Destination MoP is FULL (of motivation!) (Page 19)

Good luck in your races all!  

This afternoon I will be headed to California for my race this weekend.  A small Tri for Fun that is not even timed but that race anticipation is starting to build.  My day today will be spent preparing, packing and driving the four short hours to the event city.  Going to practice transition this morning since my last transition was so poor last time.  Think I am going to do an easy spin ride today and an easy swim.  Nothing major just to burn some of this nervous energy.  We won't get to our hotel until 8 pm so it will be an early night and early start in the morning and I want to make sure I can sleep a little.

Not sure if any of you are like me but I can hardly sleep the night before a race.  What do you do to relax the night before a race?  This race is more of a intense training day my big race isn't until Sept.  but I want to know I can relax the night before the race no matter the size of the race. 

Again, good luck everyone!

Good luck!  I try to focus on getting good sleep two nights before the race.  Will probably using a sleeping aid tonight.  The night before is just useless for me as far as sleeping goes, too.  Maybe some peppermint tea?  Lavender under your pillow?

Good luck Melanie and Cynthia! Any one else racing?

I just got back from a 3 day mini vacation with my husband. We went to CapeCod to celebrate out 10th anniversary! We rented road bikes and hit the rail trail for an awesome 30 mile ride yesterday! The course is much flatter than I'm used to, so even though I haven't been on the bike much lately, it was not a tough ride. 

We also went on a chartered schooner for a  sunset sail- absolutely beautiful! Water temps were so cold, that my feet were numb in under a minute, so we didn't do any swimming!

Good luck Cynthia.  I hope you enjoy yourself tomorrow.  Have you tried Sleepytime tea to help get to sleep?  It's made by Celestial Seasonings, and they have the normal one, or one with a herbal sedative which I find really helps me settle down and relax to sleep.  You can't buy it over here, but i discovered it when I worked in Colorado and tend to stock up whenever I visit.

Good luck to anyone else who is competing this weekend.

Heidi - Glad you had a good few days.  It sounds like a nice combination of relaxing and energetic.

Today I'm wondering if the gods of cycling have something against me. 

I'm working this weekend, but because of the timing of my shifts I had a 4 hour window today to go for a bike ride, which is really my last chance to do a long ride before the steelman (not that I'm getting worried or anything....).  The plan was to head out for a steady ride and go as far as we could before we had to turn round and come home.  We were hoping for somewhere between 40-50miles.  Unfortunately 10 miles in Kevin got (another) broken spoke which had completely buckled his back wheel.  We seem to have had about everything possible break on our bikes in the last month or so.  Kevin stopped for a coffee and I continued on to the next town then headed back to meet him.  We then had a steady ride back to make sure he made it back and his bike is now in the shop, again, getting fixed.  I'm really hoping this is going to mean that we've had everything fixed and nothing will go wrong on the big day, but I'm a little worried that I'm going to have a massive mechanical breakdown 54 miles in...

Anyway, I managed just under 32 miles today, with lots of huge hills, so hopefully that'll do for training as the steelman route is much flatter.  I guess I'll just have to see how it goes on the day.

Hi Everyone!

Sorry I've been so quiet recently... 4 back to back trips is beginning to catch up with me.  2 down, 2 to go.  Fortunately, my next two are more fun ones than Houston and Harrisburg.  Sadly, my training has also fallen by the proverbial wayside as well.  Hopefully, things will calm down a bit by the end of next week.

Melanie... hope all went well this morning.  We had a little rain down here, hopefully you only had the clouds to keep you cooler.  Boy am I glad I didn't try to squeeze that in this weekend!  But it does sound like a fun race despite the logistics challenges.

Rach... it sounds like you will have a similar level of training behind you as when I did my first HIM.  You'll be fine.  My one piece of advice is to do what you can not to cook yourself on the bike so you've got something left for the run... to me, that means two main things... 1) try to avoid standing / mashing other than just to give yourself a position change break... really use the full bike pedal motion to save as much of your run muscles as possible and 2) a slightly lower watts output especially at the beginning and end of the bike.  It might take you 5-10 minutes longer that way for the bike leg, but what you're really trying to avoid in the HIMs is the 12-14 mi pace on the run which can add up quickly (trust me, I know!).  And, of course, plan / think about the nutrition and hydration, but that is there regardless of your bike training.

