The Second Race: Trying the Tri in a Tempest

Wow, what a race! It was awesome and with one unexpected challenge. And, my fellow athletes included a senator and one of the most decorated Olympic swimmers in history!

I had more time and was much more organized getting my transition area set up this time around. Since I had to arrive to Nantucket via passenger ferry, I had had no choice but to pack only the essentials. Unlike the last time, we were allowed to warm up in the water which is critical for me to get my breathing regulated when I swim.

They actually started the race a few minutes before the official start and rapidly kept each wave starting in 3 minute intervals. So, while I was in wave 7 out of 8, we were being summoned to start before I knew it. Unlike the last time, I had thought about having flip flops for walking around prior to the start but at the last minute I realized my hat and sunglasses were still in hand -- I had forgotten to leave them in the transition area. I really needed at least the sunglasses for the rest of the race so at the risk of some penalty (I wasn’t really sure of the rules on this), I told Mike to put them on the ground near him so I could retrieve them. It’s amazing how just when you think you are organized, there’s something you overlooked!

Since it was low tide, we had to walk pretty far out to a sand bar where we would start. We were off – I began in freestyle and was happy that I didn’t go off course or hyperventilate like the last time. I swam about 70% of the course freestyle and flipped over on my back when I felt myself getting out of breath. In retrospect, I could have been more aggressive with my swim, but I wanted to make sure I exited the water in better shape than the last time. As I ran out of the water, I sliced a toe on a shell. It stung and I worried about how it might impact my run, but I forgot about it for the rest of the race. It was quite a long run back to the transition area. I felt good as I passed people exhausted from the swim.

Off on the bike, the course took me pass cheering and enthusiastic fans out to Madaket. I felt good as I passed people on expensive Felts and Cannondales with my entry level Raleigh! About a quarter of a mile into it, the skies started to get dark and lightening appeared in the distance. I so hoped the storm would blow away from the island. However, after making the U-turn, the sky really darkened and then opened up with an explosive downpour of buckets of rain and pelting hail! As the lightening got closer, I went faster until I approached town and the runners and bikers converged. It was mayhem! I couldn’t see or hear the race staff directing me which way to go on the course and I was navigating through some pretty deep, flash flood puddles.

As I transitioned into T2, the sky cleared as fast as it had darkened. My sneakers and gear were soaked but I made the transition and it didn’t seem to matter as I had to run through massive puddles on the course. Again, I felt good as I passed other runners and maintained a high energy level. Two other women and I high-fived three girls under the age of ten who were enthusiastic spectators. Feeling good, I picked up the pace. Coming down the long, home stretch to the finish line, I sprinted in, finishing at 1:45:38, 20 minutes better than my predicted time!

To put it all in perspective, the overall winning time was 1:02:55 and the last person to complete the race crossed the finish line at 2:48:50. Jenny Thompson, the former Olympian, finished with a time of 1:27:46. I’ll take being less than 18 minutes away from an Olympic athlete who is 5 years younger than me! Scott Brown, the Massachusetts senator, had an excellent race finishing overall in 50th place out of 763 total athletes at 1:18:24. Now, if he can just put his muscles to use to solve the nation’s debt problems we’ll be in good shape!

Twas the Night Before Nantucket

My Christmas in July present arrived a month before the July 23 race. My waitlisted number for the Nantucket triathlon came up -- I had 24 hours to decide if I could extend all of my distances and find a hotel on a crowded summer island. I texted Barb who responded with all the considerations such as the 10% training rule – she was being too logical. Having just come off of my first tri, I was feeling like I needed motivation to train before the September race. So in a switch, she was rational and I was emotional! My Dad, being Dad, worried, “oh, there could be sharks” upon hearing the swim would be in the ocean. Sharks were the least of my concern! The cost of the hotel was my bigger concern, but at least they had a triathlon rate to take the sting out of the peak summer rate.

“I’m in,” I declared.

I’ve upped the ante for this race. It’s still a Sprint but the distances are all longer – 1/3 mile swim, 14 mile bike, 3.4 mile run. Close to 1,000 participants are expected!

I’ve decided to wear my new bike shoes and clips and look like a real rider – and hopefully have the speed to go along with it. After much debate on the wetsuit, I’m feeling more comfortable swimming in it without impacting my breathing so I’ll wear it again. I’ve had around 8 open water swim practices so I’m hoping for a much better swim this time around. Socks or no socks? I think not, but I’ve packed them just in case. I know if I don’t wear them, I’ll have blisters on my feet by the end, but I should be able to make it through the run without them and save on transition time.

