Popping in for a Quick "Hello"

Wow, that "summer" went fast!  (The quotes are because I think we had less than 10 sunny days the entire summer.) There's a lot I could write about right now, but we're back to school today.  The first day went great; Things 1 & 2 were very happy when I got home.  I knew Thing 1 was excited and happy; he has had the same teacher for 3 years now (it's a combined 3/4/5 classroom) and he knows what to expect.  Thing 2 was anxious about having a new teacher, but she reported that she LOVES her new teacher.  Whew!  Things 1 & 2 go to a small school, only about 80 kids, so they know everyone in their classes except for a few new kids to the school this year.

Anyhow, I have 10 minutes before bedtime.  Here's tonight's train of thought:

• How are Pubsgal and fast food restaurants alike?  Saw a great article on the Mills Peninsula blog, about portion sizes, by one of their nutritionists. The link includes a video segment.  Here's the link: http://www.mphsblog.org/2011/05/portioncontro/.  Here's an interesting fact regarding restaurant portion creep:  The child-size portion at fast food restaurants today? "That was a standard adult-size portion 20 years ago." This is timely, because the panicked ranting & raving post I drafted back in January and never published, about not having an "Overweight" BMI anymore?  Well...same situation, plus a few more pounds.  It's not so much about the number on the scale or BMI number anymore as it is about as feeling physically uncomfortable in my own skin, never mind my pants!  And I swear I thought of that before I started listing to Lynn's interview on Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone, in which she talks about becoming physically comfortable in her own skin, and that discomfort being a sign to rein things in.  Anyhow, my food plan is to weigh and measure portions and to use the My Fitness Pal tracker daily.  I've been enjoying this tool, because I swear, its search finds EVERYTHING!  I hardly have to enter any new data. My other goals are to stay under my quite reasonable calorie allotment, eat healthy things I enjoy, and limit my starches and sugars to only the MOST worthy items and quantities.  Oh, you know, all the stuff that worked before when I did it consistently. ;-)  Updated fitness goals to follow:  right now, I'm rebooting my running with C25K in preparation for the Pumpkin Run in October, hoping hula class will survive the new school year, but I need to figure out a new strategy for getting more strength in there.

• Speaking of running:  ALL events at the Half Moon Bay Marathon were sold out before I had a chance to register!  How RUDE!  But before I could get too "pouty puffer" about it, I submitted a volunteer application. Turns out that I'll be working at the Maverick's aid station, and then helping at the start/finish line.  I always wanted to volunteer for an event, so this is a great opportunity!  (With riding my bike to and from the event locations and helping out, I'll probably burn as many calories as running my 10K. And my volunteers' t-shirt will be free.  :-)  If you're interested in volunteering, here's the link: http://halfmoonbayim.org/event/volunteer/.  They need help for the race expo on the days preceding the event, not just event day itself.
  

• Speaking of sports and events:  Diabetes Hands Foundation will be having a fundraising party at Sports Basement in Walnut Creek on September 10, from noon until 2 p.m. (It's Thing 1's 10th birthday, so I can't go, but maybe YOU can!)  According to organizer Emily Walton, "We will be screening our fundraising videos, offering food and drinks, and you will receive a coupon for 10% off everything you spend. Sports Basement will also donate 10% of everything you spend to DHF! They have great TRI gear, trust me, I shop there all the time!" Event details on the TuDiabetes web site: http://www.tudiabetes.org/events/583967:Event:2160403.
  

• And speaking of triathlon and fundraising:  Can the woman who kicks Type 2 diabetes' ass on a regular basis help kick blood cancer's ass too?  If anyone can, Foodie McBody can!  She joined Team in Training and is going through an amazing, "stress-citing," and inspiring journey in triathlon training.  Read all about it here: http://foodfoodbodybody.wordpress.com/ And here's her donation page: http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/Marine11/sitoo6.

 Sheesh...how did 10 minutes turn into 1 hour?  I had better post this and get to sleep now....

Go, SuperBoo, Go!

*clang*! *clang*! *clang*! *clang*!

Why, what's that sound I hear...?

Could it be...?

The clarion call of cow bells....?

(Because heaven knows, you can never have enough cow bell.)

It's the sound of me ringing my virtual cow bell. (because I really did price cow bells at the local feed store - yes, we have one in semi-rural coastal San Francisco Bay Area - and those puppies were expensive!).

For whom does the cow bell clang?

Why, for SuperBoo (aka Brooke of Smart + Strong = Sexy), who is racing in her first triathlon this weekend!!!  She isn't just any tri newbie - she is racing after having to cancel her originally scheduled tri debut, overcoming extreme adversity, healing, training, and coming back to DO this thing!

Please pop over to her blog and wish her the best of luck!

(Ooo, I'm getting teary and excited for her, just thinking about it!  Good luck, SuperBoo!!!)

Race Report: 4th Annual Lompoc Sprint Triathlon 2010

We interrupt the regularly scheduled "Weekly Update" to present you with this race report!  All is well, and not much new, other than my schedule is cinching up with the kids being back in school and all.  And now:  on to the race!

On Saturday, August 14, 2010, I finished my 3rd sprint triathlon: the 4th Annual Lompoc Sprint Triathlon!  The race comprises a 500-yard pool swim at their amazing aquatic center, followed by an 11-mile bike ride out-and-back through the flower fields and a 5K run through the city of Lompoc.  This year's race was a memorial for local business owner Hank Hudson, whose company sponsors many area recreational events.

The Prelude

Why the Lompoc Sprint Triathlon?  I thought it would be a great way to combine my hobby and a parental visit!  I also though it would be much fun for my mom and step-dad to see me race, but it didn't quite work out that way...as regular readers know, my husband had to make an unexpected trip back to Michigan for his aunt's funeral, so I was flying semi-solo on my tri weekend!  I wasn't sure if they would feel up to watching the kids for me, so I had steeled myself to cancel the race if necessary, but silly me: of course they wanted some grandparent time!  And Mr. Handsome-and-Handy lived up to his moniker, as usual:  he packed the kids' suitcase and he made sure my bike and the van were ready for race and trip respectively.  (That's the stuff he normally does before trips and races, but I was extra appreciative of him doing so this time!)

So the day before the race Things 1 & 2 and I did our SF Bay Area to Lompoc road trip!  With kids, this usually takes about 6-6.5 hours...but we hit a lot of traffic during our trip, so it was more like 8 hours.  Ugh!  We did get there in time for the packet pickup, though.  We had dinner at the restaurant Mi Amore, which The Things love for their arcade and their yummy pizza and onion rings!  I enjoyed a nice trip to the salad bar, too.  We did the arcade for awhile, then I was gently reminded that I had a race in the morning and we had no beds set up!  So we went home, got everything ready, I got the kids off to sleep, and then I got to try and sleep before the race.  I'm sure I was a little short on sleep, but oh well!

Racing Day!

...was all-too early, as usual.  But I got up in time to get in a couple of cups of coffee and a piece of frozen coffee cake with peanut butter.  (This was the askGeorgie.com "Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake" I made, but with a little orange peel + extract - I froze some of the pieces I'd made without the streusel, and they were still great!)

Thing 2 awoke before I went and was a little anxious, so I held her and cheered her up a bit before I headed to my race.  My parents enjoyed their nice grandkid time with Things 1 & 2 while I did my tri thing.  (I have an AWESOME support crew, no?)

I drove over to the Lompoc Aquatic Center, and there it was!  The triathlon transition area, all set up and ready for the big race!  Racing day conditions weren't going to make for pretty pictures, but they were perfect:  overcast, cool, light breeze.

It's a beautiful day!  (For racing, that is!)

I got my gear set up-we had assigned spots, but they were tight and the bike next to mine was intimidatingly nice, so I used my kickstand instead of hanging the bike-and then headed inside for body marking.  We had bibs, but there were no timing chips in this race; race results had only the total time.  The swims were timed, but you had to show up in person to see the posting of the lap swim split.  This race was also different than others by their categories, because the age group categories were based on gender + age range + road bike vs. mountain bike (tires had to be 2" or greater).  Having a mountain-bike style hybrid, this was a great chance to race against similarly-equipped athletes!

