by Juls
Big Sis’ running friends wanted to know the inside scoop on the whole TNT thing, so I promised to post after tonight’s track workout.
I will start by saying that it has to be hard to create a track workout for such a large group of runners with such varied levels of fitness. Tonight’s workout definitely stepped up to the challenge. Not only that, but the workout that was fun, and really delivered the "team" feel.
by Juls
It was too late to join the Masters, thus too early to go to the gym. We headed home instead to walk the dogs, and complete various other tasks that need to be done. It’s true, my training isn’t all that rests on my shoulders these days. YaYa was thrilled to be able to play with his friends AND go swimming with me. He rushed off to his friend’s house as soon as we arrived at home.
YaYa came back a few minutes later asking for his swimsuit. I fought back the urge to forbid him to swim at the neighbor’s house, fearing that I would never get him back for our “planned” swim at the gym. Think about it: splash around with your friends vs. swim at the gym while your Mom swims laps (thus ignoring you). We agreed that he would swim at his friends for 1 hour and then we would go together to the gym.
When we arrived at the gym, the pool was packed with kids everywhere – even in the lap swim lanes. *groan* I guess I wasn’t the only one who was waiting for the Masters’ to finish up. YaYa hopped in while I went to change.
Minutes later, we slipped into a lane where only two kids were milling about at the other end. I began my first lap, and swam past the kids with hopes that they would get the idea to move their play to the rec. swim area. By my third time past, I came upon them just as they slipped under the lane line. I continued back and forth, passing YaYa as he swam laps at his own speed. I paused at the wall for a minute to check on him when he stopped. By this point, he was done. He, too, slipped out of my lane and played around for a while in the rec. area beside me. I could smile at him (under water) as I passed him.
The instructions on the TNT calendar to cross-train called for 20-40 minutes of activity. I think that I was supposed to do some strength exercise too, but really wasn’t sure. Besides the fact that I read that we are doing some strength at today’s track workout, who wants to dry off, change into workout apparel, and go pump iron? Not me. So, I figured that I would “just” swim laps for 40 minutes. Although I was swimming at an easy pace, it was not all that easy to “just” swim for 40 minutes straight. It was BORING. Every few laps, I would glance up at the clock, groan, and return to my swimming. But, as the time wore on, I too was getting worn too (mentally but not physically). I began adjusting the goal, as I dreamed about cycling for my other cross-train day. It is hard to go from running only to 40 minutes of any other activity. I finally settled on a revised goal of 30 minutes of swimming. I even counted my finishing with 33 minutes as a 3-minute “bonus,” instead of a failure to reach the 40-minute goal.
At the end of the day, both YaYa and I were pretty tired. We were still tired when morning rolled around. It’s a sign that training has indeed begun.