While I was in DC this past weekend I got a chance to catch up on viewing 4 0r 5 Ironman races. We watched IMLP (Lake Placid), IM Louisville, IM Wisconsin in Madison, IM Coeur d'Alene, and then we watched the big one - the Ironman World Championship in Kona.
Not all of the broadcasts are as well-done; I really wish they would all spend more time on some of the age-groupers and their stories. I realize it's hard to take a 17 hour race and condense it down to a one-hour broadcast, but that doesn't mean I don't wish they'd do some things a little different.
It is amazing to watch the Pros compete - they make it look so easy. You kind of get sucked into thinking "I could do that". Then to see the Regular Joes, and how they struggle along the course it reminds you of what an accomplishment it really is. Congratulations to all who undertook an Ironman race.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Nation's Update
I received two text messages and emails from Nation's, telling me registration was open. Then I received an email from the race regarding my survey. Since I had such an unpleasant experience they were giving me a discount for 50% off.
I have to admit it was vaguely tempting. However, I don't appreciate that they waited until after they saw I wasn't signing up again, and I still think even paying 50% of a fee to people who lied to me is a bad idea. They can sucker other people into signing up for their race.
Signed,
Still Bitter
I have to admit it was vaguely tempting. However, I don't appreciate that they waited until after they saw I wasn't signing up again, and I still think even paying 50% of a fee to people who lied to me is a bad idea. They can sucker other people into signing up for their race.
Signed,
Still Bitter
Remiss In Posting, Not Remiss In Training - Jingle All The Way 10k Race Report
Yesterday I completed my second Jingle All The Way 10k race in DC. I've been working on running more, rather than doing a run/walk. I am pleased to say I ran almost entirely, with maybe 5 minutes of walking. I am unpleased in how much slower I am straight-up running than when I break it up.
Last year I had a very hard time training. I started running too much too soon and really injured myself, leaving only about a month for training. I had a hard time during last year's race because I just couldn't run - we walked more than ran. I was surprised and pleased to have a finishing time of 77:53, and an average pace time of 12:32.
This year I only had trouble finding time to train, not necessarily having trouble while training. I have noticed that the more I full-on run the slower I get. I've had 14 minute miles, which discourages me. Anyway, S and I were running together for the most part although she's faster than I am and doesn't have as much trouble running. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but running is creating a lot of soreness in my knees. Anyway, I kept plodding along. At one point she was in front of me and I just figured I'd fall back and let her run so I got out my ipod and listened to some music. I particularly like "Slid" from the Sliver soundtrack. S waited for me so when I caught up with her again I gave her the other earbud so we could listen and run together, which we did until we hit the water stop. I wish this particular race would have 3 water stops or so, I haven't been training with water on my runs (bad me) but I really longed for fluid. Maybe it was just knowing there was water on the course that made me so thirsty.
I kept plodding along, knowing I was getting slower and slower. Finally we reached the six mile mark and I tried to pick it up. S sprinted ahead and I didn't try to stay with her this time. I just didn't have it in me. I did get faster, but not sprinting. Still, I pumped my arms when they called my name at the finish. I made it through another race.
5k time 44:59
Average Pace 13:45
10k time 85:26
Last year I had a very hard time training. I started running too much too soon and really injured myself, leaving only about a month for training. I had a hard time during last year's race because I just couldn't run - we walked more than ran. I was surprised and pleased to have a finishing time of 77:53, and an average pace time of 12:32.
This year I only had trouble finding time to train, not necessarily having trouble while training. I have noticed that the more I full-on run the slower I get. I've had 14 minute miles, which discourages me. Anyway, S and I were running together for the most part although she's faster than I am and doesn't have as much trouble running. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but running is creating a lot of soreness in my knees. Anyway, I kept plodding along. At one point she was in front of me and I just figured I'd fall back and let her run so I got out my ipod and listened to some music. I particularly like "Slid" from the Sliver soundtrack. S waited for me so when I caught up with her again I gave her the other earbud so we could listen and run together, which we did until we hit the water stop. I wish this particular race would have 3 water stops or so, I haven't been training with water on my runs (bad me) but I really longed for fluid. Maybe it was just knowing there was water on the course that made me so thirsty.
I kept plodding along, knowing I was getting slower and slower. Finally we reached the six mile mark and I tried to pick it up. S sprinted ahead and I didn't try to stay with her this time. I just didn't have it in me. I did get faster, but not sprinting. Still, I pumped my arms when they called my name at the finish. I made it through another race.
5k time 44:59
Average Pace 13:45
10k time 85:26
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Back On Track
You'll (maybe) be happy to know I have managed to stick to the training plan for the last 3 days. Mostly. This shouldn't be something to really brag about, but since it's so much better than what I was accomplishing I'll brag anyway.
Tuesday was a 2.5 mile run. I ran on the treadmill after work, knowing I was missing the beginning of the brouhaha over election returns but not caring very much. I got to see the final results and speeches, so I didn't miss much. I am really working hard to maintain cadence. or how frequently my feet turn over. (I would also be working on my midfoot strike, but it's hard to gauge on the treadmill exactly what's going on due to its squishyness.)
Side Note: I downloaded all these podcasts called Podrunner from iTunes; they're fixed tempo playlists of various speeds per set for walking/running/spinning/etc.
EDIT I was misinformed as to podrunner licensing. All is well at djsteveboy.com, the dj's original site. Direct from the horse's mouth:
I have really been enjoying the few I have listened to. I am grateful he put them together as a fixed tempo so I don't have to try to figure out what my personal music is.
So for cadence, I have listened to two podrunner podcasts while running. "Strong", at 153 beats per minute (or 76.5 pair of footstrikes per minute), and "Running to Elysium", at 156 beats per minute (or 78 bpm per footstrike pair). I would just like to say how hard it is to run to this rythm, and I'm not even at the 85 - 90 bpm recommended for maximum efficiency! I limited to the treadmill between 4.0 mph up to 4.8 mph, keeping it on the slower side as I wasn't trying to concentrate on stride so much as foot turnover. I survived, but it was hard! Fortunately the new running style plus treadmill lower impact leaves me without injury, so I wasn't sore in place I shouldn't have been.
On Wednesday I tried to follow the 35 minutes of cross-training activity. Unfortunately it was so late by the time I finished work and got to the gym that I only had 30 minutes to do part of my spinning video. I'm not getting enough nutrients or I am way crazy out of shape or something because my muscles are becoming fatigued way too quickly. At any rate, 30 out of 35 minutes isn't bad, and my day job exertion has to count for something!
Today (Thursday) I managed to squeeze in the 2 miles mentioned in the plan, although I didn't have enough time to do the strengthening portion. (Again, doesn't my job count?) I listened to "Strong" today and just kept pounding it out. I averaged 13 min/mile which is pretty pathetic, but it's better than 15 min/mile for "running".
Tomorrow is a Rest Day (huzzah!). Saturday is supposed to be 50 minutes of cross-training and Sunday is supposed to be a 4 mile run. We shall see what I manage to accomplish. It'll be nice to get a long bike ride in, but I am going to go back to the flat path where it's easier. Unless I flip-flop the days and count hiking as my cross-training activity. We'll see. On Saturday I get to experience an Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy session - I'll report back on how I like it.
Tuesday was a 2.5 mile run. I ran on the treadmill after work, knowing I was missing the beginning of the brouhaha over election returns but not caring very much. I got to see the final results and speeches, so I didn't miss much. I am really working hard to maintain cadence. or how frequently my feet turn over. (I would also be working on my midfoot strike, but it's hard to gauge on the treadmill exactly what's going on due to its squishyness.)
Side Note: I downloaded all these podcasts called Podrunner from iTunes; they're fixed tempo playlists of various speeds per set for walking/running/spinning/etc.
EDIT I was misinformed as to podrunner licensing. All is well at djsteveboy.com, the dj's original site. Direct from the horse's mouth:
I'm glad you're running with Podrunner, but please don't tell people that our site is down because I "didn't get licensing renewed." My site has always been djsteveboy.com, and all the mixes are still up there and on iTunes. There is no licensing issue. It looks as if something has happened to the server that forwards podrunner.com to that site. Regarding donations, all money donated goes entirely to overhead involved in keeping the mixes available to the community. Making this free for people takes a lot of work and a lot of money.
Thanks!
I have really been enjoying the few I have listened to. I am grateful he put them together as a fixed tempo so I don't have to try to figure out what my personal music is.
So for cadence, I have listened to two podrunner podcasts while running. "Strong", at 153 beats per minute (or 76.5 pair of footstrikes per minute), and "Running to Elysium", at 156 beats per minute (or 78 bpm per footstrike pair). I would just like to say how hard it is to run to this rythm, and I'm not even at the 85 - 90 bpm recommended for maximum efficiency! I limited to the treadmill between 4.0 mph up to 4.8 mph, keeping it on the slower side as I wasn't trying to concentrate on stride so much as foot turnover. I survived, but it was hard! Fortunately the new running style plus treadmill lower impact leaves me without injury, so I wasn't sore in place I shouldn't have been.
On Wednesday I tried to follow the 35 minutes of cross-training activity. Unfortunately it was so late by the time I finished work and got to the gym that I only had 30 minutes to do part of my spinning video. I'm not getting enough nutrients or I am way crazy out of shape or something because my muscles are becoming fatigued way too quickly. At any rate, 30 out of 35 minutes isn't bad, and my day job exertion has to count for something!
Today (Thursday) I managed to squeeze in the 2 miles mentioned in the plan, although I didn't have enough time to do the strengthening portion. (Again, doesn't my job count?) I listened to "Strong" today and just kept pounding it out. I averaged 13 min/mile which is pretty pathetic, but it's better than 15 min/mile for "running".
Tomorrow is a Rest Day (huzzah!). Saturday is supposed to be 50 minutes of cross-training and Sunday is supposed to be a 4 mile run. We shall see what I manage to accomplish. It'll be nice to get a long bike ride in, but I am going to go back to the flat path where it's easier. Unless I flip-flop the days and count hiking as my cross-training activity. We'll see. On Saturday I get to experience an Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy session - I'll report back on how I like it.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day 2008
My polling location is not too far from the house, so I thought I should bike there. I figured since I was going to be out anyway, why not pack my running gear along too? Then I could go bike to my favorite trail after voting and get a brick session in!
I have not been on my bicycle in a while. Last time I was cycling the pedals were squeaking at me again. (I don't understand what my problem is with shoes/pedals - it's always something!) Quickly got them relubricated and away I went. I took my lock and cable with me; awkwardly trying to attach it to the sport sack holding my running shoes. The cable was a pain and didn't quite work so well. Oh well, off I go. Whoa that's more work than I'm used to! I got half-way up a hill and decided it'd be easier to go the other way. Turn around, go the other way, get half-way up the other hill and need to take a breather. I was on Violet, too, so you can see how pathetic I was/am. Sit down, drink some water, try to fuss with the cable again, walk the bike up the rest of the hill part, fuss with the cable again, and finally keep on going. I arrived at the church and "parked" my bike against a basketball hoop pole. Changed into my running shoes (because cleats on the ground make an annoying sound) and went inside. This whole time the weather was pleasant and sunny.
I came out of the polling place, talked to a neighbor for a couple of minutes, and suddenly there was rain! Nooo! Changed my shoes, got back on the bike, and started toward the park/home. It got really chilly and unfun. I, being the laziest lazy person in lazystan, decided to bag the workout and come home. The plan was to grab some lunch and go to the gym. But did I do that? I did not!
Now I've run out of time to go to the gym first. (Un?)Fortunately this is a very light work day. I will have to run tonight to make up for today's lackluster performance. I have to run tonight. Silly woman, don't I understand I have six weeks until Race Day? According to Hal Higdon's Novice Plan, today is a 2.5 mile run. (I'd move on to the intermediate plan, but I'm not ready to do fartleks yet.) Wish me luck!
I have not been on my bicycle in a while. Last time I was cycling the pedals were squeaking at me again. (I don't understand what my problem is with shoes/pedals - it's always something!) Quickly got them relubricated and away I went. I took my lock and cable with me; awkwardly trying to attach it to the sport sack holding my running shoes. The cable was a pain and didn't quite work so well. Oh well, off I go. Whoa that's more work than I'm used to! I got half-way up a hill and decided it'd be easier to go the other way. Turn around, go the other way, get half-way up the other hill and need to take a breather. I was on Violet, too, so you can see how pathetic I was/am. Sit down, drink some water, try to fuss with the cable again, walk the bike up the rest of the hill part, fuss with the cable again, and finally keep on going. I arrived at the church and "parked" my bike against a basketball hoop pole. Changed into my running shoes (because cleats on the ground make an annoying sound) and went inside. This whole time the weather was pleasant and sunny.
I came out of the polling place, talked to a neighbor for a couple of minutes, and suddenly there was rain! Nooo! Changed my shoes, got back on the bike, and started toward the park/home. It got really chilly and unfun. I, being the laziest lazy person in lazystan, decided to bag the workout and come home. The plan was to grab some lunch and go to the gym. But did I do that? I did not!
Now I've run out of time to go to the gym first. (Un?)Fortunately this is a very light work day. I will have to run tonight to make up for today's lackluster performance. I have to run tonight. Silly woman, don't I understand I have six weeks until Race Day? According to Hal Higdon's Novice Plan, today is a 2.5 mile run. (I'd move on to the intermediate plan, but I'm not ready to do fartleks yet.) Wish me luck!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Just Like Riding A Bicycle?
I finally got to the gym today. I could have done a swim session because Tuesday nights is the late women's only swim, but instead I decided to do the Spinervals Ride Strong. Completing the Ride Strong workout session is a good judge of my fitness level.
I was irritated during my workout because the gym was having a cardio-fitness class and the instructor played the music So. Loud. it overpowered my earphones. I had to use the stupid earbuds that came with the ipod because I've misplaced my In-Ear ones and the buds were easier to find. I need to get more doohickeys for the Shur earphones. I also have a pair of these Skullcandy buds, but I'm not sure they sell replacement doohickeys for them. (Aha, they do!) Anyway, I'll be happier when I have the in-ear ones working.
I'm afraid I might be coming down with The Plague, so I chose to sweat rather than get cold in the pool It was hard doing that video! Man, two weeks was too long. I did complete the video and I didn't skip any parts, which was good. Now I'm going to try to rest, if the Insomnia Fairy leaves me alone.
I was irritated during my workout because the gym was having a cardio-fitness class and the instructor played the music So. Loud. it overpowered my earphones. I had to use the stupid earbuds that came with the ipod because I've misplaced my In-Ear ones and the buds were easier to find. I need to get more doohickeys for the Shur earphones. I also have a pair of these Skullcandy buds, but I'm not sure they sell replacement doohickeys for them. (Aha, they do!) Anyway, I'll be happier when I have the in-ear ones working.
I'm afraid I might be coming down with The Plague, so I chose to sweat rather than get cold in the pool It was hard doing that video! Man, two weeks was too long. I did complete the video and I didn't skip any parts, which was good. Now I'm going to try to rest, if the Insomnia Fairy leaves me alone.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Nation's Photos
I am amused that the photos turned out as well as they did. I'm a good faker. Although please notice that they did not manage to capture one for me with the Capitol in the background, like they did for almost everyone else. Also, the finish photo isn't very good because I was disoriented and just ran until I finished. I also do not understand why they took only one picture on the bike, and they took it as we were concentrating on turning! Not fair, I don't think.
The swim exit picture is not very good. I don't know whether I should contact them about putting it in my batch or not.
They also missed adding this one to my batch (when I told Carmen that there were cameras ahead and we should run).
I am not sure what I'll do about pictures for Nation's. I bought all the photos (with a 33% discount!) from Philly Women's, and I finally got around to buying the 10k picture because it was on sale enough. I'm just torn about the emotions surrounding this race. Maybe I'll wait until they offer discounts too.
