Looking Back and Ahead

I don’t really do resolutions but I do like how the new year prompts a look back and a look ahead, and I like setting goals. So here ’tis the obligatory New Years post…

In 2011, I…

…ran 276 miles (from May to December – I didn’t keep track before that. Stupid!)

…biked 458 miles.

…swam 16.4 miles.

…raced in 3 sprint triathlons, 1 Olympic, and a 5k.

…started a new job.

…started writing a nonfiction book.

…read 26 books (beat my goal of 25!)

…combined my running and spiritual blogs into Life, Really

…went on my first trail run and loved it.

…adopted a new dog, Charlie, found on an Indian reservation in New Mexico.

 

It was a very good year – like I mentioned in my Best of 2011, this year could be summed up as Busy, but Fun.

 

In 2012, I hope to: 

…get pregnant.

…run 700 miles.

…finish writing my nonfiction book.

…read 50 books.

…consistently track my workouts so I have accurate totals on 12/31/12!

…grow in being a loving, supportive wive to my amazing husband.

…accept who God created me to be.

 

And because I like cheese, here are 12 more goals for 2012, one for every month:

1. January – Forego sweets for an entire month.
2. February – Read or listen to the entire Harry Potter book series.
3. March – Try Bikram Yoga.
4. April – Finish a memory book about our first 5 years of marriage.
5. May – Make a time capsule for our 5-year wedding anniversary.
6. June – Run a marathon… in Alaska (more on this coming soon, hopefully!)
7. July – Bike 50 miles in one ride.
8. August – Climb a 14er.
9. September – Complete at least one big home project in preparation for moving in 2013.
10. October – Make Pull-Apart Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread with Buttered Rum Glaze
11. November – Make our own Christmas stockings.
12. December – Watch the movie classic, It’s a Wonderful Life

I will try to do those goals in order but the Harry Potter series might take me longer than a month to get through. I have already requested the first audio book from the library though!

I also posted these goals on my new page, 2012 Goals.

 

I am excited for 2012. Bring it on!

No excuses.

I’ve been noticing something lately: I hold Travis to the ridiculous, unrealistic standards that I hold myself to.

This isn’t exactly a news flash.

But it is something that I’ve been seeing with new eyes.

I’ve noticed it mainly in regards to the triathlon Travis just did. Over the months leading up to it, I was tempted to (and honestly, sometimes did) nag Travis about training. In my head, you just follow the plan. Not brain science.

I chalked Travis not following the plan up to his being lazy. Or indifferent. Or silently wishing he hadn’t been talked into doing a race.

Surely he doesn’t have a good excuse.

Now, I am reminded that he is working full-time and getting his Master’s. Oh and his job shipped him out to Timbuktu Utah to do God-knows-what (which they’re talking about again, if you can believe that!) for a couple weeks. Then there’s that little thing called a house, the yard I look at through my window, the car I drive to work every day, those things happening at church, and that thing called hockey that always happens after I’m in bed. Oh and bills.

He might be a tad busy.

You see, Travis did get distracted from training. He did allow other things to get in the way. But they were things like fixing our car himself to save us $600. And shooting us two antelope so we won’t starve during the long, cold winter. And refinancing our mortgage to save us money.

I want to say, “There’s no excuse. You didn’t follow the training plan and that’s all there is to it.”

But I really should say, “You were busy. You have a lot going on. It’s totally understandable. And you did a fantastic job anyway!”

Here’s what I actually said: “You should go disqualify yourself from the results.”

Let me explain: Minutes after I crossed the finish line on Saturday, Travis informed me that he “had run the entire run course on the road.” Since the run course was mostly on a sidewalk or trail, I assumed Travis had run the wrong course. How would he know if the course he ran was 3.1 miles? He wouldn’t. Ergo, he should disqualify himself.

What he really meant was that instead of going back up on the trail at the end of the run, he accidentally just stayed on the road until it met up with that trail. It was pretty much the same distance either way. Oh.

Needless to say, Travis’ enthusiasm was completely deflated with my no-nonsense response. Poor guy. Here he is, just completed his first triathlon and I tell him to go disqualify himself. It was a misunderstanding, I swear!!

Anyway, that whole situation has shown me that I hold Travis to unrealistic standards. Like when he gets sick and wants to just lay on the couch. My natural inclination is to say, “Oh quit being a whiny baby. You’re not that sick.”

Or when Travis remarks to me that 3 minutes is pretty good for his first transition and I reply, “Well, a good T1 is actually only 2 minutes.”

Men aren’t the only ones who say stupid things without thinking.

Because I expect too much of Travis, I hardly ever encourage him – I’m too busy fixating on what he hasn’t done or hasn’t done well enough.

In reality, he does a lot of most things right. He deserves more credit than I give him.

So I’m going to try to let go of my expectations, have faith in Travis’ abilities, and look for the things he does right. I think he’d appreciate that.

 

 

Race Recap: Crescent Moon Sprint Tri

Well, I ended up doing the triathlon. Travis convinced me that it would be more fun if I did it with him than if I just watched. And I went on a short run Friday after work and felt almost normal, although a little bit more tired. So I went for it.

We got up around 5 and left the house by 5:30. We arrived at the race site a little after 6 and rode our bikes from the parking area down to the transition area, where packet pickup was. After we racked our bikes and put our stuff down, we picked up our packets and got body-marked.

The morning started off very pretty.

But by the time the swim started, it clouded over. It was upper 50s and cloudy/rainy all day.

Travis and I had plenty of time before the race to get our stuff set up, go to the bathroom several times, survey the swim course, note all of the transition exits (there was a different chute for each entrance/exit!), and run a decent warmup (me feeling very tired and sluggish!). I loved the feeling of not being rushed. I also had purposefully drank hardly anything that morning so that I would not have a repeat of Steamboat (in having to pee a lot). I had hydrated well the week before the race and figured the distance was short enough that I’d be fine.

Right after we got back from our last bathroom break, we took off our sweatshirts and sweatpants and headed down to the swim. Travis was in the first wave so he got in the water to warm up and pretty soon, he was off. I tried to keep track of him but lost him pretty quickly in the sea of yellow caps. I prayed for him to have a good swim, since I knew how nervous/unsure he had been about it.

