It's very unlike me, to commit to something without first researching and knowing exactly what I'm getting into. It's not that I'm not spontaneous, I'd like to think I can be. But I'm generally a planner. I believe in fully knowing what you are getting yourself into so you can handle any situation (and have the opportunity to get the most out of what you are doing). Most of the time.
After I was injured at the end of last year and spent a few months all mopey on my couch, I was ready to commit to a race to get myself back in shape. We were working on planning out Matthew's season and thought an early warm-up race would be good for both of us. While looking through the list of races, I found the Golden Gate Triathlon on June 26. Both a Sprint (for me) and Olympic (for him) distance, local so no travel, and a run course out on the Golden Gate bridge - perfect! I signed up (and thought he did though just found out he forgot and registered 4 days ago) and we had our first race of the season on the calendar.
Jump back to August of last year. Matthew was very good at encouraging me to try a triathlon, and did a very good job by choosing the perfect beginner course. The swim was a struggle due to some strong currents that weekend, but the bike and run were basically flat and fast - my kind of race. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I was taking a riding clinic that just so happened to include the course for our upcoming race. Holy hill...it's a bit of a beast, but I thought, I can do this. Then I remembered that this was a looped course. We basically take off, hit a Cat 5 climb for about a mile, descend the other side for about a mile, turnaround and climb right back up with a 7% grade and descend back to where you started. Then you turn around and do that again 2 more times (5 more times for Matthew). Seriously??
I have been freaking out now for the last 2 weeks. I am not back in shape. I'm getting there, but my legs just aren't back yet. Add the crazy bike course to the climb up to the bridge on the run and I'm a goner. I will finish this race...I must finish this race. All thoughts of trying to finish within a goal time or even not finish last are completely gone. I don't care if I'm the last one across that finish line, I'm going to cross it. My only goal at this point is to not have to get off my bike at some point and push it up the hill. But if it comes to that, I will (sweet baby Jesus, please don't let it come to that...).
Race is in t-minus 21.5 hours and counting...
UPDATE:
The race went surprisingly well. The swim was great. Wasn't the easiest course but I felt really good the whole way (except when I overshot the second buoy and got stuck in a current for a few minutes, watching at least 5 people pass me). I tried to stay calm as I pedaled towards the hill on my bike. The first loop was hard, but not terrible. The second loop was actually a little easier, and the relief I felt after cresting the hill for the final time on lap 3 was immense. I walked most of the climb up to the bridge on the run, but I was OK with that. Didn't stop running once I got there. In the end, it was a very hard course, but I felt great.
Swim: 22:47.6 (Rank: 9)
Bike: 1:09:14.3 (Rank: 7)
Run: 39:18.9 (Rank: 22)
I'm Not a Runner, But I Tri :)
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
A Triathlon
I was not an athlete as a child. I enjoyed being active, but sports were not something I excelled at (though not for lack of trying). I played soccer, basketball, made an attempt at track - I found myself lacking the talent or the ability to breath and run at the same time really kept me from accomplishing anything of note. I tried to be more active as I got older, and I found things I liked. Finally getting my asthma diagnosed a couple years ago certainly helped.
We'll start with swimming. I taught myself how to swim when I was a kid. My dad lived by the beach and I was in the water almost every day in the summer. My senior year in high school, I got it in my head that I wanted to be a lifeguard. I saw a posting on the school bulletin board and for some reason thought, that seems like a good idea. I still remember that swim test. I'm pretty sure we only had to swim 200m, with no time limit, and by the end I thought I was going to die - I had never actually tried to swim laps before that day. (Sidenote: Make sure you have an appropriate swimsuit for swimming laps - my sweet ass neon blue and green Body Glove one piece of at least 5 years of age wasn't really up for the challenge. On my last lap I realized that the front had enough drag to end up around my ribs with my breasts completely exposed. I was so focused on not drowning I hadn't noticed until the end, though I don't think my instructor minded much.) I eventually began swimming enough over the next few years that I was relatively competent at it, though I still had no training or technical skill.
Jump to my next athletic milestone - running my first mile. I was absolutely one of those kids in high school that failed this portion of the Presidential Fitness Test. I could barely make it 100m before I had to walk. So in college, I decided to get in shape. I actually found a Navy Seals training book and used it as my guide to improve my running, swimming and strength (cause that seemed like a good idea...). After weeks and weeks of building up, I finally ran a whole mile. I still remember that night. I was telling everyone I could think of. I was so excited I didn't even care that it was kind of embarrassing that I couldn't run a mile prior to that. I started jogging and could make it about 3 miles before wanting to die. I maintained that pace and distance for the next 9 years or so. There was a brilliant day one summer in Arkansas right after a cooling rain that I managed to knock out 5 miles, and that was never repeated.