Meanwhile, here is the Jingle All The Way 10k 2007 photo, and a couple Philly Women's Tri photos.
The swim exit picture is not very good. I don't know whether I should contact them about putting it in my batch or not.
They also missed adding this one to my batch (when I told Carmen that there were cameras ahead and we should run).
I am not sure what I'll do about pictures for Nation's. I bought all the photos (with a 33% discount!) from Philly Women's, and I finally got around to buying the 10k picture because it was on sale enough. I'm just torn about the emotions surrounding this race. Maybe I'll wait until they offer discounts too.
Meanwhile, here is the Jingle All The Way 10k 2007 photo, and a couple Philly Women's Tri photos.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Life After Tri
Well, my first season is complete. It's been quite an adventure. I haven't exercised since Nation's, which isn't good, but I have enjoyed the down time. I'm going to get back out there next week, before I lose all motivation.
Yesterday I had the satisfaction of filling out the Nation's Tri survey. Many Thanks to S for reigning in the tone of my comments. I really hope they take what I have to say to heart so that next year's athletes aren't still angry two weeks after the race. I am happy that my anger seems to be fading, now that I told them off how I feel.
My next plan of attack is to sign up for some 10k or so races. I can't sign up for any triathlons just yet because the ones I would be interested in haven't opened registration. Running races will help keep me motivated to train. I'm pretty sure we'll sign up again for the Jingle All The Way 10k. There aren't too many races here in Philadelphia, it seems.
It feels really odd, I have to say, not having a race looming in the back of my mind. It's kind of like when you're on a school break and wonder what people do with all that free time.
Yesterday I had the satisfaction of filling out the Nation's Tri survey. Many Thanks to S for reigning in the tone of my comments. I really hope they take what I have to say to heart so that next year's athletes aren't still angry two weeks after the race. I am happy that my anger seems to be fading, now that I told them
My next plan of attack is to sign up for some 10k or so races. I can't sign up for any triathlons just yet because the ones I would be interested in haven't opened registration. Running races will help keep me motivated to train. I'm pretty sure we'll sign up again for the Jingle All The Way 10k. There aren't too many races here in Philadelphia, it seems.
It feels really odd, I have to say, not having a race looming in the back of my mind. It's kind of like when you're on a school break and wonder what people do with all that free time.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Nation's Triathlon Race Report - "You People!"
Oh mon dieu, what an experience.
On Saturday the plan was to leave for packet pickup, practice swim, and bike racking. We got a little later start than we wanted to, but did manage to get to the hotel in time for a "mandatory" safety meeting. They had 5 or so mandatory meetings scheduled throughout the day, one every hour, in an auditorium which held about 200 people. (Total number of race participants was 2,700.) The meeting gave us no new information about the race itself, although we were told that parking would be limited for the race and it was highly recommended that we park at the hotel and take one of the shuttles to the race site. Also these shuttles would bring us and our bikes back to the hotel after the race. After the meeting, which was remarkably short, all 200 people tried to get out to pick up our packets so we could attempt to make the swim practice. We weren't allowed to get our packets without first getting our hands stamped to prove we'd been to the meeting. Then we all rushed down to the packet area, which was swamped with people waiting to get processed. There is a term frequently used by the military which describes the logistical process of this tri. It includes an f*bomb so we'll alter it a little bit to keep this G or PG rated. Packet pickup was a total cluster-chicken*. S and I were discussing how they might have made the process a little smoother. We think staggered safety meetings might have helped so as to not have 200 people cramming to get through. Frankly, that stupid meeting shouldn't have been mandatory at all.
Finally we got through packet pickup into the expo where we picked up our race bag and tshirt. Oh, and United Healthcare gave us a race belt but it has the snaps that I don't like as opposed to the bungee snaps which works better because no two race numbers have holes spaced the same distance apart. (That's about it for goodies. Philly Tri was less expensive and at least gave us a water bottle too.) We noticed that there is not enough time to make the swim practice so we wandered around the Expo for a while. Got a free dixie cup of juice from Naked Juice (the mango is delish), wandered around the area, stood in line for chair massages until we saw 2 therapists pack up and go home and only 1 therapist left so we bailed. All this time we were grumbling about what a cluster chicken packet pickup was, and how other tris have handled it so much more smoothly. Also, why in the heck do they have mandatory bike racking and why is it so far away from packet pickup? Grumble grumble grumble.
We drove to the official parking lot for the tri (our first mistake), which is about .5 mile or more away from transition. Parked, got out, decided to ride our bikes there in our street shoes (i.e. flip flops for me) because it seemed easier than fussing with our bike shoes. Debated about putting the number on the bike, decided we'll just take care of it tomorrow, and off we went. Got to transition and were told we must have our number on our bikes in order to enter transition (our second mistake). You know, that would have been nice to know. Too bad the effing mandatory meeting didn't give us that information. Saw everyone parked much closer to transition. Sighed heavily. Biked back to the car. I decided it was just too hard to bike with my flippies on my very small SPD pedals. S has Look style pedals which have a bigger platform so she was ok. I dumped out my race bag, put my flippies in, put my shoes on, and attached the number to the bike. First good news of the day - the bike number is vinyl so won't peel the paint off our bikes the way the adhesive adhered ones do. Unfortunately, my bike is a lot fatter on the top tube than most so the number didn't quite fit the way it was supposed to.
Finally got back to transition and found our rows which were handily marked with signs. Another good thing because we won't have to find external markers to find our bikes and apparently they clip all the balloons people typically use. (That's 2 good things, and some bad things, in case you're keeping score.) S and I are not transition buddies for this tri, she's in a completely opposite place. We dropped off our bikes and also decided to leave our helmets. Finally got back to the car and got ready to leave for Heidi's place. Found it, got a great parking spot outside, and lugged our crap inside. I'm still pretty rookie, so I brought practically every piece of sports nutrition I have. We went to Otello for a yummy yummy dinner (I had the linguine burli) and then went back to Heidi's place. We checked Sundays weather. 96 degrees with 70% humidity. Oh, joy. (Basically it would feel about 100 degrees.) We watched 2 Secondes again while I packed my stuff, and then it was bedtime!
I set my alarm for 3 am but didn't actually wake up until a little before 3:30. S and I got up and started to eat some PowerBar Energize bars. These are basically pure sugar. I have salt water taffy that isn't as sweet as these bars! I tried the Tangy Tropical and S tried the Berry Blast. If you try these, the Tangy Tropical was tastier than the Berry one. Anyway, we didn't actually eat the whole bars because of looming diabetic coma, so we switched to bagel with cashew butter and jam. I also drank some Cytomax and ate a banana and a few brownie bites. I put some brownie bites in a bag to take to the race, thinking I might eat them on the bike. While I was at it I packed a cashew butter and jam sandwich to eat an hour before the race. I filled my water bottles with regular water. I decided not to fill with Cytomax because last time I wanted just water and not anything else. Because it was so blasted hot I knew I needed one of the bottles to have Nuun. I planned to put Gel Blasts in my bento box and two vanilla Accel gels on my frame; I figured that should last me energy-wise through the bike leg.
Finally we gathered all our stuff and got down to the car. We had decided yesterday that the shuttle sounded like a good option. Partly because we saw where the shuttle was dropping people off really close to transition, and partly because they warned us about parking. We arrived at the hotel and chose to park in the pay lot for convenience. We waited outside with a lot of other triathletes and then got on the shuttle. The shuttles were nice, although we weren't sure exactly how our bikes were going to fit for the return trip. Oh well, I'm sure they have something figured out because they told us that was how it would work. The shuttle dropped us off far far away from transition, not at all the place they were dropping people off yesterday. (I actually didn't see a shuttle yesterday; should also have been tricky because that's when people had to bring their bikes over to rack.) We joked about how nice of them to give us a chance to warm up. We are irritated, but what are you going to do? Maybe they'd blocked the road off already and the shuttle couldn't get closer. Finally we got to transition area and stopped to pick up our timing chip and got body marked. Fortunately our race number was printed our our wrist band because I had no idea what my number was. Hooray, we're all ready to get into transition and set up our spot. Which we did. I laid out my towel with my race belt, hat, luna chews/clif shot bloks, and a flask of water on the back half. I did not want to have to carry my fuel belt, and they told us that there would be aid stations every mile so I figured I didn't need to carry that extra weight. I put my running shoes on top. In front I positioned my bike shoes and my socks. I also had extra sunblock and a sunblock stick to use on my face. I positioned my helmet and sunglasses on the wires in front of my handlebars like I saw other people doing. Worked pretty well, actually. The race director announced that the water temperature was 77 degrees, the same temp the Schuylkill was for the Philly Women's Tri. So wetsuits were legal, but not necessary. I decided even after all the drama in getting a wetsuit that I hadn't practiced enough to feel comfortable wearing it and since the water temperature was so nice I wouldn't need it. S decided she would wear her wetsuit because of the buoyancy. I decided I didn't want to add the brownie bites to my bento box; they just weren't sounding good. I added a nuun to one of my water bottles. I got my sunblock on and had S finish up the spots I couldn't really reach. I was jumping around a little trying to keep moving. I didn't need to stay warm because it was already hot, but I needed to do something to calm my mind a little. Did I practice enough? Would I survive? Suddenly it was 6:30 and time to eat my sandwich. By the time I finished my sandwich it was about time to leave transition and get corralled in the Swim Pen.
We listened to the National Anthem and then the Elite Men were the first to start the race. We sat on the grass to wait, and had to move once because the lines for the Porta-Potties was incredibly long. (Another irritation; they doubled the registration but didn't double the number of porta-potties.) I figured I'm just going to wait until I get in the water to pee, so no need to jump in the line for the john. We waited until we needed to line up. Oh my goodness it's about to be a reality. And we're up! Most of the women in my group decided to suit up. I was one of the few without a wetsuit. I jumped in the water and waited for the horn to blow. And the race has started for me!
I was able to get some good freestyle strokes in before coming up for air. I was a little disoriented. There weren't a whole lot of kayaks or buoys in the water so you really had to look for direction. It seemed I was pretty far out from the buoys so I tried to aim inward as I swam. It's just like a practice swim, right? But there were people all around me and I couldn't catch my breath! I know I had done this before at the last tri, but this was such a longer distance and there seemed to be so many more people. I started to panic a little and had a hard time breathing so I flip over to backstroke. But then I worried about using too much leg power and not having enough energy for the bike or the run. Flipped over and tried to freestyle again. Came up for air, looked for a buoy, where the heck is it? Switched to breathing every other freestyle stroke instead of every third. That helped a little. Ack, I needed to flip over onto my back again. Why could I not get it together? I've been able to swim before, Get With The Program! Alas, no. My goggles kept leaking a little bit which also did not help. I kept burping a little and the ghost of sandwich past repeated on me a little. Yuck. I could not get a mantra to run through my head for this tri, and in fact it didn't even occur that I didn't have one to chant until it was all over. I got to the first turn. Hooray! I managed to get to the next turn. Then it was the long, slow trek down the last stretch before the short jog over to the exit. I looked at my watch. I was really hoping to get the swim over in 40-45 minutes. It was already 40 minutes and it seemed like I had a long way to go still. Discouragement set in as all the women's waves behind me came and passed me, and then the last of the men's waves too! Ugh. Was that the last buoy to turn? No, people kept swimming past it. Why! I needed to be done swimming! Ack. Ok, finally reached the last buoy for the long length. Ooh, almost there! Turned for the last time and made it to the stairs. Climbed up the stairs and slogged through the muddy run back to transition. My big toe on my right foot got caught in the mud and I pitched forward, almost falling on my face. I caught myself and continued to run to my spot.
Thankfully the rows were numbered. I got to my spot, squirted water on my feet, put my socks on, put my shoes on, put my helmet and glasses on, and off I went. I ran to the mounting area and got on my bike and headed off. One of my gels fell off not too far into the course. Oops. I'm not stopping to pick it up. Technically I could have received a penalty for leaving stuff on the course, but nobody seems to be paying attention. The route was relatively pleasant. It would have been nice to know where I was along the course. There were no mile markers for the bike course and I still could not get my bike computer to work after I reset it that one time plus I had forgotten it at home anyway. Also, I was feeling some urgency to use a porta-potty, but there weren't any along the bike route and there wasn't a good secluded spot either. My body was feeling pretty rough after the swim. I figured that I didn't need to push too hard through the bike part, since I was only there to finish and not to shatter any records. Sometimes I was able easily bike and other times it took more of a push. Part of the bike course was shaded and the air felt nice. I didn't feel too hot. I did drink all of my water and part of my nuun. I needed to stop a couple of times because the rassen-frassen frame pump kept knocking into my crank. I figured out to turn it 180 and then it was fine. I didn't see anyone I recognized on the bike, but I sure did see a lot of Team In Training suits. Who knew it would be 80% or so Team In Training athletes? Wished it didn't feel so exclusionary for those of us who weren't with Team In Training. Finally I saw signs for the Dismount. I was a little disoriented by the time I made it back to the dismount. I was tired, so I did not run back to my spot. I got there, sat down, took my cycling shoes off, put my running shoes on, put more sunblock on my face, sprayed more sunblock on my shoulders, added a nuun tablet to my 7 oz flask, took my helmet off, put my hat on, stuck my nutrition in my back pocket, got up and lumbered to the Run Out. Did you catch what I forgot to put on? I was almost to the exit when I saw someone else with their race number on and realized I'd forgotten to put my race belt on. Crap. Turned around and lumbered back to my spot. Put my race belt on and headed for the run again. Attempted to run. Much like the Philly Tri, it wasn't so much happening for me. Plus, I was having increased urgency for a bathroom. I tried to run from time to time, walking the other bits. It was really hot and I was sweating a lot. Passed the first mile marker. At the first Aid Station downed some water and some Powerade which I assumed was the electrolyte fluids. (Turns out, nsm.) Continued to walk/run for a while. No porta-potties to be found. Somewhere between the second and third mile I think I ran into the Haines Point bathrooms. Huzzah! My intestines were still not feeling happy, but at least I was feeling a little better. People kept passing me and encouraging me to run. I tried. My body rebelled. Around the 3 mile or 4 mile mark I met Carmen. I walked with her and she became my run buddy. We got to the point where we would run for 30 seconds and walk for a minute. Run for 30 seconds and walk for a minute. I felt like my tum was going to explode. "You're doing great!" I would hear from people. Liars!! I would think. We struggled on. I drank water and powerade at every stop. They offered ice, but I didn't think to actually put some in a cup to chew, and after the first time I tried to put some in my hat I didn't bother. My tum was spasming. Come on, Carmen would cheer. Ugh. Somewhere around the 5th mile they have misting tents. Oh, could I just stay in the misting tent? No, less than 2 miles to go! The course winds around. Just when you think you are done you have to keep going. (The bike course was like that too; kind of irritating to be winding so much.) Got to another misting tent. Almost there, you can do it! Heidi spots us before the last misting tent. "Where have you been?" I almost cried. "No, no, you're doing great, almost there!" S had finished and all my supporters were waiting for me. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it to the end. I figured I would walk mostly until the chute and then run. I got to the chute and didn't actually realize that was it because I was confused. Where exactly is the finish? Oh, it was right before my eyes. Run! No fists of huzzah for the picture this time, just let me get to the end without dying. I think I smiled, because there were cameras and I of course want pictures to look good, but it was totally a facade.
