mcgilmartin's 2013 Mentor Group~ let's get swimming! CLOSED FOR TRAINING (Page 23)

I'm good with starting a new one so other people can join also and we can keep going.

Don, don't shake your head and be down on yourself.  OWS is a different beast.  You're no longer an OWS virgin, the next one will be a piece of cake, I guarantee.  I still think you did a heck of a job.

Thanks Matt.  I'm not one to wallow in self-pity (at least not for more than a day!), but like most type A's, I don't take it lightly.  I do think that the OWS, however bad, was a much needed experience for me.  In the end it will only make me a stronger swimmer.

Thanks Dave.  I'll keep that in mind next time.  I just got used to looking straight down when I swim. 

There's a sprint at the end of June that I was planning on doing.  It's a pool swim though. My next open water event is in the end of August.  I may try to sign up for something sooner than that.

So was anyone else kind of surprised to log in this morning? I personally think the new design is great. What say you?

OK I'm logging in for the first time in a few weeks, I thought I was on the wrong website. I am going to try to figure this new website stuff later. LOL. I need to post about my race back on May 18. I'm assuming a "new thread" will do it. (?)

I did my second sprint tri May 18. I did this race last year, and it is super great for beginners. They do a timed pool swim, and the bike and run is in a state park.

I was training pretty consistently for awhile before the race. Before I get in to the race details, I should explain my two weeks prior to the race.

1. I got a cold that should have been resolved in about 7 days, but lasted 14 days. It was the kind of virus which halted EVERY attempt of training. Even going outside to run or bike created a coughing or sneezing spell within the first two minutes of training. Last year when I signed up for BT, I thought my allergies would keep me from training and performing outside-but last year was great. This year was great until I got my cold.

2. Cold weather and scheduling problems resulted in only TWO days of outdoor biking prior to the race.

3. I have to train on my lunch break (and outside on Wednesday afternoons if weather permits). Three weeks prior to the race my workplace turned into a nightmare, I had to work over and no lunch breaks, so no real training. My very close friend who I have worked side by side for over 9 years turned in her notice and her last day to work was May 17, the day before my race. I was emotionally shot.

I was depressed, overworked, tired, and sick. I thought about not going to the race, then I realized that the race was what was keeping me sane and I wasn't going to let two or three bad weeks ruin what I had been working on for 4 months. Two weeks prior to the race, I started re-directing my thoughts from my only goal to take 5 min off of last year's time, to "this is NOW your FUN race, treat it that way". I knew I couldn't race hard with my allergies as bad as they were. Oh, and I am a hard-core "no medicine on race day other than ibuprofen or Tylenol" nurse. Some of the ingredients of the allergy medicines can mess with heart rate.


On race day, I got there about an hour and a half before the race began, found a sweet parking spot close to transition. I was so calm it frightened me. The whole "have fun" thing changed my entire perspective. I was afraid that the lack of adrenaline would cost me some time. I got my bike into transition, unpacked, laid out my stuff, looked around and just watched people. I was a little worried about my allergies, I packed about 15 Kleenex to grab for the run because I knew I would need them and I'm just not coordinated enough to blow my nose while on the bike and NOT WILLING to do the alternative. Prior to the race, people were warming up in to the pool and climbing out crying about how cold the water was. The day before I had felt the water and it was pretty warm, but it rained all night and dropped the temp. I firmly decided NOT to get into the pool prior to the race-no reason in stressing your body out with the cold to "warm-up" for a 200meter swim. I heard a few people say "you can't breathe until about a minute into it, the cold will take your breath away". In fact, I didn't warm up at all.

Swim time started, and I noticed just like last year, after the first 50 people in the pool, it was the usual congested, backed-up, cant go anywhere kind of pool swim it was last year. My first mistake-putting in a slower swim time start. I won't make this mistake next year. It is way better to be someone that others are trying to pass than the person who is trying to get around the people in front of you. Oh, and I couldn't breathe the first 25 meters, it was that cold. I was trying to breathe in and out, but there was no air moving because of the shock of the cold. I slapped the guys feet in front of me five times and he wasn't moving over, so I tried to go around him but there were two other people beside him in the lane. So I did a couple of breast stroke, side stroke, looked around to see what was going on until I could get a clear shot around them and swam on. Not a big deal. My mom and little boy were standing on the side of the pool, I waved at them three times during the swim. LOL! Swim time was only a few seconds different than last year.

I had to put on a pair of swim shoes to run in transition-it was a little over .1 of a mile and I can not run barefoot. I lost 5 seconds putting the shoes on but gained it when I was able to actually run. Transition was easy and non eventful. I actually watched a few other people, learned some things about people who are nervous and moving faster than they should (dropped items, equipment problems).

On to the bike! I wear the same shoes and socks for bike and run, and I wasn't thinking that since the road was wet that my shoes would get soaked, and I wore some socks that I shouldn't have. I really didn't notice it until the end of the race-thank goodness it was a sprint. My bike was making a real great clackity noise, it took me two miles to figure out what it was. The bike monitor on the wheel got moved somehow and it was clicking up against the magnet on the spoke. I figured that out after my bike computer shut off. They had every mile marked on the course, so it didn't bother me too much. I was within a second of getting a penalty for drafting because I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I was thinking "why isn't that tri bike whizzing past me, I hear them all coming" when I turned around to see the USAT motorcycle watching me. I did the same drafting thing last year, I can't help it, that's the way I drive too. The bike went well, I didn't push it too hard because I was afraid I would start coughing. I biked nearly the exact same time I did last year.

Then there was T2. After I got off the bike, and bent over to grab my visor and race belt, my allergies went FULL FORCE. I turned into CUJO. I inhaled really hard and got a pound of phlegm into my lung (sorry to be so brutal, but it is what it is). I hacked, coughed, people thought I was dying. I was just trying to show them my 15 Kleenex and that I was prepared for it. I heard a "bless your heart". I got laughed at a couple of times for running and blowing my nose with Kleenex. I laughed too, because you have to be stupid to do a race in that kind of condition.

I hate running, by the way. Even on a good day, it is just hard for me to move my feet forward. My nose was running so bad that I had a hard time getting hands free to put on my race belt. Two minutes into my race, I had used all the Kleenex, and I had two humps on my back where I was stuffing the used Kleenex into my tri shirt pockets-don't want a littering penalty(!). I gave myself permission to walk. For my pitiful two mile run, I walked FIVE times. Last year when I got to the big hill, I panicked and wondered if I could really run up the hill, this year when I looked up at it, I was thinking "Is that the same hill? What was I whining about last year?" I'm not sure if it was all the walking during the race, or all the running I have done in the past year, but that hill did not look anywhere near as big.

At the end of the race, I was sure my time would be way worse than last year. I was ok with that, considering I had a hard time breathing. At first I wasn't even going to look at my time, and I hadn't even set my watch at the beginning of the race because I was so determined to "have fun" and "enjoy myself". I thought I bombed the run, after walking five times in two miles. I was very happy I did the race, I had a load of fun, I am even more addicted to this kind of racing than ever before.

Of course I eventually checked my time, and could not believe I actually took off 30 seconds of overall time. I only added one minute to my run from last year ( last year I ran the whole thing). Now that's something to laugh about.

It doesn't matter how bad you think the race goes-it's all in your perspective and what you learn from it! In the words of my ex: "ADAPT and OVERCOME"

-CUJO