After two more waves took off, I got in the water to warm up. I didn’t wear my wetsuit again but wished I had. Man, the water was cold! They said it was 69 degrees, 1 degree warmer than Steamboat. Well, someone measured wrong either at Cherry Creek or Steamboat because there is no way that Steamboat was colder than Cherry Creek. It probably didn’t help that it was only in the mid-5os outside. But I forced myself to put my head in and swim around a bit. It wasn’t enjoyable but I’d live.

As soon as the wave before mine left, I got out of the water and stood in line. Brrrr! I tried to control my flailing limbs while counting the seconds down until I could get back into the water and get moving.

Finally, it was time to go. It was a beach start and they had positioned a small buoy about 40 feet from shore that you had to keep on your right, to prevent people from running down the beach instead of actually swimming. The gung-ho swimmers in the front did the whole Baywatch thing into the water. I ran a bit, then walked to give the women ahead of me a chance to move out a bit before I started swimming. I’ was in no rush.

I made sure to settle into my swim pace right off the bat and breathe calmly – and it worked. The 750 meter swim was very uneventful. But I was glad to see the finish flags and finally be out of the water.

My feet were like ice cubes as I ran the long stretch up to transition. But I was pleasantly surprised that I had energy. When Travis and I had walked that section earlier in the morning, it had felt very hard to breathe. I had decided that I didn’t have to run up to transition. But after the swim, running up that part didn’t feel too hard.

Official Swim Time (including run to TA): 24:59

Unofficial Swim Time (not including run): 22:30 

Once in transition, I noticed Travis’ bike was gone. He had survived the swim! I rinsed off my feet, got my socks and shoes on and then took a little extra time to dry off and put on a long sleeve shirt. With the clouds, cool weather and being wet, I didn’t want to be cold on the bike. I grabbed my helmet, sunglasses and bike and off I went.

Official T1 Time: 2:56

I had been expecting my legs to feel weird like they had at Steamboat but they didn’t. I started off the bike feeling good. Around mile 1.5, I took a drink of my water and missed the bottle cage as I was attempting to replace it. So I had to get off my bike and go back to get my water bottle. There were no aid stations on the bike and I wanted my water bottle. Bah.

Back on the bike, I passed some people, a lot of people passed me. I pushed it up the biggest hill and decided that from there on out, I would take it easy. I didn’t want to ruin my legs for the run, like I have a habit of doing. So I took it easy. And it definitely showed in my time!

Right at the turnaround, I decided to eat my Shotbloks. I had eaten 2 and was going for my third when I dropped them on the ground. What was wrong with me? I was dropping things like it was my job! I looked around for a USAT official who would ping me for abandoned equipment. All I saw was a dude on a motorcycle and he was not USAT so I left my Shotbloks, feeling stupid and bummed.

The road through Cherry Creek that we biked on is so ridiculously bumpy that I will never do a triathlon there again (unless they repave it). It was just not fun to be on it so by the time I got back to the transition area, I was so ready to be done.

I glanced at my bike computer as I was re-racking my bike and it read 12.2 miles, instead 11.5 miles, like the race officials said.

Official Bike Time: 46:12 (14.9 mph) 

By this time, the sun had started peeking out of the clouds and warming things up nicely so I ditched my long sleeve shirt, grabbed my hat and sunglasses, and left.

Official T2 Time: 1:06

Since the first triathlon I ever did was at this same venue, I was familiar with the run course – it was almost exactly the same one. The first .5 mile is all uphill, then it flattens out for .5 mile, then the last 2 miles are rolling hills. My legs actually felt great for the first mile. I pushed up the hill and when I reached the first mile marker, I calculated a 10:00/mile pace. Sweet!

The 2nd mile was at a 11:00/mile pace but then the bottom fell out in the 3rd mile. I like to think it’s because I was sick and wasn’t at 100% capacity but I stopped and walked a few times because my legs just felt tired. Finally, I was almost to the finish line. I saw Travis watching for me and encouraged him to run with me a little, which he did.

Official Run Time: 34:18 (11:04/mile) 

Official Overall Time: 1:49:30

My goal going in to the race was to hit 1:45, but really I would have been satisfied with anything under 2 hours. So I made it. Woohoo! Since the bike was longer and made this race closer to being the same distance as the Oktoberfest tri I back in 2009, I was interested to compare my 2 times. My times from before were:

Swim: 19:57

T1: 2:14

Bike: 46:34

T2: 1:09

Run: 34:07

I finished that race in 1:43:59. Ah well. I don’t really care all that much.

Travis, of course, beat me (I knew he would). It’s funny though – I did the swim and transitions faster, he did the bike (on a mountain bike!) and run faster. He creamed me on the run. Here are his splits:

Swim: 26:28 

T1: 3:08

Bike: 44:09 (15.6 mph)

T2: 1:23

Run: 24:58 (8:03/mile)

Total: 1:40:05

So he did great! I think he had a very positive experience and even talked about doing another triathlon next year. I am very proud of him and had a lot fun doing a race with him. It’s kind of funny – we both placed 180th in our sex! (There were a total of 470 finishers – 233 male and 242 females).

And with that, Triathlon Season 2011 is in the books. I did 3 Sprints and 1 Oly this year. I am satisfied and ready to not ride my bike again until I get it professionally fitted. Our half marathon relay is in 3 weeks and then Race Season 2011 is over. Have I mentioned how ready I am? 

As far as the race itself went, this event was put on by Racing Underground – a pretty well-known group in Denver. I’ve done several races that they’ve timed but this was the first I had done that they’ve put on. I think they did a lot of things well – their website is informative with course maps, they sent out a pre-race email, their packet pickup was very organized and the goodie bags were stuffed. They also had plenty of porta-potties and their music/microphones were loud enough to hear.

Some things they can improve on: when I heard that we would get sweatshirts instead of t-shirts, I was excited. But while I will wear the navy blue sweatshirt sans hood and enjoy it, I can’t see Travis – or really any other guy – wearing it. I mean, guys don’t really wear sweatshirts without hoods, unless they’re playing basketball or over 40. So that’s a bummer.

Plus, it looked like they spent more money on the sweatshirts and got rid of the finishers medals. I know there’s some debate about whether finishers medals are cool or just unnecessary. Those who do oodles of races (and win!) don’t really care. Well, I care. And my husband who just did his first race cares. I want a medal because I will never win an award!

