What is Ironman?

Ironman Triathlon is the ultimate endurance event. I won’t bore you with the history but if you’re interested, you can read all about it on Wikipedia.

To give my non-triathlete friends and idea of what this race means, I came up with a description that I think paints a picture of how far and how long we’ll be going:

Imagine that you go to the pool and swim 160 laps (i.e., 2.4 miles).

Then you get on your bike and bike from DC to Baltimore and back (112 miles).

Afterwards you run a marathon, or the equivalent of running from DC to Herndon (26.2 miles).

Sound like a long day?

(Next time you see a 140.6 sticker, you'll know what it means.)

Obviously some people will finish faster than others. Imagine that you get up one morning, and go for a walk at 7 am. And you walk, and walk, and walk, and you don’t stop walking until 10:30 p.m.

Yes, that is how long I will be racing.

And I won’t just be walking.

Okay, now I am freaking myself out again…

Finally, it occurred to me over the weekend that if I were to drive to the race in Panama City, Florida, I could possibly do so in less time than it would take me to actually complete the Ironman. [The 993-mile car trip, according to Google Maps, would take around 15 hours. I expect/hope to finish IM between 15 and 16 hours.]

Scary.

Now I have to go to bed. I need my sleep.

New day (and race report)

Acceptance

It is a new day and the shock of yesterday has settled. I knew it wasn't good when I got the call which began "Hey Catharine, did your bike have wheels on it?"

Thanks to my wonderful Team Z teammates, it looks like this is all going to work out okay and cost me a lot less than it could have.

Special thanks to J.R., whom I had never met before yesterday. He drove over to my building last night with perfect wheels for me to borrow until I get a new wheelset. He even helped me put them on.

Unfortunately we didn’t have all of the necessary parts, and somehow managed to blow the tube when inflating it. Surprisingly it didn't seem to startle the cats (Earl and Pepper). I’m hoping that after a trip to the bike shop tonight I'll be all set. It is a shame that this happens to be the week that my gym is closed for renovations. I have a good excuse not to bike or spin today :)

I really appreciate all of the sympathy and empathy. I am definitely keeping this all in perspective. Even though it could be a lot worse, I think I was entitled to a little pity party. I’m done with that now.

Race report

This will be a short one. Sunday I raced the Montclair Triathlon. Strange distances. A 1k (.6 mile) swim, 30k (18.6 mile) bike, and 8k (4.8 mile) run. For whatever reason I was super laid back going into this race. No plan, no expectations. I was really thinking of it as a training day.

It was a nice race with odd logistics. Because it took place in a neighborhood, the only official parking was at a school 2 miles away. Fortunately I have the cool USAT backpack I got for my efforts back at the Richmond Duathlon. I threw all of my gear in there and biked from the lot to the transition area. It was quite strange riding like that when it was just barely sunrise.

Before the race

My transition setup

Ms. Piggy before she was pillaged

The swim was in the 80-degree lake, so wetsuits were not legal. I actually enjoyed the water. My form for the swim stunk, but I did okay. I wasn't fast, but I wasn't last.

Thanks to Ben for this great shot of me coming out of the water

Although I hadn’t really set goals for myself, I did write down my expectations beforehand (and then promptly forgot what I wrote). When I got to work Monday I saw that I had gotten within 30 seconds of what I predicted. Ha!

The bike course was three moderately hilly loops. I got passed quite a bit, but towards the end I actually passed a few people myself. I was very unfocused on the ride. I am not sure what the issue was. Part of the problem is that my HR monitor wasn’t registering for the first half. I think I could have gone faster. Oh well.

The last ever picture of Miss Piggy with her wheels

The run is usually my strength and it is nice to always have that part last. I know how to run. It is so much simpler than swimming or biking. Yes, there is some technique involved and I am working on my form. I usually enjoy the run because I do a lot more passing than being passed. Sunday was no exception. The course was a bit on the hilly side. It was a two loop course, with a strange jaunt through the woods as the second loop began. Weird. Anyhow, it went well and I left it all out on the course.

Happy Runner Cat

Results:
I don’t feel like sharing them so I’m not gonna.

Thanks again to all of my generous friends who have supported me by donating to Doorways. I am just shy of 20 percent of my goal. I know we can do better. Would you please make a small contribution? Click here to help out. Thanks.

Thieves suck!

Just a quick vent to express my sadness/anger/frustration. Many of you know about the bike theft in my building two weeks ago. Well, they struck again. This time I had a U-lock on my frame and a cable lock on my frame and front wheel.

He cut the cable, took my wheels, put them on another frame and ran away. Someone in the building tried to catch him, but was unsuccessful.

Booo! I guess I'm not going to ride tomorrow.

More about yesterday's race when I'm feeling better.

Pretty, pretty please!

Hello, my friends…

I truly appreciate all of the generous donations I have received on behalf of the Ironman Community Fund and Doorways for Women and Families. I am delighted to report that I met my goal of raising $775 for the Ironman Community Fund and have begun raising money for Doorways. I am so touched by your generosity.

It has been a few weeks since I set up my new fundraising site, and I am asking for your help. Yes, YOU, right there in front of the computer screen.

I have set the modest goal of raising $1000 for Doorways (of course, it would be awesome if I could exceed this). Suffice it say that in addition to feeling personally connected to this organization because of the time I spent volunteering with them, the cause is one that is near and dear to my heart.

Please help me if you can. Yes, YOU. $5, $10, $20, or even $100. If you can spare it, I know that Doorways will put it to good use.

Please take a moment to visit my donation site. It is quick and easy, and you will get a receipt for tax deduction purposes. So don’t just sit there. Click away. Please! Pretty please with ice cream on top. And a cherry. [When I was a kid, my sister and I would add endless "toppings" and additions to this phrase to try to convince mom of whatever we wanted. I will spare you from this...for now.]

Thank you!

My favorite sundae - do they have Friendly's in Panama City, Florida? This would be an awesome post-race treat. :)

Parental Concern

Parents worry. Yes, I get that. It is their job. But Mom, I promise you, I am taking good care of myself.

If you’re my friend on Facebook, you’ve seen my status message asking you to email my mom and tell her I’m fine. It is partially in jest, but partially serious. She has a great sense of humor and I think she be amused if she received dozens of messages from friends saying they’re looking out for me and making sure I am well taken care of.

If you’re not a facebook friend, then either I don’t personally know you or you are resisting the facebook craze. I understand. I resisted, too. But trust me, you don’t want to fight it. Facebook is fabulous. It is a great way of keeping up with everyone, sharing pictures and it is just all around good fun. Join now. Okay?

So, go check my facebook page and get my mom’s email address. Send her a note and tell her that regardless of whether you think I am crazy or not, I am training smart and that I have lots of wonderful people looking out for me.

(If you’ve been in this boat before, trying to convince your far-away family that you really are okay despite the insane commitment you’ve made, drop me a line.)

Beach Weekend Report

Yes, I did go to the beach. No, I didn’t actually GO to the beach. I will explain.

