Day 76: Experiencing the open water

Calli- To be honest…I was nervous.  JAWS nervous. However, there are not many great white sharks in the Costa Rican Pacific. From what I have been told there are next to none. That did make me feel a tiny bit better. I was also worried about big waves crashing over me making it hard to get a regular breathing pattern. It was good to see that the place where we swam was low on waves. Actually, swimming in the ocean was the best experience of swimming that I have ever had. It was so peaceful and relaxing to be in water that was moving melodically all around me. Swimming in that kind of peace makes the fear subside, but I know that it will take a lot more than one day to lose it. I couldn’t be more at peace with myself right now facing that fear. Tonight will be a fun night! One fear addressed before the end of the year. 2012 here I come!

Jose- Today for the first time we had the chance to swim in the ocean. We both had different fears. My fear is to not be able to touch the bottom, which will happen for sure during the race. I also thought that swimming in the ocean was going to be way more difficult because of the waves and the water not being calm like in a pool. But after a few minutes in the water I realized that the fears went away actually very fast. Even though the water was very sandy and you were not able to see past your own arm, the sensation was great and I felt the ocean almost massaging me. We didn’t swim for long because we just wanted to experience the new “ambiance”, but the run that we did before,  around 4 km, with the noon sun shining on our shoulders, was good enough to complete the training day. We are more and more ready to start 2012 …

 “Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.” ~ German Proverb

Day 75: Playing at the Pool

Calli- It is in your best interest to take vacations and actually have fun training while away. It was hard to go for a run the first day so we had the opportunity to relax and play in the pool. This gave us the chance to test out our floating and breathing skills in the water. Jose is sooo much better! I would definitely classify him as an experienced swimmer. I remember a whole year ago when we were playing in a pool and I had to teach him how to float on his back and tummy. Now he can do everything that I can. He can float, roll over, start swimming, tread water and so much more. He is proof that all you need to do is choose a goal, commit, relax, and have fun doing it. Great job Jose! I knew you would get there!

Jose- Being out on vacations always makes the training a little bit more challenging. You normally don’t have a gym close enough and your mind is set on relaxing more than in training. The good thing about this is that we love so much what we are doing here that we actually want to look for an opportunity to do some exercising. This first day was especially challenging, but we managed to do at least a little bit. We played in the pool! Even though it doesn’t sound very hard to do, it is tough to learn how to be comfortable in the water, and playing around makes you understand more how your body can move, float and slip in the water. For me it was very nice to see how good I feel now in the water compared with 3 months ago. Tomorrow for sure the training will be harder. It’s fun to play but we need some real action.

“When the going gets tough, the tough do what they do, while the wise find the game in it.” – Author Unknown

Day 74: Push Your Limits

Calli- To start off we had a quick warm-up run and then we did our strength training. It is getting easier and easier, but squats are hard. I am not really coordinated to do them. Jose has to coach me through them each time. I am very weak when it comes to squat muscles, and my form is off. However, I am slowly getting the hang of it. Swimming was awesome today. I got my rate up to 180 doing an I.M. pattern in intervals of 25 on 40″. It was tough and I was happy to feel the old sensation of sucking up water through my nose every now and then. It still happens to even more experienced swimmers. The cool down was nice, and I concentrated on stretching my shoulders after the strength part. That is one of the greatest feelings; stretching in the water. Happy Weekend everyone!

Jose- We had a great sunny day for swimming but first we had to do our strength training. I am getting very used to the strength training and even though we have a tough program, it feels great to go freshen up afterwards in the pool starting with a warm up. Today Calli gave me drills for 800 mts. I am resting the minimum at the end of each lap so that I can get the best of the workout and also to get used to swimming nonstop. Even though I feel my heart beating very hard, my heart rate doesn’t go higher than 145 bpm. I feel like I’m pushing my body even more than when I’m running. Maybe my heart rate monitor is not showing the correct number! Tomorrow we will train a little bit farther from the city… we will see how our bodies react.

“One finds limits by pushing them.“ -Herbert Simon

Day 73: Striving for a perfect day

“… aiming for perfection without ever expecting it is a recipe for success.” – Matt Fitzgerald

We normally end our posts with a motivational quote we search everyday.This time we started with it because we grabbed it from the source we are using today. Of course it is completely related to our theme for the day and it’s a great goal to look for everyday: Aim for perfection.

We found this extremely interesting article by Triathlete.com about The Perfect Day. This one is about what researchers have to say about eat, sleep and train when related to the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is the 24 hour cycle of sleep, wakefulness and all related processes of the body. It is basically what we normally refer to as our body clock.

Our bodies really want us to do certain things at determined times of the day. The major problem is that “when our behavior defies the programmed preferences of our body clocks, our bodies do not function as well as they should.”

So we really invite you to read this article. If you would like to know when it might be a better time to train, eat and/or sleep. Whether you are a morning or an afternoon trainer, or if you eat your carbs at any time of the day, or if you are skipping a few sleep hours to be able to train more… this article will show you what might be the better way of dealing with these 3 aspects to strive for that perfect day.

Read it carefully and have fun learning!

Day 72: Suspended Lunges

Calli- Today was strength training and swimming again. The swimming was pretty much the same format as yesterdays. 200 Zone 1, 200 Zone 2-3, 200 Zone 1. The strength training was the second time that we did the 2nd workout given by our introduction trainer at the gym. These work outs are really great. I can already feel that my joints and muscles are stronger and there is a lot less stress in my daily life. My knee feels so much better and it is not popping or getting sore every 5 minutes. If I had a piece of advice for people about getting into shape it would be to start strength training as soon as possible. Make sure you find someone who can teach you how to use equipment that helps you. Also, know your limits. Have fun out there!

Jose- Strength training felt good today. We were focusing so much on the cardio training that we almost forgot how good the balance between the two can be. For the last two months we were pushing ourselves very hard to reach the maximum performance with the muscles we had. Now that we know our strengths and weaknesses better, we can focus on strengthening the necessary muscles to reach a new level of performance. That’s exactly what we are doing. On the other hand, at the pool, I’m feeling better every time. Using the videos from yesterday I was able to concentrate on certain things to correct today. Calli says I did good! We will take more videos to continue correcting my form. There are 4 new videos of ourselves so that you can see how much I have improved and how Calli is doing (but of course she is doing great! lol).

“I try to stay positive by focusing on how much I’ll appreciate my health if I get better.” – Daniel Johns