fiona is the lovely lil' girl in the center, and i am just left of her in my TNT gear5:30 a.m came way to soon this morning - and on top of that the flu i am been trying to fight came on with a fever similar to the one i endured on thursday. my ride eventually broke that fever, but here we are on saturday - and welcome back, fever is here along with the ache, pains, swollen glands, and airheadedness that come with it.
today was our first transition training - pretty important since we have two of them at triathlon. not to be missed, along with another open water swim and brick work, and a picnic following with our honored hero Fiona & family.
6:30 a.m. depart and off to Mary Ellis Park past Lake Lanier. transition clinic at 8 a.m., but bike set up (and all other set up @ 7:30).
it was really great, and alot of insight was gained from this clinic. i learned i have more yet to purchase - i am hoping though that i am nearing the end of the purchasing cycle, although as your read on the next blog - these two items are nothing.
off to the lake for the open water swim. my Olympic team is to do a 200 meter warm up, then we are all doing a group start when we all plung into the water together and begin swimming. mind you , this tends to get the heart racing, and on top of that you don't see the person you are swimming next to until you are on top of them, literally. the swim options were to do a minimum of 3 x 400, 4x400 (which is just beyond race distance). and of course i had to do the 4. typical.
what was not expected in the open water today was the current and huge amount of wake that was experienced. we were swimming in rollers in the lake where boats must have been coming far too close to the channel buoys we rounding. at points the swells were so hight you could not sight the buoys you were swimming to. another great thing i started to learn a few weeks ago, was to practice breathing on both sides, instead of just taking breath on the right. and today i was very grateful i did. depending on the side i was swimming, the swells were hitting me, and would get a mouthful of water. on top of that, this lovely flu i have was beginning to reak havoc on my stomach, and the peanut butter & jelly sandwich i had eaten over a hour ago.
come to find out- alot of the swimmers had experienced sea sickness today from the roughness of the waves and current...so perhaps that was not part of my flu.
anyways, i plunged through it, and of course - Fiona was going to be there, and the option she chose was to fight, and so i chose the same option.
what i was not prepared for was the first section of the brick - the swim to bike. your equilibrium is so distorted that firstly, you have trouble walking straight; and secondly, your heartrate does not have time to regulate itself back into its' surroundings. so, needless to say, i had some trouble spinning my legs on the bike - but that too could be part of me just being weak today.
had a great picnic with the team. i got to know alot of my teammates better and that was great. it was especially great to see Fiona and speak to her about her first week in first grade! if it were not for her astounding spirit, and the team for helping raise money for her treatment - i hate to even think of the outcome. she was communicating brightly with her beautiful blue eyes, and infectious spirit - and is sure to continue to inspire us all into our next few weeks and through race day. that is what it is all about.
Fiona's strength is infectious, and at 6 she has no idea of how powerful and strong she is, just by being herself.
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