The last thing I was bummed about was that they didn’t have any finish line food like bagels, bananas, etc. The only food they offered was the post-race meal – BBQ – and while I was pumped that it was something that sounded good and that I could probably eat without getting sick after the race (my stomach won’t tolerate anything too sweet), the line was 200 people long. It stretched across the parking lot. Granted, it was a pleasant day and the food looked good but we just didn’t feel like waiting in line. I wished I could have just grabbed a bagel and been done with it.

So Travis and I went home, showered and went to BWW instead. Mmmm… I tried the new Soft Pretzels. AMAZING! I will definitely get those again. They just hit the spot. I also got 8 Honey BBQ boneless wings but only ate 4 because I ate too much of the pretzels. Then we rented Thor (great movie – looking forward to the sequel!) and Your Highness (would NOT recommend because of all the dirty, disgusting humor) and laid on the couch for the rest of the day. Glorious.

I’m glad that I did the race but my body is not. I felt increasingly sick yesterday and today, my whole head is congested, I have a runny nose and am coughing/sneezing a lot. So I’m forced again today to take things easy and relax. I guess this is good – I always like the idea of resting in theory but when it comes down to actually doing it, being productive always sounds more appealing. So I am going to take the dogs on a walk, go buy some tomato soup to go with grilled cheese for dinner, and then I’m going to plop my rump on the sofa for the rest of the evening.

The only bummer about being sick while relaxing is that I feel too tired/groggy to read so I end up watching copious amounts of TV. (There’s me trying to sneak in productivity again!) Oh well – I’ll enjoy being a bum!

How was your weekend?

Have you ever done a race while sick/not feeling your best?

Hiking is Humbling.

It’s no secret that I’m not a fast swimmer, biker or runner. When I tell people that I do triathlons, I always mention that I do them “for fun” and not for “breaking any records.” When people ask if I did well in a particular race, I usually say, “Yes… for me,” I guess to avoid the misrepresentation that I won an award or something.

And for the most part, I’ve come to accept the fact that I will never be “fast” relative to other triathletes. I mean, the female winners from these races do the swim in less than 1/2 the time it takes me (I’m too lazy to figure out what their speed is), their average bike pace is usually somewhere around 20 mph, and their average run pace is somewhere around 6-7 minutes/mile. Yeah, I can’t compete with that.

So what’s an athlete like me to do?

It all comes down to the PRs – Personal Records. Trying to better your time for a certain distance. This presents a problem with the sprint triathlon distance, as hardly any race is the same as the next (though the most official distance is exactly half of an Olympic).

Yeah, I haven’t been good at that either. My half marathon times have progressively gotten slower and my triathlon times are pretty much in that boat as well.

Ok, I can deal with that. I’m still getting out there, having a good time. Plus, I’m willing to sacrifice the PRs in order to maintain my sanity and balance.

But then there are situations that just steam me. Like hiking on the Eaglesmere Trail. Or hiking Pancake Rocks. Or hiking in North Carolina.

Ok, hiking in general.

I’ve said it many times before and I’ll keep saying it – I can be in the best shape of my life and still cough, wheeze, and drag up a hill on a hike.

And it pisses me off.

It’d be one thing if the hike was challenging and everyone else was coughing, wheezing and dragging up right with me. But no, they’re just floating up the hill, without a single bead of sweat staining their brow or even so much as a slight increased need for oxygen.

Ok, maybe that’s just Travis.

But seriously, whenever I go hiking, it seems like everyone else is in better shape than I am. 

Which also would be fine if I knew that they were. If they were out there running marathons and doing Ironmans, and busting out 10 hours of intense exercise a week, I’d hand it to them. I’d applaud them.

But usually they’re not.

Usually they’re like Travis – they do intentional exercise 2-3 times a week, but usually only for about 30-45 minutes.

Sometimes they don’t exercise regularly at all.

And then here I come, all puffed up with my “I just did an Olympic triathlon” and “I ran 7 miles 3 weeks ago” attitude, and wilt like a frickin’ popsicle on pavement walking up the hill.

These were my thoughts during our NC Labor Day hike:

Wait, isn’t this a lower elevation than Denver? Doesn’t that mean I should be able to sprint all the way to the top?

Wait, isn’t Sarah pregnant? Didn’t she just say that she hasn’t worked out in 4 months due to nausea? How then is she beating me up this hill?

I did not handle that situation well in the moment. Instead, I got huffy as I puffed slowly up the mountain. I eventually got over it at the top but I’d like to eventually get over it before it starts.

I mean, this is a ridiculous problem. But such is the nature of pride. You try to squelch it in one form, and it pops up in another. Just as soon as I came to grips with being a slow triathlete, I became enraged at being a slow hiker.

My mentally unstable way of thinking is that I’ve put so much effort and time into getting to where I am today that it is totally unfair that other people (like my husband) are so naturally athletic. Travis could sit on the couch for a month and go out and run faster than I could if I did intense speed work for 6 months. (Ok, this is just a conjecture because Travis couldn’t sit still that long and I will never do intense speed work for 6 months. But still, I’m pretty sure it’s true.)

But in the end, my hiking handicap is really a blessing in disguise. If it hadn’t been for my completely unnecessary anger outburst in North Carolina, I wouldn’t have come to the realization (yet again) that my identity is wrapped up in how “athletic” and “in shape” I am. I want people’s praise for doing triathlons. I want people to think I’m a mean, lean, triathloning machine. I don’t want them to see that I still struggle up the side of a hill or that I’m not invincible. I don’t want to show weakness.

God knows that I constantly go to things other than Him to try to prove that I’m worth something, that I’m someone special (try being the operative word). But that way of life will leave me constantly dissatisfied and jealous of other people. Instead of being able to appreciate the talents God has given other people, I end up scheming in the corner about how to make myself just as good (or drowning my sorrows over not being just as good).

I’m like this with a number of things: clothes, success, body size. Measuring myself against others. Feeling good if I measure up. Feeling horrible if I don’t.

