Well, I just did a short biathlon this morning - the city of Gainesville is sponsoring a series of them this summer. I've been wanting to do one like this for a while, because it's running and swimming, in that order. I'm truly a terrible runner, so anything where that's last - a standard triathlon, for example - is really difficult for me. But this was a 5k run and then an 800 meter swim, so it seemed perfect.
However, the timing was pretty bad for me physically. Like the idiot I am, I went running on Thursday for the first time in a long time - my heel has been worse than usual lately, but I got sick of waiting on it and just decided to go. Some of us from the swim team had gone weight lifting Wednesday afternoon, and when I got up on Thursday, I thought I was fine - but around mile two, I started to feel aches and pains. But I finished the run. That night, I had (an extremely light) swim practice and a game of Ultimate Frisbee - in total, enough exercise to make me really crabby and worn out - but then heard about the biathlon and wanted to do it. I woke up the next morning with sore quads, a cramped-feeling calf, and the inevitable painful heel - enough pain, especially in the calf, to be sure that it wasn't all going to be gone by the following day. But I can't be here for the rest of the biathlon series, except for possibly one in July (of the other four, two are after I leave for the Netherlands, and the other two conflict with my long-distance swims), and so I really wanted to do this one. I went to practice that night and swam just enough to get my muscles unclenched a little - 1500 meters or so - then got up at six this morning, picked up Lauren O., and drove to the westside pool for the biathlon.
About 20 people showed up (Renate included), and the race started at 8 AM. The weather was miserable - cold and rainy - but that actually felt nice during the running. It was the only thing that felt nice, though. My legs and feet hurt all over, and I was tired beyond belief - and then there were HILLS on the course, which just about finished me off. My original goal had been to break 25 minutes, but it quickly turned into 'just don't break stride - keep running through the whole thing', which I did somehow manage to do. I kept the rest of the field within sight until about 2/3 of the way through - then, somehow, with the hills and bends, I lost them. Apparently there were actually a couple people behind me, but I never saw them. I was SO relieved to finally get to the swimming! My only regret, however, is that I didn't push myself harder on it. It felt so great to get off my aching legs and feet, get into the cool water, feel like I was actually moving forward instead of jogging in place, and do something I was good at and that didn't take so much effort, that I didn't really push myself hard. I did pass one woman, and my total time was 48 minutes (32 for the run, changeover and swim 16), which isn't really bad at all. Lauren clocked in at 44 minutes (run 28, changeover and swim 16) and I'm not sure about Renate, although I'd estimate her at around 35. She's a good runner - her normal workout is six miles - and needless to say, she can stomp everybody in the pool.
But anyway, I can always tell when workouts are doing my body more harm than good, because I lose my appetite. I haven't been hungry all day. I had cereal and a Balance bar before the event and then forced myself to eat a Lean Pocket and a cookie awhile after I got home, and am still making myself drink water, of course, but that's been the extent of it. Oh, well, I'll be going home after my math final at 15:00 and I'm sure I can find some calorie-laden stuff to eat there.
But, in other news - our team shirts are in! And they are GORGEOUS! Orange, with a green and blue alligator emblem over the left chest and then a cute little 'take your mark' graphic on the back, with a gator about to dive into a pool. And the jackets look even better - royal blue with an orange alligator and the team name in white - except that we have to wait for them to get embroidered before I can actually pick them up.
