Camp Day 3

early start today - to the pool at 6:15 for a swim, then straight onto the bike for a 3 hour strength ride in the mountains (yeah...they're MOUNTAINS to me!). The swim kicked my royal swimming butt, but i tried to hang in. I tried to use the excuse that i was tired, but it didnt fly - everyone else was tired too, and even i know that when your tired you can still swim!

Practice went along ok- i still want to be faster and it's good for me to be in the pool with faster swimmers. its humbling and motivating all together and i think that is a good combination for me. im not satisified with being "OK", and that is exactly what get's me going every day. yeah, yeah...I know my "OK" is someone else's awesome - and maybe another's total crap....like Dara torres (my new hero at age 41!), but "OK" to me isnt enough...

Off at 8am on the three hour tour with Coach Dan in the lead to be sure we get some good climbs in! Again, i have no idea where we go, but it was sure pretty! This ride was again a lot of fun, yet very tough on some of the hills...i mean mountains. the idea was strength - so no spinning up the hills here. it was a day for mashing, and i felt so strong. Riding thru Victoria was an absolute pleasure. Not once was I assulted by some moron in a pick-up truck or told to "get off the road". The people are so nice and tolerant- like in Colorado. I can only hope one day it will be like that in Louisiana - makes it hard to want to stay there when it is so hard to stay alive on your bike!!! then i think about the food, the drink, the atmosphere, the family, the friends...and then i know i want to be back there...but it'snice to be here for now!

anyhoo, so the ride was fun and tough, but i got off the bike feeling strong. I rode my bike back to the house to eat and shower as quickly as possible, then it was back on the bike to ride to the HOJO for my one-on-one meeting with Terry. I was really looking forward to it since mental advice is hard to come by and it is the most powerful tool around. You can train train train your body to it's max, but if you dont make your brain right, all that training will not amount to much. I have been personally blessed with many gifts in my life - one being Donnie's influence and from day one I have understood the power of the mind - like he says "ENERGY FOLLOWS THOUGHT"

My meeting with Terry went very well- I went off a bit about Donnie and his influence on me, and came away from it with a feeling that I'm in a good place. :-)

Then, guess what - time to swim again! off to another open water swim in Durance lake. This one would be colder than Elk Lake....

todays swim would be a breakthrough of sorts for me. I was a little worried about cramping since we rode, but turns out i made it thru ok. the cramps were teetering at the end, but nothing too bad! todays workout was made up of 300m segments - all at different tempo's. I found that when i pick up my tempo - i can hang on to Bree and go a little faster. It seemed to be the theme of open water swims at camp - Bree wants to hold onto Lisa, and I'm trying to hold onto Bree for dear life! anyway, the faster tempo's mean higher HR, but i think it's totally do-able in my future swims. ive always been a little weary of getting the HR up in the wetsuit as well- but i seem to be getting much better at it! i's getting so stoked about swimming again!!

time for dinner and bed!