From the vault: my first (and only) triathalon

I wanted to post this.  I wrote it originally on May 9, 2008, back when I posted 'notes' to Facebook (remember that?).  I've made a few references to it on here, so I thought that it might help to give some context for my first triathlon, which I did not enjoy for a variety of reasons.  Enjoy.

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.

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.

Long Play Race

So apparently I am only writing in this blog after races these days.  That's okay.  I have to admit that I have been more conscientious about Crossfit as of late than running. Probably you don't want to read post and post about how bad I am at all things Crossfit (mind you, if you follow this blog, then you read a lot about how bad I am at running).  Anyway, I did have a race today and I do have something to say about it.

Today's race was a trail half-marathon called the Long Play Race.  It's called the Long Play Race because there is also an ultramarathon of 33 1/3 miles, so it's like a long-play record.  And in fact, for finishing, we all got to choose a record with a distinct cover.  Mine is the 101 Strings, 'A Night in the Tropics.'

So much more awesome than a medal.

I really enjoyed this race for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the fact that we had almost perfect running conditions (in my opinion).  And I don't mean that it was almost perfect for Florida and only started at 72F with humidity in the 80% range or something.  I mean perfect.  Due to a freak dip of the jet stream, it is cold here.  As in, it was in the 40s for the entire race.  With low humidity.  I can still hardly believe it myself, so I want to preserve this graphic forever as a token of remembrance:

Best.  Racing.  Weather.  Ever.  (By Florida standards)

Compare this to Gasparilla last weekend, when I started with the second wave of runners at 9:45, at which time the temperature was 73F and the humidity was 93%.  That is totally over the threshold of ick.  DUDE.  That is almost summer weather.  At least it stayed overcast for most of the race, so we didn't all die.

Anyway, back to the Long Play.  Not only was the temperature pretty much perfect, the course was awesome.  It was in the Withlacoochee State Forest and once I separated myself from the other runners (which took, like, no time at all because the other runners were mostly pretty fast), it was so crazy quiet and peaceful.  Sure, the course was a bit too hard for me because it had hills and copious amounts of relatively loose sand, but I truly enjoyed being in the woods, pretty much by myself, and not dying of heat.  Yet it was still an eventful race in some respects:

1) Some of the forest was on fire.  Well, smoldering.  For real.  I jumped over a smoldering log at one point (then again on the way back).

2) There were hunters somewhere in the woods.  I heard them fire two shots.

So I never have to do Tough Mudder now, because I have been in a race where hunters were shooting stuff near the course and trees were on fire.  This ranks up there with the gators in the lake when I did a triathlon down here.  Ah, Florida.

I have saved the best for last, which is that I placed first in my age group.  Here is a re-creation of the conversation:

Race person: And....congratulations, you are first in the 30 and up division. [I think they meant 30-39]

Me: (stunned) No.

But I was.  And I got a hat as my reward.  And if you are curious, there were two other people in my age division, so I will take it as an achievement.

My time was pretty bad for a 1/2 marathon, even taking out the extended bathroom break (it was extended because the bathroom was being cleaned and added at least 5 minutes to my time)--which means that I totally earned my 1st place because I passed someone in my age group in the very last part of the race.  A lot was on sand, which makes running more difficult, and I am definitely not accustomed to running on this kind of surface.  Also, the course was likely longer than a 1/2 marathon according to the race director--my Garmin is typically useless on trails, although it did record more like a 13.3 instead of a 13.1 (race director thought it was more like 13.8).  People were pretty casual when they learned this news.  I guess if you hang out with ultra people, you learn to be pretty casual.

I decided a few days ago that I spend too much time thinking about bad runs that I have experienced instead of focusing on the good ones.  So I am making an effort to identify good ones and remember them, so that I remind myself that there will be benefits while I am slogging through less enjoyable runs (by which I mean, runs that are too hot).  Today's race definitely ranks as one of my favorites in a while.

Did I mention the baby goats?  No?  In the last part of the course, I passed a fenced-in area that had a goat. She (I am assuming) looked around, then two little, teeny goats came out and hung out with her.  Seriously.  So cute.  Winning my age group, perfect temperature, beautiful course, my very own 101 Strings record, and baby goats.  What more could you ask of a race?

Running with Nuns

Last week, I did the Ringling Bridge Run.  The weather was great (in the 40s!) and during the flat parts, I ran pretty well.  I did not do so well on the bridge/hilly parts, which was kind of annoying.  While I was on the last part of the uphill, I was reminded that probably I could have done very well if I had done this race right after being in Australia.  Ah well.

