Jackie D. Week 4

Week 4- starting Monday 9 October 2006
Last week finished up with another beautiful early morning run around Mendon with Mary and some of the Train-This! Team. The sun was shining, the deer were out, it was less muddy than last week and (with the exception of one of the hills on the way back where I thought I was truly going to die!) it was thoroughly enjoyable.
One of the guys had a Garmin Forerunner 305 on so gave us all the details and we all ran a few extra yards to make it up to 7miles. The overall pace was 10min 34 seconds a mile and having pondered on that all morning I think I am learning to grow up as far as my attitude is concerned and I'll explain why. Leaving aside the terrain (which was undulating, lots of roots, stones to watch etc) I would have said a pace like that is pretty slow, especially for these guys, even for an "easy" run. In fact, despite the fact that some of those darn hills weren't easy for me my initial reaction for a pace like that was disappointment. I have so long thought of myself as a 10min miler and this year have broken through to being pretty much a single digit miler that I was disappointed and a bit surprised. BUT, the others weren't and they are all much fitter, faster runners than me and have a lot more experience. So, I got to pondering and pondering. If it was OK for them why wasn't it OK for me? Many ponders later (:)), now I am well on the way to convincing myself it was OK for me too, especially if I think about the terrain and compare it with the normal smooth, faster surfaces I train on. It is more about the workout itself and the effort I put into it and the progress down the fitness road I am taking and I shouldn't get hung up about the pace as long as I was doing what I needed to for that training session. In fact one of the mile splits was 8 min something so it wasn't that bad anyway.
....and that leads me to gadgetry and technical things and I am sure that many "with it" triathletes will think me very strange.
The thing that stimulated me to think about this is when I went to look at an indoor cycle trainer that a team mate was selling and one of the first questions he asked me was what size wheel I had. Errr......I had no clue. It went round and round when I pedalled and got me along OK and heh I could even take it off the bike if I wanted to, so why would I need to know the wheel size? I smiled sweetly and told him so. But it got me thinking.
I realised that for some things, I am an end user and as long as something does what I want it to do and is supposed to do I am happy. The immediate comparison that comes to mind is computers. I like what all the modern software can do and I use it quite happily, but if something goes wrong it is very frustrating but I have no desire to find out the why's and wherefore's - I just want it to work again so I turn to my darling hubby :).
When it comes to triathlon I am not a feeble female and I can quite happily, OK not happily, but I am capable of doing things like changing flat tyres (deliberate English spelling - we'll educate you Americans yet hee hee hee) but so many people love all the gadgetry and specs and are always wanting better versions of all the equipment etc - even relative beginners. And what is more I am beginning to become one of them, just slightly and am no longer intimidated when people discuss the latest Cervelo bike etc.
A year ago I couldn't have told you what an indoor trainer looked like. I wouldn't of been able to pick out a tri bike from a row of different types of bikes (OK maybe a good stab but only by elimination method) and I would have laughed if someone told me I needed a tri-suit.
I am sure there are beginners out there, like me a year or so ago that find all the triathlon talk quite overwhelming, especially by the enthusiasts who insist you need this, that and more for a triathlon. But to them I say, if the interest holds, you will find out with time what you need and what you would like. My first triathlon I did on a 15 year old rusty road bike (not fitted) which I rode after pulling on some leggings over my swimsuit and putting my trainers on. It was fine and I didn't stand out like a sore thumb. All this gadgetry and specification stuff will come with time and just listening to people and reading etc if your interest is there - you can't help it.
And my final words on the subject (for now) are that a Garmin Forerunner 305 is top of my Christmas list but I still have no idea what size my bike wheels are!
Back to training thoughts - this week is my first recovery week. My cycling and running have been cut completely back but the swimming and strength remains the same. I wish it could be the opposite way around but I know why it can't be like that. I will miss my bike rides in particular - I can only hope that it will rain all week so I won't miss them too much. BAH HUMBUG! (but I hope the sun shines when all my team mates need to do their rides etc :))