That's me swimming! (26min 29 sec- 1K swim...not bad...would like to aim for 23 min if I ever do this again!)
Monday, August 24, 2009
I am Iron Girl!
So I did it! (and so did A and C!) It was a crazy thing and I'm still exhausted (actually more mentally than physically), but I'll try to summarize it below!
The day before:
So you have to go pick up your race packet that contains your race numbers (one for your helmet and one for your waist), tshirt, and some other swag like sample energy gels, luna bars, cute socks, etc. etc. Then there is a whole race expo with different vendors selling gear, clothes, sport gels etc. It was kinda chaotic but fun. I ended up buying some body glide ($7?) (to prevent rubbing from your clothes), a water proof watch with a chrono feature so I could time myself ($55), and a racebelt ($8) to attach my number to so I didn't have to worry about fiddling with safety pins during the transition.
Then we went over to the lake to get our bikes inspected and rack the bikes.
It poured all day Saturday, but by sunday morning at 4:20 ( the time I woke up), it was clear. I jumped in the shower to wake up, pulled on my crap (ended up going with the race top my mom bought be last xmas and some speedo bikini bottoms from high school that were in a drawer of my child hood room) for the swim. We got there by 5:30, set up our transition stuff( I set down a trashbag, set out my shorts, bike gloves, helmet, sunglasses in the helmet, socks in shoes, some energy jelly beans (from Dick's Sporting Goods), and my race #. Then covered it with a towel. Also set my water and gatorade bottles in the bike (frozen the night before to stay cold).
Then we headed over to the swim start. They delayed the race a little, and we were the 12 wave to go (out of like 14, b/c of our age group and last name), so C and I didn't end up going till 8:40 (A was in the wave in front). I wish we hadn't had to wait around so long....we had to pee a million times (and the port o potties were NASTY by 6 am!). So we finally took off- they make you get in the water and tred for like 2-3 minutes before they sound the Aflac duck (the official sponsor!) and you take off. I did fairly well in the swim- it didn't seem that hard and I set goals as I went along to pass the swim caps of the previous wave that were still out there....(they were color coded by wave). I passed at least a few people out of two different waves!
When you reach the shore, some dudes help you get out of the water and then you run up to the transition area.On my way I slapped my friend high five (from ratemytriathlon.com...he was volunteering) and went on to my spot. It took me forever to get my stuff together (can definitely cut time there if you think about it). I pulled on my shorts, socks, shoes, ate a few jelly beans, pulled on a tshirt and my race belt, helmet, glasses and was on my way to the bike course.
Around the last two mile mark of the bike I hear someone yell my last name, and C had caught up with me! It was cool to ride into transition with her as both our families were there cheering us on! On the bike trail there were SO many supportive people on the side of the road...even the cops directing traffic were encouraging us as we went along! It was awesome!
So back to transition to re-rack and swap my helmet for a dry fit hat. I ran out (another high 5) and ran about 3 minutes before I had to walk. My left leg was crampppping! So I continued to walk/run until I again hear my name....it's my cousin, who had finished an hour earlier, double backing around to run with me! (anyone who does more than the race mileage is insane by the way) So then C ends up catching up again, and my cousin makes me run more than I originally intended to run. So I finished, got my medal, and took some pics with the girls. SOOO glad it's done!
The worst part was driving home (5 hours) a few hours later....I still couldn't really eat even though I needed some crazy calories, ended up getting a headache, feeling sick, and having to make a minor puke stop. By the time we got home I was fine, but I highly recommend just chillin afterwards and not getting in a car for 5 hours!
It was a really great experience and I raised over $500 to help the prostate cancer foundation in memory of my uncle.
The girls and I are already talking about next year....(ughhhh!?!). My top tips to come....
So when we got back we went to our separate areas
The day before:
So you have to go pick up your race packet that contains your race numbers (one for your helmet and one for your waist), tshirt, and some other swag like sample energy gels, luna bars, cute socks, etc. etc. Then there is a whole race expo with different vendors selling gear, clothes, sport gels etc. It was kinda chaotic but fun. I ended up buying some body glide ($7?) (to prevent rubbing from your clothes), a water proof watch with a chrono feature so I could time myself ($55), and a racebelt ($8) to attach my number to so I didn't have to worry about fiddling with safety pins during the transition.
Then we went over to the lake to get our bikes inspected and rack the bikes.
It poured all day Saturday, but by sunday morning at 4:20 ( the time I woke up), it was clear. I jumped in the shower to wake up, pulled on my crap (ended up going with the race top my mom bought be last xmas and some speedo bikini bottoms from high school that were in a drawer of my child hood room) for the swim. We got there by 5:30, set up our transition stuff( I set down a trashbag, set out my shorts, bike gloves, helmet, sunglasses in the helmet, socks in shoes, some energy jelly beans (from Dick's Sporting Goods), and my race #. Then covered it with a towel. Also set my water and gatorade bottles in the bike (frozen the night before to stay cold).