Early Saturday morning Beth and made the trip to Sarah’s family’s beach house in Rehoboth. Nice easy trip, with one pit stop for gas during which I noticed that Erin’s bike (which I was transporting so she could ride with me Sunday) was trying to escape. Darn bike rack. I had tightly bound it in, bungeed it, locked it with my chain lock, and still it came loose. Some nice hillbillies, I mean gentlemen, helped me secure it again.

We arrived at the house around 11 am just as the rain started. Boo! We hung out with the girls and Sarah’s awesome parents for a little while and then decided to get out in the rain for our 8-miler. It was actually pretty great. The rain kept us cool and we got to explore the town. Rehoboth is such a different place than it was when I was last there about 10 years ago.

As we approached the house during the last 10 minutes of the run the sun appeared. Boy was it hot and muggy! I am actually glad we had the weather we did. Of course, the sunshine didn't last long. Maybe 30 minutes at the most.

Fast forward to the evening. We had a wonderful dinner at the Cultured Pearl – a contemporary Japanese restaurant where we enjoyed tons of yummy sushi. I highly recommend it. The girls headed out on the town afterwards and I went back to the house to go to bed. An Ironwoman-in-training needs her sleep! I felt like a party pooper, but everyone understood. Such is my life.

Sunday morning Erin accompanied me on my 40-mile ride. Another crappy weather day, though I think this time around I would have preferred the heat. We rode south from Rehoboth to Fenwick Island.

For the first half we were cruising along at around 20-22 mph. I was pretty impressed with myself, since this is much faster than my typical average. Actually, first I was convinced that my bike computer was off. I thought maybe the settings got reprogrammed. Then as we turned onto a side street to make the turnaround to head back I posited that perhaps my increased speed was due to the bike fit. I knew that being properly fitted can impact your speed. Before my fit I was saying I didn’t care so much about speed – I just wanted to stop hurting on the bike. I had a little moment of celebration with myself and started calculating how quickly I could get 112 miles (the IM bike leg distance) accomplished at that rate. And then……

Wooosh! Holy cr*p! As we turned back onto Route 1 to head north it felt like a hurricane. I am only slightly exaggerating. Not only was it windy, but the precipitation might have actually been hail. It was hitting us hard and stinging. Geez. We pushed through…at an average pace of speedy 11 mph. Good training but not fun. Not fun at all. Erin was such a trooper!

We arrived home, got cleaned up, and then hit the road to come home. And that was the beach weekend. I did get to see the sand, as part of my trip up Route 1 had a view of the beach. Sigh.

In the end, though, it was a great weekend. Lots of fun time with the girls, training accomplished, and a nice weekend away. I can’t explain how much it meant to me that Beth and Erin joined me for my workouts. It went from being a source of anxiety to something really fun.

One of the many lessons here is that we (those of us in training) should give those around us a chance to become involved. My friends are very supportive of my endeavor, and this weekend they showed that in a new way.

Another lesson is that it is fun to work out with people who are not your usual training partners. So what that my ride was all in zone 1? It was a nice change of pace for me and I think that my girlfriends may have a little more appreciation for what this whole training thing is all about now. For one thing, Erin pointed out at the end of our ride that it was only one-third of the distance I will do for IM. Good point.

Finally, I am glad that I didn’t let training and team activities prevent me from having a life outside of the sport. I can’t say I’ll be able to do this much over the next 4+ months, but I am so glad I did it now.

Feed me!

Tough but good week so far. So far I’ve done all of the scheduled workouts. Not unusual for me, but still. The Conte’s ride went well Tuesday. I was SO tempted to ride easy and skip the crit all together and just ride Military with the “C” group. But I didn’t. Partly because I blogged that I would do it, partly because I knew it was good for me.

I did it 4 times. It hurt, but I would have to admit that it might have hurt just a little less than last time. I think my heart rate was a tad lower this week, too.

Wednesday morning I opted for a solo, 60-min, zone 2 run and I really enjoyed it. Grooved to my music, took a new, different route, and appreciated the absolutely gorgeous weather. Funny thing – riding the elevator back to my condo I saw a neighbor and commented what a great day it was for a run. I told him the weather was about 62 and breezy. When I turned on the TV I was impressed that I guessed the temperature exactly right. How ‘bout that?

Wednesday afternoon I lifted. For a couple of months I’ve been following the “ME” (Muscual Endurance) workout. It basically called for lighter weights, 12-25 reps. I never before did such high reps (25!), but I trusted the plan and did it. It was a nice change of pace.

Yesterday’s workout was “AA” (Anatomical Adaptation – no, I don’t really know what that means). Same exercises as ME (squats/leg press, lat pull, seated leg curl, chest press, calf raise, seated row) but higher weights and 3 sets of 10 reps.

I went back up to my old weight for squats (what I lifted when I regularly did 10-12 reps). Ummm, yeah. Not too smart. I was hurting by the end of the first set. For whatever reason, I decided that since I was already hurting, I would just go for it and keep going hard. Pretty sure that was not what the plan intended. In fact, I am pretty certain that somewhere in there it talks about amount of effort, and I recall something about it not being 100%. Oops. Oh well.

I had a great workout. Needless to say, I felt it afterwards. I could barely bend down to pick up my water bottle. It must have been a sight to see. I hurt today - but I hurt so good. I love this kind of pain. The kind that says, “yeah, I worked hard, I’m building muscles.” [Don’t worry Mom, I’m just sore – I didn’t injure myself.]

If you’re keeping track, you see that there’s been a lot of exercise this week. A little more than usual thanks to the 90-minute swim on Tuesday. My nutrition apparently needs a little work. I thought I was eating enough, but my body declared loudly yesterday and last night that I am not. Ugh.

Basic rundown of yesterday’s nutrition:

--Pre-run: Bowl of shredded wheat with soy milk
--Post-run: Glass of OJ, and bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with honey [yes, I see that there was no protein here]
--Mid-morning: Cup of chocolate soy milk with scoop of protein powder
--Lunch: Whole wheat spaghetti with kale and roasted potatoes; Banana with peanut butter; Hershey miniature (special dark – yummm)
--Post-workout: Cup of skim milk with protein powder; Salad with kidney beans, feta, kalamata olives and flaxseed oil; Pineapple
--Dinner: Chicken/tofu/broccoli stir fry with brown rice
--Dessert: Snackwell cookie (1) (random find in the pantry), 2 Hershey miniatures

Sounds good, huh? Well, I thought so. That is, until I woke up -- only an hour after going to bed -- hungry. I drank some water. Just an hour later I woke up again -- starving. I got out of bed, ate, and spent the next hour trying to fall back asleep.

I guess I just need to eat more. I wasn’t hungry when I went to bed, but I pretty much felt hungry the entire day. So does this mean I am officially training for Ironman?

Someone please send me a pizza! Or if anyone wants to cook for me or take me out for a meal, please…. * I feel like I can’t keep up with my nutritional needs these days. Maybe I’ll just start eating lots of chocolate. And cupcakes.