I should have ditched my clothes outside and just gone indoors in my suit, but oh well.  I made the all-important pre-race pit stop (thanks, body, for excellent pre-race timing!), then went on into the pool area.

The Swim: 500 yards, indoor pool

The swim was in three heats, and your heat was determined by your self-reported lap swim time on the entry form.  So all the fast, intimidating people went earlier.

Here's Heat 1...

Here's me, wondering what I've gotten myself into...

I was in the third heat.  Silly me:  I though a pool swim would be easy.  Comfort with lap swimming does not equal comfort with racing.  One of these days I'm going to have to do a proper warm-up and not just fuss with my stuff and wander around before the race, and see if that makes a difference on the swim.

I shared a lane with two gals who were tri buddies who'd come down from Oceano for the race, one of whom had just learned to swim that summer!  I'm in awe, because I think it would be really intimidating to do a triathlon as a new swimmer.  We swam in a circle, with the one gal going first, me second, and the new swimmer third.  She stayed right on my tail, though, so I had to push a bit more than I was used to, and then I started to feel a little breathless.  I switched from front crawl to breast stroke to feel like I could get a little more air.  I even did a couple of lengths with my side stroke.  ( I'm actually a little faster on the breast stroke, but it's awkward when you're sharing a lane.)  The nice part was that other people were counting the laps, so when they signaled that this was my last lap, I of course was finally feeling like the swim was going easier.  My swim time ended up being what I expected: 20 minutes for 20 lengths of the pool, which was about my lap swim speed.

So for the record, I think my favorite tri swim was the See Jane Tri swim:  it was open water in a lake with entry on the shore and warm enough to go without a wet suit.  There was plenty of room to spread out, and no salt water and ocean creatures and scary waves & currents.  Not to mention a little shorter...

The Bike: 11 mile, out & back, flat

I dried off, put on my clothes, and when I got to my bike, I slipped on socks + shoes (thanks to Thing 1 for showing me that tennis shoes CAN be slipped on without needing tying/untying) + water backpack.  I packed the plain water with electrolytes.  I also had my carton of coconut water while in transition and this time carried half of an Odwalla Super Protein bar, which I ate after the bike turn-around.  (They were Thing 1's staple protein when he was a toddler - he refused to eat meat after he turned about a year and a half old, and that phase lasted for several years.)

I loved the bike!  Even with my heavy old hybrid with mountain bike tires, I passed people, which is a novelty for me.  (Granted, most people I passed were also on hybrids with mountain bike tires, or real mountain bikes...I got passed by a road bike or two.)  The route was a little bit of residential, then mostly through flower and vegetable fields, so not much traffic.  We had a slight headwind as we got closer to the ocean, but it gave a sweet tailwind on the trip back!

And like other bikes, on the way out, I saw again on several faces that triathlon sight I love the most:  that awestruck, delighted, "I can't believe I'm doing this! Yeah baby! I so rock!" look.  "Why yes, you DO rock!  Isn't this a blast?" I grin back.

The Run: 3.1 mile, out & back, flat

Oddly enough, nothing fell off my bike this time.  That "stickiness," however, extended to my bike helmet.  I breezed in & out of transition, parking my bike and dropping my water back pack, and ran out again.  I called my mom to let her know I was almost done.  And I was nearly a quarter mile into the run before I realized that I had forgotten to remove my helmet!  So I did the run wearing my bike helmet.  It's always something ridiculous with me and triathlons, isn't it?

The run went smoothly.  Some of the people I passed on the bike passed me back on the run.  (Including one of the gals in my category; drat!)  I ran at a comfortable pace, pushing but not overdoing.  I felt like I gauged it pretty well.  I ate a couple of ginger chews for energy during the run, but I didn't carry water.  They had water at the turnaround, which worked fine, except I unwrapped a chew and kept the wrapper but ditched the chew during the cup-toss.  Luckily I had a spare chew.

And it was back to the finish.  I passed a happy group of spectators, who brandished the sign, "Your butt hurts, because YOU are kicking A**!"  Loved it!  I passed a gal on the final stretch across the parking lot, and as I approached the finish, the announcer did something I never had happen:  she announced me!  Coolness!!!

"Here comes #103," my_real_name ",all the way from" my_town"!"

And I did a little leap-with-heel-kick on hearing that, which got a "Wow!" and then I ran into the final stretch, with a hearty "Woo HOO!" on crossing the finish line.  A couple of minutes later, I stopped the time on my watch at 1:25, which I'd started mid-T1.  So I'd finished it in less than 2 hours, which was my goal for this race.

"She's once....Twice....Three tiiiimes a sprint triathleeeete..."

The Post-race

So I got a bystander to take my picture, and I headed over to transition to pack it up.  There weren't a lot of bikes left.  The first timer guy with the nice bike in the rack next to mine was long gone.  I ran into the two gals from the swim, and they both had a great race and are rarin' to do more!  (Me too!)

Mentally, this was a much easier race for me than the Treeathlon.  I didn't have all those negative, inferiority thoughts trying to worm their way into my brain.  The joy was back, in force!  Maybe because the last race taught me that if I'm not going to approach this from a "just for fun" stance, it's not worth it.  Maybe it was finally talking and writing about my frustrations about wanting to get faster and better and move up to the next level, the Olympic distance (2x a sprint distance), and maybe even beyond someday; letting it out sort of "freed" me to just enjoy where I'm at again...I'll keep gradually working toward getting there, and if I get there, I get there.  If I don't, I'll have good health and fitness and some great stories, which are the real prizes.

Physically, I must be in better shape, because I was not totally laid out after this race.  I'm not sure if it was post-race euphoria or more effective fueling during the race, but I had enough gas left in the tank to actively do the recreational swim with the kids for a couple of hours at the pool!  And amazingly enough, I had NO post-race headache!!!  (My last two triathlons, I had some real skull-splitters afterward.)

With Things 1 & 2 at the pool.  

Thing 2 is happy I'm wearing a 2-piece like her (a post for another day...).

The Race Results
The race results were posted promptly, a few days after the race (http://www.cityoflompoc.com/parks_rec/events/Triathlon/Results2010.pdf).

I was in the “MJ” category (female, 40-49, mountain bikes), and I placed 3rd of 6 in my category.  I was within 5 minutes of the first place finisher in my category!  Yes! (furious arm-pump)  My total time was 1:39:06, which is my best time ever.  It’s almost impossible to compare races, but my time was better than my “See Jane Tri” time, which had a shorter swim but a hillier bike and run.  I noticed that of all finishers (only two people didn’t finish), everyone finished in under 2 hours, which is a pretty fast race overall.  The top finisher finished in 56:27, to give you an idea of the time spread.

I have to give mad, mad props to the organizers and volunteers of the event and to the officers of the Lompoc Police and the California Highway Patrol who helped! Everyone was so nice.  There were officers and staff at every intersection, stopping traffic and helping us to have a safe, enjoyable race.  MMMMMMMMWAH!

Race Report: "Tri the Coast" Sprint Triathlon Relay

The 2nd (and hopefully annual!) "Tri the Coast" sprint triathlon was held on June 6, 2010 at the Colony Club in Half Moon Bay, California.  The event is hosted by "Pre and Post on the Coast," a local provider of pre- and post-natal nutritional and fitness coaching.  It was billed as a "non-competitive sprint triathlon...great for those who are new to triathlons as well as for the seasoned triathlete looking to practice for upcoming events."  I really wanted to do this one, since it was local, but it was the same weekend as everything else that was going on.  No way did I want to do the whole thing by myself, and be useless for the rest of the day (which saw the birthday party with the blue cupcakes...at the same location, coincidentally!). 

