Sunday, December 16, 2007

Knockyadown

Johann's new favorite game is Knockyadown. When Ariel or I are sitting on the floor, he will come up and say "Knockyadown" (as one word) and then try to push you down backwards. Since he's not strong enough to actually knock us down, it is a controlled descent and he rides all the way down.

Then, if he wants to do it again, Johann will say, "helpen" and try to help you up. You get up only to hear "Knockyadown" again.

"Helpen" is also one of his new favorite words. He uses it to mean "I need help" and so say "I am helping".

mwz

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Good TV

The other day, the kids and I were watching some kids program that we had recorded on the DVR. For the most part they were playing and I was watching. That happens sometimes.

When it finished, I just left it on the channel that the TV was on, which happened to be the Food network and went to talk to Arial in the kitchen.

I came back after a couple minutes and both Frances and Johann were sitting on the couch just watching TV. It's pretty unusual for them both to eschew playing at the same time to watch something. That peeked my curiosity so I went in to see what they were watching (plus they looked pretty cute sitting next to each other on the couch).

It was Good Eats. They were captivated by Good Eats. It's a good show and all but I didn't think that it would attract 1 and 3 year-olds.

I found that amusing.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Arial's First Triathlon

This post has been on my plate for a long time. Which is a shame because I am very proud of the subject matter.

A couple weeks ago, Arial completed her first triathlon. It was a sprint and she finished it... well, I'm not going to say "easily" since it wasn't an easy task but she did it without depleting all of her energy.

I'm not going to give a race report (for one, I didn't do the racing), so this is going to be from my perspective.

Arial doesn't have a wet suit. The tri was late in the season, so we knew the water would be cold. I asked her repeatedly if she wanted to get one but she refused. When she started swimming, I could watch her for awhile. It looked to me like she was stuck behind some people. Her head was up out of the water like she was looking for a way around.

After the race, she told me that I didn't understand what I was seeing. The water was so cold that she forgot how to swim. I think she still did a faster swim that I did even though I wasn't fighting hypothermia.

It turns out that it is harder to be in charge of the kids than one might think. In a strange place, you really have to work not to lose track of them.

We cheered Arial on as she came out of the water. I had forgotten the signs we had made for her and didn't have the camera but we made due. It was my first tri as a spectator, hopefully I'll get better at it.

We played in the beach sand during the swim and most of the bike. The sand time was the easiest for me. The kids pretty much entertain themselves when sand is involved.

When we left the sand and went to where the bikes came in, I had to keep a closer eye on them. Without anything immediately interesting, they kept trying to wander off. They both tried keeping their balance on those cement parking things.

Frances tried to play with another group of girls but they all knew each other and so they just ignored her. She was pretty bummed about that. It was hard to get her to cheer when Arial arrived on her bike. But I sent her running with Arial (with a fence in between) as she walked her bike in transition and that seemed to cheer her up.

During the run, we played at a play ground. There were a lot of kids there making it a little stressful. About this time I started being thankful that it was a sprint and not an Olympic because this would take less time.

There was an kind of merry-go-round at the playground that a lot of kids were playing on. The other kids were really good about making sure the younger ones were safely on. Both Frances and Johann road on it but Frances stayed on a lot longer. It may have made up for the snubbing she had received earlier.

Around the time that I figured that Arial would be finishing her run, we walked up the race course a little ways. Not to long after that, Arial came running. She looked good, not dragging or anything. We cheered and she ran faster than I could while I carried the kids. She beat us to the finish line by quite a ways.

We hung around for a little, while Arial got food and drink (no first aid tent needed for her). And then we went out to eat.

I am very proud of Arial for finishing the tri. Now both of us are triathletes.

mwz

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

First Olympic Triathlon: Post 8 Lessons and Repercussions

So, the biggest thing I learned from doing this Olympic tri was that my hydration and nutrition plan was lacking. I had thought that I could just take my schedule from the sprint tri and double it. That was not the case.

While the distances were pretty much double that of the sprint distance, I didn't take into account that at the sprint I was able to dip into my reserves. I was quite thirsty and hungry at the end. The water I drank and the gel I ate were obviously enough to sustain me (well obvious now after some thought).

At the Olympic, I had just two bottles of water and two gels (and then the water and Gatorade on the run course). I'm pretty sure that an extra bottle of water and an extra gel may have made the difference. The next time I do this, I'm certainly going to add more than that to the plan.

For one, I'm going to try to have a better breakfast. The medics seemed to think that a couple bagels was not nearly enough. They were probably right. Bringing a gel along with me on the run probably wouldn't have hurt either.


Unfortunately, the other big thing I learned was that I have a breaking point. I've always known that there was a point where I couldn't continue but this was the first time that I actually hit it. Part of me believed that I could just push through the pain and keep going, that if I could handle being increasingly uncomfortable, I could finish any race.

But now I've seen the breaking point and I know it's there. I'm worried that I'm hurt psychologically.

Now that I'm slowly getting back to exercising, I've been to a couple spin classes. What I've noticed is that when I get going and I start to get a little uncomfortable, my head goes back to when I was stuck a mile out from the finish. The discomfort seems like it is going to last too far into the future to handle and I begin to wonder if I can continue much more. It's almost like the breaking point has been artificially shortened in my head.

I have a 10 mile race coming up. I'm hoping to use that to prove to myself again that I can accomplish things past my comfort zone without quitting.

I just hope that I'm not broken.

mwz

Sunday, September 23, 2007

First Olympic Triathlon: Post 7 Recovery

After finishing the tri, I was helped over to the first aid tent (which wasn't really near the finish line at all, much to my dismay).

I sat down on the edge of a cot while the aid lady put ice packs on my chest and back. I suppose the packs were to cool my core body temperature but they didn't really feel that good. They didn't feel bad either, just kinda neutral.

She asked how I felt and if I felt nauseous. I told her all my miseries and that at points during the race I felt like I was going to throw up. She told me that a lady had already thrown up. I think she was trying to make me feel better and it did help a little to know that some other person was suffered from the same race that I was suffering from.

The aid lady then declared that she could see sweat beads forming on my forehead which was a good sign. I wasn't really sure I believed her but I wasn't going to argue.

Arial, the kids and Mrk and Mg came over next to me. They brought a Gatorade and water as well as bananas and grapes. That was really good. I ate and drank as quickly as I thought I could without throwing up.

The kids shared in the refreshments. It was nice that they were there and being chipper. They helped keep my mood up (or at least kept me trying to look like I was happy and okay, so I wouldn't scare them).

I lay down because I was getting a little light headed again. That didn't really make me feel any better but sitting up again made me feel worse. My abdomen injury hurt a lot worse laying down. It took me a bit to find a position the didn't put me into agony.

I started shaking. It felt more like muscle spasms in my arms and legs than regular shivers. I asked if it was cold because I was worried that it was some sort of symptom but they said it was a bit chilly. The aid lady gave me her sweatshirt to cover myself with (which was nice of her to do even though I was sweaty). That helped but I was still shaking. I eventually asked for more banana because I thought the potassium might help. The shaking did eventually go away, so maybe it did help.

At one point, I heard them announce that the final triathlete was finishing. There was a big cheer. I was glad to know that I wasn't last even walking the last mile.

The aid lady asked if I wanted the paramedics to check me out. I thought that would be a stellar idea. It would be pretty stupid to die from doing a race. At least it would be a lousy thing to do to the kids. I decided that any precaution was a good idea. Plus the aid lady seemed a bit worried.

The medics came and they were so professional that it was a little scary. It made me realize that if I needed rescue workers that I wasn't in very good shape. They took my blood pressure, took my pulse and asked me a bunch of questions.

By the time they were done with the questions, I was starting to feel a little better. I tried to sit up. I was successful and other than a bit of dizziness from sitting up, I was feeling a lot better. I didn't want to mention the dizziness to them since I didn't want to bother the medics anymore.

I told the medics that I was starting to feel better and they asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital. I said "no" and they made me sign a waiver stating that I refused a ride to the hospital. I was very grateful for the help from the medics and since I was a lot feeling better at that point, I just wanted them to be able to go back to whatever they were doing before my crisis.

During that time, Mrk was nice enough to gather my stuff from transition and bring out my bike. That saved me from a big hassle. Not only would have been hard physically for me to do that but I think the transition area was being torn down before I left the tent.

I thanked the medics and the aid lady. Pretty much everyone had left by the time I got up. I was near last off the course and had spent over a half an hour in the aid tent giving people a chance to leave. It made it pretty easy to find our car though.

We walked to the cars and then all went to subway where I ate more than I thought I was going to and it was good.