Our women’s book study just started at church for the fall and I chose to go through Love to Eat, Hate to Eat by Elyse Fitzpatrick. I’m really praying that this study will help free me from these struggles (because regardless of the specific struggle, it all comes from the same source of dissatisfaction) and release me into the freedom of embracing who God created me to be – body shape, quirks, slowness and all – in order that I might appreciate and love others for who they are. God has made each of us unique masterpieces (like snowflakes!) and I am missing out if I can’t appreciate another woman without competing with her.

Hopefully I’ll have some updates later on.

As for the triathlon tomorrow, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to do it. You’ll have to stay tuned!

6 more weeks…

Only 6 more weeks of formal training (including this week) until my 2011 race season is over! I am so looking forward to doing more of what I’ve been doing this week:

1. Drinking alcohol. I have a pretty low tolerance to begin with, but add in training, and I get tipsy and a headache from even one glass of wine. This week, however, I’ve thrown caution to the wind. I had 2 Mike’s on Sunday night, a glass of wine and a margarita on Monday, and then a glass of wine last night. And I’ve enjoyed it so much, I’ll probably continue that trend for the rest of the week.

2. Watching TV. I usually prefer reading because it at least makes me feel productive. But right now, I really love watching Drop Dead Diva, with occasional re-runs of What Not to Wear and Say Yes to the Dress thrown in. In a couple of months, it will be back to Bones and Desperate Housewives. And Travis has found 2 new shows he likes: Bar Rescue and Downsized.

3. Baking. I made zucchini bread Monday night and am planning to make blueberry banana bread next week. Mmmm…

4. Not exercising. It’s only been a few days since the race on Sunday but I still feel slightly guilty about no workouts. I’m thinking about a bike ride or a swim tonight. But we’ll see. I may have a glass (or two) of wine instead.

5. Staying up late and sleeping in. Not exercising means I can stay up to 10 or 10:30 and get up at 6 or 6:30! Glorious! It’s even more glorious when Charlie is in her kennel and doesn’t wake me up at 5 am.

Travis and I leave butt early on Friday morning for Charlotte, NC, to visit our friends, Mark and Sarah. (So excited!) We get back on Tuesday and then I’ll start back on this haus of a training plan:

The Crescent Moon Sprint Tri is the first race, the Denver Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon Relay is the second. I’m sure my actual workouts will only slightly resemble this plan due to life getting in the way but it’s nice to have a plan anyway.

What do you look forward to when you’re not training? What TV shows are you enjoying right now?

Race Recap: Steamboat Springs Olympic Triathlon

I did it! The race went GREAT and I had an awesome time in Steamboat. But let me start from the beginning…

Friday

I found out from the vet that nothing is seriously wrong with our dogs. They don’t have giardia or parasites. Most likely, they ate something that upset their stomachs (I’m guessing mushrooms from our backyard). So they just need to be on a bland diet for a few days, and Charlie probably needs to switch to a new regular food to help with her soft stool. After the vet, I took a nap, ordered sushi , packed, walked the dogs, stretched, and went to bed.

Saturday

I went for a swim at the Rec in the morning. I had tried to go Friday morning but the Rec was closed. It felt good to be moving again. That is one thing that I don’t like about taper week – not having that “I just did a great workout” feeling.

Then I talked to my mom for a bit, packed the car, and took the pooches over to my friend D’s house. I chatted with her over coffee and cinnamon rolls (yum!) and left around 11 am to go back home, load my bike on the Focus, and hit the road.

Everything was going according to plan — I didn’t forget anything, the sun was shining, traffic wasn’t bad, I was belting out my favorite tunes. And then I started to feel like the Focus was struggling a little more than usual up the big mountain grades. Like a precursor to it running out of gas and dying on the side of the highway. But I had plenty of gas. It wasn’t overheating. There had been a puddle on the driveway underneath the car though. And the Check Engine light was on (even though it has been for a while). Hmmmm…

I called Travis. “Um, the Focus is kind of lurching up the steep grades. Could it be low on oil or something?”

He had checked the oil not too long ago so he didn’t think it was that. He was at a loss as well, since he was 300 miles away and trying to diagnose the car via my very non-technical description. Eisenhower Tunnel was getting closer… visions of my car dying right in the middle of it flashed through my head. That would be very bad. Not to mention that I had only driven 45 minutes of a 3.5 hour drive — if the car was struggling already, would it even make it?

“So do you think I should turn around and go home to get the truck?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s probably the smartest thing to do.”

Blast it!

So I turned around at the Loveland Pass exit and headed all the way back to Denver, transferred my luggage and bike to the truck, and took off again… for real. Travis very kindly met me in Vail instead of just staying in Steamboat, so at least I had a companion for the last part of my trip.

The clock was ticking… at 4:15, I saw a sign that said 40 miles to Steamboat. Packet pickup ended at 5. No! We can’t be late! I floored it, doing 80 in a 65 (shhh… don’t tell the po-po) and we arrived in Steamboat at 4:30 — plenty of time! After looking for packet pickup in two wrong places, I finally found it and got all my race stuff and swag. Whew!

We headed to the hotel to unload all of my stuff and put my bike in our room. After watching TV for a bit, we decided to have dinner at the restaurant across the street called Rex’s American Bar & Grill. I had looked up restaurants online the week before and heard rave reviews about this place. And I loved that it was within walking distance!

We opted to sit outside on the patio, where we enjoyed some live music and a gorgeous view of the Steamboat ski slopes, now lush and green. I wanted a glass of wine so badly but knew I had to behave myself. I ordered Napa pizza with apples, bacon, onions and bleu cheese. It was amazing. I have discovered that I love, love, love bleu cheese on pizza. Mmmm… Travis ordered a beer and “Stuffed Bird Boob” with mashed potatoes. I couldn’t figure out what kind of meat that was until the waiter described it as chicken breast. Ahhh… now I get it. His food was also delicious.

Right before we got our food, it started to rain. Since there were plenty of umbrellas on the patio and it wasn’t raining very hard, we stuck it out. Our waiter was nice enough to bring me a fleece blanket — much appreciated!

As we finished, it started raining harder and my very chivalrous husband agreed to go get the car to come pick me up. I decided that since I couldn’t have wine, I at least needed some ice cream. So we drove over to DQ and I got a mini Brownie Batter Blizzard. It hit the spot.

By then, it was about 7:30 and we decided that since it was raining and the rodeo had ended the weekend before , the best option was just to go back to the hotel and bum. So that’s what we did.

