Queen of the Hill Sprint Triathlon

There is a local women's triathlon club just south of me that started a couple (I think?) years ago.  The club is the Mullica Hill Women's Triathlon Club. 

The club is several hundred strong, and is made up of a mix of newbies to seasoned triathletes.  I'm not a member of the club, but working in the running store I've become aware of all sorts of cool activities that this club has hosted for their members.  This year, they decided to put on their very own women's-only sprint triathlon. 

Named the Queen of the Hill, the RD's put lots and lots of thought into the female-driven details of this race.  It was a great event, on a beautiful summer day, and to top it off, I raced pretty well!

I had two goals for this race:  to have a stronger T1 than the Hammonton race, and to feel successful/not  fall on the bike with my new pedals.  I met up with a couple friends race morning and as we set up our transition spots, we giggled at the full-length mirror outside the line of porta-potties and the pink accents everywhere.  There was certainly a female focus here.  At one point, I giggled because it was so over-the-top, but I simmered that because I could tell how many of these women were doing this for the first time and how excited/nervous/full of wonder they were, and that was kinda cool. 

I got there early enough to get a great transition spot -- right next to the bike in/bike out.  I was happy to have a longer run from the swim to the bike, a short run with the bike out and then in, and then a bit more of a run through transition to the run out.  Perfect spot.  Then I got body marked. 

I walked over to the young girls who were weilding the markers, and told them my race number.  That went on both arms.  Then they asked how old I'll be on December 31st. 

Um, what?

How old will you be as of December 31st?  the cute, mid-teenage, perky girl asked. 

Um, what?  I looked around.  I'm 39. 

And that's how old you'll be at the end of this year?

Oh, God.  I forgot that's how the USAT rules are for age-grouping.  They messed up at Hammonton!  (not that it would've mattered in the standings)

Um, I'll be 40, I said quietly.  I wasn't prepared to be there yet, I confided to the girl.  The mid-50's woman next to me told me to shut it.  Sort of -- she said it nicer than that, but that's what she was saying.  The perky high-schooler, oblivious to the fact that I'll remember this moment forever, directed me to turn around and there it was:  a big, black, 40 on the back of my left calf. 

ugh. 

Ok, here I go.  First race in a new age-group.  Let's see how it goes. 

With my age weighing me down a bit, we got set, got our wetsuits (they weren't necessary at all -- warm water, 1/4 mile swim -- but I'm wearing mine any time I can since this is my first racing season with one and I need the practice with it!), and headed over for the pre-race meeting and the national anthem.  The RD kept asking us to "stay standing" for another minute; there was "something special" that was going to happen.  We laughed at every time she said that -- um, we're all standing.  Where would would we sit?  But then, she announced the military fly-over. 

I knew it was coming -- we'd heard about it at the store and thought it was a bit hokey for a small sprint tri -- but standing there, as the race was about to start, it was pretty cool. 

We had just a few minutes to get a warm-up swim done in the lake, and the race began.  I was in the 3rd (of 4) waves, and I positioned myself off to the side, away from the rest of the wave.  They all lined up in the deeper water and had to tread for a couple minutes before we were off.  I stayed in the shallower water, and as the wave began, I had a straight line to the first buoy.  I swam hard.  I wanted to get out in front -- fewer people to deal with until I caught up to the stragglers from the first wave -- and I did.  There was one other woman right near me until about a third of the way through the swim, but we never got in each other's way.  I kept swimming.  I swam hard.  And I passed women from the wave in front of me.  And then, although I kept repeating pace yourself, I was swimming hard -- and all of a sudden I couldn't breathe.  I had just made the last turn past the buoy that put us on the straightaway to the swim exit, and I couldn't breathe.  Keep calm! I repeated.  But I couldn't help it -- I eventually had to turn onto my back and catch my breath for a few seconds.  I did, and then I swam to the exit.  I wasn't happy about that, but I thought I had swam hard and probably had a good time anyway. 

The water got shallow well before the exit, and though it would've been faster to keep swimming, I couldn't.  There were about 10 woment stopped and walking through the knee-deep water with about 10 yards to go.  I had no choice, I had to do the same.  As I ran out up the steps and across the mat, I worked to get my breathing in control and my wetsuit off.  I got to my bike, got out of the suit, threw on my helmet and my sunglasses, and grabbed my bike.  I knew I accomplished goal #1 -- that T1 time would definitely be faster than 4:06!