I was feeling nasty at the end. I collapsed on the side and Heidi went to fetch people to come to me instead of me going to them. We watched as the Emergency Medical people took people away. At least I didn't need that. Right? They had pizza at the end for food. That's recovery food? Ugh. I ate a couple of slices and had some water and some more powerade. Blech. S had my flip flops in the race bag, so I didn't have to put my shoes back on. I got up to go to the porta-potties. Ouch! At least they still had TP. I waddled back to the group. Several people left to do other things and it was then just Heidi, S, and I. We thought about how to get our stuff from transition since the race finish was pretty far away from the race start, and thought it would be a good plan to walk to the hotel to pick up the car and then drive to transition. I'm all doubled over from spasming in my tum. We get near a Barnes and Noble and I needed to go inside to use the restroom. Oh, it feels good to sit. While I'm looking for them to start walking again I realize that I don't have my car keys. I hadn't put the key into the race bag because they told us not to put anything valuable in the race bags. No key, no way to get the car. We said goodbye to Heidi who had to go to the office to do stuff and walked to the shuttle. There's a big long line and I don't think I can stand in it. I go sit on the wall. There's a guy who needed some medical attention. The EMS people are on their way with ice. Ooh, maybe I can get some of that. But then S is in line to get on the next bus before I could get some. Oh well. Get onto the shuttle. At least we won't have to be outside for too long before we can get back to the car, right? Oh, no. The shuttle stops far away from transition at the World War II Memorial and tells us we're at our transition stop. What? Are you kidding me? What kind of BS is this? We have no choice but to get off the bus and walk. In the heat. I was hobbling along, still thinking if I can just make it to transition and then get on the shuttle I'll be ok. We came across a bathroom. I needed to go again. I'm not looking good but what could I do? We continued to walk towards transition. Why does it seem that everybody is riding their bikes from there? We get to transition. There are shuttles to take us and our bikes back to the hotel, right? Um, no, the volunteers said they were getting conflicting reports and most people were getting cabs. At least the cabs are being helpful, that'll make you feel better, right? Um, NO. What the hell kind of operation is this, anyway? I'm really really having a hard time at this point. They sat me down in a chair and some team in training coach came over and asked me questions. She looked at my hands and told me I haven't had enough salt. Were you drinking enough? Yes, I really think so. And I had that powerade stuff at every stop, that's got salts in it, right? (Turns out? Not really.) She gave me a salt pill and had them move me into the shade. Some race official type person comes over and says he'll call EMS. They bring some ice and start shoving it into my clothing. Ah, that starts to feel good. An ambulance comes. No, I really don't want to go to the hospital. Seriously, with the ice I am feeling so much better. I'm totally lucid, I did not pass out, I didn't even feel like passing out, seriously, it will be ok. We're still stuck on how to get back to the hotel, and also stuck on how to get home because my car is a stick and S doesn't know how to drive manual transmission. A very nice lady, Margaret, offers to put my bike on her rack and take us to the hotel. But the EMT doesn't want to let me drive. Neither S or I brought our cell phones to the race site, so we can't even try to track anyone down. Someone lends S a phone. She calls her husband but it's not really feasible for him to come with the kids and we still wouldn't be able to get everyone in the car. Margaret thinks she'll be able to put all our of bikes on her rack. Where do we live, because she'll just take us home. God Bless Margaret for being so kind.
We got to S's house and unloaded the car. I got into the house and collapsed onto the couch with a cold pack and ice water. I also chowed down on some salty pretzels. Yes, I think I will be ok. I was still a little shaky but about an hour later when I was doing much better we went back to the hotel to get my car. S and I were able to really rant about the whole logistical aspects of the race. We decided we would not do this race again or recommend it to anyone else unless they make some serious changes. I don't want to participate in any race where they lie about the transportation issues. We would have had a whole different game plan had they told us the truth.
So, to sum up, I finished and I have a medal. It was a lot harder than I mentally thought it would be, although I'm sure a lot of that was due to the heat cooking my organs. I won't put off the idea of doing another olympic distance, but I'm not upset I won't be doing Columbia with my friends. I'm going to need a lot of training time to build up for another one. I think we're going to do a 10k in October or November. That'll give me something to train for. Also, I should be happy with my results. Even though it took me longer to finish than I hoped, I still finished under twice my time in the Philly Women's Tri.
phillytrigirl Race Results
Swim 52:14
T1 2:14
Bike 1:41:38
T2 5:16
Run 1:44:46
Total Time 4:26:06
Overall Placement 2330/2395 (did 400 people not show up/disqualify/fail to finish?)
Age Group Placement 171/174 (why does mine differ from S's?)
Gender Placement 905/953 (out of all women?)
S's Race Results
Swim 41:27
T1 3:11
Bike 1:29:31
T2 3:13
Run 1:34:51
Total Time 3:52:11
Overall Placement 2123/2395 (did 400 people not show up/disqualify/fail to finish?)
Age Group Placement 54/84 (why does hers differ from mine?)
Gender Placement 755/953 (out of all women?)
Nice Job!
*Cluster-Chicken Definition: Its more precise usage describes a particular kind of Catch-22, in which multiple complicated problems mutually interfere with each other's solution. The looser usage, referring to any chaotic situation, probably prevails.
On Saturday the plan was to leave for packet pickup, practice swim, and bike racking. We got a little later start than we wanted to, but did manage to get to the hotel in time for a "mandatory" safety meeting. They had 5 or so mandatory meetings scheduled throughout the day, one every hour, in an auditorium which held about 200 people. (Total number of race participants was 2,700.) The meeting gave us no new information about the race itself, although we were told that parking would be limited for the race and it was highly recommended that we park at the hotel and take one of the shuttles to the race site. Also these shuttles would bring us and our bikes back to the hotel after the race. After the meeting, which was remarkably short, all 200 people tried to get out to pick up our packets so we could attempt to make the swim practice. We weren't allowed to get our packets without first getting our hands stamped to prove we'd been to the meeting. Then we all rushed down to the packet area, which was swamped with people waiting to get processed. There is a term frequently used by the military which describes the logistical process of this tri. It includes an f*bomb so we'll alter it a little bit to keep this G or PG rated. Packet pickup was a total cluster-chicken*. S and I were discussing how they might have made the process a little smoother. We think staggered safety meetings might have helped so as to not have 200 people cramming to get through. Frankly, that stupid meeting shouldn't have been mandatory at all.
Finally we got through packet pickup into the expo where we picked up our race bag and tshirt. Oh, and United Healthcare gave us a race belt but it has the snaps that I don't like as opposed to the bungee snaps which works better because no two race numbers have holes spaced the same distance apart. (That's about it for goodies. Philly Tri was less expensive and at least gave us a water bottle too.) We noticed that there is not enough time to make the swim practice so we wandered around the Expo for a while. Got a free dixie cup of juice from Naked Juice (the mango is delish), wandered around the area, stood in line for chair massages until we saw 2 therapists pack up and go home and only 1 therapist left so we bailed. All this time we were grumbling about what a cluster chicken packet pickup was, and how other tris have handled it so much more smoothly. Also, why in the heck do they have mandatory bike racking and why is it so far away from packet pickup? Grumble grumble grumble.
We drove to the official parking lot for the tri (our first mistake), which is about .5 mile or more away from transition. Parked, got out, decided to ride our bikes there in our street shoes (i.e. flip flops for me) because it seemed easier than fussing with our bike shoes. Debated about putting the number on the bike, decided we'll just take care of it tomorrow, and off we went. Got to transition and were told we must have our number on our bikes in order to enter transition (our second mistake). You know, that would have been nice to know. Too bad the effing mandatory meeting didn't give us that information. Saw everyone parked much closer to transition. Sighed heavily. Biked back to the car. I decided it was just too hard to bike with my flippies on my very small SPD pedals. S has Look style pedals which have a bigger platform so she was ok. I dumped out my race bag, put my flippies in, put my shoes on, and attached the number to the bike. First good news of the day - the bike number is vinyl so won't peel the paint off our bikes the way the adhesive adhered ones do. Unfortunately, my bike is a lot fatter on the top tube than most so the number didn't quite fit the way it was supposed to.
Finally got back to transition and found our rows which were handily marked with signs. Another good thing because we won't have to find external markers to find our bikes and apparently they clip all the balloons people typically use. (That's 2 good things, and some bad things, in case you're keeping score.) S and I are not transition buddies for this tri, she's in a completely opposite place. We dropped off our bikes and also decided to leave our helmets. Finally got back to the car and got ready to leave for Heidi's place. Found it, got a great parking spot outside, and lugged our crap inside. I'm still pretty rookie, so I brought practically every piece of sports nutrition I have. We went to Otello for a yummy yummy dinner (I had the linguine burli) and then went back to Heidi's place. We checked Sundays weather. 96 degrees with 70% humidity. Oh, joy. (Basically it would feel about 100 degrees.) We watched 2 Secondes again while I packed my stuff, and then it was bedtime!
I set my alarm for 3 am but didn't actually wake up until a little before 3:30. S and I got up and started to eat some PowerBar Energize bars. These are basically pure sugar. I have salt water taffy that isn't as sweet as these bars! I tried the Tangy Tropical and S tried the Berry Blast. If you try these, the Tangy Tropical was tastier than the Berry one. Anyway, we didn't actually eat the whole bars because of looming diabetic coma, so we switched to bagel with cashew butter and jam. I also drank some Cytomax and ate a banana and a few brownie bites. I put some brownie bites in a bag to take to the race, thinking I might eat them on the bike. While I was at it I packed a cashew butter and jam sandwich to eat an hour before the race. I filled my water bottles with regular water. I decided not to fill with Cytomax because last time I wanted just water and not anything else. Because it was so blasted hot I knew I needed one of the bottles to have Nuun. I planned to put Gel Blasts in my bento box and two vanilla Accel gels on my frame; I figured that should last me energy-wise through the bike leg.
Finally we gathered all our stuff and got down to the car. We had decided yesterday that the shuttle sounded like a good option. Partly because we saw where the shuttle was dropping people off really close to transition, and partly because they warned us about parking. We arrived at the hotel and chose to park in the pay lot for convenience. We waited outside with a lot of other triathletes and then got on the shuttle. The shuttles were nice, although we weren't sure exactly how our bikes were going to fit for the return trip. Oh well, I'm sure they have something figured out because they told us that was how it would work. The shuttle dropped us off far far away from transition, not at all the place they were dropping people off yesterday. (I actually didn't see a shuttle yesterday; should also have been tricky because that's when people had to bring their bikes over to rack.) We joked about how nice of them to give us a chance to warm up. We are irritated, but what are you going to do? Maybe they'd blocked the road off already and the shuttle couldn't get closer. Finally we got to transition area and stopped to pick up our timing chip and got body marked. Fortunately our race number was printed our our wrist band because I had no idea what my number was. Hooray, we're all ready to get into transition and set up our spot. Which we did. I laid out my towel with my race belt, hat, luna chews/clif shot bloks, and a flask of water on the back half. I did not want to have to carry my fuel belt, and they told us that there would be aid stations every mile so I figured I didn't need to carry that extra weight. I put my running shoes on top. In front I positioned my bike shoes and my socks. I also had extra sunblock and a sunblock stick to use on my face. I positioned my helmet and sunglasses on the wires in front of my handlebars like I saw other people doing. Worked pretty well, actually. The race director announced that the water temperature was 77 degrees, the same temp the Schuylkill was for the Philly Women's Tri. So wetsuits were legal, but not necessary. I decided even after all the drama in getting a wetsuit that I hadn't practiced enough to feel comfortable wearing it and since the water temperature was so nice I wouldn't need it. S decided she would wear her wetsuit because of the buoyancy. I decided I didn't want to add the brownie bites to my bento box; they just weren't sounding good. I added a nuun to one of my water bottles. I got my sunblock on and had S finish up the spots I couldn't really reach. I was jumping around a little trying to keep moving. I didn't need to stay warm because it was already hot, but I needed to do something to calm my mind a little. Did I practice enough? Would I survive? Suddenly it was 6:30 and time to eat my sandwich. By the time I finished my sandwich it was about time to leave transition and get corralled in the Swim Pen.
We listened to the National Anthem and then the Elite Men were the first to start the race. We sat on the grass to wait, and had to move once because the lines for the Porta-Potties was incredibly long. (Another irritation; they doubled the registration but didn't double the number of porta-potties.) I figured I'm just going to wait until I get in the water to pee, so no need to jump in the line for the john. We waited until we needed to line up. Oh my goodness it's about to be a reality. And we're up! Most of the women in my group decided to suit up. I was one of the few without a wetsuit. I jumped in the water and waited for the horn to blow. And the race has started for me!
I was able to get some good freestyle strokes in before coming up for air. I was a little disoriented. There weren't a whole lot of kayaks or buoys in the water so you really had to look for direction. It seemed I was pretty far out from the buoys so I tried to aim inward as I swam. It's just like a practice swim, right? But there were people all around me and I couldn't catch my breath! I know I had done this before at the last tri, but this was such a longer distance and there seemed to be so many more people. I started to panic a little and had a hard time breathing so I flip over to backstroke. But then I worried about using too much leg power and not having enough energy for the bike or the run. Flipped over and tried to freestyle again. Came up for air, looked for a buoy, where the heck is it? Switched to breathing every other freestyle stroke instead of every third. That helped a little. Ack, I needed to flip over onto my back again. Why could I not get it together? I've been able to swim before, Get With The Program! Alas, no. My goggles kept leaking a little bit which also did not help. I kept burping a little and the ghost of sandwich past repeated on me a little. Yuck. I could not get a mantra to run through my head for this tri, and in fact it didn't even occur that I didn't have one to chant until it was all over. I got to the first turn. Hooray! I managed to get to the next turn. Then it was the long, slow trek down the last stretch before the short jog over to the exit. I looked at my watch. I was really hoping to get the swim over in 40-45 minutes. It was already 40 minutes and it seemed like I had a long way to go still. Discouragement set in as all the women's waves behind me came and passed me, and then the last of the men's waves too! Ugh. Was that the last buoy to turn? No, people kept swimming past it. Why! I needed to be done swimming! Ack. Ok, finally reached the last buoy for the long length. Ooh, almost there! Turned for the last time and made it to the stairs. Climbed up the stairs and slogged through the muddy run back to transition. My big toe on my right foot got caught in the mud and I pitched forward, almost falling on my face. I caught myself and continued to run to my spot.