Around 9:00, I decided it was time to sleep. And as far as nights before races go, I slept very well. I woke up a few times to panic and wonder what the heck I was thinking doing an Oly tri but was able to get back to sleep fairly quickly (I guess that’s one nice side effect of your dogs making you sleep-deprived).

Pre-Race

Race morning, I actually hit the snooze button. I finally got up at 5:30. We left the hotel by 6:05, stopped and got coffee for Travis, and got to the race site around 6:20. I thought transition opened at 6:30 but it had really opened at 6:00. It wasn’t a big deal because there were plenty of spots left. I got body marked and then set my stuff up. I chose a rack on the inside aisle, about ¼ of the way down from the swim in.

After getting my area set up, I picked up my timing chip and heard that the water wouldn’t be open for warming up until 7:15. Since it was only 6:45, I went on a little jog for a warm up, went to the bathroom, put on sunscreen (which apparently all washed off during the swim), and then headed down to the water. The temperature was announced — 68 degrees. Woohoo!

At 7:40, I got in the water. It wasn’t bad at all. I could totally do the swim without a wetsuit. I mean, the water hardly even took my breath away. It was like swimming in Minnesota! I was feeling great and doing a little swim warm up when all of a sudden, I hit a giant patch of seaweed. I hate seaweed. I refuse to swim in seaweed. EEEWWW! I panicked and swam back to shore as fast as I possibly could. As I got out, I told Travis, “Well, the water is nice but that seaweed is going to kill me.” After I stood there for a bit commiserating with a fellow athlete about how gross the seaweed was, I decided to go back in and purposefully swim through the seaweed, reminding myself they’re only plants. No little creature is going to attach itself to me or eat me. I will survive. So I swam through the seaweed and I was fine.

I got back out and we stood around for another 35 minutes, listening to the pre-race briefing and watching the four waves before me go off. I just about froze. My teeth were chattering, my legs were shaking. I couldn’t help but think, I’d probably be warm if I was wearing a wetsuit.

Finally, my wave was up. I got back in the water, positioned myself at the back of my wave, got my face used to the water and then treaded water to warm my body up while I waited.

Swim

Before I knew it, the foghorn went off and we were off! Almost immediately, my whole wave had left me in their wake. But I was just pumped that I was swimming! And feeling great! I wasn’t panicking! I kept thinking, I totally have this.

The little toe on my right foot felt weird and I thought that some of the muck from the bottom of the lake must have magically bonded to my foot. Then I wondered if it was a leech. So I reached down to feel. Nothing, not even muck, was there. I realized that my toe was frozen. So were my fingers. You know that feeling when your fingers and toes feel like they’re hollow? That’s how I felt.

By the time I reached the first sighting buoy, athletes from the last wave were passing me. I kept my pace and let them go around me. Just keep watching the buoy get closer, I reminded myself. Take it one buoy at a time. The swim will end sometime.

After I rounded the third turning buoy, I started feeling like I had to pee. I tried to pee while swimming a couple of times but that proved to be more complex than I could handle. But I knew that biking on a full bladder was absolutely miserable so I stopped swimming momentarily to pee. All better.

Finally, I passed the last sighting buoy and could see the swim exit. A couple hundred yards more and I could stand. I ran out of the swim. Yay!! I did it! The hardest part is over! Travis snapped a picture of me as I ran to transition.

Official Swim Time: 46:34

T1

While it was nice to not have a wetsuit to get off, I fumbled with my socks and shoes, and took what seemed like forever to get my helmet on. Usually, I run from the swim into transition and then out with my bike, effectively leaving me breathless between each leg. This time, I said, Screw it — I’m going to walk and catch my breath. So I did.

Official T1 Time: 2:27

Bike

For the first two or three miles of the bike, I felt like I hadn’t ridden a bike in forever. Everything felt foreign. My legs felt really weird. I realized then that I was still frozen. No wonder why my legs felt weird – they were practically numb! It took me about 5 miles to warm up.

While I was still warming up, I encountered The Bumpy Road. Some construction-working genius had decided that gravel with a thin layer of asphalt over it was just as good as an actually paved road. I beg to differ. It was miserable. And I had to pee again, which was magnified 1,000 times with each bump. I started wondering, Can I really survive 20 miles on this horrible-ness?

The course took a left turn and Hallelujah! The road was actually paved again. Oh wonderful, gentle smoothness. By about mile 9, I really had to pee. I started hoping they’d have a porta-potty at the turnaround, all the while knowing that they almost certainly didn’t. But lo and behold, the turnaround was at a baseball field. I asked the volunteer at the turnaround if there were restrooms and he said there were, but he didn’t know if they were open. I had to at least try. So I laid my bike down and ran to the door. They were open! Praise the Lord!

I was so happy on my way back — it’s so much more enjoyable to ride a bike when you don’t have to pee!

{Side note: WHY did I have to pee so much? I went twice before the race started, then during the swim, then again on the bike. I purposely didn’t drink much before the race to avoid this very problem. Argh!}

I followed my fueling strategy by eating my first 3 Shotbloks right after the turnaround (11.5 miles because of the dog leg) and 3 more right before the dog leg (22 miles). There were 4-5 steep-ish hills on the way back, the longest one being the dog leg — 1 mile of 2% grade. Lucky for me, that’s nothing compared to the crap hills on my bike to work. I cruised up the hill (being mindful to not push it too hard), back down and hit the home stretch.

Official Bike Time: 1:31:29 (16.3 mph)

T2

Once again, I walked with my bike back to my rack. I took off my helmet and grabbed my hat, race belt, and Shotbloks. I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t grab my piece of bread with peanut butter. And I was off.

Official T2 Time: 1:34

Run

I started running soon out of transition and my legs felt typical – heavy and foreign. I made the decision to walk 1 minute at every aid station (there was one every mile). By the time I got to the first aid station, drank some water, and started running after my minute was up, I had my running legs and settled into a nice pace. By mile 2, I found that I was running an 11:07 pace. Decent.

Mile 3 felt long. My left knee started to hurt with a very familiar feeling caused by a tight IT band. Because I knew what it was, though, I just ran through it. I can stretch later. Finally, there was the aid station: it was a Hawaiian luau. That picked up my spirits and I made it up the hill to the turnaround. On the way back, I grabbed some water and ate my last 3 Shotbloks. On to mile marker 4.

