Week 12 of training

Jan 25, 2011 by Mikhail Gavryuchkov

We entered the 12th week of training. So far it's been a great run. Here are some results - goods and bads, some experience.

So far the hardest part remains running - although I've been running for so many years but gravity is definitely works against you in this discipline comparing to bycicle riding or swimming. Last Sunday we had a 10 miles run in Santa Cruz - it was quite good but not as good as I would expect - mostly because I gained 6 or 7 pounds during the holidays and got heavier. The heavier you are the harder to run - simple :)

Still - running is the easiest in terms of techniques - my body is quite accustomed to it.

Swimming.

I still struggle with some technique problems - I drag my legs, i.e. they are too low in the water. Partially it is because of my Ancylosing Spondilitis - my spine's curvature doesn't allow me to be as straight as I would like to be. On the other hand - I still need to practice to put my head lower in the water.

Last Sunday - my first open water swimming in a wetsuit. We went to Santa Cruz and had an hour swim exercise in the ocean. The water temperature was about 50 degrees Farenheit - about 10 degrees Celcius. I had two major surpises: 1) it was quite warm on the body inside of the wetsuit; 2) it was damn so cold on face, hands and feet. One of the best impressions - liying on the back in the water belly up, looking at the blue California sky and thinking - wow! it's so much fun to be in the ocean in January.

Biking.

Biking is getting better and better. I did fitting for my bike yesterday - we ended up with simply raising the seat a little bit. I am learning more and more to use my hamstrings to pull the pedals. Last Saturday we had a 26 miles ride - with one relatively significant climbs. It helped tremendously to pull with one leg and then pull with another.

Very close to the finish like I almost fell very nastily. It was downhill and the speed was quite high. I started signaling with my arm that I turn to the right and all of a sudden I started loosing balance and swerved to the left. The only thing I remember is starting shouting "AAAAAAAAAAaaaaa!!!" and somehow (I don't even know how it happened) I regained my balance and was able to pedal further. It was quite scary. The whole day after that I was recalling this with my heart stopping.

Another great thing about this trainging - I went to CPR training and got a certificate that I know how to do CPR and AED (this is the electrical shock device to start up the heart).