All you can do is tri

Pacific Crest Half Ironman inSunriver, OR - June 23rd, 2007

I can’t believe I did it, but I’m still living in euphoria from finishing.  Leading up to the race, I’d had a difficult time balancing working the night shift, sleep, injuries and training.  It’s amazing how life is thrown off kilter just by living and working different hours than most of the work force.  Three twelve hour shifts followed by 20-24 hours of sleep.  Yikes.  Training happened, but not as much as I would have liked.  I definitely had the miles in for the bike and the swim and knew I could go the distance for those two.  Having just started running again at the end of April due to a stress fracture in my Right foot in January, the longest run I’d done was 4 miles.   

The two weeks before the race I was feeling numb and like a deer in headlights.  Frozen by too many thoughts of the unknown swimming through my head.  The what if’s, what about’s, should I’s, etc.  Nutrition was kind of an issue as I wasn’t sure what I should do.  I hadn’t been taking in nutrition on my previous long rides.  Maybe an Ensure before a ride or two.  Looking back, those were pretty good rides.  The bad rides were the ones where little, if any, nutrition was taken in.  I have all of these books on training and prep too, but I couldn’t even get myself to sit down and read them.  Opening the books only increased my fears of not having trained enough and I didn’t want to see things that I probably should’ve done in my training since it would only further freak me out.  I couldn’t even get myself to pack for my trip until the day I left.  Weird psychological sh!t going on.  Freak out! 

Wednesday I spent the day running the typical prep errands after getting off of work that morning.  Ended up staying up until 9pm.  Oops.  Not good sleep prep.  Story of my life.  Made my list of things to pack and made sure that all of my prep errands were run.  Finally crawled into bed. 

Thursday, I woke up and didn’t want to get up.  Slept a few more hours, postponing my trip and leaving later than planned.  Finally left at 2:30 after packing and a running a few more errands.  Got to Sunriver at about 8:45p.  Had the house to myself that night.  Good for clearing my mind and trying to relax. 

Friday, I picked up my race packet and changed my division from AG to Athena.  Figured I should just even out the playing field.  Like it mattered.  But for some reason I wanted to do it.  Probably to see how I compared to other women with the same build.  My parents arrived after I had gotten back from packet pick up.  I said hello to them and then left with some guys that were staying across the street to drop off our bikes at T1.  I had gone over earlier to ask them the typical questions - have you done this race before? should I take my bike today or tomorrow?  They offered to take me with them to T1 and I took them up on it.  I had gotten lost getting to the house the night before, so going to the lake with people who knew their way around the area was a plus and something I couldn’t pass up.  I got some good info from them as far as the course goes and what to expect.  When we got there, the wind was really blowing and creating whitecaps on the lake.  This further freaked me out as I’ve never swum in that kind of water before and I already have enough trouble with the swim as it is.  The guys reassured me that it would be calm in the morning and placid.  Thankfully, they were right.  Mom and dad were fabulous and went grocery shopping while I was gone.  Yea Mom and Dad!

Got back to the house and took a short nap.  Then everyone started to show up.  We had nine people staying in the house, so it was full.  We had a BBQ that night, which I had invited other racing Trifuelers to.  Got to meet Adam and his family and catch up with Paul again.  It was quaint and although we were all talkative before dinner, we quickly became comatose after dinner.  Siesta!  Paul and Adam left a little after dinner since comatose people are not very interesting or talkative.    Everyone lounged or played games after that.  Thankfully, everyone in the house was really cool about letting me get the sleep I needed and we all went to bed at 10pm since I was sleeping on the sofa bed in the living room where everyone was.  I got all of my race stuff ready that night and set my alarm for 6am. 

Saturday - Race day!  Woke up before my alarm went off. NO BAD PRE RACE DREAMS! Yea!  Made coffee, started breakfast.  I wasn’t hungry at all, but I knew I needed to eat.  My dad, my cousin Jenny and friend Julie came with me to drop my stuff off at T2 and then to the race start which was 20+ miles away.  My race support was phenomenal!  Everyone took really good care of me.  I barely had to do anything, which was nice since I was busy freaking out.    Jenny carried my T1 gear and Julie carried all of my water bottles (3), stating “You’ve got to save your energy”.  I couldn’t argue with that!  Even though I got there 75 mins early, I felt like I was running late.  Said Hi to a few people I knew, including Britt and her husband Tony, who was doing his first triathlon ever - a HIM!  Found out I was actually in an earlier wave since I had changed my division.  Had to visit the port-a-potties and by then it was time to get into my wetsuit and get ready.

