Team in Training: I Feel Tired

First off, this is so gratifying to see -- your donations have reached 33% of the goal I pledged to raise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! I appreciate your generosity so much!

Last night Emilio wanted some peace and quiet so I packed the boys off to the gym, never an easy task. I went to the spinning class as they've recommended that as a good way to build up cycling endurance. I have been looking at buying some pedals on Craigslist, but I don't really know what to get so I asked the instructor. She told me Shimano SPDs work on the spinning bicycles as well as on mountain bikes. She also told me to check out a pair of shoes someone left in the room a couple months ago. I did and they're an 8 and a half, which is too big for me. I wore them anyway just to experience being clipped in (I always have ridden my bike with cages on the pedals). It was good although I did have to concentrate on keeping my foot forward in the shoe since it was roomy. They urged me to take the shoes home so I did, but today my knee feels tweaked and I hope wearing the wrong size shoe won't mess up my biomechanics. Anyway, maybe I can transfer these cleats to a shoe that fits.

Today I am exhausted, however. I'm debating going to the pool and trying some triathlon training exercises I saw online. On Saturday one of the coaches complimented me on my freestyle stroke and I realized how helpful it was to have taken that swimming lesson last summer. It taught me some crucial things about breathing on both sides and using my lats to pull more effectively. I think my weakest point is probably my kick. Overall, I'm not fast, but on Saturday morning in Moraga we did a timed 32 laps, and it didn't take long for me to find a rhythm (although I have a lot of trouble remembering how many laps I've swum). When I was done I didn't feel particularly tired. Apparently, that was about half the distance we'll have to swim in open water.

There are a lot of helpful triathlon training videos on YouTube. Here's the one I mentioned: