New Bike

So, as I said before, there are tons of things as far as gear is concerned that triathlon offers.  One of them is bicycles.  Most triathletes who are serious about it will eventually buy some sort of time trialing bike, but having never even gotten close to the podium, I thought I'd go for a bike that's a LOT more comfortable, and one that I can ride all day and not get tired of it.

So...I went and bought myself a sweet ride from Specialized.  It's a Ruby Expert with compact cranks (which I hope I will be able to pedal up some of my favorite mountain climbs around here).  It's pricey, but I think that with all the riding I will be doing on it and the gains I will get from it (i.e. a happier body), it's worth it.

Here's a picture of her from the Specialized website.  I haven't gotten her yet as she's being shipped from California.  Hopefully I will get her tomorrow or Saturday!

Why I love this sport

Another reason I love the sport of triathlon is because of people like this!  This sport is so inspiring, and truly anyone can do it.  I competed with a man who had no legs in my half-ironman in 2006.  If he can do it, and if this lady can do it, anyone can do it!

http://erinssbrreports.blogspot.com/2010/08/one-year-ago.html

Also, I have to give a big shout out to my big sister Nikelle for starting and finishing her first distance race ever!  Way to go!  She swam 2 miles yesterday and raised money and food for one of our local food pantries and a local child advocacy center (a center for the prevention of child abuse).  I hope she's hooked!  We've got a big race coming up in November!  Beach2Battleship full iron distance triathlon will be hit with team Twisted Sisters!!

Opportunities abound

Now that I have my sisters interested in doing events, they're trying to get me to do some with them.  My oldest sister has suggested a 2 mile swim in August in our local lake that benefits Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center and the Dandridge Food Pantry.  I'm seriously considering it and doing the bike leg of the Beach2Battleship Ironman in November.  I guess I just need to sign up.

BRONCHITIS!!

SO.  After a battle with allergies, the junk went to my chest and has created what I will call the "Big Bronchitis Monster," or the BBM.  I have been dealing with the BBM for a little over a week, which means that I have done nothing with my training for that long (other than walk about 2 miles every couple of days to make sure my dog gets his puppy energy out).  My pants are a little tighter.  My chest is tight and heavy, and today I began hacking ridiculously hard.  Luckily I didn't have to be at work until 11:30, so I took a little nap, hoping to feel a little better.  It worked, but when I woke up I sounded like a lifetime smoker.  That was bad for business, because I had to return some phone calls after I woke up, and those poor people probably thought I was a man and had extreme throat clearing issues!

Some things we triathlete wannabes have to learn, though, is to take care of ourselves when we get sick.  I have wanted so badly to go on an easy bike ride on my trainer, but I am refusing to do so until I get rid of the BBM.  I am listening to my body, resting, taking it easy, and allowing my body to heal.  My husband and I have a home improvement project that we need to get started.  He said we need to get started on Saturday morning, which is fine, but I told him I'd need to go to bed early, like 7:30 PM.  All joking aside, though, I probably won't have any trouble at all going to bed early and completing the healing process!  I guess we all need our beauty rest! 

Race Report - Revolution 3 Olympic Triathlon, Knoxville, TN

This was not my best triathlon performance. I had several complaints and setbacks.

First of all, one of the rules was that we had to store our bikes overnight and we had a mandatory athletes' meeting on Saturday, so we had to be in Knoxville on Saturday for a Sunday race. This wouldn't be a big problem seeing as Sevierville is only an hour or so from Knoxville, but the website said the meeting was at noon. We got there at 11:30 so I would have time to check in, get my number and my wristband, and get settled. We asked several people where the athlete meeting would be held, and we got several different answers. Finally someone told us that the meeting was at 11 AM, and the next one wouldn't be until 4 PM. So what are we supposed to do? We could go home and turn around and come back, or we could get my bike, try to figure out where all the numbers go, and at least get it to my transition spot. So, that's what we did. We hiked back up to the car to get the bike, I decided to let the mechanics fix a small problem with the shifter (more of an annoyance than an actual problem), and we ate lunch and listened to a few talks while we waited. Not a huge deal, but irritating. By the time the day was over, my bike was racked, I had attended two talks, I had had a major allergy attack, I had been out in the sun for hours, and I was ready to go home - not really excited about the race at all.

We got up at 4:45 AM. I got the rest of my gear ready and we left to tackle the race. The temperature was in the 40s, so it was a little chilly, but it was beginning to warm up. I was exhausted! I hadn't slept that much, and I was coming off a trip to West Virginia, where I hadn't slept great all week. Friday night I didn't get home until 12:30 AM, and I still hadn't recovered from that trip by Sunday morning.

