For 14 weeks I have been loosely following a half ironman training plan that I found on the internet. This is week 15 which begins the taper. The intensity and the distance of all of my workouts are beginning to ease a bit. This messes with my head.
I saw Anne last night at Spin90. She was asking about my remaining workouts. I told her that the plan called for me to run 10 miles on Saturday. She declared that 10 miles was too much and that I shouldn't do more than 6 or 7. I like her plan better than my internet plan!!!
Swim class was a tough one today. We did a ton of 100's. I was thoroughly exhausted at the end of the session. I talked to Pam about race strategy and she gave me the best advice ever: "Just relax and enjoy the experience."
I keep reminding myself that I am physically ready for this and all I need to do is keep my head together. I keep coming up with all these reasons why it's going to be hard. Of course it's going to be hard! It's a half ironman for God's sake!
So since I don't have the intense training to focus on, now I have all my worrying to focus on. All the little details of the trip, the race, etc. are stressing me out. If I can survive the next week and a half, I can definitely finish the race!!!
Read along with my blog as I discuss weight, schedule and life challenges as I try to get my triathlon training back on track. I will also discuss what I've learned along the way and what new goals I'm setting for myself.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
I HATE INSIDE!!
With the onset of chilly weather, the idea has occurred to me that it's going to be a long winter inside. I hate the treadmill and I hate riding on the trainer.
I can certainly run outside in all weather conditions except rain and snow. So hopefully I will be able to keep up my running despite colder weather.
However, the bike is a different story. When Daryl, Tom and I rode the W&OD trail last weekend, it was chilly. It was bearable but chilly. Temperatures this weekend will again be chilly to start, but should warm to a comfortable level. However that won't be the case for long.
I don't mind my Spin90 classes. I find doing those classes on the trainer to be fun actually. However, spending any time on the trainer by myself in my house is total torture. The last time that I tried it (when it rained for days the week before last), I couldn't last more than half an hour. It wasn't physical...it was totally a mental struggle.
There was an email that came out on the MMTC email chain that offered 3 hour Sunday rides indoors. You bring your own trainer, bike and water and ride for 3 hours. I think I will try that once they start in December. But riding on a trainer for 3 hours sounds truly horrible.
I am just hoping that this winter I can get enough work in that my decline in performance is minimal when next spring rolls around. I really hate inside.
I can certainly run outside in all weather conditions except rain and snow. So hopefully I will be able to keep up my running despite colder weather.
However, the bike is a different story. When Daryl, Tom and I rode the W&OD trail last weekend, it was chilly. It was bearable but chilly. Temperatures this weekend will again be chilly to start, but should warm to a comfortable level. However that won't be the case for long.
I don't mind my Spin90 classes. I find doing those classes on the trainer to be fun actually. However, spending any time on the trainer by myself in my house is total torture. The last time that I tried it (when it rained for days the week before last), I couldn't last more than half an hour. It wasn't physical...it was totally a mental struggle.
There was an email that came out on the MMTC email chain that offered 3 hour Sunday rides indoors. You bring your own trainer, bike and water and ride for 3 hours. I think I will try that once they start in December. But riding on a trainer for 3 hours sounds truly horrible.
I am just hoping that this winter I can get enough work in that my decline in performance is minimal when next spring rolls around. I really hate inside.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
We Were Climbing?
Since the Osprey, I've been doing quite a bit of reflecting on my progress over the past year. There have been many examples of things that are quite common now that I couldn't have imagined doing a year ago...like riding for over 3 hours at a time. Now I do that every weekend.
This Sunday Daryl and I met up with his friend Tom in Reston VA. Daryl has told me many times how nice it is to ride on the W&OD trail, so I was looking forward to the ride. The morning was COLD and I was wondering if I had enough layers on as we drove down there. At the last minute before leaving the house, I had thrown my running tights into my bag...just in case. Well when we arrived in Reston and the temperature had not gone up at all, I decided to put on the tights.
We were meeting Tom by the fountain in the Town Center. Daryl and I rode down to the meeting point and I realized that I had forgotten to put my water bottles on my bike! Oops...so we headed back to the car and intercepted Tom.
Now Daryl had described Tom as an accomplished triathlete and a phenomenal cyclist. I was excited to meet him and maybe pick up a few tips. But since the air was so cold and we all wanted to get moving to warm up, I decided that chit-chat could wait for later. So off we went...