Anyhow, this morning I made it to swim practice. I told Holly I would be there, and I didn’t want to be a liar. Swam well for 45 minutes and then my boo-boo happened. I hit my leg on the rough bricks on the swim ladder and cut my foot. It is really minor, but for fear of bleeding up the pool, I called it quits. Such a wuss!

Just one more workout to squeeze in before it is *finally* a rest day. Since I have dinner plans with the girls tonight at Brabo, I will spin at lunch time instead of going to the team workout at Hains Point. The training plan calls for 60’ zone 2 on the bike. Boring! I can do it, though. I am sooo ready for the break.

* Note that all meals must be carefully scheduled around sleeping hours, workouts, and this little thing called a JOB.

Build

I haven’t quite figured out the deal with exactly how Coach Ed puts together the training schedule. I guess I could read the Traithlete’s Training Bible, where I know it is explained. [Yes, I have a copy, and yes, one day, I promise I will return it to you, Joe, along with the two swimming books you loaned me when you first talked me into this. One day I might actually read them.]

Anyhow, it seems that there are generally 2-3 “build” weeks followed by a “recovery” week. During the build you – um – build. You gradually increase your volume. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the basic idea.

I am in the first build week (the schedule says calls it “Base 1”) of my 140.6 plan. Woo-hoo. And building, I am. Monday morning boot camp kicked my butt. Literally. Dare I call it fun.

Monday afternoon I did a nice zone 2 run around the tidal basin. I took the long way around so I could get in 40 minutes.

This morning was my first “long” swim. Instead of the usual 60 minutes, in the weeks leading up to an Ironman (IM) race, the team rents the pool for longer periods so that the IMers can swim longer. Although my IM is not until November, now is as good a time as any to work on my endurance. Plus, with my first half-IM coming up in less than 5 weeks, I figure I should start actually swimming the distance of the race.

I did it. I swam for 90 minutes. It was great! I felt so good in the water. There was a little bit of clock watching, but not much. Mostly I was just trying to follow the workout (Coach Ed writes a plan for us that includes different length sets with drills, speedwork, etc.) and keep track of my laps.

When all was said and done, I estimate I swam about 2600 yards. Google tells me that is 1.61 miles. Way further than I ever swam before. The distance for the half is 1.2 miles, and the full is – you guessed it – 2.4 miles. I am well on my way, and am full of a lot more confidence going into the half.

A few other notes about the swim. I felt slow. Not unusual. I was comfortably swimming along at an easy pace. At one point I had a couple of teammates on my toes and I decided to speed up and get out of their way. Surprisingly, it didn’t make me feel exhausted. I tried going faster for a few more laps and I was fine. How funny would it be if the reason I am so slow was simply because I am just not trying to go faster? I need to work on this and see if I can truly sustain the faster pace.

The other point I’d like to note is that I felt really good coming out of the water. Maybe I should stick to my slow, leisurely pace. I could have kept swimming. Or, more importantly, I could have gone for a nice bike ride…and, I don’t know, then maybe a little run.

I feel like such a swimmer today. Like all of my work on form, and concentrating on the million different tweaks to my stroke might be paying off. It feels great!

Tonight is the famed Conte’s ride. Last time at the ride I did the crit a record 4 times (versus the 3 times I had done it at most previous rides).

What’s the crit? Well, you might call it hell, pain, or torture. Some really like it. I dread it. It is a .8 loop through a neighborhood in North Arlington. At the end of the loop is a quarter-mile stretch that is straight up hill. Really. UP HILL. 18% grade incline to be exact.

Ouch. The strong guys fly up it. The rest of us grind our way up. I usually get my heart rate near my lactate threshold (max) by the end. It hurts. But I know it makes me a stronger cyclist in the long run.

My friend T inspired me a few weeks ago when she told me that she had done the crit 5 times. So impressed! I decided to work towards that. Perhaps by the end of the season…

The plan is to do 4 loops tonight. By the way, after we do the crit, we head out Military Road for a couple of hilly miles (aka Military Misery). All told, the workout is 11-12 miles and is one of the hardest parts of my training regimen.

Tomorrow morning is a 40-60 minute zone 2 run. I am debating showing up at track practice since I could save a little time by doing this one on my own (since I won’t have to drive to the track) and I don’t really need the track for this. It is fun to be with the group, but then again, if I am on my own I can listen to music and when I go to the track I sometimes wind up running alone anyhow. Choices, choices, choices.

Balance

If you’re a triathlete, or an athlete of any kind, you can probably relate to what is on my mind. Heck, if you have any hobby or activity about which you’re passionate, you will understand.

I train.

A lot.

If you’ve been reading, you know that a typical week has me doing 9-10 workouts, getting up before the crack of dawn most mornings, and spending most of my weekend days doing something triathlon-related.

And I love it.

I really do.

Well, I have bad days sometimes, but overall, I really enjoy it.

I love the challenge, I love the feeling of accomplishment, and I love being part of the sport of triathlon.

I also LOVE my team.

When I stepped onto the track yesterday morning at 6 am and jogged among my teammates as we warmed up for boot camp, I smiled. They’re my family.

Believe it or not, I do have friends who are not triathletes. And I love them, too. But as I expected when I signed up for Ironman, my time with them over the past few months has been limited, at best.

For some reason, not everyone goes to bed between 8 and 9 on weeknights. I guess they aren’t waking up at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. Slackers :)

Lately I’ve just been feeling all kinds of bad about not being able to participate in social activities. The fact is that if everyone is getting together at 8, I’m just not going to make it. Sometimes my friends have been able to meet me for an early for dinner, or I have been able to stay out later because it was a recovery week. Generally, though, I am rushing home to try to get to bed in time to get a full night’s sleep.

About a month ago my neighborfriends (the awesome gals that live in my building) proposed a beach weekend for June 20-21. Awesome! I looked at the calendar. All clear. …Of course that’s because the June schedule for the team hadn’t come out yet.

Soooo… as June gets closer Coach Ed sounds out a message talking about the “all hands” workout weekend planned for – guess what – June 20-21. It invovles a HUGE barbecue and FIESTA. Great.

Some excerpts from Coach’s message:

Hey folks – for many of you the weekend of June 21 is after your big races… It is also the weekend of the 120 mile ride (last long ride) for our IM USA [Lake Placid] people. Susan and I have planned for another “All Hands” ride that weekend and would really like to see a “sick” turnout… We have reserved a pavilion which can hold up to 250 people, obtained county permits to leverage the facility and ABC permits for those who’d like to enjoy some beer or wine. I’ll have bocci ball and horseshoes there, there are also volleyball courts and things like that. We’ll try to spice up our menu for the day a little bit.
***
Plan to hang out in the country for the afternoon and cheer for/support our Ironman USA people who will be finishing one hell of a hard weekend of training.
***
…We’ve gone an extra distance with the shelter to ensure that we have a fun day regardless of rain or shine. If you come out you can ride as far or short as you like, enjoy some grub and fun and then if the mood hits maybe run out and set up a Team Z aid station somewhere on the lonely roads of the 120 milers. You have no idea what a piece of chocolate can do for a person at mile 84 of a 120 mile day.

