Day 102: Tiring Run

Calli: This run was tiring. I started way too fast and I did not stretch properly therefore, I had to walk a few minutes when my knee started hurting. Remember the importance of stretching before a run and, pacing yourself accordingly. It is just frustrating because I would like to keep the same pace as Jose, but it is just not possible because my body won’t allow it. I start breathing hard and joints and muscles start to act out. There is no shame in taking it slow in order to avoid injury. Happy fun time everyone!

Jose: This week has been very crazy for me. Work is going very good but at the same time it’s making me be dead tired at the end of the day. Add 6 days of training and then you have a week that you need to end soon. The run was nice though. 30 minutes in easy zone 2. It feels good especially because I know that my pace is higher with a lower bpm rate. One free day is coming finally. I’ll get to relax just a bit. Remember to listen to your body. We need to stay injury-free.

“As long as I’m healthy and can keep going that’s what I’ll do.” – Gunther Schuller

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