Good luck in California, Cynthia... hope you sleep well... maybe b/c you aren't in your own bed?  I'm horrid in hotels... still wake up before my alarm on race mornings (and often this means 3:30 or so), but fortunately, when my head hits the pillow at night, I'm out cold.  Just could use more hours toward morning.

Okay... back to unpacking, doing laundry and packing again!  Look forward to the race reports!!

Stu

That's a great time.  Well done!  Look forward to the race report.

I am still very, very tired from yesterday.  Here's a brief recap.  Link to BT format here.

Up @ 4:00am to get out of the door by 4:40am and arrive at transition @ 5:00am.  Setting up was not problem and I did remember to reset my trip function on the bike computer.  Porta potty lines not too bad and was able to get this out of the way without worrying about time.

The weather was 80F, 76% relative humidity, and overcast at race start.

Entered my corral around 5:50am.  Chatted with the other women.  One was the oldest female entrant in the Olympic distance at the age of 63.  She's been doing triathlons for 19 years.  She, as well as all the others, are so inspiring!

The swim was a time trial start by age group.  This was pretty neat.  Rather than everyone starting in deep water as a group, we jumped in the river in groups of eight.  Groups separated by 10 seconds each.  It made the swim much more manageable and, I think, safer for new triathletes.

I had a very good swim.  My sighting was so much better than last year @ Nation's.  I stayed near the buoys the entire time.  I do get very tired doing freestyle and wasn't able to keep it up the entire time after about 400 yards.  Then it was a freestyle & breastroke combination.  I've really got to work on freestyle endurance - it is such a strong stroke for me - it really propels me through the water.  I just can't keep it up long in the open water.  Loved the wetsuit.  I'm sure it made for easier swimming overall, I know I worked some muscles extra due to the restrictive nature of the suit.

Transition fine.

The bike segment was good.  I've improved my speed.  I do think I need to increase cadence rather than shift gears up.  During the bike, I did not drink as much liquid as I should have.  It was warm and very humid.  I felt good on the bike.  Made sure to bend at elbows and use the drops as much as possible.  Worked pretty hard.

Transition fine.

The run - where to start.  I was never able to get into my comfortable stride.  Tired from the get go.  My shoulders were so tired from the swim and bike, they impacted my running.  It's unusual for anything but leg tiredness to show up on my run.  My shoulders were the main impediment for 4 of the 6 miles.  They were so tired I couldn't run with the proper arm swing.  Had to walk many times to give them a rest.  Then the lack of fluids & impact of high humidity kicked in.  I was miserable.  Period.  The whole entire way.  

The post race activities and finish area were good but I was just too tired to really care.

Finished 4 of 13 in my age group, 160 of 398 women, 767 of 1332 overall.  

I think this race attracted some very competitive women.  The 1st & 2nd in my age group finished with jaw-dropping times of 2:29 and 2:32.  The 1st finisher of the 55-59 age group had a mind-blowing time of 2:28.  Geez.

I've had a day to reflect and I have the following conclusions:

1. Did not fuel properly in the 48 hours prior to the race.
2. Did not take in enough liquids the morning of the race before left home.
3. Did not take in enough liquids while waiting in corral for swim start.  Having wetsuit on probably compounded this.
4. I need to work on my freestyle endurance so I can swim this stroke for longer periods during a race.
5. Introduce cadence work back on the bike.
6. Complete some bike/run bricks.
7. Remain true to run training all the way up to race.
8. Introduce some shoulder/back weight training exercises into routine.

Nice race Melanie!

Well, I have been slacking on my workouts lately so I have sat down and figured out a plan.  I can not always get outside to workout between my husbands work schedule and having 3 young kids at home for the summer. So I decided I would start back on my P90X training and on cardio days I will ride at home on the trainer and then swim or run at the gym. ( I do not always get to the gym) I have promised my self (we will see how this goes) that if I have not had a chance to workout during the day and hubby is working late I will at least get in my P90X workout.