My bike shoes were already clipped onto my pedals, so I ran out in my barefeet, got my right foot into the shoe and started to ride.  Got the left foot in, and off I went.  So far, so good for goal #2!

The bike leg was 10 miles of rolling hills.  Nothing too exciting on the bike -- I started to look for women in my age group and see how strong I could ride.  I got passed by a few, then passed a few, and overall felt like my bike was decent. 

Until the last 2 miles.  I knew I had a run coming up, and I knew I had the first race dismount with these pedals coming up, and I started to prepare mentally.  Then 2 women in my age group flew by me.  AGH!  How are they going so fast???!!!  I tried to keep up, but they dropped my quickly.  I was a bit distracted now as I safely dismounted at the base of a hill and then had a long run into the parking lot and into transition for the run leg.  (They had, at the last minute, decided it would be better to have everyone dismount at the hill, rather than turning into the lot.  Really? Safer to have everyone stop at the base of the hill and get off their bikes?  okay....) For me, it was fine.  Goal #2 accomplished!

Into T2, I racked my bike, dropped my helmet, and quickly cleaned off my feet, threw socks on, tied my shoes, grabbed my visor, and off I went for the 5k run.  Legs weren't bad!  But huh -- there's a hill right there to start the run.  Ok, let's go!  My friend J (who sponsors the OWS) was there, and as I ran out he yelled -- this is your strength, Lora!  You've got at least 15 people you can pick off!

I gave him the thumbs up and started to count. 

I passed more than 15.  I settled into a decent pace that I felt I could hold, and went to work.  I saw the eventual winner coming back, and I counted.  I counted how far back I was from her, and I counted how many women I passed.  We all passed "Good job!"'s onto each other, shouted words of encouragement, and I counted.  

As I made my way to the finish, I felt pretty good about my run.  I knew the time was solid, and I felt good about doing what J told me I should do out there.  As I crossed the line, I was happy with the day, even though I didn't feel great about what happened in the swim. 

After meeting up with my friends, cheering on other racers, and going for a cool-down jog, the results were posted. 

22 OA/185 finishers

4/46 AG (agh!  4th!)

1:10:33

swim: 7:25  (8th fastest swim on the day!)

T1: 1:45!

bike: nothing impressive 35:06

T2:  1:58

run: 24:20

For my first race in a new age-group, it was a pretty decent showing.  A well-run race, a solid effort, and two goals accomplished.  I should note that if I were in the 35-39 AG, I would've been 6th... 

Still tons to improve on, but I'll take it! 

Doubles!

Maybe not the best strategy, but now that summer's here and I'm not working as much, I've been jamming in the training.  It started in the last month of school, but now it's a lot easier to do.  I'm doing one longer run each week, one longer bike ride, one stand-alone quality tempo run, 2 shorter rides, several shorter runs, and 2 swims each week.  Plus a 90 minute hot yoga class once a week.  Some days are bike/run bricks, some days are bike/swim or run/swim doubles.  While I'm not doing doubles every day, it has been about 4 days a week.  It's been hot and humid, and I often look like this at the end of a workout:

Flat out, laying under the ceiling fan, water bottle in hand.  A familiar position this time of year. 

I haven't taken a complete rest day -- no workout at all -- since May 4th.   However, one day a week is a legs-friendly workout day.  This week, that's today.  I did a 75 minute hot yoga class this morning and I'll swim later today (hopefully at the OWS if the thunderstorms stay away), but no swimming or biking.  While my legs are feeling stronger with all these workouts, they're also feeling a little worked.  Time for a break.  And, I'm doing another sprint tri this weekend, so I'm taking today and tomorrow to treat the legs well.  While my main goal for the race is a stronger T1 and bike leg, I'm really hoping to do well the whole way.

Let's hope the doubles will pay off! 

Summer Has Arrived

Today was my first day of summer break.  And, it's the first official day of summer.  My alarm clock was turned off, and I had absolutely NOTHING that I had to do today.  Ahhh...

I woke up at 5:30 even without my alarm clock, but I stayed in bed for an hour.  I eventually made my way out for a solid 7 mile tempo run and then a short but quality swim at the pool.  A light lunch, a stop at the running store, some time on my deck with a new book, fun in my pool with my nephews and sister, and then spectating a local, low-key 3.6mi race.  It was a nice weather day -- not too hot, and the storms we were expecting never really showed up. 