Wetsuit, schmetsuit.  The bain of my existence in triathlon.  I had already had issues with it at a previous triathlon.  Granted, I didn’t really train in open water or take the time to get used to it before that race.  I had gotten some tips from a gal on my triathlon team to soak it for 5 mins (accidentally soaked it for 30 mins) and then to open up the neck line once in the water and let the suit fill with water to create some space.  Soaked?  Check.  Water-filled suit?  Check. 

I’m in the water making small talk with other women and getting us all pumped up.  The siren went off and everyone started swimming.  I gave everyone a chance to get going before I actually attempted to swim.  The swim start is my nemesis.  I know I’m not alone in this and that everyone has had to deal with keeping or obtaining composure during and after the swim start, but I can’t seem to get going with out the pre-emptive hyperventilation.  My dad thinks it’s because I’m afraid to put my face in the water, which I agree with.  But I think it’s also the lack of OW prep, getting used to not being able to stop and take a break whenever I want and the constriction of the wetsuit.  I can’t get a full breath in and that furthers the downward freak out spiral.  So long story short, I ended up ditching the wetsuit AGAIN (de ja vu.  so embarrassing) and spending the next 10 minutes trying to catch my breath so that I could attempt to swim like normal triathletes.  I was basically trying to figure out all of my options.  Can I swim with the wetsuit?  Only if I want to drown.  What if I just unzip the back?  No help at all.  What if I pull it down to my waist? Too busy hyperventilating to see if it helped.  Should I quit? NO! You’re not dying or in fear for your life, so DON’T QUIT! Plus you’ve got all of those people on the shore cheering for you on AND it’s your mom’s birthday.  Should I give my wetsuit to the guy on the jet ski?  YES.  Called him over, asked him the embarrassing question of whether he could take it for me (he could), stripped it off and then set back to the ordeal at hand.  Breathing.  Every time I’d get to where I could finally catch my breath, a wave would come into my mouth and I’d have to start all over again.  This whole time I’m swimming the breast stroke with my head above water.  Finally, I caught my breath and just did it.  I put my face in the water and started swimming.  Still a little freaked out (don’t worry, the freaking ends soon. Promise.) and my lungs having been stressed to the max, I had to breathe every other stroke.  I tried for more strokes, but it would just get me going again.  I’d had enough of freaking out.  I just wanted to get the swim over with.  I finally got into a groove and worked my way through the swim course.  I found myself closing my eyes for part of it too, which I found interesting.  1:04:40.  There’s no question what I need to improve on for the swim…. 

After being horizontal for over an hour, to stand up was a funny occurrence.  Drunk without alcohol.  At least I didn’t fall.  Made it to my bike and could barely stand straight.  Putting on socks was hard enough with semi-dried feet.  The swaying didn’t really help the situation.  Since T1 is so far away, they have us put all of our stuff that we won’t be taking on the bike in a big garbage bag with our number on it.  They transport all of our bags back to the finish line for us to pick up after the race.  Tying that bag was THE hardest thing to do next to putting on my socks.  Hand-eye coordination was barely possible.  T1, 6:08.

Finally on the bike!  The part I’d been waiting for.  It probably took me a good 15-20 minutes to get my legs back.  My cycling was slow at first, but then picked up quite a bit after my legs woke up.  16 mph avg which was better from my sprint - 13 mph.  I spun up hills and hammered the flats and down hills.  Passed a few guys and played the carrot for another racer, Liz, who, when she finally caught me, said “You’re a rock star!  I’ve been trying to catch up to you the whole race.  I’d get close to you and then you’d dust me.”  That was pretty cool.    I felt really strong on the bike.  My nutrition worked great - two bottles of water, one bottle of Strawberry Ensure.  My only interesting moment was at mile 15 when I looked down at my arm or something and accidentally went off roading for a little bit.  Thankfully I was on a gradual decline on the side of the road.  A scream and some gentle braking to get me to a stop and I was good to go.  I didn’t fall thankfully.  It sure jolted me for a second though.  Then, right after that a woman in the back seat of an oncoming car stuck her head out the window and screamed “You rock!  woooo hoooo!!”  For some reason, this made me start crying.  It wasn’t a normal cry though.  It was more of a bawling, but without the tears.  I guess I had some emotions pent up in me that needed releasing, be it from the pre-race freak outs or the swim or the off road excursion or all three.  I only let it go for a few seconds and then gained my composure back.  Focus!  That was a little weird, but at least it passed quickly and didn’t revisit again.  I felt strong up until the last 8 miles.  My speed started to wane and this was when Liz caught up to me and called me a ”rock star”.  Must build more cycling endurance. 3:16:35.

