Catch up and first triple in a while

Whoops, its been a while since I updated my journal. With housesitting and all, I've been pretty busy.

I've had some OK workouts here and there over the past week or so, nothing spectacular. I just started back up running and swimming since my back had been giving me some problems for a while. Both fencing and swimming have been down a notch since I started in on lessons, but that was to be expected. Still not Daisy airgun yet. Finally, didn't do any riding during the Thanksgiving week. But now I'm back on track and focused as ever to try and get ready for the pentathlon clinic/camp I'll be attending in late December in San Antonio.

I did have my first triple in a while today. The swim actually felt pretty good...finally. I'm getting better at the turns Ed had me work on, just push turns for now. Getting a little better at the butterfly and back stroke too, but nothing to brag about yet. I hope to hook up with Ed once a week or so.

I did a little better in fencing tonight compared to most of last week. I do think it is mostly due to the club epee I'm using since my blade snapped last week. The club epee doesn't record my touches very well and the tip is bent in a weird way. I also discovered tonight that the blade is a lot more flexible than what I'm used to which is probably why my point control is not what it used to be.

Finally, I did a half hour interval run on the shores of Lk. Washington where I'm housesitting for the Robbins. Its has been a week or so since I did a full on run, so it will take a few runs to get back up to where I was before. But my new shoes feel pretty good so far.

Swim, run, fence...third triple

I took the swim a little easy today as my body was still recovering from the ride/run/fence combination yesterday. My inner thighs were pretty tight (I hadn't ridden in over a week) and my right thigh especially was tight (from the fencing lessons I took). And then of course my legs were recovering from the fast runs I did at the first running practice I did. My upper body seemed a little stiff too, not sure from what, maybe the fencing lessons. But the swim went OK. My 50yd times were :35, which isn't bad considering my state. Technique felt pretty good too.

The run tonight at Greenlake felt awesome, the best I felt in a long time. But the time wasn't all that great...five seconds slower than my last time. I'm hoping that its the heavy workouts that I've had over the past two days that explain this one because like I said, the run felt great.

Nothing spectacular out of fencing tonight. I beat a couple people and lost to others. Did five bouts all together. I did fair in most of them scoring up into the teens against my opponents, but they seemed to beat me in the end. But once again, after two days of heavy workouts, I was pretty pooped and so was pleased that I could put for the energy that I did.

Swim, run, fence

It my swim today, I got my 50 yd time down to :34. Actually I had done two laps at :35 and then did two at :34. I like. If I could do these as a 200yd, it would mean that I'm doing a 2:16, which I would be pretty happy with at this point in my training. I am taking about a minute and a half rest in between laps right now though, so I have a long way to go be actually do a 200 in 2:16. But I will slowly take my rest time down until I can do it all in a row.

I ran the track today for my running training. My legs felt a little wobbly from the hard swim, but in the end I did a 6:58 mile. Not my best time, but better than I've done lately.

Fencing was Ok tonight. I won some bouts, I lost some bouts, but for having already done a big swim and a run, I was pretty happy with my performance. I fizzled towards the end of my last bout, losing a little off my point control and missing a few shots. That's OK, they will come back with more experiences with triple workouts. I did confirm with Allan to start my fencing lessons on Tuesday. Yes!

First triple: ride, swim, run

I had my first triple workout today starting with an afternoon ride, then a swim in the evening, followed by a run. I not only survived, I performed pretty well getting a training personal best (TPB) in swimming and very close to one in running. They are not competitive times yet, but getting closer.

I rode Vesty today for riding. Looks like I'll be riding Vesty for flat work and Pet for jumping for a while which is great because both will allow me to progress in the respective skills. I had the usual issues/games with Vesty starting up, had to get a whip even to really get him going well...didn't have to use it, just make sure he knew that I had it. We had some struggles when it came to getting his head down and keeping the rythem, but once we got past these issues and into the canter all was well. The canter transitions are still a little messy, but there getting there. Vesty is very good a predicting my moves so he's usually a little ahead of the actual commands which is why he wants to rush in to the transitions. By the end of the session though, we were as smooth as butta.

The swim went really well. I got my 50m time down to 36 seconds, etching ever closer to the target 30 seconds. My 100m was once again a 1:20 which needs to get down to a 1:00 or so. The rest of the swim felt great as well both in strength and technique. I'm looking forward to starting up with Salmon Bay...hopefully this Friday.

With two sports down, I went into the run not expecting much. My legs were sore from my first day back fencing on Monday, and riding and swimming certainly took their told as well. BUT...it felt great! I didn't fatigue at all ended up coming in at 20:04 which was 5 seconds faster than my last Portage Bay time! It is still not the sub 20 I was looking for, but closer.

Pretty pleased for my first triple. I should be able to do three events in the same order as the actual pentathlon...swim, ride, run. On Saturdays, I may even be able to pull off a full pentathlon practice.