All in all, a good first day of summer vacation.  Next week I'm working a ton at the store, so I'm letting myself decompress these next few days.  No alarm Wednesday morning -- I have workouts to do, but the only thing I have to do is take my nephew to the group run.  He's really getting into this :) 

I'm so glad summer has arrived. 

Happy Father's Day

to the first running mentor I ever had 
to my original running coach
to the first swimmer I knew and
the man who let me borrow his old twelve speed bike when I first started triathlons

Happy Father's Day
to the man who has taught me to have PMA -- a positive mental attitude
and so much more:  how to give a proper handshake, to soap the screws before putting them in the wall, to work hard and play hard, to earn my shower every day, and more and more and more. 

This time last year, we were breathing a sigh of relief after his fall 15 feet off the top of his boat onto the hard ground.  He was broken -- badly -- but still here.  It's been a rough go for a while, but I can still call him and talk to him and hug him. 

Happy Father's Day to a great man.  A and K and I are lucky to call you our dad.

Fixing Blogger and Stuffing Mushrooms

Yeah, I know, they don't really sound related.  It's cause they're not.  But both things are topics for tonight, so here ya go:

For Sage!  To fix the Blogger comment posting problem, log out of your account, then log back in but uncheck the "remember me" box.  That seemed to work for me!  Simple -- you'd think the Blogger folks could fix such a seemingly simple problem... 

And now, for my latest vegan/clean recipe:  Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms!  YUM! 

I paired this d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s concoction with some steamed asparagus and red grapes.  It was awesome!  I took the basic recipe from one I found online, but made lots of alterations to use the veggies I wanted to.  It was easy and pretty quick to make!   I'm not fully back on the vegan/clean thing, but I'm finding that much of what I eat these days falls into that category.  Not everything.  But enough  :)

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Randoms:
Marc - how the hell do you stop at a light and not unclip without falling over?  Grab onto a car?  I'm doing ok with the riding part, it's the getting on/off the bike and the anxiety of not unclipping in time that makes my riding not so fun right now.  :(

Aimee -- don't kid yourself.  A) you've gotten up to run with me in the pre-dawn hours.  and B) you'd do all this if you lived in my shoes.  :)

Inappropriate Heat

Seriously?  It's early June!  It's New Jersey!  It's inappropriate!

I swam 2500 yards in the pool this afternoon.  Pretty solid swim.  Then I went to hot yoga.  It was actually hotter outside with those 101* temps than it was in the studio, which was about 98*.  Still, I was wetter in that class than I ever have been on dry land in my whole life.  It was like I was one of those water sprinklers with all the holes in it -- water was just pouring out/off of me.  It was like I just stepped out of the pool, but almost worse!  My fingers were pruned by the end of class -- and they weren't at the end of my swim!  It's just wrong!  It shouldn't be this HOT! 

I love my central air.  :)

Blogger's Broken! Or is it Google?

I can't comment on most blogs these days.  There's some glitch in the system -- when I go to comment, it asks what account, so I choose google, which is how I log into this blog.  I re-enter my info, press submit, and it brings up my comment in an edit box and says I'm "anonymous" rather than "solarpowered" or Lora."

Ok, fine.  I press submit again and it kicks me back out to the google log-in again.  Repeat, repeat.  It's a vicious, never-ending circle! 

Occasionally a blog will let me log in with my name and the url to this blog.  Not all blogs give that option. 

GRR!  I checked under the blogger help stuff and all I can find is that they are "working on it."

HELP!  Anyone know what's up? 

Your blogs are interesting!  I've been reading, but I can't comment!  It's so frustrating!!!

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UPDATE:  I've figured out how to make it work, I think...  I'm hoping it continues to work so that I can let you all know how awesome you are with all you've been up to lately!  :)

Big Girl Pedals!

I think if I had gotten the clipless pedals from the very start I would have been less nervous about them.  Instead, I've been riding with cages for about 4 years.  Ridiculous.  It was one of the easy ways I could get by with the whole "I fake the triathlon thing" idea.  Don't want to give up enough of my running to do more swimming and biking, don't want to commit to clipless pedals, didn't get a wetsuit. 

