Calli: We had another successful training morning. We got up early started our weights and ended with a swim. If we get up 30 min earlier we will be able to swim longer.  It’s all about diligence! We need to focus if we want to make changes in our abilities. However, you cannot be so hard on yourself with out giving yourself credit for the good things. Jose and I were racing a bit in the pool today and when we were pulling he beat me! WHAT!!!! He has a good technique with his freestyle arms. Now he can use all his man strength effectively. My fast swim days are numbered. hehe! Good job Jose!

Jose: Weights and swim again. We really need to get earlier to the gym to be
able to swim longer. The weights were good, I decided to focus on legs
instead of doing the whole workout, but Calli was done short after me
anyways. A 200 mts WU, with two sets of 50 mts pull + 25 freestyle + 25
kicking on the back and another 200mts CD. Short but effective. I know
my upper body is gaining strength because every time I do pull with the
buoy on my legs I go very fast. The problem is still that I am dragging my
legs. Calli will give me a workout focused on that. Even though I’m not
that excited about starting I know how good that can be for me.

“Get up every morning KNOWING that this day is different. This is the day I am going to be one step closer to my goals. But you have to KNOW IT.” -Calli Brennan

There is a great article written by Terry Laughlin, the head coach of Total Immersion. He is giving someone advice about how to increase speed in your stroke. The most important thing is to maintain control of your perfect technique. If you start splashing around more and losing your technique then you will lose any chance of increasing your speed. One of the tips is to increase your stroke count each 25 yrds by 1 with out getting sloppy. This is a great way to know how comfortable your body is with the increase in speed, and how effcient it can be. It’s a great tip! Thanks Terry!

“Speed is nothing with out finesse.” -Calli Brennan

Calli: I ran 4 km today and it was better than the Tuesday
run for sure. Breathing was still rough, but it’s getting better. I do need to
pace myself. I know that when you train you have to pace yourself. You have to
build up to the race day. I need to make a more specific workout for myself.
Next step…more planning!

Jose: Today I decided to try a route that Calli has been doing for a
while now. I have to say the first 2Km are tough! A lot of hills made
the road more difficult than I expected. However, once you run those
2km, everything starts going downhill and it´s fun. I started to run
around 15 minutes after Calli and I set my mind on catching her. That
was extra fun for me. It was a motivation to try and run faster. At the
end I got to catch her maybe not even 800 mts, but more like 400 mts
before our house. She is good! Probably I won’t be able to catch her
soon…

“You have to pace yourself. You have to adjust mentally. When you get tired your not selective enough.” -Willie Randolph

Calli- Another late morning, but better than two months ago. It’s like we have to psych ourselves out in order to get up the time we need to. For example, last year we tried to get to the gym at 5:30am but we were always there at 6am. This time we are aiming for 5am and guess what time we get there? That’s right…5:30am. It feels impossible sometimes. We should try and shoot for 4:30am. Then we will be up when we need to. Or we can just relax and let it happen…

Jose-  Today we had the opportunity of talking with one of our former spinning trainers from the previous gym. It was great to find him, although he will be covering there just for a few days. The attention he gave us during the strength training was great. It is always good to know that someone is paying attention to what you are doing and really cares about helping in correcting and maknig you improve. Normally our gym is very good at offering that, only that some days when it gets very crowded then it gets more difficult. He made us notice that we are in need of a new training plan according to what we have been dong lately and also according to our improvement from the past few months. Training alone has some advantages, but definitely everyone needs a guide at some point (or at many points) to know what you have to change and how to do it in order to become better. Never be afraid of asking for help. You can always learn a lot from the people that have been there before or that study to teach you how to do it the correct way. Finally, after one hour of strengthening, we swam for 25 minutes with the guide of my personal swimming trainer: Calli. A great way to start the day… keep them coming!!

“If I was to give you any advice, look into getting a coach.  It will be the best money you will EVER spend in this sport.” -firsttimeironman.com “Tim’s Training Blog”

Calli: This was a hard run again! My knee felt fine, but my breathing was rough. I was having a hard time keeping my heart rate down. The uphill didn’t help. I ran uphill for 10 min, walked for 5, then ran the last 15 min. It felt good to get home and have a stretch on the cool grass. Happy fun time everyone!