My stomach had started sloshing around so I stopped drinking water. By mile 5, it was getting into the 80s. My knee still hurt. I had the slightest stomach cramp. But I could see the aid station and just kept running.

Finally, it was the last mile. I ran past the lot where we parked, which they said was .5 mile away from transition. There were a lot of athletes and spectators already making their way down to their cars, so I got a lot of cheering on this last stretch. That was fun.

I crested the last hill and picked up the pace. I was SO HAPPY. I couldn’t help but smile and throw my arms up. I totally made it! And…

I ENJOYED IT!

I had pushed myself so hard during the sprint tris I did back in June that I didn’t even enjoy them. The bike was hard and the run was ruined. Why did I do that to myself? I really enjoyed this race.

I crossed the finish line, all smiles, and was handed some water and my finisher’s medal.

Official Run Time: 1:13:06 (11:48/mile)

Official Race Time: 3:35:08

Sure, I didn’t make my “goal” but I am totally excited about my performance. For me, it was huge that I didn’t panic once during the swim, I enjoyed the bike instead of going balls to the wall, and I did the whole run at a very comfortable pace.

As far as the event itself, I think Without Limits Productions puts on a very good race. My goodie bag had a lot of cool stuff in it (hello Luna bars and free socks in Travis’ size!) and the shirts were cute and great quality. I’m not thrilled about the dogtag-style finisher’s medals, but oh well. Their website was kept up-to-date with all the important information and they had plenty of bike course marshals directing us where to go and holding back traffic. My only real complaint is that there wasn’t much cold water at the finish line (or maybe they ran out before I got there?). But overall, it was a great race.

Post-Race

After the race, Travis and I stuck around because my name had been called for a raffle. After I got some more free socks (that I can wear), we grabbed my stuff and loaded up the car. Since it was about 85 by then and just an absolutely gorgeous day, we decided to tube down the Yampa River. Colorado doesn’t have a big selection of “lazy” rivers that are mild enough to tube down, so we seized the opportunity.

When we were finally changed into our suits and everything was stowed in our truck, we grabbed our tubes and river shoes (pretty sweeto) from Backdoor Sports and took off down the river. It wasn’t so much a lazy river as an always-watch-where-you’re-going-so-you-don’t-fall-off-in-the-rapids river, but it was still a blast. I love mild rapids like that! Every once in a while, we’d hit the current and rapids just right that a giant splash of cool water landed on our laps. Refreshing. The ride took about 45 minutes and we waited for the shuttle back for about 10 minutes.

We changed back into our clothes at Backdoor Sports and went to lunch at Steamboat Meat and Seafood Co. Travis had a tuna melt (with REAL tuna meat, not the canned stuff) and I had a Reuben. Both were delicious. We made a quick stop at the gas station and then headed back to Denver.

What a great weekend! I’m pumped that the race went so well and I loved being able to do something fun and out of the ordinary with my very supportive and loving husband. I’m very lucky that he comes to cheer me on at my races, even if he gets insanely bored and takes pictures of random things, like pontoon boats and buildings.

Now it’s back to work, laundry and grocery shopping.

Packing and Pooping

Well friends, race weekend is here. In 2 hours, I will leave work to take my dog to the vet (more on that in a bit), then head home to pack up all of my triathlon gear and prepare for my trip to Steamboat Springs tomorrow.

Itinerary

I’m going to have coffee with my friend D in the morning (who is also graciously watching our pooches for the weekend) and then hit the road around 11. Due to a bike race going on near Silverthorne/Rabbit Ears Pass, I have to take the long way around, making my trip 3.5 hours, instead of 2.5.

No matter! I’ll be rocking the same mini speakers we rocked all the way to Yellowstone and back (since the radio in our Focus is still broken).

Heck yes!

Once I get to Steamboat, my plan is to head straight to packet pickup at the Ski Haus and then go check in at the hotel, where Travis will meet me on his return from counting cacti in Middle-of-Nowhere Roosevelt, UT (no joke). He’s been there all week. Apparently, this cactus is an endangered species. Meaning there aren’t a whole lot of them. They were batting .500 on seeing them during the course of a whole day.

From what I’ve heard, Steamboat has a rodeo every Saturday night. If it’s not too late, we might go check that out because I’ve never been to a rodeo. (Shocking, I know.) Otherwise, I figure we’ll just bum around downtown Steamboat, have dinner and call it an early night. Race wakeup calls come early – this one will be at 5:15 am. But usually I sleep so poorly that I’m rearing just to get up and get on with the show already.

And the other details will be saved for the Race Recap to come on Monday.

Time Goals

Things this week haven’t gone *quite* as planned. Both Wednesday and Thursday, I only drank about 40 oz of water. I haven’t stretched since Monday. I couldn’t swim this morning because our gym was closed.

But regardless of all that, I do feel prepared. My time goals for this race are between 3:17:30 (stretch) and 3:32:30 (more realistic). Here’s the breakdown:

Stretch Goals

Swim 43:00

T1 1:30

Bike 1:30:00 (16 mph)

T2 1:00

Run 1:02:00 (10 min/mile)

TOTAL 3:17:30

More Realistic Goals

Swim 45:00

T1 2:00

Bike 1:35:00 (15 mph)

T2 1:30

Run 1:09:00 (11 min/mile)

TOTAL 3:32:30

Why those times?

For the swim, I practiced 825 yards (750 meters) and finished in 21:20. Double that and you have 42:40. But if I wear my wetsuit (which I’m still debating about because the race website said the water is supposed to mid-60s.. BRRR!), I’ll be slower, since the suit limits how much I can bend my legs and therefore, how well I can kick and how fast I can go.

For the bike, I have averaged 16-17 mph in the other races I did this year and I’m definitely in better biking shape now than I was then (thank you Simms!). This bike course is downhill on the way out and uphill on the way back and the elevation map looks sweet (for the first half) and nasty (for the last half).

But the good news is that the elevation gain/loss is less than 200 feet and the steepest grade is a 2%. But… then I look at my route to work and it says those hills are a 2% grade as well. Crap it.