The rest of the weekend, I had quite a bit of pain from my abdomen injury. Strangely, my muscles weren't that sore but I hobbled about in pain anyway. But now I'm mostly okay (although I'm still trying to shield my abdomen from more damage).

mwz

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Tots Soccer

Frances has started soccer.

We've been to one session so far. They do a little "practice" and then scrimmage with one of the three other teams.

Frances is in a 3-4 year old division and I'll admit that at first I was a little intimidated. A good portion of the kids had shin guards on. They looked really serious about it.

The whole thing is just amazingly entertaining. Little kids running around who have basically no idea what they are supposed to be doing.

Things from having to find a partner to kicking the ball back and forth with that partner were completely new concepts to some of these kids (including Frances). It was obvious that one kid only really played "goalie" with his family because it took a while for the coaches to stop him from diving on the ball each time it came to him.

But the real fun came when they started the scrimmage. It was just barely controlled chaos. These kids had never done anything like this.

There were kids joining the opposing teams huddles (after goals). There were kids crying because they weren't allowed to use their hands. There was a ball and a pack of kids all trying to put a foot on it.

There were a couple kids that looked way bigger than the others. They did most of the scoring.

It took Frances a couple minutes to figure out what she was supposed to be doing. But then she was right there in the middle of it. She even scored a goal.

One of the bigger kids dribbled toward the goal from the right but overshot it. In the ensuing melee, Frances got the ball, kicked it a couple times toward the goal and then kicked it in. That was pretty neat.

It was hard not to try and yell directions to Frances. Generally speaking, I'm pretty competetive. Now, I understand all those "crazy" parents who are always yelling to their kids. I had to work hard to keep quiet.

Frances really enjoyed the experience. So did we. It should be fun next week too.

mwz

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

First Olympic Triathlon: Post 6 Failing

Not long after the 2 mile mark, the pain started.

Since high school, I've had a recurring abdomen injury. It might be a tear in some abdomen muscles. Most of the time it is fine (it does heal). But sometimes, when I run hard or do a lot of twisting motions (like a tennis serve), it will re-injure. When that happens it can hurt a lot.

It started to hurt around this point. I was kind of expecting it and I've played tennis through the pain before, so I wasn't that concerned. At this point it was only dull pain anyway. This it turns out was the least of my worries.

The roads were severely arched to let the water run off the sides. That meant that my left foot was always a little bit hirer than my right. That was driving me crazy. I started to get a stitch near my left kidney. That was irritating.

There were also turns where the road actually banked, which just exacerbated the situation. I thought about making a joke to the volunteer at one of these turns about it needing to bank to control my high speed turns but I was too tired.

At the mile 3 water station, I took a little Gatorade. I say little because this station was rationing liquids like the others.

The pain was slowly getting worse. I was still going but I was also going slower. People were passing me pretty regularly now. (I'm normally passed quite a bit so this really wasn't a surprise.)

I tried running on the other side of the road (which is the side you are actually supposed to run on). That helped a little. It made the stitch over my kidney feel a little bit better. But I was hoping for more. It turned out to be annoying when cars would come and then be confused with runners on both sides of the road. I eventually went back to the side most of the runners were on.

It was really starting to get to me that they didn't have mile markers up. The aid stations weren't set up on the mile marks and it seemed like I could just be running forever. It pretty much made it feel like there was no end in site. One lady who passed me even said something like "I wish they marked the miles". So, I wasn't the only one.

One of the guys I had seen when I completed the loop passed me around here. I was a little bit disappointed but I couldn't do anything about it.

By the time I reached the fourth water station, I was feeling pretty bad. They kept saying "just two more to go" and that seemed like forever. I dropped to a walk to drink the water (which I do sometimes). They gave me a little more than half a cup. I felt special.

When I started running again, the pain hit me all at once and I even exclaimed "Ow" (to which one of the volunteers said something inspirational like "you can do it" or "two miles left"). It was one thing for the level of pain to grow slowly but to be thrust back into it like that was not pleasant.

I had tried to memorize the race course map before the event but I was having a lot of trouble remembering what it. There would be curves in the road where I would think we should be going one way (a way that would indicate being near completion) only to see people ahead go the other. It was just hard. The "mile" between the fourth and fifth aid stations felt like it took me an hour.

When I reached the fifth water station, I knew pretty much where I was on the map. I felt somewhat heartened to know that I just had roughly one mile left. Well, I told myself that I should be heartened. My body wasn't convinced.

Having learned my lesson, I asked for two waters. To my surprise, both cups were filled nearly to the brim. I drank most of one and then felt strangely guilty about asking for two, so I tried to drink the other. I didn't come close to finishing it before getting to the trash bin where I threw it away.

I should have kept one cup of water and run with it a ways but at the time, I just automatically through the remaining water away. (It makes me a little thirsty thinking about it.

I kept telling myself, "just a mile to go". But my body understood that to mean "a whole, long, life-sucking mile".

Around a quarter mile (maybe less) after the aid station, I started feeling dizzy and nauseous. I knew that wasn't a good sign. I tried to keep going but then I really started feeling the "I'm about to pass out" feeling. That's when I knew I had to walk.

I still felt horrible but it was better than running. Since I was so close to the end, I tried to run again. After about 10 seconds, I just slowed to the point that I was walking again.

The dizziness and nausea didn't go away right away when I stopped running. I was still breathing in very fast, short breaths. It felt like I was simultaneously not getting enough air and having too much oxygen in my body. Not to mention, that I still wasn't entirely sure that I wouldn't pass out. I wasn't even sure that there was anyone still on the course (I could see for quite a ways and couldn't see anyone).

Eventually, people started appearing behind me. One lady came up to me and tried to get me going again. She said "I'm a slow runner, you can run with me". I tried to tell her that I was also a slow runner but she didn't seem to care. I didn't really think it would be wise for me to push myself anymore but I didn't really want to discuss it with a stranger. So, I tried to run with her but I couldn't keep up for more that 5 paces. As she put distance between us, I dropped back into a walk. It was nice of her to try though.

I could see a bend in the road up ahead. In a way, it was taunting me since I didn't know how much further I would have to go after it. I still felt really terrible, even walking. The lower half of my body was in pain and the top half was contemplating the benefits of throwing up over passing out.

Up near the bend I could see a couple volunteers. I thought that maybe if I leaned on a mail box for long enough, they might see and rescue me. Unfortunately, it looked like they were walking away from me.

I did eventually get closer to them and it turned out that they were taking pictures for the event. They asked me if I wanted my picture taken, I said "sure". I posed for the picture but I stayed at a walk. I didn't figure there was any point in trying to fool the visual record.

I asked them how far I had to go, and they said "just down there" and pointed to a place much farther away than I wanted it to be.

As I passed the photographers, I heard one of them say, "Let's walk back again, until we see another competitor". That explained why they had been going away from me earlier and why I was able to catch them.

I was worried then that they were going to pass me as but they were nice enough to walk slower than I was trudging along.

Not too much later, I saw Mrk coming back for me on his bike. That was a welcome sight. He gave me some Gatorade which I was very thankful for. A part of me worried that I would be DQ'd for receiving outside help but a bigger part of me didn't want to die of dehydration.

I told him that it was going pretty badly and that I wanted to find the first aid tent when I finished. (I don't know what renal failure feels like but I was feeling pretty bad, so I didn't want to risk it.) With less than a block to go and the finish in sight, he zipped off to ask some people where the first aid tent was.

There was an empty lot on the corner before the finish line. Arial and the kids were there. Frances was holding her big "YAY DADDY" sign and yelling "Yay Daddy! Yay Daddy!" over and over again. She looked very happy to see me. She was adorable. I put on as big a smile as I could manage and said something like "Yay Frances". She deserved to see a happy daddy.

It turned out to be a little difficult to find the finish line. There wasn't a big "FINISH" banner or anything. I had to ask where to go. Off on the side of the road, there was a little chute with a timing mat. I just had to go to that.

So, I walked over to the mat (I didn't feel like pretending that I had been running) and touched it.

Immediately, I asked the three volunteers (the only people over by the secluded finish "line") where the first aid tent was. Only one seemed to know. They made me stand there for a second while one of them took off my timing chip (which was fine since I didn't want to get charged for forgetting to take it off). Then one of them helped me over to the first aid tent.

I had completed my first Olympic distance triathlon. At the time, I felt disappointed that I was unable to run the whole last leg.

And you know what. I still do.

mwz

Monday, September 10, 2007

First Olympic Triathlon: Post 5 Faltering

I don't remember much from the second transition. I've been trying to remember it for about a week. That's probably a not a good sign regarding my health at the time. I remember that I had a little problem racking the bike but nothing else from entering transition until I exited. Maybe nothing worth remembering happened.