So, I’m a little torn now. Doesn’t that sound like fun? Go for a ride in the country, have an awesome lunch, then go out and support our teammates who are doing their final big training weekend before Ironman USA.

But wait, that’s not all.

This weekend is also the weekend of DC’s first ITU race. Many professional triathletes will be in town competing in this race, and there is also an amateur division in which some of my DC Tri Club friends will be participating. There are opportunities to watch or volunteer.

Plus, earlier this week I got an invite to attend the VIP party the night before the race. I. Want. To. Go.

But I also want to spend time with the girls at the beach. It is like, dare I say, a vacation. And a great chance to spend time with friends I haven’t gotten to see much lately.

I know I need to make time for friends and maintain those relationships. But I feel totally left out of all of the team events and tri stuff happening while I’m away.

Add to that the fact that I still need to do my training and it makes me a little grumpy. Fortunately my training schedule is kind of light this weekend. Saturday morning when I arrive at the beach I will head out for an 8-mile run. I’ve tried to convince the girls to join me, but while they are all very fit, I guess doing 8-miles seems a little excessive to them. Maybe they’ll do part of it with me.

Then on Sunday morning I will do 40 miles on the bike. I’m excited that E is planning to join me for this. I will drive her bike up with me on Saturday.

I want to do it all. But I can’t.

Monday morning is boot camp (at 6 am). It rocks. And I want to be there.

So do I drive home Sunday afternoon and battle beach traffic to get home in time? Do I drive home late Sunday and avoid traffic, but then shorten my sleep? Or do I just skip it and know that there will be plenty of boot camps in my future?

I AM truly excited for the beach weekend. Really. I know I’ll have fun, as I always do when I get together with these awesome ladies. I am just having a hard time preventing triathlon from taking over my life completely.

Race for the Cure

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early (like most weekend days, I’m afraid) to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. What a morning!

I ran this race as a show of support for the cause, but more significantly, to support my friend and fellow Junior Leaguer, K. She has been working hard this year to get herself in better shape, and I am so impressed by her efforts.

Over lunch recently I tried to convince her to join me for the Bright Beginnings 5k. I didn’t exactly succeed, but I was thrilled when she contacted me and said that she’d like to try the Race for the Cure.

It was so fun helping her get ready for her first ever race. I told her that any question she might have been thinking probably bounced around my brain at some point or another, so she should ask away.

And yes, I remember wondering whether there would be water and bathrooms at the start, and whether I should wear my race number in front or in the back.

We arrived at the start with time to spare, and then some. After waiting around and listening to speeches for 30 minutes after the stated start time, we were off. It was a fun day! We loved that the course was marked with kilometer markers, which meant we broke it down into fifths.

As with most races, towards the end things got even more challenging. That’s when you start to hurt and wonder if you’re going to make it. But K held strong, and at my urging (okay, insistence) even jogged across the finish line. Woo-hoo!

I will never forget the look of joy on her face as she completed her first 5k. I am honored to have been part of this race, and this day. Way to go, my friend!

The Latest

Hi readers! Just checking in. I am excited to report that as of Monday, June 1st I am officially following Team Z’s 140.6 Training Schedule. (140.6 is the Ironman training plan – it is the number of miles of the race). Up ‘til now I was on the 70.3 plan (half Ironman – get it?).

As of this weekend, I will be 5 months away from race day. That is way too soon and way too far away. Wow.

Rested
The bod is feeling a bit rested after having two whole weekends that didn’t involve racing in some way or another. This is a good thing. I had started to notice how difficult is was becoming to walk up the metro escalators. Fortunately, backing off just a little from training/racing was helpful and I feel like I am ready to build volume again.

This weekend I went for a long, easy 50-mile ride on the W&OD. It was really nice. I went solo because I spent the morning watching my friend Erin kick butt in her first ever sprint tri. [She rocked and I was so proud!]

I enjoyed being out on the trail for the first time in a while. While I did miss the company a little, I really liked that I wasn’t trying to catch up with anyone and no one was waiting for me. That was, until the water stop… [Insert foreboding music here]

The Fall
Around mile 42, I saw a sign for a trailside park with water fountains. It was time for a refill so I veered off the trail and into the park.

BOOM!

Next thing I know, Piggy is off to the right of the path, and I’m off to the left. It scared the bejeezers out of me.

I fell. Hard! I hit a small patch of mud, but that shouldn’t have derailed me. I still have no idea what happened.

My legs were really banged up….cut and bloody. My hand wasn’t doing too great either.

Mostly, I was freaked out. It all happened so fast. I had these sort of waves of crying/panic as I laid on the ground for several minutes. Much to my surprise, none of the picnickers in the park came over to see if I was okay. Maybe they were scared, too.

After calming myself down, I returned to the path to ride back to my car. It was pretty uncomfortable, but I made it. I told myself that if it were a race, I would have to push through. Thanks to a sympathetic biker on the trail who offered me some sympathy (and his phone) when he saw my bloody leg. Just a little compassion goes a long way.

I am really pleased that after only three days I am healing nicely. My whole left calf is black and blue (and green, yellow and purple) along with some nasty cuts. My right shin got banged up, but the bruising is minimal. My hand was initially pretty swollen with a hematoma right above my wrist, but it is almost totally back to normal now. My left arm, which I didn’t even realize was hurt until Monday morning, is sore but much better.

I am just so glad that the damage wasn’t worse. I’d be really upset if this affected my training. Piggy is doing okay, except for the torn saddle. I frankly despise the saddle, so this is probably a good excuse for a new one.

Bike Fit
Monday night I went for a bike fit at Spokes in Alexandria. I put out a request to the team for bike fitters and got a ton of recommendations. Mark at Spokes came highly recommended, and his price was right.

The whole process took about an hour and a half. He started off by taking measurements (of me and Miss Piggy) and then he tweaked my bike. He lowered the seat a bit, tilted the handlebars up, and adjusted the aero bars.

Last night I hit the Conte’s ride, and from the moment I got on the bike I knew there was a huge improvement. I didn’t realize how uncomfortable I had been until I wasn’t. Wow! Money well spent!

If you’re a cyclist and you haven’t had a bike fit, DO IT! Now.

I have read that it is the best investment you can make as a triathlete. I am actually looking forward to getting back on the bike now. I can’t wait to see how I feel after a long ride. I’ll keep you posted.

Support

As I have stated before, I have been absolutely amazed and overwhelmed at the support that I have received in the past couple of months. Wow! Words cannot even begin to describe how great it feels to have so many cherished friends, dear family members, and even casual acquaintances cheering for you.

After a number of tries, I finally have a website up and running that will make the fundraising process a little easier. From this point forward, all monies raised will go directly to Doorways.

Please consider making a donation by clicking here. Any amount… $5, $10, $25, $50 or $200 is greatly appreciated. Not just by me, but also by the wonderful staff and clients of Doorways for Women & Families.

I recently remembered a moment in which I was reminded that what seems like an insignficant amount of money to us, to others can mean so much. Back in 2006 while I was training for my first marathon, I was volunteering with Jubilee Jobs and was mentoring a woman from Ethiopia who was working hard to advance herself in the workplace.

