Re: To Danskin or Not to Danskin

July 15, 2004

Yay Tory!! Atta girl! That's the spirit. The first time I did Danskin, I

didn't put my face in the water at all. I did a modified dog paddle according

to my husband. But, I got in at point A and got out at point B. The next year

I worked really hard on my swimming and was able to crawl the whole way- took me

longer! I think I swam twice as far by zig-zagging! All the swimming you're

doing now will really help. There is a group that has swims at Pine Lake

mid-week - have you seen those on the Sea-Tri list? (Awesome post there by the

way!)

Tom and I have the STP on our calendar for next year too! Have you seen the

rides on Bike Summer 2004? There are some great rides around here. Here's one

that we're looking at doing with the kids, but should get to the main site too:

http://www.tourdepeaks.org/ride.html

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To Danskin or Not to Danskin

I am going to do the Danskin. I'm nervous, but what's the point if you don't

challenge yourself? I'm swimming every day up until I leave for Norway on

the 27th, and getting two a days in when I can. I know there are swim

angels...and I'm working on my breast so I can alternate crawl and breast

for sighting, and also sighting on my back just in case I get the " Oh no! I

can't put my face in the water " problem again. Tomorrow night I'm going out

to swim the lake we'll be doing the Danskin in. A great friend is helping

me. She's swam with me twice so far. Monday she took me out into the middle

of a lake (ack) and we jsut worked on being comfortable out there and

trusting that our bodies would hold us up. Last night we worked on strokes

and being more efficient. Tomorrow night we'll swim Lake Washington. (Well

not the ENTIRE lake, I mean come on.)

I got my placements:

Swim: 109/109 (no surprise there)

Bike: 83/109 (kind of surprised. I obviously did better than I thought I

did, although my avg. pace was only 13.7 mph)

Run: 39/109 (kicked some SERIOUS booty on the run...woo hooo)

My goal for Danskin is to remember why I'm doing it, relax and not panic in

the water, and come out feeling victorious. My goal for next year is to hit

some personal bests. Between now and next year I plan to take a Masters Swim

class and get a better bike. I also want to do the Seattle to Portland Bike

Ride next year.

So I'm feeling GREAT! I swam 1000 meters this morning without stopping,

touching, or using the walls in the pool at all. I could have kept going,

although my delts, tris, and pecs are all VERY sore (must take aspirin

before going to work). I wasn't elegant because I actually intentionally did

some work on dunking deep and bringing myself back up, swimming blind and

only opening my eyes above water, moving between breast and crawl and then

crawl and breast. I'm sure the lifeguard thought I was nuts out there, but I

figure the more I can simulate things that MIGHT happen on the swim, the

better prepared I'll be.

I also concentrated a LOT on singing music that soothes my soul (in my head,

of course), rolled a few bible verses that soothe me through my head, as

well as a few sayings, said a lot of gratitude prayers (I still LOVE that

idea) and a lot of prayers for people I care about.

Danskin here I come!

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

Tory Klementsen, MCP A+

Career and Technology Educator

www.teechur.com

www.msteechur.com

-The successful person will do the things that the unsuccessful person will

not.

July 15, 2004