Hit T2, sat down to put my running shoes on, drank some more Ensure and took off at a controlled pace.  4:08.

Caught up to Liz again and we set off on the run together.  We started out walking in order to get our legs adjusted.  Turns out, she’s had bronchitis for the last month and broke some ribs from coughing and didn’t think she’d be able to run much.  I told her about my foot and mentioned that we may end up hanging together on the run.  That was short lived.  She’s fast than me and after all the exertion my lungs went through in the swim, they were not allowing me to run very fast at all.  More a slow jog, which wasn’t fast enough to keep up with Liz.  I kept getting short of breath when I tried to keep up with her.  My breathing sped up and I had to stop and walk a few times.  She stayed with me the first couple of times, but she was feeling strong and I didn’t want to hold her back so I told her to have a good race and I would see her at the finish.  Ended up I could run, but it had to be slow.  I ran/walked the first 8 miles and actually ran more of it than I thought I would.  I took in Hammer gels at every aid station which happened to be every mile.  This helped keep me going and the first 8 miles actually went by rather fast.  The last 5 on the other hand, were slow as molasses in January.  My legs and glutes had started to stiffen up and my gait was shortening.  I ended up walking quite a bit for the last 5 miles.  I tried and tried to run, but I was tanked.  I could only run for short periods of time.  After the first 2 miles, the weather started to change and the sun was taken away by cloud cover which made the temperature cool down.  So much for acclimating for the heat prior to the race…  I was actually cold for most of the run portion which prolonged it even more.   Finally, the end came to and I was greeted with loud cheers from my family and actually hearing the announcer call out my name for once.  3:02:20  Final time - 7:33:51.  Athena # 3 to cross out of 3 entered. 

All in all, I had a good time.  I thoroughly enjoyed the bike and was surprised at how much running I was actually able to do.  My nutrition was good and the day went pretty well despite the start.  Once I got into my groove of swimming, that was actually enjoyable too. 

My race support was fantastic!  My parents, although they think I’m a few crayons short of a full box, were extremely proud of me and very supportive.  The rest of my family, Aunt Patty, Uncle Curt, and Cousin Jenny were ecstatic for me!  They cheered the loudest.  That’s their style though and I love them for it!  And my friends Julie, Lisa and Max were very helpful the whole weekend.  Julie and Jenny took me to T2 to pick up my bike and gear.  Again, they carried it all for me since I was waddling due to a very large blister my pinky toe.  

After the race, we all went back and gorged on food, sat in the hot tub and relaxed.  Thank gawd for the hot tub.  So nice!  We all went to bed early again since we all had a race the next day.  Julie, Lisa and Max were running the 10k, while my family and I were walking the 5k.  My aunt and uncle actually ran part of the race.  I was very impressed, but they said they run when they workout so it wasn’t anything new to them.  I guess I just thought I was the only one who ran.  Thankfully, I was wrong.   

The walk was actually kind of difficult.  My obliques were getting tighter with every step I took and my legs only allowed so much of a stride.  It was good to get out and walk though and get some of that lactic acid out of my legs. 

Things I learned:  More training is needed to improve my time.  It’s imperative that I get out and practice OW swims in my lovely @#$^!@* wetsuit.  I need to increase my endurance on the bike to keep me strong all the way through the bike distance.  Gotta get some running in. 

I feel like my mental training was pretty good.  I was able to problem solve, persevere and get through all situations. 

Thanks to everyone who came out to Sunriver to cheer me on and to those who cheered from afar.  My mental state might not have been so strong without your support!  I had fun experiencing my newest distance with you all.  Hopefully, you can join me on future adventures. 

Staying off the bike until Friday.  Ran yesterday for 40 mins.  Swam today for 45 mins with a co-worker, whom I’m coaching for the swim portion.  We’ve signed up for a tri together in July.  She’s got a ways to go, but she’s getting there.  Tomorrow, probably run or just pack.  Thursday, drive, maybe do one of the disciplines.  Friday, pick up race packet, short swim, bike, & run.  45 mins max.  Saturday, the big day! 