However, it turned out to be an excellent opportunity to fulfill a wish from my last event:  involving friends in a triathlon relay and sharing the fun!  When I emailed my neighbor, J, about it (hi, J!), she wrote back that she had just been reading my Treeathlon race report, and that she would like to try the swim portion.  (Oh, how I love a coincidence that seems contrived! :-)  She also knew a mom at her son's school, S, who enjoyed running (S did the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon as part of...you guessed it! Team in Training!), so we had our runner.  And I was delighted to take the bike portion.

Sunday morning dawned dim, foggy, and early.  I tiptoed around, eating...oh, heck, I forget what it was now.  I think it might have been "spackle" (oat bran+flax+peanut butter+sugar-free syrup), but it might have been my flax toast with almond butter and sugar-free jam.  And coffee.  Definitely coffee.  S and J showed up and we hopped into the van.  Loading the bike took a little umph, but we got it wedged in there.  (BIG thanks to Mr. Handsome-and-Handy for doing my pre-race tire and bike check...*sigh*...love my support crew!)

We arrived at the Colony Club, a posh facility shared by Ocean Colony and the Ritz Carlton hotel.  The swim was held at the Colony pool, with the bike portion making two loops through the grounds and onto adjacent trails and roads, and the run circling through the coast trail.

We parked and headed up to the transition area, which also served as the registration area and finish line.  We checked in, and were each given a swim heat time. (In this triathlon, two swimmers shared each of the four lanes, and the next heat started when the previous swimmer finished.)  We all looked at each other, feeling that "uh oh" feeling.  "Um," I said, "We signed up as a relay team.  J is going to swim, I'm going to bike, and S is going to run."  I was feeling a little embarrassed, but Meredith (the owner of "Pre & Post") came over and knew what I meant about doing a relay.  Whew!

We then discovered what the "non-competitive" part meant: No bibs, no timing chips, no body marking.  No timing of the participants at all.  I worried a little that J and S were going to feel like they hadn't gotten a "real" triathlon experience, but I shouldn't have.  It turned out to be exactly what they wanted: a chance to get out there and do a triathlon relay out without pressure.  This also worked out pretty well for us, in that S didn't need to wait until I was done with the bike to start her run.

We sat around and chatted until it was time for J's swim.  She did great!  We were impressed by her even, methodical front crawl.  She finished quickly, I think it was about 13 minutes for the 500 yards.  (J, if you're reading, feel free to correct if I was wrong about that.)  Woo hoo!!!

We wandered up to transition, and they saw me off on the bike.  The bike was a fun but bumpy course.  It comprised two loops, going out past the Ritz Carlton, up Miramontes Rd. (a moderate hill), then back the same way, almost to the pool building, but onto the coastal trail and past the golf course.  As the trail left the Colony Club grounds, it got super steep (I had to get off and walk), went over a wooden bridge, then a very narrow dirt trail through a fence.  The event web site said that the event "allows families to participate in the run and bike portions of the event with their children," and that "strollers and bike trailers are welcome," which is extremely cool, but I think it would have been tricky to navigate a bike trail through the dirt trail part.  On the plus side, with the swim going in heats, there was never a bottleneck of riders in the narrow parts, even if there had been more participants. 

After the narrow dirt trail, there was a bit more coast trail, then a segment along Redondo Beach Rd., which was rolling hills and lots of potholes!  I had my camera tucked in my vest pocket, and I wondered if *that* was going to be the thing that fell off during the bike, but no worries.  I also had to windshield-wipe my glasses now and then with the thick fog.  It would have been a much lovelier ride on a sunny day, but it was fun, seeing all the smiling faces, several lit up with that "Oh-my-gosh-I'm-really-doing-this-thing! I rock!!!" look.  Loved it!  Another loop of the bike course, and I was done.  I took about 45 minutes for the 9 miles.

S had started on her run about 10 minutes before I got done--I'd seen her go when I was finishing up my 2nd loop.  The 5K run went past the Ritz and onto the coast trail, where it meanders through the golf course.  It was somewhat hilly.  There were two loops: a shorter loop around the course, then a longer loop that went down to an overlook, then back past the front of the Ritz.  I have only walked part of that trail, and I really want to run it myself, it looks like it would be a beautiful run.  S enjoyed the course quite a lot, and I'm not sure exactly what her time was, but the glimpse I caught of her watch looked like about 33 minutes. (S, if you're reading, please feel free to correct in the comments!)

So we picked up our t-shirts, which featured the cutest logo!  There were bagels, fruit, and water for the finishers, but we didn't feel like eating. 

"I'd like to write about this on my blog and share photos, if that's okay with you," I said.  They were fine with it, and I said I'd use initials, or a pseudonym, if they preferred. "We need handles," said J.  "I can be 'Mermaid.'  S can be 'Lightfoot.'"  "I can be 'Biker Mama,'" I laughed.  "How about 'Biker Babe?'" suggested J.  Perfect, in an "opposite" kind of way....

We headed back to my house, chatting about possible future triathlons, and agreed that it would be really fun to do part or all of them together someday. S and J walked back to J's house, and I pulled my bike out of the back of the van.  And the tail light fell off!  I laughed loud and long, because *something* always falls off my bike on triathlon days.  At least it wasn't me!

And now...the photos!

Our triathlon relay team, rarin' to go!

"Mermaid," pounding out the swim!

The transition area

"Biker Babe," heading out for the bike

"Lightfoot" approaches the finish, making it look easy-peasey

¡Lo Hicimos!   We did it!  (*And* we got the cutest t-shirts!)

Weekly Update, 3/31/10

Thanks for all of your kind comments last week!  This week is going to be rather dull in comparison, which makes me glad that I did okay and don't have to distract you with flashy race reports and such.

So I've got this combination of allergies and a cold.  I felt horrid on Sunday afternoon through Monday, and now I feel pretty good, but now it's mostly in my chest and throat.  I sound like a cross between a pubescent boy and one of Marge's twin sisters on The Simpsons.  I've done a little reading online, and to my surprise, tea with lemon and honey is supposedly more irritating because of the acidity.  (Guess I should have gone for the cherry cough drops instead of the lemon ones!)  Caffeine and alcohol are also not recommended, so no hot toddies.  Drat.  Resting one's voice, drinking water, and keeping one's throat moist are what the Mayo Clinic recommends for laryngitis.  If you have diabetes, be sure to be careful about cough syrups and drops; they can have a surprising amount of sugar!  I found a sugar-free cough suppressant/expectorant and some sugar-free cough drops, so I'm good to...rest and get better.

Also some exciting news on the triathlon planning front:  one of my neighbors is interested in joining me for a relay leg in the Tri the Coast!  Woo hoo!  (She received my email asking her about it *right after* reading my Treeathlon report!  Definitely one of those "woo-woo" moments.)  Now to find a third...so if any of you local lurkers get an email immediately after reading this post, why, yes.  It IS your destiny to just "tri" it.

Progress This Week

7-day blood glucose average: 106 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 107 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: -.6 pounds.

Food goals: I did well with tracking during the week days, not so well on the weekend.  It has helped me be more mindful about my intake, which is a good thing.
Fiber: Averaged 37 grams/day.

Exercise goals: I did 4 days of at least 30 minutes/day, missing my goal of 5 days due to being sick on Monday. I also missed my goal of 2 strength workouts in the same week.  I am happy that I ran more frequently, even though I didn't do especially long runs.
Total mileage for the week was 17 miles.
Wednesday - 60 minutes, BodyPump class
Thursday - Nothing
Friday - 85 minutes (6.34 mi) - 1.91 mile walk at lunch, 1 mile on elliptical + 3.43 miles on treadmill (mostly running) at gym after work.
Saturday - Nothing
Sunday - 70 minutes (3.38 mi) - .38 mi stroll with the dog and 3 mile run (with about a 5 minute pause to talk to a neighbor).
Monday - Nothing (sick today)
Tuesday - 31 minutes (7.28 mi) - "mini brick" of 6 miles of spin machine + 1.28 mile on treadmill (1 mile run + .28 walk)

Sleep: 7 hours just doesn't seem like enough sometimes...