I came out of the transition area at the same time as a guy in a white shirt who I was catching up to on the bike (but was just way to far ahead to really get near him). I wondered what he was doing during transition that took him so long. (In retrospect, I think he was putting on shoes.)

Mr. Whiteshirt ran just a little bit faster than me. I was fine with that. Within the first block, he stopped to stretch. That made me feel good. Not only might I catch him (I didn't, he started running before I got to him) but I wasn't feeling any cramping.

In fact, I was feeling relatively good. My legs didn't feel as funny as they had after the bike in the other tri. To be sure, I was tired but not in pain. After about a quarter mile, I thought to myself "I can do this all day" (that's a direct quote from my thoughts). Of course, that was assuming that I stayed at that level of discomfort.

Pretty soon I was at the first water station. It came way to soon, around the half mile mark. That confused me somewhat. I am so used to aid stations being at the mile mark that even though I had studied (and even driven) the race course before hand, I asked if this was the 1 mile mark. The sad thing was, they couldn't tell me. They didn't know.

I took Gatorade at this station. The cup was less than half full and I drank it down in two quick gulps. I should have stopped for more but I had just been drinking on my bike. I figured that I was okay and maybe Gatorade just goes down quickly.

Around the actual one mile mark (which wasn't actually marked) there was a little loop (about a half mile or so). I was still feeling alright at this point. When I finished the loop, I saw some others just start it. This made me feel good that I wasn't the last person on the course.

The next aid station wasn't until around the 2 mile mark (I think, again the miles weren't marked). This turned out to be too long between water stations. I was starting to feel thirsty (which is not a good sign) and the aftertaste of the Gatorade was starting to bug me (I'm sure that if I drank Gatorade more often that this wouldn't be an issue).

I took water at this station to wash the Gatorade flavor out of my mouth. Again the cup was less than half full (which is mostly empty in my book). It wasn't even enough to get all of the sweet taste washed out. At this point I really should have stopped and asked for more but I was just following my hydration plan (drink at every station). I wasn't really thinking about it and just kinda hoped that it was enough.

Not to long after this station, I started feeling pain.

mwz

Friday, September 07, 2007

First Olympic Triathlon: Post 4

After finding my transition station, which wasn't that hard in a race as small as this. I removed my wet suit and threw on my shirt.

For some reason, I didn't sit down to put on my socks and shoes. I'm not sure why. The ground was wet but so was I (after the swim). I wound up leaning on a fence.

I discovered that I had not prepared my stuff very well. I took a little time getting my shoes on because I had left them tied (double knotted). On top of that, I hadn't made sure that my toe clips were open far enough (I worried about a repeat of my first tri where someone (Johann) had tightened one of the straps so my foot wouldn't fit in)). It turned out those were fine though.

Arial came by with the kids. Through the fence, I told them about panicking in the water. Then, when I was finished putting on all my gear, I had a gel and pushed my bike out of the area.

What I didn't realize was that traffic had not been blocked off. When I turned on to the main road, I got lucky with the traffic since I wasn't really looking. There was a small gap in the cars that I squeaked into. Riders next to me stopped but I really had plenty of time. (Although, if I had stopped to consider the move, the safe window might have closed.)

Right away, I passed someone, that made me feel good. There were a couple bikers just ahead that I was catching too.

I was within 10 bike lengths of them when, just below my front tire I saw "OL" with an arrow pointing to the street that I was about to pass. The other bikers had already gone passed that intersection and I wasn't even thinking about a turn yet. But I quickly surmised that this was where the super-sprint and the Olympic separated.

While trying to yell to a volunteer (who didn't hear/respond to me) to find out if I was really supposed to turn here, I hit my brakes and started to make the turn. I couldn't believe that the people I was about to pass were on the super-sprint (because of logistics of when they when they started) and that made me nervous that I was going the wrong way. Finally, I saw someone up in the distance. When I passed him, I looked at his leg to see if he was in the Olympic race (he was).

I was passed by a few people and I passed a few as well, but on the whole, I saw very few racers out there. In fact, since the turnaround was actually an ~8 mile loop, I only saw the first 7ish competitors going the other way. (When I saw the leader, I was amazed that I was as far as I was considering my swim problems and the fact that a lot of these people in the race were in better shape than I.)

This race, I didn't seem Mrk on the bike. He was somewhere in the loop when I got to it. I did think that I saw him at one point. Off in the distance ahead of me was someone who was wearing a red shirt like Mrk was wearing. I was slowly catching this person.

I was hoping that this wasn't Mrk because that would mean that he had some sort of major problem. My best case scenario (if it was him) was that he had to fix a flat and figured he would then go slow to finish the race with me. When I got closer, it became obvious that it was actually a heavy set woman and not Mrk.

I mentioned at the end of the last post, that at the end of the swim I started realizing that this was going to be a challenge. That was really only an inkling. It didn't come to the forefront of my mind until I was on the bike for a while and it wasn't the breeze that I thought it would be.

That's not to say that it was really painful or anything. It just took more effort to move myself at the pace that I wanted to go.

In retrospect, I may have pushed myself a little too hard on this leg. When it started, I was thinking about making up time from the swim. I was also pushing myself to get a faster average speed than I had for the sprint because I now have a much better bike than I did. (As an aside, I was having trouble keeping my pace up and later Mrk told me that he found the course more challenging. That explained my speed issues but also made me wish that I hadn't put so much energy into it.)

At one point, I was close to passing someone when I dropped my water bottle. I yelled "Crap!" and slammed on my brakes (I really like that bottle). The guy just ahead of me looked back to make sure I was okay (I think) and then rode on.

I grabbed the bottle started again and eventually passed the guy (who turned out to be 76 years old). The rest of the bike, I was thinking that I *should* further ahead if I wouldn't have dropped the bottle. That made me push myself even harder.

By the end of the race I had drank both water bottles and eaten another gel. (That had been the plan.) I felt pretty good, better than I did at the end of the bike at the sprint tri.

I dismounted with none of the problem I had at the sprint tri (no volunteers thought that I was going to ram them this time) and that was the end of the bike.

mwz

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Frances in Preschool

Frances started preschool this week. She is gong two days a week this year. It's kinda stressing me out.

I always had pretty bad anxiety going into a new school year (actually starting at the end of July leading up to the school year). So, I've been kinda dreading when my kids go because then I get to live that all again through them.

But it turns out that isn't what is bothering me. Frances is really excited about school, so that really takes most of the anxiety out of the equation.

What is getting to me is that now I am having to relinquish control over Frances' experiences. Arial and I aren't the only ones shaping her anymore.

This was driven home when on Tuesday when Frances told us about a mean girl at the gym's child care. I'm not sure what all she does but we were able to discern that she picks up Frances even when she doesn't want to be picked up. Frances also said that she was mean to Johann, too.

Frances says that all the kids at school are nice (and I believe that they have been up to this point) but they won't be forever. Even though I know that she has to learn to handle it on her own, I really wish I could shield her from all the mean kids that she is bound to encounter as she works her way through school.

We're now relegated to giving her advice. It's actually pretty hard.

mwz

First Olympic Triathlon: Post 3 Calm on the Low Seas

Apparently, I'm not the only one who has had problems panicking at the beginning of the swim. I've been reading a book about peoples first triathlons and some of those people hyperventilated right away too. It gives me a little comfort knowing that I'm not alone in that.

Anyway, after calming down from panicking, I concentrated getting to each buoy ball. I swam passed two and decided to try the breast stroke. However, it didn't make me feel like I was moving forward at all. It seemed like my legs were kicking in the air (which might actually have been true since the wet suit changed my positioning in the water). I pretty much used the crawl (and some treading water) after that.

By the time I reached the first turn of the triangle, most of the women had passed me. I was left with the women who were roughly my level (although they didn't waste their time considering quitting).

One of the women cut just inside the big, orange buoy that marked the turn. I'm not sure if she noticed or decided that it wasn't a big deal because she just kept on going. In actuality, it wasn't a big deal because she only cut a couple meters off the course (and it's not like we were competing for the prizes back where I was).

Along the back stretch, I noticed that my wet suit was filling with water. I'm pretty sure that helps negate the positive affects of the suit. I felt my back and without the collar fastened, the zipper had come half way down. I basically had a small parachute on my back.

I grabbed the zipper cord and zipped myself back up. I tried to get the collar re-fastened but it just wouldn't because it was a little twisted and velcroed to itself. I gave up because it wasn't easy treading water and fussing with my collar. Also, I was losing time. It didn't really matter though, since I didn't have any more problems with my zipper.

I decided to not bother with re-attaching the end of my zipper cord the the velcro patch at the base of my back. I figured that it would just nicely trail behind me as I pushed through the water. I was wrong. It spent the rest of the swim tangled in my arms and around my neck (trying to strangle me).