I was telling one of the guys at Triumph Multisport how I feel like a deer in headlights about the upcoming race.  Reason being, I was unsure about what to do about nutrition and the fact that I was just plain freaking out about the whole thing.  He helped me out with the nutrition portion by helping me breakdown how many calories I’ll be burning an hour and how much I’ll be able to take in each hour.  Then he helped me find something that will be good to my stomach and keep my energy stores up.  I was telling him about my last long ride and how I was good to go for the first 30 miles and then exhausted for the last half of the ride.  That I had taken in 3 Accelerade’s and 4.5 water bottles.  He told me that was why I was exhausted.  I probably burned 2000 calories and only took in 300.  Oops!  

It helped to have that figured out, but I’ve still been feeling ambiguous about the race.  Like I don’t want to deal with it yet.  I’m off work starting tomorrow, so I’ll have to deal with it and get my packing done, but I think it’ll be easier to focus once work is out of the way.  Tonight I’m feeling less ambiguous about it, but that’s because I’m so tired.  Third night on.  Then I can sleep.    Zzzzzz…..

Hopefully all will go well this weekend.  I think I’m pretty well prepped for the swim and bike.  The run will end up being a run/walk since I’m not prepped for it.  My longest run has been 4 miles.  I would probably be in good shape if I hadn’t fractured my foot in January, but se la vie.  I’m definitely gonna try to have my run in check for The Grand Columbian in Sept. 

Send good thoughts my way on Saturday!

Don’t worry.  They didn’t cart me off from anywhere on the road today.  I’m thanking them, well one particular fire fighter, for giving me accurate directions for my ride today when I was completely lost.  I was attempting to ride around Lake Washington today.  There are signs in various places claiming that there is a Lk. Washington Loop, meaning a trail all the way around the lake.  That would be a loop, no?  Well, I was in the middle of Redmond/Bellevue with no lake in sight.  I had passed said fire station before I had decided to stop and ask for directions.  I was just going to ask to take a look at their map, but this fire fighter had actually ridden around the lake a few times and knew the route.  I was off the mark, but not terribly astray.  Within 2 miles, I was looking at the lake again.  Whew! 

The ride around Lake Washington is somewhere around 60+ miles.  I didn’t actually find out since I cut the ride off at the distance I needed to cover and cut across I-90.  I ended up riding 57 miles today in about 4 hours.  Slow, but I got the distance done and that’s all that matters.  My race next weekend is 58 miles.  Now I’m probably going to just lay off of the bike until the end of next week before the race.  In the past week, I’ve ridden 99 miles and I can feel it.  I could feel it at mile 30 actually.  I was tired.  Hills were no longer manageable.  And even just keeping my speed at 15 mph was a chore.  So I think my legs are a little tired.  I did ride up a lot of hills on my way to mile 30.  Pacific NW = Hilly terrain.  I think I went up a few hills that were a few miles long.  I was able to cruise up those, but apparently I was paying for it later. 

To start my day, I ate a big breakfast.  Went for a 30 min swim.  Had lunch with a friend.  Then around 4pm I left for my ride.  I felt really strong in the beginning, which made the end feel treacherous.  I was comfy and flexible in the aero position off the bat.  Rode there quite a bit in the first 20 miles.  In the beginning of my ride, I was passed by a commuter on a Mt. Bike.  Grrr.  I was feeling a little rediculous on my Cervelo.  But I WAS taking it easy since I had a long ride ahead.  After this, I was greeted by another triathlete who is doing IMC this year.  It was cool to be encountered like that on the bike.  We talked about our upcoming races, etc.  After a few minutes, he said good day and took off on his Softride and his IMC tat on his right calf.  Pretty cool.  Further up the trail I re-encountered the commuter and asked him if I was on the right track for the trail.  He led me to the next trail 5 miles down the road and then we parted ways.  Fast forward to the Redmond Fire Dept.  The next 10 miles were pretty uneventful.  I got back to the Burke-Gilman trail (finally something familiar!).  This is where things got interesting.  I lost a CO2 cartridge (scratching head).  It fell off of my X-lab hydration kit.  I went back and got it, but was a little confused since I had just screwed it on before I left.  Apparently not as tight as it could’ve been.  I screwed it back in nice and tight and went on my way.  Stopped at a park bathroom to refill my water bottles.  I had three of them.  I had gone through two already and was currently working on my third when I stopped.  Shortly afterward, I went over a bunch of bumps in the asphalt where tree roots had begun to make their escape to the other side.  There were a bunch of them in a small area.  This was enough to catapult one of my water bottles in the back cages.  Lost some water, but not much.  This is where I began to really feel tired.  Not good since I had 30 miles or so left.  Was it the lingering effects of the 42 miler from last week?  Was it the swim earlier in the day?  Don’t know. 