Goals for Next Week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals: 
* Track food intake.
* Track fiber, aiming for at least 30 grams/day average.

Exercise goals:
* 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
* 20 miles minimum distance.
* 2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.

Stanford Treeathlon Race Report (and Weekly Update)

Race Report: Stanford Treeathlon, Sunday, February 28, 2010

The Stanford Treeathlon was my second ever triathlon: a sprint event in Redwood City, California.  The course was a 500 meter (a little over 1/4 mile) swim in a protected inlet off of the San Francisco Bay, three lollipop-shaped loops totaling 20 kilometers (about 12.5 miles) of  bike, and a 5K run (about 3.1 miles) around the outside of the office park.  The course is flat, which was a good thing.

This race, for me, was more about the mental challenge than the physical challenge, which is why I think it was hard for me to write about it right away.  My first race was different:  I wanted to finish, hopefully in less than 2 hours; I was completely amped for the experience and had trained as hard as was possible for me.  It was a race geared toward women, especially women who were new to the sport of triathlon.  I wanted to have fun.  In the Treeathlon, I'd hoped to finish better than I had in my first race, or at least under 2 hours.  I hadn't trained quite as intensely, but I felt like I'd at least kept up my level of fitness over the winter.  I wanted to have fun again.  It was a race primarily for collegiate athletes and secondarily for age group participants; while appropriate for new triathletes, that wasn't its primary focus.  So overall, I was happy to have raced to the best of my ability, to have not gotten injured, and to not have been TOO sore the next day!  But I also felt somewhat humbled by this race as well.

Pre-Race
Oh my gosh, did we luck out, weather-wise!  It's been very rainy this winter, but the day dawned clear and bright.  I think this race would have been a difficult one to do in the rain, especially given the swim.


I popped up a little after 5 a.m., just before the alarm clock, and liberally applied my BodyGlide as I dressed.  I gulped down some coffee and a few leftover protein pancakes for breakfast, and then I loaded the car.  The previous evening, I'd packed what I thought was everything I needed, but I neglected a few items: sunscreen, sunglasses.  Luckily I didn't end up needing the sunglasses, and I didn't get sunburned (miracle + application of the SPF 25 BodyGlide to exposed parts), but good to note for next time.  The night before, I'd asked Mr. Handsome & Handy to take the rear light off my bike, but he felt it was on there securely enough, so we let it be.  I had a hard time getting to sleep, and I kept waking up in the night: a typical night-before-race sleep, in other words.  The Opposite Family bowed out of attending this one, given the early hour and that there wasn't much for the kids to do at the race site for 5 hours.

I arrived a little before 7 a.m., just before transition opened.  The race was due to start at 9 a.m., but I'm glad I got there early and got the essentials taken care of: trip to the portables (only 6 for about 600 people!), body marking, chip pick-up.  (Packet pickup had been the day before, at the race location this year, which was great; I'm not familiar with Stanford campus, and having it at the race site allowed me to see what it was like.)  I assembled my transition area and chatted with some of the other people.  I was surprised by the number of first-time triathletes...I also saw some purple Team in Training jerseys and thought of the folks on Team Shrinking Jeans!  I went for a little walk. (Good move #1: having driven our van with its camping toilet in the back!) When I got back, my bike was parked under the rack.  Turns out that the rack had collapsed!  It's probably one of the few times that I was glad I didn't have an expensive racing bike.  I verified with a race official that it was okay to leave it there, propped up by its kick stand.

Around 8 a.m., I started putting on the wetsuit.  It went much more smoothly than in the store, probably because it was a cool morning.  Maybe the cooking spray on legs and arms helped, too, although I'd read that it was more for helping get it off easier later.  (Good move #2:  bringing rubber gloves for the cooking spray application step.  This left my hands grease-free for the wetsuit tug-of-war.)  I'd been worried that I wouldn't be able to find someone to help zip me up, but that didn't turn out to be a problem, and I was able to return the favor.

8:30 a.m. was race meeting time.  Can I remember now what was said?  No.  Oh well.  I munched my South Beach peanut butter meal bar and milled around some more.  At 8:45, most folks started heading over to the swim start, because they announced transition area close at 9 a.m. sharp.  My wave wasn't due to go until 9:30, but it was still good to watch and learn.

Can.
(That's my eager face.)

Swim (22:54.2)
The swim was, in a word, really weird. I guess that's actually two words. The starting line is a short swim from the water entry point, and no wave was allowed to enter the water until the previous wave had started.  The collegiate athlete waves went first, followed by the men's age groups, and then all of the women age groups started in one wave.  I hung to the back, since I'm not very fast, and this is usually a good strategy for avoiding the scrum at the beginning of the swim.  This time, however, it backfired.  The boat ramp into the water was very narrow, and it took awhile for everyone to get in.  The wave was started while several of us were still about halfway to the starting point!  The woman in the starting boat tried to be encouraging, "You're only behind about 30 seconds!"  I didn't much care for that, but tried to shrug it off with an "oh well."  (I read some reviews on Active.com, and several folks were hoppin' mad about the awkward start.)

The water was cold, as advertised, but not as bad as I was expecting, since I had the wetsuit on.  It was salty (bleck!) and it was hard to keep my face in the water; it hurt my face to keep it in more than 6 strokes or so.  My rental wetsuit was a Blueseventy, and it worked great.  I felt like I couldn't sink in this thing.  And it wasn't just buoyant, it was buoyant in the right places; it felt easier to swim front crawl with good form.  The suit was definitely not made for breast stroke or side stroke, though.  But in general, I felt lucky that it worked so well, as I had never before swum in a wetsuit.  (Trying new things on race day seems to be a pattern for me.)  The swim felt easier as I got warmed up, and then there was the exit:  strapping young college folks hauled each person out of the water by his or her armpits.  They probably got a harder workout than the triathletes that day!  I did the trick of unzipping a little to let some water in, but I think I over did it, because there was a lot of water in my suit.  I was pulled out and flopped onto the dock like the "catch of the day," and by the direction of volunteers I staggered up the ramp rather than across the dock and back into the drink.  The swim time included an approximately 250 m jog to the transition area, in bare feet over pavement.  Glad it was a winter morning!  (They let us use shoes on the walk out to the start, which was a half-mile walk, much of it on gravel.  Apparently, aqua shoes are considered "flippers" and disallowed in USAT sanctioned events.  Made me wonder whether an athlete with diabetes would get an exception for wearing footwear during the swim, given the danger of complications from foot injuries, but I forgot to ask an official.  Volunteers did a good job of sweeping the course and covering the rough parts, so I wasn't worried.)

T1: Swim to Bike (6:36.7)
I didn't want to damage the rental wetsuit or have it get trampled, so I planted my rear on the ground and neatly folded the thing up and put it in its bag.  I sipped my coconut water, powdered the grit off my feet, donned running tights and shoes (I don't have clipless pedals, so no special shoes needed), and slipped on the hydration backpack with water + electrolyte tablets.  About the only thing I didn't do was powder my nose and apply lipstick.  A race?  Oh, that's right!  I'm racing!  On to the bike....

Bike (52:03.5)

Most people were already on the run by the time I exited transition, but there were a fair number on their bikes when I started...not so much by my 3rd loop.  During the swim, I felt a bit deflated by the start, but intently focused on getting to the docks.  The bike left me with a little too much time to think.  With all those fancy race bikes, with everyone whipping past, I spent a little too much time with my brain tuned in to, as author Anne Lamott aptly describes it (don't have the book handy, so this isn't a precise quote), "the radio station KFKD."  A lot of the bike was spent replacing thoughts of  "Everyone here is younger and faster than me" with "Run your own race", "This is hard" with "Just think how much harder it would be in the rain," "I suck at this" with "So what? You rock for just doing it," and "Why on earth am I doing triathlons?" with "For the fun of it!  This is still fun...right?  Right?  Hellooooo-oooo?"   

