THE Triathlon- The Bike (best part ever!)

I am swamped with school so journaling has been low on my list of priorities. Fortunately working out is not! The beauty of this whole tri experience is that we are hooked. I love to train. I am loving running. I want to do a 10K sometime soon. I want to work hard in the pool all winter to improve my swimming. I need all of this even more being back in school. We are planning our next tri in November.

Onto the bike…

Hopping on my bike I race up the hill and am off on a 21.7 mile journey. The course begins with a fun downhill with scary speedbumps. I have not acclimated to them on my new bike. My new bike is so lightweight that I literally fly on the bumps. So I don’t give it all I have going downhill. I make the next uphill, the biggest one on the course. My gears are working well. I pass a few people along the way (and feel incredibly guilty). Off I go through the vineyards, beautiful mountains and creeks alongside. I see more people. I move past them like I am flying. My legs don’t hurt. I’m not tired. I feel like I am riding slowly since it seems so easy. Yet I am continually passing people. How is this happening? I’ll blame it on the new bike.

Riding through Redwood Valley I see Ron, our photographer. He snaps a shot of me. I give him a big smile. The Rotarians (the tri was sponsored by Rotary) are doing traffic control. I thank them as I speed by. I wonder if I will ever pass Byron and James. They are far ahead of me. I see a few triathletes passing me in the other direction. There is a turn around point. They look hard core so I should be seeing more soon. I have a ways to go but I am loving every minute of it. I pass more people. I pass people going UPHILL and this becomes my pattern the entire time.

The ride is gorgeous. The weather perfect. Not hot, not cold. I prayed for weather like this. I finally see Byron coming. I yell out to him. “Way to go! You are Awesome!” he smiles and waves. Soonafter I see James. We yell an “I love you” to each other. I go and go. Passing more people. I reach the turnaround. I am halfway finished with the ride already. The Rotarians offer water and I pass. I have my own. It reminds me to take a bite of Odwalla bar. I finished the first bite I stuffed in my cheek earlier. Into my cheek goes another chunk and a swig of water. Yuck. I don’t like this Odwalla bar much. I am not even hungry. Perhaps I should spit it out. Nah. It’s in there already and I don’t want it to hit the cyclist behind me. That’s just rude.

I am really excited now. I know my strength is my return. I tend to work harder going out and get a burst of energy on the second half. Here I go. Even better. I pass and pass. More people. I am passing he people I saw soonafter James. Oh my! I just might catch up with James! That would be great. We’ll see. I ride harder with this in mind. Hmm… I have passed all of thee people. I am getting a big head now. No one has passed me yet. Guess what??!! Two bikers scream past me immediately after I think that. I was so distracted by that I rode off the road into the dirt. I was sure I was going to fall off my bike but I saved it and made it onto the road intact. I won’t think like THAT again. I wonder if I can catch up to them. Off I go to try. Not quite. They are passing people really fast.

I am ¾ finished and start to get tired. I am on my way to the college where I will do the run. It’s time to start thinking about the run. I am so nervous. This tri has been so much about the run. I slow down on the bike so I have strength left. I am getting tired all of a sudden. I haven’t felt any lactic acid in my thighs until now when I am almost finished. My high is getting really low. I am tired. I am burnt. Shit. The run. I can do it. I have trained for 3 ½ months for this. Thinking about the first day I ran the track when I barely completed ¼ mile. Thinking about the small hills I barely made when I first started and here I am passing people on bigger hills. I get teary eyed as I enter campus. I see runners on the last 1/3 of the course . I wish I were at that point now. I’d almost be done. I want to be done. Okay it’s time to speed up. It’s flat and I want to fly into my transition area. So I go. There are two little Rotarians about 11 or so years old cheering me on directing me into the parking lot. I find my parking spot easily. Take a bite of Odwalla bar. Again, yuck! I spit that one out. Drink a swig of gatorade followed by water and get my headphones ready to go. Shit! I should run out of here so my bike time isn’t so long. We wore these microchips on our ankles for our times. They turn on and off at each T point. So if I waste time here then my bike time is longer. I see my friend Laura on the phone. I run over to give her a hug and…OW! My legs are like rubber. She cheers me on and I sprint anyway through the detector and hear the beep. Last leg. I walk a little to where I have always started on the course…

THE Triathlon- The Swim

The alarm was supposed to go off at 5am but I was up at 4:30 obsessing over the list I made and how I felt. I was tired. I wasn’t ready to do this. I wanted to sleep. Yet I couldn’t sleep that extra 30 min. What d I eat? I want to have enough fuel so I ate an Englsh muffin with peanut butter, bowl of cereal and a vegan sausage and water. I was full.

Our dear friend Heidi came to support us and stay with the kids. They were all asleep. We headed down to the college to set up T2 (the bike run transition). I was elated when I saw the organizers in their gear guiding traffic. Cones were up. The bike racks were up. People with really cool tri and street bikes were setting up. By then I was bright eyed and bushy tailed literally hopping about. I saw our coach and friend Sara and gave her a big hug. She looked a little nervous. She was competing too. We finished set up 15 minutes ahead of schedule and headed to the lake to set up T1 and warm up.