I remember sharing with her my excitement about my upcoming race. At some point, among her many questions for me, she inquired about how much it costs to run a marathon. I’m certain that her curiosity was only about the registration fee, and not to the many other miscellaneous expenses like running shoes, clothing, race nutrition, etc.

I realized immediately that while the $95 fee to enter the race was a drop in the bucket to me, to her that was a hefty sum. I admit that I was embarassed to say how much I had spent to do something as "frivolous" as run a race. At that moment I was so aware of how incredibly fortunate I am.

My mentee worked diligently at a job that required her to arrive in the wee hours of the morning. Since she didn’t own a car, she took the bus everywhere she went. Her small studio apartment, if you can call it that, lacked a kitchen and a bathroom. She shared a bathroom down the hall, and used a hot plate for cooking. This lovely woman was thriving and she was happy. She was supporting herself and she was looking ahead to the future and trying to improve her situation.

I don’t know about you, but I think that we sometimes lose our perspective and fail to appreciate our good fortune. Aside from all of my many, many other blessings, I know that I am so lucky to have the life I do. When called upon to donate my time or my money, I remember that there are so many people who are less fortunate than I, to whom a "small" donation means more than we can imagine.

I’ll just leave it at that….for now. Thank you again for your generous support. Click here for my fundraising page, or here for more information about Doorways for Women & Families.

Holiday Weekend

Ahhhh, it is almost the holiday weekend. Thank GOODNESS! If you haven't noticed, I've had some type of race each of the past four weekends. And before that was the Columbia Brick-nic. I'm beat. I mean, I am really in need of a weekend where I sleep late.

I am going to take it easy this weekend and take a stab at camping. Ms. Piggy is coming along. We'll see how it goes. Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Here are some pics from Columbia in which I don't look like a character on SNL. [Thanks again, Jeanne!]

I love, love, love you guys!

Yes, I am still delighted over Sunday's triumph. But right now, the joy that I just have to share is my appreciation for having a wonderful network of friends, family, and teammates who are just so awesome.

Whether you're helping me celebrate good news, or giving me tips/encouragment, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support. It means everything to me. I love the comments on my blog, the notes on my facebook page, the emails, the high-fives, and the donations to Doorways. THANK YOU!

I don't think I have ever felt so supported. It practically brings me to tears. It is the best feeling!

Thank you for being part of my life, and my journey to Ironman.

(So far no response to my email to the race director asking if I won most improved - if you know Robert Virorito, please give him a nudge.)

Vindication

Today was a day I have anticipated for one year. If you’ve read my blog, you know that I had a lot of expectations for Columbia ’09.  I am delighted to report that the day was a success beyond my imagination.

As most of you know, last year the Columbia Triathlon was my first ever tri. I vividly recall my trepidation. In fact, the week of the event I posted a request for advice on the DC Tri bulletin board. My question was whether I should withdraw from the event. Based on my swim times in the pool, and the practice bike/run I did on the course two weeks before the event, I was seriously concerned that I wouldn’t make the cutoff times and would be disqualified from the race.

I was not looking for assurances when I posted my question. I really just wanted to know if folks thought I should bother showing up. However, the supportive folks of the club convinced me to go for it, and told me not to worry about being prohibited from finishing. So I went for it. I finished, but with the medevac drama (resulting in a 10-15 minute holdup) my final time was 4:19:52.

After that, I decided last year that I would aim for Columbia’s “Most Improved” award. I have trained pretty solidly for a year. I am so happy to be able to say that all of the hard work and sacrifice seem to have paid off.

The Plan

Below I laid out my plan for the day. I wish I could say that I followed it to the letter, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Long story short, the one mile backup to get into the park put me way behind schedule. I thought I left enough time, but I didn’t. I got into transition 10 before minutes closing. Once it closed you were not allowed back in. I stayed calm, but it was stressful. I missed the opportunity to warm up in running shoes, and I was not permitted to swim because by the time I got to the swim start the race had already begun. Nevertheless, I set up my area and got out in time.

I was a little flustered, but I found a bench and sat to get into my wetsuit. I had heavily sprayed myself with  olive oil to avoid getting stuck in my wetsuit like I did at practice the other day. Weird, but it worked.

I saw a Team Z-er, and introduced myself. He helped me zip up, and we talked for a little while. I started to calm down.  I headed over to the DC Tri Club tent and saw a bunch of my friends. That was calming but I was still quite stressed. Then my friend Sandy appeared, and said she had read my post about my plan, and asked me to go though it with her. I am pretty sure she thought she was doing this for her own sake, but it was exactly what I needed at that time. Thanks, Sandy. It really calmed me down.

I hung out with the girls until my wave was ready to enter the water.  I don’t know if it was the higher water temperature, or just the benefit of experience, but getting into the lake wasn’t as traumatic as it was last year. Last year I actually stood there saying “I don’t want to get in the water…No, I’m not kidding, I really don’t want to get in there.” This year I just walked right in and treaded water until the start.

Swim

It wasn’t a fabulous swim, but it was heads and tails above last year. I swam straight (for the most part). The best comedic moment came when I decided to take a break and backstroke. After a few strokes I looked up and asked out loud “Where am I? Why is everyone swimming in the opposite direction?” Somehow I turned around 180 degrees. Glad I caught that quickly.

Overall, the swim was good. Although I did get somewhat trampled on by the subsequent wave (orange swim caps – I couldn’t come up with any good nicknames for them like I did for last year’s purple “people eaters” and “greenie meanies”), it was only one wave and it was okay because I expected it.

I made it out of the water in 41:13. Last year was 46:48. I shaved a full five and a half minutes of my time.  Still not fast, but I just don’t care. I improved. Yay.yay.yay me!

Time 41:13 (.9 mile swim)– 87/88 age group (what?) – 1477/1569 overall (Last year 46:48 – 1695/1730 overall)

T1

I walked into transition and was very conscious of keeping my heart rate down.

Times are not yet posted for transition 1, but I can pretty much guarantee that I obliterated last year’s time of 9:14. [I could calculate it based on the times for everything else, but I’m too tired.] I joke that I have no idea what the heck I was doing for over 9 minutes last year, but today I was reminded that not only did I do the whole clothes changing thing, I also put gloves on my wet hands and had to run back for my helmet which I had forgotten.( Fortunately that was pointed out to me before I reached the mounting line or I would have been automatically disqualified.)

Thank goodness my wetsuit came off easily. Laugh all you want, but I think I’m sticking with the Trader Joe’s spray olive oil.

Bike

My sheer and utter joy at my improved swim time lasted me all the way through the bike course. Seriously. I was so happy with myself. Tons of people passed me on the bike. There were a few swim waves after mine. I didn’t care a bit. I was out there for myself, and I was just doing my best.  I was so happy I couldn’t believe it. I did pass some folks, but not many.

Not much more to tell about the bike course. It was hilly and brutal. I was pretty good about pedal stroke, but I need to practice not mashing so it isn’t so challenging. My heart rate was stayed in zones 3-4.