Today was the Run with the Nuns.  This race did not go so well.  Now, as runners know, one of the annoying things about running is that you can be fine one day and not so fine the next, and often you don't know why.  I think that today's not-so-hot race can be traced to a few reasons and I wanted to share those with you in case you are trying to solve that eternal mystery of 'why did I not run faster':

1) I dressed for the start instead of the finish (and not even that): you should always dress for the temperature at the end of your race and not at the start.  This is especially important in places like Florida where the temperature can increase dramatically from start to finish.  Trust me, you won't be cold for long because barring truly cold conditions, once you get going, you will warm up.  I dressed for it to be in the mid-50s, which it was at the start.  Somehow, I missed the fact that it was humid....will I ever learn?!?  It was 57F with 93% humidity this morning--so close to the threshold of ick (only 10 units less, in fact).  I think that I was fooled because last week's race was far nicer.  However, it was also an hour earlier to start, which would have helped.

2) I did not sleep enough last night: stupid Stephen King.  This is what I get for starting Cujo the night before (and I couldn't finish it the night before because I had to get up for work).  Now from what I understand, one night of insufficient sleep isn't a disaster.  But I think that generally I did not get enough sleep over the past week.  So that was my bad.

3) Crossfit yesterday was nuts:  here is the description of the workout:

Teams of 4:
Run 400m (2-25#)
400 Deadlifts (135/95#)
Run 400m
400 Weighted Sit-ups (25#)
Run 400m
400 Jumping Lunges
Run 400m
FOR TIME
Teams must carry 2- 25 pound plates throughout the workout. If plate touches the ground, the entire team must complete 10 burpees at the time of the penalty (during the runs, the plate must be kept above the waist. During the exercises, the plate must be kept above the shoulders)

I almost quit during the second 'run 400m.'  Seriously.  It was one of the hardest workouts I have ever experienced in my entire life (if you're curious, I did not contribute fully, which is to say that I did closer to 50 deadlifts instead of 100.  You know what?  50 is still a lot).  And I was not exactly nimble this morning. So I don't think that this helped the race.  But it will help in the long run, as I'm pretty sure that it was Crossfit that helped me get my PR on the marathon.  Lost the battle to win the war, in other words.

However, it doesn't really matter why I didn't do so well because here is the t-shirt:

That is precisely the type of t-shirt I was hoping for when I signed up for this event.  Mission accomplished.

Back to the grind (in this business, the treadmill)

Things that didn't happen:

1) I didn't fall off the face of the earth, despite the fact that my blog might have led you to believe that.
2) I didn't suffer from some catastrophic injury or other impediment that kept me from running (okay, there was a bout of tonsillitis in there).
3) I didn't quit running.  Okay, I did for a bit.

After the Philadelphia Marathon, I felt kind of lost, runner-wise, and wasn't sure what I wanted to do next.  I discovered that Concept 2 has rowing challenges that you can do on the rowing machine and decided that this would be a fun change of pace.  So I completed the 100k challenge for the holidays, meaning that I rowed 100k between Thanksgiving and Christmas break (actually a bit earlier, since I left the rowing machine on December 20).  My most proud achievement was setting a 5k personal record that also put me in the top 50th percentile of my age group.  So awesome to not suck at a sport!  So different than running!  Also, I got a certificate for finishing the challenge.

Speaking of running, I am back at it.  It took me a while but then I figured out what I wanted to do: trail racing.  And some random races that I had always wanted to do, but hadn't had the opportunity.  For instance, I am running the Ringling Bridge Run in Sarasota next weekend, then the Run with the Nuns in St. Pete the weekend after.  Mostly for the latter, I just want the t-shirt.  Other races on the calendar include Gasparilla (5k), then I am getting into the real trail runs.

I chose two: the Long Play (I am running the half-marathon) and the Croom Fools Run (16 miles).  I am not crazy enough to try the ultras for these events.  The trails, though, should be fun and something a little different to keep me motivated.  Depending on how I am feeling about life, I may also add the River'n'Rapids again.  It's the week after the Croom Fools Run, and I don't want to be.......er........foolish.

Also, I have a new dream in life, which is to do the Keys 100 Relay.  You start in Key Largo, FL and you end in Key West, FL.  It's in May and the weather will be torture, but you can do it as a team and you have a support van.  I love everything about this idea (okay, I don't love the weather part).  Unfortunately, I am already booked for that weekend this year, but I am so totally doing it next year.  That is on.  If you want to be in my relay team, let me know.  I've already talked my stepmother into this craziness.

Apart from that, looking to get back to Crossfit soon (I had a forced hiatus because I was out of town, then the tonsillitis) and I will be taking scuba lessons starting Monday.  So keeping busy, even if not keeping at the blog.  Hopefully that we go better!

By the way, I was reminded tonight with my first treadmill run that gosh darn it, it is hot when you are not acclimatized.  You would think that I would know this by now.

Philadelphia Marathon recap

I am going to preface this post by saying that the Philadelphia Marathon was great.  Yes, that needed italics and bold.  That's how great it was.  So much nicer than my previous marathon, where it was cold rain for the first quarter of the course (ew).  The weather started in the upper 30s and was no more than the mid-50s by the end.  Could not have been better.  The course was great--there were two hills that I walked, but the more gradual inclines posed no problems (I am still a hill wimp).  And most importantly, I PRed!  And I PRed by 15 minutes!!!  Whoo!

