Morning Workout

Today started what I hope will become my new routine:

I made it to the pool before work! I got in a solid half-mile workout (1/8 mile warmup, alternating freestyle sprints and breast stroke recovery, 1/8 mile cooldown) in 20 minutes. CRAZY! Granted, my rest periods aren't counted in that 20 minutes (I stopped my watch any time I wasn't swimming - it gives me a better view of how much I actually worked). But still, I was only in the pool for about 25 or 30 minutes, so I'm pretty happy with it.

I ended up getting to the office at 710, which is a solid 35 minutes earlier than usual, so my perception of time is really wonky right now. I feel like it should be around 10, not 830 because I've been awake for so long. But when my pool workouts start becoming more structured and long I'll be getting it at the normal time.

Saturday I spent snowboarding all day with a group of girls that were a LOT better than I was. We spent the entire morning on black diamonds, and I really challenged and pushed myself and feel like I really, really improved. I'm happy :-) My abs were actually sore on Sunday, much more so than my legs. I guess when you're pulling tight turns on very steep terrain you engage your core much more.

Whats one of the ways you get a new routine to stick? I really need to keep this morning workout routine going, but I know that later in the week, when I'm really tired, it's going to be hard to get out of bed that hour and a half earlier. Today I guilted myself ("You know you're going to regret not going. You're awake. Get out of bed, go to the gym, and just go to sleep an hour early tonight. Lazy."). Any suggestions, aside from willpower? Because sometimes willpower just isn't enough.

I'm going to drown. Seriously

So my triathlon is on Sunday, and I haven't been in a pool in about...three weeks. I'm getting really, really nervous/concerned/scared shitless that I am going to need to be fished out of the OPEN WATER SWIM IN THE OCEAN OHMYGOD SHARKS AND RIPTIDES AND WAVES OH MY!

::ahem::

But. Seriously. I am rather nervous about the swim. It's 1/4 mile. I know I'm going to kick ass on the bike ride (11.5 miles, aiming for around 35 minutes), and the run (5k, hoping to break 30 minutes). But I'm only going to kick ass on those two parts if I don't DIE IN THE OCEAN first.

Sorry. Sometimes I can be dramatic.

I tried to get into the pool last night. Lindsay took me to the Woodbridge Community Center, but their open swim didn't start till 8PM (we went around...6). Then we went to the Metuchen YMCA, but their open swim didn't start till 930. Both of those times were far too late - I've found that if I work out after 8PM, I don't sleep well/at all that night. So we went back to her apartment and went for a 30 minute run.

Why is it that all these forces seem to be working against me getting into any pool?

But on the plus side, I did just find out about a private school in my neighborhood in Brooklyn that has an indoor pool that may be open for public use. So I need to look into that to work out for the Oct. 12 triathlon we're doing. Speaking of, I need a wetsuit...Ocean swim + October = really cold.



Training round-up:

Tuesday: Rest due to aforementioned scheduling debacle.
Wednesday: Abs and spin (and the spin class was great, btw. I could really tell the difference in my endurance and strength from being on my road bike so much lately).
Thursday: 30 minute run, 2 minutes of which were barefoot. I think I was running at about a 9:50/mile pace, which could hopefully bring me in under 30 minutes for the 5K.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: swim/bike/run brick on the actual race course. It'll be short - 5 minute swim, 6 mile bike, 12-15 minute run - just to get a feel for all the transitions.
Sunday: Triathlon (1/4 mile swim, 11.5 mile bike, 3.1 mile run). I'm hoping to finish under 1:20.

Wish me luck! I won't be able to update again until Monday, because like I said before, I only have access to the interwebz at work.