That was way harder than I thought...

I met up with some open water swimmers this evening for a dip in the ocean in my new wetsuit. I have to admit that my first time out with them was a bit of a failure. The combination of the new wetsuit crushing my chest, waves slapping me in the face, and ridiculous buoyancy all combined to induce a mild panic attack. I think leaving my first ocean swim (with wetsuit) until 2 weeks prior was very silly - not quite as silly as not practicing at all though I suppose.

I couldn't do the loop and a lovely woman who was swimming with some novices escorted me back to shore where I did short laps in and out to get used to the feeling. I started to get comfortable in the waves but quickly got too cold. I think I was in the water for 20 minutes or so in total. Getting in and out to chat to the volunteers about progress didn't help this.

With 2 weeks left, a dodgy foot and a fear of swimming distance in the ocean, things are not looking good! I will need to get down to the swim meet on Thursday and try again, this time more mentally prepared, if I'm going to make it.

Cuboid Syndrome

This morning I suffered a re-occurrence of cuboid syndrome in my right foot. With 2 weeks to go I defied my physiotherapist and went out and bought a pair of orthotics. These days you can buy standard-fit orthotics and mould them to your feet with heat - amazing!

This is quite annoying. I'm getting that dull ache and weakness that I had before, it actually feels worse this time. It happened after 12 minutes of running (on concrete) and I stopped straight away. I have a physio appointment tomorrow, hopefully some ultrasound magic will do the trick.

This might be good time to take stock of triathlon expenditure. After saying I would do this on the cheap its actually turning into a big investment.

~$1,000 Bike - Kona Dew Deluxe (a much lighter commuter bike - multipurpose!)
~$30 - swim mitts (like paddles)
$100 - Craft triathlon shorts
$85 (bargain!) - wetsuit from MEC
$50 - Orthotics

Total so far ~$1265

Today I saw half-price Timex Ironman watches and managed to resist, so its not all bad.

Tomorrow's training is my first swim with the VOWSA. Time the try the wetsuit out.

Panic sets in

I haven't got back into a pool since I got home 6 DAYS AGO! I've been biking, but I've only managed 1 short run this week. Can I really swim in a 17 degrees C ocean with no wetsuit? How many training days do I have left again? Do I need bike shorts, and if so do I swim and run in them? AM I MAD?

Rant over, feeling slightly better...

Goodbye achy knees

Goodbye achy knees
Originally uploaded by S0MEBODY 3LSE

Less than three weeks to go. I have finally registered (too late for a t-shirt), and am completely terrified. Having a mild panic attack about diving into English Bay at 7.30am with no wetsuit on.

We spent a couple of weeks on Hornby Island and I managed to keep up with some training. Bike-Run-Bike sessions (bike to helliwell, run round the park, bike back - total time around 80 mins). Some ocean swims with a friend helping me out with my stroke technique. Now that I'm back I'm freaking out about the number of training days I have left (not many).

This week I bought a new bike - and am in love. I kept up with some guys on roadbikes (and in fancy lycra gear) for a bit on Burrard Bridge (going up the hill) - felt great - wheeee!

2 months to go

I haven't really been taking this training lark seriously to be honest. I've been biking to and from work occasionally and running a couple of times a week. This week I realised there are now 2 months until the Vancouver Triathlon I'm targeting for my first sprint.

This week I squeezed a couple of workouts into my morning before work which really helped, much easier to motivate myself then rather than in the evenings. I had a swim in the local outdoor pool yesterday morning, it was beautiful with the sunlight reflecting under the water. I managed 20 lengths and discovered afterwards that its a 50m pool - so I must have done around 1km. Pretty happy with that as I was using my new paddles which make the swim more challenging.

Today was a rest day and I feel a cold coming on. I'm hoping to go to the pool one day this weekend to try out a swim-bike-run workout for 20 mins each in quick succession. We'll see how that goes (if this cold doesn't hit too badly).

I'm also trying to do enough yoga to try and increase my flexibility and sort out these dodgy hamstrings, ankles and shoulders. Well - everywhere really.

Ankle problems

In April 2009 I sprained a ligament (I think) in my left ankle. Slowly but surely I got back up to distance again, managing to run 10km again. However, the ankle has still been twinging every now and then. Yesterday, during a fast trail run with Hubby it twanged again, and I had to stop running just in case.

Today I visited a new physio, who explained that he thinks my foot is sitting in the ankle socket in a strange way, meaning the cartilage is rubbing and becoming inflamed. So he waggled my foot for a bit then pulled it really hard!

Initially the joint felt a bit looser and ok, but right now it hurts and I'm icing it. I'm a little concerned about a setback, because I REALLY want to do the Triathlon on September 6th...

Trail Running

Yesterday a friend and I took off into the trails for an early evening run. We both had hangovers and a lack of sleep - not the perfect conditions for a longer run. However, we did possibly my longest trail run (in a long time at least) and her personal best for distance.

There is something about running in the forest that is so energizing. I put it down to the oxygen and the coolness/pleasant humidity. We took in some great hills and did ~10.5km in 63 minutes.

I felt great for the run, but have some tension in the part of my leg above inner right ankle. Not sure what this is called, there's not a lot of muscle there. Hopefully nothing to do with tendons/ligaments.

Its time to get serious again with the training so I'll see if I can squeeze a swim into my schedule this evening.