Training and Nutrition
So, for starters, I want to congratulate myself on sticking to a 12-week training plan, most of which I did all on my own. I learned that training on your own is much harder and less fun than training with a large group. Towards the last few weeks of my training, the training for the new athletes with Tri It For Life started training for the Ramblin' Rose Rock Hill, so it got a little more social there at the end. *Note: I did NOT ride my road bike alone. I mostly did spin class for I'd say 10 out of the 12 weeks, then eventually when it started warming up, I did get out for a few group rides, and got to test the race course. I do think spin class was a good enough substitute to train for a 9-mile bike ride, but if I were doing anything more, I'd probably invest in a bike trainer for the colder months. My nutrition was somewhat better this time around too. I dabbled with Clean Eating and definitely noticed that I felt a lot better and more energetic when I left out all things processed. I'd say I'm about 60/40 on that right now- could be better on the weekends. Also, I still I haven't kicked my Diet Mountain Dew habit. It's more of an addiction than a habit. Remember the famous line from Brokeback Mountain? Yeah, I wish I knew how to quit Diet Mountain Dew. Diet Brokeback Mountain Dew, y'all.
Race Day
There's just no kind way to say it. The race day conditions were a bitch. You'd think on May 5th, you wouldn't be dreading taking off your FLEECE and BEANIE to get ready for the swim. It was cloudy, cold and super windy. I ran around the transition area after setup jumping up and down. My bones were freezing. We had to line up outside in just our swim gear/tri suits for the swim. It was pretty brutal. Many of us were in full on penguin huddle.
The Swim
7:21 (Last year's time: 6:49; with an extra 50 meters)
I was least excited for the swim. I knew I didn't get enough time in the pool and I never did really focus on any drills to get faster or better, I just kind of swam freestyle once a week for twelve weeks. Maybe I went twice during one or two of those weeks. I am glad I'm better at swimming, but I still don't enjoy it per se. You place yourself in a group that swims a certain time, and this is to (sort of) prevent bottle-necking in the pool, because with people swimming down and back in each lane, its kind of hard to pass people. I didn't even time myself until the Friday before the race. The swim for this particular triathlon was shortened to just 200 meters, but you still had to place yourself in a timed group based on how fast you swam 250 meters. I think this was mega-confusing to people and I think a lot of people put themselves in too fast of a group because they thought they were basing it off their 200 meter swim time. My 200 meter swim time that day that I timed myself was 5:32 or so, and it took me 7:01 to swim 250. I kind of took it easy on those last 50 meters. So, on race day, I put myself in the 6:30 group, and planned on hanging towards the back.
The swim had been moved inside at the last minute due to the fact that the outside pools were just too cold. Spectators were not allowed inside because there was not enough room for athletes plus spectators, and that was kind of a bummer. I think I was more towards the middle of my group, and even though I felt like it was one of my faster swims ever (felt like around 5 minutes in my head, though I did not time myself), there was much bottle-necking in the beginning and there were so many of us on top of each other that no one could really pass until we got to a wall. That was super frustrating. Then, we had to run all the way out of the side of the pool, down a long corridor, down some sidewalk, and FINALLY crossed the "swim finish" mat. It was seriously far away, and for that, my swim time was 7:21. I crossed some kind of a mat as soon as I got out of the pool and mistakenly thought this was the swim finish mat and that my transition time had started. I took my time during the transitions because I knew I wanted to be completely dried off and comfortable for the bike portion, given the craptastic weather. Just for a reference point, I did the 250 meter swim last summer in 6:49. Ugh, just....ugh. It was a mess. I couldn't figure out for the life of me what took so long until I saw a friend posted on Facebook that most people could shave about 2 minutes off their swim time due to the odd placement of the mat.
