9 Months to Tri

I didn’t post yesterday, so I’ll cover both yesterday and today in this post. I got busy and didn’t have time to blog.

Yesterday was a swim day. I got 50 minutes total in and hit 92 lengths, so over all 1 1/4 miles (88 lengths). No cramping or soreness at all. Since I got in 10 minutes late, I ended up in a lane by the wall. The lane by the wall is tough to swim in, because you’ve got all of the water bouncing off the wall and right back at you, so its a rather turbulent experience. For the last 10 minutes, though, the pool emptied out enough that I was able to slip into a center lane by myself. Once I was there, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to really open up with my speed. Neither fatigue nor cramping were an issue. I think that if I’s been in a lane by myself the entire time, or that if I’d gotten in the water on time that I would have been able to make 1 1/2 miles.

After that swim yesterday, I’ve made it my personal goal to be doing 2 miles in one hour by January 1st. We’ll see how it goes.

Today’s weights went well. In all, the weights haven’t been jumping up too much, so I didn’t hit failure on anything except the dumbbell shoulder press. I simply couldn’t lift the weights to my shoulders for the last set, so I went back to a lower weight for round 3. Mike says he’s going to switch the entire program up on Monday, so we’ll see what happens.

I have a few personal thoughts, too.

First, I’m very comfortable with the current weight training program. Free-weights and the exercise machines I understand and am comfortable with. I’ve had strange plans in the past, some of which were from 1/2 to completely made up of exercises I’m not familiar with. Fitness balls, strangely shaped matts, exercise balls. I’m sure there is nothing inherently ‘wrong’ with these exercises, but at the time, I just felt uncomfortable with these exercises since they were new to me. I’ve very rarely followed thru with those plans. If your trainer gives you a workout you aren’t comfortable with, talk to him about it. Let him know that you’re not likely to follow thru if you feel you aren’t. They’ll work with you to create a program more suited to your mental comfort, and maybe ease the new exercises in one at a time, rather than all at once.

Second, I haven’t actually gone around with a tape measure and measured myself, but I’ve definitely started to notice physical changes. My belts are racheted down to their lowest hole (they were up one when I started the program) and are still too loose. Brett says I shouldn’t waste money buying new belts yet, just to punch new holes for now. Without my belt, my jeans would be around my ankles, but even with the belt, I’m constantly hoisting them up anyway. Bending over to tie my shoes no longer takes my breath away, and expecially after a weight session, I can see my arms filling out my short sleeves. Now, that’s cool. Shirts that were just a bit too tight now fit more comfortably.

I’m only 4 weeks in and seeing more changes than I was expecting to.

Finally, I’m off to Boston this weekend to go to Podcamp. I’ll be leaving tomorrow (Friday) and check into my hotel Friday evening. I’ll be speaking in a session on Saturday morning, and attending other sessions the majority of Saturday and Sunday. Lunches and snacks will be provided. Breakfasts and dinners will most likely be eaten out. Both food and finding the time for exercise will be issues, so we’ll see how the weekend goes. Its gonna be a heckuva weekend to follow a 1 month weigh-in with. At least the hotel has a pool and gym.

If I don’t post this weekend, then have a great weekend!

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