowery two-piece bathing suit on a deck lined with fit, lean bodied, Speedo one-piece wearing swimmers, all wearing bathing caps and streamline goggles that probably cost more than my iPod. I so need to go shopping.

Anyways, I got into the water and felt so much better. Swimming is such a therapeutic, soothing workout for your body. As I started to front crawl and glide through the water, my mind began to drift to the hardcore, sweaty, screaming, jumping workouts that I love so much in the studio. Don’t get me wrong, those will always be my workouts, and you’d be a sorry person to try and get between me and my classes. Swimming was kind to my body. My knees and ankles and hips seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. I gained more and more confidence with every pull through the water.

I did 30 lengths of a 25 metre pool. So about 750 metres. Not too bad for my first “real” swim of training! The most important thing was that I walked out of the pool glowing. I felt like I had “won”, and a tiny little bit of that “get out of my way I’m coming through!” mindset started to creep back in.

Maybe Triathlon Training is about more then just training your body. Maybe it has something to do with training your mind as well. Training your mind to drop the fear and just go for it. You might fall off your bike. You might get a cramp while you’re swimming. You might crack a bone in your foot running.

But you’re just as likely (or more) to not do any of those things.

Check out my training plan for the rest of this week below! Enjoy the extra day off tomorrow!

Monday – 90 minute BodyAttack Class & Food Drive

Tuesday – BodyAttack class

Wednesday – 20  minute run & BodyPump class

Thursday – Spin class & BodyStep class

Friday – 850 metre swim & Trek or Treat 5km run (stay tuned for a full race recap of this fun race!!)

Saturday – REST DAY *insert HALLELJAH music here*

Sunday – Spin class

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