Hmm… upon review of my next to last post, I’ve ridden 137 miles in the last week and a half.  Good thing I’m staying off the bike for a week or so for my taper. 

Anyhow, lost another bottle out of the back cages next to the UW medical center.  This is where I learned I can make the “grab”, for lack of better words, tighter by squeezing the cage and making it more narrow.  This is a terrible way to explain this, but it’s all my brain can muster at this point.  Fixed that.  Got myself to the I-90 bridge.  Hallelujah.  BUT, there is a giganto steep hill up to the bridge bike lane.  I made it up part of the hill, but almost fell over when I had to turn and ride up the rest of the adjacent hill.  I decided I would walk up since I didn’t have the energy or the muscle power to get up that hill on my bike.  Lame?  Yes.  But I had to push on.  I absolutely hate walking up hills in bike shoes.  I sometimes have to do it when I’m in the same situation but on other unfortunate steep hills, but not too often.  So I took the shoes off and walked in my socks.  That felt good.  I was a bit embarrassed everytime I was passed by a cyclist going down hill, but I HAD just ridden 45 miles.  One guy asked if I was okay.  I just replied, “Yeah.  Tired, tired legs and 45 miles.”  Got to the top, reapplied shoes and hopped on the bike.  Ah, I-90.  I was almost home.  At least it wasn’t windy on the bridge today like it was the other day.  Didn’t make it nearly as bad.  By this point, my neck was hurting, the aero position was not an option and I was sore.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t muscle soreness.  I can’t figure out if it’s the seat, my bike shorts, or my anatomy.  I apologize if this is TMI, but skin was getting pinched in my groin and it basically hurt for 2/3’s of the ride.  OUCH.  It was pretty much uncomfortable to ride for the last 30 miles.  I’m so glad to be off the bike, but what am I going to do about race day?  Gotta figure something out. 

As for nutrition, I went through 4.5 bottles of water.  One of which had a tablet of Nuun Tri-Berry in it.  I also took in three Accelerade gels.  I learned that this was probably not enough nutrition.  I think I might have been in a better place at the end had I had more calories on board.  Good thing I found this out today.  I think I’m gonna end up filling up one of my bottles with Ensure or Soy milk for more calories on top of the gels.  Hopefully, that plus the rest I’ll get this week will help me out on the bike portion next week. 

Afterwards, I ate a little something and then spent 30 mins in the hot tub at my apartment complex.  When I got back to my apt, I had no energy or creativity to cook anything.  So I hopped in my car and ended up at a mexican restaurant.  I scarfed down the beans and rice in less than a few minutes.  Inhaled is more like it.  By the time the waiter came over to see how everything was, the beans and rice were gone and I was already going on the huevos rancheros.  YUM!!!!  And homemade tortillas!  I was in heaven!  I felt super full afterwards, but it was well worth it.  

During the last 30 miles, I was thinking about how to say thank you to the fire fighter for leading the blind home.  I thought about the brownie mixes I had in the cupboard.  Perfect!  Except that I didn’t have any cooking pans.  I don’t know how I expected to cook them for myself.    I figured they have to stay up all night and they have access to a kitchen at their station, so . . . I took them two boxes of triple fudge brownie mix and one box of blueberry muffins.  When I got to the station, the same fire fighter was in the garage on the phone.  Awesome!  I got to thank him in person and give him his gift to share.  He said it wasn’t necessary, but I thought it was.  His directions were right on and he got me back to the side of Lake Washington that I am familiar with.  

Today was also a good challenge for my mental training.  There were times when I wanted to stop and rest and try to recover for the rest of the ride.  But I kept telling myself - I’m not going to do that in the middle of a race so I just need to keep pushing.  I need to know that I can do the distance without stopping, with the exception of flying CO2 cartridges and water bottles.  I made it with out having to stop which was good mental training.  Hopefully, it will come through next weekend. 

So there it is.  My half great/half treacherous bike report.  I’m hoping it’ll be a bit different next weekend.  Time to drag my weary a$$ to bed now.      