I was aiming to break 2 hours. Really, I wanted to do the bike course in 1:55. Last year’s time was 2:10 with the medevac delay (around 10 minutes). I realized around mile 18 that I was going to make my goal. Around 21 I realized I had a shot at 1:50. I entered the park at 1:45. The chip time is 1:51:07. I don’t think that is right. [It has been pointed out to me since posting that the bike time listed probably includes the transition time - I'll do that math tomorrow.] Still, I am elated. I shaved around 20 minutes off my time. Yay yay yay again.

Bike (25 miles) 1:51:07 – 69/88 age group; 1348/1569 overall. (Last year: 2:10 – 1677/1730 overall).

T2

I’m not sure exactly what happened here. I ran in, I changed shoes, I grabbed my race number and I was out. Somehow this only took 2 minutes, which was 49/88 in my age group and 611/1569 overall. I am not questioning this.

Transition 2: 2:00 49/88 age group; 1477/1569 overall. (Lst year 4:37)

Run

If I was happy before, now I was downright elated. So much so that I couldn’t wait to tell someone. And I did. I told the first person I could find how excited I was about my improvement. I didn’t mean to brag, but I was just so thrilled. She was really nice about it and seemed to appreciate my enthusiasm.

My legs felt heavy, but I was on top of the world. I just kept shuffling along. I had nothing on me (Garmin, footpod) to tell me how fast I was going. I felt slow. I hit the 1 mile mark under 10 minutes. Wow. I was quite surprised.

Last year’s time was 1:09:13. I hoped to shave 2 minutes off that. I had been thinking about my 10k times, and they were both around 1 hour so I didn’t think I could do much better on a hilly course after having swam and biked.

 Only afterwards did I realize that I’ve only done two official 10k’s before– one when it was 90 degrees and once when it was cold and rainy. I didn’t think about the 10-miler I did where I hit the 10k marker in under 55 minutes.

I kept moving and was shocked every time I hit a mile marker and realized I was still running 10-minute miles on that brutally hilly course. I was hurting, but it was just not an issue. I simply ignored the pain. I was so focused. I was happy to see a bunch of familiar faces on the run – some Z-ers, some DC Tri Clubbers. I made some new friends, too.

I incorporated one-minute walk breaks roughly every 9-11 minutes depending on where I was as far as hills and how I felt. It worked for me and I hope to do the same at Ironman if I can.

Run time:  10k (6.2 miles) 1:02:18. 61/88 age group, 1161/1569 overall. (Last year 1:09:13 – 1474/1730 overall).

Final time: 3:36:36. 71/88 age group; 1355/1569 overall. (Last year: 4:19:52 – 1654/1730 overall) 43 minutes faster.

Next time:

Did anyone notice that there was nothing about nutrition in my well thought out race plan? Me neither. I didn’t really give it much thought. Traditional wisdom is that someone my weight should take in 200-300 calories per hour for an event like this. When I run, I know exactly what I need. I have a routine that works for me. I haven’t gotten there with tri’s.

Before and during the race I consumed:

·        

Half a bagel and a glass of juice pre-race

·        3 chomps (gummy things) and 1 gel and half a bottle of water on the bike

·       1 small cup of Gatorade and a cup of water on the run.

This is bad, bad, bad. It worked for me, but it will not work in the future as the distances increase. I didn’t even realize it until afterwards.

I am totally exhausted, but giddy. I feel ready to conquer to world, and more importantly, Ironman Florida. I am so incredibly satisfied that I have made such progress. My aforementioned training partner and friend kept telling me how improved I am, but I thought he was exaggerating. In fact, yesterday he said he couldn’t wait to see my face when I saw my times for Columbia because he said he knew I was going to be pleasantly surprised. I am glad he was right and appreciate his faith in me. (And by the way, he kicked butt himself today. It was his first Olympic distance tri. He beat me, just like I expected him to.)

I don't know if I won "Most Improved" but I will find out. 

Here a before race picture, the one picture I have so far (thanks, Casey.) I didn’t plan to match, but now I think I’ll have to have a wardrobe of wetsuits to match whatever color swim cap I’m assigned.

 

Packing List

The big race is in two short days. I’m as ready as I’m gonna be. I did an easy 25-minute swim this morning. It went very well and it made me realize how far I’ve come in a year. Who knows if I’ll be faster on Sunday. If nothing else, swimming seems easier now. I definitely feel like I’ve improved. Someone please remind me of this next week if my times aren’t what I hope for.

I’m in the process of putting together my packing list. Of course, this is done in my Excel spreadsheet aptly named “packinglist.xls.” Naturally, there is a new tab for each trip I’ve taken in the past few years. This is not shocking to those of you who know me. J

I decided to use last year’s “Columbia” sheet as a template, and copied it to the end and named it – you guessed it – Columbia ’09. (Will there be a “Columbia ’10”? Who knows…)

It is amazing to me how I am modifying my packing list. The changes are small, but to me they evince how much I’ve learned in a year. For example, I deleted “bike jersey” from the list. No wrestling on a dry shirt onto a wet body in transition this year. What I wear into the water (underneath my wetsuit) is what I will be wearing when I cross the finish line.

I have also decided to trust the course’s water stations and not wear my hydration belt on the course. My only concern there is that I’m not sure if my tri jersey has pockets (I am picking up my new DC Tri jersey tonight) so I haven’t figured out what to do with my gels. I might use my SPIbelt instead of a race belt, as I did for the recent 5ks. It has a cool little pocket that expands way bigger than you would imagine is possible. I can pin my race number to it.

I think I’m ready. Woot!

Plan

I sent race pictures and a link to my blog to my team’s listserv. Mellowblonde commented on my “I need a hug post” with a great suggestion about using diaper cream for chafing. Thanks, woman! I checked out her great blog and discovered links to blogs of other team members. Awesome! I love reading what everyone else is up to.

[BTW, folks, if you don’t already use Google Reader, I highly recommend it. You can subscribe to all your favorite blogs, and when you log in it lists all of the new posts. It is the bomb! Email me if you want more info.]

So, one of the wonderful blogs gave me the idea to write out my plan for Columbia. I kind of have some vague ideas about what I’d like to accomplish (like kicking butt and not dying) but I decided to take this opportunity to write out how I hope the day will go. It should help me visualize the race. I’ve been having a little trouble with that lately. Even though I got through it last year, when I think of Columbia, frankly, I think of pain.

My nervousness makes me think of zig-zagging through the swim, struggling on the extremely hilly bike course, and pushing hard to get through the insanely hilly run.

Honestly, I don’t think it was quite that bad last year (except the swim part – that was ridiculous). I don’t know why I am stressing so much.

I remember smiling and cheering for myself as I finished the bike course (really, there are pictures!). And I remember as sick as I was and as exhausted as I was, having some fun interactions with the volunteers and other triathletes on the run course. I finished strong.