I knew almost immediately that this was going to be a fun but challenging ride. The trail is pretty flat, so it was really good training for my race in FL. Tom is fast....REALLY fast...he left me in the dust almost from the first pedal stroke. Luckily there were many road crossings in the first section of our ride so I caught up with him there. Daryl was somewhere in between Tom and I. Sometimes he was just as fast as Tom and sometimes he was as slow as I was.
Now let me clarify...when I say slow, I mean relatively slow compared to the 2 guys I was riding with...we were keeping a pretty good pace the whole time. So none of us were really slow.
At our first rest stop, Daryl and I decided to take off our jackets. The sun was warming the air and sitting in the sun, I was warm with my jacket on. Plus Tom told me that for the next 5 miles we would be doing a steady climb. So I knew that I would be exerting more effort and thought I didn't need the extra warmth of the jacket. It only took about a half mile before Daryl and I both changed our minds and put our jackets back on. BRRR. The trail was mostly shaded and the air was still chilly.
Tom didn't realize that Daryl and I stopped for the wardrobe change so he kept on going. Before long, Daryl turned back to me and said "we're almost done with this climb". I was shocked. I said "we were climbing?" He shook his head and laughed at me. This was a moment of realization for me. I had been waiting for the climb to start. A year ago, a 5 mile continual, gradual climb like that would have been very apparent to me. This time it was barely noticeable. Interesting...
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, except for me dropping my chain. I tried to do the quick fix that John showed me but couldn't. Luckily Daryl was able to fix it for me so I didn't have to get my hands greasy like I did when I dropped my chain on the solo ride in Betterton.
The most fun we had was when we left the trail and went out on a back country road. It was a gently curving road, mostly downhill...but gradual downhill so it didn't scare the crap out of me. I was going 35 MPH at one point!
All in all we rode 51 miles. Tom had ridden to and from his house, so he did an additional 20 miles. Wow. Daryl mentioned that I was struggling with my transitions. So in about 3 minutes, Tom gave me at least 5 great tips on quicker transitions. I will share in a later post...
This Sunday Daryl and I met up with his friend Tom in Reston VA. Daryl has told me many times how nice it is to ride on the W&OD trail, so I was looking forward to the ride. The morning was COLD and I was wondering if I had enough layers on as we drove down there. At the last minute before leaving the house, I had thrown my running tights into my bag...just in case. Well when we arrived in Reston and the temperature had not gone up at all, I decided to put on the tights.
We were meeting Tom by the fountain in the Town Center. Daryl and I rode down to the meeting point and I realized that I had forgotten to put my water bottles on my bike! Oops...so we headed back to the car and intercepted Tom.
Now Daryl had described Tom as an accomplished triathlete and a phenomenal cyclist. I was excited to meet him and maybe pick up a few tips. But since the air was so cold and we all wanted to get moving to warm up, I decided that chit-chat could wait for later. So off we went...
I knew almost immediately that this was going to be a fun but challenging ride. The trail is pretty flat, so it was really good training for my race in FL. Tom is fast....REALLY fast...he left me in the dust almost from the first pedal stroke. Luckily there were many road crossings in the first section of our ride so I caught up with him there. Daryl was somewhere in between Tom and I. Sometimes he was just as fast as Tom and sometimes he was as slow as I was.
Now let me clarify...when I say slow, I mean relatively slow compared to the 2 guys I was riding with...we were keeping a pretty good pace the whole time. So none of us were really slow.
At our first rest stop, Daryl and I decided to take off our jackets. The sun was warming the air and sitting in the sun, I was warm with my jacket on. Plus Tom told me that for the next 5 miles we would be doing a steady climb. So I knew that I would be exerting more effort and thought I didn't need the extra warmth of the jacket. It only took about a half mile before Daryl and I both changed our minds and put our jackets back on. BRRR. The trail was mostly shaded and the air was still chilly.
Tom didn't realize that Daryl and I stopped for the wardrobe change so he kept on going. Before long, Daryl turned back to me and said "we're almost done with this climb". I was shocked. I said "we were climbing?" He shook his head and laughed at me. This was a moment of realization for me. I had been waiting for the climb to start. A year ago, a 5 mile continual, gradual climb like that would have been very apparent to me. This time it was barely noticeable. Interesting...
