All you can do is tri

Last night I met up with my team, Emerald City Multisport, for an OW swim at Seward Park.  There were tons of women out last night.  Most of them (not part of our group) were getting ready for their first Danskin in a couple of weeks.  It was fun to see, since that was where I raced my very first tri.  Then there was our group, where only three of us were from our club.  The rest were a Team in Training group that our President coach’s. 

I got there a little late since I rode my bike in. More on that later.  Once I was finally ready to go, everyone had left already.  I waded in and joined them.  We were swimming to the farthest bouy to stay out of the way of the newbie swimmers and their noodles (to give them confidence while being in the water and security that they won’t drown) on their way to the first bouy.  Rumor has it, it’s 1 and 1/2 miles out and back.  Thus the farthest I have ever swum.  It felt great too.  Just found the zone and focused on form and enjoyed the whole thing.   I would have to say this was my first perfect swim.  The last four have been good as well, but I’ve been so focused on “Are we there yet?” that I haven’t been able to find my zen.  My stroke felt great, solid.  The deltoids are still a little sore, but not like before.  I guess I may just have to swim OW more often throughout the week rather than just on Saturdays. 

So the bike out to practice sucked.  Hard.  It started out okay, but all hills basically wore me out.  I was carrying about 20 lbs or so more than usual with my pannier bag and my wetsuit, bike lock, etc., in it.  Oh and water weight of my bottles.  I’ve come to the conclusion that my sleep habits suck as much as my shift work.  I work nights.  On my last day of work, I stay up for a few hours (as many as I can) and then I crash for 24 hours.  I tend to wake up every four hours for a bathroom break, a snack and maybe a glance at email.  I either feel like I need this much sleep or sometimes I have to force myself to sleep that long in order to stay up all night because I need to sleep all the next day in preparation for work that next night.  Hope that makes sense.  Sleeping that long can decondition you.  Take your strength away because you’re just laying there and not using your muscles.  8 hours worth is recuperative.  More than that can decondition.  This is what I believe happened, because it’s happened before and I’m just now starting to put it all together.  I think I only have 5 more weeks of night shift left before I start the day shift, thankfully.  But I can’t go letting that happen again.  It’s so discouraging to get out there for a workout and have it feel horrible.  There’s no speed, no endurance, no energy.  Today, I was so close to turning around and going home. “I can’t believe I did a HIM 6 weeks ago.  What the hell am I doing out here?”  I forced myself to just do it.  There was this portion that has this unbelievably steep hill.  I pushed so hard up it and only made it up half way on the bike and had to walk the rest.  As soon as I got to the top, I felt like I wanted to puke from the effort.  Again, “Who am I kidding?!”.  I rested for a few minutes and got my breathing back to normal and carried on.  I wonder why I was late??    Anyhow, I finally got to the swim and went into automatic - well after settling some tummy discomfort from the ride.  My legs were happy for the rest that the swim brought.  After the swim, I felt good on the bike.  I was able to ride with speed and consistency.  It felt like the ride out to practice had never happened.  ???  I even caught up to and passed two of the other women who were at the practice and had biked in as well.    

So a bit of revelation and some zen to finish it off.  Man, endorphins rock!  Too much sleep does not!     

Didn’t do as much as I would’ve liked this weekend, but did get some training in. Didn’t do anything Sat since I got off of work at 7:30a that morning.  I take that back.  I commuted by bike to work the night before and back home that morning.  Almost forgot about that.  

Went to the swim clinic on Mercer Island with a friend yesterday.  Seems I lost some of my technique in the last month from not swimming.  I found out I’m putting my head under water when I swim which makes it harder in several ways - turning to breathe and going forward efficiently - and angling my hand upward after it enters the water, before I bring it down to pull.  Funky swimmin’.  Easy fixes though.

Today, ran 3.67 miles in 40 mins.  Slow, but not bad for not having run much lately.  Followed it up with a 10 mile bike ride over 48 mins.  Not as fast as I thought I was going.    I tried working on the uphills by actively using my calves to crank the pedals and increase my cadence.  Even though I was trying to spin up the hill, I think I ended up mashing up the hill due to the extra effort of the calves.  That was tough.  There were a lot of bugs out today.  Swarms of them.  Thankfully, I wore my sunglasses.  Definitely ate a few, spit one out and collected the rest on my shirt and shorts. 

