Yellow Crayon

The Finish Line!

On Saturday morning at approximately 9:30, I crossed the finish line at the Women of Steel Triathlon! I saw my Mom first as I rounded the corner on 400 North and approached the finish line, then I saw my Dad and my husband…and long before I actually saw Rachael and Stephanie I heard them screaming for me. Having my friends and family at the finish line meant a lot to me – seeing my Mom, in particular as I rounded that corner…well, it got my weak little legs the rest of the distance.

Doing this race was an amazing experience (notice I didn’t say “competing in this race” I’m SO not a competitor yet) I was very surprised at how good I felt during the swim and bike. I wondered if this race would be torture from start to finish, but it wasn’t…it was just torture at the end! 

The swim went well – we were able to position ourselves according to our swim time, Rachael and I sought out the 7 minute group and parked our lycra-clad selves among them. Lucky for us the “traffic jam” that occurred early in the pool had worked itself out by the time we jumped in. The swim felt great – Dave’s coaching kicked in and it was a piece of cake.

This is where I must admit being a bit naïve. I foolishly thought that because this was a women’s event I would be able to run in my wet lycra from the pool to the transition area in relative comfort. What I failed to realize is that where the women go – men follow. So as I exit the pool building in my totally hot outfit I’m greeted by camcorders and cameras being held by supportive husbands and boyfriends. Uh...I didn’t sign up for THAT. But I told myself that these men were no different from my wonderful husband and I got over it.

In my haste to transition from the swim to the bike, I forgot my granola bar.  I also forgot how to shift my bike, which led to me riding in the lowest gear for…oh…3 miles or so. See, my Mom decided (the day before the race) that I needed a better bike then my vintage Peugeot. So she loaned me her Trek – when I picked it up and my Dad asked, “Do you know how to shift that bike?”, like all impatient children that believe their parents underestimate their brilliance I said, “Yes”. Well, it turns out that I didn’t. So at mile 3 I waved down the Flying Wrenches van and a very nice young man showed me how to shift my bike. Needless to say the remaining 7 miles went MUCH BETTER.

When I got off the bike to do the run, I crammed 2 Clif Shot Bloks in my mouth and took off running. I felt like I was back in the pool – my legs were heavy and it felt like I was running underwater. I walked for about half of the run. I feel no shame. I ran as much as I could as often as I could. I, like many, were surprised to learn at the walk-through on Friday night that we wouldn’t be permitted to run with headphones. WHAT? Yes, running to angry music has been my running crutch…without my crutch I was forced to listen to my own pathetic breathing. Now I know. And now I’ll train for my next Tri without headphones!

This Triathlon was a big deal for me – it’s given me a different perspective on my “Athena” body and made me stretch my idea of what I’m personally capable of. I’m now obsessed with swimming and biking…my Mom is helping me look for a used touring bike. But I’m not giving up on running; I’ve seen what I can do with swimming and biking so I there might just be a runner hiding inside me somewhere.

16 Days and counting…

Sixteen days until the Women of Steel Triathlon. Reading that makes me a bit more excited that you might imagine.  Or it did until my one-piece race suit arrived on my doorstep yesterday afternoon. For some reason, before that…before I held that tiny spandex getup in my hands, I didn’t realize I would actually be running in all spandex. 

I’m still enthusiastic and committed to the race – now I just have some attire anxiety. Is it really THAT bad if my transition times are 10 minutes and I run in sweatpants? I’m going to have to ask Coach Dave about that.

I thought that getting my picture taken in a swim cap and swimsuit for this Salt Lake Tribune article would be the highlight of my triathlon “stardom”.  Now I’m told that we’ll be joined by a reporter and photographer from the Deseret News during our training on Friday. Someone is coming to photograph me in my head to toe spandex so. Oh…hey…wow…all my wildest dreams are coming true and it’s not even my birthday yet!

Less Tortoise, More Hare

My latest post for Mamas In Training...

For me, training for the triathlon has never been about speed. It’s never been about beating my “best time” or improving my technique…let’s be honest…it’s been about groping around in the dark to FIND a technique. My goal for the TriUtah Women’s Triathlon has been very simply to finish the race (without walking during the run.) I don’t care how long it takes.

