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
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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