Rockin' The Rock Hall Sprint

Goal: Breaking 2:00 would be nice
Actual: 1:52:21 - 2nd Place in my age group!

Ah...the joys of a sprint triathlon. A mere 750 meter swim; a nice 15 mile jaunt on the bike; a quick 3.1 mile walk-in-the-park-run. I signed up for this race on a whim just a few days before, thinking how nice it would be to do a short distance for a change.

Priscilla picked me up at 5:30 AM and we made the 2 hour drive to Rock Hall. A road trip with P is always a blast :). The weather was gorgeous too-- clear skies and about 70 degrees. We arrived to find plenty of parking, no parking attendants, and a t-nincy transition area! This was a small race for a change-- only 180 or so contenders.

Swim: 18:47

When I first laid eyes on the swim course, all I could think was: That's it? That's as far as I have to swim? It seemed so short! Still, the swim is always my least favorite part of triathlon and I knew I couldn't take it for granted.

Melissa had said that I needed to get myself really worked up before the race -- get mad and take it out on the water, Sally! But I was so laid back--I mean, this was the shortest distance I would do all year! So I really had to make an effort to get myself pumped up and pissed off.

The horn went off and I was surprised to find myself actually swimming near other swimmers. This was foreign territory for me...usually I've got plenty of open water around me as everyone else pulls ahead. But this time I swam in a pack of people the whole way. My thoughts went something like this:

Pull harder, remember how pissed you are! You're mad, dammit---act like it!
Don't pick up your head when you breathe, for crying out loud! Pull!
C'mon, snap that rotation! Reach over the barrel! Pick up the pace!

Before I knew it, I was pulling myself up on the dock and running for transition.

T1 3:36

Bike: 53:04

The bike was pancake flat and windy. Great, I thought, now's your chance to practice using your aero bars. So I laid down the mandate:

Sally, you will not raise up out of the aero position unless you are braking or making a sharp turn. Failure to comply with this rule means you are not worthy of owning a tri bike and therefore, must stop shopping for one. Only when you grow up and learn to ride with the big kids can this rule be revisited.

We had a headwind going out...and a tailwind coming back, so any time I lost during the first half of the ride, I made up on the last half. I managed to comply with my aero bar mandate and all was well as I headed for the dismount line.

T2 2:12

Run: 34:45

Did I mention how much I love to run? Well, I love to run. Yes, it was getting hot and no, there wasn't any shade, but I was happy to be in my comfort zone. My focus, at this point, was on staying ahead of this woman in my age group. We had played tag on the bike and initially she was ahead of me on the run; but within the first mile, I managed to pass her and tried not to look back. I kept imagining she was right on my tail and that made me keep up the pace. On the out-and-back stretch, I noticed that she was pretty far behind me, but I still didn't want to let up. I kept thinking how nice it would be not to finish last in my age group :).

I had no idea that I was a contender for 2nd place at that point. I knew there were only a few women in my age group, but when they called my name at the awards ceremony, I was truly shocked!

Finish Time: 1:52:21

Priscilla also placed --taking 3rd in the Athena category! Needless to say, the ride home was great. We compared race notes and laughed about our improbable "podium" finishes. We'll always be back-of-the-packers, but for one brief moment we got to feel like winners....and that was cool.

Lake Montclair

At times I wonder if I'll ever be sleeping late again on the weekends. Once upon a time I would lounge in bed until 10:00 or 11:00. These days, sleeping till 7:00 is considered sleeping late. In fact, I get up earlier on the weekends than I do on weekdays. But today is yet another example of why it's so worth it to drag myself out of bed waaay too early.

This morning the alarm went off at 4:45. Ugh, no fun. But by the time I throw my swim gear in my car and take off for Lake Montclair, I am thrilled to be awake. Lake Montclair is flat calm quiet this early in the morning---perfect for a swim. We slip into the water and aim for the big white house on the other side of the lake. Melissa paddles next to us in her kayak---my own personal coach, cruising right alongside me, offering tips on technique and making sure I make the necessary corrections---can it get any better than that?

I'm hoping the Lake Montclair swims and Melissa's coaching will be the extra help I need to make it happen on race day---and make all those early mornings worth it!

My Epic Year...So Far

I'm now at the halfway point through my epic year, so it seems fitting to pause for a moment and take a look at how things are going. Here's my list for 2011 so far:

1. Set a new marathon PR by 6 minutes
2. Swam my first 2 miler
3. Made the cutoff at Kinetic
4. Graduated from Georgetown with a masters degree
5. Tracey and I have raised $17,900 toward our $19,340 goal for Global Alliance!
6. Interviewed Pres. Obama
7. Participated in my first biathlon!

Looking ahead to the next 6 months

July 30th - leave for Kilimanjaro
August 9th - reach the summit!!
September 17th - Savageman Oly
October 9th - Waterman Half
November 20th - IMAZ!
December 10th - The Big Birthday

Not to mention all the epic training weekends (epic seems to be my fav word this year), including a 120 mile ride and 20 mile run extravaganza! This is possibly shaping up to be one of the best year's of my life...

Swim, Bike....

What a great training weekend! Melissa had an open water swim practice and we had the lake all to ourselves! Swam a mile, with Melissa in the kayak watching over us and coaching us along the way. She helped me correct my technique and had me practice it over and over until I got it right. I think it was a breakthrough moment! She's so awesome.

Today- 60 miles on the bike. I felt so much better than I did during last weekend's 71 miler...and I actually had people to ride with, which was nice. Finished in 4:17 (including a convenience store break). 4:17 is a familiar time to me because I did the 56 miles at Musselman last year in 4:17. I hope this means I've gotten faster! Today's ride was hillier than Musselman, so maybe I'll make the damn bike cutoff afterall.

