jmk-brooklyn's group-- FULL (Page 15)

Hello Everybody,

Thanks for all the support given and even for the last minute tips and hints on Aero Bars...

Something terrible happened to me.. which I should have expected and should have done something on, that really made me not OK for race... with all the toil, the hard ships, the investment.. it was killing...

Guess what??? .. This has happened to me a couple of time before when I was getting ready for my athletic events.

It was not a wound, not a cramp, not a technical problem with the bike, not getting late, not losing any item or a registration document.... but this is scary ... i do not know how common this is among you guys...

On 30th, the day before the race, we - me and my friend - did not do any training, but went to the location and witnessed the Sprint tri, got an idea about the process, the transitions, looked at the sea, spoke to other participants, some of the officials, bike maintenance and spent a good 5-6 hours there and came back to our hotel which was 13 Kms away. On our way I felt a bit sleepy and tried to have a quick nap in the bus, but could not..

Did some last minute shopping, bought a couple of plasters (I was getting blisters due to shoe cuts) , got a hair cut..etc. Came to the room, had a good balanced meal and went to bed around 9.30 pm, and set alarm clock to 5.30 am ( 8 hours of good night sleep). My friend fell fast a sleep immediately and started snoring..

Guess what happened.. i could not sleep a single minute till morning??? I tried very hard.. more i tried, more difficult it became.. all the sounds in the room became disturbances, all the curves on the bed started itching me. I almost shouted  in agony. I  was looking at the watch, every time I watched good two hours had gone without sleep.

Finally the alarm rang... and I got up without having any sleep.. ( It was the most horrible night in my life!!) i told my friend who had a very good night's sleep on what happened and told him i can't do it...not today...He was worried and upset. My head was spinning already, did not feel like eating anything..

The taxi we ordered came on time and we took off to the race location. i tried to sleep in the cab... no way...As if I was not meant to be slept on that day...  I did not feel like doing anything! i got my partner to do every thing for me. Pasting the bib numbers, putting water in the bottle... etc. i was just walking and standing like a robot.

Friends...  we did it finally....it was a dream, rather a miracle for me.  Now I am going out to get my cycle packed. My friend left for SL a while ago. my flight will be tomorrow.

I am really tired... will write in the night on what happened at the race and how I managed it.

Cheers!

Sujith

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday only I got our results from the web. As you can see below, the swim was a nightmare for me. With my sleepless night, we just made it to " Swim start" just 15 mnts before the starting time, 9am, which again was not good.

We did about 2 laps of 20m, swims in the warm up area and here we were at the start taking off ( I was still in two minds). They warned about the current and also on the waves, which seemed like a bit disturbed. I started slowly to make  sure my goggles are in place and within first 20 meters I already gulped two mouth full of salty water and told my self. This is it. I need to stop and tried to call the scooter guy who was looking for those who are in difficulty. Fortunately, he did not notice me and I was compelled to continue.  Then I saw suddenly that there was nobody in front and  realized that I have been moving away. Got back in to the track. sighting was a huge issue since the waves were too high.  Finished the first lap ( 750m) with great difficulty. Came ashore and started the second lap, expecting it to be easier, but proved to be even worse. I got a couple of kicks from those who were doing breast stroke. goggles almost got displaced.

Completed ( Timing was 52.03 and the place was 123, out of 167)and ran to the transition, which goes through the announcers and the public. We had become known to the announcers and he was shouting.." Here comes the man ... the only Sri Lankan to take part in an Int's tri", then he asked from me where my partner was, who used to be a better swimmer than me. Finally he too joined me at the transition. started off with the bikes. Completed the four laps in  1hr 23m, the rank 95 ( I have overtaken many).

Took off in the run.. and started feeling the shoe cut ( the plaster I have put for this had gone). Got in to the rhythm after about 2 kms. Felt a bit uncomfortness in the tummy which made me burp loudly several times. This I felt was due to too much of drinking in the bike lag. Finally came closer to the end and I decided to give my best shot. Did a good sprint in the last 300, clocking 56.35 mnts, ranking 48 in the run. Hence ended up with an overall ranking of 83. My friend finished 89 after about 1.5 mnts.

So that's it. It was a miracle for me and still feel dizzy, when I think of that sleepless night.

Jonah and the team, thank you very much for all the support, hints and encouraging comments. In fact you guys came to my mind when I was struggling with the swim.

I am planning to start training in a weeks time for the HIM to be held in Sri Lanka in Feb next year.

Will be in touch...

Cheers!

Sujith

jmk-brooklyn - 2011-08-04 6:01 PM I had a nice breakthrough today. I've been really working on getting faster on the bike, and it seems to be paying off. I was riding a time-trial of a route that is the bike course of a local tri that I've raced a couple of times. I know the course really well--it's flat with few technical turns and not much traffic so you can really hammer it. I was riding along this one stretch and I could feel a car behind me. I moved to the right a little to let him pass, but he stayed behind me. I was getting annoyed with having this car sitting on my wheel and was thinking,"Why won't he just pass me?" when I looked down and reaized that it was because I was going 26mph (a little over 40kph), which was slightly over the posted speed limit of 25mph.