Then we headed over to the swim start. They delayed the race a little, and we were the 12 wave to go (out of like 14, b/c of our age group and last name), so C and I didn't end up going till 8:40 (A was in the wave in front). I wish we hadn't had to wait around so long....we had to pee a million times (and the port o potties were NASTY by 6 am!). So we finally took off- they make you get in the water and tred for like 2-3 minutes before they sound the Aflac duck (the official sponsor!) and you take off. I did fairly well in the swim- it didn't seem that hard and I set goals as I went along to pass the swim caps of the previous wave that were still out there....(they were color coded by wave). I passed at least a few people out of two different waves!
When you reach the shore, some dudes help you get out of the water and then you run up to the transition area.On my way I slapped my friend high five (from ratemytriathlon.com...he was volunteering) and went on to my spot. It took me forever to get my stuff together (can definitely cut time there if you think about it). I pulled on my shorts, socks, shoes, ate a few jelly beans, pulled on a tshirt and my race belt, helmet, glasses and was on my way to the bike course.
Around the last two mile mark of the bike I hear someone yell my last name, and C had caught up with me! It was cool to ride into transition with her as both our families were there cheering us on! On the bike trail there were SO many supportive people on the side of the road...even the cops directing traffic were encouraging us as we went along! It was awesome!
So back to transition to re-rack and swap my helmet for a dry fit hat. I ran out (another high 5) and ran about 3 minutes before I had to walk. My left leg was crampppping! So I continued to walk/run until I again hear my name....it's my cousin, who had finished an hour earlier, double backing around to run with me! (anyone who does more than the race mileage is insane by the way) So then C ends up catching up again, and my cousin makes me run more than I originally intended to run. So I finished, got my medal, and took some pics with the girls. SOOO glad it's done!
The worst part was driving home (5 hours) a few hours later....I still couldn't really eat even though I needed some crazy calories, ended up getting a headache, feeling sick, and having to make a minor puke stop. By the time we got home I was fine, but I highly recommend just chillin afterwards and not getting in a car for 5 hours!
It was a really great experience and I raised over $500 to help the prostate cancer foundation in memory of my uncle.
The girls and I are already talking about next year....(ughhhh!?!). My top tips to come....
So when we got back we went to our separate areas
Monday, August 17, 2009
Help Me Raise $ for the Prostate Cancer Foundation!
I'm doing the race in memory of my Uncle who died in March after a long and courageous battle with prostate cancer. Help them find better treatments and ultimately a cure for those who are still battling!
www.prostatecancerfoundation.org
www.prostatecancerfoundation.org
Less than one week....and other updates....
So while I've been totally slack on generating content for this site, I haven't been slack on the training! I've been doing something triathlon related at least 5-6 days a week. I can now swim up to (and possibly over) a mile without stopping. I've been consistently riding 10-14 miles several times a week, and while I haven't been focusing too much on running (since I hate it, it's hot and humid, my back's been out of whack, and oh did I mention I hate it?), I've managed to cut 2 minutes off my 1 mile time since I started this journey. (Which I realize is still slow as hell, but huge deal for me in terms of fitness and in terms of my body healing from the pain it was in!)
A few weeks back I went up to MD and did the swim trial of the triathlon...there were over 900 women there to do the same thing and while the lake smelled (and possibly tasted???) like duck poop, I managed to swim 1200 yards in 22-25 minutes. (C's mom had a watch on but didn't start looking exactly when we started, so an estimate). On race day it should only be about 1100 yards, so hopefully I can be under 25 minutes on the swim. (is that good? I have no idea...the first girl back from the 19 and under age group on trial day took 18 minutes. under 19= in their prime, so I think I might be middle of the road for swimming). I was relieved to see that many of the swimmers didn't just use freestyle....all types of strokes were going on, and there were literally women of all different skill levels.
C and I then "ran" the course....more like walked until the last half mile and then jogged. ( hey, we were engaged in good gossip)The course is more hilly than I thought and I got a huge blister b/c I tried out my new orthotics without removing the shoe liner. Genius. It still kinda hurts!
The next day we met up with my cousin and her hubby and rode the full bike course. It took us an hour and 40 minutes! yikes. I need to shave some of that time off! we stopped a few times for some training tips from the pros, and the hills were MUCH HARDER than anything I've practiced. On a few of them I think my cousin's hubbs got seriously concerned at the sound of the asthmatic breathing coming from my body. Those hills were no joke! We were in the country!
