Day 101: Push it real good!

Calli- I really pushed myself on the swim today. I am trying very hard to increase my lung capacity while increasing my stroke distance. That is, I am trying to use less strokes per lap while maintaining good time. I felt very good in the water tonight and after I finished I got to watch Jose. It’s really amazing to see somebody progress as far as he has in less than a year. I know this has been a challenge for him, and he has really proved  himself as far as committed. We both know that after 101 days, it doesn’t get any easier. You have to push yourself!

Jose- I managed to swim 600 meters non-stop tonight. If I want to compare myself with the swimmer I was 100 days ago, then I would have to be very happy about going from hardly swimming 15 meters while having problems breathing, to what I accomplished today. However, I prefer to see these accomplishments just as intermediate steps towards a greater goal. Looking at it this way makes my frustration rise a little bit because of my poor times and poor form (Calli took a short “discouraging” video, plop!). As Calli just said, it won’t get any easier and I will have to push myself maybe twice as much. I still have close to 200 days of time left and I know I can do it.

“Faith moves mountains, but you have to keep pushing while you are praying.” -Mason Cooley

Day 100: How Far…

This is our one hundredth day in training. We have been through a lot through out these months. We’ve over come struggles of motivation, time management, and even exhaustion just to make it this far. At this moment we invite you to take a look at the first progress videos and map out the differences that you see. We are thrilled to have chosen a Triathlon in Sandusky, Ohio and we can’t wait to put our training to the final test. This is a life decision, however, and it does not stop after race day. We will continue to keep this a daily part of our lives. It has taught us a lot about commitment and struggle in order to succeed. It’s nice to see how far we’ve come from just walking and struggling to finish one lap in the pool. How far do you think you can go?

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is how great spiritual giants are produced.” -Swami Vivekananda

Day 99: Getting the right kick

Calli- The swim was wonderful this morning. I love getting
up with cold water…there is a no fresher more shocking feeling. It’s more of a
love hate relationship. The water will be much more shocking on race day in
Ohio during September that’s for sure. We are in a Recovery Week this week so
the work outs are less than the past three weeks. We are focusing as much as we
can on having strong kicks for freestyle. This is a very difficult thing to get
your body used to if you are not accustomed, but remember that if you stick to it and persevere…you will succeed!

Jose- 750 meters today. 250 meters of bilateral breathing freestyle, 250 meter of kick and 250 meters of bilateral breathing again. The kicking always gives me a hard time. We have been paying a lot more attention to this since we KNOW that this is my biggest weakness in the water. Even though I might have to focus a lot more on exercises that are going to be a pain to do, I’m looking forward for the final result. By using fins I realize how important is just the fact of having your legs up in full horizontal position with the rest of your body. Also I managed to beat Calli in freestyle but of course using the fins, because of that extra speed they give you. I just need to work harder.

“Sometimes you’ve got to believe in someone else’s belief in you until
your belief kicks in.”- Les Brown

Day 98: Trying an aero position

Calli- While cycling today Jose and I were talking about the correct body positioning on the bike. It is hard to isolate the lower body from the upper body making the core strong and engaged. However, it is necessary that you do it so that you will not have a loss of energy during the race. He also told me about some rules when racing on the bike. It is against the rules to ride directly behind or next to someone. Unless you are passing them, riding like this can get you disqualified. Just a helpful tip! Happy fun time!

Jose- The ride today was hard. Some days your body just needs to rest. We haven’t done any strenuous training work lately, but sometimes your regular job takes a lot of energy out of you. Maybe it’s not bad to do your workout anyways if you pace it in a way that you don’t kill your body. That’s what I did. I worked out more calmly, making sure to reduce the speed when necessary. We practiced a little bit the position that you should use when riding with aero-bars. This will help us break the wind on a better and more efficient way to reduce drag. We are counting on these little tips to help us on race day.

“Rest when you are weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”- Ralph Marston

Day 97: Don’t forget to Look Up

Calli- Oh what a beautiful day! I can’t wait to have my own bike here so we can go out in the nature and ride. We are still inside practicing our cycling, and we probably will be for the rest of the year. This is a normal concept for us, and we have accepted it. However, we are so eager to try out good bikes to train in. The Brick today was simple and short. 1 hr bike followed by a 10 min run. I am so grateful to be here and training for the race in Ohio! Have fun out there!

Jose- One of the things that people keep telling me when I’m riding the bike is to look up. I have this tendency of looking to the floor when I’m tired. This pretty much is self sabotage. You reduce the space to breath, your shoulders get tense and also the back gets tired faster. Another thing is that you get used to a position that you simply cannot use during race day unless you want to crash after the first 100mts of the ride. When doing the bike portion of the training, make sure your form in arms, back, shoulders, head and of course especially the legs is appropriate. This will help you save some time, energy and make the ride completely efficient. Besides this, the run was great. I’m feeling more comfortable on running at a 16 km/hr pace for longer. I need to reach that speed for race day.

“I think self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion” – Billie Jean King