Mother Nature and Tri Training

She almost got the best of me. Even though I swim at an indoor pool the weather outside nearly wrecked my training for the evening. Apparently if there is lightning in the area they have to close the pool, even the indoor pool, until there are no lightning strikes for 30 minutes. It was cloudy and a front was moving through so I wasn't sure if they would open or not before I had to get back home. I was working out in my mind when I could shift workouts and how I could make up this day.

While I waited I OFFICIALLY registered for the Big Pool Triathlon. It's in writing and the money has changed hands. I'm in. I don't know how many they are expecting but I will be one of them. In reality I'm not that scared or intimidated by the event. With my training schedule I know I'll do fine, but the young girl at the front desk looked at me a little funny and said "really?" when I told her what I was registering for. Talk about a confidence killer. I think I look like I'm in pretty good shape but maybe to a high school girl I look a little different. Or maybe she just doesn't think of older people as triathletes. Either way, I was a little deflated.

The waiting paid off and they finally opened the pool and maybe because of the reaction from the girl out front or some inner voice, I swam the first 400 meters in under 12:00. I can't see the clock too clearly without my glasses (there's that age thing again) but I could see the big hand and I felt really great. The next 400 meters were only slightly slower and for the first time I completed 800 meters with only brief 15 seconds stops at the 50 meter marks.

I have noticed that my heart rate is slower if I can use a four stroke breathing pattern which I seem to be able to maintain once I've gotten really warmed up. The tri-suit is on order and I can't wait to try swimming in that thing. It will be interesting to try and stuff myself into it!