oohhhhh.. I'm gonna like this

Sunday was my first race! It was AWESOME!!!! Every part about it I was excited about, and at the end of it- I was happy with my performance. Here's the breakdown.



The plan:
Get up at 6am, eat a healthy, hearty breakfast packed full of goodness that will fuel me for the day. Recheck everything I had packed the night before to make sure I didn't forget a thing. Pack lunch and snack foods for the day to avoid tummy grummbling and fatigue. Leave the house by 6:50 just to ensure I have more then enough time to drive to Orangeville and be at registration for 8am. Get settled into my transition area, check, double check and re-check that everything is in place, and then have the hour or so until my 9am start time to warm up, go for a jog, stretch and focus.

What actually happened:
Hit snooze three times. CRAP!!! Jump out of bed at 6:45. Eat little bowl of raisin Bran with a few berries (for good measure really), grab granola bar for lunch and two bananas, cram what ever gear, clothing or anything that looked useful that was hanging around the vicinity of my duffle, into jam packed duffle and race out the door with Powerbar in teeth. Put bike in car, go back in house to get directions to race- on the road at 7:10. Does anyone know how far away Orangville really is? Because by 8:30 when I have already been doing 140KM up hwy 10 for an hour.. I'm starting to think it's further away than I had expected.

Get to site at 8:45- crap.. race starts in 15min.... panic... ah..this could be bad. Get to registration- my race time is 9:45.. whew... heart rate settles. I'm back on schedule. No need for warm up now, already sweating.

Okay. So the morning didn't exactly go as planned, but luckily enough, all turned out well. There was another race that started at 9am, and I got to watch and get a feel of what this is all supposed to look like. 9:30 rolls around and I'm ready to get going. Here's my T1 with my bike.. looks pretty organized huh?!?!


9:40 and I'm ready to start- over to the boathouse I go and here's how it all went down:

Swim- I was so pumped. I was so excited to get into that water and get going that I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I had a feeling this was going to be my biggest challgenge of the race, but I was soooo ready in get in that water! We all lined up, and were each going to start individually 5 sec apart. There was no rush to the water and none of the water thrashing, legs kicking, arms flailing kind of thing- very anti-climatic actually. I started strong and felt good. My heart rate was already high from anticipation which actually did me a favor I think. I melted into "work mode" and just fell right into my groove, I felt great. One arm over the other- stroke-stroke-breathe-stroke-stroke-breathe-repeat. About half way through, I was really gasping for air and starting to worry about my heart rate now.. I switched into breast stroke for a minute, which left me feeling a bit like I was giving in to easily, but it did do me some good. Just a minute or so to regulate my breathing, and back into my freestyle. This was probably a good move- I felt much stronger after the short break.

As I watched the swimmers from the first race before me come out of the water, I was curious as to why there were a bunch of guys waiting at the waters edge to help the swimmers out. I thought that is was a bit excessive to have these guys there- so dramatically helping the weary women out of the lake. I mean- we're athletes, not "fair ladies" and honestly, it's a 750M swim, no one here is swimming an Ironman... but let me tell you.. when I finished my measly 375M swim, I damn well almost pulled those men into the lake trying to keep myself from falling over. I'm not exactly sure how I got from the water to the first transition.. because I'm almost positive that my legs didn't take me. They were complete noodles! Not only could I barely breath, but for that minute and a half that it took me to run from the water, into transition, pull on my bike shorts and shoes, then run out to get on my bike... my memory is a bit foggy.. but I'm fairly certain my legs had no part of it!

Bike: I like the bike. I like to think I have really strong legs, so the bike part of this race was actually quite easy. um..hmmm.. ok- easy may be the wrong word. But I was able to bring my heart rate back down from "off-the-charts" and focus on the strength in my legs. Funny- cause I could have sworn just a few minutes ago that I had noodles coming from my hips- now, nothing but mean peddling machines!! LOL.. Anyway, almost immediately I could see this was going to be where I lost a lot of time. Even though I was working really hard, I kept getting passed by competitors on road bikes. MAN! I didn't have a chance with my mountain bike. I was quite happy to see that it was ONLY road bikes passing me, and no one on a mountain bike (which there were plenty of). This to me is obviously a matter of better equipment and not of better physical fitness. Bike was over in no time.

Run: Ah, the run. This is what I was looking forward to. I through my bike back up on the rack, my helmet down on the ground and I was out of T2 in seconds. Now- remember those noodle legs from T1?? Yeah.. they're back.... I started out of the bike lanes and I'm looking at all the people giving direction and pointing at which way to go, again, thinking.. "there are alot of people to give simple directions around here".. and then I figured out why. As I came out of the bike lanes and into the run exit, I had to turn a corner and get up a tiny little hill to get on course. Well. I saw the corner. And the tiny hill. But when my weight shifted to turn that corner, those noodles pretty much gave way and I used those people giving directions as bumpers to get me back on track. Whooopsies.."SORRY!!" I yelled back with a wave.. and then I was off! Again, the "noodle syndrome" seems to be reserved for transitions only, because once I got on course, I felt great. I got right into my running mode and it didn't take long to get myself on pace. By the time I had my heart rate where I wanted it, I was turning around and heading home. I finished strong, and without major mishap!!! YEY ME!!!!














My goal was to finish in less than an hour and my final time was 53:28. I finished 49th out of 120, and 9th in my age bracket. I'm happy, and soooo excited for the next one- Grimsby August 13th.

Once they post the actual results and times, I'll post them HERE.

Good news on the fundraising front- today I met my August deadline- am at $2,791 officially with still $200 to send in today!