Nice

I've had a bit of trouble getting back into my routine since getting back from Buffalo. Yes, I know, it's been a week, no longer a good excuse. I liked the structure of following a training plan, but sometimes its hard when I'm not on a normal routine. Since I missed a few weeks, I'm going to just start in on Week 10 of the beginner HIM plan since that's where I should be (still have not decided on whether I'll be doing the Oly or HIM, but figure I should prepare for the HIM in case).

I didn't run or swim last week, but I did bike 3 times (including my favorite hill repeats workout) as I'm getting ready for a century on Aug 20. My longest ride of the week was 55 miles and my legs were hurting after. Not sure how this century is gonna go, the plan is to just keep pedaling.

Well, triathlon #3 is done.  The race was on Sunday, and it rained from the very start of the race to the very end of the race.  I don't mean drizzle either-this was full downpour and crazy wind that could stop you in your tracks. 

The swim was a 500 meters in the bay, and I went in w/o the wetsuit and it was a great decision.  I felt so much more comfortable, and even though I was slow as usual, I did take 2 1/2 minutes off of my normal 500m time, and actually passed a few people from earlier waves so I felt really happy with my progress.

The bike, normally my strong sport, apparently didn't go as well as I had hoped.  I came in my predicted time, but more people passed me than I expected, and I only passed a few people, who, of course, passed me on the run.  The wind was killer, and the headwind unfortunately was on the way back in the loop.  We were at the beach, so that made it even worse.  I was thisclose to getting off the bike and walking, but instead I headed for granny gears to get through the last part of the bike.

The run for me was slow as usual.  I was pretty tired by the time I got done with the bike, with my transition gear under 5 inches of water by the time I got back, and someone took my rack position, which really aggravated me.  I just shoved my bike in where I could and took off on foot through the puddles that were passed my ankle.  My run/walk was really slow, and I ended up being dead last in the race (not including the 13 people that didn't finish). 

I was greeted with a big ovation by the remaining participants and the race crew, and my husband held up one end of the finish tape for me.  It was cool, but I'm a low key kinda gal, and would rather finish in obscurity (sp?) than have all of the hoopla that was there.  I actually think that everyone was cheering more so they could get the hell out of there, but who knows. Of course within 2 minutes of my finishing, the rain stopped.

I was tired at the end of the race, but I had a great time, and my friend actually won a an age group award, so that was a pleasant surprise.  Since it's my first year as a triathlete, my main goal was to participate and finish, while learning as much as I could about this sport and what works best for me.  I still have one or two races left this year, so I'll keep going and see what happens. 

Thanks Jackie.  I have my next tri in less than three weeks and its supposed to be really hilly, so that could be a problem for me.  The south shore of LI has no hills unless you count bridges as hills, which most people don't.  The swim is also longer, so I'd better get back into training mode fast!  As much as I have made peace with being last, it would be nice to experience to not be last at a race.

Did you make a decision yet about your Oct race plans?  Which way are you leaning?

-Kelly

Hi all its been a while, well i have been very slack on my training but today i completed my first Oly Tri in 2.52.08 (by my watch will see what the offical time is when its posted)  Ruff run through the swim was nice but slow 33 ish t1 ok wetsuit stuck on feet again, bike was steady t2 ok run was hell my hips and thighs were hurting as i came into t2 and as i ran it got worse, i probley walked have of the 10k tbh, managed to run it in and across the line. As to the future as much as i would like to go long i at the moment dont have the disapline to train that much and will see how i feel later this month, i think i will stick to Olys and sprints tho.

imsmiley- Glad to have you back. We didn't forget about you. Glad that you are still training! Good luck with the upcoming races. Keep posting.

Blinddave- Congrats on the finish.

Kelly- I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the Oly distance. The swim & bike distances on the HIM don't intimidate me, but I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for the run. I think I would end up walking big parts of it. I know if I do the Oly, I will be able to run the whole 10K, and I think I will get more satisfaction from that than saying I completed the HIM. Since mid-July, my training has not been where it should be for an HIM and that influenced my decision alot too. Thinking I might try for the HIM next year.

imsmiley88 - 2011-08-16 7:06 AM Thanks, Jackie. And, do you do purely running events (on top of triathlons)? Last night I signed up for the Vegas RocknRoll Half Marathon! I'm now signed up for all 3 HMs to qualify me for a Half Fanatic - San Antonio RnR in Nov, Vegas in Dec, and Houston in Jan. And, I did it...I signed up for my next triathlon last night! It's on October 30th. As I said, of course I've still been running (& getting faster than ever!) & biking & spinning. I did the one swim last week. So, it's time to start hitting the pool!!! But, I can do it. And, I WILL do it! Dana

Awesome job! Motivating myself to swim is the hardest for me too.

I did the Vegas HM last year and am planning on doing it again this year. We should meet up after the race