Weekend Warriors

That is the only way to describe the people I know or saw training this weekend. With temperatures in the teens, single digits overnight, I saw some hardcore people out there running, warriors come out to plaaaaayyyyyyyyy.

On Saturday Aimee and I met my coach and her husband for our long runs. The car temp was showing around 11 degrees. I had 2:15 to do so Scott kept me company for 90 minutes. What an awesome run. We are both doing IM USA and he has 6 IMs under his belt, including Lake Placid twice. He has a wealth of information to share with me and is excited about my first IM. We hit the trails I did last weekend in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It was so nice and we were protected from the slight wind by the trees. We made it back to the parking lot right at 90 minutes and I continued on to finish. Unfortunately I should have stopped with Scott. I only lasted another 30 minutes because my right leg started to cramp up on me. It's been tight for a while but this time it was bad. I don't think it was any of the trails we ran but it was hurting. Later in the evening my hip flexor was sore, I may have a touchy ITBS. Getting it checked early this week.

All said and done I put in 13.15 miles. So what does a midwest runner wear during a cold morning run.

Here is the run down:

• Nike compression shirt for a base layer.
• Nike long sleeve dry fit shirt.
• Fleece lined cycling jacket, low tech.
• Neoprene fronted cycling tights
• Defeet socks and Brooks Adrenaline trail shoes.
• Mizuno gloves and mittens
• Balaclava style hat
• Sunglasses for the snow glare.

It was a perfect outfit. I was very comfortable the entire time and didn't over heat or feel cold. Now if my hip will just co-operate and get better.

Sunday was a swim clinic that my coach held at the local fitness center. Angela was a collegiate swimmer and is an 8 time IM finisher. Last year she did IM MOO and IM FLA after having her first child in March. She's awesome.

Well the swim session started at 7:00Am for two hours. TriSaraTops was there and was looking good in the pool. I needed Angela to look at my swimming and pick it apart. I shared a lane with Scott (above) and Paula since we were about the same speed. Even Scott and Paula had good things to say and pointed out some areas for improvement.

In a nutshell Angela only had two things to comment on, head and leg position. I am relaxing my head too much and letting it drop so that I am submerging/diving under the water. I need to tip my head up just a little. My legs are splitting apart during my breathing stroke. This opens a gap, drops the legs and produces drag. Keeping the head in proper alignment and the legs close together creates a tube or tunnel that you travel through, reducing drag. I've learned to keep my legs close together during my kick. A good way to work on this is to make contact with your thighs, calves or ankles just slightly. That gap doesn't open up, except when I breath.

Wow. I'm very happy with my swim then. Angela said that she was being picky about my stroke but that is what I wanted to hear. I wanted to know that my swimming is solid and I only have slight things to work on. What's the next step up from shark?

It was great to see so many warriors in the pool this morning and I think everyone learned something about their swimming.

How was everyone elses weekend? Time to warm up tonight.