Two Weeks Down, Four to Go

Much to my delight, I've made it through the first two weeks of the Triathlete-Approved Devil's Lake Training Plan, far enough into the regimen to have earned myself a "recovery week." I enjoy the idea of having earned this reward, just as the idea of a reward of 15 seconds of rest at the end of 50 meters of swimming has helped me to feel that I am earning the right to breathe. Hmmmmm. Pretty heavy, I suppose, but it certainly has inspired my gratitude toward the person who wrote scheduled rests into the plan.

How is it going? Just like social science, in which the results are always mixed, I'm getting mixed results from my efforts on the DL6WTP; my running time, speed, and endurance are all coming along better than I ever could have imagined. Twice this week, I "ran" 45 minutes straight through---the pace was slow, but it felt good to just be able to go that long, and I ran three eleven minute miles on the treadmill, with short breaks in between, with no problem. I think it's fair to say that I've never been in better shape in my life, using this as a measure. Biking is okay, though I seem to have less steam on the bike than earlier in the summer, and had some misunderstanding of some of the instructions for the bike workouts. And I miss riding for longer times, though the Plan has me riding with greater intensity---I think. Still, I did one 40-mile loop of the Ironman Wisconsin course last weekend, meeting the goal of being able to do that by summer's end (thanks to Margo for letting me shadow her on a fraction of her long ride ~ those ironpeople are amazing). There's still work to be done to manage the Devil's Lake hills, nonetheless. It's the swimming that's *still* the biggest challenge, and which I nearly allowed to reduce me to tears during a lesson on Wednesday this week. Maybe teary salt in the water would help my buoyancy! I've been in the water three times since, analyzing the problems, trying methodically to re-train myself out of some inefficient habits, and trying to transform the despair that has begun to automatically clench my innards as I turn onto the road toward the pool--new since Wednesday. For reasons I don't quite understand, I was on the edge of tears again last night in the locker room even after making progress on my stroke during a late night swim. I think it's in a better place now than on Wednesday, however, and that's good: it's four weeks to the Devil's Lake Challenge. I'll keep working on it.

Although I'm feeling a bit emotionally stretched at the moment, I'm also feeling very rich in friends these days, related to this adventure: Margo has written and then revised the training plan and given me careful, doable, thoughtful swim lessons, shared several bike rides with me, and always been kind and encouraging; Meghan came with me today for an open water swim and shared the expertise she developed from years of teaching swim team kids on Lake Champlain; Monica has always been a great sport and great mentor on my bike outings; and Mark has volunteered to consult with me about how to further kick my aerobic capacity up a notch. It takes a village of people with alliterative names, apparently, to get one slow, fat, triathlete up to speed. I'm also feeling amused and lucky to be starting triathlon training now. Although most people are "peaking" at about my age, I really can only get better, at least for the next couple of years, given where I've started! Right?