Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Bike, Run, Swim, Ballet

Yesterday was quite the workout day. I began with a morning bike ride with my friend and fellow tri girl Cori. We rode a respectable 17 miles with a couple of hills, but nothing crazy. We even hit one super sweet downhill along the ride. I spent a lot of the ride marveling at the progress that I have made on the bike during this season alone. Some of the small rolling hills that we rode yesterday were ones that I used to think were painful and which I previously had ridden in "granny gear". Yesterday I rode them in a higher gear than I ever thought sane or reasonable. I thank my friend and fellow tri girl+1 Chuck for encouraging me to shoot for what I thought was an unattainable goal. One of the great things about having others to train with is the encouragement and tips that we can give to each other along the way. I have lucked into a great group of tri girls and a couple of very patient tri guys, for which I am extremely thankful.

I got off the bike and convinced myself that I needed to go for a run. At least one mile... So I walked/jogged a little over a mile. I am simply not a runner. I was the girl who failed the 10 minute mile in high school - 4 - years - in - a - row! Running and I, well we just don't really speak to each other. In my twenties I sustained an injury that, for many many years prevented me from running (poor me!). Once I finally recovered from the injury I was motivated by my desire to do a tri. I can't say that I am a runner. I am definitely more of a jogger/speed walker. But I persevere.

In the early evening I headed to the lake for a swim with two of my tri girls - Allyson and Michelle. Truth be told, I didn't train all that hard in the water. I did a leisurely quarter mile warm up and then tried to hit the last quarter mile hard. The accumulation of the workouts over the last three days hit back. I was exhausted trying to push myself in the water. I ended up dogging the last eighth of a mile with the shore seeming farther and farther away with each breath rather than closer. I got out of the water and was starving, light headed, and in serious need of some sugar. I raced home and wolfed down some G2 and a Vitamuffin Corn Muffin before heading out to ballet class.

I arrived at the dance studio to find my friend and fellow tri girl Lisa finishing up the cardio class. She was quickly convinced to stay for ballet (yay!) and we started with a warmup at the barre which was not too intimidating. All went well until...the grand pliƩ. Not only did I snap, crackle, and pop but each of those 17 miles on the bike came back to haunt me. Oy vey! I soldiered along and didn't embarrass myself too much considering it has been 20+ years. But then the lovely Miss Kristen started talking about leaps...and then she demonstrated what she wanted us to do. Clearly if I had any hope of succeeding at this maneuver I would required both harness and trampoline. I gave it the old college try and had some great laughs. Lisa and I didn't collide into each other once during the whole hour, either!

I enjoyed the class and I still marvel at how much fun one can have when we push ourselves outside our comfort zone. I encourage you to pick one thing new to try - go for it, and then let me know how it went!



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