Tough Enough?

This morning my Supersoulmate, B., woke me up with a cup of herb tea. "Here you go, Superlady" -- his nickname for me because he thinks I'm so amazing with all of my athletic endeavors -- "time to wake up!" He knew I'd have a hard time getting up today because I worked so hard in my training yesterday. Isn't he the sweetest? But when I looked at the clock- 8:30! - I realized I'd have no time for Blackberry Mist tea. Today it was time for my triple double brick. An aquathlon of sorts. I would run 7 miles to the beach, swim for an hour, then run home. This was made especially challenging because it was pretty windy this morning and chillier than I had expected. But never mind that - warriors don't get cold!

Threw on my running shoes without socks so that I can develop strong calluses on my feet and save precious seconds in transition. Grabbed my wetsuit and a few gels, and I was out the door. I figured running with my wetsuit would be good practice if I do this race in the fall called S.O.S. in which you swim in all these cold lakes but don't have a transition area between swim and run. After a few miles of awkwardly holding my wetsuit in my right hand I tossed it around my neck like a stole and ran much easier. When I arrived at the beach (in less than an hour, natch) I was nicely warmed up for the cold water.

A lot of people are afraid to swim in the ocean when it's cold. Effing wimps! Even with a wetsuit, lots of people won't swim until June, when water temps reach the upper 50s. Right now the temp is somewhere around 53. Pretty cold, but good training for a big race I'm competing in soon that is famous for its cold water swim. What I hadn't counted on was that the wind made a lot of big waves and chop. Rather than look on this as a negative, I decided to view the choppy water as a blessing. Swimming in a washing machine will be good training. Was I ever right. I concentrated on taking nice long, slow strokes and ducking under big waves when they threatened to suffocate me. My hands and feet felt numb after 20 minutes or so, and I had an ice cream headache for a while. But after about 45 minutes the numbness in my hands didn't bother me and I ended up swimming a few miles. Yeah baby!

When I got out my hands and feet were purple. This made putting on my running shoes difficult, so I decided to run a few miles barefoot in my wetsuit - this was great training for the NYC tri, which happens in July. I clocked sub-8 minute miles while wearing my wetsuit. The one great thing about running with numb feet is that all the gravel and junk on the sidewalk don't bother you at all! I just plowed right over so much garbage without feeling a thing. Barefoot running is also really good for strengthening your feet and practicing your running form. After a while I got tired of holding my shoes and finished my run like a normal person.

When I got home, Supersoulmate B. had prepared a healthy post-training breakfast: steelcut oatmeal made with 3 raw eggs (for extra protein) and 6 ounces of acai juice. And of course, a steaming hot cup of Blackberry Mist tea.