Speaking of shirts, I have been getting so much free (or cheap) clothing lately that it's ridiculous. My big score was a Gators Swimming & Diving sweatshirt, which you can't buy - you only get it if you're on the swim team. But it hung over a handrail in the O-Dome for three days - with me changing its position every day, so I could determine if someone was coming and wearing it and then just putting it back - but it never moved, so on the third day, I took it. Three days is enough of a grace period for someone being careless with their stuff. Then I got a Linguistics T-shirt with 'linguistics' spelled out in IPA ($10), and then found an abandoned blue and white microfiber jacket hanging on the Norman Field fence. Then I got a free 'Gator Intramural Champions' T-shirt, since our swim team won the intramural meet, and then our team shirts came in yesterday, and then today I got another shirt for doing the biathlon. I think I need to build an addition to my closet! :)
However, the timing was pretty bad for me physically. Like the idiot I am, I went running on Thursday for the first time in a long time - my heel has been worse than usual lately, but I got sick of waiting on it and just decided to go. Some of us from the swim team had gone weight lifting Wednesday afternoon, and when I got up on Thursday, I thought I was fine - but around mile two, I started to feel aches and pains. But I finished the run. That night, I had (an extremely light) swim practice and a game of Ultimate Frisbee - in total, enough exercise to make me really crabby and worn out - but then heard about the biathlon and wanted to do it. I woke up the next morning with sore quads, a cramped-feeling calf, and the inevitable painful heel - enough pain, especially in the calf, to be sure that it wasn't all going to be gone by the following day. But I can't be here for the rest of the biathlon series, except for possibly one in July (of the other four, two are after I leave for the Netherlands, and the other two conflict with my long-distance swims), and so I really wanted to do this one. I went to practice that night and swam just enough to get my muscles unclenched a little - 1500 meters or so - then got up at six this morning, picked up Lauren O., and drove to the westside pool for the biathlon.
About 20 people showed up (Renate included), and the race started at 8 AM. The weather was miserable - cold and rainy - but that actually felt nice during the running. It was the only thing that felt nice, though. My legs and feet hurt all over, and I was tired beyond belief - and then there were HILLS on the course, which just about finished me off. My original goal had been to break 25 minutes, but it quickly turned into 'just don't break stride - keep running through the whole thing', which I did somehow manage to do. I kept the rest of the field within sight until about 2/3 of the way through - then, somehow, with the hills and bends, I lost them. Apparently there were actually a couple people behind me, but I never saw them. I was SO relieved to finally get to the swimming! My only regret, however, is that I didn't push myself harder on it. It felt so great to get off my aching legs and feet, get into the cool water, feel like I was actually moving forward instead of jogging in place, and do something I was good at and that didn't take so much effort, that I didn't really push myself hard. I did pass one woman, and my total time was 48 minutes (32 for the run, changeover and swim 16), which isn't really bad at all. Lauren clocked in at 44 minutes (run 28, changeover and swim 16) and I'm not sure about Renate, although I'd estimate her at around 35. She's a good runner - her normal workout is six miles - and needless to say, she can stomp everybody in the pool.
But anyway, I can always tell when workouts are doing my body more harm than good, because I lose my appetite. I haven't been hungry all day. I had cereal and a Balance bar before the event and then forced myself to eat a Lean Pocket and a cookie awhile after I got home, and am still making myself drink water, of course, but that's been the extent of it. Oh, well, I'll be going home after my math final at 15:00 and I'm sure I can find some calorie-laden stuff to eat there.
But, in other news - our team shirts are in! And they are GORGEOUS! Orange, with a green and blue alligator emblem over the left chest and then a cute little 'take your mark' graphic on the back, with a gator about to dive into a pool. And the jackets look even better - royal blue with an orange alligator and the team name in white - except that we have to wait for them to get embroidered before I can actually pick them up.
Speaking of shirts, I have been getting so much free (or cheap) clothing lately that it's ridiculous. My big score was a Gators Swimming & Diving sweatshirt, which you can't buy - you only get it if you're on the swim team. But it hung over a handrail in the O-Dome for three days - with me changing its position every day, so I could determine if someone was coming and wearing it and then just putting it back - but it never moved, so on the third day, I took it. Three days is enough of a grace period for someone being careless with their stuff. Then I got a Linguistics T-shirt with 'linguistics' spelled out in IPA ($10), and then found an abandoned blue and white microfiber jacket hanging on the Norman Field fence. Then I got a free 'Gator Intramural Champions' T-shirt, since our swim team won the intramural meet, and then our team shirts came in yesterday, and then today I got another shirt for doing the biathlon. I think I need to build an addition to my closet! :)
stormed at 00:35
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