There were some issues with swimming straight ahead. Since I was breathing on the same side, I wound up swimming in little arcs. My arm hit the inside rope a quite a bit as I arced into it. I was also running into the same people a lot (some of it wasn't my fault but some of it was). After a couple of times I wound up just trying to stay a couple meters wide of anyone else. That only partially worked, as I still would wind up close to people.

When I made it to shore, I saw Arial and the kids. I think Frances was holding a "YAY DADDY" sign they had made (but I can't be sure, my memory of that is kinda fuzzy because my eyesight was fuzzy). Arial told me that I had done the swim in ~35 minutes. That was amazing since I thought it was going to take me 50 minutes to do it. The wet suit helped.

Running up to the road to the transition area, I had to ask for directions since I couldn't see. Someone nicely pointed me in the right direction and I found my station with no problem.

I didn't feel that bad but I could feel that I had used energy than I had thought based on the sprint distance I did. I started to realize that an Olympic distance is much harder than a sprint and that this was going to be a serious challenge.

mwz

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

First Olympic Triathlon: Post 2 - Terror on the Low Seas

The swim started, or rather the wading before the swim started. For a little bit I tried out the running method that the guy I took swim lessons from showed me (kick your leg sideways over the water like you are running hurdles). It made for faster running but I splashed a lot and felt silly since no one else was doing it. So I went back to trudging like everyone else. I'm a follower.

I figured it was time to dive in and swim. I got a couple strokes in but I noticed that the guy running next to me was passing me. So, I got back up and ran for a bit more before diving back in.

Before the race, I had decided that I would just breath every two strokes (and keep it on my right side). I just wanted to keep my breath and push through the distance. Just about 20 strokes in I started to have trouble with my air. I felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen even though I was breathing after every 2 strokes.

I wanted to swim through it, hoping that I would find a good rhythm but then I really started to panic. There was too much water ahead of me for me to survive like that.
I tried to roll over on my back to catch my breath and got splashed in my face. This normally wouldn't have been that bad but the wet suit doesn't bend very well at the waist. It kinda puts you into a good posture position which when on your back, pushes your upper body back towards the water. Even though I knew that I would still be able to hold my face out of the water, it felt like the suit was trying to pull me under. Couple that with the tightness of the wet suit (relative to no wet suit) which feels very constrictive when panicking and I was sure that I wasn't going to make it the full 1.5K. I couldn't think of anything other than not being able to breath.

While treading water, I felt for the bottom to hopefully stand up but I was too far out. I looked for a rescue boat but there were no race officials in sight (which without my glasses really isn't that far). Had I seen a boat, I'm pretty sure I would have flagged it down to pick me up.

Making the decision to go back to shore, I flipped on my back and pointed myself toward the beach. I thought "Arial will understand" (which is probably true, she is a very understanding person). My next thought though was how much effort we had taken to get to this point. Not only the cost of the tri and the travel expenses but all of the training. If I quit, I probably wouldn't try another Olympic again.

I really wanted to continue, but wasn't in any shape to do it. So, I undid my collar to give my neck some space, flipped on my back pointed in the correct direction and tried to relax. It wasn't easy but I began to regain control over my breathing. Then, I thought that I might as well move toward the goal and started slowly using my arms. After a little bit, I added some kicking to the mix.

By this point, I was feeling better. The open collar helped me so that I wasn't feeling as constricted and using my muscles was helped my feel like I had a little bit of control over the situation. I rolled over and started to crawl. This time it felt better and I felt like I was getting enough air.

When I looked up to see if anyone was even close to me, most of the men were gone. There were a couple stragglers that weren't too far ahead. One of them even looked like he had been holding onto a buoy (but I really can't be sure because my vision is not that good without my glasses). That made me feel a little less alone (even if it was just a trick of my eyesight).

A very short time after, I saw the women start behind me. Most of them passed me in short order but at least I was going forward and feeling okay. I didn't have to rest on my back for the remainder (mostly crawl but a little bit breast stroke) and I finished the swim in a much better time that I had hoped going in (mostly because of the wet suit) even with the delay of almost quitting.

mwz

Monday, September 03, 2007

First Olympic Triathlon: Post 1

This weekend I completed an Olympic (International) distance triathlon. That is 1.5K (~1 mile) swim, 40K bike (~24 miles) and a 10K (6.2 miles) run. It was pretty rough.

I'm going to do this recap in chunks, I'm not going to do a post for each leg of the race. I think I'll just stop when I think a post has gone long enough.

-- Pre-Race
The race wasn't near our house so we got a motel room for the night before. That actually worked out pretty well. I slept pretty well, so that was a plus.

For breakfast, I had a bagel that Arial had picked up from the Wal-Mart near the motel. We packed up the car and headed out to the race site. On the 25 minute drive, I had another bagel (this one a mini-bagel). It turns out I should have had more.

When we got there, we had to park in a field. The grass was long and wet which made me glad that I wasn't wearing my running shoes. I put my stuff in the transition area, got body marked and then set my stuff up for the race.

I walked down to the beach area and looked at the swim course. The night before we had come down and the swim looked really long. But after letting it sink in over night, it didn't look as bad. The buoys were still a long way out but I didn't feel as much fear looking out.

We found Mrk and Mg, did some other pre-race things (this time, I used the port-a-potty before taking my shoes off).

Wet suits were allowed in this one, so I donned mine, removed my glasses and found Mrk by wandering near his transition spot and shouting his name until he responded.

We went down to the water. I said my goodbyes to Arial and the kids. Walking into the water, I was surprised that it wasn't that cold. I sure it would have been worse without the wet suit but my feet were colder walking on the dewey grass.

They kicked us all off the beach so they could count us and hand out the swim caps. (I had been joking that they hadn't given to us yet because they were late to be delivered but then I heard a volunteer say "The swim caps have arrived"). I said good bye to Arial and the kids again, got my swim cap and went on the beach.

The men started first (with the women starting 5 minutes later). Everyone was wading into the water up to some imaginary line between some boats. I was going to stay behind most everyone in a less dense section in the middle, but Mrk pointed out that because of the curve of the beach, being on the far outside was actually closer to the first buoy.

The announcer said he would give a countdown from ten and say "Go" but then he made some joke about making a buzzing noise instead of "Go". I thought that was lame but I now I don't even remember what he wound up doing. I just no that the 10 second countdown when rather quick and then we were running in the water.

mwz

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

My Baby's Going to School

Frances has started pre-school. Well, she had her pre-pre-school orientation. But it's all down hill from here. Next thing you know, she'll be in high school and I'll have to beat up some guy with a baseball bat for breaking her heart.

Scratch that.

She's never dating.

mwz

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Ding Dong

Today, Frances invented her first imaginary friend.

This afternoon I was working in my office and Frances came down. She said she had friend named Ding Dong. I asked the following questions.

Q: Where did you meet Ding Dong?
A: Outside.

Q: Is Ding Dong a boy or a girl?
A: A girl.

Q: What color is her hair?
A: Umm... yellow.

Q: Is she nice?
A: Yes, she always shares her toys. (I later learned that Ding Dong also shares her books.)

We then went upstairs and told Arial about Ding Dong. She and Johann were outside with a bunch of purple flowers in her lap. They had been pretending the flowers were bells, hence the name Ding Dong. I actually think I may have misunderstood Frances at first.

She may have meant to tell me that they were playing with the flowers and saying "ding dong". But I heard something like "I was playing with Ding Dong". Based on my questions, Frances may have picked up on what I meant and ran with it.

Later, I was downstairs and I heard Frances yell "Surprise!" from upstairs. I hollered back "I was surprised." I was then informed that the surprise was for Ding Dong and not me. It turns out that today is Ding Dongs birthday. So, she was getting a birthday surprise.

As an aside, Frances gives interesting names. She has three toy horses. One is named Comet (because that is what the box said). One is named Boy and the other is named Biggie (it's bigger than the others).

mwz

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Night Run

This evening, I ran almost 5.5 miles. It has been a while since I have run at night. I still enjoy it.

I like that it is cooler and it is somewhat peaceful. Plus, in some ways, being outside at night feels like being inside.

However, if I do run at night again, I am going to take a different route.

Tonight, I ran on a bike path that goes out of town into less developed land. There are patches of near-wilderness (I say near because it is really close to the city, so it shouldn't be able to support large predators) and it can get pretty dark. It didn't give me the creeps or anything, I am simply aware that a deer would beat me in a fight if it thought that it needed to.

I saw three deer during the run (lest you think I am just being paranoid). The first was off in the distance but the second encounter was with a pair just off the path. They were in a well lit area so I could see them for a while.

In order to let them know I was coming, I stomped my feet. That got their attention but it wasn't until I started waving my arms that they ran away. Even though that took some energy, I was glad that they didn't decide to start their violent rebellion against man at that moment.