Will I ever be able to do a bike leg without *dropping* something?!?  In my last race, I ended up losing half the contents of my purse across the road, and having to stop and pick up hotel card key, lip balm, and the like.  This time, I was in the 2nd loops, when I heard a crack! and saw something bounce off to the side of the road.  *sigh*  I stopped, and one of the police officers trotted over and handed me the back light on my bike with a friendly smile.  It took another minute or two to find a gap in the riders and get back on the course.

On the other hand, the hydration backpack was great:  no fumbling with the bottle.  I think I put it together wrong and that it leaked, though.  Definitely handy on the bike ride.

I did a lot of cheering on other people in the 3rd loop.  Not sure if they considered it obnoxious or pleasant that someone going the other way was cheering them on with a hearty "Way to go!"  I kind of like it myself when other racers cheer each other one, but it felt a little awkward.  I'm still wondering if I can pull it off myself.

The course had its pluses and minuses.  On the one hand, by doing loops, I knew what to expect for 2/3 of the course.  On the other hand, it was starting to get a little bit dull.  It was completely flat, but there were several sharp turns that required people to slow down considerably.  I rode hard, for me, but my time was a lot slower than last time.  With all the spin classes, I thought this would have improved, but real biking is quite a lot different, about 1.5 minutes per mile different.  My bike is a hybrid bike, circa 1991.  (19 years old!  Holy cow, I didn't even think about that until just now.)  It's 30 pounds, with nubby mountain bike-style tires, so I'm definitely doing a lot of work on this part of the race.  I can't help but wonder whether using a road bike would improve my time, and if so, by enough to want to make the investment in one.

T2: Bike to Run (2:32.1)
The advantage of not having to change shoes is that I can cruise right through T2.  Given the rack problems, I figured I'd just park my bike with its kickstand.  I kicked it down, and realized that half of the thing had fallen off at some point without my having noticed. *blush*.  I flipped the bike upside down and trotted off to run.  The disadvantage of having a long, rectangular transition area is that one spends a little more time in transition.

Run (33:33.6)
The run went well, although it sure didn't feel like it at first.  By this time, the course was pretty empty, but I focused on just running my own race, puffing a friendly "hey" to the few other runners left, enjoying getting the feeling back in my legs, and checking out the view.  I think next time, I will ditch the hydration pack: its "slosh slosh slosh" sound made me feel grateful that I didn't feel the urge to take a bio break!  On the other hand, I didn't need to slow down at the water stations.  I felt, by about halfway, that I was really hitting my stride on the run.  I felt awful about passing this one woman; she was wiry, in great shape, and I couldn't help but wonder if she felt that it was a little unfair, that someone who hadn't taken as good of care of herself as she obviously had was passing her in the run.

Then there it was!  The finish line!  I did "quick-feet" across the parking lot and to my intense relief, crossed just shy of 2 hours!  WOO HOO!!!  Total race time was 1:57:40.1.

Post-race
Ah, all done!  I wandered over and grabbed half a banana and smeared it with peanut butter, then noticed all the empty pizza boxes piled behind the table.  Oh well, missed the pizza feed.  I wandered over to the transition area, and I noticed volunteers were about halfway done with tearing it down.  Now that made me a little mad..it seemed disrespectful to people still on the course.  There weren't many, but they were out there.

The last finisher was a large guy sporting a purple Team in Training jersey.  At my last race, I had missed the ritual honoring of the last finisher, so I was glad to cheer and whistle as they announced the final finisher coming into the home stretch.  He even skipped for part of it.  "That," I thought to myself, "is the attitude you need for these things."

I did manage to get someone to snap my post-race photo; I packed up, happily consumed a chocolate Jay Bar (mmmm...tasty!), checked out the preliminary results that were posted, and headed home.

Did.

Links to Official Photos
I can't quite believe that I'm sharing these links.  However, children and adult-onset triathleticism have robbed me of my modesty.  These links will expire on May 28, 2010, so if you're morbidly curious, check them out!

wetsuit dorkfest 1     wetsuit dorkfest 2     gah, I look so dorky in a wetsuit!
bike (I rather like this one)
run 1     run 2     run 3


Race Geek Stuff
According to the official results, I was 10th of 10 in my age group (40-44); 78/83 overall of the female age group racers. I was nearly a half hour behind the 9th/10 in my age group, but I don't feel too badly about that: the 40-44 group rocked!  All but one was in the top 50 overall, and 3 were in the top 20 women's age group finishers.  Even more cool?  There were 3 women 60 and older racing, and two of the three beat my times handily.  Yeah, I want to be them when I grow up.

I spent a little time analyzing the See Jane Tri vs. the Treeathlon.  I know you can't really compare apples to oranges, but I really wanted to see if I'd declined, improved, or stayed the same.  Given the following, I'd have to say that I stayed pretty much the same, possibly declined a bit.  I know I didn't train nearly as hard for the Tree as I did for SJT.  (I also didn't do a 5K race with a 5K run/walk trek back to my car the weekend before the SJT, so that might have come into play also.)
+10:52 swim (Treeathlon course was +100 m, with an extra swim out to the start and a 250m jog to transition; at SJT, we emerged from the lake right into the transition area.)
+2:04 T1 (In Treeathlon, the wetsuit removal and putting on running tights took a little extra time)
+7 minutes on bike (+1.4 mile, but Tree was a totally flat course vs. a couple of wicked hills in the SJT.  Both times involved a stop to pick up dropped stuff.  SJT had a stoplight we all had to stop at, too, and a moment where I pulled off to let the crowd behind me pass after it.  Tree course had some tighter turns that needed slowing down for considerably.)
+1:10 T2 (No kickstand and flimsy rack; had to flip the bike to park it.  Otherwise, not sure why it was slower in the Treeathlon, other than the transition area being a little bit longer.  Or I was slower jogging out.  Or both.)
-10:09 run (The only part where I went faster in the Tree.  Tree course was totally flat; SJT course was hilly and hotter, plus I paused a couple of times to call Mr. H&H about where I was on the course.)

So...What's Next?
Yes, I'm still having fun with this sport.  I definitely will do more sprint triathlons.  Sure, this one challenged me, but endurance events aren't just physical, and now I've experienced more of the mental challenge.  I'm looking at a couple of possibilities:  there's one in June in my town, but it's the same weekend as my kids' dance recital, in which we are heavily involved.  I'm also eyeing one in July in Lompoc, to combine with a family visit.

I also learned that athletic performance doesn't follow a linear path.  I'd hoped to get faster, so that I could progress to longer distance events, but I don't think I'm ready for Olympic distance (about double a sprint distance) this year.

I also learned that I want to figure out a way to share the fun; racing is a really rewarding experience for me.  It would be nice to race as a triathlon relay team with friends or family members.  (Any takers???)

And now, back to the regularly scheduled Weekly Update....

Progress This Week

7-day blood glucose average: 107 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 112 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goals: -1.2 pounds.

Food goals: I started tracking again yesterday.  I've heard that the intuitive approach works well for many people, but my weight has been creeping more than I'd like.  I also had a fasting blood glucose level of 119 on Tuesday morning, and while I could try to pin the blame on the allowable 20% inaccuracy of blood glucose meters or stress or something, I think it has more to do with pre-bedtime snacking on Monday night (nuts, 6 raisins, and some ham and cheese, so we're not talking a Twinkie binge here, but I'd had dinner earlier and really didn't need it).  The "what" I'm eating isn't so bad, but the "how much" is what gets out of hand, as well as the eating when I'm not hungry.  So it's back to tracking, if only to make myself think twice about shoveling in more nuts.  (Because then I'd have to add it to the log, and that's too much work. ;-P)

Fiber: Not tracked. Eating pretty much the same things as usual, so I'm probably averaging about 25-30 grams/day.