Jose: Nice and relaxed run this morning. I went out for just 26 minutes
but I took a bunch of hills while trying to keep a good pace. With a
total distance of 5.40 km I managed to keep a pace of 4:48 min/km. Which
is actually not bad at all considering the steepy-long hills. This
means for me that the treadmill workouts are helping me improve on speed
by making me stay at a constant speed for as long as I need. The
panorama is positive I just hope it continues this way! But for now,
keep them coming…

“The road to success runs uphill.” -Willie Davis

Calli- Some swimming drills can correct a stroke automatically! In the video Jose is doing the fingerdrag. This drill helps with the arm exit and entry in freestyle. You are supposed to drag your fingers through the water out in front of you. By doing this you are forcing your elbow to be the first thing out of the water and it picks up your hand and guides it into the water in front of you. If you want to see this video on youtube, click here.

Jose: Even though Calli normally gives me a hard workout to do, she also helps me a little bit by skipping the parts that I don´t enjoy that much. That was over last night when we went to train at the gym during a regular swimming class with the gym trainer. For almost 1500 mts he kicked my ass with the worst (hardest) / best (to improve) workout I´ve done. Even Calli felt it was hard. Now try to imagine me! My neck will pass me the bill tomorrow for those 150 mts of kicking. I think these workouts can be amazingly beneficial for us heading to the Cedar Point Tri next september. I´m very excited, so keep them coming…

“Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

How do you commit to something that you barely have time for? You make the time. The sacrifice. The hard work. It all depends on how bad you want something. For Ben Hoffman, recent winner of St. George Ironman, it is something that has become a part of him. Maybe “like an addiction.” This is the same feeling I have, and when another morning passes by and I chose to stay in bed and sleep, I have withdrawals. I am mentally down. Mr. Hoffman talks bout community and how everyone helps each other to pursue their goals. I have a feeling we are ready for the next step. We need a community!

“I have an incredible group of athletes that push me toward the
realization of my goals as I simultaneously help them pursue their own.” -Ben Hoffman

Calli- I was having a hard time with being tired in the swim. I know it’s my sport but I was losing interest. This little article from triradar.com was a way to let me know that I am doing everything I can at this point. I found out the boredom tricks through time. These tips are perfect for any beginner swimmer. The nutritional tip which really helped me, was to keep energizers at the pool. This article is great!

“Start each day being thankful for all that you have. Having an attitude of gratefulness helps you stay energized.” -Woman`s World - 6-27-06 issue

Running barefoot has been one of the most popular trends in running recently. Why? There are so many high tech running shoes that help and add t to your foot and strike. Or do they? What are the best shoes for running? Or should you just leave the shoes behind?

“Make things as simple as possible but no simpler.” -Albert Einstein

Video taken from Youtube: “MemeScythe”

Calli- My mom told me that boredom isn’t bad (in reference to Day 199′s quote). She said that when you are bored you can learn a lot about yourself. What you think about when you are bored is like an insight into what you really want out of life. And from that you can set your goals. I think this is true. These last 200 days have been a challenge. A lot has also changed in my life. I started working, Jose and I are one month away from the big day, and through out it all I have been trying to stay on track with Let’s TRI. No I didn’t the whole time. There were weeks that I didn’t train. During those weeks, I thought about training. This is what I really want. So I push on! Here’s to the secrets that boredom can uncover.

Jose – Being 200 days into training, has given me a better insight of what I really want for my life. It’s not only about training, or being a triathlete. It is about perseverance, commitment, discipline and the will of doing something better for your life. Independently of where I end up being in 4 months after our triathlon debut, I now know how to aspire to be a better version of me everyday. Excuses are always going to be there for when you need one or more than one, but excuses are just the obstacles that stand between you and success. After 200 days of training harder than I ever did, with some ups and downs of course, I can’t wait to see how this is going to turn out for my life when I jump into Lake Erie to finally test what I can achieve when my mind is set to a goal. For now, may the training days come harder every time!

“Listen to yourself when you are bored. Your dreams will be revealed to you.” -Calli