Only 61 more days till CDA!!! If I were counting down the days till vacation, that would seem like forever. It seems like it's in a few weeks, instead. Will I have trained enough? Will I have a good plan for nutrition? Will I be able to do it? I'm so nervous already. The International tri I did in Rumpass only made me more nervous, instead of calming my fears.
This week was a heavy training weekend. I had a one-mile swim in a master's swim meet on Friday. That was easier than I thought it would be. Mom, Dad, Walter, Melissa and Alex came to cheer me on. Mom was shocked that she was watching me at a swim meet. I was not an athletic kid. I seeded myself at about 45 minutes and finished in about 32 minutes. Not bad. The middle laps are a blur, but I do remember hearing mom yell, "Swim fast!"
So arms and chest are tired, but time for bed. Next morning, up for a run. Team Z is doing a 4 mile hash run (which are so fun) so I had to get in more miles before the 10 am start. Started out at Crystal Thai restaurant, got on the trail and headed west. The first 4 miles out were pretty rough. Thank goodness for tunes because it kept my mind off how much it sucked. Turned around at mile marker 6, stopped by the masonic temple meeting room to use their bathroom and the next 4 miles flew by. I could have run all day at that pace. I didn't even want to stop. Joined the team and started our hash run. I was running with Masaki; the lead runners were out of sight, I think the sag runners took a short cut and Masaki and I got lost. We couldn't even follow the trail right. Thank goodness we found the W&OD trail; we got on there and made our way back. Had a fun lunch at El Paso Cafe with 19 other team members.
Sunday morn, up early to drive out to Harwood, MD. Did 48 miles on my road bike, hopefully for the last time. I tried out a few tri bikes on Friday and I'm ready to make the purchase. I'm hoping I'll be a bit faster, especially uphill, but I'm also hoping the bike will fit me better and I won't have such sore shoulders and neck after long rides.
I was so tired last night. Thankfully, Mom made traditional Sunday dinner and we got to join her. Mmm, pasta, meatballs and salad. Delish! I was exhausted when I got home. Took some Advil and was in bed by 10 pm.
Today, I feel refreshed. I'm not so tired, but I sure am grateful for a recovery week. Although, as Es and I joked around at a pit stop yesterday, we took all our recovery weeks already. I don't have any time for recovery. Only 61 more days till CDA!!!
Next race is Half Ironman distance in 2 weeks.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Rumpass in Bumpass Race Report
On my schedule for my training is an international distance triathlon as my first race. That's 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K race. The last time I ran an int'l distance was the Austin Triathlon in 2007. Back then, it was the end of the season and I was about 15 pounds lighter. But now, I am more comfortable in the water and I have a race plan to stay in zone 2 the whole time as a training run for Ironman.
We got to the race site early enough to have breakfast with the team, which was great. Then I went to body marking and got marked up all over. I went to rack my bike, and somebody told me my bike was on the wrong rack. "No, I'm number 54." "Your bike says 57." Whoops!! I accidentally told them the wrong number, so I had to spray sunscreen all over the numbers and they wiped right off. Numbers on, transition set up, wetsuit on (this should be an event in itself), and I looked at the swim course. I could barely see the first buoy! But I was trying not to psych myself out.
The race starts. First of all, it was so windy. The waves were hitting me every time I tried to breathe. I was kicked a bunch of times and went off course a bunch of times. I had to lay on my back a few times to catch my breath.
These were my thoughts during the swim: I cannot finish this. What if I just stop right now? I can't stop now; what will I do for Ironman? I can't do an Ironman. Relax, I'm in the water and I'm lying down. I love Lake Anna. I've swam here as a kid. We are the only ones lucky enough to be in the water today. There is no way I can finish this. This sucks. I can't even see the buoys. I'm not even on course. I'm almost done. I'm zen swimming. I'm going to finish. Yippee!! That was tough.
T1, no probs. Last bike on my rack, no prob. Joined the race while most others cyclists are on the second leg of their bike. shoom, shoom, shoom, other racers pass me one by one, or in some cases, three by three. On my second loop, I'm pretty much alone and I don't pass a single person.
Come into T2 and see my family cheering section. Get on run course, it's great! Out and back so I get to see all the other runners coming and going. Keeping my heart rate in Z2 was awesome. I was never very fast, but I did pass a few people at the end. Kept running until I'm done!
Not a PR by a long shot, but a great start to tri season. However, instead of making me more comfortable about my races, it made me more scared. Only 3 weeks to prepare for a Half Ironman...
We got to the race site early enough to have breakfast with the team, which was great. Then I went to body marking and got marked up all over. I went to rack my bike, and somebody told me my bike was on the wrong rack. "No, I'm number 54." "Your bike says 57." Whoops!! I accidentally told them the wrong number, so I had to spray sunscreen all over the numbers and they wiped right off. Numbers on, transition set up, wetsuit on (this should be an event in itself), and I looked at the swim course. I could barely see the first buoy! But I was trying not to psych myself out.
The race starts. First of all, it was so windy. The waves were hitting me every time I tried to breathe. I was kicked a bunch of times and went off course a bunch of times. I had to lay on my back a few times to catch my breath.
These were my thoughts during the swim: I cannot finish this. What if I just stop right now? I can't stop now; what will I do for Ironman? I can't do an Ironman. Relax, I'm in the water and I'm lying down. I love Lake Anna. I've swam here as a kid. We are the only ones lucky enough to be in the water today. There is no way I can finish this. This sucks. I can't even see the buoys. I'm not even on course. I'm almost done. I'm zen swimming. I'm going to finish. Yippee!! That was tough.
T1, no probs. Last bike on my rack, no prob. Joined the race while most others cyclists are on the second leg of their bike. shoom, shoom, shoom, other racers pass me one by one, or in some cases, three by three. On my second loop, I'm pretty much alone and I don't pass a single person.
Come into T2 and see my family cheering section. Get on run course, it's great! Out and back so I get to see all the other runners coming and going. Keeping my heart rate in Z2 was awesome. I was never very fast, but I did pass a few people at the end. Kept running until I'm done!
Not a PR by a long shot, but a great start to tri season. However, instead of making me more comfortable about my races, it made me more scared. Only 3 weeks to prepare for a Half Ironman...
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