Coming to an End

Another season is coming to an end. Just one big race and a handful of training races before it's over for good and I have to be honest - I am ready for this season to be over.

I'm tired. It might be my iron levels (having that checked out tomorrow), it might be that I'm back on the Pill, or it just might be that it's the end of the season! Go figure.

Redman 70.3 is just one month away, but I wish it was sooner. I am so ready to be done with long course and all the energy, but mostly TIME, it takes to train for it. There will be no long course races next year and I'm really looking forward to that. Next year will be a different kind of hard - short and fast, instead of long and slow.

While Redman will be my last tri of the season, I will do my first road race this Sunday in Sedalia. I'm really looking forward to it, mostly because it's new and different. I hope I'm not too tired to do well.

I am a little bummed that I won't be trying cyclocross out this year. Paul and I made a pact in January - only one new bike for each of us a year. I bought the Blue in May and he got the Kona in June, so no new CX bike for me. Not even a used one for $500. Mainly because the costs only go up from there: used bike = $500, new pedals = $150, MTB shoes = $100, new kit = $200, race fees = $150 -$200. TOTAL = $1,100.

Sports are expensive!!!

So yeah. Paul will be focusing on CX and I will focus on spectating! That's alright. Of course, there is the cost of buying new Wellies to walk around the muck in. Hee hee! And don't think I don't already have my eye on a super cute pair from JCREW!!!


Come October, I will run a couple of 5 and 10Ks in a desperate attempt to gain some semblance of run speed again. And then...November. Oh, how I love you November. I'm taking the whole month off! Okay, just the month off from being coached. I get two full weeks off with NOTHING to do, then two weeks of active recovery. Last year, I didn't swim for the ENTIRE month of November and look at how much my swim improved this year!! Maybe I won't run for the entire month of November and it will improve dramatically. Oh, how I hope.

Writing it all down like this helps ease the anxiety and nervousness about the season ending. I have something to look forward to - rest! And cooler temps and new fall clothes - wool NOT spandex!

What if?

I 'm not sure why but I've been thinking about this lately...what if I didn't do triathlons anymore? What would I do? How would my life be different?

Don't worry. I DON'T want to stop. It's just one of those things you daydream about - like what would you do if you won the lottery.

So here is my short list of how my life would change if I stopped being an athlete:

• I would gain weight. Not a lot, probably as much as I usually do in the winter. In the summer months I'm a size 0, in the winter I can balloon up to a size 4. Believe it or not, I actually look better as a size 4 than 0.

• I would have a much better wardrobe. What I normally spend a month on nutrition alone equals a new designer leather handbag!

• I would drink a lot more. This is bad. Really bad. I used to have a problem - kinda. It's a good thing I'm not quiting the sport.

• I would travel more. I guess I travel a lot for races already, but they're pretty close by - all in the midwest. If I wasn't spending a fortune on registration fees and gear, I would FINALLY take that trip to Europe, or Jamaica or Hawaii. Sigh.

• Our yard would look 5xs better than it does now. It actually doesn't look too bad now, but it could look better. I don't mind pulling weeds or planting flowers - but the last thing I want to do after a long brick workout is spend the rest of the afternoon bent over in the hot sunshine with bugs crawling up my arms.

• I might pick up a new sport. I've always wanted to try tennis - because of the cute little tennis skirts! Or yoga - because of the cute yoga clothes.

• I might actually throw myself into my career. Before sport, I was career driven! I would sign up to be on volunteer planning committees, become a member of various professional organizations - all with the idea that it would boost my career. Now, I don't have any free time to spare!
  

• I would probably be a lot more stressed out, and probably get pretty bored.
  

• I might consider getting pregnant and having children. (GASP!)

So there you have it.

Looking at the list, it's really interesting to see the "type" of person I would become if I wasn't focused on being an athlete. It's not bad, and it's not good. It would still be me - just a slightly more suburban me.

Hmmm.

Good thing this is only a daydream!!!

