Weight lifting thoughts

My left side is stronger than my right. I guess I knew that, but now I really know that. My right side was sorer, more knotted, and had more trouble with the same weights. I sprained my right ankle repetetively and I fell on my left side, my lead and dominant side.

It has been 1.5 weeks since I started my new weight program (Power lifting!). I am no longer sore to the touch or just to walk. I feel stronger when swimming, for a few hundred yards, but my muscles get tireder sooner. This will go away and I will be stronger and faster soon I hope.

I am enjoying the new program, it takes a lot less time and it is different so it feels good. Also, I think I will make quick progress, which makes me happy.

Aftermash of the crash, random thoughts, weight training

5 days after the crash I thought I was having a heart attack, turned out to be a cracked rib. It gave me 24 hours of excrutiating, I cannot move, or sleep, pain. It did allow me to take some time off from training/racing and finish my now favorite wool sweater. This was the first time that I have been forced to take time off from training that I enjoyed it and was not chomping at the bit to get back to it. It was nice to laze around, spend time with the family and rest. After 3 weeks of riding the couch, I went for a 65 mile bike ride. I felt so good the first 45 miles. It was either the sport beans or the rest. I thought, "wow, I feel so great, I must have been overtraining all this time" By 60 miles though, I was all done. I had been down to 6-8 mph and finally got off the bike and called Dan to come pick me up. I have never had to do this before. I was shaky and couldnt even stand, and starving! I was only 4 miles from home! It had been nice to get out though, and it was my first time back on the bike so I managed to ride! I drafted, I aerobarred, I seemed recovered.
This all got me thinking... I feel like I subconsciously intended to crash. Not exactly, but I really needed the rest, and hadnt been in a racing mood all season. Long rides were torturous. The bike was not running perfectly. I didnt feel like stressing about races, or having to do any scheduled trainings, or early morning stuff. I was finally relieved by all the worry about what was wrong with my after a talk with Suzan. I had noticed lots of people stepping back a bit this year. Suzan 'gave me permission" and solidified an idea in my head that I had been toying with ....weight lifting. Swim coach Bill said I had perfect swim form but wasnt faster as I lacked the upper body stregnth. Suzan said I could lean up with weight lifting. Why not try something new and see where it led?
Talking with Celeste St. Pierre, she recommended Sarah Crane. I started my first weight workout from her on July 16th. The whole workout takes me less than an hour and my butt is whooped by the end of it, I can barely walk home from the gym! I am so excited to see what happens! This is sooo different from working out 3 hours plus and feeling fine! That was so much steady energy output, endurance. This is High Intensity training. I am still doing plenty of tri workouts but for the time being, I am really sore and tired, too sore and tired to do what I used to do . Suzan assures me that is still there and I will be back to it in about 3 weeks, I just need to get somewhat used to the new program. I am very excited to see what happens!

Black Fly Race Report

Saturday I volunteered at the Black Fly Triathlon in Waterville Valley. Volunteering is always fun! ANd the excitement there from all the athletes, well, I caught it. I also had a free entry to the race so it didnt make sense not to use it. I decided to do a relay team in the next day's sprint. Jen volunteered for the bike but I couldnt get a runner. Later Saturday I decided I would do the run myself, as well as the swim.
The water did not smell, but I didnt know how to get in. I was one of the last to enter the water (time trial start) but the line moved faster than I had thought it would and I was messing with my goggles ( I had to rinse and spit with water from a water stop which was nearby) I didnt get a chance to see how deep it was at entry and how to enter. I didnt think it was deep enough to dive, so I jumped. The water was cold! 58 degrees they said. I was discombobulated from the start. It was my first time in open water this year, first time in a wetsuit and I got off to a rocky start. I didnt feel like I was pulling too hard and down by the beach it got warmer. After that I didnt notice the temperature but there were so many buoys, I spotted on the wrong one and went way off course. My swim split was 7:07, not great, but hey, I can't be too hard on myself, I just cracked a rib! Jen took off the timing chip and got on the bike. She told me she thought we had competition but it was so hard to tell. All the other relays left long before we did. She had done the whole race the day before, the longer course so she was tired, but had a good bike. I left for the run and felt great. I felt light and strong and there was a picture of me running....and smiling. I had been feeling really discouraged since my times were so much slower but I passed 11 people, some strategic people and was happy with my pace of 8 minute miles for the 3.4 mile race. And then to top it all off...we won first place for a women's relay! What a great day!