So the past few weeks, I've worked on swimming more freestyle to build some speed (previously I was swimming 10 laps of freestyle and then alternating free style with breaststroke until the last 6 laps). Now I'm doing the first 20 laps of freestyle, alternating the rest until the last 4 laps. I think this has shaved a little time. The thing is that when you get in the lake, you can't see under water, so you have to life your head up more to see the people around you so you don't crash into someone (GET TO THE EDGE!!!)...this seems to be best done while doing breast stroke....a little less effort....so to save energy I think I'll continue to throw it in when I need to.
With the biking, A and I changed up the course we do, to incorporate more actual roads (riding for the kinda first time in traffic was a little nerve-wrecking on the practice day), and more hills. I've also been throwing in some "hill training" and doing shorter rides that involve going up hills over and over. Gotta condition those climbing legs. Hopefully, I'll be better prepared come Sunday.
Last two days have been bricks, bike to run, and last week threw in some swim to bikes to walks. I want to throw in one more big brick this week, and then take it a little easier come Thursday.
I have a TON to do this week (getting ready for the race, the trip to MD, and I started grad school last week!), and I started feeling a little sick today, so need to balance rest with workouts.
Will update later in the week. Also might note that I'm getting anxious and nervous about this whole ordeal. (yeah, there's the will I finish part, but also the "all my family is gonna see me in my booty bike shorts and a bathing suit" part...yeah..)
Finally, while you'd think triathlon training would have caused me to drop a ton of weight, no such luck. But, my fitness has improved, (as seen by my progress in running and swimming alone!), so that counts for a lot. And I've been extremely dedicated (6 am swims, weekends on the bike instead of the couch, and I even skipped a wedding this weekend to train!)
More later....
A few weeks back I went up to MD and did the swim trial of the triathlon...there were over 900 women there to do the same thing and while the lake smelled (and possibly tasted???) like duck poop, I managed to swim 1200 yards in 22-25 minutes. (C's mom had a watch on but didn't start looking exactly when we started, so an estimate). On race day it should only be about 1100 yards, so hopefully I can be under 25 minutes on the swim. (is that good? I have no idea...the first girl back from the 19 and under age group on trial day took 18 minutes. under 19= in their prime, so I think I might be middle of the road for swimming). I was relieved to see that many of the swimmers didn't just use freestyle....all types of strokes were going on, and there were literally women of all different skill levels.
C and I then "ran" the course....more like walked until the last half mile and then jogged. ( hey, we were engaged in good gossip)The course is more hilly than I thought and I got a huge blister b/c I tried out my new orthotics without removing the shoe liner. Genius. It still kinda hurts!
The next day we met up with my cousin and her hubby and rode the full bike course. It took us an hour and 40 minutes! yikes. I need to shave some of that time off! we stopped a few times for some training tips from the pros, and the hills were MUCH HARDER than anything I've practiced. On a few of them I think my cousin's hubbs got seriously concerned at the sound of the asthmatic breathing coming from my body. Those hills were no joke! We were in the country!
So the past few weeks, I've worked on swimming more freestyle to build some speed (previously I was swimming 10 laps of freestyle and then alternating free style with breaststroke until the last 6 laps). Now I'm doing the first 20 laps of freestyle, alternating the rest until the last 4 laps. I think this has shaved a little time. The thing is that when you get in the lake, you can't see under water, so you have to life your head up more to see the people around you so you don't crash into someone (GET TO THE EDGE!!!)...this seems to be best done while doing breast stroke....a little less effort....so to save energy I think I'll continue to throw it in when I need to.
With the biking, A and I changed up the course we do, to incorporate more actual roads (riding for the kinda first time in traffic was a little nerve-wrecking on the practice day), and more hills. I've also been throwing in some "hill training" and doing shorter rides that involve going up hills over and over. Gotta condition those climbing legs. Hopefully, I'll be better prepared come Sunday.
Last two days have been bricks, bike to run, and last week threw in some swim to bikes to walks. I want to throw in one more big brick this week, and then take it a little easier come Thursday.
I have a TON to do this week (getting ready for the race, the trip to MD, and I started grad school last week!), and I started feeling a little sick today, so need to balance rest with workouts.
Will update later in the week. Also might note that I'm getting anxious and nervous about this whole ordeal. (yeah, there's the will I finish part, but also the "all my family is gonna see me in my booty bike shorts and a bathing suit" part...yeah..)
Finally, while you'd think triathlon training would have caused me to drop a ton of weight, no such luck. But, my fitness has improved, (as seen by my progress in running and swimming alone!), so that counts for a lot. And I've been extremely dedicated (6 am swims, weekends on the bike instead of the couch, and I even skipped a wedding this weekend to train!)
More later....
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