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, except for me dropping my chain. I tried to do the quick fix that John showed me but couldn't. Luckily Daryl was able to fix it for me so I didn't have to get my hands greasy like I did when I dropped my chain on the solo ride in Betterton.
The most fun we had was when we left the trail and went out on a back country road. It was a gently curving road, mostly downhill...but gradual downhill so it didn't scare the crap out of me. I was going 35 MPH at one point!
All in all we rode 51 miles. Tom had ridden to and from his house, so he did an additional 20 miles. Wow. Daryl mentioned that I was struggling with my transitions. So in about 3 minutes, Tom gave me at least 5 great tips on quicker transitions. I will share in a later post...
Friday, October 18, 2013
Baltimore Marathon Relay
First, an apology...it has been a crazy week and I have not made the time to write any blog entries. I have several started, but have not finished any of them. So I sincerely apologize to anyone who has been checking my page and been frustrated with no updates. I will finish the other blog posts and put them up...I promise!
Last Saturday I participated in the Baltimore Running Festival on a relay team. I've never done a relay, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was fun and provided an experience that I never would have had otherwise.
On Friday I had a very enjoyable lunch with a business associate at a Mexican restaurant...I won't name which one. For the rest of the day, I was in the bathroom every 30 minutes or so. I don't know if it was food poisoning or a touch of the stomach flu that had been going around, but either way, I was not feeling well. I went to bed with my stomach still rolling. If I wasn't on a relay team, I would never have set my alarm to get up in the morning. But I knew that 3 other people were depending on me, so I got all my stuff together before going to bed. There was no way I was letting them down.
The alarm went off at 5 and I laid in bed for a few minutes trying to assess my health. I was definitely tired and felt a little weak, but my stomach felt OK. I got up and got myself ready to go. Stomach seemed good to go, even after eating breakfast.
Every time I've run the Baltimore half, I've taken the metro into the city since I didn't have to be there at the start of the full marathon. It's quite a long walk from the metro stop, so I decided to drive in. I parked in the garage behind 250 W Pratt. I knew it would be expensive but convenient.
The relay team was to meet in front of the Johnny Unitas statue by Ravens Stadium. Now this is the tricky part...I only know 1 member of the relay team...Andi. I've never met Gwen or Chad. So I was a little nervous about missing them since I don't know who they are! Anyway, I got to the statue first. Gwen messaged that she was running a little late and Chad decided not to meet us since he didn't have to catch the bus to his leg until an hour later. So Andi and I met up. It worked perfectly since she was able to find Gwen. In photo from left to right, me, Gwen and Andi:
Gwen was running the first leg, I was second, Andi was third and Chad was fourth. The 2nd and 4th legs had to ride a bus up to the exchange point, and the 1st and 3rd legs had to ride a bus back to the finish area. I was really glad that I didn't have to ride a bus back. I got on my bus and found a seat next to a very nice lady who also has 2 kids that are Ella and Grace's ages. We chatted the whole bus ride, then wished each other luck and went our separate ways when we got off the bus.
My first priority when I got to the exchange site was to get in line for the porta-pot. This is where things got crazy. The first porta-pot line that I got in formed into the street. The race official at the site made us move the line onto the sidewalk. I was about 6 people from the porta-pot before we moved. While we were moving, the lines got completely out of order and when it was all settled, I was about 20 back. Ugh. Someone told us that the porta-pots up the hill had shorter lines, so I decided to go up there and try my luck.
I was definitely in better shape up the hill...only about 12 back. This line also gave me a better vantage point of the race course. After awhile, they announced that the first wheelchair athletes were about to come through. Because I was at the top of a hill, it was evident to see how hard they were working their arms to get the chairs up the hill. These men were amazing to me. Some of them had lost one or both legs. All of them were inspiring to me.
Then the marathon runners started coming through. Because Under Armor had pulled out as the title sponsor, there was no prize money available. This meant that the professional athletes did not come. So no Kenyans this year. But it was really cool to see that a local man won the marathon.
Finally I was able to go to the bathroom and get down to my exchange zone. I had been stressing out that I would miss Gwen while in line. Luckily I had about 5 minutes left once I got down to the area. She handed me the timing chip band, I slapped it on my ankle, handed her my bag and took off up the hill.