That’s not to say that I’m not attempting to move quickly. It’s just that when you choose to train with two women that are in considerably better shape than you are, you spend an awful lot of the training time coming in last. My times are consistently the least impressive of the group…but don’t cry for me Argentina…I’m okay with that because most of the training sessions with Coach Dave have been TOUGH and for me, the mere completion of his regimen has been extremely gratifying.

Just as I was getting comfortable bringing up the rear I got to sample the sweet taste of victory. During swim training I, Erin-the-Athena, managed to land at the end of the lane…wait for it…FIRST!

Okay…it wasn’t even one lap, it was only one length of the pool and I was “first” by one measly second (I’m tall so I’m pretty sure that one second was in body length, but whatever). Coach Dave told us that we’d be doing “speed work” that morning which consisted of five rounds of the following; 100 meters at our regular pace then two 25 meter sprints. I finished my first 25 meter sprint swim in 20 seconds. Hell, I don’t think I could run 25 meters in 20 seconds. I wish I would have had a camera to capture the look on Coach Dave and Stephanie’s face – to say that they were stunned would have been an understatement!

Now don’t worry, I’m not delusional…I DO realize that a quick 25 meter pace won’t amount to a hill of beans on race day. But it is sure nice to keep up with the group every once and awhile.

Erin

Improvement

I was beginning to think that I would never, ever have the opportunity to write the following statement: I’m improving. The swimming practice is starting to pay off!

Now, I don’t want to give the impression that I’ve turned into some sort of world class swimmer, I’m simply not flopping around as much as I did when I started training. Oh, and the oxygen deprivation headaches from my incorrect breathing technique have subsided so there’s another one for the “success” column.

If I said that my swimming has improved due to the long hours of work and toil at the Aquatic Center, I WOULD BE LYING. My swimming has improved because of Coach Dave’s swim drills – the zipper drill, the recovery drill, and the…uh…one where you use only one arm. At the end of our group swim training last week, Coach Dave told us that we’ve each improved a lot since our first swim session. With the Women’s Sprint Triathlon less than two months away, that was good to hear.

This week we’ll be doing a “brick” training session at In Training which means that we’ll be alternating between biking and running (ride the bike, hop off to run for 10 minutes, back on the bike, repeat). Personally, I think my brick session will look more like this – ride the bike, run for 3.5 minutes, walk for 6.5 minutes, ride the bike, lay on the ground, cry, bargain, shout, ride the bike, go home.

Welcome to Multi-Sport Training…Get Out the Tide

Swim. Run. Bike. There is quite a variety of clothing and equipment that accompanies each of those sports. There is the obvious stuff like the bike and the swimsuit and the shoes, but think about it…swimming requires big fluffy beach towels, goggles, swim caps, flip flops (as to avoid the barefoot “walk of shame” to the locker room). Biking requires the fancy pants to protect your “undercarriage”, helmet, gloves, jersey and for a few brave souls (not me) pedal clip-in shoes. Running…yeah, that’s straight forward, top, bottom, shoes. Plus the trusty heart monitor.

Most of this is newly acquired (or borrowed, Thanks Mom!) stuff is strewn about the house so I can keep it all straight. Yes, I realize that is what the garage is for, but my husband has been known to craft ACTUAL furniture in the garage so unless I want sawdust in my stuff, it’s best to keep it strewn about the house.

The clutter doesn’t bother me so much…for a few days I had a great time chasing the dogs with the Yakima bike rack from eBay. Oh, don’t feel back for the dogs…they like being chased around the dining room table. Shut up, they do.

What bothers me is that this much stuff requires constant attention and sometimes special TLC when laundering. If the article in question doesn’t require hand-washing, at the very least it needs to be hung up to dry.

Truth in advertising, people. I agreed to swim, run and bike. I didn’t agree to spend my remaining free time ringing out my bike shorts.

Minivan Motivation

From the Mamas In Training Blog...

We each now have our “official” training schedule from Coach Dave and all I have to say is…um…wow. The schedule outlines what I’m expected to do everyday for the next eleven weeks, right up to May 19^th that reads “Race Day” in red. Now that’s not to say that we’re all training every single day, but on days we’re not required to train, we’re required to “rest”. Sweet.

