87 Days! Bye Bye June

June is but merely a memory so time to take a look back on a monthly recap.  June is the first month that I have been able to be consistent with my schedule although I have missed a few OWS due to weather and going down to watch Jamie do her Ironman!!

Training weekend went very well and I'm so pleased that I went because it did increase my confidence going into the race. Work has still been very busy but I have limited my focus to training, work, sleep and Z and I feel better.  I do need to get this move done but Z is helping with all of those details and I should spend some more time with friends which I am going to try and arrange but right now sleep is my biggest priority.

Less than 90 days until the race so I've given up soda, candy, fried food and alcohol. Time to really buckle down and make sure that I put myself in the best situation possible for the race.

JUNE TOTALS:
Swim: 29,301 yards (WOW)
Bike: 223.7 miles
Run: 6
Total: 246.34  (now we are talking)

January Totals:                                    Feb:                             March:
Swim: 9,801 meters                         18,756 yards                   8,625 meters
Bike: 43.46 miles                               123.5 Miles                    92.76 miles
Run (AlterG): 7.16 miles                    13.5 (Alter G)                24.8 miles
Total Miles: 56.71                           Total Miles: 147.6              Total: 122.92 miles

April Totals:                            May Totals

Swim: 7,464 yards               Swim: 7191 yards

Bike: 67.58 miles                  Bike: 44.3

Run: 53.58 miles                   Run: 4

Total miles: 125.4             Total Miles: 58.07

FOUR months!!

I promise that a Big Sur Race report is coming but not today.

Four months from today will be Ironman Chattanooga! I'm glad that as a gift to myself today I had a great swim, I even figured out what 'breakthrough' in training peaks means and checked it.  The day really started off like any other,  except I hadn't slept well the night before so I was pretty nervous about my stamina for such a long swim. The walk to the pool was steamy due to humidity so sliding in the cool water felt amazing instead of the freezing cold sensation for most the past months.

From my first 400 warm up I felt great, everything was in sync, arms were doing what they needed to, kicking was on point, kept the core sucked in and breathing was great.  I never felt like I got out of that groove and the whole swim went by pretty quickly well except for the SPRINTS that Jax so nicely added at the end when I was already tired and whoa nelly.  I'm pretty sure my brain said to me "Why are you trying to drown?" I did get a slight cramp in my right calf during the second to last sprint but was able to get it to go away in my ten second break between sprints.

I hate single arm drills, because they suck but also because they are missing from the Garmin ;)
I do feel my swimming is improving, I would like to see the per 100 meter average go below 2 minutes but that is a lot to ask.

I will however have to change my response when people say, "What is your swim time goal for Chattanooga?" because right now I say "Not dead".  I guess it might be time to come up with a time goal.

The tool my dad built me to track my sets is so helpful because in my 8 sets of 75 I would ALWAYS lose track but now I can easily look and know which number I'm on.

All in all I am not feeling where I wanted to be at this time in my training BUT I do feel I am where I can be for what my body is allowing. Coming up in June I will be venturing to Chattanooga for a training weekend on the course and I feel like this will be the true test of my mental state.

That's all for now but I promise I have some good ideas for blog posts running around in my head and I'll post them soon! (Especially now that I know people are reading! haha)

So much Data...what does it mean?!?

I belong to a triathlon team and our goal is to mentor and guide new women in the sport of triathlon, in fact that is a topic for another blog!  I mention it because today in our private group there was a lot of talk of swim information and what it all means.  These new fancy watches record all this data but what does it really mean to the normal athlete? Well apparently not much, there was a lot of debate and confusion so I thought I would break down some of the swim stats you are seeing from Garmin and what they all mean to me.

See below from my most recent pool swim:

SUMMARY Section:

Distance: Pretty self explanatory, the total meters or yards that you swam in your work out.

Pool Length: Again, this is set by you on the Garmin. You have 25/50 and then you can set custom length. 

Time: This is the elapsed time of your work out

Average pace: This calculates the average time it takes you to swim 100 meters over the course of your work out.

Calories: I never really use this to guide me but it gives you ball park what you burned.

TIMING Section:

Time: Is your total work out time

Elapsed Time: If you tend to pause your clock while working out for breaks, etc this will be MORE than the time section because it is calculating the overall total time. 

Average Pace: Again this is your average 100m time pace

Best Pace: This is the fastest 100m pace of your work out. (I think my watch got confused for this workout)

SWIMMING Dynamics (this is where things get tricky):

Total Strokes: How many strokes did you take in the entire work out? This will be affected if you are doing drills that don't involve strokes with your watch arm.

Average Strokes: This is the average of how many strokes it took you to go one pool length. 

Average Stroke Rate: This is breaking down how many strokes do you take in one minute, depending on how long it takes you do a pool length this number should be higher than your average stroke per pool length. 

Max Stroke Rate: The largest number of strokes that you took in one minute during the work out

SWOLF: The time in seconds plus the strokes it takes you to complete one pool length.  Ideally you want this score as low as possible. 

Now the real question is: What does all this mean to me?

Well as a swimmer you want to be as efficient as possible, gliding in the water with each stroke. Ideally you want to take as few strokes as possible while still moving quickly on each pool length thus having a low SWOLF.  The two values really work together to ascertain your over all swim health because a very low stroke count but a very long time to reach the other side will not be over all efficient.  Same with a high stroke count but low time to cross the pool, you are expending a lot of energy.  You need to find the sweet spot that results in a lower SWOLF.  

Your body composition may also affect these numbers so it is important as with all work outs NOT to compare yourself with others, if someone has longer arms they may have less strokes or if you are doing drills your numbers will be thrown off. If you want to compare work to compare your own workouts to see your development over time but keep in mind certain drills will affect these numbers. Also, try to limit your push and glide off the wall because this will really throw off your stroke numbers, there are no walls in an open water swim!

Did this clear things up? Still have questions? Leave a comment!