On to the bike. I loved riding my bike as a kid. It brought such freedom. I loved the way it felt to fly down hills. I remember crashing, a lot, and it never really phasing me. There was one crash in particular that I think I will always have an extremely vivd memory of. I had a blue Huffy BMX bike. I was riding down the hill in front of our house as fast as I could go. This hill had speed bumps, the wide sloping kind that you could ramp off of if you had enough speed. And I did. Unfortunately, on this particular run, my shoelace had come untied. It somehow managed to wrap itself around the pedal as I was spinning my little heart out until I finally got to the end of the lace. My foot was effectively attached to the pedal, and with no more slack in the lace, I could not move my foot forward. As I approached the speed bump, my only options were to try and brake or just let it happen. I went with the latter. My foot was at such an awkward angle that there was no way I could manage the landing. I came off the bump and went down hard (or "ate shit" as the kids say). Yet somehow, this didn't phase me. I laid on the ground for a minute, mentally assessing myself to see if anything was broken. After coming to the conclusion that there were no serious injuries, I got up and immediately went home to get cleaned up before my Dad or Stepmom came home (it was a rather serious offense to get injured in our house, so as long as you didn't absolutely have to go to the hospital, you did everything in your power to hide what happened). And the next day I was back on my bike. Man I miss that. Having no fear as a child. Being able to wreck one day and have no thought of it the next. More on that later...
So this triathlon idea. I can't take credit for this. This was all Matthew. I met my boyfriend Matthew about 2 years ago. Oddly, I was not unfamiliar with the sport or lifestyle. When I lived in Arkansas, my friend John Williams was competing in Ironman races. I thought he was insane. I would see him training and think, why would you ever want to do that to yourself (what seems like a good idea to you will not always seem like a good idea to others). I also had a friend in San Francisco who did triathlons, so this world Matthew was living in was not completely foreign, I just had no interest. I had decided I wanted to get a bike, and Matthew helped me figure out what kind I liked and which one to buy. I was talking about trying to run a half marathon in the fall with some friends and asked him to put together a training plan for me. Oddly enough, a nice Sprint tri fit very well into this schedule (well played, Mc Fadden). And when he brought it up, I though, why not? It seemed like a good idea. And it was.
I completed my first Sprint triathlon in Santa Cruz on August 8, 2010. My primary goal: to finish (and to not be last). My stretch goal was to run the entire 5k without walking (by far my weakest event), and I did it. I'm not going to go into the details of that day. This post is already long enough, and a lot of those thoughts and memories are things I either can't put into words or don't want to. I ran across that finish line feeling better than any other time I can remember. I almost felt like a kid again, having done something that made me so happy and thinking anything was possible. If you had asked me if I could have done that 5 months earlier, I would have laughed in your face. But I did it, and I didn't suck. I was hooked. I have no dreams of completing an Ironman distance race, or even a marathon. But after that race, I won't discount the possibilities.
Triathlon = Good Idea.
We'll start with swimming. I taught myself how to swim when I was a kid. My dad lived by the beach and I was in the water almost every day in the summer. My senior year in high school, I got it in my head that I wanted to be a lifeguard. I saw a posting on the school bulletin board and for some reason thought, that seems like a good idea. I still remember that swim test. I'm pretty sure we only had to swim 200m, with no time limit, and by the end I thought I was going to die - I had never actually tried to swim laps before that day. (Sidenote: Make sure you have an appropriate swimsuit for swimming laps - my sweet ass neon blue and green Body Glove one piece of at least 5 years of age wasn't really up for the challenge. On my last lap I realized that the front had enough drag to end up around my ribs with my breasts completely exposed. I was so focused on not drowning I hadn't noticed until the end, though I don't think my instructor minded much.) I eventually began swimming enough over the next few years that I was relatively competent at it, though I still had no training or technical skill.
Jump to my next athletic milestone - running my first mile. I was absolutely one of those kids in high school that failed this portion of the Presidential Fitness Test. I could barely make it 100m before I had to walk. So in college, I decided to get in shape. I actually found a Navy Seals training book and used it as my guide to improve my running, swimming and strength (cause that seemed like a good idea...). After weeks and weeks of building up, I finally ran a whole mile. I still remember that night. I was telling everyone I could think of. I was so excited I didn't even care that it was kind of embarrassing that I couldn't run a mile prior to that. I started jogging and could make it about 3 miles before wanting to die. I maintained that pace and distance for the next 9 years or so. There was a brilliant day one summer in Arkansas right after a cooling rain that I managed to knock out 5 miles, and that was never repeated.