Exercise goals: I did 5 days of at least 30 minutes/day. I met my goal of 2 strength sessions (not of equal duration, but I'm happy to have fit in a little bit of strength stuff on another day of the week), and I logged over 20 miles (thank you, spin class!).  I suspect that after a week and a half of primarily walking, a hard spin class and a long (for me) run was not the most brilliant idea, but it did feel kind of good to push myself a little harder.
Total mileage for the week was 31.57 miles.
Wednesday - 60 minutes, BodyPump class
Thursday - 60 minutes walking (2 miles), 15 minutes on stationary bike at home (3 miles)
Friday - 40 minutes (1.91 miles) walking
Saturday - 15 minutes strength; arms and abs with 10 pound dumbells
Sunday - 30 minutes (.4 mile) stroll with family and friends
Monday - 60 minutes (20 miles), spin class at gym
Tuesday - 52 minutes (4.26 miles), combo running and walking on treadmill at gym

Sleep: 7 hours just doesn't seem like enough sometimes...

Goals for Next Week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:  Back to tracking, and working on getting more veggies in there. 
Track fiber. Eat the usual suspects (veggies, chia, dry roasted edamame, nuts) and go for a minimum 30 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
* 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week.
* 20 miles minimum distance.
* 2 strength sessions (BodyPump + something on my own)

Misc. goals:
7 or more hours sleep/night.

Shakin' the Post-tri Blues

Well, I had a fun time at the belly dancing class at my gym yesterday evening. It was great for the core and I got slightly sweaty, which was good. I amused my classmates and instructor with my "Unapologetically Myself" t-shirt. Being my first time trying this, I did feel quite a bit awkward at first, but it was fun after awhile. It was a brain challenge, too, to move one's feet in the right way while simultaneously shaking isolated segments of one's body. I would have preferred that the instructor explain the motions first; rather, she had us try to follow along, and then she broke it down. Maybe she was trying to assess where the newbies were at. (There were a few of us, identifiable by our lack of bangles.) I liked the energy of it, and I could see where one could really get into the flow of it. What I liked the most? It didn't feel like a workout, yet it was a good hour of gentle moving and working on developing abdominal strength. I'm still learning to trust that every exercise session does not need to be at spin class intensity levels to meet my health objectives (although intensity does have its rightful place).

Shrink for Good Challenge Update

Well, it was a "no change" week, and I'm feeling grateful. I'm still down for the challenge a net of 3.2, which means that I'm maintaining. After years of seeing my weight go steadily up-up-up, having it hold steady at a weight I'm feeling good and healthy at is pretty darn nice for a change.

Good Little Cans

So...why go for more? I don't think it's so much the scale number I'm chasing, it's health, so I have been looking for cross-referencing health indicators to help me know when I've "arrived" at the right shape for me. I've been doing a bit of reading about visceral body fat. According to the Mayo Clinic article, over 35" in the waist is not good, and I'm 38" right now. But the medical web sites also mention a waist-to-hip ratio of .85 or less. I've noticed, since I've been keeping measurements, that I've consistently had a 5" difference between my waist and hips, from the very start of my taking measurements. So I'm not sure that I'd ever be able to get both to a point at which there would be .85 or less. So I guess I'll do my best at targeting the coveted 35" and let the ratio fall where it will (even though--sigh--it's supposed to be the better indicator, according to this Harvard Health article). Which makes me also wonder where they came up with this formula; I haven't been able to dig up anything about that.

I did get a little postcard this week...looks like I'm not the only one shakin' it!

Underlying image credit (and apologies to): "Moulin rouge Paris Cancan 1890," Jules Chéret (from Wikimedia Commons)

Progress last week

7-day blood glucose average: 103 (met goal of less than 120)
7-day fasting blood glucose average: 103 (met goal of less than 120)

Weight goal: No change this week. Still 5.7 away from breaking into the 170s.

Food goals:
- Got in 3 meatless meals and 0 fish meal. (Not met)
- Fiber: at least 5/7 days were over 30.

Exercise goals: Well, not exactly what I had planned, but it worked for me this week.
- Wednesday: 60 minutes BodyPump class.
- Thursday: 20 minutes strolling
- Friday: Nothing
- Saturday: 60 minutes "playout" at park with Thing 2
- Sunday: 35 minute run and 45 minutes "playout" with the kids at the park
- Monday: 45 minutes at gym - 35 run, 10 arms & abs with weights
- Tuesday: 60 minutes belly dancing class

Goals for this week

7-day blood glucose average goal and fasting numbers: below 120.
Weight goal: Maintain or make progress toward goal.

Food goals:
- Keep tracking.
- 4 or more meatless, low-fat meals and 2 or more fish meals.
- Track fiber. Minimum 30 grams fiber/day. (Include both insoluble and soluble sources.)

Exercise goals:
Minimum of 30 minutes of activity 5 days/week. Prepare for the Pumpkin Run 5K on 10/18 and the Theta Breakers on 11/8.

Misc. goals:
- 7 or more hours sleep/night.

"Where is the Looooove?"

(Or, "The One in which Pubsgal Moans About 'Post-tri Letdown'.")

Happy Monday! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend! We had *nothing* planned for a change, and it was nice. Thing 2 & I went on an outing on Saturday to the library and the park; I loved our playtime together. On Sunday, our family tried to go to our favorite pumpkin farm, Little Creek, but when we drove by, no pumpkin patch! I was really bummed. I suppose The Things are starting to outgrow the simpler ones, though, when there are so many exciting rides and things at some of the other ones in our area. Thing 1 solemnly said that line that so often comes out of our own mouths: "You get what you get, and you don't get upset." (I need to discuss "context" with the lad, obviously...or maybe use that line a little less often.) So yes, I silently mourned for awhile. We ended up going back in a northerly direction and stopping at a park the kids hadn’t been to in awhile, and that cheered us all up greatly.

I noticed that the acronym of the post title, "WITL," is one transposition away from spelling "WILT." How appropriate. The post is so-titled, even after a lovely weekend, because I think the post-race letdown finally caught up with me. I read about it, of course, and was expecting it last week. However, it seems to have delayed itself until this week. I took it really easy last week, and I had missed my planned workout on Friday, so it was weird: I simultaneously felt like I MUST be doing *something*, but I also didn't feel like doing *anything*. (Except eating and napping...got the first done but not the second, and I really wish it had been the other way around, except that napping makes the weekend seem shorter.)

I was throwing on my running clothes on Sunday morning, about to run to the donut shop to get the kids' breakfast. Thing 2 decided that she wanted to come with me. I turned to Mr. Handsome-and-Handy, verging on an exercise-denial tantrum: "I'm going to take her with me now, but I HAVE to get a half hour to run sometime today!" But when run time arrived, I felt absolutely no joy in my run. Even though the weather was gorgeous, running didn’t energize me like it often does when I've rested for a couple of days. And today? Meh. I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill, but I am so not feeling the love. I guess scaling back one week wasn't really enough. I thought it would be after only doing a sprint triathlon.

I did find an article to re-read that offered some advice: "Don't Be Singin' the Post-Race Blues." I'm not feeling sad, per se, but just very lack-luster on the exercise front. The article gave me some ideas, though: I think I'll be taking it a bit easier this week. Oh, I'm still on for the Pumpkin Run on the 18th, and I have another 5K planned for November 8th ("World Run Day!"), but I'm not going to go crazy with the training. I'm really glad now that I didn't sign up for the 10K options in a fit of post-tri euphoria. I was kind of hoping that I'd set a new PR at the Pumpkin Run this year, but after my last two runs, I'm not so sure. I think I might try the belly dancing class tomorrow at the gym, do my usual BodyPump (not dreading that!) on Wednesday, and then perhaps a walking day on Thursday, followed by a gym day (run + light strength) on Friday.

Race Report: See Jane Tri 2009

Note to friends & friends...I blog semi-anonymously over here, so if you see names like "Mr. Handsome-and-Handy" and "Thing 1" and "Thing 2," that's my husband, son, and daughter (nicknamed with respective nods to "The Red Green Show" and the mischief-makers in "The Cat in the Hat"). Don't tease them (too much) when you see them in person...Thanks!

