"It's Like Riding a Bike"

TECHNIQUE OBSERVATION: While swimming this week I had a revelation about the swim technique. Swimming is complicated (once you get it down its like riding a bike, you never really forget how to do it). This thought gave me the revelation, "it's like a riding a bike". And yep - it's like riding a bike. I noticed that when I use the pull buoy, I dig deeper in the water and thus propelling me forward further. It's is a great deal like having the bike on the BIG RING (front) SMALL RING (back), fewer rotations, but propelling forward faster. When I swim without the pull buoy, I was digging shallow and was not propelling myself forward as quickly. I noticed that digging shallow is like riding the bike on Small Ring (front) 23 (back), I keep sweeping the water, but am making a lot of rotations and not really getting anywhere. THINK BIG RING. THINK DIG DEEPER, EXTENDED ARMS.
TECHNIQUE PLAN: My plan for the race (as of April) is to keep my body compact, kick as little as necessary to save my legs and use little oxygen, reach and dig deep in order to propel further, faster.

April 12 - April 18

• 4-12-10 - Bike 1:30/Swim 4,000 yards - The bike felt pretty good today - traffic was a little "not nice" today and I chalk that up to being a Monday (and people are generally stressed out more on Mondays than any other day: personally noted from observation).
• 4-13-10 - Swim 4,000 yards/Run 1:15 - The run felt good after the first :10/at 1:00, I had excruciating pain from my shin to my foot for about 1-2 minutes. I believe stretching more will resolve this issue. I haven't felt this specific pain yet. Perhaps the additional biking is creating extra muscle tightness to my legs.
• 4-14-10 - Run 1 hour/Lift :30 - Arrival in Texas and I had enough energy to check out the gym and run on the treadmill *yuck* for an hour. The equipment was so amazing, I had to lift my arms for a bit. It was really fun. Can I take this equipment with me please?
• 4-15-10 - Run :45/Lift :45 - Another "spot" rainy day in Texas - headed out for a :45 minute run (my breakfast sitting like a brick in my stomach. Hash browns and bacon will do that to you). High humidity and unique scenery made the run fun. Came back and used the amazing equipment to lift arms and legs.
• 4-16-10 - Run 1:10 - The humidity in Texas is INSANE! The hilly environment today made the run especially challenging and fun. My legs were sweating and bugs were everywhere, but I enjoyed it for all the differences. After observing how fun the change of scenery was (regardless of humidity), I am going to plan some "scenery change trips" in the up and coming months to "spice things up" (did I just say that I am going to spice up my workouts - what is wrong with me - Ironman on the brain is what is wrong with me).
• 4-17-10 - Rafting - does rafting the "mini" rapids count toward Ironman training?
• 4-18-10 - Day Off - flying home.

SPECIAL NOTE: Adding biking outside to my routine has dropped my "HAPPY HEART RATE" from 156-158 to 150-153 in only a matter of a few weeks. I remember this change in my heart rate last summer, but didn't really pay much attention to it because I really didn't need to at that time. It should keep falling as the season changes to summer.