Lessons from Friends

I hoped to put a post together every 2-3 days; oops, I'm already underachieving.  :-) 

The 2010 Baker's Triathlon Team was formally announced this week.  We've pretty much doubled our team size.  Really looking forward to getting to know our new folks - how great is it that we have this technology that we can make new friends nationwide and worldwide?!  Plus a new box of Baker's cookies and; granola arrived this week...yum!


George has me swimming a lot, at least it's a lot more than I'm used to.  I always knew that, in order to improve, I needed to put in more time and distance in the water.  Every once in awhile I'd get a fleeting sense of that elusive "feel for the water" that good swimmers just naturally have.  I heard it defined recently as the positioning & movement dynamic between your body and the water - which is present without you having to monitor it much with conscious thought and adjustment.  It appears that swimming is a highly neuromuscular activity and those improved skills have both a physical and a mental component.  Hmmm.  
Warren and I went out on a 3 & 1/2 hour bike ride today, and though he certainly reined in his usual need to hammer, I felt like I kept up with him a little better.  It rained for the last 2 hours of the ride, but even though I got a little cold, it was much more pleasant than some of the warm & sunny days where the strong wind was ridiculous.  Then ran for 45 minutes after the ride and felt lousy in the first 10 minutes but really good with a decent pace for the rest of it.  So, riding faster apparently leads to running faster afterward.  At least, it did today!


Yesterday I was chatting with Gail, my ubercyclist ex-professional athlete friend,  about her mindset when she's spending hour after hour on the bike training.  With a long bike ride, I'm usually looking for ways to fight boredom and thinking about being bored, often even before I get out the door!  I asked her how she manages that, and she told me that (unlike me), she really focuses on being present in her head on the ride, focusing on the power she feels in her body, how her body is interacting with the bike("become one"), thinking about the upcoming terrain and how she's going to attack it, and just really thinking about how to get the greatest training benefit out of each session.  Wow, that is so NOT what I do, but so what I NEED to do!  So, I left my ipod at home today and focused on the bike and the ride.  At the last minute Warren decided to come along, but he's not that chatty on a ride much of the time, so he didn't distract me.  This is probably one of the reasons Warren is such a good cyclist as he approaches his rides purposefully as well. (Safety note: I justify the safety of using an ipod by using only one earplug and listening only to podcasts, not music - so I stay aware of my surroundings.)  


The other thing that I think is helping me is continuing core strengthening work.  I'm incorporating a lot of the movements from Mark Verstegen's Core Performance/Endurance program, and doing Joe Horvat's "Joega" class at Flatirons Athletic Club.    It seems to be spilling over with the benefit of an overall feeling of a little more power in all three disciplines.  Plus hopefully it will insulate me a little from re-injuring the piriformis/glute/hamstring - last year's sad story.  They say that all movement is driven from the core and the arms and legs just extend that power, so getting strong from shoulders to knees sure seems to make sense. 

Off to bed!  Looking forward to a nice easy run with the girls in the morning!