Thankfully the rows were numbered. I got to my spot, squirted water on my feet, put my socks on, put my shoes on, put my helmet and glasses on, and off I went. I ran to the mounting area and got on my bike and headed off. One of my gels fell off not too far into the course. Oops. I'm not stopping to pick it up. Technically I could have received a penalty for leaving stuff on the course, but nobody seems to be paying attention. The route was relatively pleasant. It would have been nice to know where I was along the course. There were no mile markers for the bike course and I still could not get my bike computer to work after I reset it that one time plus I had forgotten it at home anyway. Also, I was feeling some urgency to use a porta-potty, but there weren't any along the bike route and there wasn't a good secluded spot either. My body was feeling pretty rough after the swim. I figured that I didn't need to push too hard through the bike part, since I was only there to finish and not to shatter any records. Sometimes I was able easily bike and other times it took more of a push. Part of the bike course was shaded and the air felt nice. I didn't feel too hot. I did drink all of my water and part of my nuun. I needed to stop a couple of times because the rassen-frassen frame pump kept knocking into my crank. I figured out to turn it 180 and then it was fine. I didn't see anyone I recognized on the bike, but I sure did see a lot of Team In Training suits. Who knew it would be 80% or so Team In Training athletes? Wished it didn't feel so exclusionary for those of us who weren't with Team In Training. Finally I saw signs for the Dismount. I was a little disoriented by the time I made it back to the dismount. I was tired, so I did not run back to my spot. I got there, sat down, took my cycling shoes off, put my running shoes on, put more sunblock on my face, sprayed more sunblock on my shoulders, added a nuun tablet to my 7 oz flask, took my helmet off, put my hat on, stuck my nutrition in my back pocket, got up and lumbered to the Run Out. Did you catch what I forgot to put on? I was almost to the exit when I saw someone else with their race number on and realized I'd forgotten to put my race belt on. Crap. Turned around and lumbered back to my spot. Put my race belt on and headed for the run again. Attempted to run. Much like the Philly Tri, it wasn't so much happening for me. Plus, I was having increased urgency for a bathroom. I tried to run from time to time, walking the other bits. It was really hot and I was sweating a lot. Passed the first mile marker. At the first Aid Station downed some water and some Powerade which I assumed was the electrolyte fluids. (Turns out, nsm.) Continued to walk/run for a while. No porta-potties to be found. Somewhere between the second and third mile I think I ran into the Haines Point bathrooms. Huzzah! My intestines were still not feeling happy, but at least I was feeling a little better. People kept passing me and encouraging me to run. I tried. My body rebelled. Around the 3 mile or 4 mile mark I met Carmen. I walked with her and she became my run buddy. We got to the point where we would run for 30 seconds and walk for a minute. Run for 30 seconds and walk for a minute. I felt like my tum was going to explode. "You're doing great!" I would hear from people. Liars!! I would think. We struggled on. I drank water and powerade at every stop. They offered ice, but I didn't think to actually put some in a cup to chew, and after the first time I tried to put some in my hat I didn't bother. My tum was spasming. Come on, Carmen would cheer. Ugh. Somewhere around the 5th mile they have misting tents. Oh, could I just stay in the misting tent? No, less than 2 miles to go! The course winds around. Just when you think you are done you have to keep going. (The bike course was like that too; kind of irritating to be winding so much.) Got to another misting tent. Almost there, you can do it! Heidi spots us before the last misting tent. "Where have you been?" I almost cried. "No, no, you're doing great, almost there!" S had finished and all my supporters were waiting for me. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it to the end. I figured I would walk mostly until the chute and then run. I got to the chute and didn't actually realize that was it because I was confused. Where exactly is the finish? Oh, it was right before my eyes. Run! No fists of huzzah for the picture this time, just let me get to the end without dying. I think I smiled, because there were cameras and I of course want pictures to look good, but it was totally a facade.
I was feeling nasty at the end. I collapsed on the side and Heidi went to fetch people to come to me instead of me going to them. We watched as the Emergency Medical people took people away. At least I didn't need that. Right? They had pizza at the end for food. That's recovery food? Ugh. I ate a couple of slices and had some water and some more powerade. Blech. S had my flip flops in the race bag, so I didn't have to put my shoes back on. I got up to go to the porta-potties. Ouch! At least they still had TP. I waddled back to the group. Several people left to do other things and it was then just Heidi, S, and I. We thought about how to get our stuff from transition since the race finish was pretty far away from the race start, and thought it would be a good plan to walk to the hotel to pick up the car and then drive to transition. I'm all doubled over from spasming in my tum. We get near a Barnes and Noble and I needed to go inside to use the restroom. Oh, it feels good to sit. While I'm looking for them to start walking again I realize that I don't have my car keys. I hadn't put the key into the race bag because they told us not to put anything valuable in the race bags. No key, no way to get the car. We said goodbye to Heidi who had to go to the office to do stuff and walked to the shuttle. There's a big long line and I don't think I can stand in it. I go sit on the wall. There's a guy who needed some medical attention. The EMS people are on their way with ice. Ooh, maybe I can get some of that. But then S is in line to get on the next bus before I could get some. Oh well. Get onto the shuttle. At least we won't have to be outside for too long before we can get back to the car, right? Oh, no. The shuttle stops far away from transition at the World War II Memorial and tells us we're at our transition stop. What? Are you kidding me? What kind of BS is this? We have no choice but to get off the bus and walk. In the heat. I was hobbling along, still thinking if I can just make it to transition and then get on the shuttle I'll be ok. We came across a bathroom. I needed to go again. I'm not looking good but what could I do? We continued to walk towards transition. Why does it seem that everybody is riding their bikes from there? We get to transition. There are shuttles to take us and our bikes back to the hotel, right? Um, no, the volunteers said they were getting conflicting reports and most people were getting cabs. At least the cabs are being helpful, that'll make you feel better, right? Um, NO. What the hell kind of operation is this, anyway? I'm really really having a hard time at this point. They sat me down in a chair and some team in training coach came over and asked me questions. She looked at my hands and told me I haven't had enough salt. Were you drinking enough? Yes, I really think so. And I had that powerade stuff at every stop, that's got salts in it, right? (Turns out? Not really.) She gave me a salt pill and had them move me into the shade. Some race official type person comes over and says he'll call EMS. They bring some ice and start shoving it into my clothing. Ah, that starts to feel good. An ambulance comes. No, I really don't want to go to the hospital. Seriously, with the ice I am feeling so much better. I'm totally lucid, I did not pass out, I didn't even feel like passing out, seriously, it will be ok. We're still stuck on how to get back to the hotel, and also stuck on how to get home because my car is a stick and S doesn't know how to drive manual transmission. A very nice lady, Margaret, offers to put my bike on her rack and take us to the hotel. But the EMT doesn't want to let me drive. Neither S or I brought our cell phones to the race site, so we can't even try to track anyone down. Someone lends S a phone. She calls her husband but it's not really feasible for him to come with the kids and we still wouldn't be able to get everyone in the car. Margaret thinks she'll be able to put all our of bikes on her rack. Where do we live, because she'll just take us home. God Bless Margaret for being so kind.
We got to S's house and unloaded the car. I got into the house and collapsed onto the couch with a cold pack and ice water. I also chowed down on some salty pretzels. Yes, I think I will be ok. I was still a little shaky but about an hour later when I was doing much better we went back to the hotel to get my car. S and I were able to really rant about the whole logistical aspects of the race. We decided we would not do this race again or recommend it to anyone else unless they make some serious changes. I don't want to participate in any race where they lie about the transportation issues. We would have had a whole different game plan had they told us the truth.
So, to sum up, I finished and I have a medal. It was a lot harder than I mentally thought it would be, although I'm sure a lot of that was due to the heat cooking my organs. I won't put off the idea of doing another olympic distance, but I'm not upset I won't be doing Columbia with my friends. I'm going to need a lot of training time to build up for another one. I think we're going to do a 10k in October or November. That'll give me something to train for. Also, I should be happy with my results. Even though it took me longer to finish than I hoped, I still finished under twice my time in the Philly Women's Tri.
phillytrigirl Race Results
Swim 52:14
T1 2:14
Bike 1:41:38
T2 5:16
Run 1:44:46
Total Time 4:26:06
Overall Placement 2330/2395 (did 400 people not show up/disqualify/fail to finish?)
Age Group Placement 171/174 (why does mine differ from S's?)
Gender Placement 905/953 (out of all women?)
S's Race Results
Swim 41:27
T1 3:11
Bike 1:29:31
T2 3:13
Run 1:34:51
Total Time 3:52:11
Overall Placement 2123/2395 (did 400 people not show up/disqualify/fail to finish?)
Age Group Placement 54/84 (why does hers differ from mine?)
Gender Placement 755/953 (out of all women?)
Nice Job!
*Cluster-Chicken Definition: Its more precise usage describes a particular kind of Catch-22, in which multiple complicated problems mutually interfere with each other's solution. The looser usage, referring to any chaotic situation, probably prevails.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Taper Week
I have been so sore from the ChiRunning Workshop that I have fallen again into a very quiet on the exercise front Taper Week.
On Monday I went for a bike ride and had the aim to brick as a way to move some of the lactic acid out of my muscles. I biked for almost 1.5 hours. I wasn't really pushing too hard, and I also had to stop every now and then because there was this weird noise coming from my bike. The last time I stopped the guy who sold me my bike stopped to help. That was kind of funny. Turns out the frame pump slid down from it's position a little and the crank was banging into it. Easy peasy problem to solve!
I tried to brick afterwards but my legs hurt so badly I didn't want to push it. Also, I'm a wuss when it comes to pain!
I was going to try to swim this week, but timing just isn't coming together for me. I'm really hoping the weather will cooperate so we don't have to du. There is a practice swim on Saturday, so at least I'll be able to get swim time in then. Also, woohoo! I found out that we are in the 7:30 am swim wave! Which means I have 5.5 hours to complete the tri! Man I hope I can do that.
I should be getting my tri stuff together and sleeping. So I will leave you with this article on Nation's Newbies and helpful tips. Make sure you read all the way to the end!
On Monday I went for a bike ride and had the aim to brick as a way to move some of the lactic acid out of my muscles. I biked for almost 1.5 hours. I wasn't really pushing too hard, and I also had to stop every now and then because there was this weird noise coming from my bike. The last time I stopped the guy who sold me my bike stopped to help. That was kind of funny. Turns out the frame pump slid down from it's position a little and the crank was banging into it. Easy peasy problem to solve!
I tried to brick afterwards but my legs hurt so badly I didn't want to push it. Also, I'm a wuss when it comes to pain!
I was going to try to swim this week, but timing just isn't coming together for me. I'm really hoping the weather will cooperate so we don't have to du. There is a practice swim on Saturday, so at least I'll be able to get swim time in then. Also, woohoo! I found out that we are in the 7:30 am swim wave! Which means I have 5.5 hours to complete the tri! Man I hope I can do that.
I should be getting my tri stuff together and sleeping. So I will leave you with this article on Nation's Newbies and helpful tips. Make sure you read all the way to the end!
ChiRunning
The ChiRunning workshop was very interesting. It left me sore for the rest of the week, but it was goood! The only downside was that we were outside all day long in very little shade. I was a little worried I would get shingles if I my face got sunburned. Fortunately I keep sunblock in the car and was able to stay mostly unburned. There were a couple of spots I missed, but I'm fine now. (S, unfortunately, got burned and is having an unpleasant reaction to something; I don't think I've ever had hives but Oh Noes! that much be uncomfortable.)
We started the day practicing proper alignment. We did one exercise where we stood as we normally do and had a partner pull down on our shoulders to see how stable we were. Now no snickering, but I was not stable at all. I said no snickering! Then we were to stand in the proper alignment. It was really neat to feel like I didn't move at all. As a massage therapist I know about proper body positioning and how people should be aligned so that our bones support us and not our muscles, but it's a little different to actually put it into practice. We also talked about how working on proper alignment helps to actually align your body. So if you are a pronator like me but you are focusing on proper foot/leg/body position your muscles will get stronger without specific strength training and your arches will get stronger. Just in the one day's work I noticed a difference in how my shoes fit. (I like people like Danny Dreyer who fit my philosophy; most people who "need" orthotics do not need orthotics forever if they strengthen the areas that are lax and create proper balance.)
Another exercise that really brought home to me how to change my foot landing from heel striking, which is what my current problem is and which is what's making my shin splints act up, was to do some heel kicks (or butt kicks) while standing and then to keep doing that while running. I cannot kick my foot all the way out to land on the heel when I get my feet up to my behind. Hooray! It was nice to be able to finally get my feet to land where I'm supposed to, which is right in the midfoot where your arches are. Your arches are your natural shock absorbers. Your heel has no shock absorbers. This particular exercise is what caused me to be sore all week!
We also talked about how your cadence should be consistent. It's recommended that your feet hit the ground 85-90 times per minute. You are more efficient when you spend less time in contact with the ground. We broke into groups and tested where our natural cadence is. I run at a cadence of 83. After the triathlon I am going to focus on getting my cadence up to where it's supposed to. I bought a metronome to help. It's a little loud, even on it's softest setting, so I need to find a way to muffle it a little.
During our lunch break we talked about running shoes, and how shoes are getting thicker in the heel as the shoe companies attempt to correct the heel striking, and yet people still heel-strike and the injuries have not decreased. He uses a neutral shoe or a racing flat. One of the assistants is gearing towards running barefoot and had on these really funky shoes to help prepare her for that. The shoes are really cool and I want a pair! I just can't tell whether I like the slate blue/green or the bright blue ones.
If you are experiencing running injuries I suggest you at least read through the book, even if you aren't interested in the workshop. I think it's good stuff. I'm looking forward to implementing it.
We started the day practicing proper alignment. We did one exercise where we stood as we normally do and had a partner pull down on our shoulders to see how stable we were. Now no snickering, but I was not stable at all. I said no snickering! Then we were to stand in the proper alignment. It was really neat to feel like I didn't move at all. As a massage therapist I know about proper body positioning and how people should be aligned so that our bones support us and not our muscles, but it's a little different to actually put it into practice. We also talked about how working on proper alignment helps to actually align your body. So if you are a pronator like me but you are focusing on proper foot/leg/body position your muscles will get stronger without specific strength training and your arches will get stronger. Just in the one day's work I noticed a difference in how my shoes fit. (I like people like Danny Dreyer who fit my philosophy; most people who "need" orthotics do not need orthotics forever if they strengthen the areas that are lax and create proper balance.)
Another exercise that really brought home to me how to change my foot landing from heel striking, which is what my current problem is and which is what's making my shin splints act up, was to do some heel kicks (or butt kicks) while standing and then to keep doing that while running. I cannot kick my foot all the way out to land on the heel when I get my feet up to my behind. Hooray! It was nice to be able to finally get my feet to land where I'm supposed to, which is right in the midfoot where your arches are. Your arches are your natural shock absorbers. Your heel has no shock absorbers. This particular exercise is what caused me to be sore all week!
We also talked about how your cadence should be consistent. It's recommended that your feet hit the ground 85-90 times per minute. You are more efficient when you spend less time in contact with the ground. We broke into groups and tested where our natural cadence is. I run at a cadence of 83. After the triathlon I am going to focus on getting my cadence up to where it's supposed to. I bought a metronome to help. It's a little loud, even on it's softest setting, so I need to find a way to muffle it a little.
During our lunch break we talked about running shoes, and how shoes are getting thicker in the heel as the shoe companies attempt to correct the heel striking, and yet people still heel-strike and the injuries have not decreased. He uses a neutral shoe or a racing flat. One of the assistants is gearing towards running barefoot and had on these really funky shoes to help prepare her for that. The shoes are really cool and I want a pair! I just can't tell whether I like the slate blue/green or the bright blue ones.
If you are experiencing running injuries I suggest you at least read through the book, even if you aren't interested in the workshop. I think it's good stuff. I'm looking forward to implementing it.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Wetsuit
I started this post a week ago. I'm just now finishing it. Sorry for the delay!
Today (Saturday) S and I (and the boys) went in the pouring Hurricane Hanna rain to Bonzai, a tri shop in Virginia, so I could rent a wetsuit for next weekend. The deal is 7 day minimum rental, $5/day fee. There are 3 major events happening soon apparently. I can figure out Nation's and Savageman, but I don't know the third. Anyway, because there are major events their pickings are a little slim. The guy handed me a wetsuit and told me to go try it on. I'd brought my tri clothes so I could get a feel for it as well.
When I went to put the suit on I found several holes in the crotch and also around the zipper seam. I wasn't overly concerned, because I'm not 100% sure I would really need it, and also it's a rental. I walked out to the shop floor after I got it zipped up so they could give me the once-over and be sure it fit ok. When I mentioned the holes they told me that they were just letting people keep the really old ones. While I was putting my street clothes back on they checked me back in as if I had returned it. Ipso facto, I now own a tri wetsuit! A very old wetsuit.
Today (Saturday) S and I (and the boys) went in the pouring Hurricane Hanna rain to Bonzai, a tri shop in Virginia, so I could rent a wetsuit for next weekend. The deal is 7 day minimum rental, $5/day fee. There are 3 major events happening soon apparently. I can figure out Nation's and Savageman, but I don't know the third. Anyway, because there are major events their pickings are a little slim. The guy handed me a wetsuit and told me to go try it on. I'd brought my tri clothes so I could get a feel for it as well.