Dear Sally...

Zooma Half Marathon
Goal: 2:30 or under
Actual: 2:35:50

Dear Sally,

Are you the same Sally that PR'd at The Pig? Oh, okay. I just wasn't sure because you ran too slowly to make your self-imposed 2:30 half marathon cutoff at Zooma. 2:35, huh. Is that all you got? Pretty lame.

And what's up with the oh-so-casual attitude? I ask because it seems you thought you could just sashay through the 13.1 miles without really training for it. Let's see, looking back it seems you didn't run more than, what, 6 miles since The Pig? Is that any way to train for a half marathon?

Now, I get that you only signed up two weeks ago (another sign of your lackadaisical attitude) and I know you'll use the excuse that you've been busy hiking and trying to get faster in swimming and biking, but triathlon also requires being fast at running, remember? It's on your schedule; fit it in!

Please tell me that wasn't you whining about the humidity.HAHAHAHA. Please. A quick check of accuweather.com's handy dandy hourly forecast shows you had nice, overcast skies, with temps right around 70. It's June. Hello? It could be so much worse than you had it out there today. Next time, suck it up, Sally, no whining allowed.

Also, I could've sworn I heard you complain about some of the hills on the course. Seriously, Sally, does a wannabe bad ass let a few hills slow her down?! You need to HTFU!

Sincerely Unimpressed,

Your Wise Inner Critic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Wise Inner Critic,

You're right.

Sincerely,

Sally

Sticking To The Plan

The Plan:

Saturday: 62 mile bike ride
Sunday: Reston 2 Mile Swim

That was the plan. But before the ride even started on Saturday, I was having second thoughts. Seemed like most people were doing the 48 or 42 miler. Among those going 62, I was definitely the slowest. No peeps to ride with. Warnings about tough hills. I would be riding solo, suffering solo, everything solo for 4 to 5 hours.

So I came up with The Backup Plan. I grabbed a cue sheet for the 62 AND the 48 and headed out, undecided as to which one to do. Mile 18 would be the decision point: either continue on with the 62 or turn off and follow the 48 the rest of the way. As I pedaled along, my internal dialogue went something like this:

"Just do the 62; it's what you planned on doing."
"But this is a hilly course. Even IronEs (of IM Switzerland fame) said the Snickersville Turnpike's hills were pretty serious. Translated for someone of your limited hill-climbing prowess: it'll be brutal."
"Just go for it--why are you even questioning this?! Coach Melissa said you need hill work more than anything. Listen to her."
"But your last long ride wasn't very hilly at all, so you're not ready for this. Plus, everyone will be finished long before you."
"So what? How bad do you want to make the damn bike cutoff this year at Musselman? Just HTFU, you lame loser!"

And so it went until around mile 15, when I came up with The New Plan: At mile 18 I would continue on the 62 mile course for 6 miles, then turn around and ride back 6 miles to the 18 mile turnoff and follow the 48 on in. This way I would get an extra 12 miles in, bringing my total mileage to 60, without having to tackle the dreaded Snickersville Turnpike nightmare.

I was pretty satisfied with The New Plan. Told the sagger not to worry about me, I would be doing this out and back thing, etc., etc. But when I got to the 6 mile turnaround point, I pulled over and assessed the situation. My legs weren't tired, the hills hadn't been bad thus far, so how hard could the rest of it really be? Did I really want to turn around, backtrack for 6 miles, and finish the ride knowing I just wasn't tough enough for the original 62? Of course not. So I decided to stick to the original plan.

I was so glad I did. The hills were tiring, yes, but they were really more of an annoyance--and a good workout---than anything. And of course, it can always be worse (Savageman, Wildeness Ride, and other rides I don't dare attempt: OMGWTF, Mountains of Misery, for example.). Turns out, my real problem was my lack of confidence. Sticking to The Plan and succeeding was a nice confidence booster.

Same story for the Reston 2 mile swim. The Plan was to wear my wetsuit and swim the full 2 miles, trying as hard as I could to make the 90 minute cutoff, or at least swim as far as I could until they pulled me out of the water.

However, I began to question the wetsuit part of my plan when several women in line for the bathroom started talking about how "everyone" was going without a wetsuit, the water was just too warm --dangerously warm, etc., etc.

After much internal debate, I again decided to stick to my original plan. I barely made the cutoff, but finished nonetheless. Without the wetsuit I would've been much slower. Sticking to the plan worked....and finishing that swim was a huge confidence booster.

So the lesson is: when your real problem is a lack of confidence, stick to the plan.

Tomorrow's plan: hiking!!

Kinetic Half AquaBike

Goal: Make the bike cutoff
Result: Made the bike cutoff

1.2 mile Swim: 53:08
T1 5:27
56 mile Bike: 03:58:52 *PR*

The swim was nice and smooth-- a huge improvement over last year's choppy, windy mess!

This year's bike course was quite an improvement over last year's heavy-traffic-blowing-by nightmare. I wanted to finish in 4 hours and made it with about a minute to spare. Let's just say I was thrilled to see the timing mat still in place as I rolled into transition. Oh happy, happy sight. (Last year they were rolling up the timing mat as I approached, thus giving me a DNF for the aquabike).
Previous 56 mile PR: 4:17 at Musselman.

The forecast called for rain, of course, making it the 4th race this year (as in, every race I've done this year) where it either rained during the race or on the way to or from the race.Fortunately, it barely drizzled during the bike portion of Kinetic, which actually kept the temp nice.

Looking ahead to Musselmania!!