Holoholo lolo, indeed!

During the first week of coached practices I felt like I was living the tribe’s name-- “run around and go crazy”! It was fun to get started, though, and know I have all the “firsts” of everything behind me now. I thought I did well to find all the practice locations. The drive from Camano Island is long and a little snarly in the evening hours. (Plan: Stock up on books on disc!) The gear list is long. (I’m always up for a shopping challenge, though) Figuring out the watch & heart rate monitor will take some time. Lots of buttons, lots of data & a lot to remember. So, here’s what I’ve learned so far:
Running—1st practice—At this point I think I can “fast walk” faster than I can run at “moderate pace”. My family has always complained about my fast pace in the mall. Knees were sore after the 3 miles on the track. I don’t have that problem doing 3 miles on the elliptical in the gym. My brain was having a hard time absorbing all the info about “sub-maximum tests to predict maximum heart rate and pacing assessments”. Didn’t have a watch to record my times, either. Sigh…
Running—2nd week—Remembered the watch this time but forgot the heart rate monitor. I also lost count of my laps. New shoes I bought after the 1st practice were great, though, and I had no knee pain. Still need to get decent numbers so I have my target heart rate.
Swimming—1st practice—Oh, my. This is going to be my biggest challenge. I love the water, but I never learned to breathe correctly in those YMCA lessons as a kid. I’ve always admired people who look so relaxed doing laps. I could swim fast across the pool, but probably because I just never breathed. I overheard someone in the locker room say that next time she wouldn’t go rock climbing before swim practice. Not to worry…I won’t either.
Swimming—2nd week—decided that it would be more beneficial for me at this point to work with a swim coach in some private lessons at the club in my own area. I thought my first session was quite productive, plus I only had to drive 15 minutes each way instead of 1 & 1/2 hrs each way. Practiced relaxing my shoulders and worked on my breathing during strokes. I have my work cut out for me, but I’m going to succeed!
Biking—1st week—went ok, except my new gloves were too tight, thus my fingers were cold. Practiced drills for part of the time, then rode for about 30 minutes. Something was rubbing on my back tire. I got my first mishap out of the way. Forgot to take my foot out of the toe clip when I tried to get off the bike in the parking lot. Makes the bike fall over on you when you do that! One hip bruise and scraped knee later, I probably won’t forget that part of the dismount again!
Best part of the training so far has been the encouragement from teammates, coaches, and mentors. This in no way compares to the magnitude of the challenges facing cancer patients, but the process is similar to theirs at diagnosis: fear of the unknown, lack of information/gathering information, getting a plan in place, adjusting the plan as needed, getting the right equipment (doctors, drug regimens…), staying positive, surrounding yourself with good people, and letting those good people help you. This is for all the patients with blood cancers. Hele Hui! Go Team!!