When I went to put the suit on I found several holes in the crotch and also around the zipper seam. I wasn't overly concerned, because I'm not 100% sure I would really need it, and also it's a rental. I walked out to the shop floor after I got it zipped up so they could give me the once-over and be sure it fit ok. When I mentioned the holes they told me that they were just letting people keep the really old ones. While I was putting my street clothes back on they checked me back in as if I had returned it. Ipso facto, I now own a tri wetsuit! A very old wetsuit.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Butterfly Tri Gel Saddle
I put my Butterfly Tri Gel Saddle from Terry Bicycles on my bike today and managed to get a quick 10 mile bike ride in. Good news! I like it! It's comfortable enough on the first outing that I think it may have a shot at being the One True Saddle.
Tomorrow my plan is to get a quick bike ride warm-up and follow with a decent run. I'm not sure I'm aiming for 5 miles, but I'll definitely aim for 3. I still have a sore spot on my tibia, but it's not as bad as it was on Thursday.
Ooh! I just checked the gym's pool hours now that the students are back, and they've added a late evening swim time on Tuesday! Of course that's the night I usually work night. I'm looking forward to having more options than once a day, that's for sure.
Tomorrow my plan is to get a quick bike ride warm-up and follow with a decent run. I'm not sure I'm aiming for 5 miles, but I'll definitely aim for 3. I still have a sore spot on my tibia, but it's not as bad as it was on Thursday.
Ooh! I just checked the gym's pool hours now that the students are back, and they've added a late evening swim time on Tuesday! Of course that's the night I usually work night. I'm looking forward to having more options than once a day, that's for sure.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Camping
Well, I made my reservation too late for this weekend so I was only able to go for 1 night. I opted for Friday instead of Sunday. On Thursday I purchased a new tent, and on Friday I stopped to pick up an airbed and some sheets. I already had a regular sleeping bag and a fleece sleeping bag.
I was doing stuff Friday morning and finally got on the road to the campground around 3 pm. I arrived at Hickory Run State Park a little before 5 pm. I was listening on the radio about chance of showers, and it was sprinkling a little. I hoped to be able to set up the tent without rain. The tent instructions said set up time of 10 minutes. Wrong! Anyway, I finally got it up except for the staking into the ground because I need to get a mallet, and Hickory Run has especially rocky ground. Then I had to wrangle the rain flap. I managed to get it moderately in the right place. Then I started my campfire. I love campfires! I purchased the makings of s'mores just for that very reason! I got the fire going and everything is going great. I threw my steak on the grill and waited for it to cook when suddenly the rain came. Oh noes!* One of the bad things about camping by yourself? There's no one to take a picture of you holding your umbrella over the fire so the flames don't go out, especially since your dinner hasn't finished cooking. Unfortunately, while I was successful in finishing dinner cooking, I was not successful in s'more having. Sob!
After I got tired of hanging out in the rain, I went and took a shower, and then brought a book to bed. I had a new Maglite torch so I could read. Which was good, because it was only 8 pm! I read for a while and then tried to sleep at 9:30. I wasn't entirely successful, partly because of the rain and partly because I was right across from that bathrooms and there was a lot of talking nearby. Finally I was able to sleep except for the 4 times I had to wake up and leave my tent to use said facilities. Also I got to see how much water was creeping into the tent. Wish I'd had that mallet to keep the tent staked out! I hate that dampness feeling that permeates everything, even if it's not actually wet.
Saturday morning dawns and I woke up to a lot of noise. I'm surprised I slept in as late as I did. It's 7:30 am and I couldn't be bothered to move. However, it's plenty light inside the tent so I could read! I had to get up to use the bathroom again so I went to the car afterwards to snag myself a lemon poppyseed muffin and then I went back to the tent to continue reading. For Saturday I had decided to swim and bike, possibly back to back, possibly separate. I put my swimsuit on and grabbed my wetsuit, thinking I would walk to the lake. Only I couldn't find the path so I went back to the car to drive it. I got to the lake around 10:30 am. I was the only one there. I put my wetsuit on and got in the water. Brr! Glad I had the wetsuit, actually! There are a couple of swimming areas roped off and I don't see protocol for which to use so I stuck to the middle section. (From google maps satellite image it looks like the middle section is 50 or 60 meters long.) I was in the lake for an hour, and then I got out for a break and also to go get my camera so I could document for you! Here's what I looked like for the swim (and taking this picture with the timer was hard to do!) I'm wearing my .5 mil neoprene skin suit, so not a full wetsuit but since my wetsuits are for scuba the sleeves aren't cut for swimming. I figured the thinner one would be easier to swim in than the thicker one. I did feel like my arms were being strangled, which was not fun, but I was able to freestyle a good bit. So I am hopeful that I can swim more of the race course freestyle.
I swam for about 1.5 hours and then I got bored so I went back to the campsite. I did not have to "check out" until 3 pm, so I decided to stoke up the fire and make the s'mores I couldn't do the day before. I got the fire going, and in between stoking it I started to take down the tent. Things were still wet, so I just shoved it in the car and will need to take it out to dry and refold later. I didn't really have lunch food, but I did have 3 small mozzarella balls left over from my tomato & mozz salad the night before so I ate that before I just ate sugar. I thought I might stop to get food before my bike ride (although that didn't work out) so I wasn't concerned with campground food. I read my book and ate roasted marshmallows and life was good. I didn't actually like the graham cracker or chocolate or something so the actual s'more didn't hit the spot, but I have huge love for melty marshmallows. Finally it was 3 pm and I had to scoot as the next people were there already. I just moved my car over to the washhouse to be out of their way. I then needed to oil my bike chain because it was rusty from the rain. I had taken my old bike, the super super heavy one, because I figured I wouldn't be horribly upset if someone stole it. Anyway, I oiled the chain and then went to the bathroom to wash my hands and change my clothes. I did not take the opportunity to fill my water bottles, and I didn't fill the brita pitcher either. I figured I'd just stop at a convenience store and pick up some nice cold water. I left the campground and went in search of a convenience store. Oops, it's farther away than I remembered. Oh well. I came upon a bunch of people pushing a van. "Do you need a jump?" No, they'd run out of gas. I needed to get out of the way of oncoming traffic so I scooted past them. When I got to the gas station I got a gallon of water, some beef jerky, and a container to fill a gallon of gas. The cashier took forever but finally I filled the gas can and headed back to the stranded car. They were still there, so I stopped and gave them the container. I can't imagine being stuck on the road, and they had a bunch of kids in the car. At least it was in the daylight, but still. Anyway, I left them with the container and headed off to the entrance to the Lehigh Gorge trail. (Which apparently wasn't quite the trailhead, but whatever.)
I filled my water bottle, hurriedly ate some jerky, grabbed some snacks and my camera and off I went! It was turning out to be a much prettier day than it had started. I was mostly alone on the trail. It runs right by the river so I was once again on a river trail! It was nice to have a change of scenery though. The trail was heading downhill ever so slowly, which meant I would have to pedal uphill to come back; not the ideal way to do it. Anyway, I figured I would bike for an hour and a half and then turn around and come back so I wouldn't get stuck in the dark. I met this couple from Maryland on the trail. We stopped at the waterfall to take a picture.
In the 1.5 hours one way I rode 15 miles. On the way back, I ate my 2 packs of Gel Blasts and drank all my water. I wasn't in the mood for my luna moons or shot bloks. I think if I'd had a normal lunch it might not have been so bad, but the last 8 miles of the return trip were hard! I kept in my head the "spinning spinning spinning" chant S used during the irongirl tri. I didn't bonk, per se, but I was really glad to make it back to my car and chow down on another lemon poppyseed muffin. I had a hard time getting the silly bike back on my car rack because it is so heavy and I was so tired. I succeeded. I was covered with bugs and sweat so I decided to stop and get some real food and change into more comfortable clothing. I stopped at an A&W store and got a burger and rootbeer! The drive home was unremarkable.
I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of the weekend. It's going to be beautiful! Maybe run if I can get my leg to feel better! What are you going to do with Labor Day weekend?
*What's with me and new tents and rain? I went camping in 2001, 2004, and 2008 and every single time I've been in a new tent being used for the first time it rains.
I was doing stuff Friday morning and finally got on the road to the campground around 3 pm. I arrived at Hickory Run State Park a little before 5 pm. I was listening on the radio about chance of showers, and it was sprinkling a little. I hoped to be able to set up the tent without rain. The tent instructions said set up time of 10 minutes. Wrong! Anyway, I finally got it up except for the staking into the ground because I need to get a mallet, and Hickory Run has especially rocky ground. Then I had to wrangle the rain flap. I managed to get it moderately in the right place. Then I started my campfire. I love campfires! I purchased the makings of s'mores just for that very reason! I got the fire going and everything is going great. I threw my steak on the grill and waited for it to cook when suddenly the rain came. Oh noes!* One of the bad things about camping by yourself? There's no one to take a picture of you holding your umbrella over the fire so the flames don't go out, especially since your dinner hasn't finished cooking. Unfortunately, while I was successful in finishing dinner cooking, I was not successful in s'more having. Sob!
After I got tired of hanging out in the rain, I went and took a shower, and then brought a book to bed. I had a new Maglite torch so I could read. Which was good, because it was only 8 pm! I read for a while and then tried to sleep at 9:30. I wasn't entirely successful, partly because of the rain and partly because I was right across from that bathrooms and there was a lot of talking nearby. Finally I was able to sleep except for the 4 times I had to wake up and leave my tent to use said facilities. Also I got to see how much water was creeping into the tent. Wish I'd had that mallet to keep the tent staked out! I hate that dampness feeling that permeates everything, even if it's not actually wet.
Saturday morning dawns and I woke up to a lot of noise. I'm surprised I slept in as late as I did. It's 7:30 am and I couldn't be bothered to move. However, it's plenty light inside the tent so I could read! I had to get up to use the bathroom again so I went to the car afterwards to snag myself a lemon poppyseed muffin and then I went back to the tent to continue reading. For Saturday I had decided to swim and bike, possibly back to back, possibly separate. I put my swimsuit on and grabbed my wetsuit, thinking I would walk to the lake. Only I couldn't find the path so I went back to the car to drive it. I got to the lake around 10:30 am. I was the only one there. I put my wetsuit on and got in the water. Brr! Glad I had the wetsuit, actually! There are a couple of swimming areas roped off and I don't see protocol for which to use so I stuck to the middle section. (From google maps satellite image it looks like the middle section is 50 or 60 meters long.) I was in the lake for an hour, and then I got out for a break and also to go get my camera so I could document for you! Here's what I looked like for the swim (and taking this picture with the timer was hard to do!) I'm wearing my .5 mil neoprene skin suit, so not a full wetsuit but since my wetsuits are for scuba the sleeves aren't cut for swimming. I figured the thinner one would be easier to swim in than the thicker one. I did feel like my arms were being strangled, which was not fun, but I was able to freestyle a good bit. So I am hopeful that I can swim more of the race course freestyle.
I swam for about 1.5 hours and then I got bored so I went back to the campsite. I did not have to "check out" until 3 pm, so I decided to stoke up the fire and make the s'mores I couldn't do the day before. I got the fire going, and in between stoking it I started to take down the tent. Things were still wet, so I just shoved it in the car and will need to take it out to dry and refold later. I didn't really have lunch food, but I did have 3 small mozzarella balls left over from my tomato & mozz salad the night before so I ate that before I just ate sugar. I thought I might stop to get food before my bike ride (although that didn't work out) so I wasn't concerned with campground food. I read my book and ate roasted marshmallows and life was good. I didn't actually like the graham cracker or chocolate or something so the actual s'more didn't hit the spot, but I have huge love for melty marshmallows. Finally it was 3 pm and I had to scoot as the next people were there already. I just moved my car over to the washhouse to be out of their way. I then needed to oil my bike chain because it was rusty from the rain. I had taken my old bike, the super super heavy one, because I figured I wouldn't be horribly upset if someone stole it. Anyway, I oiled the chain and then went to the bathroom to wash my hands and change my clothes. I did not take the opportunity to fill my water bottles, and I didn't fill the brita pitcher either. I figured I'd just stop at a convenience store and pick up some nice cold water. I left the campground and went in search of a convenience store. Oops, it's farther away than I remembered. Oh well. I came upon a bunch of people pushing a van. "Do you need a jump?" No, they'd run out of gas. I needed to get out of the way of oncoming traffic so I scooted past them. When I got to the gas station I got a gallon of water, some beef jerky, and a container to fill a gallon of gas. The cashier took forever but finally I filled the gas can and headed back to the stranded car. They were still there, so I stopped and gave them the container. I can't imagine being stuck on the road, and they had a bunch of kids in the car. At least it was in the daylight, but still. Anyway, I left them with the container and headed off to the entrance to the Lehigh Gorge trail. (Which apparently wasn't quite the trailhead, but whatever.)
I filled my water bottle, hurriedly ate some jerky, grabbed some snacks and my camera and off I went! It was turning out to be a much prettier day than it had started. I was mostly alone on the trail. It runs right by the river so I was once again on a river trail! It was nice to have a change of scenery though. The trail was heading downhill ever so slowly, which meant I would have to pedal uphill to come back; not the ideal way to do it. Anyway, I figured I would bike for an hour and a half and then turn around and come back so I wouldn't get stuck in the dark. I met this couple from Maryland on the trail. We stopped at the waterfall to take a picture.
In the 1.5 hours one way I rode 15 miles. On the way back, I ate my 2 packs of Gel Blasts and drank all my water. I wasn't in the mood for my luna moons or shot bloks. I think if I'd had a normal lunch it might not have been so bad, but the last 8 miles of the return trip were hard! I kept in my head the "spinning spinning spinning" chant S used during the irongirl tri. I didn't bonk, per se, but I was really glad to make it back to my car and chow down on another lemon poppyseed muffin. I had a hard time getting the silly bike back on my car rack because it is so heavy and I was so tired. I succeeded. I was covered with bugs and sweat so I decided to stop and get some real food and change into more comfortable clothing. I stopped at an A&W store and got a burger and rootbeer! The drive home was unremarkable.
I don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of the weekend. It's going to be beautiful! Maybe run if I can get my leg to feel better! What are you going to do with Labor Day weekend?
*What's with me and new tents and rain? I went camping in 2001, 2004, and 2008 and every single time I've been in a new tent being used for the first time it rains.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Workshops and Triathlons and Training, Oh My!
Well. I have not been remiss in training, even though I have been quite remiss in posting! I'll start from today and go back in time.
I received my new Terry bicycle seat in the mail today! I will shortly be putting the Butterfly Tri on my bike. I may or may not get to ride it today, but I will ride it before the weekend is out!
Also, I am planning to sign up for a ChiRunning workshop. I'll attend with S, and it'll be led by themaster dude who wrote the book. I am still having issues with running, and a workshop should really help.
Yesterday I ran 3.5 miles. I was going to attempt 5, but then the sun was going down making it too hard to see so I was going to settle for 4 miles, but then my body rejected that notion after 3.5 miles so I walked the remaining .5 mile back to the car. This is why I need to do the workshop!
Tuesday I went for a 25 mile bike ride. I wanted to turn it into a brick workout, but didn't have enough time to do that and still get ready for work. Pleased with myself, though!
Monday I got 50 minutes in the pool. I was focusing more on backstroke than worrying about freestyling since I'll probably be doing more back work than crawl work in the race, but toward the end I was working on freestyle and did 5 laps free, one lap back, and 10 laps free, so I was pleased with that. My goal is to go camping this weekend (still need a tent and to decide which campground I want) to practice open water swimming to the extent I can.
Sunday I sherpa'd for S at the Irongirl Columbia MD tri. It's fun getting up when the sun still hasn't thought about making an appearance. I managed to cheer for her at every leg, although I didn't get pictures for the run or the bike. I also cheered for everyone I could on the bike leg, since I remember how much it helped my state of mind when people I didn't know cheered for me.