For the run, I have been running an average pace somewhere between 11:00 and 11:30 on my runs. But for some reason, I run faster after I bike. In the Greeley Tri, I managed a 10:21 pace and in the Boulder Sunrise, I did a 11:00 pace. So in essence, I’m looking for a miracle. I guess I’m still hoping that someday, I can get back to consistently running 10 minute miles as my slowest pace instead of my fastest. I try to remind myself that last year, I was consistently running 12:30s – so I have made progress.

This triathlon will be my longest workout ever by at least 30 minutes (if you don’t include hiking). My longest workout previously was my slowest half marathon, which I finished in 2:44:44.

Fueling

I plan on fueling on race day by eating my traditional bagel with peanut butter. I’m also going to try to eat a banana before starting, since this race will be so much longer than a Sprint. On the bike, I will eat 1 whole pack (6 blocks) of Shotbloks, with 3 blocks at 45 minutes and 3 blocks very soon before I get off the bike.

I will eat 3 more blocks on the run around the halfway point. I will also have another piece of bread with peanut butter on it in transition for me to grab if I’m hungry before heading out on the run, since Shotbloks are more to replace electrolytes than to fill you up.

And then, the best part, I’ll have an Athlete’s Honey Milk waiting for me at the finish line! I tried these for the first time at the Greeley Tri and loved them. Since they’re $2.50 a bottle, I only use them for special occasions – like this race!

**Warning: Poop picture ahead**

Speaking of last night, and taking Charlie to the vet, and the pooping I mentioned in the title of this post, I had an incredibly disgusting experience when I came home last night. As I walked into the garage, I thought I smelled something funny. My first thought was Travis’ disgusting hockey gear, but no, it didn’t quite smell right. I was still wondering when I opened the laundry room door and was greeted by this:

I cannot even begin to describe how gross it was. The smell was beyond words. Poopy pawprints were on the door, the wall, the washer and dryer – everywhere.

I put the dogs outside, entered the house through the front door, and changed into old work clothes. I put my hair up, grabbed some rubber gloves, found a sheetrock mask of Trav’s, and got out the paper towels, a bucket and a sponge.

And Denver just had to set a record high of 99 degrees yesterday so I had sweat rolling down my face as I scrubbed and tried my darnedest not to gag. After I was done in the laundry room, I took the dogs one by one and gave them each a bath. Ick.

The room still stunk this morning. Once Travis gets home, we’re going to clean the crap out of it – literally.

So that’s why I’m taking Charlie to the vet. No dog in their right mind (or right bowel?) should ever do that. Poor Katy was subjected to Charlie’s poopy mess for who knows how long. And Charlie has been slinking around all night and all morning, like she’s incredibly embarrassed that I caught her deprecating in her own sleeping space. It happens, Charlie. Once. It happens once. It better not happen again…

……

I’m scared to go home.

___________________________

Anyway, have a lovely weekend readers! I’ll catch you all Monday!

Weekly Recap: 8/15 – 8/21

I’ve finally made it to taper week! While some athletes hate tapering, I love it with big puffy hearts. I mean, I’ve been waiting 3 months for an excuse to sit around and read instead of exercise! I’m definitely not complaining.

Since I ran the Warrior Dash yesterday, this past week was a kind of quasi-taper – in that, I still worked out but planned my workouts so that I wouldn’t be ridiculously tired. I took Saturday off completely and we went out for sushi, then to the Carnation Festival in Wheat Ridge for a fried Twinkie, a funnel cake and one of the best fireworks shows I’ve ever seen… seriously. Wheat Ridge does it right. And I was having so much fun that I forgot to record my workouts so I’m going purely on memory here people.

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 7 mile run (1:18:15)

During this run, I tried an improvised Galloway method by running 9 minutes and walking 1. A couple of times, I got into the running zone and forgot to walk. But I remembered for the most part. It did help my pace – I ran an average 11:07/mile instead of the 11:39 pace I ran back on August 3rd. So if I feel like I have to walk during the tri next weekend, I will try to do a regular interval like this.

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 750 yard open water swim

Friday: 18.5 mile bike on trainer

I discovered that the reason I hate being on my bike trainer so much is that I hate leaning over. It makes my butt hurt and my arms hurt. I don’t mind it sitting up. So I’m thinking that maybe I need a longer handlebar stem. And potentially a different seat. But those changes will have to be saved for after my tri next weekend.

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: Warrior Dash 5K 

Official time was 49:40.

Official costume was Rainbow Brite.

Weekly Totals:

Swim: 750 yards

Bike: 18.5 miles

Run: 10.1 miles

My focus this coming week will be:

1. Get lots of sleep – as in, go to bed at 7:30 to fall asleep by 8:30. Hehe. Travis is gone all weekend to count cacti in NE Utah so this will be a lot easier than if he were here.

2. Drink at least 64 oz of water a day (not counting water during workouts) and eat normal amount of carbs (60-70% of calories).

3. Stretch a ton.

4. Think through/practice transition again (I haven’t raced since the middle of June!) Don’t want to forget anything important!

5. Enjoy the time off! For this week, I’m planning on doing one workout of each discipline, very easy effort, for about half the race distance. Right now, I’m thinking run tomorrow, bike Thursday, swim Friday (other days off). I’ll take next week pretty easy but then it’s back at it (in a lesser degree) for a sprint tri in Sept and a 10K in October (the half marathon relay).

After the October race, I’m seriously giving myself the green light to not workout for an entire two weeks. If I feel like running, fine. If I want to do yoga, fine. But if I have no inkling whatsoever to do anything besides lay on the couch, bake chocolatey goodness, or get caught up around the house, then I won’t.

Warrior Dash recap coming up!

Weekly Recap: 8/08 – 8/14

Somehow, even with the impressive workout shuffling I did last week, I managed to log 5 hours and 45 minutes of training, burning 2,825 calories. Not too shabby.

Obstacles to Sleep #1 and #2

Monday: 19.8 mile bike (1:12:24)

Tuesday: 3.91 mile run (47:45), abs + upper body

I took the dogs on a 1.5 mile run, then went to the Rec and did a treadmill workout for the rest, which involved alternating a fast walk (4.5 mph) on an incline (4.5) with a run (6.0) on less of an incline (2.0). It’s a good workout! I ended with a 1-minute sprint at 7.5 mph – an 8:00 min mile pace! Fast for me! AND I finished it all off with 30 man push-ups (3 sets of 10). I was a good sore the next day.