That was when I decided to stick to city streets on any subsequent night runs. But to punctuate the point, I had an encounter with a dog.

With a mile left on my run, on a straight stretch of path, I heard a loud bark (from a large sounding dog). I could barely make out the shape of a fairly big dog about 50 yards away, right in the middle of the path.

I was not pleased about the prospects of being mauled and exhausted on a dark patch of bike path. There was a row of houses whose backyards lined the path. So, I figured that the odds were good that this was a pet. But I didn't really want to take many chances.

So I slowed to a walk (actually I did that immediately when I hear the bark) and just kept going. I saw the dog shape move off the path and into a back yard. That was either good or it was trying to flank me.

Shortly afterword, I think I heard a doggy door open/close at the house the dog was closest to. I'm pretty sure it went in because I didn't see it again.

I walked for a little while passed the house (I didn't want to look like prey) and then started running again.

The run was good but I'm going to stay out of the country (-ish areas) at night.

mwz

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Mama and Dada

At Target today, I checked out and Arial pushed the cart (with the kids) back to the cart area. As they went away, Johann reached towards me and yelled "Momma". Arial said "No, that's Dada".

The guy behind me said, "When they learn a word, they use it for everything."

That was when I had to say "No, he really calls me 'Momma' and her 'Dada'".

He laughed and said that I would have to tell him about that when he gets older. I almost said "that's what I have a blog for" but I just left.

But it's true. Johann thinks I'm called "Momma". I think it is because when he is in distress either one of us responds (whoever is the closest and/or the least weary). So sometimes he cries "Mommy! Momma!" and I will respond. I think that is what has confused him.

He will occationally call me "Daddy". Hopefully, he will eventually stick with that.

mwz

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

We're Sick

Our family has been run through a wringer with this last cold.

Johann started with a cough a month ago. Then, he and Frances got runny noses. Two weeks ago, I came down with runny nose, cough and just general tiredness. Arial was still healthy.

I thought I was getting better. We ran the Bix (7 miles). The cold reactivated. This time it added a soar throat and a bit of muffling in my ears.

When Johann had a really bad day on Sunday (he was really cranky) and I was having a hard time swallowing, we decided to go to the doctor. I hate going to the doctor for a cold but Arial convinced me that it could be strep and she was starting to come down with symptoms. So for the sake of the family, we went.

They told us that both Johann and I had ear infections. I didn't know that adults could get ear infections. But that was the cause of my hearing loss.

We got scripts for antibiotics which I feel a little guilty taking since we don't know if it's bacterial. But I've been knocked out by this thing for 2 weeks and I need to get better. So with a heavy heart, I started the treatment.

Two days after starting the treatment, I feel a lot better. Which makes me think that the antibiotics weren't needed (although there is something to be said for the placebo effect. I'm still going to finish the regimen because stopping early is a good way to develop drug resistant bacteria.

mwz

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Sayings

The kids have been saying interesting things lately. For the past month (probably more), Frances has been asking "why?" to everything.

Get your shoes on.

Why?

Because we need to go to the gym.

Why?

To get in shape.

Why?

...

That is pretty normal for a three year old.

But now Johann has started asking why, too. I don't think he really knows what it means but I think that he likes that we keep talking to him as we explain things. It's just kinda strange to hear him ask "why" when he doesn't really do much other talking (other than "bite" for "can I have a bite of that", "mil" for milk and of course "No. No. No. No No." for "No. No. No. No. No.").

He really does seem to appreciate the answers though because unlike Frances, he will stop asking why once you have explained it. And he is adorable when he is asking.


Frances said something interesting today after I sneezed. I normally say "gesundheit" to a sneeze but Arial says "bless you". Today, Frances decided to combine the two with "Goodblessheit".

mwz

Monday, July 09, 2007

10K

Arial and I ran a 10K this weekend. It was to be an indication of how our training was going. If we sucked, that would have made some of the longer races and triathlons coming in the future worrisome. If we did well, we could feel a little better about ourselves.

Two days before the race, I ran by myself for 4.7 miles. That went poorly. I finished but I was completely dead by the end. I was really worried about the 10K because I knew that I was going to be pushing the children in the stroller *and* going farther.

But (to kill any suspense) we did pretty well. We wound up running an average of 10:41 miles and while we weren't in the front of the pack (or the middle) we did beat some people.

When we started, the whole crowd zoomed ahead. There were maybe 8 people behind us. It was actually kinda neat to see the river of people ahead of us.

At about the 2 mile mark we got caught up with the 5K people (they started later than us and we shared some of the same route). That made it hard to know how we were doing against the 10K people.

It was a pain to get through the walkers. Most were good about giving us room but some just seemed to be in their own world. That did feel good to pass some people though, especially knowing that they were doing a lesser distance.

We dodged a few sprinklers that good-intentioned people left in the middle of the street. Both kids slept (Johann more than Frances). We met up with and passed the 5K people again (the route was a loop) and finished.

We both felt pretty good at the end. Neither were gasping for air or falling over. I'm not saying we felt like doing the race again but we felt great for just having run a 10K.

So, I am now feeling a little better about our training. I am still afraid of swimming nearly a mile, though.

mwz

Something fun

This site is pretty fun.

This is the one I made:
http://roxik.com/pictaps/?pid=a748238

mwz

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Fourth of July Parade

Happy Independence Day.

Today, we went to the 4rth of July parade. They are pretty serious about their parades here. A number of people put up shade tents for sitting under and for good reason. The parade was over an hour and a half long.

We did find pretty good spots facing away from the sun. There were two little girls next to us about Frances' age. I thought it would be nice for Frances but it turn out that they were just competition for candy.

There was a lot of candy. It was like I remembered it as a kid (not like how they did it in the city we used to live in. Although, there were no marching bands. It didn't seem right. Not even a Scottish, bagpipe group.

I was very proud of Frances. She and another little girl were going after the same piece of candy. Frances got it and the other girls started crying. Without any intervention, she went over and gave the girl the candy. She is a nice person.

I proceeded to taunt the other mother by chanting, "My daughter is nicer than yours is". Okay, that's not true but I was very pleased by Frances' actions.

We ate lunch at church and now the kids are taking naps.

If all goes as planned, there will be swimming and fireworks later.

mwz

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Post-Race

Executive summary:
  • Finishing a triathlon is good but it makes you wobbly.
  • Food is delicious after a race.
  • Kids like drinking from bottle water bottles.
  • Kids also don't like to be taken away from sand and their impromptu friends.
  • Raffling off an ugly bike does not make us stay through the awards ceremony.
  • Having a stranger come up and ask if you did the triathlon is cool.
  • Triathlons are a lot of fun and I recommend them.

Long Form:

When I crossed the finish line, I was pleased. Although, I didn't feel the same sense of accomplishment that I did when I finished the Bix (I think it's because I still plan to do an Olympic distance and so this was just a stepping stone). I was certainly happy though, both to be done with it and to be able to call myself a triathlete.

They stopped me to take the timing chip off of my ankle. I could barely stand still, I was too wobbly. We were under a little canopy and I could reach the top supports, so I used one to keep my balance. Though, I was careful not to pull the whole thing done.

An aside about the timing chip because I really haven't mentioned it yet. The chip was attached to a Velcro strap. It was reasonably comfortable (for someone not used to anklets). When I put it on, it was well before the race and I just wanted to make sure I didn't lose it. So, I didn't really tighten it at all.

Unfortunately, I didn't remember to tighten it later. It was just too comfortable. When I began swimming, I remembered it because it felt like it was going to fall off my foot. Once I convinced myself that my foot was actually big enough to hold it on, I grumbled (internally) at the extra drag it was producing. But then, I started to struggle with the swim and it was forgotten.

I actually didn't have any problems with it the rest of the way. I don't even remember having to deal with it when putting on socks. The timing chip worked out for me.

Back to the main story. After they removed the timing chip from my leg, I was handed a "finishers" towel and a bottle of water. The towel was a little smaller than a hand towel and had the name of the tri with the word "Finisher" below. I guess I'm supposed to hang that up or something. Hmm... Actually, not that I think about it, that's not a bad idea. Just a couple nails and I could have myself a nice wall decoration...

I hobbled around the food shelter (I just grabbed some grapes that time) and found the family walking back from where I found them last. We talked a little and there were some congratulations. The kids found a weird sand pit whose real purpose I can't even begin to comprehend. They played in it with some other kids. I let them both drink from my water bottle. Johann really seemed to enjoy drinking from the bottle. We have some cute pictures of that. Then, Mrk and I went back to get food.
They had a nice array of fruit; bananas, sliced oranges and grapes as well as a variety of bagels. I grabbed some orange quarters and a bagel quarter. The bagel had some sort of sugar glaze. It was delicious. I wound up getting another later.

