Becoming IronAdam

I did a 30 minute swim followed by a 5 mile run today. Total exercise time of about 66 minutes (good pace of about 7:12 for the run with two mile tempo laps in there of 6:45 each). It was the first time running in tri shorts, wet tri shorts at that. It wasn’t too bad. I thought it would be a lot worse. No chafing, no pain.

The one thing I learned quickly though is take the time to dry your feet and put on your socks right. I jumped out of the pool, dried off quickly, put on my socks, shoes, shirt, heart rate monitor, switched the garmin to running, and took off.

About 4 miles into the run, my right toes HURT! I didn’t think much of it and kept going. When I got home, I examined and noticed a decent sized blister on my second toe on my right foot. I assume this had to do with my feet being wet and not completely drying them before running. Lesson learned: take the extra 15 seconds to dry your feet completely AND 30 seconds to straighten out your socks. This could be bad if the blister doesn’t go away by my Saturday long run!

I also started my total immersion swimming drills today, which is why you don’t see me listing a distance. I was amazed at how hard they were to do. It was quickly apparent how poor my swimming form is despite feeling like I was a good swimmer.

Unfortunately this means I need several hours in the pool to fix my form. I spent 30 minutes on lesson 1 today, and I feel like he’s dead on in saying you need 3-4 weeks per lesson, 3-4 days a week of an hour in the pool. I just wish I had the time. I guess I have to think beyond my October 10th race to next year’s Half Ironman.

I do look forward to fixing my form though. It felt good with more work in my hips rather than shoulders. Plus, it just felt easier. 30 minutes in the pool was nothing. That’s a great feeling!