Wednesday: 2 mile walk with pooches

Thursday: 13.5 mile bike (58:20)

This was my bike home from work and I finally didn’t take any wrong turns! I did, however, have a close encounter with the bike police. (Eep.) This was also my fastest pace on my bike to/from work route: 13.9 mph. Hey, there’s a LOT of hills. I think my getting up to 40 mph down Simms helped my overall speed a bit.

Friday: 14.4 mile bike (1:15:13)

This was more on par with my normal speed (11.5) going to/from work – distance was longer because I missed my turn (again!) and speed was slower because of those blasted hills! But the hills are precisely why this route is good preparation for the Steamboat Springs Oly Tri. I fear the bike course is going to be all downhill on the way out and all uphill on the way back.

Saturday: 7 hours of moving, 2 mile walk with pooches

We helped our friends, James and Cathy, move from their 3rd floor apartment to a house. I was exhausted by the end of the day (and sweating like a man-beast) and ran out of time for any workout because I went to church for a ladies’ night of Bunko!

Sunday: 1,750 yd open water swim (47:52), 4 mile run (45:33)

I was very sore from moving on Saturday – specifically my quads (from making 40 trips up and down those stairs!) and my biceps (from all that man-handling). I had pushed this open water swim from Thursday to Friday to Saturday to Sunday. And I still debated skipping it. But I’m glad I went.

I discovered the real reason why I don’t like doing the breaststroke in a full-body wetsuit: it’s hard to bend my knees. As the knees are crucial in forward propulsion, it’s no wonder why I always felt like I was flailing like I did in the Boulder Sunrise. Even though I still don’t like swimming the breaststroke in a wetsuit, I think it’s a better option than braving water with temperatures in the upper 60s sans-wetsuit. (I am hoping to get up to Steamboat in time to do a test run on Saturday without a wetsuit, to see if I can handle it. Then I’ll make a game time.)

The 4 mile run afterward was done at a comfortable pace. I think my goal pace for the Oly run will be 11:00 min/mile (though really, I’ll be shooting for 10:00s).

Weekly Total:

Swim: 1,750 yards

Bike: 49.7 miles (woot!)

Run: 7.91 miles

Walk: 4 miles

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My decision to train at night and get in the Word in the morning has, so far, worked out very well for me. I keep telling myself, Only 2 more weeks! Then I can drop down to 3-4 workouts a week. Even though I have been training since the end of March, it wasn’t until the week before I went to Minnesota (4 weeks ago now!) that I started feeling very drained emotionally/mentally. I am actually impressed that I made it this long without feeling burnt out. But now, I just want some time to relax already!

Anyway, I’ve been doing good about spending time with God during the week and yesterday, I was looking forward to getting in the Word and reading a lot. Twenty minutes in, though, I knew it was useless and took a nap instead. That is going to be one of my main focuses (foci? ) for this week and especially next week (taper time!): SLEEP. I’m hoping to go to bed at 8 and get up at 6. Mmmm… sleep. I’m going to need to do something about our dogs – they like to wake up at 4 am to pee and then again at 5:30  to eat everyday. Maybe I should tranquilize them? (Just kidding.) But seriously, I will have no qualms about locking them in the laundry room so that I can sleep more next week. It’s just for a week. And they’re really annoying.

But oh, so adorable.

Biking Observations

Since I completed my fourth attempt and second successful bike to and from work yesterday afternoon and this morning, I’ve been thinking about biking, specifically in regards to how I’ve improved and what I still need to work on.

Travis and I biking from Frisco to Breckenridge

How I’ve Improved:

1. I can get my foot into my pedal clips a lot faster than I used to. (I still haven’t made the transition to clipless. Maybe next year?)

2. I remember to downshift before getting to a stoplight, successfully preventing the “I.can.barely.move.” phenomena when the light turns green.

3. I know how to put my chain back on when it slips off and I can probably figure out how to change a tire if I get a flat. (I’ve seen Travis do it once – doesn’t seem incredibly hard.)

4. Hills that once kicked my entire butt now only kick part of it. (Simms is still my nemesis.)

5. I’m not terrified of going fast, like Ricky Bobby. Yesterday, I got up to 40 mph coasting down a hill (which happened to be on my nemesis, Simms) - I know other bikers go faster but this was the fastest I’ve ever gone. I felt pretty bada$$.

6. I pedal faster by downshifting instead of keeping my bike in a higher gear and grinding up hills slowly. I read an article that said pedaling faster (higher RPM) made for more efficient pedaling. And I’m all for that.

What I Still Need to Work On:

1. Hydrating on the bike. I am pretty good about eating my Shotbloks (because they’re so delicious!) but am bad about drinking water. In a sprint tri, it doesn’t really matter because it’s only a 5K run. But 6.2 miles is a little more serious so I need to be better about drinking water.

2. Pacing myself. I tend to blow up hills like they’re nothing and then slow to a crawl because I’m about ready to fall over from lack of oxygen. Especially in this Olympic tri, not overexerting my legs on the bike is Strategy #1 for a good run.

3. Getting a new seat. I tried moving my seat forward a bit, hoping that might help. But it didn’t work. Lady parts still hurting after about 5 miles = no fun.

4. Not getting pulled over by the bike police.

Keeping the bike trails safe

Just kidding.

But seriously, as I was biking home last night, I was on one of the bike trails and came up behind a man on a bicycle. He was going slower than me so I was going to pass him, until I realized that he was dressed head to toe in navy blue and had a huge belt on with things hanging from it – one of which was a gun. The bike police. I thought about still passing him but then remembered that usually the speed limit on bike trails is 15 mph. I was going 16 mph. Would I get pulled over for biking too fast? I biked behind him for about 100 feet, debating what I should do. Luckily, just then the path split and he took the opposite way as me. Crisis diverted!

Something you readers probably don’t know about me is that I have been pulled over more times than I can count, given several speeding tickets, and even been arrested (that’s a story I’ll have to tell sometime!), so it’s probably no surprise, then, that whenever I see a cop, I panic and immediately think, Am I doing something wrong? It doesn’t matter the context, the time of day, what I’m done, where I see the cop, if he’s in a car or on a bike. Cops scare the bajeesus out of me. (Kind of like Simms.)

So there you go.