So End June/July Goals.

1. 1st priority all swim/bike/run workouts scheduled (2 per week on schedule - would like to add extra)   
2. Get outside for workouts as much as possible !      
3. 3 P90X weight workouts per week
4. 1 YOGA and several foam rolling sessions weekly
5. keep working on Gluten Free Diet - need to stay away from oats (granola is my downfall) this is a recent discovery
6. Stay away from as much Dairy as possible (really limit cheese) - not great on the stomach

Race report:  1:28:06 That for sure is my final time but my individual events are guesstimates since I messed up on my watch. But all in all another wonderful and positive experience!

This event is a great event for first timers. The first wave was competive triathletes then each wave started every 5 mins. I was in the fourth wave and the announcer reminded us to subtract 20mins off the final time on the clock.  Using this start really lets everyone run their own race. 

Dinner the night before was 6oz of pasta and shrimp at Applebees.  It was a bit greasy & I was a little concerned but with a lot of water with dinner it worked out ok.  Lights out by 10pm...eyes wide open until sometime after 2 am.  Up and out the door by 5:15 am after a breakfast of oatmeal w/banana, water, and a sugarfree Lemonade RockStar....has about 1 cup of coffee worth of caffine.

Felt apprehensive and anxious before the race even though it was not a big race.  It started late which, for me it worked out, because my nerves had settled by then.  When the race started I was mentally and physically ready. 

I had several things I wanted to focus on during my race:

1. Keep my belly button pulled to the back.  (This reminded me to use my core muscles)
2. Keep a pleasant face.  Silly sounding but it has to do with attitude. Not "wallow" in how hard I am working besides it makes my pics look better.
3. Keep a steady pace with a hard effort.

Warmed Up running in place for 45 mins. Decided against my normal short swim before the race. It was a little cool out and I was chilly so I did not want to get wet then cold again.  Running in place, high knees, really worked for me this time. I stretched, loosened up my arms which were a little sore from my yoga workout on Thursday.

The swim was a nice 400m done in 10:48.  Not fast but a steady pace.  I also had decided not to wear myself out in the swim...steady strong pace.  Before the race the announcer reminded us to swim until ours hands hit the bottom, not to get up and walk too early.  Good reminder and that helped me a lot at the end of the swim.

T1 much better than last time but I did lose my bike.  Note to self...get a view of where my bike is racked from the viewpoint of the swim exit.  Had a drink of G2 and quick drink of water.

Bike- The start of the bike is straight up hill.  There is NO flat to start.  My first thought when I saw that was, "I hope I am not the only one who has to walk their bike up that hill."  Ugh negative thoughts...I took that hill just fine.  I felt great during the bike and had an average speed of 16mph.  There were a couple of small hills but nothing major.  I did notice that my chest felt heavy and it made it hard to take in fluids.

Run- A few big hills.  Had a rabbit in the beginning but found her to be too slow!  I did almost drown on the run at the first drink station.  My chest felt even more heavy, the air seemed thick and when I took my first drink it went down the wrong way and I choked.  So small sips at the next aid station and poured the rest on my head.  I did walk half way up two of the hills and it seems to me it was because everyone around me started to walk.  Inner coach kicked and reminded me I did not need to walk just because others were.  So I jogged the rest of the hills best I could.  Concentration was on tempo...someone says they count...I did, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 like for dancing, and keeping a pleasant face.  I finished with a great sprint.  At one point half way down one hill a runner convinced us we were going the wrong way!  So back up the hill the five of us went, only to find out that the wonderful volunteers knew exactly what they were doing and we were going the right direction! 

Post race- drank the rest of my G2, water and cantelope.  At the table with where the muffins were I think the muffin lady called me fat...she looked at me and said, " You should try the fat free muffins"....I took a fat free one and two of the regular...I gave one to my daughter.  Ha ha, I am sure she was just selling her wares but whateve!

Lessons learned:

1. Know where your bike is from the viewpoint of the swim exit.
2. Trust myself - run when I can run no matter what others are doing
3. Pleasant face helps, especially during the run.
4. Practice setting my watch for more accurate times.

