Cheek of Doom

I have not done any working out since Saturday, April 10, due to what I have started calling the "Cheek of Doom." So, first, let me write about Saturday, which was delightful. I went to a local high school pool at the crack of dawn for an 8 a.m. open swim. I got about 20 minutes into my personal medley (2 laps crawl, 2 laps breaststroke, 1 lap backstroke, 1 lap sidestroke, and repeating a variety of these same strokes). Then the teenager who was lifeguarding at the end of the lane asked if I had forgotten my goggles. So now let me hold forth about my equipment for the race.

Swim equipment

Under this subheading, for me, is: swimsuit. And, because it is required in the race: swim cap. I have bought and used 3 different sets of goggles over the past two triathlons and associated training seasons. But then in each race I ended up whipping the dratted things off and swimming the race with the goggle straps looped over my arm. So I had decided that this year I would train with no goggles on. The lifeguard suggested/insisted that I try swimming with his goggles on, and because he was so nice about it, I did. The things were amazing! They fit to my face, they didn't fog up, and I could see. The whole time. When I got back to his end of the pool, I had to admit, sheepishly, that these goggles were great. He told me where the little swim shop is where I could get them, and that they only cost $17.00. Which is less than I spent on the first three sets of goggles, and which seems like quite a deal now. So now I have a suit, cap and goggles, and I consider myself all set for the swim, equipmentwise. I also have a 10-punch swim card, which I have 9 uses left on. Once the punches are used up, I'll switch to open water training at the lake at my mom's house.

Bike equipment

On Saturday morning, I also borrowed my friend's Raleigh road racing bike. It should be quite a step up from my old "comfort" bike. I took the bike straight from my friend's house to a bike shop. The bike has clips instead of pedals. After weighing the pros and cons of switching clips for pedals, and then switching then back after the race, I decided to take advantage of a sale and buy some shoes to go on the clips. I got a pump that works with the type of tube that the tires have. I also had the seat adjusted just a little bit. MUST REMEMBER TO SWITCH THAT BACK. I also plan to go to one of the shop's "Road Repair" classes they will be running later this month/during May. Must remember to keep scanning the website for info.

So, now I have a helmet, padded biking shorts, a bike all set up with two water bottle cages, gear shifts on the ends on curved-around handlebars, clip-type pedals and good tires. The two things remaining for the bike, equipment wise, are to ensure that my repair kit has the proper inner tubes in it for this bike, and to attend the road repair class so I can tend to minor issues during the race, if need be.

Run equipment

I have my running shoes and a good hat with built-in SPF. I think I'm all set. I was researching on the internet about how long I can reasonably expect running shoes to last. The estimates range from 250-500 miles. I can't figure out how many miles I've really run in the shoes I've got now. I remember that I bought them to train for the last tri I did, which was in 2008. I am thinking these shoes can last me for this race, and its training, especially with the orthotics inside them, and my new leg cramp prevention plan.

Back to the blog

The swim on Saturday morning was nice, and on Saturday evening I plotted out my training schedule until race day. On Sunday morning I woke up, and my cheek looked like I had the mumps. I spent the day (9:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.) at urgent care and then the emergency room. I have a nasty cheek abscess, and I've been waiting for the antibiotics to clear it up, before I get back to my training schedule. I stayed home from work today and slept until noon (except for getting up to take my medicine), and I woke up feeling MUCH better.

It is a beautiful day out today, and I will be doing my first outing on the bike, and then late tonight I will be doing my second swim, with the group of women with whom I'll be training. So I'll be blogging more about today's workout - either late tonight or tomorrow early evening.