Shoreman 70.3 triathlon (part 1)

Finish with a smile on my face, have fun on the day, and come in under 7 hours.  Those were my goals for this half-iron distance race -- one I didn't ever think I'd actually attempt.  I fake the tri thing -- I couldn't even imagine swimming 1.2 miles, then riding 56, then running 13.1.  Too much! 

But last fall, when my calf was jacked up, and I was swimming and biking more and more, I figured if I'm ever going to attempt one of these things, this is the year to do it.  I didn't really tell anyone or advertise the fact that I was training for this race -- I was doing it for me, and when people know, they ask how you're feeling and how your training is going and all that stuff.  That makes me nervous.  I do tri's for fun -- no pressure -- and wanted to keep it that way.  This was MY challenge, and one that I didn't even really admit to committing to until the beginning of August.  (It was a local event, and it was the inaugural one -- 2 reasons to do this 70.3!) I made up my own training plan based on some I found online, and I had no idea if it was going to be adequate.  I enlisted Maggs' help a little (thank you SO much!), and I started to feel like maybe I could actually do this. Fast forward to race day:

My mom decided she was going to go to the race with me, and though I told her she didn't have to do that, it was great to have her there.  We arrived at the race site by 5:30am and I got my transition spot set up in the dark. It was quiet and peaceful, but I was a little unsettled until it got light out.  My friend M found me in transition and set her spot next to mine, and another friend, R, was nearby.  It was calming to have friends around me.  Soon enough we were getting wetsuits on and heading to the water. 

M and I talked about our swim strategy, and after a few delayed minutes, we were the 3rd and final wave to start -- all the women together.  I'll admit to nerves as we stood on that beach.  I refused to look at how long the swim was, and I just kept telling myself, "This is just 4 loops of the lagoon."  I knew I could cover the distance -- I've done LOTS of open water swimming this summer -- and so I just needed to stay calm around all those swimmers.  I positioned myself in the front, but off to the right.

(Tough to see, but I'm the 2nd white cap from the left at the top of the pic)

Within the first 100 yards -- a straight shot to our first left turn before we swam a long straight to the turn around -- I started to feel comfortable. I stayed a little wide, kept my breathing in control, and only had a few instances of people running into me. Halfway to the turn around, I was almost giggling in my head about how smooth I felt and strong I was swimming. Big victory. The swim has always been the weak link for me, but this summer I've turned that around. As I swam to the bridge, and around that bubble, I knew I'd come out of the swim feeling accomplished already. I had one blip of getting squeezed between two people around that buoy, and that was the only time in the whole swim that I had to break stroke for a second, move aside, and then continue on my way. As I got closer to the point to turn to the beach, I couldn't see the small buoys -- so I ended up swimming out of my way a little. Not much, and once I could see that turn, I was headed to the beach. I knew I passed a lot of people, but it wasn't until I was running up the beach and past my mom that I realized how strong my swim was.

"35 minutes!" she yelled. Cool!

(As an aside, why does ALL triathlon stuff make me look huge?  I look big in that wetsuit, the tri shorts make my legs look big, etc.  ugh!)

I headed to my transition spot, got out of my wetsuit and got my bike ready to go. With a yell to my mom, I set off for the 57+ mile ride. So far, so good!

The bike, though, would prove to be a challenge for me.  For some reason, I could not get comfortable.  My butt wasn't comfortable, it felt like my legs weren't strong, and I felt like I couldn't get my bike to go as fast as everyone else.  Frustrating.  I had killed the swim, and now I was getting crushed on the bike.  It was going to be a long few hours...

What am I thinking???!!!

Right now*, at 7:06am, I am entering the water for a 1.2 mile swim.

I'm going to then ride my bike for over 57** miles,

and follow that with a 13.1 mile run. 

WHAT AM I THINKING???

I guess I should stop saying I fake the triathlon thing.  I've done some solid training this summer.  Who knows if I trained well.  Or did the right stuff to be prepared.  But I know I can cover the distances.  The big variable will be the heat and humidity.  It's supposed to be bad.  Full sun, 82* and 100-90% humidity during race hours. 

But this is just for fun.  I can't take the tri stuff too seriously -- I won't.  I'm not strong enough to place, and this is a new distance for me -- so I can't be nervous.  Nerves not allowed.  I'm ready.  I can do this.  I can finish, and I will.  My goal is to do just that with a smile on my face.  Dive in. 


* I scheduled this post to go online just at the time my wave was set to start...
**Because of the hurricane damage to two bridges on the original course, the bike route was changed to a 2 loop course, which ends up being just over 57 miles.  No 70.3 for me -- more like ~72mi. 

Cannonball!

I ended my summer vacation with some late afternoon pool time with my nephews and sister.  Since it was the last day to swim here, we left in style -- after a series of cannonballs. 

Today, I jumped right into my new school year.  LOTS of changes -- tough ones -- to deal with, and challenges started right away.  But I made it through the day, and so far the kids/classes seem ok (with a couple of nudges already showing their colors).  Back into it tomorrow!

I'm in taper mode this week, so while I'm itching to get sweaty, today is a rest day on the schedule.  Works out well, actually, because it's pouring out, my feet are worked from an onmyfeetallday day, and I'm pretty exhausted.  Yep, I'll rest today. 

Gotta get ready to throw myself into a big race this Saturday.  A new challenge.  Cannonball!

Hurricane Irene

By Saturday morning, Irene started showing her strength on our beach.  

 We've lived through storms like this before, so we knew to board up the windows and secure the loose/lighter stuff in the yard. 

While mandatory evacuations were in place, we weren't sure we'd leave.  However, eventually we decided it would be smarter to be safe -- so we headed to my house outside of Philly. 

Clearly, other people didn't like the idea of Irene messing up the last weekend of summer before Labor Day weekend, either. 

