New to Tri: Gráinne – Week 3

So with Paddy’s weekend being a really long weekend, I had the best intentions in making it an active workout weekend. It started with a cycle on Paddy’s Day, nothing major as I’m still getting used to the bike and never last as long out on my own as I do with someone else. So the morning started well with a 10km cycle under the belt.
 

Read on for more…

Then the stress of two weeks of interviews with companies took its toll, and that was it, I needed out of Dublin. All plans weren’t thrown out the window, but I did substitute swimming with two days of surfing. Actually I should re-phrase and say “attempted surfing”!!! No room for the bike with all the gear we had so no cycling and still no running. So the weekend wasn’t my best.
 
On the up side I did come back to Dublin much more relaxed, nothing to do with the wine consumed. It did feel like confession last night when I admitted to fellow beginners that the surfing was more of a cover and a hangover cure for the wine I had drank. I’m a light weight at the best of times, but convincing myself that drinking three nights in a row was ok, was definitely a bad idea.
 
As the evenings are bright I did leg it home from work on Tuesday to get another cycle in, as the guilt from the weekend was niggling away at me. It helped, and hopefully next week if I’m still not running at least I’ll be able to get in an extra cycle or two. Even if they are not the longest it’ll be better than getting angry at my foot for not being better.
 
Wednesday night we had our second session for the beginners program. It was a swim session in WW. The weekend’s antics were definitely visible but I pushed through and finished each set. At the end we did some swimming as a group. I’ve never been scared in the water but last night was the first time.
 
Elena popped into the pool and swam behind the rest of us, six of us swimming closely together for a length. I didn’t think it would be too bad till ‘someone’ grappled my foot. The first time I had a little panic, probably kicked harder and swam on. The second time, however, instead of it frightening me it tickled. Which I might add is worse. Laughing underwater can be fatal. Not to name names, but some people have master talking while swimming 😉
 
It was a great exercise, one which I’m hoping we’ll do again before my first triathlon. It was also great having an evening with the fellow beginners. It’s comforting knowing we’re all in this together.