26 days ...

Only 26 days to go. How crazy is that? Yesterday in the pool, I had a moment, out of nowhere, where I thought "I can't do it," and this was BEFORE the moron ran into me. Yes, I had a head-on collision in the pool. I was swimming 3000 yards, so I had been there a while, swimming back and forth in my lane minding my own business. A woman was swimming next to me for a while, and when she got out, a guy jumped in and decided we would circle swim, but he failed to let me know. I didn't even know he was in the pool until after we ran into each other. He said he didn't see me. I looked at him like he was a complete idiot (which he was) and said, "How could you not see me?!" "I wasn't looking," was his reply. Good plan ... jump into a pool without looking or figuring out what the other people are doing. I finished my swim in fear of him, but I did finish, and I'm still angry about it. I just can't believe how stupid he was.

Last week we had a 4000 yard swim on the schedule that I was dreading all week. My longest swim had been 3000 yards before this. When the team swims together, longer sets are posted, but I am never able to finish them. We only have the pool for 1.5 hours, and I'm a slow swimmer. The pool our team uses is being cleaned so I did this swim on my own, and had all the time I needed. Also, when I swim with the team, I can see everybody finishing and getting out of the pool, while I still have many laps to go. Swimming on my own, I saw many others come and go, but I could feel good about myself because I was swimming such a long set. I finished the 4000 yards in 1 hour and 45 minutes :)

Last Saturday, May 19th, the team went on a hellish 80 mile ride. I had many moments where I thought I am not ready for this race. After we finished, coach Kevin said that this ride was much harder than Coure d'Alene. Plus we're working on tired legs. It was a miserable day ... one hill that was about 20 miles long, and a head wind on the down hill, and it was hot. The next day was the Hawthorne 5k, and I had a title to defend ... I had won my age group the past 2 years. After that bike ride I was worried ;) The event is great fun .... 300 students run, and for many it's their first race. I didn't get the best start but soon had Jeanine (my only known competition) in my sight. I crept up on her and then passed her at mile 3 with only .1 to go! I yelled at her to pick up the pace, but she didn't. I beat her by one second and came in 1st in my division with a time of 29.16. Luckily for me, she had run the Palos Verdes half marathon the day before. After the race, I met Maria, Karen and Dean at the beach for our long run of 3 hours/15 miles. I actually felt better on this run than I did the week before. Go figure.

This past Saturday, 7 of us did an easy 100 mile ride to San Diego. Compared to the hard, hilly efforts we have been doing, this really was easy! We had a great day. The weather was cool and cloudy, no flats or mechanical problems, and we only got slightly lost near the end of the ride. I even ran into Tomie and her teammates just north of Camp Pendelton. We rode together for a little while. We spent the night and rode the train back home on Sunday.

Stats for week of May 14th
swim: 4400 yards
bike: 120 miles
run: 23 miles
total time: 16 hours, 57 minutes

Stats for week of May 21st
swim: 5500 yards
bike: 129 miles
run: 7 miles
total time: 12 hours, 8 minutes

This is our last big week, then we taper. I'm already a nervous wreck. The taper is going to be tough. Please send postive energy my way. Thanks!!