Thanks again to everyone!

S.

4 Days and Counting

Last night I participated in my first Triathlon clinic. There were about 40 or so women out to work, learn and prepare for, what is for many of us, our first race on Sunday.

We started off with a hour and a half open water swim clinic. We focused on technique, strategy and even talked about racing etiquette (very important). After we were done in the water, we simulated our transitions by racing back to our bikes and getting ready for our next sport. Because we had limited time until we lost the sunlight, we then moved on to either biking OR running. I chose to run.

The first thing that threw me off was the fact that since we were simulating race transitions.. no time for drying off from the water. Running shorts and tank right over top of the wet swim suit.. yuck. Now, I'm a self confessed "girly-girl" and am not one for being uncomfortable. This is something I'm going to have to get over.. and quickly. There I am, drenched in running gear, toes still sandy, dirty and chafing in my now also wet shoes. Grrrrrrrr. Now I have to go out and do and hour or more of running drills. Great.

It was actually really helpful. I learned about proper running techniques and again some important strategies for race day. It's funny how something so simple as plain old running can actually become quite technical. I never realized how complicated running can be when your thinking about weight placement, foot-ground contact points, correct arm swings and positioning plus now I'm trying to think about the most efficient and proper way to control my breathing. WOW.. I've been running all this time just thinking that running was running... one foot in front of the other.. silly me.

At the end of the three hours, I was energized. I'm excited about my race on Sunday. I think that the competition could be challenging, although I think the distances are quite short. But for my first time doing all three sports together it will present a big enough challenge. In my reading and learning about proper training, I've learned that it's important to start off slow, even if you feel it's to slow, so that not only do you give your body a chance to build endurance and strength, but you also allow your self to build confidence. I could probably make it through a regular Triathlon distance, but it would be a struggle, and because of how difficult it may be, it could possibly frustrate and discourage me from continuing. This way, even if it's way to easy I will have the confidence and willingness to get right into another race. I'm really pumped about this now.

hopefully I'll have some pictures to post in a few days. I've got some internet issues to deal with first.

S.

The results are in!!!

Great news!! The bone scan was clean and there are no stress fractures in my foot! Yipppeee!

I can start training again right away- slowly. There is however, still some pain in the "Big Toe Tendon" (I tried REALLY hard this time to remember the actual name of it..). I think it's called the "Longus Tendon". I was given a prescription for some anti-inflamatories which will probably do the trick. The doctor also recommended that I start training by alternating back and forth between my old and new shoes. Although the shoe I have is the correct one for my foot- it's pretty stiff and doesn't have much give under the arch. This is a common recommendation for orhtodics aswell. I'll give it a try.

I found a great training program for the beginner getting into the first SuperSprint Triathlon. I'm going to start it right away, the only exception I'm going to make is with the running. I'll probably talk to someone at the Running Room to get a better gauge of how to increase the running portion a little quicker than the other two sports. Here is the program I have decided to go with. It's 4 months long and Run Focused, again, because I'm actually training for a marathon and not a SuperSprint run.. the run distances will be adjusted.

CHECK OUT MY SUPERSPRINT TRAINING PROGRAM

If only I could figure out how to import that into my calendar....

Comments Please!!!!

I know your out there!! I see my little counter climbing, and my mini poll being answered.. but by who! I've really been having a great time with this little site of mine. I enjoy updating it and it's fun to read some of the older stories. People are always telling me that they are checking out my page, and are always stopping by for an update... but I never know who!!!

This whole Team Diabetes experience has been so cool so far. I've found that this is not all about running, or about fundraising. It's completely shifted my focus and has really impacted my day to day life. Over the winter, I become a bit of a "workaholic", I really enjoy my job, I work with great people and honestly do enjoy the work I do everyday. However, especially during the summer months, I am constantly faced with the challenge of mastering the balance between work and play. Because of the hours I put into my work during the winter months, during the summer, I face the tremendous guilt of leaving the office at 5pm knowing that there is still so much work to do. Having something else to focus on, something else to motivate me in the mornings, not only drives my productivity at the office, but I am finding that I'm no longer "sweating the small stuff". I'm finding that I'm not as on edge, or stressed out about the things I have no control over. I'm approaching problems with a much more healthy, pro-active, "let's figure this out" attitude instead of the former completely panicked, furious that I have yet another problem to deal with (said dripping with sarcasm). With something else to focus on, something now that is so much more important to me, my job is no longer who I am, but it's just what I do.

Also, due now to the foot injury (which I am hearing the results from the bone scan on Wednesday) I have broadened my horizon's with my physical activity. I've always been interested in Triathlons, but it's always been that "maybe someday I'll get into it" idea. Now, just like I took the plunge and registered for the Team Diabetes Honolulu Marathon, I've decided to join the OWTS (Ontario Womens Triathlon Series)
and actually get started.

So much of my ability to take chances and ""risks" comes from the guidance and confidence my Mom has given me. For those of you that have been lucky enough to meet her, you know what an incredible woman she really is. Leading by example, she proves time and time again, that there really isn't anything you can't do. Something else I've learned from her is that SO MUCH of what we DON'T DO comes out of fear. Fear of failing, fear of making a mistake, fear of looking stupid.. whatever it is that we maybe be afraid of (most of the time we don't even realize what the fear is of). So now, I try to live my life knowing that if I work hard, show a little dedication and push myself to do the best I can.. there really isn't any reason why I can't do anything I set my mind to.

Not sure where the motivational speech came from this morning.... but there it is.

I hope that you will leave a comment, tell me who you are, how you found my page and tell me what you think. Looking forward to hearing from you!

S.