Congratulations on your race!  Sounds like you really stuck to your plan and it paid off.

I like your short focus list and especially #2.  I'll have to do the same next race!

Congrats to Cynthia and Melanie! It sounds like you both had good experiences and were well prepared for your races.

I ran my first 5 mile run on Sunday!  My route had a good amount of shade.  It also had 2 one mile long hills according to MapMyRun.  The first hill has some gradual portions but also has a steep portion.   I considered walking at a few points, but just kept my eyes a yard ahead or so and kept my slow jog going.  I'm proud of not wimping out on it.  When it sort of levelled off I was able to get my heartrate back down and the remaining incline felt like nothing.   I learned that running down that steep hill with cracked and crumbling tar on tired legs took some concentration. 

Next up is a 5.5 miler.  I've already mapped it out.  I'll just add .5 to the 5 mile route.

Congrats Melanie and Cynthia!  Super race reports as well... especially the reflections / lessons learned parts.  Cynthia - the keep smiling really works.  Positive energy really does create more energy. 

Andrea - way to go!  Keep it going... it's going to make a big difference when it comes time to do your next 5K... at each new distance you'll find it challenging, but remember where you were.  Just stay injury free!

So, I can't recall if I've mentioned it, but my wife and daughter have been in France for the past 3 weeks and I've just flown over to join them (and still a bit jet-lagged).  They're both working (Karen teaching and Katherine taking a class), so I will be working from here as well for the next 3 weeks before I head back home.  Anyway, great to all be back together again for a bit - the solo life was getting a bit old and was starting to talk to myself more than I care to admit.  Anyway, no swimming or biking for the next 3 weeks for me, so I am going to try to run on a more-or-less daily basis for the first time in my life.  I've always been a bit leery about that, but I've been reading some more positive things about it recently, so this seems like the ideal time to try it. 

Cheers!

Stu

Well done Andrea.  You're making fantastic progress.  And well done on keeping going.  It takes a while to develop that mental toughness, but once you've got it it really keeps you going.

Stu - welcome to Europe!  Finally someone who's a bit closer to me ;-)  Where abouts in France are you?

Doing my jealous dance!

Congrats to Melanie, Cynthia & Andrea!

Melanie & Cynthia - thanks much for the lessons learned & the focus lists - I'm going to re-read & adapt them for myself as I pack up tomorrow to head to Philly for my 1st tri (we leave Friday & the tri is on Saturday).  I'm getting nervous already, but am also excited & think I may need to look for that tea Rachel mentioned since I expect sleep will evade me as well.

My patellar tendonitis seems to be doing well, especially if I take care of my knee as instructed by the doctor & don't try to run on it too frequently (just a couple times/week right now), so that's good news.  We'll see how it is after the race & if I need to take some time off from running to heal it completely before diving into training for my August race (Iron Girl).

Thanks Rach!  We're in Lyon, though I still seem to have part of me back in the states... grrr... jet lag.  I'll be here for another couple of weeks, working remotely, but enjoying the cuisine!  My wife teaches French Literature and is fluent in French, so for her, and to a lesser extent for me, France is a "frequent" destination.  It's funny, it feels like England isn't too far away, but I was trying to figure out a way to get over to Austria to visit a friend next week, and I've just about decided it would be almost as easy to come back again in the Fall and fly there from the US when all is said and done :-)  Anyway, it is a delight to be over on this side of the pond again.  As always, the change in culture and pace is most welcome.  Just wish I could speak French... like many Americans, languages are not my forte.  Fortunately, I married well :-)

Stu  

I'm doing the Columbia, MD one (& Melanie might be too?) in August.  A friend of mine talked me into it, even though I'm not thrilled with the vegetation in the lake... but there are worse things, I suppose.

Yes, I am!!  We should try to meet on bike racking day.  My daughters (15 & 20) are doing it with me.  I've heard great things about this race so I'm getting pretty excited.  I feel much more focused now that I've got my first one (of three) of the season under my belt.

Looks like you will have great weather in Philly.