Well, I got the wetsuit, and I started attending a weekly open water swim, and my swimming (and my confidence with my swimming) has already improved.

I got a new seat  which was better than my old one, and over the past few weeks my butt (sit bones, more specifically) has gotten more aclimated to the riding and time in the saddle.  I tried a few other models of the Adamo seat (the Race, the Breakaway, and the Road) but the podium seems to be the one for me.  I even did a 30 mile ride last night and wasn't incredibly uncomfortable!  Overall, I've been doing more riding each week.  Progress.

So the next step was to grow up.  Time for the big girl pedals.  I was nervous, I was certain I'd kill myself, but I was determined to make this switch.  Today. 

So I drove to our shore store that carries bikes and the co-owner, J, spent more than an hour with me -- we got the right shoes for me, he switched out the pedals, put my bike on the trainer and showed me how to clip in and out. Now you try, he said.

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod 

I climbed onto the bike and after a couple slips, I finally found the clip spot and got myself clipped in.  Rode, braked, clipped out.  Rode, braked, clipped out.  Did that a handful of times, both sides. 

Ok, let's try this.  We took the bike outside.

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod
i'mgonnadieimgonnadieimgonnadieimgonnadie

I clipped in, rode away from J, and rounded the corner.  I noticed a grass area off to the side of the parking lot curb, and decided that might be a safe place to try to clip out for the first time.  I slowed down, braked, and tried to clip out.  However, I learned pretty quickly that's not the correct sequence to follow.  As my bike was stopping, then stopped, and I was just then attempting to clip out, I (of course) tipped right over.  I knew it was about to happen.  When your bike is stopped, you need to put a foot down to the ground to stay upright.  If your feet are in shoes that at that moment are attached to the bike, no feet are making it to the ground in time to stabilize the bike.  Well, here I go -- just like everyone says, "You're gonna fall!" 

I missed the grassy area (would've been helpful if I had ridden closer to that spot -- duh) and went right over onto the pavement.  Landed on my knee (that's already bruised from my fall while running a month back) and my right palm.  Apparently I rolled onto my right shoulder, too, based on the leaves J brushed off me later.  Almost immediately, I realized what I'd done wrong.  Clip out BEFORE stopping!  DUH!

I giggled at myself, got back on the bike, and successfully clipped in and out a few more times as I circled the parking lot.  I'm nervous as anything to do this again, but I will.  And I'm sure the more I ride, the more comfortable I'll get.  WIth all of it.

Hammonton Sprint Triathlon

I've been super busy this week, and every time I sit down at the computer I can't get focused enough to write up a report about this race.  It's a shame, because this was the first complete triathlon I've done in two summers, and there was a lot of good about it (and a little bit of wtf did I do?!)  Here's a brief recap:

I had a good race Saturday, relatively speaking... The swim has always been my most uncomfortable part, but I've been really working at that. It paid off! I positioned myself well and felt good the whole way. 7:08 split for the .25mi (or so they said it was). Definitely a strong swim for me. I never stopped, and I was one of the first people out of the water from my wave. I even passed a few people from the wave ahead of me. Woot!


My T1 is another story. This was the first tri where I had to deal with a wetsuit and it slowed my T1 time down a bit. I also took extra time cleaning my feet because of how much sand/muck/grass we ran over getting into transition. Looking at my T1 time, you'd think I sat and had lunch in there, too. Awful.

Then my bike leg was expectedly a bit slow. 12 miles in 41:43, or 17.3 avg MPH (for some reason, the official results are showing this as an 18.3mph.  I'm not sure what I'm missing here...). Anyway, I knew that would be slow -- I definitely need more biking time. T2 was MUCH better. Just :46.

My run was decent. While my Garmin read 2.91 mi/23:13 = 7:59 pace, the official results show my 23:12 time as a 7:44 pace (they advertised it as either a 3 mi or 5k run -- I forget which), so maybe my Garmin calculations of the distance were off? Whatever. It wasn't the best run leg, but I felt ok about it considering I haven't really done any actual brick workouts.

SO, overall it was a good day. I knew my T1 and bike leg would be my weakest, but for my first complete tri in 2 years, I'm ok with that. It was fun, and that's the point, right?

(Pictures are up on the website, but I can't snag them... so for now, no pics of the day)