It's hard to start a run going directly uphill, but the adrenaline was definitely pumping through me. The inspiration from the wheelchair athletes, the stress of thinking I would miss Gwen, and the general excitement at the exchange zone carried me up that hill without much of an effort. I quickly settled into a comfortable running pace. After my watch chimed that I had hit a mile, I finally glanced at my pace. 8:45 for the first mile! Wow!! And I didn't even feel like I was working that hard. Note to self: you have 6 more miles to go...might want to make sure you can keep it up. I slowed until my watch said I was running 9:30 and figured that was a more reasonable pace to maintain.
At the 2 mile mark, I was amazed that I was barely breathing hard. I was having such an enjoyable run. I had never run this part of the course before, so it was nice to have a change of scenery. The group around me also seemed to be running between a 9 and 9:30 pace so it was pretty easy to just run with the pack. Most of them were full marathoners. I started thinking that it was amazing that these people could keep this pace going for 26.2 miles. I was in awe of the effort of all the runners around me.
By the third mile, we were very close to the harbor. The roads became extremely familiar and the crowds got thicker. It is so cool to run while people are on the side cheering and holding up signs. It didn't matter that I didn't know any of these people...or that they weren't yelling my name. In my mind, the crowds were all cheering for me. Now I remember why I love running half marathons!
The funniest moment of all happened when I was running near the start line of the half marathon. Because I've run it before, I understand how stressful it is to cross the marathoners' path to get to the starting line...I wish they could figure out something to make it so that this doesn't have to happen. But when I was running, there were masses of people crossing the route in front of me. I didn't get upset even when I had to slow down or sidestep to avoid someone. But when a couple was crossing and holding hands, the girl decided to go behind me and the guy decided to go in front of me. They dropped their hands literally a half a second before I would have crashed through their arms. I laughed.
The neighborhood support of the Baltimore marathon is amazing. We ran through Federal Hill and so many people were sitting on their front steps cheering. There was a man handing out orange slices. I took one and it was a welcomed change from my water bottle. Others were handing out gummy bears and you could see gummy bears all over the streets. People had pompoms, megaphones, bells and horns. It was like the entire city turned into one big cheerleading squad. I loved it.
We ran by the Under Armor facility and there was so much excitement there. They had a water stop, music blaring, an announcer talking the whole time and tons of people cheering for us. It was at about the 5 mile mark of my run, so it gave me the boost I needed to finish strong.
With about a mile to go, I saw Alana just ahead of me. I hollered to her and sprinted to catch up with her. We ran the last mile together and chatted about our runs. At the exchange point, I handed the band off to Andi and was done. Alana and I walked back toward the harbor looking for a water stop. Finally we found some water. We walked to the finish area and picked up our medals and beer tickets.
I reconnected with Gwen and we stood and watched the finish line for awhile. Unfortunately I couldn't stay long enough to see Chad finish. So I still have never met the 4th leg of my relay team!
This event was something that I would have slept through if I wasn't running the relay since I had felt so awful the day before. I'm so glad that I made myself go. It was a great experience. The relay was fun and I got inspired to run again. My running has been a mental challenge lately, so I know that this will go a long way to helping with my confidence.
Last Saturday I participated in the Baltimore Running Festival on a relay team. I've never done a relay, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was fun and provided an experience that I never would have had otherwise.
On Friday I had a very enjoyable lunch with a business associate at a Mexican restaurant...I won't name which one. For the rest of the day, I was in the bathroom every 30 minutes or so. I don't know if it was food poisoning or a touch of the stomach flu that had been going around, but either way, I was not feeling well. I went to bed with my stomach still rolling. If I wasn't on a relay team, I would never have set my alarm to get up in the morning. But I knew that 3 other people were depending on me, so I got all my stuff together before going to bed. There was no way I was letting them down.
The alarm went off at 5 and I laid in bed for a few minutes trying to assess my health. I was definitely tired and felt a little weak, but my stomach felt OK. I got up and got myself ready to go. Stomach seemed good to go, even after eating breakfast.
Every time I've run the Baltimore half, I've taken the metro into the city since I didn't have to be there at the start of the full marathon. It's quite a long walk from the metro stop, so I decided to drive in. I parked in the garage behind 250 W Pratt. I knew it would be expensive but convenient.