Finally...I bring you:
(insert trumpet fanfare)
My See Jane Tri 2009 Sprint Triathlon Race Report!

Wow...where to begin? If you couldn't tell from my twittering, facebooking in CAPS, and on-the-fly email post on the way home...

It

was

AWESOME!!!!!

I had a blast!!! I'm still kind of pinching myself...in one of the few places that aren't sore, of course. I really did this thing!

But I'm jumping ahead of myself here....

I spent Friday pretty much as a keyed up bundle of nerves. I felt much better when we finally got on the road to Pleasanton in the early evening. Traffic was bad, but we were expecting that. Thank goodness for the portable DVD player! When we arrived, we headed straight for the In & Out Burger, dinner of...well, maybe not champions, but this triathlete found it mighty tasty. We checked into the hotel, and then popped down to the microscopic pool for a swim. It was just big enough for us to splash around in and cool off a bit. Then up to the room, and pretty much to bed. I didn't lay awake as long as I thought I would, but I did wake up several times in the night and peeked at the clock.

As it was, the alarm went off early enough. Ugh. Thank goodness the hotel TV had Disney Channel, I don't know how we would've gotten the kids up otherwise. I ate my oat bran+flax+ peanut butter+sugar-free syrup. (And thought of Miz and Lori! :-) I slathered myself with BodyGlide and put on my sports bra & bathing suit, then my pants and shirt. No coffee carafe? How'd I miss that one??? Mr. H&H went to get the kids their donuts and us some coffee. He got back and we were ready to go to the park.

It wasn't too crowded yet, but there were plenty of people pulling into the park. I was a little nervous on arriving; what to do first? I fell in with the line of people and bikes walking toward the event area. The event was extremely well-coordinated. I checked in and got my numbers, then went to the table to get my timing chip. (Then I got my t-shirt!)

All set up in the transition area. I'm amazed that my bike managed to dangle there and not fall down!

"Why do they have to start these things so darn early?"

I went to the transition area and staked out a spot at the end of the rack, near the swim exit, so it would be easy to find. I chatted with a woman who usually did relays with her husband and was doing the full one by herself this time for the first time. I laid out my stuff: towel next to bike, shoes and socks ready, sunglasses in shoes, shorts and shirt on bike seat, helmet and visor hanging from the handlebars. (I got myself a visor with terrycloth band so I wouldn't have sweat dripping in my face!) This worked well. I didn't bring the bucket for dipping my feet, because I was wearing aqua shoes, but that might have worked out better. Got the markings. (Ooo! It's for REAL! They write your race number on your arm and leg and your age on your calf). When I returned to the car, it was light already.

Dawn at Shadow Cliffs Regional Park

Mr. H&H and the kids were finishing up their donuts and watching cartoons on the DVD player. (It saved our bacon...many times!) They saved me a couple of donut holes to go with my coffee. They were fresh and warm! Hea-ven-ly!

We all got out and wandered down by the lake. Lots of geese. Lots of goose poop. Ew. Then it was warm-up time! The "SuperJanes" led us in exercises. "Whip It" was a good choice, but I felt much internal cringing when they played "Eye of the Tiger" and "Let's Get Physical." Oh well! Campy good fun.

Warming up with the "Super Janes"!

Serious business. (Oh heck no. They are NOT playing "Let's Get Physical"...? Ugh, yes, they ARE.)

I trotted back to the transition area to get my swim cap and goggles and aqua shoes on. I chatted with another gal (Hi, Lisa!), who (it turns out) is setting her sights on Ironman Coeur d’Alene next year! Wow! How utterly cool is that?!?
"Are you nervous?" she asked.
"No, I was more nervous about getting here," I said. "Now I'm just excited!"
She nodded. "That's a good place to be."

Then it was back over to the swim start area; it was time to watch the first wave go. I was in the third wave, so I wanted to be close by.

"I do this for the fashion!"

The first wave was for 18 and under, 50 and over, special needs and relays. Some of the swimmers ended up taking a really long time, so the lifeguards delayed the start of the 2nd wave. We strained to see the tiny dots that were the swim caps of the remaining swimmers, hoping they were making it okay. This race had several people on "buddy boards", where swimmers could take a little break during the swim, in addition to many lifeguards.

~~~~~
UPDATE: The race delay was much more serious than I realized. The event organizers sent an email to the participants, updating us that "the woman who was rescued from the water...is on her way to a full recovery thanks to the amazing lifeguards and on-site paramedics." I searched the web for news, and found another racer's report, and she said that the woman had been pulled out of the water without a pulse...but the paramedics managed to restore a pulse before taking her to the hospital in an ambulance. I'm thwacking myself in the head now for being utterly clueless. How terrifying that must have been for her and her family, and the people trying to help her. Sending good thoughts and prayers for her speedy recovery.
~~~~~

The race delay meant that the second wave ended up going nearly an hour after their original start time. I decided to go to the bathroom one more time, and the kids wanted to go, and we were dashing over and Thing 2 tripped and scraped her knee. We hurried to the bathroom and got her washed up, but her hat ended up falling into the toilet! Ew! Mr. H&H had band aids in his wallet (ever prepared!) and patched her up. We got back right before the 2nd wave went in. I gave my family kisses and hugs, and I got into the starting area.

Poised to jump in the lake....

One of the women near me was laughing about having to pee again. (Note to self: do not swim too close behind anyone, and not just because they might kick you in the face.) I felt more excited than nervous: I was here! I was ready! And then the horn went off!

...Well, more like trot into the lake. You can't see it here, but body marking includes inscribing one's age on one's calf. (No, there is no modesty in triathlon. Having children was great preparation for this sport.)

And away we went! The mud wasn't too sticky, thank goodness, and I was glad to be wearing my aqua shoes. I stuck to the back of the pack; I joked above, but I really was nervous about getting kicked in the face. I shared a lane often at the pool, but this was my first time doing an open water swim in a crowd of people. I ended up using a variety of swim strokes--mostly breast stroke, but some side stroke--but forced myself to do a few freestyle here & there, because I didn't want to be too much of a wuss. (I'm pretty much the same speed whichever stroke I do, so it's not like it held me back much.) The few times that I did freestyle, though, I got whacked by people doing backstrokes; at one point, I collided with a gal who was floating on her back. We were a polite bunch, though, with "oh, sorry about that!" "no, I'm sorry!" Also, my goggles were a little leaky, and I had to pause a couple of times to empty them out.

The water was really murky and green, but it felt good! Not too cold. I reveled in it, knowing the rest of my day was going to be rather toasty. As we rounded the last buoy, I started to see the bottom...it was a forest of lake plants! (I thought of you, Christie O.! No jellyfish, though, thank goodness!) I swam until I was nearly scraping the bottom (other people around me were walking out of the water, but I figured I'd go faster swimming), then popped up and into transition.

"Hey! I finished the swim, and I didn't get kicked in the face!"

I felt a little lost in transition. I ended up not drying off much, and throwing the towel down to wipe my feet on, then putting on shirt, shorts, and shoes. (I ended up wearing my cotton ones by mistake...the $8 I spent on proper socks went to waste. Oh well. The shorts, which didn't work too well in spin class, worked great here.) Helmet, sunglasses, visor. I sprayed with sunscreen (this + layer on in the a.m. worked great) and drank some coconut water I'd snagged at the food tent. (Thought of you, Lori! So much for the "no new stuff on race day" rule....) I paused, thought about the heat, and then drank the rest. I strapped on my fanny pack, grabbed my bike, and away I went!

Dashing onto the bike portion of the course, with my trusty hybrid bike. Nope, neither toe clips nor clipless pedals...yep, very much the newbie!

The bike course was mostly flat, but there was a very steep hill out of the park at the beginning. Thank you, See Jane Tri FAQ, for warning us about it! The hill was short, though, and I rode up it no problem. That made me feel good!