Here we go. This year’s plan:

Goals:
1. Have a nice easy swim. Sight to swim straight.
2. Quick transitions in which I act like I am actually in a RACE. (Last year’s T1 was 9:14. Yes, really.)
3. Pace myself and take it easy enough on the bike course to save energy for the run (I am a tad nervous about this one).
4. Run strong and steady.
5. Try to stay in or below Zone 4 or below the entire race.

Plan:

* Get to race site early enough to leisurely set up my transition area and lay out all of my gear. As a newbie I really stressed about this. Now that I am an experienced veteran (I have done a grand total 2 Olympic tris, one sprint tri that turned into a spritn duathlon, one true duathlon (Olympic), and one relay), I love transitions.

Pre-race
* Do an easy 5-10 minute jog to get the blood flowing and work off some pre-race jitters.
* Put on wetsuit (way easier said than done) and apply lubricant (spray olive oil is what I have in the house and I know it works) to make removal easier.
* Get in the freezing cold water for an easy swim warmup.
* Stand around and wait for around an hour for my swim wave to start. Sip water and munch on a clif bar or other race nutrition while I wait.

Swim:
* Start towards the back to avoid being trampled on by the rest of my wave.
* Make the first 100 strokes the EASIEST of my life (I can hear Coach Ed’s voice in my head).
* Stay to the right to avoid being beaten down by the fast swimmers in subsequent waves.
* Sight often, and don’t add extra distance by swimming way off course.

T1:
* Transition smoothly and quickly.
* Get the wetsuit off while sitting on the ground.
* Put on socks, then cycling shoes. Stand up, put on sunglasses, then helmet. Grab piggy and run to the mounting line.

Bike:
* Have fun on the bike course.
* Good pedal stroke and no mashing.
* Keep the cadence high and the heart rate in zone.
* Eat and drink enough (still experimenting with what this means).

T2:
* Get in, get out, and get going.
* Remove helmet. Change shoes. Grab race number belt to put on while running. Grab some sport beans or Gu to take during the run.

Run:
* Nice and easy start to the run.
* Negative splits.
* Finish strong and smiling.

There you have it. It will be a good day. I know I can do this. I did it last year with a heck of lot less experience and knowledge under my belt, and with a really bad chest cold. Plus this year I have the beloved Miss Piggy with me. We’re gonna rock!

Kinetic Weekend

I’m still here. Training and doing my thing.

Last weekend was the Kinetic weekend. Kinetic is the name of the race – I don’t know where it came from. It was at Lake Anna, which is about 2 hours away. Being the week before Columbia, I considered not participating. But it sounded like fun to be part of a team race where everyone goes down, camps or stays in group houses, and has big cookouts for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I decided that I would take it easy and participate in a relay. So I chose the bike leg of the sprint distance (there was also a half Ironman distance).

What a fun weekend! For some reason I volunteered to help with meal prep all day on Saturday since I wasn’t racing the half. Somehow I missed the part about needing to be at the race site at 5 am for that. It was pitch black as three of us bumbled around with flashlights making breakfast for the team.

The highlight of the day was cheering on the racers on the bike course. About 7 of us headed out to the course with our folding chairs, cowbells, and horns. We were all dressed in team colors (various shades of green). There we sat for almost 3 hours, hooting and hollering at all of the cyclists. My teammates were hilarious and made the experience a lot of fun.

Sunday rolled around and it was my day. I felt good and ready to go. I met my teammates with whom I’d be relaying and we picked up our race numbers. The volunteer apologized as she handed us numbers 666. Yup, that’s right. 666. Fortunately, I am not superstitious. My teammates seemed okay with it, too. You would think they could have taken that number out of circulation. We got bodymarked (666 on both arms, both legs, and ages on our calves – oy!). The reactions we got from folks walking around with 666 tattooed on us was pretty amusing.

Pre-race pics:

The race went well. I definitely liked not having to swim. I just waited in the transition area and when our swimmer arrived I removed the chip from her ankle (it was on a Velcro band) and put in on myself. I ran the bike out, mounted and started on my way.

As I left the transition area and headed up the hill I saw a bunch of Team Zers cheering. A couple of them recognized me and started cheering for me by name. That was so great!

Another teammate called out “mashing.” That is what you’re *not* supposed to do. It means putting pressure on the pedal in the downstroke instead of using your energy to pull the pedals up and forward. That was helpful and was a good reminder for the entire ride.

As I was leaving the park a 45-year old woman dressed in all black passed me. And then I passed her. And she passed me. I decided to try to get ahead of her. It was a fun game of chase on the hills of Lake Anna. I would fall back and lose sight of her, and then catch up. Finally, as we were getting close to the end, I was about to catch her and potentially pass her and…. kaplunk. I heard something hit the ground.

There was no one around me. I looked and I still had my water bottle. I looked back and saw I had lost my seat bag, which I had removed and replaced [apparently not well] when I attached my race number to my bike. Dagamit!

I carefully slowed down, came to a stop, laid my bike on the side of the road, and jogged in my stupid, freakin’ bike shoes back to my bag. When I say jog, I mean I awkwardly hobbled along making a racket. Bike shoes have big metal cleats on the bottom that make the front part higher than the back. Miss Dressed-in-Black rode off, never to be seen again. Oh well.

I had a good race. I wanted to be faster than I was, but I just wasn’t. I had to remind myself a few times of how far I’ve come. I remember just 14 months ago taking 55 minutes to ride from Clarendon to the Washington Monument. That’s about a 6 mile trip. Now I can do it in about 32 minutes with rush hour traffic.

I did everything I was supposed to do. I focused on keeping my cadence between 90-110 rpm, and most of the time I was over 100. Excellent! I tried to pedal in a circle and not mash. I kept my heart rate steadily in Zone 4. I felt pretty good out there and had fun.

My final time was 1:09, around 15 mph average. I was hoping for closer to an hour. [I guess I would have been closer if I hadn’t had to stop to retrieve my bag.] It was great coming back into the park to the cheers of the team. I made my way back into transition and the runner removed my chip and took off for the 5k. Our team placed 11 out of 22 relay teams. Not too shabby.

The rematch, Cat versus Columbia, is in just 5 short days. I am ready! My hands are still numb, but improving a little each day. I have seen Dr. Keith, and talked to my friend the ER doctor. I just need to wait this out. Grrrr. It appears I really did a number on my median nerves.

I am ready to conquer Columbia. By conquer I mean improve my time from last year, and not feel like an elephant is standing on my chest after crossing the finish line. Shouldn’t be too hard. Stay tuned for that race report next week.

Still numb and tingly

It is Tuesday. My hands are still numb. It feels like they’re getting better, but I am getting really tired of this. Boooo.

It is a recovery week (hooray!) and next weekend I am taking it easy. The Team is doing the Kinetic races at Lake Anna. I'm going down for the weekend. I might join a relay team for the Kinetic Half and jog – not run – the run leg on Saturday.

I am also scheduled to do the bike leg of the sprint distance on Sunday (18 miles, I think). I will probably race that, but it should not wear me out. I mean, I hope not. I have never just done part of a triathlon before.

My hope is that next Monday I will have nothing to complain about – other than being back at work. ;) No pain, no numbness. Just rested and ready for another training week. Oh yeah, and ready for the following weekend which is the long-awaited Columbia Triathlon. Ooooooh.