We walked around a bit more, my water was gone so we tried some of the "sports drink" that they had mixed up in coolers. I guess it was made from a powder whose company was a sponsor. It pretty much tasted like they ground up some Pez and diluted it in a lot of water. I was not impressed.

After discovering that there wasn't much else there other than food, we went back to the family. Mrk and Mg disappeared, I think Mrk wanted to shower off down by the beach. I wanted to tear get my transition stuff, so we pried the kids away from the sand (Frances particularly wanted to stay and play with another little girl).

Non-participants weren't allowed in the transition area so Arial and the kids waited outside. I packed up my stuff and wheeled my bike to the exit. They were checking body markings to make sure the number on the bike matched. My number was covered by my shirt sleeve and I had my arms full with the bike and my bag. So, I pulled up my sleeve with my teeth. The volunteer checking numbers said that was the first time he had seen someone do that. I thought that was strange.

Arial happened to spot Mg waiting for Mrk at a picnic table. We went over and sat with her. Actually, I stood most of the time. I'm not really sure why but it had something to do with the kids.

When Mrk came, we headed back to the car. When we got there, we heard the announcement that they were handing out raffle tickets. We didn't know how long they would be handing them out, so we hurried a little (after all there was a bike on the line). I got the bike strapped back on the back of the car and Arial put my bag into the car. And we went to get a raffle ticket.

It turns out we needn't have hurried. There was a line for the tickets and even after we got ours, it took a while before they started. While we were in line though, we saw the bike they were giving away. It was pretty much the ugliest, *new* bike I've seen.

For one, it wasn't a road bike (like you would need in a triathlon), so it wouldn't have replaced my old bike. I think it was made to dissuade people from going into the army. It was army green and had the army star on the chain guard. I think you could make a fine bike with army colors but this was not a fine bike. I can't really describe its ugliness other than to say that it was obvious that the bike shop wasn't able to sell this one, so they decided to give it away.

We didn't win anything but that was okay. Other than a couple gift cards, the prizes were a little weak. They gave away gift bags, and in them was a large container of the Pez-like drink powder and a bottle of gel (with a dispenser). Other than the novelty of having a bottle of gel, those gift bags were suited for someone more into it than I.

Another of the prizes was a pair of men's running shoes... size 9. They also had a women's pair. The guy who one the shoes was just ahead of us and he pointed out the obvious problem with "I don't wear size 9".

After the smaller prizes were given out, they started presenting the awards to the division winners. Since we didn't want to sit through that for the prospect of winning a bike we didn't want, we left.

We decided to go to Applebee's since I knew were one was. It was a fine meal. When we left, a guy in the parking lot asked me if I had done the tri. He had noticed the body markings. That was really cool to be noticed like that.

We parted ways with Mrk and Mg and spent the rest of the day with naps and lounging. All four of us were tired from getting up so early and having such an eventful morning.

In retrospect, I'm glad that we did the triathlon. I want to do another, longer (Olympic distance) tri later in the season. The whole thing was a lot of fun and I would recommend it.

mwz

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Run

Executive summary:
  • Running after biking after swimming sucks.
  • Especially, if you haven't really been training that hard on the run portion.
  • A mile is longer than you think. Three miles is triply longer than you think.
  • Strangers will lie to you by telling you that the finish is "not much further".
  • It is good to have family there when you are suffering.
  • I finished.

Long Form:

The run course was 5K, with the first 3/4 mile on park trails and the remainder on road. There was a section of about a mile after the trail that was an out and back. Then, there was about a mile and a half of road after passing the exit from the trails.

Mile 1:

When I ran across the timing pad and onto the grass I realized the folly of my mindset. I had been thinking that all I had to do was get to the run and I could just push myself through. What I didn't count on was that I would feel terrible during the whole run.

The first part of the run was through grass, running between a series of flags. That was kinda fun. I don't know why but it sorta felt like I was skiing a slalom course (even though the "gates" weren't staggered and I was running up hill).

I was also regretting that I had brought the sweat rag. It just felt like it was weighing me down.

Arial, Mg and the kids were waiting on that section of the course. It was nice to see them, especially so close (there was no barrier). I tossed them my sweat rag (and I was glad to get rid of it) and we said our hellos. They cheered me on and I disappeared down a woodland trail.

Running on the trail was rough. I had heard that the first mile of the run was the worst because your legs are used to the cycling motion. But the softer ground didn't help.

The trail had a number of small but mildly steep hills. One of them (which we were warned about in the race information) really seemed like it should have had stairs.

I was really plodding along with no real stride in my run. My legs were heavy and I was feeling pretty bad. But then I thought back to doing the Bix 7 (7 miles with horrible hills) years ago. I compared how I felt to how I felt with about 3 miles left in the Bix. I decided that the feeling was pretty similar and since I finished the Bix, I could finish this. That realization helped my mindset a quite a bit.

I was glad to get out to the road. The first stretch on the way to the turnaround, we had to run on the gravel next to the road while the returning people got to be on the concrete. I figured that at that point they had earned it. I was glad to get to the park road where we could get on it.

At the park entrance, was the first water station and the 1 mile mark. That made me sad that I had only run a mile.

Mile 2:

I had a couple sips of water at the first station. I passed up the offer of a wet sponge. I felt I was wet enough (although that was a little foolish).

During the second mile, people started passing me more regularly. I began recognizing the backs of people whom I had passed on the bike. This wasn't too surprising since the people on mountain bikes that I was passing looked like they were runners with the bike as an afterthought.

After I made it off the trail and could see the oncoming runners, I started looking for Mrk again (this time looking for a red shirt). When I got to the turnaround I realized that he must have passed the trail exit before I even came out. Mrk is speedy (at least compared to me).

At the turnaround, the volunteer at the flag was trying to encourage us. When I was going around him he yelled "There is cold water at the finish line. Go get it.". My first thought was that I didn't need to be reminded that I was running a water deficit. The second thing I thought was that there was cold water at the water station just down the road. I could just go there and get water. All in all, his attempt to encourage me failed.

Right after the water station (where I refused a sponge again), we were back on the highway. But this time we got to run on the concrete instead of the shoulder gravel. I felt like I had earned that.

Near the trail exit, I thought "They must not have put up a 2 mile marker. I'm probably about the 2 and a half mile mark." About 1/4 mile later I saw the 2 mile sign.

Around this time, I realized that I wasn't really in control of my race anymore. I could really only go the pace that I was going. I couldn't stop people from passing me or decide to pass anyone else. I was moving along at a constant pace and that was that.

Mile 3:

The last water station was at the 2 mile mark. I had a couple sips of water. I regretted that not much later. When I made the turn into the park and started to realize that I was still a good distance from the finish. I was starting to get thirsty and the day was heating up. I questioned my decision to not wear sun screen, particularly on my head. Basically, it was starting to suck.

Then, with about a quarter mile left, I saw Mrk coming back to see me. At that point, I wanted some real information about the remaining distance. I yelled up, "How much further, really?" and on queue a woman near Mrk yelled "You're almost there". That was useless information, being as people had been telling us that for the last mile. Mrk, however, understood what I meant and told me that the finish was a little after the bend up ahead.

Mrk ran with me for a bit. It was a nice way to get my mind of the discomfort. We chatted for a bit and got our pictures taken together by a race photographer (which is kinda neat to have and it makes it look like I was right up there with Mrk).

Up ahead I saw Arial, Mg and the kids. Seeing them was great. Especially, since at that point I began to believe that I was actually going to finish. I waved, they waved. There really isn't that much interaction but it is still wonderful to see them there.

I heard from Arial that Frances said "Daddy's running fast". That's nice to know that my daughter thinks I'm fast even though I was not actually running fast in comparison to other people in my age group.

When we had just passed the family, I asked Mrk if he minded if I finished on my own. I didn't want there to be any sort of confusion at the finish since he had already finished (I'm sure he would have bowed out before then anyways). Plus, I did kinda want to complete the tri on my own. I was a little worried that he would take offence but he seemed to understand.

By that point, I could see the finish. There was a husky woman ahead of me (a different one than the swim). I thought about trying to catch her but then I figured that she was about to finish the tri too and I didn't want to be a jerk that tried to whiz by her right before the finish line. I kept at my same pace. In retrospect I don't know if I would have been able to catch her even if I had tried. She must have picked up her speed because I stopped closing.

Of course then, about 30 yards from the finish, two guys zipped past me. I laughed a little at that.

As I entered the finish area, there was a lot of cheering. I thought that was impressive since I was no where near the beginning or even the middle of the finishers. They were announcing the names of people as they crossed the finish line. I didn't hear mine because the cheering was so loud. I think that was better.