But see that blue thing in my hand? It was my watch. I'd fully intended to put it on, but didn't, and it cost me. As I rode, I opened the back pocket of my fanny pack to put it in, and stuff came flying out. Was it just the lip balm? No...the hotel room key card was gone, too! Dang! I stopped and ran back to pick up my stuff. I felt a twinge of frustration...I really hadn't thought out the transition stuff very well. But oh well. I took a few breaths, got back on my bike and rode.

So many people passed me, but it was a really pleasant ride. (At some points, the bike lane was narrow, and being slow and on the right meant being closer to the passing cars. Gulp!) We rode down into the part of town where the vineyards were, and one of the roads was completely closed, which was nice; this was where I ate my energy bar and drank some sports drink. Coming off of the closed road at the intersection, we had to stop at a stop light. The girl next to me shared some of her energy beans, which was sweet. Green light, and we were off. I pulled over and let the fast people pass me, because the bike lane was narrow. I hopped back in and kept going.

We wound past more vineyards, and then some rolling hills, one fairly steep but short and doable (thanks, spin class!). The downhill parts were nice; I couldn't gain any speed by pedaling, so I chose those times to coast and stretch my legs a bit. Some of the bikes were really fancy, with the aerobars and the drink bottles that wedge between them. I didn't like reaching for the bottle in the cage, so I probably didn't drink as much as I ought to have. I just remember riding along, and thinking how pleasant it was, and enjoyed it fully. THIS was why I'd worked so hard at the gym! So I could do crazy stunts like this! Then we rounded the turn and were heading back into the park. Woo hoo! 2 of 3 segments accomplished!

I racked my bike and--since I was wearing my running shoes already--I realized that there was nothing to do, so I headed out for the run. I took my drink bottle with me. I called Mr. H&H and let him know that I was starting the run. "Wow! Already?" was a nice thing to hear. The run was challenging. I felt a small pain in my hip socket that I get on long runs, and it was the beginning of this one. But nothing was going to stop me. By that time, it was pretty warm out, and the running course was mostly dusty trails, a lot of flat but some uphill and downhill parts. It looped around quite a lot; we passed the water station a couple of times. I enjoyed the shady parts, and there was a lot to look at: a pond with some people playing fetch with their dogs in the water, water lilies in the pond below the bridge, a dragonfly, the shirt of a runner in front of me that made me chuckle: "Team V.A.G. (Very Athletic Girls) 'We Deliver' " (she was part of a team of Labor & Delivery employees of a local hospital).

On this segment, I could chat with some of my fellow runners at times, which was nice; several of us congratulating each other on our first triathlon. At one point, I stepped wrong and almost twisted my ankle. Yikes! I sipped often from the bottle, glad I brought it, because it seemed to take forever to get to the water station on the outbound loop. When I did, I gulped half and dumped the rest on my head, and continued; I did this on the inbound loop as well. Other than the water station, I jogged comfortably the whole course, walking briefly at mile 3 to call Mr. H&H and to let him know I was approaching the finish line soon.

And there it was! The lake, the parking lot, and at the end, the finish line! Mr H&H and Things 1 & 2 were sitting in the shade near the restrooms, and I slowed so Mr H&H could take my picture.

Heading for the finish, but slowing down briefly for a hammy "victory!" pose.
Or is it "cheesy"?
Or ham & cheesy?
Mmm...ham & cheese sounds pretty good right about now...

And then there it was: a straight shot to the finish line! I had plenty of energy left, so I did a burst. People cheered! Cowbells rang! My eyes teared up a bit; this was the moment! I ran under the arch as the clock said 1:51 and some seconds. I'd done it in under 2 hours! I thought it would take me around 2 hours, maybe a little longer, but I didn't think I'd make it under 2! I felt so proud, humble, and grateful.

Volunteers collected my timing chip and put the medal around my neck and handed me a water bottle. I wandered into the finish area, a little dazed, a lot content. I decided a nosh was in order, so I wandered to the food tent, collected some food, and circled until I found my family. Hugs, snacking, and it was time for me to pack up. Mr. H&H took the kids back to the car, and I wandered back into the transition area and packed it up. I ran into Lisa again and we exchanged email and blog URLs.

I overheard some other first-timers exclaiming, "This is the BEST thing I've EVER done!" It's definitely on my top ten list, that's for sure!

Race is done, I'm still glowing...

Back in the car, Mr. H&H was a little cranky at the crowd of vehicles heading out, but oh well. We eventually got out, and we checked out of the hotel and drove home. Lots of traffic, but getting some pizza and calamari at Rainbow Pizza on the way home eased the pain a bit. ;-)

I checked blood glucose in the van on the drive to the hotel. 158, higher than normal but not so bad for all the race-day excitement and more-carb-than-normal foods. The temperature ended up being in the high 80s, so that was nowhere as bad as I'd feared. (It's a dry heat here in California-land, which isn't as intense as a humid heat, but it can also sneak up on you if you're not careful.) I way overpacked the nutrition, even with the free coconut water that was an unexpected bonus. I didn't touch my electrolyte gels or my glucose tablets, and I only used my one water bottle of low-sugar electrolyte mix. (But I think just having some fast-acting sugar+ electrolyte calories strapped to my body made me feel reassured.)

Later that day, the results were posted! It turns out I'd done even better officially than I thought, which was exciting! This race was a good baseline, because at no point did I feel like I was getting too tired or not able to finish. I didn't push myself as hard as I could have, but I sure did enjoy myself. There's always next time to get competitive with myself. ;-)

Results:
Overall time was 01:46:40
Overall ranking was 596/700
Age-group ranking (40-44) was 115/126

Swim: rank = 589, Time=12:02
T1: 4:31
Bike: rank=611, time=45:04, MPH=14.6 (?!?)
T2: 1:22
Run: rank=586, time=43:42, MPM=14:34 (no surprise there, I knew I was going slow)

Post-race Postscript

Firstly, I must give a heartfelt thanks to my family, for supporting me while I was in the grip of triathlon obsession. My husband got my bike ready for me, drove us there and back again, and watched the kids the whole time. He's the one that should get the medal, that's for sure. (He did get some peace and quiet for football-watching on Sunday, and he even got to see the Detroit Lions win one without too much angst, which I suppose was even better to him than getting a medal.) The kids were troopers. I think they were impressed that I'd done it, and I think they kinda-sorta did like being there, even if it meant a lot of waiting around. (It would've worked out better if the lakeshore wasn't covered in goose poop and if there'd been a playground.) Thing 2 was jealous before the start, because she wasn't the star of the show; but after a brief diva-tantrum, she got over it and I got a warm hug, kiss, and smile before the swim. It meant a lot to me to have my family there, even though it wasn't hugely fun for them to get up super early, or to have to wait around for me while I was off doing stuff. But I thought it would good for them to see what the atmosphere was like, to maybe catch a glimpse of what I found so compelling about participating in a sporting event. At home, the kids were playing that their race car and pet toys were having triathlons, so I guess the seed is planted. ;-) I told Mr. H&H that I didn't plan to drag them to any more events unless they really wanted to go...unless it was Kona. Then they HAVE to go. (We both had a good laugh at that one, of course.)

And thanks also to my blogging buddies for your constant encouragement! Especially to my fellow triathletes, Christie O. of Baby Tea Leaves and Lori of Finding Radiance, for leading the way!

And mad, mad props to the organizers and volunteers of the See Jane Tri event! There were volunteers at every key turn of the bike course, cheering us on and helping stop traffic where necessary, brave souls! And there's no way I could have followed all the mad little twists and turns and loops of the run course without the crew in yellow shirts pointing the way. Thanks for helping all of us tri newbies have a great experience!!!

And now it's back to ordinary time, back to mild-mannered me. I felt tired and headachy on Saturday afternoon (in spite of excellent pre-race hydration); moderately sore on Sunday; and even less sore today. I am waiting for the post-race letdown, but it hasn't happened yet...maybe because I'm already plotting and scheming in my head to do another one, and thinking of how I can improve? What's next? Another go at the See Jane Tri next year? Or the Mermaid in Santa Cruz? Or...?