Ran for about 4 miles in 41:52 after work today.  Felt really good for the most part.  I took it slow on the out portion of my out and back route.  Near my turn around point, there was a woman that passed me going the other way.  When I turned around a minute later and crested the hill I had just run down, she was ahead of me.  On a side note, I read Joseph Vinciquera’s Mooseman race report http://trifuel.com/training/endurance-files/race-report-mooseman-half-ironman/ last night at work and he had talked about needing a “carrot” to chase during his race.  Seeing her in front of me reminded me of his report and I made her my carrot.  I think this was her LSD day, because she’s smaller than me and I was catching up to her.  I’m pretty slow as runners go, so I was surprised to be catching up to her.  But I took advantage of her training regimen and worked on my increase of speed on the way back home.  I almost caught up to her and probably would have, but she turned and saw me and sped up a bit.  <shrugs shoulders>  Oh well.  She made me work and it was a good run.  I got what I needed out of it.   

Now I’m off to bed since I work again tonight, 7p-7a.  Tomorrow’s a long training day of swim and bike after work.  I’m officially two weeks out from Pac Crest.  <eek!>

Since I have this rockin’ head cold, I wasn’t sure if I should be exercising or not.  Would it make it worse?  Would it help it out?  You may be thinking, she’s a nurse, wouldn’t she know?  Yes, but the athlete in me kind of wants to take over and just push through it. 

The athlete won today.    I ended up going for a long ride of 42.2 miles in order to visit my favorite tri shop and have them install my Xlab water bottle holder/CO2 cartridge holder because for some reason, I was having an inept moment when I tried to install it myself.  Turned out that as long as I was riding, my head cold didn’t rear its ugly head.  Unfortunately, when I stopped, it came right back.  So midway through my bike ride, I got to the tri shop and then stopped off for some coffee and sushi for a snack.  Yum!  Okay, maybe not together, but separate yums!  Ugly head reared half of that time.

The ride back home was pretty tiring for some reason.  I had to go slow on all hills.  Grrr.  Oh, maybe it’s because I rode 38 miles on Saturday and haven’t really been keeping up with my long rides like I should have?  :)  And I’m sick.  Go figure.

And the cold?  Well, it’s back with zest.  Throat wasn’t hurting this morning.  It is now.  Gonna try an get a lot of sleep tonight to counter act the athlete’s silly decision, as well as pop some vitamin C and Emergen-C.  I might throw some Cold Season tea in there too.  Again, not all at once. 

So that sleep thing hasn’t happen much.  My throat hurt too much and then I started coughing up yellow junk that probably festered while I was biking because it wasn’t flowing.  Fixed the throat eventually, but here I am at 5:30a up typing on my blog and not asleep…  So much for the plan.  Maybe NOW I can get some sleep.  At least it will get me prepped for staying up all night and sleeping all day tomorrow before I go into work.  This could be the bright side of it.  I’m off to find the sandman. 

More specifically, a sinus infection.  My face, teeth, and throat hurts.  I think my pace right now is one tissue per 1-2 minutes.  Thankfully, I have three boxes of tissues.  Hopefully I won’t run out. 

Speaking of running, I had planned on running 5 miles today.  I’m not so sure that’s gonna happen now.  I have a lot of hydrating to catch up on since I’m losing a good amount of water through my snot.  Sorry for the TMI, but it’s the truth.  I’m trying to OD on Vit C and echinacea, all though it may not even help at this point. 

There was a bit of foreshadowing to this cold.  At the team BBQ the other night, we took a little quiz to win prizes and one of the questions was ”What should you do 4-6 hours after your race?”  The answer was to avoid crowds.  This is apparently when your immune system is at it’s most vulnerable.  I was cycling during the 2-3 hours post race.  Showered, fed, and asleep during the 4-6 hours post race.  At a movie theater and restaurant 10-15 hours post race.  So I was definitely not out during the aformentioned vulnerable hours, but yet I still got sick.  The time span must be longer post race.  Oh well.  Lesson learned and more rest to be attained. 

The laughter just keeps growing.  :)  I think I’m fortunate that I am able to laugh at the things that happen to me sometimes.  Today was pretty funny!

