Thursday, August 30, 2018

Swimming and biking update

A couple weeks ago, I swam in the Watauga Lake Triathlon as part of a relay team, which was a blast. We were totally average, coming in as the 6th out of 9 relay teams, but we're legends in our own minds. "2 docs-n-crisis" will never be forgotten. Here's my team, and my super-serious-looking dive-- check out those triceps!




I'd been able to swim 2-3 times per week the last few months, and it was nice being able to focus on swimming leading up to the race. Though my times plateaued over the month leading up to the race, I did have a great week of open-water training in New Hampshire the week before the swim, which improved my technique tremendously.

Without a major upgrade in my upper body strength, I'm probably not going to be able to significantly improve my times in the water. I do hope to get stronger in the home gym over the next year, but I doubt I'll ever reach the ideal BMI for a swimmer, which is 24. But I do plan to maintain the past year's gains in the pool with weekly swims.

With the Watauga Lake swim behind me, I've shifted my focus onto biking. In addition to a couple other workouts, I'll be in the saddle a minimum of twice per week for the next several months. I've started with 8-10 mile rides near my house, which have some really great hills, very little traffic, and beautiful scenery. I'll gradually inch up the mileage every week, much like I did with swimming last year. My goal is to do three triathlons next year. I'm hooked!