Okay, I need to do this to vent and to contemplate and to possibly inspire others to take up this sport even though you have maybe be afraid to try it in the past. Because believe me, if I can do it (and I have the USA Triathlon Approved piece of paper AND a popsicle stick to prove that I did it), anyone can. Although I might advise you not to do one in central Florida in May.
SWIM (1/4 mile)
Many people fear the swim. If so, I must highly recommend the Lake Louisa Sprint Series that I did last night. You could, literally, wade the whole way out and the whole way back. To me, this posed a challenge, since I was pretty much trained to swim the 1/4 mile (and swim it well, I might add, according to some numbers I checked...my last practice swim was 10:03, which is not at all shabby for a 1/4 mile). Wading quickly was not really my deal and it lifted my heart rate up to that 'oh dear God just please let this erg test be over' anaerobic state. This state was also not so fun for starting the bike portion and it took me probably 1/2 mile just to get to anywhere near a normal, exercisey heart rate level. Small children also passed me at this point in the race.
For fun, there was a sign on the beach warning us that alligators are found in Lake Louisa and offering tips to avoid them. Clearly the best tip would be 'Don't swim in Lake Louisa because FOR THE LOVE OF PETE THERE ARE ALLIGATORS.' But that's apparently just not how Floridians roll.
T-1
I had experienced great anxiety about the transition (after reading about 25 websites that listed numerous tips and strategies for transitions). However, weirdly enough, I feel like I did pretty well. I put on wicking socks which prevented my feet from being wet and icky. I got my bike off the rack fine and even managed to walk it by guiding the handlebars instead of the seat, thus avoiding the pedals bashing into my calves. Seeing as how I am usually hyper organized, doing well at transitions kind of makes sense.
BIKE (7 miles)
As I mentioned, the first 1/2 mile was mostly spent recovering from the Swim-Wade and my elevated heart rate. I then looked ahead and saw an unusual sight for central Florida: hills. That's right: hills. When I want to do hill training in Tampa, I need to search long and hard for a hill. I know of two and they are both found on trails (one is an overpass, the other on the vestige of an old bridge). However, natural hills are few and far between, and normally have a total elevation of around 10-15 feet. That means the kinds of hills that I used to run casually during my warm-ups in Worcester (one of the many Seven Hills cities) are now far beyond my capacity. Being on a bike did not help and I was slightly confused about how to gear in this situation. That's how flat Tampa is.
I need to point out that the temperature was around 90F when the race started. Looking back in my old running diary from last year, I can see that I got really whiny and complaining when the temperature hit the mid-70s. When you combine 90F + Florida sun + hills = splitting headache and many thoughts of, 'Why, why, why?' There was a brief split second where I even thought I might quit. But I didn't because that's just how I roll, even when I'm sure I'm going to place DFL (it's in urbandictionary.com, definition #1). People stopped passing me at this point. That is generally a bad sign.
T-2 (Ich komme wieder...)
I momentarily could not locate my stuff. However, this leads me to my one piece of wisdom gleaned from my triathlon experience: bring a unique towel. That way, you can find your space at the bike rack quickly. My towel was a lovely one from Target that had tasteful, multi-colored stripes. A plain towel will be no help to you.
RUN (1.5 miles)
I know, it's a wimpy distance. And I was hoping to just blast through and kill the thing. That is hard when it is 90F and you have just swam/waded and biked hills. Plus, naturally, there were a few hills going out (these were very tiny and just reinforced the whole 'Tampa has no hills and I am turning into a wimp' thing). I walked the hills, but ran all the way back. It was at this point that I actually *passed* someone. She was an older lady but she was walking and I was running and I passed her, therefore taking me out of DFL. Score.
I finished and got my popsicle stick marking my place (plus it was 10 people off because the popsicle stick labeling person had erroneously started at the wrong number with my set). It is now taped to my 'USAT Approved' paper. The older woman also finished, but after me, as well as 2 other people. That made me 4th last. This is a big step up from December, when I was, actually, last in a 10M course (which also involved hills and lousy weather, just on the other end of the spectrum with 25F temperatures).
Ricky Bobby wisdom tells me that if you're not first, you're last, so whatever, that makes all of us from #2 down the same. I like that.
FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS
1) Don't race in 90F weather. I am not a 'heat' person. Racing in 90F weather will not change that. In fact, it's the next morning and I still feel over-heated.
2) Practice bike hills more often, even if that means at the gym. Or try to locate hills, perhaps by driving more inland.
3) Think carefully about wading speed and don't let heart rate get too elevated.
WHAT I LEARNED
1) I'm slow. That's just how it goes. The sport does not matter. It would be great if we had more sports that emphasized strength for women, because I think I would be good at those. But since I've committed myself to cardio sports, it's okay that I am not as fast as some other people. I am still working hard. Giving up is not the answer.
2) Bring a unique, multi-colored towel.
WHAT'S NEXT
Tampa Marathon: March 1, 2009. I would be thrilled if the heat/humidity/dew point stayed low for this event. Either way, there will probably be no threat of alligators.
My training schedule also allows for 5ks during the summer/fall. I am looking forward to those and will choose them as they come along. Mostly this summer I want to work at getting faster. According to _Runner's World_, my mile pace (for a 5k) is now at an intermediate level; this is a small but very welcomed accomplishment.
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| My popsicle stick/official piece of paper |
If you're curious, I did not do that marathon because my schedule was too much and I realized I couldn't handle it. I did the half-marathon instead (Gasparilla), which started hellishly (temps in the upper 60s, humidity in the upper 90s), then got rather pleasant after a major storm blew in. It wasn't until December 2010 that I would finally do a marathon...and finally discover blogs instead of Facebook notes.