Last Saturday I went on a long bike ride with S's husband J through Rock Creek Park. We did about 26 miles! It's nice to train with someone.
Last week... what did I do? I know I went to Lake Beltzville to get some swimming in. There were a lot of people so that made it less fun. Which is why I need to try it again before the lakes closer swimming options after Labor Day. I got a 3 mile run in on Sunday. I know I got some pool time in, and I know I got some bike time in. Don't remember much more than that!
I received my new Terry bicycle seat in the mail today! I will shortly be putting the Butterfly Tri on my bike. I may or may not get to ride it today, but I will ride it before the weekend is out!
Also, I am planning to sign up for a ChiRunning workshop. I'll attend with S, and it'll be led by the
Yesterday I ran 3.5 miles. I was going to attempt 5, but then the sun was going down making it too hard to see so I was going to settle for 4 miles, but then my body rejected that notion after 3.5 miles so I walked the remaining .5 mile back to the car. This is why I need to do the workshop!
Tuesday I went for a 25 mile bike ride. I wanted to turn it into a brick workout, but didn't have enough time to do that and still get ready for work. Pleased with myself, though!
Monday I got 50 minutes in the pool. I was focusing more on backstroke than worrying about freestyling since I'll probably be doing more back work than crawl work in the race, but toward the end I was working on freestyle and did 5 laps free, one lap back, and 10 laps free, so I was pleased with that. My goal is to go camping this weekend (still need a tent and to decide which campground I want) to practice open water swimming to the extent I can.
Sunday I sherpa'd for S at the Irongirl Columbia MD tri. It's fun getting up when the sun still hasn't thought about making an appearance. I managed to cheer for her at every leg, although I didn't get pictures for the run or the bike. I also cheered for everyone I could on the bike leg, since I remember how much it helped my state of mind when people I didn't know cheered for me.
Last Saturday I went on a long bike ride with S's husband J through Rock Creek Park. We did about 26 miles! It's nice to train with someone.
Last week... what did I do? I know I went to Lake Beltzville to get some swimming in. There were a lot of people so that made it less fun. Which is why I need to try it again before the lakes closer swimming options after Labor Day. I got a 3 mile run in on Sunday. I know I got some pool time in, and I know I got some bike time in. Don't remember much more than that!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Less Than A Month To Go
Yeesh!
So it's technically Sunday morning, August 17. Let's see where I am in terms of race preparedness.
I have gotten NO swimming in since August 8, thanks to the pool being closed. Also, a moment to reflect on the fabulous schedule for next week: 7:30-10:30 M-F.
I have not run more than 3 miles in the last 2 weeks. Now to be fair, I have actually run a bunch of times, but generally in a 2 mile block. Especially since for some reason my knee was hurting last weekend and I didn't want to push it. Knee is feeling better now. I also did a few brick workouts in the gym; spinning bike to treadmill.
I had not biked more than 60 minutes since the triathlon, I think. Sweet! That'll get it done.
I'm going to pretend it's Saturday still, since I haven't gone to bed yet. Yesterday I went to the bike shop so I could get a new floor pump, more inner tubes, more Gel Blasts, new SPD cleats, and other things I bought on a whim (Camelbak backpack!). Friday night I worked on replacing the back inner tube on Violet, since I broke the tip off the valve stem the last time I changed it. I also lubed the chain before I put the tire back on. It went much smoother this time, incurring no tears. I put the new cleat on one shoe, and could not figure out where I put the other shoe. I watched more olympics and then went to bed. I still could not find what I did with my other shoe so I went back to the store to buy new ones late this afternoon. I think I might actually like the new ones better than the old ones! I ended up with these Forte Mountain Bike Shoes. I rushed home, put the cleats on, and then rushed to the park to get in 20 miles. I made pretty good time, the weather was great, and life was good. I got to Conshohocken and slowed down to see the damage from the 8 Alarm Apartment Complex fire from Wednesday. I unclipped at the 10 mile mark to turn around and had some technical difficulties. Fortunately I also got a new little tool kit and was able to use it to tighten the screws on my new cleats. (What is it with me and the screws on my shoes? Sheesh!) It got dark on my return trip, and I finished the last 5 miles in the dark, which was a little bit scary since I have no headlight. I was able to use the Damselfly seat for the 2nd time, but I am still going to exchange it for something else. (Even though I'm over the 30 day return limit. I called on the 15th to see if it would be possible to still exchange and the nice Terry people are going to let me do that.)
I was hoping to go camping this weekend at a campground with a lake so I could practice open water swimming as well as transitioning to all 3 sports. Unfortunately it took me a long long time to get my bike stuff together and I don't want to camp Sunday into Monday. What I will try to do instead is to just go for the day tomorrow. I have to look at the options again as I had been only looking for lakes with camping. Now I will look for lakes with biking and leave the camping for some other weekend. If I can do that I think it'll set me up for hope to finish Nation's.
I need to turn off the Olympics, but they are so exciting! And they're only every 4 years! And there's some amazing history being made! It's totally messing up my sleep schedule though.
So it's technically Sunday morning, August 17. Let's see where I am in terms of race preparedness.
I have gotten NO swimming in since August 8, thanks to the pool being closed. Also, a moment to reflect on the fabulous schedule for next week: 7:30-10:30 M-F.
I have not run more than 3 miles in the last 2 weeks. Now to be fair, I have actually run a bunch of times, but generally in a 2 mile block. Especially since for some reason my knee was hurting last weekend and I didn't want to push it. Knee is feeling better now. I also did a few brick workouts in the gym; spinning bike to treadmill.
I had not biked more than 60 minutes since the triathlon, I think. Sweet! That'll get it done.
I'm going to pretend it's Saturday still, since I haven't gone to bed yet. Yesterday I went to the bike shop so I could get a new floor pump, more inner tubes, more Gel Blasts, new SPD cleats, and other things I bought on a whim (Camelbak backpack!). Friday night I worked on replacing the back inner tube on Violet, since I broke the tip off the valve stem the last time I changed it. I also lubed the chain before I put the tire back on. It went much smoother this time, incurring no tears. I put the new cleat on one shoe, and could not figure out where I put the other shoe. I watched more olympics and then went to bed. I still could not find what I did with my other shoe so I went back to the store to buy new ones late this afternoon. I think I might actually like the new ones better than the old ones! I ended up with these Forte Mountain Bike Shoes. I rushed home, put the cleats on, and then rushed to the park to get in 20 miles. I made pretty good time, the weather was great, and life was good. I got to Conshohocken and slowed down to see the damage from the 8 Alarm Apartment Complex fire from Wednesday. I unclipped at the 10 mile mark to turn around and had some technical difficulties. Fortunately I also got a new little tool kit and was able to use it to tighten the screws on my new cleats. (What is it with me and the screws on my shoes? Sheesh!) It got dark on my return trip, and I finished the last 5 miles in the dark, which was a little bit scary since I have no headlight. I was able to use the Damselfly seat for the 2nd time, but I am still going to exchange it for something else. (Even though I'm over the 30 day return limit. I called on the 15th to see if it would be possible to still exchange and the nice Terry people are going to let me do that.)
I was hoping to go camping this weekend at a campground with a lake so I could practice open water swimming as well as transitioning to all 3 sports. Unfortunately it took me a long long time to get my bike stuff together and I don't want to camp Sunday into Monday. What I will try to do instead is to just go for the day tomorrow. I have to look at the options again as I had been only looking for lakes with camping. Now I will look for lakes with biking and leave the camping for some other weekend. If I can do that I think it'll set me up for hope to finish Nation's.
I need to turn off the Olympics, but they are so exciting! And they're only every 4 years! And there's some amazing history being made! It's totally messing up my sleep schedule though.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
d is for destruction
Today I got to the gym a little too early for the pool, so I decided to take a book and do a mild walk on the treadmill since I hadn't brought running clothes and anyway did running yesterday. I get upstairs, fill my water bottle, and then turn towards the treadmill. Which is also the direction of the spinning bike. Then I notice the guy in the bike clothes on the floor with tools, messing with a pedal. Curious. I go over to see what he's doing and see that there's a cleat stuck in the pedal. Uh oh. I quickly think back to yesterday when I was using the spinning bike (for 60 minutes!) and how hard it was for me to unclip so that I could get off and put my running shoes on and do a brick session. Um, I believe that might be my cleat you are trying so hard to dislodge. Oops. I try to help and at some point he does manage to dislodge the cleat. I tell him and the guy who's in charge of the fitness center that I'll replace the pedals if they're broken. The fitness center dude tells me not to worry and if the pedals are broken the college will replace them, and really they're just glad I'm working out. Finally, the guy who just wanted to work out gets everything patched up and he tests them out. Pedals are fine, plus a little bit of adventure for his workout.
I'm mortified, and also really annoyed at my shoes. This cleat is from the shoe where both screws have been replaced, and apparently that still doesn't matter. I don't have any idea if the screws are stripped, or what. I was thinking about getting more tri specific shoes anyway, and this might be the opportunity. I have to get this straightened out though because I'm supposed to bike about 30 miles on Saturday!
Anyway, yesterday I followed a good bit of the 9.0 difficulty spinerval vid, although not all of it, and then I just pedaled for the remaining time, totaling 60 minutes. Then I hopped off and put my new Mizuno sneakers on to try them out (much much better than the icky Nike+ ones) and ran for 25 minutes. I started off really slowly and then was able to increase the speed, although I still didn't quite get 2 miles in. I know I need to brick outside, but it was nice to have the treadmill be easier on my legs.
Today I repeated my lackluster 60 minutes in the pool. At least I put the time in. Tomorrow I'm going to get another pool session in before it's closed all next week, and if I have time I'll try to throw in some elliptical or treadmill work too.
Saturday I'm going to attempt 30 miles on the bike, and Sunday I'm going to get a 5 mile run in. Then Monday I think will be a rest day.
I'm mortified, and also really annoyed at my shoes. This cleat is from the shoe where both screws have been replaced, and apparently that still doesn't matter. I don't have any idea if the screws are stripped, or what. I was thinking about getting more tri specific shoes anyway, and this might be the opportunity. I have to get this straightened out though because I'm supposed to bike about 30 miles on Saturday!
Anyway, yesterday I followed a good bit of the 9.0 difficulty spinerval vid, although not all of it, and then I just pedaled for the remaining time, totaling 60 minutes. Then I hopped off and put my new Mizuno sneakers on to try them out (much much better than the icky Nike+ ones) and ran for 25 minutes. I started off really slowly and then was able to increase the speed, although I still didn't quite get 2 miles in. I know I need to brick outside, but it was nice to have the treadmill be easier on my legs.
Today I repeated my lackluster 60 minutes in the pool. At least I put the time in. Tomorrow I'm going to get another pool session in before it's closed all next week, and if I have time I'll try to throw in some elliptical or treadmill work too.
Saturday I'm going to attempt 30 miles on the bike, and Sunday I'm going to get a 5 mile run in. Then Monday I think will be a rest day.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Zut!
Training continues to be kind of crappy. And I have not been able to recreate my awesome swim session, so it wasn't so much a breakthrough as a freak of nature. Not only that, but there are signs up this week that say the pool will be closed next week. (I actually thought it was this week, but that's because I misread the date on my watch. Oops! Still, closed!)
I'm seriously concerned about my next race. I do not understand why I am having such a hard time. I haven't been able to do more than 2 miles running or my 20+ mile long bike rides in a while. I have less than 6 weeks to go so I need to get on it!
I'm going to compare training schedules from The Woman Triathlete, The 12-week Triathlete, and Triathlon Training In Four Hours A Week. Then I'm going to put it all together into a training plan where I will hopefully succeed. Although the Woman Tri book wants me to run 9-12 miles next week, and no. I'm hopefully going to get back to 5 miles at my next run on Friday, and then I'll go from there.
Tomorrow I'm going to do another spin session on the only spinning bike at the gym. I'm going to attempt the No Slackers Allowed one, although it's a huge jump forward from the Ride Strong video.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do about swimming yet, but I'll try to at least get the bike/run back on track.
I'm seriously concerned about my next race. I do not understand why I am having such a hard time. I haven't been able to do more than 2 miles running or my 20+ mile long bike rides in a while. I have less than 6 weeks to go so I need to get on it!
I'm going to compare training schedules from The Woman Triathlete, The 12-week Triathlete, and Triathlon Training In Four Hours A Week. Then I'm going to put it all together into a training plan where I will hopefully succeed. Although the Woman Tri book wants me to run 9-12 miles next week, and no. I'm hopefully going to get back to 5 miles at my next run on Friday, and then I'll go from there.
Tomorrow I'm going to do another spin session on the only spinning bike at the gym. I'm going to attempt the No Slackers Allowed one, although it's a huge jump forward from the Ride Strong video.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do about swimming yet, but I'll try to at least get the bike/run back on track.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Big Breakthrough!
So training has not been going all that well since the race. The week after the race was just bad, and last week I just couldn't find the time to fit it in without losing the few marbles I have left.
I did manage to squeak in an unanticipated 2 mile run on Monday, and either Tuesday or Wednesday (is it bad I can't remember?) I went for a swim. I was pleased with that swim because I was able to get 2 laps of freestyle and one length backstroke for 20 laps. Then I went out of town on Thursday-Sunday and got no training in at all! Plenty of eating though. Nom nom nom.
I thought I might not get a chance for much training in this week either, but on Tuesday I was able to go to the gym and do some interval training on the treadmill. I don't have any particular information on interval training for running, but I used the pyramid from my spinning video - warm up several 30 seconds 6 mph, 30 seconds 4 mph for 3 sets, and then 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 60 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 90 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 60 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk. I took a couple minute break in between and then repeated the pyramid. I was feeling a little pooped after that and my heart rate was a little higher than it should be so I took some time to cool down a little before attempting to jog again, only then my knees were acting funning so I mostly just walked for a bit.
The biggest breakthrough for me, however, was my swim session in the pool yesterday. I got in the water and was feeling pretty relaxed and groovy. I did 3 or 4 laps to warm up and then I started to swim. I was on lap 2 or 3 when I decided I would try to kick turn. Which totally didn't work. After I came up for air and tried to stop coughing, I backstroked my way to the starting point to catch my breath and decided I would start over again. My goal was to swim 5 laps in a row freestyle before needing to backstroke. Imagine my surprise when I got through the 5th one and felt like I could keep going! It did get a little tougher to breathe at lap 6, but I pushed through and was able to complete 10 laps in a row without stopping or backstroking! I did have to rest for a couple of seconds at the turn around points, but no more than 5 seconds before heading back into the swim. I briefly debated about doing more than 10 laps, but I was pretty out of breath and also keep reading about not pushing too hard so the body can catch up. I swam a "recovery" backstroke lap and then I did it all over again - another 10 laps freestyle! I almost pushed for a 3rd set of 10, but I was pretty tired and also wanted to still get in a spinning session so I called it quits in the pool.
I neglected to bring any food with me (again with the sports nutrition problem!) but I was hoping I could take it slow enough not to be too crippled. Yes, I am sure there are people who can do 1.5 hours straight through with no food but not me. I hooked up my ipod and started to do the Spinervals video I've been doing, opting not to skip to the super hard one. I forgot to bring in 2 water bottles, which was very dumb, but I just got off the bike when I needed to refill my bottle. I did fine with the warm up but was having a hard time with the pyramid, although I did complete that portion. I skipped on past the spin your legs out portion and just did some gently spinning for at least 15 minutes, and then I finished with the last segment, very glad to be finished. I had a Pro Bar because it has lots of protein (need to get more of them!) and also had hummus and carrots. Tasty!
I'm back to worrying about making it through Nation's, but I do still have 6 more weeks. I bagged running today, but might do some time on the elliptical machine after my swim, which I am determined will be awesome again!