Chi-Town Camp

I spent the last five or so days in the Chicago burbs training with some of the nicest people in the sport! Back in March, Elizabeth invited me, Danni and Cat out for an informal tri-training camp and I had been looking forward to it ever since!!

I'll just share the highlights of this camper's experience - if you are interested in the full details, Liz has drafted a comprehensive report on her blog chalk-full of her traditional wit.

Wednesday - Left the house at 6:00 am and arrived in Lisle, IL at 3:15pm. Met the girls, hauled in my stuff (two bags, a bike and a queen sized air mattress) and then piled in the Odd S C and headed north for a two mile lake swim! I got to meet the ever-spunky Jen Harrison (thanks for the recovery socks Jen!! They are the most comfy recovery socks ever!) and ate at Beth Shutt's favorite restaurant, Noodles. Nothing terribly exciting about the swim - lot of sighting practice since there were no real buoys to speak of - just sight off of trees, boats, houses, etc. Back to the house and CRASH!

Me, Cat, Jen Harrison, Danni and Liz

Thursday - Short track workout and running analysis. My cadence is too slow, my stride is too wide, too much heel strike, I reach too far forward with my arms and I push UP instead of forward. Track hurts!! Then pool/swim analysis at the Naperville Quarry - blast from the 50's!! Liz told me that I am actually a really good swimmer, I just need more strength - here come the paddles and Masters TWO times a week instead of just one. Lastly, an easy spin around the Morton Arboretum. LOVED IT! Lots of tight corners to practice my crit skills (or lack thereof). Dinner, jokes with the girls, snuggle time with Liz's dog, Boss, and then bed.

Friday - HARDEST day all week. Two hour ride with 45 min. tempo interval and then a 20 minute run off the bike. The bike was fine - in fact, I really surprised myself by staying on Liz's wheel the entire time - she is an awesome cyclist!! Who knew such a little person could provide so much draft? Run was a disaster. Not sure if I was dehydrated, under-fueled, it was hot, the Accelerade, or the fact that I just started back on The Pill this week (after being off for two years) but I got SICK! So sick that after we ate at Whole Foods for lunch, I had to go straight to bed for an hour. Lots of fun at the mall later that night, dinner out, and then GELATO!

Saturday - BEST day all week despite waking up at 5:45 am in order to leave the house at 6:30! Caffeinated up at Dunkin' Donuts then headed downtown to the Ohio Street Beach for a swim in Lake Michigan!! The water was crystal clear and I could see the bottom the whole time - couple of beer bottles and some fish. Perfect water temp and perfect weather - TONS of runners on the lake shore path. I was happy and at peace - even more happy when Liz confirmed once again how good my swim form looked even with my wetsuit on.

Back to the house, little nap, then CRIT TIME! Downer's Grove National Championship. No, I don't belong in a National Championship but they let me race anyway. ;) Women's Cat 3-4, 25 min + 1 lap, two hills - one was a MONSTER (and the place where Chris, Liz's husband, kept yelling at me to "pop a wheelie"), field of 30+ ended with 25. I miscounted my laps and sprinted hard on the second to last lap - which I thought was the LAST one. Died after that and placed 23 out of 25. Ha ha! Need more confidence when doing these. I get a little intimidated by all the chaos that is the start - just like the swim in a triathlon, but now I swim OVER people and have no problem positioning myself at the front of the swim pack. It will come in time. Congrats to Aubree - she placed 2nd!!

I made this poor girl do all the work!!!

Saturday night ended with dinner and wine tasting in Wheaton. Lots of "getting to know you" time with the girls and coach. Danni surprised me the most - Liz got it right when she coined her "the underdog". Cat is so comfortable with herself, funny and determined. Was somewhat shocked to find out she made out with Steve Martin back in the day! Liz is everything I thought she would be - witty, funny, smart, sassy, pretty and an accomplished athlete.