I’m having to admit to myself that I’m constantly dealing with my inner demons.  I try to trick myself that I’ve dealt with them once and they won’t return ever again and I can move on (hence some of my posts), which is extremely naive of me.  This is not the case in any way, shape or form.  I have to deal with them in everything I do on a daily basis, as I’m sure everyone does.  Waking up.  Getting out to train.  Doing anything all the way rather than half fast.  Etc.  Today, it was getting out of bed.  So tired today.  Got to the bottom of an uphill on the bike and tried to talk myself into turning around and going home.  Why??  Why say no to getting stronger, faster, fitter?  Why say yes to not becoming the athlete you want to become.  This was my inner dialogue during the ride.  Even before I left for my run, I had to tell myself to not think, just do. Just get dressed for the run.  Don’t think about anything else.  Focus on getting dressed and out the door.  It worked, but sheesh.  I’m really amazed and disappointed that it takes this much to get me out of the house.  I’m fine once I get out of the house, but it’s almost as though the house is magnetized and I have a hard time getting away from it’s pull.  I want to get out and train and know that I should, but I get stuck. 

If you’re reading this, sorry about the rant.  I guess I just needed to get all of that out of my head and into some concrete space where they can swim bedsides in my head. 

Well a lot has changed since the last time I blogged.  THAT was a dreary day.  But after a lot of thinking about life, needs and wants, I’ve decided it would be better for me to stay in the PacNW for at least another year.  Long story short, there is no tri community in NM, nor greenery, or my friends.  When I go to NM I never see anyone out running or riding their bikes, etc.  Here, they are everywhere.  Once I changed my mind I felt a big weight come off my shoulders.  Interesting…

Well May is nearly over and my race season is about to begin.  Sprint tri next weekend, June 2nd - B race.  Pac Crest Half Iron at the end of June - A race.  July 8th, 2 days after my 30th b-day (woo hoo!), my first Oly tri, STP the following weekend and then I think I’m going to do the Grand Columbian Half Iron Sept 15th.  Might as well, eh? 

I haven’t even thought about my race plan yet.  Next weeks race is a B race to prep for Pac Crest, guess I should give it some thought.  Especially since it’s my first tri in 4 years.

List o’ stuff to bring:

Bike

Bike shoes

Running shoes

Race belt

Nutrition

Wetsuit

Water bottles

Goggles

Swim cap

Tri outfit

Bike shorts

Socks

Road ID

Helmet

Sunglasses

Watch

Race Number

Extra tube/CO2 cartridge

Towel

Flexibility for any situation

Fun for the whole thing

Courage for the swim

Did I miss anything?

Finally got to see the movie.  Loved it.  I felt as though I was really able to get into the athlete’s psyche and see that they’re just like us.  They have their ups and downs, question what they’re doing, are emotionally vulnerable and human.  I will definitely be adding it to my collection.  And if Peter Reid happens to become single, I’m moving to Victoria.   

I love hearing about peoples journeys towards Ironman.  It’s so inspiring, as well as allowing you to see that you all have the same struggles, dreams, and experiences.  Sometimes I feel like an oddball when talking to friends and family about my IM quest.  As though I’m a foreign entity.  But hearing peoples stories makes me feel at home.  It’s kind of like Nursing in that it has a language of its own.  People are always telling me, “I don’t know how you do it.”  This refers to both Nursing and Triathlon.  It’s definitely a unique goal - or mission as I’ve come to see it.  Even if people don’t understand, it doesn’t deter me.  I just hope that the more I talk about it and the more they ask about it, it won’t seem so odd or foreign.  

When I was in Penticton for IMC this year, I got to meet Paul (Tribro), Libor (BBB), Geoff (PoC) and a few others.  It was so easy to talk triathlon.  It felt like I had just returned from a foreign country and finally got to speak my own language fluently.  I’m really happy to be part of the Trifuel family.  I’ve gotten to meet some fun, motivated people who share the same passion for tri.  Tonight, I got to meet Britt (brittda) before the movie, which we saw together.  She’s full of lots of good info and a very cool person.  All of this is exactly why we need to have some Trifuel get togethers in the future.  (hint, hint Paul) 

Enough babbling.  Time for a 6 mile run.