I did manage to squeak in an unanticipated 2 mile run on Monday, and either Tuesday or Wednesday (is it bad I can't remember?) I went for a swim. I was pleased with that swim because I was able to get 2 laps of freestyle and one length backstroke for 20 laps. Then I went out of town on Thursday-Sunday and got no training in at all! Plenty of eating though. Nom nom nom.
I thought I might not get a chance for much training in this week either, but on Tuesday I was able to go to the gym and do some interval training on the treadmill. I don't have any particular information on interval training for running, but I used the pyramid from my spinning video - warm up several 30 seconds 6 mph, 30 seconds 4 mph for 3 sets, and then 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 60 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 90 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 60 seconds run, 30 seconds walk; 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk. I took a couple minute break in between and then repeated the pyramid. I was feeling a little pooped after that and my heart rate was a little higher than it should be so I took some time to cool down a little before attempting to jog again, only then my knees were acting funning so I mostly just walked for a bit.
The biggest breakthrough for me, however, was my swim session in the pool yesterday. I got in the water and was feeling pretty relaxed and groovy. I did 3 or 4 laps to warm up and then I started to swim. I was on lap 2 or 3 when I decided I would try to kick turn. Which totally didn't work. After I came up for air and tried to stop coughing, I backstroked my way to the starting point to catch my breath and decided I would start over again. My goal was to swim 5 laps in a row freestyle before needing to backstroke. Imagine my surprise when I got through the 5th one and felt like I could keep going! It did get a little tougher to breathe at lap 6, but I pushed through and was able to complete 10 laps in a row without stopping or backstroking! I did have to rest for a couple of seconds at the turn around points, but no more than 5 seconds before heading back into the swim. I briefly debated about doing more than 10 laps, but I was pretty out of breath and also keep reading about not pushing too hard so the body can catch up. I swam a "recovery" backstroke lap and then I did it all over again - another 10 laps freestyle! I almost pushed for a 3rd set of 10, but I was pretty tired and also wanted to still get in a spinning session so I called it quits in the pool.
I neglected to bring any food with me (again with the sports nutrition problem!) but I was hoping I could take it slow enough not to be too crippled. Yes, I am sure there are people who can do 1.5 hours straight through with no food but not me. I hooked up my ipod and started to do the Spinervals video I've been doing, opting not to skip to the super hard one. I forgot to bring in 2 water bottles, which was very dumb, but I just got off the bike when I needed to refill my bottle. I did fine with the warm up but was having a hard time with the pyramid, although I did complete that portion. I skipped on past the spin your legs out portion and just did some gently spinning for at least 15 minutes, and then I finished with the last segment, very glad to be finished. I had a Pro Bar because it has lots of protein (need to get more of them!) and also had hummus and carrots. Tasty!
I'm back to worrying about making it through Nation's, but I do still have 6 more weeks. I bagged running today, but might do some time on the elliptical machine after my swim, which I am determined will be awesome again!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Know When To Hold 'Em, Know When To Fold 'Em
Not just good advice for poker!
This week was less than stellar for training. I got my hour-long swim in two times, which was according to plan. My run and bike though have not followed the plan. Wednesday I went to go for my run and it was very hot, I got to the park too late, and my shoe was biting into my heel so I gave up after 2 miles. Yesterday I did nothing due to the heat.
Today I put my new saddle on, which was interesting. Then I went for my long bike ride, except 2 miles into it I felt like hurling. I sat in the shade for a bit and talked to S, then I went back towards the car. I did about 8 miles total. So not what I was planning to do. I have to tinker with the saddle because it wasn't working as well as I thought it might. If it still isn't great with the next ride I'll return it and go for the butterfly seat. I went to Home Depot afterwards to get more screws. I got some longer ones to put my frame pump on the frame, and then I had to get more Philips (because I couldn't find the appropriate hex ones although I might try at Lowe's next) for my SPD shoes because I found I was missing another screw from the cleat before my ride. I don't know what's going on there, but note for all you clipless-pedal peeps - make sure you check your screws before you ride!
Tomorrow is the next day, and I think I'm going to attempt to swim and get a treadmill run in. I'll use that as an opportunity to try out the Mizuno shoes I got in exchange for the Nike Plus ones I hated.
This week was less than stellar for training. I got my hour-long swim in two times, which was according to plan. My run and bike though have not followed the plan. Wednesday I went to go for my run and it was very hot, I got to the park too late, and my shoe was biting into my heel so I gave up after 2 miles. Yesterday I did nothing due to the heat.
Today I put my new saddle on, which was interesting. Then I went for my long bike ride, except 2 miles into it I felt like hurling. I sat in the shade for a bit and talked to S, then I went back towards the car. I did about 8 miles total. So not what I was planning to do. I have to tinker with the saddle because it wasn't working as well as I thought it might. If it still isn't great with the next ride I'll return it and go for the butterfly seat. I went to Home Depot afterwards to get more screws. I got some longer ones to put my frame pump on the frame, and then I had to get more Philips (because I couldn't find the appropriate hex ones although I might try at Lowe's next) for my SPD shoes because I found I was missing another screw from the cleat before my ride. I don't know what's going on there, but note for all you clipless-pedal peeps - make sure you check your screws before you ride!
Tomorrow is the next day, and I think I'm going to attempt to swim and get a treadmill run in. I'll use that as an opportunity to try out the Mizuno shoes I got in exchange for the Nike Plus ones I hated.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
New Saddle!
I needed a new saddle for my bike, because the one that came with it is hurting the nerves. My friend L suggested I get a saddle from Terry Bicycles because they have a generous trial period. I can try it out for 30 days, and if it doesn't work for me in that time I can return it and get another one. So I ordered the Damselfly saddle. Partly because dragonflies are part of my new work logo, and partly because the description sounded good. Also partly because it's pretty. I should have it in 3 - 5 days! I'm very excited!
Today I got an hour in at the pool. I took my time and wasn't concentrating on freestyling, just wanted to get some solid pool time. My arms are pleasantly sore. I was supposed to have a long enough break this afternoon to get a run in, but now I have work interrupting so I might just try to go after work. If it's too dark by the time I get out I'll have to aim for tomorrow instead. Plus I'm going to see if S can walk me through changing the flat on my tire tonight so I can get a good bike ride in tomorrow. Think I'll stop by Barnes & Noble this evening to check out triathlon books.
Today I got an hour in at the pool. I took my time and wasn't concentrating on freestyling, just wanted to get some solid pool time. My arms are pleasantly sore. I was supposed to have a long enough break this afternoon to get a run in, but now I have work interrupting so I might just try to go after work. If it's too dark by the time I get out I'll have to aim for tomorrow instead. Plus I'm going to see if S can walk me through changing the flat on my tire tonight so I can get a good bike ride in tomorrow. Think I'll stop by Barnes & Noble this evening to check out triathlon books.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Philadelphia Women's Triathlon Race Report
Whew!
Saturday I woke up and had to do a bunch of errands. I needed to get my race food and I also needed to get another screw for my SPD cleats. I'd been having a really hard time clipping in and couldn't figure out why until I went to adjust the pedals and figured I'd clip the shoes in and then adjust. Surprise! I packed my stuff, including ALL my race nutrition supplies, and also packed my cereal which I put into a salad container I got from Wawa. Went to Genuardi's, got my cashew butter, bagels, jelly, and some lunch then headed to Home Depot where the confused staff member took forever to figure out what I needed (and still gave me the wrong thing!). Finally I was able to head off to town to pick up S and go to packet pickup.
Traffic was horrendous, and I have to admit I did not have the best attitude. Finally get to the hotel and pick up S then we manage to get to the race site, although by this time we've completely missed the "mandatory" pre-race meeting. Pick up our swag, including a T-shirt, Tyr bag, water bottle and other stuff, as well as our race stuff - stickers for the helmet and bike, race cap, and timing chip. We wander around the few booths there. We both get new tri-shirts that were 50% off, decide the Hammer stuff is pretty nasty, and Sarah gets a new race belt. Then we're ready to go back to the hotel. We lug all my stuff in (and I took WAY too much stuff in), start to get a little organized and then decide it's time for dinner! Although I didn't take the opportunity to shower, I did take the opportunity to change into less sweaty clothes. I also discover that my body has taken this opportunity to let the communists invade*. Yippee! Fortunately I purchased some supplies for this while at Genuardi's too.
We walk over to the Italian restaurant we dined at last year for the traditional carbo-load pasta dinner. Last year we joined another group of triathletes for a big group dinner, which was a lot of fun. This year we decided we'd rather have something a little less fun, so we snagged a table for two. She ordered a pasta dish with a cream sauce and sundried tomatoes, and I ordered whole wheat pasta with veggies. I opted not to eat the broccoli for fear of Stink Bomb issues, and the snow pea didn't hit the spot so I opted not to have more of those, but I ate the cauliflower, squash, zucchini, and peas. The sauce was an olive oil chicken broth and it was quite good. Since I was feeling a little crampy still I had a glass of red wine in addition to the water.
After dinner we head over to a CVS to pick up some regular milk for my cereal and chocolate milk for a recovery drink. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest. I also took this time to replace the missing screw on my cleats. Opened the package of screws and my new hex key handy tool, only to discover he'd given me a Philip's head screw! Fortunately S had a multi-tool with a screw attachment. After that we watched 2 Seconds, a pretty quirky French Canadian bicycle movie. I enjoyed it, although the French Canadian french really hurt my ears. S decides it's time to sleep, but I want to take a shower and clean my bottles before tomorrow. I wash the bottles first, then shower. I feel nice and clean! However, I'm not quite sleepy at this point. I turn my ipod to Wonderfalls, put my earphones in, and attempt to fall asleep. I think it takes me about 60 minutes but then I fall asleep until it's time to get up. S says she was awoken by rowdy hotel guests at 3 am, but I missed that completely.
Sunday Morning - Race Day!
I wake up and try to decide what I'm going to do first. I get out of bed but it's kind of cold so I get my milk, cereal, and a banana and hop back under the covers. I eat almost all of the cereal when I decide I've eaten enough. Put on my race clothes and try to get everything organized. Manage to get the cars and drive to the race site parking. Then while going from the parking down Black Road to the race site I catch my pedals in my leg and end up with some beautiful scratches.
Get our bodies marked and set up our transition area. I'm supposed to eat my cashew butter and jelly sandwich around this time but I'm still full from my cereal and not feeling like eating it. I've brought an extra bottle of cytomax so I drink that instead. Then it's time to head over to the swim practice. I'm still having a hard time controlling my breathing, so I still end up doing a lot of breast-strokes. Hope to do more freestyle in actual race. The water is a fabulous temperature, although pretty murky. Then we have to get out and go to the swim start entrance. The music is playing, and we're kind of dancing to Abba's Dancing Queen until one of the race directors changes the music to something I don't actually care for. Oh well. We listen to some guy (a triathlete who is also helping out?) sing the National Anthem and then cheer the duathlon racers as they start. Then we cheer for each swim wave. I'm jumping up an down both as a way to keep my muscles warm and a way to psych me up. I keep repeating my mantra for this race, "I'm having fun, dammit!" I do a little stretching here and there as well. Finally it's our turn, and into the water we go!
I start out pretty strong with freestyle, but quickly find I'm going too fast and breathing too hard. I come up to catch some air and immediately inhale some water. Cough cough cough. The first kayak asks if I need to hold on. Nope, I'll be fine. Cough cough cough. Do a little backstroke while I try to slow my heartbeat and actually get some air in. Flip over and try to freestyle, but I'm still really struggling. I figure it's really not worth freaking me out so early in the race so I commit to mostly backstrokes. I get to the first turn. Woohoo! As I'm going along the top of the rectangle path, I look up at the sky and find a cloud shaped at first like a jousting horse and then it sort of morphs into a carousel horse. It made me happy. Get to the next turn. I'm making it! Pretty sure I'm the only orange cap left in the water, but I come across some red caps (the wave before mine) while moving along. It helps boost me a little, especially as I'm being passed by the swim waves behind mine. I can still hear them calling the waves into the water. Get to the last turn and almost go to the inside of the buoy. Oops! Quickly scoot around the buoy and now I'm in the home stretch! I do get some more freestyle strokes in and then I fizzle. Manage to finally get to the end where the volunteers help propel me out of the water. Then I attempt to run on the sand to get to my bike. It's really difficult to brick, and the transition area is much longer than what I've practiced. I get to the rack and mine is the only bike left. However, I've completed the swim in 21 minutes when I'd allocated 30. Yay me! Yay only 700 yard instead of 750 meter swim!l
I eat some protein cookie, put my shoes and helmet on and "run" out to the mounting area. I'm feeling a little icky from the cookie, but I only at a small part and it quickly eases. I hadn't gone very far on my first lap when I spot some friends of mine who'd come to cheer us on. Yay! That was a nice boost. I complete the first lap, and boy does it seem to take forever! I remember to drink some of my nuun water and cytomax, although not as frequently as I was probably supposed to. I kept spinning as much and as consistently as I could, although I did not have a lot of power in my legs. There are people already on the run by the time I pass them on the first loop. I was a little disoriented for the second loop so wasn't exactly sure when I'd make it to the dismount area. I passed a few people, although by and large I was being smoked by other stronger riders. I'm a little disappointed in the spectators - seems like they were only waiting to cheer for their athletes and not all athletes so it was largely quiet. However there were a few who were cheering everyone and that made me smile. I'm also very disappointed in the race organization. Last year there was a lot of music playing really loudly and it was good peppy music that I and my friend who was racing could sing along to. I was waiting to have that give me a little extra boost but nada. I got to the dismount area and getting off my bike was a little challenging. But as I was "running" into the transition area I saw my friends again. They'd made a sign to cheer me on too!
Got to my spot and all the other bikes are there so everyone's on the run. I decide not to take my fuel belt and just rely on the water stops on the run, but I do grab my gel blasts for a boost of energy. I glop some sunblock on my cheek to avoid sun-induced shingles and then I try to run out of transition but my legs are leaden. I really haven't been practicing bricks as much as I should have. I stop for a while and walk. I'm surprised that the leg with the scratches doesn't hurt, but the other heel is rubbing. I try to run every now and then but I just can't do it for very long. Get to the water stop and pick up a cold towel and some water. That was nice! Tried to wring the water out on my head and cool me down. I'm sweating like crazy. Try to run. Legs rebel. Go back to walking. Try to stay out the way of those who are running. Encourage people as I can. Cheer for all the women wearing tiaras. If I could stand running with anything on my head I totally would have worn one. Pass S as she's running toward the finish line and cheer her on. Continue to walk with a few seconds of jogging here and there. Pass the water stop on the return. Getting closer! Finally get in the chute and by golly I am going to run until the end! Pass some friends and S - sideways high five them. The announcer calls my name! Woot! I pump my hands in the air and smile as much as I possibly can. I really hope that turns out to be a nice picture. Get my medal and a bottle of water, let them take my timing chip off, and go meet my friends.
Finally get in line for some food. I eat some fruit and a muffin top and a cookie and drink 2 more bottles of water. We deconstruct the race a little. My friends think about whether they could do a triathlon as part of a relay, as they don't think they could do the whole thing. S goes over and sees the time printouts and comes back to tell me how I did. I did a little under all my estimates for each segment, although my transition times are longer than I expected. I'm thrilled to pieces.
S and I leave those two friends and head back to the car so we can go over to the other friends' (of the sign) house. We cut across the grass and I do something which makes the rear tire go flat. At least it happened at the end! I needed to take a quick potty break which I did en plein air since there were no port-a-potties up top. S tells me I'll get used to the no modesty thing if I continue with endurance sports; the marathon was how she got used to it.
We get to Chestnut Hill. The 3 year old greets us and tells us about her watching the race. We get a shower, discover I have a little sunburn, have some really good food, and watch a movie. With copious fluid intake and copious fluid outtake too since I'd broken the seal, as it were.