Sunday - Long ride up north. 48 miles into the WIND! It must have been 20 mph and kept changing directions on us!!! Cat and I bonked around mile 40 while Danni got her second wind right about then and actually went out longer for 54 miles! Lunch at Jimmy Johns, back home, cleaned up, then off to the airport to drop off Cat and Danni. It rained HARD on Sunday and almost put a damper on the Pro Mens Crit (100K!!!). It was fun to watch that race for sure!!! Had a good time chatting with Chris while Liz worked, watched some TV and then time for bed - at 9 pm!

Last day of camp! (I look like such a goon with those braces!)

Monday - It's about 8.5 - 9 hours to KC from Chicago. Driving home I became a little melancholy about the experience. Happy to have had it but sad that it had to end. Sad that I now had to return to the same boring routine. I REALLY enjoyed un-plugging from my life for a few days and having a great group of people to PUSH me to the breaking point.

What did I learn from FIVE days of hard ass training? I learned a lot about what I need to do to improve my running - A LOT! I learned that even when I think I can't do something, I usually can rise to the challenge when called upon. I learned/came to the realization that crit racing has a place in my TRAINING but will probably not become my focus for racing. And finally, I learned that when you get Cat and Liz together, they will giggle about the silliest things and that it only takes one glass of wine to get Danni to really open up.

I will miss my camp pals but hope that we can do it again next year!

Trial by Fire

When we last left our heroine had fallen ill and yet, the superwoman that she is, decided to race anyway. This left her weaker than before and on Monday, she gave in and went to the doctor begging for help...

...which came in the form of a Z-pak thank you very much! So I started that Monday night but I was still feeling like poo come Tuesday. This made me nervous because I REALLY wanted to go to crit practice to get ready for Sunday's race but I still felt ill, so no go.

Wednesday I was on the upswing but we had already made birthday dinner plans with my parents so again, no workout.

Thursday morning I got up bright and early and WORKED OUT! For the first time since the race on Saturday! My legs were ready to go but my chest and nose thought otherwise. Welcome to the snot factory!!!

Friday I got up bright and early again to get in my swim. Drove to the pool at 5:45 and remembered the pool was closed this week for annual cleaning. Great. Another day off.

Saturday - no workout again. Why this time? I WAS HUNGOVER!!! We threw a huge party Friday night for my birthday - which was a BLAST! There were over 30 people at our "kegger" - some people I hadn't seen in YEARS and some people I didn't even know. Paul and I went to sleep at 5 am Saturday morning. I felt so guilty. I had worked out exactly ONCE in 7 days! ONCE!!! AND I was racing on Sunday. Idiot.

Not to mention that Saturday I had signed up to volunteer FOR THREE HOURS in the 96 heat at the Tour of KC. Thankfully I was working registration in the shade but I was already dehydrated (from the night before) - I drank three 26 oz bottles of water and one 26 oz bottle of Gatorade in the 3 hours I was out there...standing on my feet...in flip flops. I am so smart. Not.

Okay...so Sunday is finally here and I am NERVOUS! Some of it is my own damn fault, (getting drunk off my ass two nights before a race), and some of it is not (being sick). I had been to ONE practice before this race and that was like, a month ago! So I went into this with one goal: get through it and learn as much as I can on the way.

Warming up sucked. I did a couple of intervals up a tiny hill just to get the heart pumpin' and I felt it. I thought I was going to puke just after doing my warm-up. Oh well. I did it to myself. Head over to the start and find the girls - Teri, Sarah, and Jen all came to cheer Aubree and me on. They gave me a TON of advice and support.

Next thing I know, we're lining up and I'm finally calm. Women 1/2/3 start out :30 ahead of us. I think there were about 10 of us Cat 4s. Then we're off. First few loops are easy and I'm thinking maybe I'll be okay. A couple of girls drop off but I'm still hanging on -I'm at the back but I'm still there!!! And I stayed there for a good long while! Maybe 20-25 min. I'm starting to figure out what part of the loop I hurt the most at and where I can take a break. If I can just hang on. Keep hanging on - do NOT get dropped!

With maybe 9 laps to go I'm starting to fade. It's HOT (92) and WINDY (15 mph) and I'm not prepared. Renee, a woman I was introduced to earlier, pulls up to me and quietly asks me how I'm doing. I tell her I want to puke. She asks me if I can go three more laps - WHAT? WE only have three more laps?? YES! Uh, no...she asked me if I have enough in me for the LAST three laps. Negatory.