We got to the race, and I finally got a little excited. After putting on my wetsuit and walking to the swim start, I discovered that my watch wouldn't turn on. I didn't know why, but it just wouldn't turn on. Turns out the battery was dead, but I had pulled it off the charger right before I left that morning, so that wasn't even on my mind. I took the watch off and gave it to my husband. I got in the water, which was warmer than the air, thankful for my wetsuit as I didn't even have to tread water because the suit was so bouyant. Finally, the siren went off, and away we went!

I kept getting passed on the swim, so I thought I was swimming really slowly. I was sure my swim time was somewhere around 35 minutes for the 1500 meter swim. But, after grabbing a few legs and avoiding some kicks to the face, I finally got out of the water and headed to T1. My husband said my swim was somewhere around 30 minutes. I got to T1 and there were still a LOT of bikes there, so I thought to myself "I must not have swum THAT slowly!" When I got to my bike, I noticed that my neighbor had lovingly thrown his wetsuit right in front of my bike - for those non-trinerds, this is something that is very NOT COOL when you're trying to get your bike out as quickly as possible. I got frustrated and threw the suit elsewhere, got dressed and ready for the bike ride, ran my bike out of T1, mounted up, and off I went on the second leg.

For some reason, the bike went much more slowly than I had planned. It was cold, I was wet, and my toes and legs were pretty cold. The bike course was really hilly with some pretty steep climbs. The downhills were nice, and the course was well-marked. The volunteers and policemen were great in terms of cheering us on and making sure we made all the right turns and holding back traffic. I passed one athlete who was in a ditch. I asked if he was okay, and he said he broke his collarbone. I saw a photographer just around the corner and told him to call someone to help the guy. There weren't many other events that happened on the bike other than seeing some ridiculously fast pros coming in to T2 while I was leaving T1. That was pretty cool.

After I got back into T2, my rack spot was blocked AGAIN, so I had to move whoever's stuff AGAIN. NOT cool, whoever you were! My feet were blocks of ice at this point. I don't know if my toes were actually moving or if I was running flat-footed, but my husband told me my time and I traipsed out on the grand venture of running 10k. About 2 miles in my toes started burning, so I figured the blood had finally moved back into them. About 2.5 miles in, Tara Costa from The Biggest Loser passed my on her way to the finish line. Of course I let out a big cheer for her, because that's just who I am. I made it to around mile 4, and then my stinkin' knee started hurting. And not just one of those little hurts that you're supposed to run through. I have had the IT band injury for a while, so I know when to stop. I walked/jogged the last two miles, finally crossing the finish line in tears because of pain and frustration.

So, there you have it, the Race report from May 9, 2010. I learned a few things: 1. Don't do a tri the weekend you get back from a long trip - make sure you're able to rest well. 2. Don't let a bike mechanic touch your bike without riding it afterward (the actually took away my ability to shift into my easiest back gear, leaving me one easy gear short for the hilly ride). 3. Always make sure to call to get the most updated schedule as the website could be wrong.

So, even though I'm not happy about the way the race went, I learned something, so it's not a total failure. And I wasn't last, in the race as a whole or even in my age group. My swim time was actually faster than my fastest training swim, so that was terrific!

So for now, that's all I've got! Next goal, the bike portion of the Beach2Battleship Ironman in Wrightsville Beach, NC in November! My sisters are doing the other two legs, so I guess we'll see how this goes!

Transition right before the race started

Pros' transition area

IT Band

One of the most dreaded phrases a female athlete can hear. "It sounds like you have an IT band problem."

My chiropractor told me that last week, and he began treating it this week. I was in so much pain I was sweating through my clothes! SHEESH! And if I had been on it, I could have taken a picture to show you the bruises! It looked like I had fallen down a flight of concrete stairs! When he was finished, my leg was hot to the touch! PAIN! And all he did was rub the IT band! This is what I get for not stretching in my 20's!

By the way, the IT band is a band of tissue that runs along the outside of your thigh from your hip to your knee. When it's tight, it can cause all kinds of pain in your knee and hip and quads. The best remedy is stretching and loosening. I highly recommend stretching after every workout, even if you're 20 and think you're invincible. This is the same body you will have when you're 60, so take care of it now or pay the consequences later.

So I took a few days off...

And WOW did it affect my mood! I have been one Grumpy Gus lately! I didn't realize how much just doing 30 minutes of exercise really affects my moods! I got back on my bike trainer today and did about 30 minutes of REALLY easy spinning. It was so easy that I was able to read a book while working out. When I got off the bike I was already feeling better, so I decided to break in my new running shoes and walk the dog. I walked for about .1 miles and decided, no, I'd rather jog. And jog I did. When I got home, my mood was 20x better than it was when I got up this morning!

Sooooo...what if the second meaning of life is learning to take care of your body (after the number 1 meaning, which would be to know God and enjoy Him forever)? =o)