Bike
35:48 for 9 miles (Last year's bike: 33:25 for 8 miles)
What can I say? I was pushing against the wind for a good portion of the bike ride. Oh, and the Wells Fargo Golf Championship was going on during our race and we rode by two entrances to the country club where it was held, and there were giant charter buses and extra traffic to contend with. I will say the route was well marked, and the placement of the police at the intersections was great. I never had to unclip from my pedals or stop, which was nice. There was another "bottle-necking" episode on the bikes, too, and it was unfortunately right at the entrance to the golf tournament where there was a bit of traffic, so I was forced to ride behind some slower folks for about a mile. Seriously, this one girl was riding to my left during this point, would not pass me, but was eating a bag of trail mix she had tied onto her handlebars. It's a nine-mile ride. You don't need a snack. It was a little infuriating. That brings me to another point about the bike. If you are passing someone- FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY- shout something out. I don't care if you say, "I'm about to own your ass on this bike ride", so long as I know you are there. There were SO many people who snuck up on me without saying a word. I'm thankful that I train with some of the best, and we follow ALL the rules! I think it wouldn't have bothered me as much if the route hadn't been smack in the middle of all that golf stuff. Anyway, so much for being so much faster on my fancy new road bike with my fancy clip pedals. Really, I know the weather and conditions were a factor. My hands were frozen stiff to the point where at one time I thought I was in my lowest gear (because I clicked down and nothing happened) and that I was just tiring out, only to try again a few minutes later and learn that I could gear down FOUR more times before I was in my lowest gear (helloooo sore legs). My hands were that cold- with my bike gloves on. I know I rode a lot faster on the practice rides. I know I can do better. Oh well.
The Run
25:39 (Last year's run time: 28:47)
Huzzah! Finally, some progress somewhere. My runs felt a lot (a LOT) easier this season. I'm still no runner. More of an intervalist at best, but I can see big improvements compared to last year. I also got smart this year and wore a watch with a timer so I could time my walk/run intervals. This was really helpful during that first half a mile or so when my legs were wobbly from the bike ride. Also, I ran about the last 3/4 of a mile without stopping at all. That was good stuff.
Total Time
1:15:42 (Last year's total time: 1:14:00)
I had really, really hoped for a drastic improvement. Like, an hour or less type of improvement. I really did feel like training went a lot easier and I felt like I had made a lot of progress. This swim was 50 meters shorter and the bike was a mile longer, so ultimately I guess I was pretty much the same. I do attribute a lot of it to the weather. It was nasty. My transition times were pretty much twice as long as last year, but honestly the thought of getting on my bike soaking wet in the cold, rain and wind sounded like hell on earth, so a 4 minute transition time might as well have been a 45 minute transition time so long as I was dry and not as cold. I came home and took the longest, hottest shower of my life when it was all over.
What's next?
You know, I really feel very similar to how I did after the triathlon last summer. I"m kind of over swimming, biking and running. I just kind of want to go to yoga, or kickboxing, or maybe lift more weights, order P90X- really, anything different. But what I've found myself doing over the last two weeks is barely working out at all. I've done one bike ride and one gym session where I lifted weights and ran on the treadmill. Let's be honest here, it's not like I just completed and Ironman, where maybe two weeks of doing nothing would be warranted, but all I did was a silly sprint triathlon. Now I totally have the doldrums and can't seem to get really excited about doing another one in July, August, September and October. I haven't signed up for any more as of yet, even though this was my goal in the beginning- to do all of them (minus Raleigh).
I really don't enjoy swimming. I feel like I'm suffocating when I'm in the pool and I still feel like I have no endurance. It's crazy how your cardiovascular endurance on land absolutely does NOT transfer to the pool. I am really enjoying my new bike and clip pedals and really don't want to end up not using it. I also am liking running more now that I suck slightly less at it. Part of me wants to challenge myself to a half marathon. Part of me wants to find some kind of bike group and just bail on triathlons. I'm stuck between deciding if this is REALLY how I feel, or if I am just needing a little break.
I hate to ditch this blog, but I've also been daydreaming about starting a blog about home decor, crafts and other fun stuff. But I don't want that blog to detract from my working out. Also, I don't want to bail on something I set out to do, but you just get to a point where you have to ask yourself if it's worth it to complete what you set out to do if you aren't truly enjoying it like you thought you would. Maybe "Agree to Tri" will become "Agree to Tri all kinds of things". Argh, I just hate feeling this way. I'd say everything is "TBD" at this point, and I'm going to just have to be okay with that until I can sort through it all and decide what to do. I hate to be a quitter, but I'm wondering if I'm cut out for this at all. It's not like doing four more sprint triathlons is going to qualify me for some larger race (nor do I want to do anything on a larger scale). I don't want to graduate to open-water swims (I hate "varmits" in the water and unknown things brushing up against me). So, I guess what I'm struggling with is, if I know I'm not going to get so awesome over the next 4 months that I place in my age group, or qualify for some other race, or anything like that- what is the point? Guess I need to decide this before I shell out another $300 in race fees...
