For my next act...

I will be participating in Warrior Dash 2011 on January 30th. My boss suggested it to me...he was half joking, but half thought I might actually do it. And he was right. I'm officially registered for the 11am wave along with my friend Sarah. I mean really, what is not tempting about frolicking in the mud, climbing cargo nets, jumping fire, AND earning one's very own Viking warrior helmet?!?!? Now, to start running again - ugh!

LONG overdue...

Not that I have that many adoring fans, but for anyone who might have been wondering, I did complete my first triathlon on February 7, 2010!!! It was quite the journey till the very end...

By the time I got to the taper week before the tri where I only had 3 workouts (30 min or less each), the whole thing was feeling a bit anti-climactic. The 2 "competition phase" weeks prior had been CRAZY with most workouts taking 2+ hours and it was more than a little tricky squeezing them in amongst the details of my regular life, my work schedule, and the available hours of sunlight. The only real drama the last week leading up to the triathlon was weather related. It was cold. Lake temps were predicted to be between 50 and 70 degrees (keep in mind, friends, that hypothermia and associated symptoms begin to develop at 55 degrees). Then there was the impending blizzard heading for the NE. My old roommie from DC, Andrea, was supposed to be flying down to spend tri weekend with me and it was NOT looking good. I was FREAKING out!!! I didn't want to freeze in the lake, but I hadn't arranged to rent a wetsuit. More than that, I didn't want to, and wasn't sure that I could go to the tri alone. I needed some back-up plans!

Super, SUPER long story short. I borrowed a wetsuit from the VA so I wouldn't freeze. The blizzard covered the NE and cancelled Andrea's flight days before it was even scheduled to leave Pennsylvania. The Schutter family from my church in Tampa planned to come cheer me on and my friend Karin was able to fly in last minute from Atlanta for the weekend.

I worked Saturday morning, headed to the Tampa airport to pick up Karin, and we were off on our journey to Gainesville/Waldo for Tri Weekend. Though chilly, it was a BEAUTIFUL day. Karin and I sunned ourselves in jeans and hoodies by the pool, enjoyed a picnic lunch, and eventually ventured to the park for packet pick-up. For the record, Waldo is OUT THERE and a bit farther from our hotel in Gainesville than we expected. Packet pick-up went til 6pm. I was the last racer to pick up. It was 5:58pm. Shew! As we pulled out of the park, I started getting just a teensy bit nervous. "That's a really big giant lake", I said to Karin.

We had yummy aloha chicken pitas from Pita Pit for dinner and watched some cable before crawling into our fabulous hotel beds. And then I couldn't sleep. NERVOUS!!!!

I woke up to 37 degree weather. Yes, I was still in Florida. As much as I hated that constricting wetsuit I'd borrowed, I was so thankful I had it! And I was SO thankful Karin was there to help keep me a little calm on the way to the park for the much awaited tri day.

The Schutters were waiting when we pulled in to the park, with signs with my race number and all kinds of encouragement on them...so incredibly sweet! Then there were ALL the crazy professional tri people everywhere. You know the type - 0% body fat looking perfect in their spandex, 5 oz tri bikes (compared to my 42 lb mountain bike), etc. Did I mention I was nervous at this point?!?!??! Then came the encounter at the transition area with the super crazy (read: mean) tri lady. She asked if it was my first time and I said yes, figuring she might be nice, encouraging, helpful, something, but no. Instead she criticized everything about me, my bike, my towel, my bag, my water, etc. And I'm not exaggerating!!! She totally upped my nervousness to a WHOLE other level!

I had to get away from her and fast, so I left transition to slither into my wetsuit somewhere FAR away from her, under a pine tree with my people. Then suddenly the race people announced 5 minutes to start time. Holy Cow!!!!

The water was COLD and it was incredibly windy on the lake. I was convinced for awhile during the swim that I wasn't even moving. Every time I sighted at the buoy, it was in the same place. I was getting nervous that my tri was going to end right there in the middle of the lake. UGH!!! I took a few more strokes and still wasn't moving - stupid wind! I glanced ahead and noticed a lot of swimmers had flipped over and were backstroking, so I figured it was worth a shot. I flipped, I backstroked, and THANK GOD I started moving. I heard my people cheering as I was swimming to shore and it was the best sound ever :)

I ran to transition, only I couldn't really feel my feet...SO cold. I wriggled my way out of my wetsuit and into my clothes, jumped on my bike, and started pedaling. I got passed by a lot of people. Okay, maybe by almost every other racer. At that point, I didn't care - I was 1/3 done with my tri and was going to finish no matter what. And at that moment, the Schutter's van pulled up with cheering fans. And I pedaled a little harder. And EVENTUALLY finished those 12.4 miles.