The relay team was to meet in front of the Johnny Unitas statue by Ravens Stadium. Now this is the tricky part...I only know 1 member of the relay team...Andi. I've never met Gwen or Chad. So I was a little nervous about missing them since I don't know who they are! Anyway, I got to the statue first. Gwen messaged that she was running a little late and Chad decided not to meet us since he didn't have to catch the bus to his leg until an hour later. So Andi and I met up. It worked perfectly since she was able to find Gwen. In photo from left to right, me, Gwen and Andi:
Gwen was running the first leg, I was second, Andi was third and Chad was fourth. The 2nd and 4th legs had to ride a bus up to the exchange point, and the 1st and 3rd legs had to ride a bus back to the finish area. I was really glad that I didn't have to ride a bus back. I got on my bus and found a seat next to a very nice lady who also has 2 kids that are Ella and Grace's ages. We chatted the whole bus ride, then wished each other luck and went our separate ways when we got off the bus.
My first priority when I got to the exchange site was to get in line for the porta-pot. This is where things got crazy. The first porta-pot line that I got in formed into the street. The race official at the site made us move the line onto the sidewalk. I was about 6 people from the porta-pot before we moved. While we were moving, the lines got completely out of order and when it was all settled, I was about 20 back. Ugh. Someone told us that the porta-pots up the hill had shorter lines, so I decided to go up there and try my luck.
I was definitely in better shape up the hill...only about 12 back. This line also gave me a better vantage point of the race course. After awhile, they announced that the first wheelchair athletes were about to come through. Because I was at the top of a hill, it was evident to see how hard they were working their arms to get the chairs up the hill. These men were amazing to me. Some of them had lost one or both legs. All of them were inspiring to me.
Then the marathon runners started coming through. Because Under Armor had pulled out as the title sponsor, there was no prize money available. This meant that the professional athletes did not come. So no Kenyans this year. But it was really cool to see that a local man won the marathon.
Finally I was able to go to the bathroom and get down to my exchange zone. I had been stressing out that I would miss Gwen while in line. Luckily I had about 5 minutes left once I got down to the area. She handed me the timing chip band, I slapped it on my ankle, handed her my bag and took off up the hill.
It's hard to start a run going directly uphill, but the adrenaline was definitely pumping through me. The inspiration from the wheelchair athletes, the stress of thinking I would miss Gwen, and the general excitement at the exchange zone carried me up that hill without much of an effort. I quickly settled into a comfortable running pace. After my watch chimed that I had hit a mile, I finally glanced at my pace. 8:45 for the first mile! Wow!! And I didn't even feel like I was working that hard. Note to self: you have 6 more miles to go...might want to make sure you can keep it up. I slowed until my watch said I was running 9:30 and figured that was a more reasonable pace to maintain.
At the 2 mile mark, I was amazed that I was barely breathing hard. I was having such an enjoyable run. I had never run this part of the course before, so it was nice to have a change of scenery. The group around me also seemed to be running between a 9 and 9:30 pace so it was pretty easy to just run with the pack. Most of them were full marathoners. I started thinking that it was amazing that these people could keep this pace going for 26.2 miles. I was in awe of the effort of all the runners around me.
By the third mile, we were very close to the harbor. The roads became extremely familiar and the crowds got thicker. It is so cool to run while people are on the side cheering and holding up signs. It didn't matter that I didn't know any of these people...or that they weren't yelling my name. In my mind, the crowds were all cheering for me. Now I remember why I love running half marathons!
The funniest moment of all happened when I was running near the start line of the half marathon. Because I've run it before, I understand how stressful it is to cross the marathoners' path to get to the starting line...I wish they could figure out something to make it so that this doesn't have to happen. But when I was running, there were masses of people crossing the route in front of me. I didn't get upset even when I had to slow down or sidestep to avoid someone. But when a couple was crossing and holding hands, the girl decided to go behind me and the guy decided to go in front of me. They dropped their hands literally a half a second before I would have crashed through their arms. I laughed.
The neighborhood support of the Baltimore marathon is amazing. We ran through Federal Hill and so many people were sitting on their front steps cheering. There was a man handing out orange slices. I took one and it was a welcomed change from my water bottle. Others were handing out gummy bears and you could see gummy bears all over the streets. People had pompoms, megaphones, bells and horns. It was like the entire city turned into one big cheerleading squad. I loved it.
