Let's just be honest about it.

I am not a fast triathlete. I swim like a spastic puppy, I bike something akin to what other people can do backwards, and I run a little faster than slow. It is a reality that if I really, really focused I'm sure I could improve, but I have athletic ADD and that would be no fun...right? Maybe one of these days here I will reign in all my focus and focus on being faster, but i'm having way to much fun exploring all sorts of other fun things, so i'm happy just goofing around in the meantime. I know not very triathlete, type A+ personality, but my thought: meeeh. I try to adhere to the motto:"Do what you love, love what you do". I know people try to use that with respect to work, but I think that should be the same with training and exercise. And if that means doing a billion different things that I enjoy even though I may not go very fast, then so be it. I'm out and being active and that is way more important to me.

Tonight I sucked it up and went to masters swim again. Ok...i'll admit it, even after my first endeavor the thought of going back sorta made me cringe. So I found all kinds of excuses to not go. It's not that the first time was that bad, it just wasn't great, but I also am finding in my training i don't swim much either. Hmmm...maybe the lack of swimming is a big contributor to my spastic puppy swimming? Maybe?? So I sucked it up and went, and here is my observation that I have had a bunch of times: Me being slow doesn't bother me as much unless someone makes me feel bad about being slow. I realized the first coach just sorta dismissed my spastic puppy swimming and almost ignored those of us who were slower (me being the slowest). But the guy tonight gave everyone (fast or slow) the appropriate attention and equally...KICKED OUR BUTTS. While again the slowest, at least he didn't make me feel like a moron.

Main set, repeated 3 times:

4x50 kicks and swim
4 x 50 AS FAST AS YOU CAN SWIM (with little to no rest...3-4 seconds between 50s)
200 pull

There was other stuff in the warm up and cool down, but that was the bulk of the evening.

I then got a big yummy burrito and headed to the Velodrome to watch my new found friends from my Saturday ride, do their final bike track course/workout. There are bike track sessions at the Velodrome and my new found friends are trying to talk me into doing the next 6 week session that starts in 2 weeks. They told me to at least check it out today...so I did...um...yea...i'm leaning in a direction on this, more will be posted when I actually make a decision. (can you guess which way? Who has athletic ADD here?) I wouldn't even need to buy a fixie or a track bike, or whatever you want to call them. I could just borrow one there at the Velodrome. No gear required.

Another observation. I LOVE THIS. Bike culture is so fascinating to me. Rodies have STRONG opinions on riding bikes and types of bikes and road riding and even triathletes on road bikes for that matter. But mountain bikers also have strong opinions about other types of riding. And then people that ride 'fixies' (as they call a fixed gear bikes. Although I think a fixed gear bike can have breaks whereas a track bike has no breaks. Still trying to completely figure that one out at the moment.) are equally as passionate about their bike and how they think that type of riding is the only way. I love that people are so passionate about their bike and biking and such. OK i admit if they are being snobby about it, I don't really care for a person's attitude, but if they are just passionate about it, i'm all for it. I did notice this weekend that part of town I was in everyone was riding fixies. (I saw at least 10 people in a span of an hour on them) What is interesting is here in SD it does depend on the part of town what types of bikes people are riding and what is the 'norm'. It is an interesting subculture.