On to the bike. I loved riding my bike as a kid. It brought such freedom. I loved the way it felt to fly down hills. I remember crashing, a lot, and it never really phasing me. There was one crash in particular that I think I will always have an extremely vivd memory of. I had a blue Huffy BMX bike. I was riding down the hill in front of our house as fast as I could go. This hill had speed bumps, the wide sloping kind that you could ramp off of if you had enough speed. And I did. Unfortunately, on this particular run, my shoelace had come untied. It somehow managed to wrap itself around the pedal as I was spinning my little heart out until I finally got to the end of the lace. My foot was effectively attached to the pedal, and with no more slack in the lace, I could not move my foot forward. As I approached the speed bump, my only options were to try and brake or just let it happen. I went with the latter. My foot was at such an awkward angle that there was no way I could manage the landing. I came off the bump and went down hard (or "ate shit" as the kids say). Yet somehow, this didn't phase me. I laid on the ground for a minute, mentally assessing myself to see if anything was broken. After coming to the conclusion that there were no serious injuries, I got up and immediately went home to get cleaned up before my Dad or Stepmom came home (it was a rather serious offense to get injured in our house, so as long as you didn't absolutely have to go to the hospital, you did everything in your power to hide what happened). And the next day I was back on my bike. Man I miss that. Having no fear as a child. Being able to wreck one day and have no thought of it the next. More on that later...
So this triathlon idea. I can't take credit for this. This was all Matthew. I met my boyfriend Matthew about 2 years ago. Oddly, I was not unfamiliar with the sport or lifestyle. When I lived in Arkansas, my friend John Williams was competing in Ironman races. I thought he was insane. I would see him training and think, why would you ever want to do that to yourself (what seems like a good idea to you will not always seem like a good idea to others). I also had a friend in San Francisco who did triathlons, so this world Matthew was living in was not completely foreign, I just had no interest. I had decided I wanted to get a bike, and Matthew helped me figure out what kind I liked and which one to buy. I was talking about trying to run a half marathon in the fall with some friends and asked him to put together a training plan for me. Oddly enough, a nice Sprint tri fit very well into this schedule (well played, Mc Fadden). And when he brought it up, I though, why not? It seemed like a good idea. And it was.
I completed my first Sprint triathlon in Santa Cruz on August 8, 2010. My primary goal: to finish (and to not be last). My stretch goal was to run the entire 5k without walking (by far my weakest event), and I did it. I'm not going to go into the details of that day. This post is already long enough, and a lot of those thoughts and memories are things I either can't put into words or don't want to. I ran across that finish line feeling better than any other time I can remember. I almost felt like a kid again, having done something that made me so happy and thinking anything was possible. If you had asked me if I could have done that 5 months earlier, I would have laughed in your face. But I did it, and I didn't suck. I was hooked. I have no dreams of completing an Ironman distance race, or even a marathon. But after that race, I won't discount the possibilities.
Triathlon = Good Idea.
A Blog
This is actually my second blog. My first didn't last very long and I somehow ended up signing up for a paid blog hosting service that I had to finish paying for even though my blog was long gone. This time, things will be different though :)
Why a blog? Why not? An outlet to vent my frustrations, voice my thoughts and share my triumphs and embarrassments. Most likely with only myself, but I'm OK with that.
I started this without much thought other than it often helps to get things out on paper (or on screen) and a blog seems like a good idea. I then realized that many of the stories I would want to share generally start out with "sure, that seems like a good idea", hence the title of my blog. The best things in life often start on a whim, a random happening or conversation. Ironically, this is often how the worst things in life start as well. But that's the fun of it, right? You never know which way things are going to go. In my experience, even when things don't always turn out the way I had hoped or expected, I'm usually happy I went with it. If I didn't enjoy myself, at least I learned something.
So this is it. My recent trials and tribulations, here to entertain or bore you. For no other reason than in this moment, it seems like a good idea.
Why a blog? Why not? An outlet to vent my frustrations, voice my thoughts and share my triumphs and embarrassments. Most likely with only myself, but I'm OK with that.
I started this without much thought other than it often helps to get things out on paper (or on screen) and a blog seems like a good idea. I then realized that many of the stories I would want to share generally start out with "sure, that seems like a good idea", hence the title of my blog. The best things in life often start on a whim, a random happening or conversation. Ironically, this is often how the worst things in life start as well. But that's the fun of it, right? You never know which way things are going to go. In my experience, even when things don't always turn out the way I had hoped or expected, I'm usually happy I went with it. If I didn't enjoy myself, at least I learned something.
So this is it. My recent trials and tribulations, here to entertain or bore you. For no other reason than in this moment, it seems like a good idea.
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