Not my actual time, I was in the final corral of runners, so I had a delayed start (like, by more than 1/2 hour).  Also, you know that you ran hard when your finish line photo is this wimpy.

There was some other walking, particularly near the end when I was getting tired.  Compared to the last marathon, though, the last 6 miles wasn't nearly as bad.  I had some crazy and grandiose plans for counting down, like trying to count out 6500 steps (no), which then became 4 x 1000 steps (walk break after 1000), which then became some other counting down, eventually culminating in 4 x 250.  I think I needed to walk in there somewhere too.  But I did push myself pretty hard during the actual running segments.  For a while during the race, I was with the 5:30 pace group, but I told myself that that would be unrealistic.  I didn't wind up all that much slower than them, though, so yay!

The course was very cool in that you got to see a lot of different parts of Philly.  There is an out-and-back for much of the last half of it, but it is along the Schuylkill River, which I like.  This time, I didn't find myself doing a lot of sightseeing or staring at rowers, like I did last summer.  Mostly I was focused on the course.  But being focused on the course evidently paid off since I did PR.  Whoo! <-- This doesn't get old.

Streets of Philadelphia

Perhaps the best part of the weekend was when Rocky aired on the local PBS the night before.  I could have totally done the stairs at the museum faster than him the first time that he tried them.  Maybe not so much the second time.  But definitely the first time.

I think that I can attribute the PRing to Crossfit, or at least the fact that I am much stronger than last time.  While I did slack off for some of the more recent workouts, in general the strength training really paid off.  I am glad that I got started with it and that I recognized its potential for helping my running; the original plan was to do Crossfit for a month then focus on running but I think that I made the better decision.  Also, I can kind of/sort of do pushups now.  Kind of.  Let's not get too hasty here.

What's next?  I have no idea.  Honestly.  I have been wrestling with this for a few weeks now.  I was thinking of doing a triathlon, but after lots of contemplation, I realized that right now is not the right time to attempt this challenge (I did one, years ago, which was not fun, but that is another story).  I may do the 10-mile run in Canada when I am home for the holidays, which takes place on Boxing Day (December 26).  Other than that, not sure.  I will definitely continue with Crossfit and am definitely taking this week off.  We will see where things go from there.

Holy cow

I knew that I hadn't written in a while, but I don't think that I realized how long!  Anyway, the marathon is two days away.  I think I will be okay.  I definitely did not do several taper runs, although at times I was feeling super tired and decided that sleep was a better idea.  We shall see, of course.

I'm nervous, but I think that this is a pretty normal reaction.  It's a long race.  I am looking forward to it, though, and I think that the weekend in Philly should be good.

On a totally different note, I started a Tumblr for my dog: marlonthedog.tumblr.com

Lots happened. I just didn't blog about it.

So much has happened over the past month.  SO VERY MUCH.  Time for an update!

1) Colorama 2012: I ran my 10k in Milwaukee.  Well, outside of Milwaukee at Lapham Peak Park.  It was very beautiful:

Foliage!

The weather was great.  There was no Mr. Wisconsin Sun to mess things up.  Everything was perfect....except that you may have noticed one crucial word in the park's name: peak.  Yes, that means that there were hills.  In fact, Lapham Peak ascends to 1233 feet.  As you may recall, I am not very good at running hills or, as I learned, peaks.

What I do know is that I did just about as much as I could.  And I was stiff for the next 4 days.  And my legs were tired.  But hey, I worked hard.  The sad part is that I was still faster than the Beach to Beacon because while I may suck at hills, I totally suck in heat/humidity.

2) The Fall: no, not a pretty foliage kind of fall.  A hitting my head on concrete kind of fall.  This happened during my 16-mile long run (I have been keeping up with the long runs, even though I haven't blogged about them.  Twenty is coming up this weekend).  I tripped on slightly raised pavement and went chin first into the ground.  I also lost about 1/4 of my front tooth because I chipped it--I need to add here that it didn't hurt at all, although it was a pretty significant chip.  It was not nice.

I did get up and run another two miles, which made me feel like I was some kind of NFL tough guy or something.  Then I realized that this was probably an incredibly stupid idea since I had hit my head and there was no one there to see me if I ran into trouble.  So I went home and finished on the treadmill.

The result of the fall was a crown for my front tooth.  Not my favorite day.

3) After the Fall: as you do, I was worried for the next few runs that I would fall again and do something equally annoying as chipping my tooth.  I think that I may be dragging my left foot every once in a while and I definitely need new shoes.  But I have managed to get out since, including for the 18-mile long run, without incident.  So now I am mostly on track and ready to go.

Coming up: 20-mile run on Sunday (whoo!  Last of the long runs!!!!), then a 5k the next weekend.  This may not be my best idea, but I am out of town for a conference and I am supposed to run 4M according to the schedule.  I'm going to try and hold back, although I know that I'm not good at that.  We'll see.

I'm toying with the idea of trying to run a race in all 50 states.  So far I have Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.  So that's over 10%!  Plus I will get Louisiana after the 5k next weekend.  It's always good to have goals.