We ran by the Under Armor facility and there was so much excitement there. They had a water stop, music blaring, an announcer talking the whole time and tons of people cheering for us. It was at about the 5 mile mark of my run, so it gave me the boost I needed to finish strong.
With about a mile to go, I saw Alana just ahead of me. I hollered to her and sprinted to catch up with her. We ran the last mile together and chatted about our runs. At the exchange point, I handed the band off to Andi and was done. Alana and I walked back toward the harbor looking for a water stop. Finally we found some water. We walked to the finish area and picked up our medals and beer tickets.
I reconnected with Gwen and we stood and watched the finish line for awhile. Unfortunately I couldn't stay long enough to see Chad finish. So I still have never met the 4th leg of my relay team!
This event was something that I would have slept through if I wasn't running the relay since I had felt so awful the day before. I'm so glad that I made myself go. It was a great experience. The relay was fun and I got inspired to run again. My running has been a mental challenge lately, so I know that this will go a long way to helping with my confidence.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Osprey Race Recap: One Year of Tri's!
Quick summary for those who don't want to read this very long post. I crushed last year's time...by 16 minutes. The swim was tough only because of the jellyfish - they freaked me out. The bike felt good but my average MPH was slower than I had expected. The run was HOT and my pace suffered as a result. However, overall I am very pleased with my performance. Plus I got 2nd in my age group!!! That was amazing. When I look back at my very first triathlon last year, I am simply blown away by how far I've come. I am very proud.
Keep reading if you want all the details of the day!
There are a lot of reasons why yesterday was a special day. (1) It was the one year anniversary of my very first triathlon. (2) Colleen was doing her first event since her accident. (3) I just love triathlons. So I woke that morning with some extra excitement about the day.
Matt picked me up at the hotel so that Stephen and the girls could get some extra sleep. We got there pretty early and were able to grab a very good spot on the bike racks close to the bike in/out. I set up transition quickly...I am getting pretty good at the set up. Colleen and Keith got there shortly after we did. She set up her transition area right in between Matt and me.
I was freaking out about the jellyfish. Colleen and I walked out the pier to check them out. They were HUGE and scary looking. And there were a lot of them. I was really starting to get nervous about them. I had purchased some Safe Sea lotion which is supposed to have a jellyfish protectant in it so that if you touch the jellyfish, you won't get stung. I lathered up and hoped it would repel those suckers!
Before long, it was time to walk down the road to the swim start. I put on my wetsuit and tried to get the jellyfish out of my mind. I wished Matt good luck as he entered the water for his wave. He had his game face on and looked really ready.
After his wave went off, it was time for Colleen and I to get in the water. She is a very fast swimmer and I had hopes of drafting with her. She wanted to start in the front of the pack and since it was a small wave, I was OK with starting up there with her. I did my breathing bobs and tried to stay calm. My heart was already racing and I was still thinking about those damn jellyfish.
The gun went off and we started swimming. I tried in vain to stay with Colleen. She quickly left me behind and I was just struggling to get my breathing in check. The water was super salty. I am not used to swimming in salt water and that always messes with me in the start of the swim.
I had forgotten to start my watch which really annoyed me when I thought of it about halfway through the swim. I broke my stroke and hit the start button on my watch. I figured that I had been in the water for about 5 minutes...so I would have to add 5 minutes to the running time on my watch the entire race.
As I got closer to the pier, I had in mind that the jellyfish were really prevalent in that area. I saw a jellyfish and even though it wasn't even close to me, I picked my head up and screamed. Then I immediately laughed at myself...there was no need for that. But from that point on, the jellyfish were in my head. I couldn't put my face in the water so I did the same stroke I did last year...a glorified doggy paddle. Luckily I was only about 50 yards out from the pier so it didn't totally mess up my time. But I got out of the water very disappointed; knowing that I could have done much better.
Colleen was about to leave transition as I was running in. She did well on the swim and was a little nervous about the bike. This was only her 2nd time riding a bike since she was hit by the car. It takes a lot of courage and strength to get back on the bike after what she went through. I was so proud of her and took a moment to wish her luck as she left transition.
