Well, last night was a first. Fellow Fab Five Ironman teammate, Daniel Hudgins, put his flowing mane on the line to help homeless folk get their lives back in order. Daniel had let his wig run wild for about a year and last night was the culmination of a fundraiser that generated over $3,000.
The gist was for people to donate money so that he would keep or shave his hair. The tally went right down to the wire, but a last second check for $300 by our coach, Robbie Bruce, but the “shave” side over the edge. I was there with a camera and caught every drop of Daniel’s “nervous sweat” on video (a can’t miss thriller that will be posted later tonight). In the meantime, here’s the result.
Training Notes: This morning I rose with the crack of dawn to meet Kevin at the East Nashville YMCA for a leg workout. It was my first “official” Ironman Wisconsin workout of the year and I was astonished by two things:
1. people are actually up at that hour
2. how amazingly weak my legs are even though I have been swimming, biking, and running for the last year.
We did simple lunges, squats, leg presses, calf raises, box steps and the like and I could literally feel dozens of unused muscles at work. The workout left me humbled and amazingly optimistic because I really feel that strength training is going to make a major difference in triathlon results.
Great fundraising idea! Isn’t it crazy when a new workout hits you like that? I am a big fan of circuit training for that reason. Gotta mix things up and trick the body into more improvements vs getting used to routine!
So true, man. I can’t believe how those weights hit the spot. Then, just as I say that, I had another awful swim tonight. My biggest thing is relaxing and sometimes it just doesn’t happen. I’m thinking I may need to pay more attention to warm up and starting super slow. Thanks for dropping by!
Do you ever swim with fins at practice? You don’t want to use them as a crutch, but throwing a pair of fins on occasionally might help you slow your pace down as you comfortably balance a smooth kick. It can also make it easier to breath which will take away some potential stress and help you relax a little. Might not hurt to use some fins during your warm up from time to time?