We reached the lake and one of the organizers directed us to the parking. We got there and here we were. At the lake. I’m nervous. What if I panic at the swim? We walk our bikes and our trash bags full of gear down the hill. We are greeted by Ron, our friend and photographer. I wanted him to get some shots of Byron and James crossing the finish line. He gets us walking our bikes. We reach T1. I find my spot, a perfect spot right by the steps from the lake.

I seet up and see Mike and our teammates. I am so thrilled to see everyone. There are so many other unfamiliar faces it is comforting to see everyone we spent the last 14 weeks with. I aks Mike where to swim and when to warm up.

The body numbering lady comes by. I have my wetsuit on then and I am elated. I watched some Ironman footage and thought the body numbering was way cool. I am 502. She writes 502 in marker on my left upper arm and left calf with my age on my right calf. I am concerned about when my start time is. Everyone with the pink swimcaps goes first. Men then women 39 and under. Uh, so I go 2^nd. Yes, at 8:03. *gulp* I am anxious about getting to the lake and warming up. Peiple are moving down. It’s 7:45. the time when we all have to meet at the lake to hear instructions. Shit. I’m scared, really scared. Scared about having a panic attack and being fished out and disqualified. I need to see James and Byron and say sort of a goodbye to them.

J and I get in to warm up and the water is warm even though the air is cold. It’s nicer than where we practiced. I swim some laps and stay in the water. I see Byron. He is in the first group. He and I plan where we will start. We both decide to start at the very end to avoid getting run over by the crowd. Mike is in the same group as Byron and he reminds me to just relax and have fun.

It’s time. He is lined up. J and I are close to shore. Everyone enthusiastically counts.. I yell out to Byron Good Luck and how much I love him…

10—9---8—7--------3---2---GO!

Byron and his crew are off.

That means I have 3 minutes. Shit! I need to warm up. I swim a circle and lose sight of James. I look back and he’s talking. I yell out in fear. James! He looks at me and cheers me on. I’m scared. But I’m about to do this.

I’m finally doing this. I’m happy. I’m scared. It’s time. I don’t here a long countdown. Only a 3---2---1! Uh. It’s time. I look back and turn around and go. I realize I am finally doing my triathlon. I start crying as I swim. I’m swimming well by the way. My form is good but I am crying like crazy. My goggles are half full of tears.

Then I look up and I can’t quite see the boat in the fog. There are two kayaks in the distance around the boat and a sheriff’s boat to my left. I swim towards the sheriffs boat to avoid the crowd. It’s easier to see. I feel the panic coming on. I start to think about stopping. I can’t breathe. Shit! No! Absolutely not. I worked too hard for this to just give up now. What will I tell people? I trudge on and hope to breathe. It stops and I am fine. I swim slowly and get into my rhythm. I see the next wave in the distance swimming past me. I am going pretty far off course. I try to correct. Meanwhile I look up to site and I see waves. Waves? In a lake? What are these? I guess maybe there are waves this far out? What if I get swept under? What if they hold me back like at the beach? What in the world do I do with waves? (I found out later they were from a jet ski)

After a while I see the boat, the one we have to go around. I am closer but have a ways to go since I am way off to the left. I swim head on to the boat and pass it. I am happy. I get teary eyed again. I am doing it. I see the dock and all the tiny people lined up. It’s far. The kayaks are telling me to stay on course. I see the crowd and realize just how far off I am. But the dock looks straight ahead. Swim swim swim. I work on my sighting and am doing well except it seems to be taking forever. The people still look as tiny as they did 25 strokes ago. Am I going in circles? I keep swimming realizing this is quite a bit further than ½ mile. People are looking bigger and I can see more detail. I get closer and one of the kayaks is next to me. I see my teammate who hates swimming having a hard time. I tell her “way to go! You’re doing it!!” I am thrilled to see her. She is on the other side of the kayak. She didn’t know who I was. I keep swimming and get even closer. I am elated. I get close and touch bottom. Yuk, it’s muddy. I swim to my right and continue to swim to the ramp. I get close enough and I see everyone. I did it! I did the swim!

I get ready to run and see Ron photographing me. I see Heidi and my kids, my dear friend Laura. There they are. Elated, my heart is warm. I take the top of my wetsuit off and run up the ramp, up the steps to my bike. My friends follow me. I am thrilled to see them and want to stay and chat. Laura tells me something and I say I just did the hard part. I see Mike and Sharon and give them a big hug. Mike tells me how well I did and I look back and there are still many swimmers. I look at him in shock and point this out to him. I get my suit off, shoe son and shove some Odwalla bar in my mouth, drink Gatorade and water. I tell Luna and Liam I love them and I’m off on my bike…

Byron's place in the triathlon

Byron deserves his own spot.
This is his medal. He placed 3rd in his age group.
He did awesome! I am so proud of him.