That's about when I fell off the back. I come around and see the counter says 8 laps to go...but it's really 9 for us Cat 4s. Fine. I will finish this thing. I can do anything for 9 laps. I ride about two laps on my own and then I see Stacie up ahead. YES! I'll catch her and we will work together until the end! I pull up next to her and tell her "Let's GO!" but she raced yesterday and she's tired. Okay. No problem - still gonna finish this thing.

Two laps to go and the pace car comes around with the 1/2/3 leaders. Stacie shouts some advice at me and I try to act on it by following them up the hill without getting in their way but I'm too tired. They cross the finish line about 20 feet from me and their race is done - but I'm not. The announcer tells me - and the two other 4s behind me - that we still have one lap to go. So that's what we do...but when we make the final turn for the finish, the guys are already lined up. Hmmm...guess the race is over. But then this girl comes from behind me and is out of her saddle and she's sprinting toward the guys and I'm like...this doesn't feel right, but what do I know? So I push it a bit and then brake and right then the official screams at us - YOUR RACE IS OVER! WE TOLD YOU TO STOP! But we never heard it because we were between laps. Ha ha! Oh well.

See, I learned something new!

I have no idea where I placed. I'm guessing 8 out of 10. So at least it's not DFL. Hee Hee. And come on, I wasn't out there to prove anything or place. It was HARD but it was FUN! My parents even came to watch - and cheer (oh my God, they were obnoxious!).

I found the girls later and they were so encouraging and supportive! It's just like being at my first tri all over again. I'm soaking up all the knowledge like a sponge but I know I won't REALLY know what they are talking about until I actually experience it for myself. Live it, learn it.

This week is another CRAZY week. I'm heading to Chicago to train with Elizabeth and a couple of my blogger pals/Liz's athletes. The schedule looks ROUGH - and I will be doing the Downer's Grove crit which is HUGE but again, all about experience. Trial by fire. No fear.

Man, this post is long. I'm going to bed. Hopefully I'll have some new photos to post soon. :)

Lessons Learned

This week I got sick. Not like "I'm on my death bed puking my guts out" sick - just simple head cold sick. But it wouldn't go away - still hasn't gone away. I'm still sick. I blow my nose every 15 minutes, cough up snot and I can feel it in my chest.

So it started on Tuesday. Drainage in my throat. Paul thought it was case of allergies (he was feeling it on Monday) so I went ahead and ran that night. FAIL! I woke up Wednesday with a full-blown head cold. Fever, chills, achy - the works.

Okay. No biggie. I'll go home, rest up and drink lots o'fluids. Worst case scenario, I'll miss all my pre-race workouts but should still be able to race on Saturday. A quick consult with coach and she agreed - though she gave me a warning: "if you are not 100% on Friday morning, I would not race on Saturday".

Friday morning I was worried. I was still sick. Again, not miserable, but I could feel my breathing was labored and my resting HR a little higher than usual. I thought I could still race though. I mean, it's just a SPRINT! Another consult with coach and she gave me permission to do it, but I could tell she didn't think it was a good idea.

Saturday morning, I did the race and it was horrible. I could tell that it would be when I went to warm-up. I was standing in transition afterwards and my HR would not recover. I felt dizzy and lightheaded. Well, what was I going to do now? DNS? I gave it a go and the results were less than stellar - in fact, I was 3 minutes slower than last year!! My arms felt like they were going to fall off in the swim, my legs would not fire on the bike, and the run was ... UGLY.

So, lesson learned. DO NOT RACE WHEN YOU ARE SICK. It's not worth it.

However, I needed to learn that lesson for myself. If I had not raced, I would have wondered all weekend - "what if ?" Now I know. Know better.

Whining time is over and yesterday is just a scratch on the race record. Chalk it up to a training day. Time to get better and kick this shit for good. Time to focus on the next big thing. On ward and up ward!