Oh, that's just oxygen deprivation!

For those of you who have known me since I got into triathlon, you know I used to struggle with the swim. I don't think I am/was a bad swimmer, I just didn't swim for sport. If you asked me to go swimming, I thought that meant we were going to lounge around the pool. When I signed up for my first tri, I had some group swims with my coworkers who had also been convinced (guilted) into signing up for Jeff & Brede's. Umm yeah, getting in a swimsuit in front of your coworkers just plain sucks. Anyway, the point I'm taking so long to get to is that swim training didn't really start for me until October 2009 because that's when I signed up for the tri specific swim classes.

Fast forward 1.5 years and it's Monday night swim. Coach Grace is always so nice but always gives us tough workouts. One of her favorite ways to torture us is by making us do drills where we're focusing on breathing....or not breathing. Last time we had a workout like that, we swam lengths of the pool where we started with 3 breaths per length, then 2 breaths, then 1 breath. Monday she told us we would be doing something different. We would breathe every 3rd stroke, then every 5th, then every 7th, then 5th, back to 3rd and then repeat 4x. Umm, hello? I know what you're doing Grace! That's the same damn workout...you're just trying to trick us. Breathing every 7th stroke for me gets me ONE DANG BREATH per 25. Shenanigans. What is her demonic obsession with us building our lung capacity? I like how much air my lungs hold just fine thank you!

So after the set from hell, I noticed I developed a pounding headache. I didn't want to complain and look like a baby so I kept my mouth shut. Our next task was to swim 200 all out. 4:03 later, I was done and evidently not looking good b/c Grace asked if I was ok. I told her about the headache and she said, "Oh, that's just oxygen deprivation from the last set". Oh, that's all? Lucky for me, Grace knew how to fix me! I was instructed to take a deep breath and then go underwater and exhale slowly and then repeat 10 times. It made no sense to me at first but I did it and the headache was gone and I was able to finish my workout. Yay me! I thanked Grace for the tip and then realized she was the one who caused the headache so why was I thanking her?

After the workout Monday, I remembered again why I love oxygen and I vow to never take it for granted again. In fact, I feel moved to go plant a bunch of trees (after IMTX b/c I'm too busy now).

The rest of my training is going swimmingly (hey, want to stick w/ the swimming theme) well. I feel like every day I'm stronger and faster than the day before. I like it! My appetite can only be described as embarrasingly manish. Who am I kidding though...I can probably out eat most men. I know it's b/c of the training but it sucks when you finish your plate and ask your boyfriend if he's done with his. I have been craving bloody red meat almost daily. For you triathletes out there, be sure to share abnormal cravings with your coach b/c it could mean there is something your body is needing. I never made the connection but Gena pointed out I was likely iron deficient and that's what was causing the bloody meat cravings. Of course!!! Normally I'm very low on the iron side of things and with all this additional training, it would make sense that I'm dipping even lower. Yay for having a smart coach!!!

Well, that's all I've got for now. Galveston is a week from Sunday and I'm super excited to see how I do. I really, really want to have a solid race so I can go into IMTX with a boat load of confidence!!!!!

Happy Wednesday!