I tried to go quickly after that with my transition. I had already wasted some time celebrating Colleen's courage so I needed to get busy and get out of there! Wetsuit off, dry feet, socks and shoes on, throw on the helmet and glasses, and go! As soon as I was on my bike, I felt better. It's time to rock and roll!!!
Heading out of the transition, there are a few tight turns to get out on the main road. That gave me the chance to warm up my legs a little bit before I really took off. Once I got on the main road, I geared down, dropped into aero and focused on keeping my cadence high. I was flying and passing a lot of people...mostly guys from the wave right in front of mine. It wasn't long before I saw Colleen. She looked good and I cheered for her as I passed.
Not long after passing Colleen I noticed that there were 3 men that I was playing leapfrog with. Sometimes they would pass me but I would hang with them...sometimes I would pass them and they would hang with me. I tried very hard not to draft. It's illegal in triathlons, but it's commonplace in cycling events. With the steady headwind, I really wanted to draft but I didn't. The last 2 races I've done were IronGirl races and were all female. As I was riding with these 3 guys, I realized that I had missed racing with men. I like the fact that there are more competitors who are my pace on the bike.
The wind was constant for the bike. It was either a headwind or a sidewind. I kept waiting for the tailwind. As I made one turn, I finally found the tailwind. My speed went up to 27 MPH and it felt easy. Unfortunately this section of the road was very short and we made another turn...right into the side wind. I was holding a good pace and ended up averaging 19.4 MPH, however I had really wanted to hit 20 MPH as my average. Again, got off the bike feeling a little disappointed.
I hit the turnaround and just tried to keep my feet moving. As I was running back in, I saw Colleen, then Dave, then Gail. I cheered for each one as I passed. I yelled to Colleen how proud I was of her. Here she is in the pink:
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Going Fast in the Slow Lane
I don't often post about my swimming since there's not a lot to say. Really you don't have as many "adventures" in the swimming arena as you do in biking and running...at least in my perspective. However, today I am going to talk a little bit about my swimming.
I have been taking a swim class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:15. There are typically 3-5 swimmers per lane. We split up into lanes based on how fast/slow we are...so depending on who shows up on a given day, I am either in the slow lane or the next to the slow lane. My class has a lot of really fast swimmers.
Today I was in the slow lane. I was definitely the fastest of the 3 women in that lane. It was a good confidence booster since swimming is my weakest leg. As a matter of fact, I was keeping pace with the fastest swimmer in the lane next to me. As I would breathe on that side, I kept looking over to see where I was in relation to him.
Because my class has so many fast swimmers, it can be a bit disheartening to be so slow in comparison. However, I keep reminding myself of where I was a year ago. When I did my first triathlon a year ago, I was so freaked out by the chop of the water that I did a glorified version of the doggie paddle the whole way. I can guarantee that this year, regardless of the chop, I will not be doing the doggie paddle!
So while swimming intervals and drills doesn't provide much fodder for the blog, when I analyze my performance improvement, there is a lot to say. I am a much more confident, stronger and faster swimmer than I was a year ago. My class has a disproportionate amount of fast swimmers so it's hard to put things in perspective. Because even those of us in the slow lane are faster than a lot of other swimmers out there!
I have been taking a swim class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 6:15. There are typically 3-5 swimmers per lane. We split up into lanes based on how fast/slow we are...so depending on who shows up on a given day, I am either in the slow lane or the next to the slow lane. My class has a lot of really fast swimmers.
Today I was in the slow lane. I was definitely the fastest of the 3 women in that lane. It was a good confidence booster since swimming is my weakest leg. As a matter of fact, I was keeping pace with the fastest swimmer in the lane next to me. As I would breathe on that side, I kept looking over to see where I was in relation to him.
Because my class has so many fast swimmers, it can be a bit disheartening to be so slow in comparison. However, I keep reminding myself of where I was a year ago. When I did my first triathlon a year ago, I was so freaked out by the chop of the water that I did a glorified version of the doggie paddle the whole way. I can guarantee that this year, regardless of the chop, I will not be doing the doggie paddle!
So while swimming intervals and drills doesn't provide much fodder for the blog, when I analyze my performance improvement, there is a lot to say. I am a much more confident, stronger and faster swimmer than I was a year ago. My class has a disproportionate amount of fast swimmers so it's hard to put things in perspective. Because even those of us in the slow lane are faster than a lot of other swimmers out there!
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