Then the run. My least favorite part of the tri. Did I mention I still couldn't really feel my feet? Brrrr!!!! I finally found my "trot all day" pace and ran through Lake Alto Estates...also known as small mobile home park with lots of sketchy barking dogs and one lawn with a small herd of fake deer. Then finally, I rounded the bend and headed back into the park, through the edge of the woods, and heard Karin yell "Hurry up, Becky! We're FREEZING!!!!" I saw the time clock at the finish line and sped up as much as I could and crossed at 2:15:04...just shy of my 2:15 goal. I finished and I couldn't believe it. I kinda still can't believe it! I'm not sure I'll be doing another triathlon anytime soon, but I'm so glad I did this one. And I'm so incredibly thankful for the love and support of my friends and family leading up to the tri and to my people who were there that day. Love to you all!!!

Becky's first triathlon: a very important adventure, and just the beginning of many more adventures to come...

Fears and Favorites

Okay, with less than 3 weeks to go until the triathlon, I'm both officially excited AND officially nervous. Most of my friends, co-workers, and random strangers at the gym have been super encouraging, but there are those few who have been very unhelpful. And here's what those folks have had to say:

"It's February 7th and it's an outdoor swim?!?!?!? You're gonna freeze!!!! My husband's brother's friend used to train up near there (Gainesville) and was always talking about how many gators are in the lake."

Seriously? Why on earth would someone say these things? Yes, the water might be a bit brisk. And yes, there are likely gators who will be swimming in the lake with me...it's a body of water in FL, so the gators are pretty much a given. The way I see it, as long as it's not so cold that I'm going to get hypothermia and as long as I don't actually see any gators, I should be fine. And should I be so unlucky as to spot a gator, I'll just swim that much faster :)

And now for the lists of fears and favorites with the fears being related to the actual triathlon itself and the favorites having to do with this whole process leading up to said event on February 7th:

Fears - I am aware that these are a bit ridiculous:

1. I will see and/or be eaten by a gator during the swim

2. I'm going to have a hard time swimming straight and on course in the lake (I'm training in a pool)

3. I will be the last person to finish the triathlon

FAVORITES

1. Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bars

2. The leopard print shoe laces currently in my running shoes

3. Swimming in an outdoor pool while the lifeguard is wearing a winter coat AND having her tell me when I'm done that several guys coming out of the gym had been watching me and saying I was tough

4. Losing 10 lbs

5. Encouraging other people to try new things and be more active

6. FINALLY having established a really good pattern of exercise and healthy eating for myself. This is no minor miracle!!! I might be turning into one of those people who freaks out (just a tiny bit) if I don't get a good workout in. This is HIGHLY amusing to me. And to many of my friends as well.

All that being said, these next 3 weeks will be interesting. I mapped out all my workouts from now until race day as best as possible to fit them in around work, the hours the pool is open, the hours the sun is providing daylight, etc. I've been following the training plan obsessively, so hopefully everything will be great on tri day. I don't feel ready, but I think it's mostly cause I've never done it before. And as a good friend told me, "Beck, you wouldn't feel any more ready if you'd been training for 6 months. You're gonna be fine".

Sometimes it rains...

Today's workout out had a less than spectacular start. And an even less spectacular finish.

I left my house at 7:45 am with bike in new bike rack on back of my little Ford Focus, headed for a nearby park with a 7 mile loop, and with plans to ride 20ish miles. I get to the park and find it's closed for some type of event. Grrr. I turn around and start heading back to another park with a 1.25 mile loop - nothing wrong with riding in circles for 90 minutes, right? I drive about 50 yards and come to a dead stop. I sit there for about 15 minutes. People are getting out of their cars to investigate. There is no apparent reason. We are on a 2 lane country road. Ugh. So, I turn around again and start going the long way to the plan B park. More traffic. Yuck.

I finally arrive at said Plan B park to start my ride...when I should have already been an hour into it. Sigh. Then I find out they now charge an admission fee. I work for the County and am already taking my 5 unpaid days off. Isn't that enough of a contribution to the budget problem? I fork over the cash, air up the tires, and take off. That's when the ridiculous clunking begins. My bike has become possessed apparently (or possibly just needs a tune up) and now changes gears on its own whenever it feels like it. And my front brakes need adjustment and are dragging on my tire. As I finish my 5th mile, the clouds roll in. Then the heavens opened and it began to pour. Really!?!?! So not an ideal start to my day, but SOMETIMES IT RAINS.