We listened to the strong winds and rain from my house, and hoped we wouldn't lose power.  We were anxious to hear what was happening on the island, and by late morning we were ready to head back. 

Although the skies were clear by Sunday afternoon, the west winds were fierce.  There had been lots of flooding, and some people lost power, but for Irene to make landfall in the inlet off our south end, the island survived relatively unscathed. 

The bay, normally flat and calm, was whipping in the west wind.

But the beach was beautiful.  Big waves, and rough surf, and lots of erosion, but it was there.

LBI, again, survived a hurricane. 

And so did we. 

Summer Good Stuff

Fun rides on new routes with friends

New goggles so I can see on my long swims

New shoes for all my running

And snuggly recovery time with the pup

It's supposed to be FUN!

I've gotten more serious -- sort of -- with my triathlon training this summer.  Gotten better with my swimming, grown up on my biking a bit, and done more of the tri training this summer than ever before.  Today, I set out for a long workout.  Long.  And while I hoped I'd have company with my friend DS who's here on vacation, the timing wasn't going to work for him.  Instead, he left me motivational messages on the road by the street where he's staying. 

I loved it. 

Yesterday, while getting my workout planned and set, I had a sort of flash of a thought go through my mind.  This is supposed to be fun.  I do tri's for fun.  I should get that mindset back for running races, too -- but that's for another post.  With all the greater focus on improving my triathlon work, I realized I started taking it a little too seriously.  I don't want to do that.  I want to enjoy these races, and when I take them too seriously I end up getting too stressed and full of anxiety.  This is supposed to be fun! 

So when I set out early this morning, that's the thought I kept in my mind.  Have fun.  And I did.  Yes, at a certain point, the hard work sets in, but I reminded myself through the whole workout to have fun.  And DS's messages helped me do that.  Thanks, D! 

The rest of the Napa trip!

Gah!  I haven't had any time to sit and write out the rest of the Napa trip report.  It was a fantastic trip, and I wish I could get all the fun details in, but here's an overview:

We started Friday with bubbly!  Muum Napa had some delicious sparkling wines, but the Santana (yep, as in Carlos) was my favorite.  It was a beautiful winery setting (actually most of them were!) and it was a solid start to the day. 

From Muum, we traveled to BV, which was fine -- nothing too extraordinary there, and then grabbed lunch at some run-down mini mart.  That was not so fine.  We were tight on time, so we had to grab something on the go to make it to the next winery on time.  The mart had a kitchen where they made Mexican dishes -- now, I have nothing against Mexican food, but it often doesn't like me.  I settled on a basic rice and beans burrito, and hoped the rest of the trip would allow for better wine pairings :)

The rush was well worth it when, after climbing and twisting our way up the mountain, we arrived at Chappellet.  By far, this was the best winery we visited.  The grounds were gorgeous, the hostess was fabulous, the wines were delicious.  We got to taste the wines while seated at a grand table right alongside the wine barrels.  It was chilled in there, so they provided us with comfy coats to keep warm, then invited us to tour the grounds with our wine.

 We even got to taste the grapes!  They weren't ready -- they were sour.  :(

After Chappellet, we made our last stop at Clos Du Val.  This winery had beautiful gardens, but the hostess left a lot to be desired.  We eventually made our way back to the resort, freshened up and enjoyed the view from our deck for a bit, and then headed to the riverfront area of downtown Napa.  We didn't realize everything would be closed by 6, though, so we did some window shopping and ended up (shocking for this group!) at a tavern.

 I wished the running store was open -- it would've been fun to see how theirs was set up!

After dinner at the Greystone Culinary Institute, which was good but the atmosphere seemed better out on the porch than inside, we called it a night. 

Saturday was a day off -- which was great for me.  I got a solid run in in the morning, then took a yoga class at the fitness center, then got a long swim done in the outdoor lap pool, and then lunch and some lounging time with my friends at the regular pool.  Got my nails done at the spa, then we were off to dinner.  Saturday's dinner was at Mustard's, and it was another good meal. I have to say, I really wasn't blown away by any of the meals I had -- but they were all good restaurants. 

Saturday night was hilarious -- a few of us ended up back at the resort's main bar where there were a whole bunch of men on a business trip golf weekend partying at the end of the day.  It was a shark tank, for sure -- but no harm done. 

Sunday was another day of wineries, but this time in Sonoma -- and we enjoyed mimosas on the bus on the way there!  We went to Chateau St. Jean, Coppola, and then Ferrari-Carano.  Ferrari was my favorite there.  By the end of the day we were silly and happy and having fun playing around.  This picture sort of sums up the trip in all its wine and silliness and fun:

That's my friend A on the ground.  She took her part of the picture seriously. 

Sunday night was our last night in Napa.  We had dinner at Bistro Don Giovanni, seated at a great table on the terrace.  I had one of the best dishes here -- a beet and asparagus salad -- and we all enjoyed our last night together.  Until a spider fell out of the rafter onto our table.  Then we were ready to wrap up the desserts and hit the road.  But it was a great night and a couple of us stayed up late, the music playing and our non-stop laughing at the events of the weekend. 

Monday morning I got an easy run done, with a short stop at the fitness center in the middle of it for a half hour on the stationary bike.  We all showered, grabbed coffee and hit the road.  We tried to stop at Muir Woods (whoa!  Lots of twists and turns -- not good for our hungover people!) but the parking was impossible, so off to the wharf we went.  We had a fun lunch on pier 38 (39?) and then walked around a bit. 

A few hours later, a couple of my friends and I were on red-eye flights home.  What a trip.  I did get a little sleep on the flight, but it would take me a few days to get caught up from the time difference and all the energy, excitement and fun of the long weekend.  That was a trip I'll long remember with a great group of people.