Random additional thoughts to share:

1) The race results are up from Saturday’s 5k. I am delighted to share [brag] that my 26:28 time had me finishing 4/45 in my age group (F 30-34), 80/313 overall, and 29/206 females. Yay, me! [I get to brag now since the rest of the time I lament how slow I swim and bike.]

2) My feelings about Sunday’s awful rain ride have been echoed repeatedly by teammates on our listserv. It turns out that it was a tough day for everyone. At least 10 people, including a friend of mine, went down at the scary, slick railroad tracks.

3) I swam a mile this morning in about 45 minutes. This is slow for most, but great for me. That means that if all goes according to plan I will be able to shave at least a few minutes off of my (.9 mile) swim time (was 46:48 last year). Yes! Stay tuned.

4) I really appreciate all of your support. Comments, emails, calls, donations, it all keeps me going. I thought about this a lot during my tough ride. Thank you!!!

Hangin' Tough

Weather.com and I are no longer friends. The forecast for Sunday, according to them, was for temps in the 50’s all day, a 5-10% chance of rain from 7-10, and a roughly 25% chance from 10-1. Do you know what that means? Let me explain.

Less than a 40% chance means it will NOT rain. 40-60% means it might rain. 60% and over means it probably will rain. Is that so complicated?

So weather.com, that means you were wrong! Because from the time I left my house around 6:30 am, until the time I returned roughly 8 hours later, it rained. Constantly.

I figured I would be fine with my new, sporty rain jacket. It didn’t occur to me until the 5 mile mark when I went through a puddle that saturated my entire lower body that I could have done better. The plastic bags in the shoes trick would have been smart. Hindsight.

At that point I looked at my odometer and thought, “Great – only 55 miles left.”

Being part of the team made such a difference yesterday. For starters, I found a buddy to ride with at the beginning - a nice change from the last few rides. In addition, all team rides are supported. That means that yesterday there were 5 “sag” drivers out with us. They basically drive around the course and make sure everyone is doing okay. Sometimes they stop at the turning points to direct us. Our cue sheets provide their phone numbers and we can call them if we need any type of assistance.

On a previous cold and rainy ride, a sag helped me out when I mentioned that my head hurt. It turned out my pony tail was digging into my head and she helped me fix it. She also provided me a new cue sheet since mine had gotten so wet it tore in half. (Lesson learned: keep the cue sheet inside a Ziploc.) It is so valuable to have support out there. Just knowing they are around helps you keep going.

Mike was the one sagging for those of us on the 60-mile ride. He was wonderful. At around mile 45, my buddy and I stopped for a potty break and he was there waiting. She decided she’d had enough and accepted a ride back to her car. When he offered me a ride I told him that I was going to finish this ride if it killed me. He said it just might.

At that point, I was so cold and exhausted I could barely pull up my pants after using the porta potty. My hands were completely numb and I could barely shift. I had already given up shifting with my left hand because it was too difficult. Braking was no fun either.

But I kept going. I reminded myself over and over again that I want to be an Ironwoman. I had to hang in there and tough it out. It is the same mental toughness I contemplated during the 5k.

I rode along and began making up songs. Buy me a drink one day and maybe I’ll share with you the Ironwoman Cat theme song. There’s a line about numb genitals. I crack myself up.

Some 5 hours and change later I made it back to my car. A miracle! I thought I’d be elated, but I was just cold, wet, and tired. I heated up the car and hoped that the feeling in my fingers would come back after a few minutes in front of the warm vents. I needed to rack my bike. I also needed to remove my helmet and change my clothes – neither of which is easy to do when you can’t feel your fingers.

I came this close to wearing my helmet for the drive home, but after struggling for a few minutes I got it off. I also removed my wet socks and shirt, and barely got on dry versions.

The fruit punch Endurox I purchased this week to try as post-workout nutrition did not go down easily. I got drank about half of it and couldn’t take anymore. Yuck. So I snacked on some trail mix on the drive back. It has protein, carbs and fat, right?

I got home, took a hot bath, and felt much better except for my still numb fingers. So nothing got done last night except for the consumption of whatever calories I could force myself to eat. Stouffer’s Mac and Cheese, a Cadbury crème egg – excellent nutrition for an athlete… It did the trick though and I slept through the night.

Unfortunately, I woke up still without any feeling in my hands and with a very sore neck. Grrrr… It is really hard to function like this. At least I can type. I just can’t really feel the keys.

But I got it done. And I am elated to report that I have no real injuries to report. My popliteus and my foot are fine. I’m a little sore, but nothing unusual. I am really proud of my efforts this weekend. I am on my way… 6 months until Ironman Florida.

Bright Beginnings 5k

I have done very few 5k's. They're very different than the longer races, and it was time for me to test myself. I had four goals for today:

* Set a PR (under 27:15)

* Don’t walk

* Negative splits (run the first miles slower than the last)

* Stay in Zone 4 for the first 2 miles, then zone 5a/b

 

Back in April 2006, I ran the Bright Beginnings 5k . It was my second 5k ever. I was soooo nervous. I had never been to Hains Point before.  I clearly remember how foreign it all was and how uneasy I felt.

Today, as I waited for the race to start, I realized I was having a full-circle moment, as Oprah likes to call it.  Quite a contrast from 3 years ago.

30 or so races later, I now have a routine.  I still get a little nervous for races, but it is no big deal.  Now Hains Point is a regular training location for me.

This morning I was set to go. Temps were in the 60s, humid with a light breeze.

The race start was delayed, but it didn’t phase me. I was ready!

Hit mile 1 at 8:10, feeling good.

Took a couple of turns and a volunteer announced we’d already gone 2 miles. My watch said around 15:something. I didn’t have a GPS or footpod on me, but I knew that wasn’t right. About a minute and a half later, I hit the mile 2 marker at 17:05. Oops, slowing down, but still within reach of the goal. I was paying close attention to my heart rate.

I was starting to hurt. My heart and lungs were tired. Fortunately, my legs felt good.

As I ran I was thinking of many stories I have heard recently about mental toughness. I knew I had it in me.

Kept moving those feet. I focused on keeping the turnover rate (cadence) high. Step, step, step, step, propelling the body forward…..

I can see the mile 3 marker up ahead. Looking at my watch, it is unclear if I can make it there quickly enough. I arrive and the clock says 25:something.

Am I really going to make it?

Keep going. Tough it out. Step, step, step, step. I cross the finish line. Whew.

So?

Goal:  Set a PR (under 27:15)

YES! 26:28. 47 seconds faster!

Goal:  Don’t walk

Yes! No Galloway method for Cat today.

Goal:  Negative splits (run the first miles slower than the last)

Not quite. Need to work on this.

Goal: Stay in Zone 4 for the first 2 miles, then zone 5

Yes! I’m beginning to think there is something to this heart rate training.

 

Tomorrow I ride 60 miles – 16 miles further than ever before. I made good use of the stick this after the race and hope that I am feeling good and ready tomorrow.