Yesterday I tackled my first run, which I’ve been avoiding since I LOATH RUNNING. It was a simple run – 30 minutes at a reasonable heart rate. So I slapped on my running shoes, had a whole clothing issue (42 degrees, will I be cold?), had where-do-I-put-my-house-key issue (no pockets in my fleece-lined pants) and off I went to run through the neighborhood.

As I began I realized that a 30 minute run was simply not going to happen for me, so I settled into a 2 minute walk/3 minute run interval. Here’s a fun fact – when I use the cardio machines at the gym I have my iPod blasting, so imagine my surprise to find that I’m a WHEEZER! I literally wheeze like an old man when I run. Sweet.

The first 15 minutes of my interval run went okay. But as I turned towards home the intervals got harder. The wheeze got louder. The long-sleeved black t-shirt and fleece lined track pants got warmer (here’s a tip – 42 degrees, yeah, that’s shorts and t-shirt weather if you’re running). And the positive thoughts that had sustained me through the first 15 minutes were LONG GONE…replaced with frustration and anxiety.

As I was running and hating every part of my body that was jiggling as I ran, a light blue minivan past me and slowed to a stop about a 100 feet in front of me and rolled down the passenger side window. I figured that they were lost and wanted directions so I happily slowed to a wheezing walk as I got closer. When reached the van, the driver, a woman not much older than me, leaned over and said “I just wanted to tell you that you’re awesome! I should be out here with you!” I was stunned. It was the last thing that I expected to hear.

I was red-faced, wheezing and surprised, so I didn’t muster much other than a very grateful “Thank you! You just made my whole day.” She really did.

First Miracle of 2007

I did not, in fact, die of embarrassment at swim training last week! You can see my Triathlon training update at Mamas In Training.

But while I’m at it, here are a few things I learned at the pool last week…

1. A Swim Cap does not keep your hair dry. It keeps your stupid hair out of your eyes and mouth.
2. Swimming is a SERIOUS calorie burner. If you swim and then don’t eat for, say, seven hours you will get a blindingly painful headache.
3. Even in the dead of winter, pack some damn flip flops in your gear bag. Walking barefoot through the gym from the pool to the locker room because your feet are wet and you don’t want to put on your socks and sneakers doesn’t make you an athlete. It makes you white trash.

Up For a Swim?

Oh. Well. CRAP. I did not realize when I agreed to do a Triathlon with my employers that I would have to show up in the dead of winter in a bathing suit to train for the swimming portion of the race. I don’t know why that fact didn’t ring big ‘ol loud warning bells in my head. I thought I would be able to die of bathing suit mortification in the privacy of my very own community aquatics center. I was under the impression that the only time my dang bosses would see me in my swimsuited glory would be on race day.

I was wrong.

They will see me in my pasty white glory approximately 25 hours from now. Oh and to top of the hotness, we’ll be training in super cool swim caps. Maybe I’ll get really lucky and find a swim cap is some god-awful color that will attract attention AWAY from my thighs…perhaps one with blinking LED lights and a propeller. That would definitely do the trick.

This is starting to appear official.

What started as an extracurricular endeavor to get Rachael, Stephanie and me in shape has turned into a 12-week program involving an ACTUAL triathlon coach. Tanya, who’s personal motto seems to be “I do more before 9:00 A.M. than all of you jokers do all day”, has convinced Dave Pruetz at In Training to take on our motley crew of wannabe Triathletes and get us ready for the Women’s Sprint Distance Triathlon on May 19^th.

To be honest, I thought he might turn us away when he saw the project facing him – all three of us are at different fitness levels (or lack thereof) but he pretty much brushed that fact off with “I got a guy ready for Iron Man in only two months.”

Yeah but did that guy have my ass? Doubt it.

A Challenge Has Been Leveled

It started as a business planning meeting…it ended with “We’re doing a Triathlon”. Um. What?

How did I let this happen?  Steph made this happen, with her unbridled enthusiasm for sports and activity. I let her woo me into thinking I could do a triathlon with her big encouraging smile. This must be how crack addicts get started, some joker with a glint in their eye says “Come on, you can do it!” The only thing is that Steph will ride my butt to train with the intensity that could buckle a drill sergeant.

So…it looks like I’m doing a Triathlon with a nine time marathon runner. Oh and lest we forget…Steph is one of my bosses. This ought to be good.