Finally, I crossed the finish line and became a triathlete.

mwz

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Transition 2

Executive summary:
  • There isn't much stuff to do during Transition 2.

Long Form:

After entering the transition area, I pushed my bike over to my spot (which was much easier to find since I had my glasses on). I put my bike up on the rack just like Mrk had put his up, hanging by the hand brakes. I figured if it was good enough for his bike, it was good enough for mine.

I took off my helmet and decided to keep my sweat rag tucked into my shorts.

Then, I just looked down at my stuff for a little bit, while trying to figure out if I needed anything else for the run. After a second or two, I decided that the run was pretty simple and quickly walked over to the gate where the volunteer was yelling "Run Out, over here!".

The whole thing took me less than a minute.

And I was off on the run.

mwz

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Bike

Executive summary:
  • Before the race, it's a good idea to check your bike to see if any of your children inadvertently sabotaged the toe clips.
  • When you only train for the bike, you feel pretty good during the bike leg.
  • People with nice bikes pass me. People with mountain bikes get passed by me.
  • Gels are sickeningly sweat unless you drink a lot of water, which is why it is required by law to do so.
  • The volunteers don't like it when you are threatening to crash into them.

Long Form:

The course was ~15 miles out and back on a set of highways.

The bike started nicely. I pushed my bike to the guy who signified where I could start riding. My first foot went easily into its toe clip.

However, my left foot just wouldn't go in. I looked down and the loop was pulled tight into a tiny circle. Johann had been playing with my bike a little the day before and I suspect that he pulled the toe clip strap. That's what I get for not inspecting my bike properly.

I pulled over, opened up that toe clip and I was back on my way.

The bike leg felt good. I've been mostly training for the bike (doing spin classes thinking that the cardio would help all events), so that was to be expected. It was hard to reserve energy for the run. I tried to stay above 15 mph (although on some of the hills I dipped down). I wound up averaging around 17 mph, so I feel pretty good about that.

It was a nice day for a ride. There was a slight head wind on the way out but it wasn't too bad. The road was a lot hillier than I had imagined it but that made it easier to pass the people that I was catching. The cyclists really bunched up on the hills.

I passed a fair number of people and was passed by a fair number of people. Interestingly, most of the people I passed had worse bikes than mine (and a lot of them were mountain bikes). The people who passed me all had much nicer bikes than I (which made me feel better about being passed). While that is an interesting correlation, I don't think it was the bikes that was making the difference. I think that it is a self selecting group. People who are into biking get better bikes.

I knew that Mrk was ahead of me somewhere because I didn't pass him in the swim and his bike was gone from the transition. After about a mile on the bike I started looking for him coming back from the turnaround. The last time I saw him, he was wearing a black shirt. I hadn't noticed what his bike helmet looked like, so I was looking at every black shirted male that was coming toward me trying to determine if it was Mrk.

Finally, a guy in a red shirt yelled at me. It was Mrk. Apparently, he had a different shirt for the bike than he was wearing before the race. It was nice to see him out on the course. It made the thing less lonely.

My bike isn't the greatest. I believe that it was built in the 80's. It makes some noises when I pedal it. Combining those noises with the knowledge that I haven't had to change the inner tubes since I got it a year ago and I started to worry about whether it was going to make it. I was especially concerned going up hills where I was putting a lot of pressure on the pedals. But it held together and eventually I forgot about my worries.

The bike was on public highways and they didn't shut down traffic. There were a number of cars on the road. I felt a little bad for them. They were stuck in this never ending stream of bikes.

The cars really weren't a problem for me until I got to the turn around. A pickup and a sedan had passed me but didn't pass the guy ahead of me. When they got to the turnaround, they didn't seem to be sure how to get through (there was a cop car in one lane and they were probably on the lookout for bikes). As they slowed down, I thought about passing them on the right but I didn't want to cut them off (and get run over) during the turnaround. So, I hit my brakes a little and went slowly behind them.

That slowdown lost me a bit of time but it wasn't too bad. I was back up to speed in not too long. The people I was creeping up on were a little farther ahead but I caught them eventually and the riders that passed me were going to pass me anyway.

When someone passes you or you pass someone else, you have 15 seconds to get out of their draft zone (defined as 3 bike lengths behind them). During those 15 seconds, you can draft all you want. So I tried it a few times, both when passing and when being passed. Maybe I don't understand drafting but I couldn't feel a difference. It didn't work for me in the swim and it didn't work for me in the bike. I also didn't really like being so close to someone else's bottom. It felt creepy.

On the way back, I used the sweat rag to wipe my brow. I was glad that it actually came in handy. It was warm enough that I was starting to wish that I wasn't wearing the shorts over my track shorts. I think the next race, I may just wear the track shorts. Hopefully, I will be in better shape by then and won't look as funny.

I had my gel with about 3-5 miles left on the bike. Before race-day, I had a couple of them so it wasn't as big of a shock as it could have been. Gels are like eating cake decorating gel. They are really sugary and thick. That's why it's the law to drink water with them.

And drink water, I did. I successfully finished my water bottle by the end of the bike. I was happy about that and it probably saved me during the run.

The last mile or so of the bike leg was in the park where the triathlon was based. That portion is shared by the runners. I was feeling pretty good, so I yelled some encouragement ("Good Job") to some of the runners

As I approached the transition, there was a volunteer hollering that we needed to dismount by the time we got to him. I was cool with that. I slipped my right foot out and brought it over so I was coasting. I was going slow enough that I could stop the bike by hopping off.

Unfortunately, my other foot was stuck (darn that left foot). I hit the brakes and swerved off to the left. The volunteer was a little freaked by that. I think he thought I was going to crash (I wasn't sure that wouldn't either). If there had been someone coming up behind me on the left, I probably would have. But, I brought it to a stop and extracted my foot. I quickly pushed the bike into the transition.

Final Thoughts:

The bike was a lot of fun. Probably the most fun leg of the tri. Passing and being passed was interesting and I felt strong doing it. I was very relieved that I had made it passed the point where mechanical failure could ruin the race.

mwz

Friday, June 22, 2007

Transition 1

Executive summary:
  • It is nice to see your family when you are racing.
  • A rotund woman beat me up the hill to the transition... badly.
  • Glasses are useful when looking for your bike.
  • Wet feet don't want socks.
  • I like to start paragraphs with the word "I".

Long Form:

When I came out of the water, I saw Arial and the kids. They were cheering for me. Well, Arial was cheering for me, Johann was looking at me and Frances was playing in the sand. I waved at them and they waved back.

Then I had to climb a hill between the beach and the transition. The chubby lady who came out of the water just ahead of me, zoomed up the hill. I felt like I was trudging but I forced myself up there. But in all fairness, I think I had been swimming for longer than her.

I took a couple steps in the wading pool to get the sand off of my feet. It felt like I was going to slip but I didn't.

Since I didn't have my glasses, I found my row by counting from the far end. When I got to the end without finding my stuff, I realized that I hadn't been able to see all of the rows and was one row off.

I found my bike and set myself to the task of putting socks on wet feet. It wasn't easy even after drying them with a towel. Putting on my shirt wasn't great either. I was still wet but I figured (correctly) that I would dry on the bike.

Apparently, by this point Arial and the kids had come to watch me in transition. They had plenty of time to walk up there during my long T1. I didn't see them but they were in the background of a picture Mg took.

There were people getting ready for the run but also people getting ready for the bike. I took comfort that I wasn't the only one there.

I almost forgot my shorts. That wouldn't have been that bad but I had my gels in the pockets. I had to put them on over my shoes.

I tucked a sweat rag into the waistband of my shorts, put on my helmet and unracked my bike.

I wheeled my bike past a couple people getting ready for the run and pushed out the gate.

And then the bike began.

mwz

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Swim

Executive summary:

  • I look like a dork running through the water in in my track shorts and swim cap.
  • The water was nice and warm.
  • I felt good initially and passed someone.
  • Then, I was passed by more people than had signed up for the race.
  • A good portion of the swim was spent alternating between the crawl and the back stroke.
  • A race volunteer in a kayak almost tried to rescue me. I gave him a thumbs up because that's just how I roll.
  • When I finally got a good rhythm, someone kicked me and that was the end of that.
  • Being beaten by a fat lady is both mildly humiliating and "inspirational".


Long Form:

The course was a 600 yard triangle in a lake. There were three legs to the swim; out to the first buoy, across the lake to the second buoy and back to the shore. The second leg was the longest.

Leg 1:

The guy told me "Go" and I jogged to the water. I ran until the water was up to the middle of my thighs and dove in.

After seeing the pictures from this point, I found that I was pretty much guaranteed to look like a dork running into the water. A swim cap is not the most flattering head ware and even the most athletic person looks a little silly running through water. Compound that with my near-naked (track shorts only), flabby body and the end result is really quite sad.