Got to my race, met up with my teammates and struggled into my wetsuit.  Did a quick warm up swim and felt good.  Swim start went off without a bang for the first 3 mins.  Then I started to get claustrophobic in my wetsuit and couldn’t get a good breath in.  Got to the first bouy and was starting to panic.  I raised my arm for a kayak and yelled over to them to come get me.  I HAD to get out of that wetsuit!  I grabbed onto the kayak and asked the guy if I could give him my wetsuit.  He obliged and off it went!  Then off I went and finished my swim.  Thank goodness!  It took me a few minutes to catch my breath and get into my swimming, but once I did it was good.     I’m probably the only one in the world to take off a wetsuit during a tri, but it was my only way to finish. 

The bike was great!  Passed quite a few guys which was interesting, fun, AND awesome!    I LOVE my bike!  Such a smooth, fast ride.  And sooooo comfortable!  I felt like I could ride forever.  My average MPH definitely increased compared to my avg on my road bike.  The bike portion was uneventful otherwise.  Sadly, some people had flats and one even rode into a ditch accidentally. 

The run was where my GI system decided to tell me it was unhappy about all of the air and water I swallowed during the swim.  I was bloated, gassy and crampy.  grrr.  I had to stop and walk a few times in order to let the cramps pass.  I definitely need to work on my run though.  That used to be the part I was best at.  The bike has taken over, which is cool, but now that I’m healed it’s time to dedicate more time to the run. 

After the finish, my teammates and I basically walked all over trying to find where my wetsuit had ended up.  I told the guy my name and race number when I gave it to him and he made sure it got to lost and found, which was very cool.  I was soooo grateful.  It definitely made for a funny story and my teammates thought it was hilarious but were also completely understanding, as a few of them had panic moments near the first bouy as well. 

After the gear was retrieved, I joined a couple of my teammates and we rode around Lake Sammamish - 23 miles total.  We rode at a nice pace.  Not too slow, not too fast.  Which was good, because there were a couple hills that I had to struggle up.  Tired legs. 

Last night, my team also had a BBQ to kick off the season and socialize a bit.  There was a raffle for a couple of big races.  I entered the raffle for the Grand Columbian Half Iron and actually won one of the slots.  Granted, only three of us entered it.  Fabulous odds.    That race is Sept 15th.  I was planning on doing it anyway, but hadn’t signed up yet.  I’m pretty excited about it.  It should be a fun race. 

Today was a great assessment of where I am at, physically.  I’m kind of thinking about changing my race distance for Pac Crest from Half Iron to Olympic due to my lack of run prep.  But we’ll see.  I’m gonna try to do some last minute cram sessions and see what happens, all the while being careful not to get injured.  I also learned that I need to soak my wetsuit for 5 mins in the tub and then when I’m actually in the water to fill it up with water so that it’s not so tight.  I also learned I have very supportive, fun and dedicated teammates. 

Yea Emerald City Multisport!  Btw, our team shirts have the Blazeman logo with his date of birth and his date of passing, in memoriam.  It makes our shirts extra special and motivating. 

I’m not sure if those two words are actual words in the dictionary, but they best describe my morning today. 

First off, let it be known, that I was voted most accident prone my senior year of HS.  So the rest of this should not come as a surprise. 

I came off the night shift this morning at 7:30a at the hospital (3rd 12 hour shift in a row) and progressed toward the fitness center at the hosp.  Planned to do a short run and short swim in preparation for my first tri of the season tomorrow morning.  Ran for 15 mins on the treadmill, incline of 1.5.  Hopped off to get a towel before I did my 5 min cool down walk.  I left the treadmill going when I hopped off.  Accident # 1 - stepped onto the moving belt at the end, fell down catching myself with my hand, hurting my wrist and seriously tarnishing my pride and ego.  OMG!  Too bad no one had a video camera to capture it.  Two older men were there and they asked if I was okay and if I needed help.  They were nice enough not to laugh, at least on the outside…  I cut my cool down walk short and headed off to the pool.  Accident # 2 - As I was on my way to the shower to rinse off before going to the pool, I slip on the floor and end up jamming my big toe into a randomly placed tile molding on the floor.  YOWCH!  It still hurts.  Sometimes I can’t believe that some of these things happen when they do.  They definitely make me laugh, which I did a lot of today.  But now my toe hurts to stand on and I may end up having to walk the 5k portion of the tri tomorrow.     I’m icing as I type.  Hopefully that will help. 

Sometimes I wonder if things like this are meant to be a message or sign that I shouldn’t be working out or doing what I’m about to do….  Wish I knew.    I might not be so accident prone then.   Guess I’ll have to look forward to laughing more….