We get wet. Our plans don't work out. We don't get to finish what we started. We have to go to plan B. Or Plan C or D. And to be honest, I like things to go my way. And preferably to be easy. Not that this triathlon stuff has been easy for me so far, but I was just starting to feel like I was getting in the groove and could do this...until the last 2 days of crappy workouts.

Like I said, sometimes it rains. I usually love the rain and can find the bright/positive side of things, throw on my cute polka dot rain boots, and splash around in the puddles for a bit, but I'm not feelin it today. I feel like I'm sitting in the puddle surrounded by my stuff. As much as I want to jump out quick and be done with that, I think it's important to sit for a bit. And feel.

This triathlon training is a journey about more than finishing the race on February 7th. It's become a bit more emotional lately and has a lot more to do with life and me than I'd like to think.

67 Days

Well, the first 3 weeks of training are done. That means we are 1/4 of the way through the training plan. That also means there's 3/4 of the way to go...67 days till the Triathlon. As discipline in the areas of fitness and nutrition has never been a strength for me, I'm honestly a bit surprised that I've kept up with all of the workouts so far. 21 days of Becky being ridiculously disciplined?!?!? Really? Really. But believe me, that doesn't mean it's been easy. There have been MANY a morning that I've dragged myself out of bed to the gym or trail or pool to do what I know I need to do. And I know what I need to do for the next 67 days...keep looking at that training plan every week, plan out which workouts fit when around my crazy work schedule, and do them.

"Rest up. Workouts intensify" - the super (not) encouraging motivational thought from the training plan people. That SCARES me. I looked ahead at the next few weeks. That scares me more. Especially the back to back bike/run workouts that start next week. I'm not sure I can do it. Confidence isn't one of my strengths either. Something else to work on, I guess...one workout at a time.

One-legged biking

Our triathlon training plan calls for single leg drills during some of our biking workouts which basically means you ride the bike using only one leg. My workout today called for 4 40 second single leg drills; I rode for 20 minutes, did my single leg drills, and then rode for 10 more minutes. Overall the workout was great; I rode nearly12 miles in just over 30 minutes. The single leg drills however were not that great. Riding a bike with one leg sounds easy enough, but it's much more complicated than it sounds. The first issue is what to do with the other leg during the drill. At first I tried to just keep it on the pedal without using it, but quickly figured out that it wouldn't work so well that way. After that I decided to put the leg I wasn't using on the inner bar of the bike during the drill. Now even on a stationary bike in a gym this takes more balance than I really have. I didn't actually fall off the bike but I came much closer than I would admit if I were telling this story face-to-face. I felt absolutely ridiculous. Luckily my bike was in the corner and no one was really paying any attention to me, so it was ok. Hopefully these single leg drills get easier because I'll have to do more of them as the weeks go on.

The Sweatology of It All...

In case you hadn't already heard this from me, the Tampa area has been experiencing record highs this week. Of course it has! And of course, this perfectly coincides with when I'm really trying to get into gear for triathlon training, specifically the running portion!!! 

I have run more this week than I have in a long time, but before you tell me that's great and how proud you are, let me put this "more" into perspective:

1. I haven't run at all in at least ummmm, er, maybe about 4 months. 

2. I use the term "run" somewhat loosely...for you marathon/fitness professional types (you know who you are), it might be considered more of a jog

3. My "running" this week has been more of the walk/run alternation situation

4. Total mileage thus far for the week is only about 3ish miles

Clearly, I have a LOOOOOOOOONG way to go with this running thing. If anyone has any ideas on how to not hate running, I'm totally open :)

And on to sweatology (term courtesy of Karin Korb)...the science of sweating:

Sweating or "perspiring" is the other thing I've done more than usual this week. I think sweating is an area of athletic training I totally excel in...possibly the only one I'm particularly gifted in. I know everyone sweats, especially when it's super hot and humid like it has been here, and I'm not talking about sweaty pits. That's the least of my concerns! It's my face/neck/head that are out of control in attempting to cool themselves. I turn all kinds of red, and liquid pours off my face, even when I'm not at all winded or haven't worked out that hard yet. I mean really...ending a 30 minute workout with my hair being completely soaked (and going crazy curly) because of the excessive sweating of my face and neck seems a bit ridiculous, don't you think? Unfortunately, it is inevitable. As is the fact that I must continue to "run"...