Back at It

Before I delve into my day, I figured I'd share another photo from the NYC Triathlon. Eventually no one will care about the race (if you already don't care, please just pretend you do) and the photos will start collecting dust. I browsed through the general event photos and found a couple of me in the wetsuit where my number wasn't visible, including a prime swim exit shot. If you look closely, you'll see the Hudson River dirt goatee I accumulated during the race. I was told this would happen and yet I didn't think to wipe my face before the official photographer started snapping away. Note to self for next year...


After a post-race day of rest, I jumped back into training albeit feeling a little slow. My plan was to do a longer run, maybe 8 miles, in preparation for the NYC Half Marathon I'll be running on Sunday. I'm a little concerned about my lack of running training leading up to this race. My shorter distances have improved tremendously, but I've only done one run longer than 8 miles so far and it was over a week ago. But my left shin and right calf were still hurting so I decided to ride instead. I had the added incentive of having 92 miles to cover this week to meet my TdF Challenge goal so it was good to get in some time on the bike.

I felt relatively good on the ride, but definitely still tired from the race. I wasn't able to push as hard as I would have liked so I just took it easy. I know I've said it before, but Central Park is getting really boring. I'm thankful it's there, but I'm even more thankful to be able to ride somewhere else for a change. I seriously need to learn basic bike maintenance so I can feel confident leaving the city to ride by myself. With my current level bike ignorance, I need to have a Metrocard in my jersey pocket and be walking distance to a subway station at all times.

My first post-race swim was also good, but slow. Then again, all of my swimming - except for zipping down the Hudson River with the current - is slow. I worked with a new coach the week before the race and he told me I'll never get faster unless I correct a couple minor issues. The problem is that I'm just not grasping how to make the corrections. I tried tonight with no success. So I just swam my usual pace and enjoyed it. I'm still in the honeymoon phase of being able to swim so every trip to the pool is a little personal victory. And my shoulder didn't hurt, and hasn't hurt since before the race so I'm hoping I'm past that. The only thing that wasn't so great about the swim is that I swallowed tons of pool water. I'm not sure if I was being lazy or if my stroke was off from the race, but it was kind of gross, especially because I saw a lot of particles and a few more band aids in the water. Again, what is with all the band aids in the pool???

I'm going to try my best to get up super early tomorrow for that long run. The heat and humidity in NYC have been oppressive even at normal morning hours. I keep telling myself I can finish the run and go back to bed. Hopefully that will be motivation enough.

Biking
Distance - 33.2 miles
Time - 2:02:29

Swimming
Distance - 2100 yards (1.19 miles)
Time - 50:00