Once I hit the water, that didn't matter any more. The water was warm and I felt strong. I didn't have a wet-suit to distract me and I thought I was doing well. I passed a guy who was doing the side stroke. I felt great.

It turned out that I wasn't quite as prepared for the swim as I had hoped.

Unfortunately, before I was halfway to the first buoy, my breathing started to get more difficult. I tried to breast stroke but I was still having trouble catching my breath. It was around then that people started to pass me.

I flipped over on my back to catch my breath but that let me see a swarm of people behind me. That kinda scared me so I flipped right back. I tried to press on, alternating between crawl and breast stroke.

I tried to draft off of someone at this point but someone else had the same idea and cut me off. I then tried to draft of the next person but it was confusing and by the time I had worked it out they were gone.

Soon, I realized that I wasn't going to make it to the end if I just used the crawl and breast stroke. The swim seemed very long at that point.

I swallowed my pride and swam on my back. My breath was still fast for awhile but eventually it calmed down. I then alternated between crawl and backstroke. I was still pushing forward when I was on my back. It isn't fast but it does make some progress.

While I was on my back, I saw one of the guys in a kayak yell something to me. I couldn't hear him but I turned over to look at my surroundings. It turned out that I was dangerously close to cutting on the inside of buoy one (I probably would have hit it).

I immediately fixed my direction but the kayak guy was still coming up to me. In retrospect he was probably going to rescue me. I gave him a thumbs up (mostly to thank him for correcting my direction) and he waved and I made my way around the first buoy.

Leg 2:

The back stretch was not the greatest. I was still alternating between crawl and backstroke. Many people passed me. I tried to stay on the inside and out of the way (I wasn't going to go to the outside because I had enough distance to swim as it was).

During the last quarter of the second leg, I started feeling a little better. I tried drafting again but couldn't keep up.

Finally, I got the the second buoy.

Leg 3:

After the second buoy, I could see the end. I really started to hit a rhythm with the crawl for about 10 strokes before someone kicked me. I went back to crawl/breast stroke (I didn't want to flip on my back so close to the end).

The last leg seemed to take forever. I could see the goal the whole way and it wasn't getting closer as fast as I thought it should.

When I got reasonably close to shore, I decide to drop my feet to see if I could walk. The water was up just above my waist. I tried a thing where I used my arms to crawl but pushed on the bottom with my legs. Eventually, I got up and ran.

Just ahead of me was a rather chubby woman. I'm reasonably certain that she started behind me. To be honest that hurt my pride a little but she beat me fair and square.

Final Thoughts:

The swim was a rather odd experience for me. It seemed to take forever. It felt more like I was stranded out in the middle of a lake than I was in a race.

But I finished it and it was good to get out of the water knowing that I had that under my belt.

mwz

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Pre-Race

Executive summary:
  • A pork tenderloin sandwich with onions is not a good night-before meal, particularily onions.
  • It's hard to sleep the night before a race even though you know that you have to get up at 4:15. I woke at 2:20 and was awake for a full hour.
  • Body markings are cool. You can show them off to people when you tell them that you did a triathlon.
  • If the water is too warm, don't care that you spent a lot of money on a wet-suit.
  • Trackshorts alone make you feel more naked than clothed.
  • Going shoeless in a portapotty is gross but at least I was able to jump in a lake shortly after.
  • Waiting on the beach 50 minutes before the your race begins allows you to get really nervous... and then not so nervous... and then nervous again.
  • Family helps with the nerves.



Long Form:

The night before the race, we met up with my brother, Mrk and Mg, his wife. The race was in a neutral city between our two homes, so we met there. The place we had supper was very meat heavy. So, no carbo-loading for me. I had a pork tenderloin. It was delicious.

After packet-pickup, we came back to our place for the night. I still had to pack my gear. Mrk helped me attach the bike rack to my car, which was good because the instructions were inscrutable.

He also helped me make sure that I had everything I needed for the race. It turns out there is a lot of stuff that you need to keep track of; goggles, bike gloves, wetsuit, shoes... I went through the race in my head and tried to figure out what I would need at each step. That worked pretty well but I should have just used a checklist from the internet.

We managed to get to bed around 10:30.

At 2:20 am, I woke up. I was nervous and that made me worried that I was sick. (I had the same feeling on my wedding day, when I woke up thinking, "I hope I'm not hung over". I wasn't). The onion taste in my mouth (from the tenderloin) didn't help things at all. I wound up brushing my teeth three times that morning to get rid of the taste.

I went back to bed but I was so nervous that I just rolled around. The last time I remember seeing was 3:30. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I new it was 4:15 and time to get up.

I felt pretty good when I got up. I grabbed some cereal (bran flakes) and watched a little bit of Red Eye that we had recorded.

Then, I woke up Johann and got him dressed (Arial had set out clothes the night before. He was so adorable. He barely cried while I was dressing him.

Arial had gotten up by that point and she got Frances dressed while I loaded the car.

We managed to get out of the house a little after 5 am (we were shooting for 4:50). We arrived at the race location a little before 6 which turned out to be the perfect time because people we were able to park right next to the start. Any earlier and we would have had to park about a block away in another lot, any later and I don't know where we would have had to park.

Mrk and I got body marked with our race numbers and age. There was hardly a line and so it was very quick. As it turns out, body markings are neat. They are like a badge that says "I recently did a triathlon."

It was around this time that we discovered that the water was too warm to wear wet-suits. That bummed me out because wet-suits make it easier to swim. Plus, I had put out a fair amount of money for it (more than my bike). Slowly it dawned on my that I didn't really have a true swim-suit and that I was just going to have to wear the track-shorts that I was essentially planning to wear as underwear.

We then set up our transition areas. They had assigned numbers alphabetically which meant that Mrk and I were next to each other. That was really nice. It would have been lonely setting up otherwise. Instead, we were able to complain about the lack of wet-suits and discuss how we were going to find our spots and other such things.

Eventually, the time came to strip down to my track shorts. Keep in mind that I do not have a beatifully chisled body. I would dare say that my body is not really attractive at all. Fortunately, there were other guys in similar condition also running around shirtless in too-tight shorts.

One thing that really made the near-nudity easier to deal with was that I had to leave my glasses at transition. When I don't have my glasses, it is like I am in my own world. In a way it's like when a child covers their eyes to hide, it is irrationally comforting. If I can't see, maybe no one can.

We had to go down to the beach at 6:45 to hear the opening instructions. A touch before that, I joined the giant portapotty line. Mrk gave up his spot in line to join me in the back. He is very considerate.

I just have to say that going into a portapotty without shoes is disgusting. I tried not to think about what I was standing in and I wiped my feet on the grass a quite a bit. Later on, I swam in a lake.

While I was in line, I ate a gel (you are supposed to have one 15 minutes before the race). Since it is required by law to have water with the gel, I needed water. Arial found me water far above the beach (but it was better than no water at all).

We hurried down to the beach only to learn that the instructions were being broadcast over their speaker system. The real reason they wanted us down there was to chear on the elite starters.

So Mrk and I waited on the beach. I occationally waved at Arial and the kids who were watching from the grass. Arial wore an orange shirt so I was able to spot her without my glasses.

On the beach, we noticed that everyone else had brightly colored swim caps (provided in the packet. Ours were black. I'm reasonably certain that someone hoped we would sink and not be recovered. Arial says that she saw a couple other black caps but I didn't (granted I didn't have my glasses).

Finally the race began... but not for us. It was a time trial start, which meant that one person started every "3" seconds. They were using chip timing so it wouldn't affect our times. At three seconds a person, it should have taken 30 minutes to get the whole field started but with 30 minutes gone, only about half had started. That kinda sucked.

While we waited, the announcer talked. And talked. He started by doing play by play of the leaders. But when they got out of the water (about 7 minutes later), he started to just tell us how much better the time trial start is over the traditional wave start. It was almost like he was being defensive.

I was able to make out the leg markings on the guy in front of me. It said "70". It took me a bit to remember that that was his age. My next thought was that he had lied but when I saw his face, I believed him. He was in incredible shape.

Around 15 minutes after the start, Arial, Mg and the kids came down to the beach to hang out with us. That was nice since it made me a bit less nervous. Frances played in the sand and Johann walked (and bounced) on the beach chairs that had been flattened to provide some sort of crowd control. At one point he walked three chairs away. Arial had to run after him.

We got up close to the start, where the mob of people funneled down to a line. It was then that I started to crash from my gel-induced sugar high. That was not idea.

Soon, 35 minutes after the official start, Mrk was next in line to go. We said our good lucks and he was off.

3..2..1..

My race began.
mwz