Now I'm home and have no idea how to take the tire off the wheel to fix it. It's a continuing adventure! Next I need to think about how I'm best going to train for Nation's, since it's a lot longer.
But for today... I had fun, dammit!
My Race Results
Place 667 out of 724 finishers
Rank 658
Swim 21:29
T1 2:24
Rank 631
Bike 1:09:29
Rate 14.7 (avg per mile?)
T2 2:21
Rank 678
Run 42:24
Pace 13:41/mile
Final 2:18:06
Division Stats 76 of 80 in our division
S Race Results
Place 531 out of 724 finishers
Rank 484
Swim 17:04
T1 2:22
Rank 357
Bike 58:34
Rate 17.4 (avg per mile?)
T2 2:18
Rank 669
Run 41:21
Pace 13:21/mile
Final 2:01:38
Division Stats 63 of 80 in our division
*I've tagged my blog with adventures in triathlon, and having PMS/actually menstruating while doing triathlon certainly was an adventure! I tried to couch it in different terms for the sensitive.
Saturday I woke up and had to do a bunch of errands. I needed to get my race food and I also needed to get another screw for my SPD cleats. I'd been having a really hard time clipping in and couldn't figure out why until I went to adjust the pedals and figured I'd clip the shoes in and then adjust. Surprise! I packed my stuff, including ALL my race nutrition supplies, and also packed my cereal which I put into a salad container I got from Wawa. Went to Genuardi's, got my cashew butter, bagels, jelly, and some lunch then headed to Home Depot where the confused staff member took forever to figure out what I needed (and still gave me the wrong thing!). Finally I was able to head off to town to pick up S and go to packet pickup.
Traffic was horrendous, and I have to admit I did not have the best attitude. Finally get to the hotel and pick up S then we manage to get to the race site, although by this time we've completely missed the "mandatory" pre-race meeting. Pick up our swag, including a T-shirt, Tyr bag, water bottle and other stuff, as well as our race stuff - stickers for the helmet and bike, race cap, and timing chip. We wander around the few booths there. We both get new tri-shirts that were 50% off, decide the Hammer stuff is pretty nasty, and Sarah gets a new race belt. Then we're ready to go back to the hotel. We lug all my stuff in (and I took WAY too much stuff in), start to get a little organized and then decide it's time for dinner! Although I didn't take the opportunity to shower, I did take the opportunity to change into less sweaty clothes. I also discover that my body has taken this opportunity to let the communists invade*. Yippee! Fortunately I purchased some supplies for this while at Genuardi's too.
We walk over to the Italian restaurant we dined at last year for the traditional carbo-load pasta dinner. Last year we joined another group of triathletes for a big group dinner, which was a lot of fun. This year we decided we'd rather have something a little less fun, so we snagged a table for two. She ordered a pasta dish with a cream sauce and sundried tomatoes, and I ordered whole wheat pasta with veggies. I opted not to eat the broccoli for fear of Stink Bomb issues, and the snow pea didn't hit the spot so I opted not to have more of those, but I ate the cauliflower, squash, zucchini, and peas. The sauce was an olive oil chicken broth and it was quite good. Since I was feeling a little crampy still I had a glass of red wine in addition to the water.
After dinner we head over to a CVS to pick up some regular milk for my cereal and chocolate milk for a recovery drink. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest. I also took this time to replace the missing screw on my cleats. Opened the package of screws and my new hex key handy tool, only to discover he'd given me a Philip's head screw! Fortunately S had a multi-tool with a screw attachment. After that we watched 2 Seconds, a pretty quirky French Canadian bicycle movie. I enjoyed it, although the French Canadian french really hurt my ears. S decides it's time to sleep, but I want to take a shower and clean my bottles before tomorrow. I wash the bottles first, then shower. I feel nice and clean! However, I'm not quite sleepy at this point. I turn my ipod to Wonderfalls, put my earphones in, and attempt to fall asleep. I think it takes me about 60 minutes but then I fall asleep until it's time to get up. S says she was awoken by rowdy hotel guests at 3 am, but I missed that completely.
Sunday Morning - Race Day!
I wake up and try to decide what I'm going to do first. I get out of bed but it's kind of cold so I get my milk, cereal, and a banana and hop back under the covers. I eat almost all of the cereal when I decide I've eaten enough. Put on my race clothes and try to get everything organized. Manage to get the cars and drive to the race site parking. Then while going from the parking down Black Road to the race site I catch my pedals in my leg and end up with some beautiful scratches.
Get our bodies marked and set up our transition area. I'm supposed to eat my cashew butter and jelly sandwich around this time but I'm still full from my cereal and not feeling like eating it. I've brought an extra bottle of cytomax so I drink that instead. Then it's time to head over to the swim practice. I'm still having a hard time controlling my breathing, so I still end up doing a lot of breast-strokes. Hope to do more freestyle in actual race. The water is a fabulous temperature, although pretty murky. Then we have to get out and go to the swim start entrance. The music is playing, and we're kind of dancing to Abba's Dancing Queen until one of the race directors changes the music to something I don't actually care for. Oh well. We listen to some guy (a triathlete who is also helping out?) sing the National Anthem and then cheer the duathlon racers as they start. Then we cheer for each swim wave. I'm jumping up an down both as a way to keep my muscles warm and a way to psych me up. I keep repeating my mantra for this race, "I'm having fun, dammit!" I do a little stretching here and there as well. Finally it's our turn, and into the water we go!
I start out pretty strong with freestyle, but quickly find I'm going too fast and breathing too hard. I come up to catch some air and immediately inhale some water. Cough cough cough. The first kayak asks if I need to hold on. Nope, I'll be fine. Cough cough cough. Do a little backstroke while I try to slow my heartbeat and actually get some air in. Flip over and try to freestyle, but I'm still really struggling. I figure it's really not worth freaking me out so early in the race so I commit to mostly backstrokes. I get to the first turn. Woohoo! As I'm going along the top of the rectangle path, I look up at the sky and find a cloud shaped at first like a jousting horse and then it sort of morphs into a carousel horse. It made me happy. Get to the next turn. I'm making it! Pretty sure I'm the only orange cap left in the water, but I come across some red caps (the wave before mine) while moving along. It helps boost me a little, especially as I'm being passed by the swim waves behind mine. I can still hear them calling the waves into the water. Get to the last turn and almost go to the inside of the buoy. Oops! Quickly scoot around the buoy and now I'm in the home stretch! I do get some more freestyle strokes in and then I fizzle. Manage to finally get to the end where the volunteers help propel me out of the water. Then I attempt to run on the sand to get to my bike. It's really difficult to brick, and the transition area is much longer than what I've practiced. I get to the rack and mine is the only bike left. However, I've completed the swim in 21 minutes when I'd allocated 30. Yay me! Yay only 700 yard instead of 750 meter swim!l
I eat some protein cookie, put my shoes and helmet on and "run" out to the mounting area. I'm feeling a little icky from the cookie, but I only at a small part and it quickly eases. I hadn't gone very far on my first lap when I spot some friends of mine who'd come to cheer us on. Yay! That was a nice boost. I complete the first lap, and boy does it seem to take forever! I remember to drink some of my nuun water and cytomax, although not as frequently as I was probably supposed to. I kept spinning as much and as consistently as I could, although I did not have a lot of power in my legs. There are people already on the run by the time I pass them on the first loop. I was a little disoriented for the second loop so wasn't exactly sure when I'd make it to the dismount area. I passed a few people, although by and large I was being smoked by other stronger riders. I'm a little disappointed in the spectators - seems like they were only waiting to cheer for their athletes and not all athletes so it was largely quiet. However there were a few who were cheering everyone and that made me smile. I'm also very disappointed in the race organization. Last year there was a lot of music playing really loudly and it was good peppy music that I and my friend who was racing could sing along to. I was waiting to have that give me a little extra boost but nada. I got to the dismount area and getting off my bike was a little challenging. But as I was "running" into the transition area I saw my friends again. They'd made a sign to cheer me on too!
Got to my spot and all the other bikes are there so everyone's on the run. I decide not to take my fuel belt and just rely on the water stops on the run, but I do grab my gel blasts for a boost of energy. I glop some sunblock on my cheek to avoid sun-induced shingles and then I try to run out of transition but my legs are leaden. I really haven't been practicing bricks as much as I should have. I stop for a while and walk. I'm surprised that the leg with the scratches doesn't hurt, but the other heel is rubbing. I try to run every now and then but I just can't do it for very long. Get to the water stop and pick up a cold towel and some water. That was nice! Tried to wring the water out on my head and cool me down. I'm sweating like crazy. Try to run. Legs rebel. Go back to walking. Try to stay out the way of those who are running. Encourage people as I can. Cheer for all the women wearing tiaras. If I could stand running with anything on my head I totally would have worn one. Pass S as she's running toward the finish line and cheer her on. Continue to walk with a few seconds of jogging here and there. Pass the water stop on the return. Getting closer! Finally get in the chute and by golly I am going to run until the end! Pass some friends and S - sideways high five them. The announcer calls my name! Woot! I pump my hands in the air and smile as much as I possibly can. I really hope that turns out to be a nice picture. Get my medal and a bottle of water, let them take my timing chip off, and go meet my friends.
Finally get in line for some food. I eat some fruit and a muffin top and a cookie and drink 2 more bottles of water. We deconstruct the race a little. My friends think about whether they could do a triathlon as part of a relay, as they don't think they could do the whole thing. S goes over and sees the time printouts and comes back to tell me how I did. I did a little under all my estimates for each segment, although my transition times are longer than I expected. I'm thrilled to pieces.
S and I leave those two friends and head back to the car so we can go over to the other friends' (of the sign) house. We cut across the grass and I do something which makes the rear tire go flat. At least it happened at the end! I needed to take a quick potty break which I did en plein air since there were no port-a-potties up top. S tells me I'll get used to the no modesty thing if I continue with endurance sports; the marathon was how she got used to it.
We get to Chestnut Hill. The 3 year old greets us and tells us about her watching the race. We get a shower, discover I have a little sunburn, have some really good food, and watch a movie. With copious fluid intake and copious fluid outtake too since I'd broken the seal, as it were.
Now I'm home and have no idea how to take the tire off the wheel to fix it. It's a continuing adventure! Next I need to think about how I'm best going to train for Nation's, since it's a lot longer.
But for today... I had fun, dammit!
My Race Results
Place 667 out of 724 finishers
Rank 658
Swim 21:29
T1 2:24
Rank 631
Bike 1:09:29
Rate 14.7 (avg per mile?)
T2 2:21
Rank 678
Run 42:24
Pace 13:41/mile
Final 2:18:06
Division Stats 76 of 80 in our division
S Race Results
Place 531 out of 724 finishers
Rank 484
Swim 17:04
T1 2:22
Rank 357
Bike 58:34
Rate 17.4 (avg per mile?)
T2 2:18
Rank 669
Run 41:21
Pace 13:21/mile
Final 2:01:38
Division Stats 63 of 80 in our division
*I've tagged my blog with adventures in triathlon, and having PMS/actually menstruating while doing triathlon certainly was an adventure! I tried to couch it in different terms for the sensitive.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Last Hurrah Before T-Day.
I very carefully followed the nutrition advice this time, and I didn't bonk on the bike! Hurray!
I woke up this morning and had a pretty big bowl of shredded wheat 'n bran. Four hours later I had a bagel with cashew butter and cherry preserves. I think for the tri itself I'll do it on regular bread so my yummy goodness doesn't fall through the hole. I didn't quite make it out the door and onto my ride until 2 hours later, but I figured I had enough stuff with me that it would be ok.
I kept one of the gels taped to my frame from Friday, but it fell off on the trail. Oops! I stopped to pick it up but didn't consume it. I had one bottle filled with water/nuun, and one bottle filled with cytomax. I cycled for 22 miles. I was mildly contemplating making it a 30 mile ride, but stopped myself because the goal was to do a brick workout. I didn't quite calculate the time because I forgot to set my timer. I did 20 miles in an hour and a half, and didn't count the first 2 miles (probably add on 10-12 minutes). I finished both bottles before I got back to the car.
Hopped off the bike and put the bike on the rack, put the lock on the bike, and put on my running shoes in 2.29 minutes.
And then came the run. Oh man have I not practiced bricking enough! My legs did not love me. Also, I got bodywork from my friend Andrew on Saturday so my legs were still a little sore. He found a little tear in my gastroc, so every time my right foot landed I could feel that spot ache. I gave up on trying to run 6.5 minutes with a .5 minute rest like I've been doing for my 5 mile runs. I ended up with about 3 minutes with a .5 minute rest and every now and then a few minutes rest when I needed a break. I had three 7 oz flasks - two water and one cytomax. I consumed all the fluids plus one clif shot block either cranraz flavor or strawberry. (I need to pick up more of the margarita ones - they're yummy and have extra salt!) It took me 40 minutes to run/walk 3 miles. Not my best effort ever.
I was pretty hungry afterwards so I headed over to Panera to refuel my carbs/protein. I had half a chicken sandwich of some sort, potato chips, and a bowl of turkey chili. Delish! I did think it was funny when the cashier asked me if I'd just done a triathlon. Her cousin does them so she recognized the gear, I guess.
Then I came home and hopped in the tub for about 20-30 minute soak, mostly my legs, in cold water to help reduce inflammation. Brr! Ended my shower with a cold water bout too.
After Philly I am definitely going to practice bricking more. I just have to make sure I eat enough day of and get bodywork when I need it so I won't be injured or exhausted.
I woke up this morning and had a pretty big bowl of shredded wheat 'n bran. Four hours later I had a bagel with cashew butter and cherry preserves. I think for the tri itself I'll do it on regular bread so my yummy goodness doesn't fall through the hole. I didn't quite make it out the door and onto my ride until 2 hours later, but I figured I had enough stuff with me that it would be ok.
I kept one of the gels taped to my frame from Friday, but it fell off on the trail. Oops! I stopped to pick it up but didn't consume it. I had one bottle filled with water/nuun, and one bottle filled with cytomax. I cycled for 22 miles. I was mildly contemplating making it a 30 mile ride, but stopped myself because the goal was to do a brick workout. I didn't quite calculate the time because I forgot to set my timer. I did 20 miles in an hour and a half, and didn't count the first 2 miles (probably add on 10-12 minutes). I finished both bottles before I got back to the car.
Hopped off the bike and put the bike on the rack, put the lock on the bike, and put on my running shoes in 2.29 minutes.
And then came the run. Oh man have I not practiced bricking enough! My legs did not love me. Also, I got bodywork from my friend Andrew on Saturday so my legs were still a little sore. He found a little tear in my gastroc, so every time my right foot landed I could feel that spot ache. I gave up on trying to run 6.5 minutes with a .5 minute rest like I've been doing for my 5 mile runs. I ended up with about 3 minutes with a .5 minute rest and every now and then a few minutes rest when I needed a break. I had three 7 oz flasks - two water and one cytomax. I consumed all the fluids plus one clif shot block either cranraz flavor or strawberry. (I need to pick up more of the margarita ones - they're yummy and have extra salt!) It took me 40 minutes to run/walk 3 miles. Not my best effort ever.
I was pretty hungry afterwards so I headed over to Panera to refuel my carbs/protein. I had half a chicken sandwich of some sort, potato chips, and a bowl of turkey chili. Delish! I did think it was funny when the cashier asked me if I'd just done a triathlon. Her cousin does them so she recognized the gear, I guess.
Then I came home and hopped in the tub for about 20-30 minute soak, mostly my legs, in cold water to help reduce inflammation. Brr! Ended my shower with a cold water bout too.
After Philly I am definitely going to practice bricking more. I just have to make sure I eat enough day of and get bodywork when I need it so I won't be injured or exhausted.
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