More early morning tri pics

Our beloved coach Sara and her friend, again it's 6:30am

Getting ready to set up Transition Point 1(T1) . here we would set up our bikes and then get ready for the swim.

Early morning pre-triathlon photos

We did it. After 14 weeks of intense training we completed the triathlon!!! I will write more about the whole experience later. For now I will post some pics. I have some professional ones coming and will have those out in a few weeks.














Setting up Transition point 2 (T2). It's 6:30am.

She's making her list and checking it twice...

I did an easy run today and mentally made my list for the tri. It got scrambled and I realized I needed to write it down. Here goes... Less than 24 hours now.

buy Gatorade
practice putting on socks and shoes
Get registration pack
put number on bike
Practice putting wetsuit in bag
Visualize race
Breathe
email photographer with each of our race numbers
Call coach to ask question about where to swim (or really to alleviate anxiety)
SLEEP
EAT breakfast at 5am
Be at T2 at 6:30am to set up
Be at T1 at 7am to set up
Warm up in water

Swim:
oil/body glide
swim cap
goggles-clean
number belt
river shoes
hang wetsuits to dry
Keep all 5 together-will wear these first thing in a.m.

Bike:
check air in bike tires-120psi
oil bike chain
tighten loose screws (but not the gear ones!)
check seat height
fit helmet
check if helmet is certified
check tool bag (wrench set, lipbalm, mini air pump, spare innertube)
tape opened berry Odwalla bar to bike
fill bike water canisters-freeze
test ride bike

Run:
wash running socks
wash tri top and bike shorts
put dry socks in shoes
charge MP3 player
headphones and affirmation card in MP3 packet
race number

Transition areas:
towel
helmet with sunglasses set correctly-T1
Gatorade at each T point
water at each T point
open Odwalla bar at each T point
race number at T2
MP3 at T2 with MP3 packet clip open
bags at T points

Oh I hope I didn't forget anything!

3 days left!

This week we are supposed to be tapering our workout. yesterday was my rest day. Not much of a rest as I drove 3 hours to/from class all day. Today Byron and I swam at the lake and ran. Only a little less than 2 miles running on the flat dam.

What was really interesting was while running my goal was to run SLOWLY. We are supposed to do things at an easy pace. So I tried. But I was out of breath the entire time. I wondered to myself, why? It must be the heat. Afterall it is well over 90 degrees but I'm not too hot. There is a nice breeze. Maybe I really do have issues with my lungs. My mom was a heavy smoker and I had chronic bronchitis throughout my childhood. Enough of the hypochondriacal reasoning. I don't know. I guess I am just tired.

I get back to the car and calculate my time, expecting over 12 min/mile. I ran 9.09 min miles!!!!! That's why I was short of breath. My fastest has been 11.33 min/mile. How did this happen? I tried to run slowly! I accounted for the distance as it was less than 2 miles. If I had done a full 2miles my pace would have been even more amazing. I ran about 1.75 miles.

Too cool. Tomorrow is a bike day. I work tonight and have clinic in the morning so I'll squeeze and easy bike ride on my new bike sometime.

1 week

In less than one week I will have completed the tri. What an interesting concept. I have been reflecting on how far we have all come in this. I started out barely being able swim a lap in the pool. Coordinating the strokes and breaths felt impossible and oh, did my nose hurt from all of the water I breathed! Running seemed absolutely far fetched. the first time I ran at the high school track I was so winded and finished after 1 lap (1/4 mile). Then I was reserved to the fact that this would be a run/walk. Biking was fine but I didn't do hills. I quickly made it past the little hill in the valley with the utmost determination. Now I do hills bigger than that, no mountains yet though. But I can ride up the hill that hurts to walk.

James has always amazed me in this. Yesterday he was running a 7 min mile on the course. He is so humble about his achievements here. He is always calculating with this quiet determination. He makes it look so easy. Unlike myself, he is not dramatic. He quietly does his run . I watch how fast his legs move and it's incredible. He just does it and does it well.

Byron came in late in the training but it is clear he is a natural. Today he said the next thing he wants to buy is a new good street bike. We have cheap bikes. We didn't know how committed we were.

But after cussing at my bike at every long ride (handle bars would come loose, gears stop working, etc.) I decided to buy a nicer bike. I bought an exceptionally nice used bike from a teammate yesterday. It is sooo nice. I can lift the whole thing with 3 fingers--the carbon frame. It is fast too. It's a little big for my height but will work. I just have to ride more to get used to the handlebars and gears before tri day. Biking is my strength so I hope to make up some time from my slow swims. And the best part is I can just ride without feeling so frustrated with my bike.

I am feeling the closure but also keeping in mind that this is only the beginning. I will do the tri again next year with the goal of ranking in the middle of everyone. I want to do some bike races and crack a 10K and then enter a 10K run. I want to continue swimming and increase my speed for next year. Having an indoor pool in town will be nice for those cold rainy days this winter. I'll do the drills we did in training. James and I talk repetitively about training for a half iron-man (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) or and Olympic tri (.93 mi swim, 24.8 mi bike, 6.2 mi run).That would be cool.