I'm slowly pulling myself out of the funk of terror and into excitement. I kind of just want to get this race over with! Also...I'm kind of getting excited!
Today I woke up, went outside and was cold. It was 64 degrees this morning!!! Where did summer go? It is still officially August folks. It's not even fall yet. The fall solstice is not even until AFTER the tri! This is completely unacceptable and I demand that it get warm again. I went out at lunch and bought a long sleeved shirt!
After work today, I'm planning on running. I'm looking forward to a nice long run without worrying about my tires, my helmet, my shoes...I just want to get out there and be able to lose myself in my own thoughts. I went to a new pool yesterday, the Wilson Aquatics Center, here in DC. It took me forever to find, but it was so worth it. I couldn't believe how nice it was! They really did a great job, it was one of the nicest pools I've ever been to, DC or anywhere else. But I was thinking about how hard it is for me to just be able to think while I swim. When I'm running, I'm continually thinking about new ideas for the blog, things I need to do, planning my life, singing along to my ipod. When I'm swimming, the only thing I can do is count the strokes until I can breathe again. That pretty much takes up all my energy. And it makes it SO much more tedious. Time passes so much more quickly when you don't have to think about the same thing over and over again. I tried to think about what I could write in my blog while I was swimming, but the continuous gasping for air cut me off each time.
Still, little snippets of thought made it through anyway. I was really just impressed with this pool. The water was so clear, it had so many windows that everything was just bursting with sunlight. It almost made me understand how people could love to swim, scuba dive, in general, how people love the water. I'm definitely gaining an appreciation through this and I think I'm going to keep swimming even when I'm done training. But I don't know if I will ever love the water. When I was little, I think I was entertained by it. But I don't think I've ever been the kind of person who LOVES water. Water is more of an acquaintance of mine. We have mutual respect. I have a healthy fear of drowning; what's more, I have the waning phobia of fish. Yep. I hate what lives in the water. Seals, sea turtles, manatees, otters...those are all ok. But I don't think they will be in the Potomac. Fish, whales, even dolphins are a bit much for me. Don't even get me started on eels. I have nightmares about being trapped underwater with these creatures. Needless to say, I haven't been to an aquarium in a long time. When I was little, I took swimming lessons, but couldn't wear my glasses (obviously). This meant that I couldn't see anything, making any body of water a murky, scary place. Being able to see underwater in a beautiful pool makes me a little less fearful. But I will maintain my respect for the water in the hopes that it will be mutual on September 13th.
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STILL NEEDED BEFORE TRIATHLON
1. tri shorts - done. ordered today!
2. tri/bike top
3. GU holder for bike & run
4. water bottle holder for bike
5. new water bottle
6. bike gloves
7. new swim cap (must be pink!)
8. portable bike pump?
9. bike maintenance road kit?
10. possibly a new running hat for the mess my hair will be after swimming, biking!!
My color scheme is going to be pink...who would've guessed?!!
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