I’m much more relaxed and confident this time around. The $5,000 Cervello bikes don’t phase me as I check in and receive number 792. I did request to be in the beginner wave, which will be wave 7 of 8, just to increase my chances of a better swim without the aggressive types. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m still competing in the women’s 40-44 division, which is actually a very competitive division. I have to compete against the moms who spend much more time training than I do (my swim coach used to train the Greenwich, CT tri moms who work out as much as 3 times a day!!!)

I have all of my supplies this time around – except some shot blocks which I’ve now shopped for unsuccessfully in 4 drug stores and supermarkets. Next time, I’ll stock up on them when I go to my local tri or bike shop.

My biggest worry this time around is actually the heat, especially since they announced a 12:30pm race start instead of 8:00am this week (apparently the residents complained about the road closures). Driving up, the car thermometer hit 102 degrees in this brutal heat wave that’s taking over the country. The forecast for the island is in the low 80s – I’m hoping it holds true. Barb texts me and reminds me to hydrate well the night before – but not with too much water. The race sent out a rather confusing email from a physician advising on the right ratios of water versus electrolyte liquids. Just when I think I’m knowledgeable, there still remains so much to learn to optimize your race!

The Happy Medium

"You may fall and someone may run over your fingers?"  What kind of a message was that - no wonder Cathy is afraid of getting hurt!  I suppose by the time I came around, bumps and bruises were becoming the norm, and the hysteria of first time parenthood overprotectiveness had eased.  I found a Christmas letter my parents wrote in 1972 where they describe me as "our little tornado" because I had been walking and getting into things since I was 9 months old.
I didn't want Derrick to turn out to be some kind of wimp, being raised primarily by his mother with sporadic "dad time".  So whenever he fell down, I would say "oh you're ok - jump up now".  My rough and tumble attitude was transferred to him through nature, nurture, or both.  When he injured his wrist in 8th grade playing football we had it x-rayed, and he was told it was probably a sprain so he should take time off and wear a splint for a couple weeks.  The splint lasted 1 or 2 days until he said, "it's fine" so he could return to football.  Off and on he mentioned some wrist pain, but always came back to "it's fine".  6 years later an MRI revealed that a small bone had been broken all along!  Of course I felt terrible, and blamed myself for not looking into the injury further in the beginning.  I felt that because I had raised him to be tough, he didn't complain about something that he really should have.
The moral to this story is that there is probably a happy medium.  There is a perfect parenting zone somewhere between "someone may run over your fingers" and "oh, you're fine - get up".  But parents are not perfect, and that is what makes us all individuals.  Every now and then you get two individuals who's strong suits and shortcomings make the perfect combination - which is what makes Cathy and I great sisters.  She is there to tell me to watch out for danger and be afraid sometimes.  And I am here to tell her, it's ok - get up and finish your ride.    

Fear of Falling: Conquered?

I've always been afraid of falling. Well getting hurt really, or worse. It may have started in my childhood when I wanted to go ice skating at the really cool, indoor ice rink in a mall during a Christmas time vacation in Atlanta. Since I had never skated before and my parents didn't have the skating ability to take me out on the rink, the answer was, "but you may fall and someone may run over your fingers.". Funny how you remember exact moments like that.

Somehow Barb never allowed these parent admonitions to settle in her brain. Perhaps her response was the exact opposite - "so what, I'll show you I can do anything!". As her recent blog exclaimed, pavement and cornfields be damned! Well, not to be outdone my younger sister, I've given the falling thing a try.

Of course I didn't set out to fall on my bike last Saturday - especially since I was flying to London that night. In fact, this time with my bike shoes firmly clamped in the pedals, I made an extra effort to remember to take them out long before approaching an intersection so as to avoid the dancing encounter with a car like I had the last time.

Falls always seem to happen when you least expect it - like I described in my skiing blog post. And so it was that I was humming along at a speed of about 15mph on the paved rails-to-trails bike trail near Mahopac, NY when my front tire went slightly off the pavement in a spot where there was a large dropping edge to the grass. Before I knew it, the left side of my body hit the pavement.

Fortunately since I'm keeping up with Mike these days he wasn't a mile ahead of me. I yelled to him to turn back around as I quickly assessed my injuries, and told him I was ok. The road rash on my elbow and hands was not pleasant, and I felt a big bruise forming on my hip, but I got up, shook off the fall, cleaned my wounds with my water/gatorade mixture and mounted my bike to ride another 8 miles and finish the 21 mile ride. And, then I ran another 2 miles in the 90 degree heat, ignoring the slight pain in the hip.

This was quite a different outcome from a long ago rollerblading fall with about the same amount of road rash - I felt so nauseous that I took off my skates and walked home. Triathlon training is definitely toughing me up. I don't know if I will ever conquer my fear of falling, but perhaps this is a start. Then again, Barb had to go and post that picture of her husband's post accident bike...

Battle Scars

     Cathy told me on Sunday that she had a little mishap on her bike, which I'm sure she will write about when she returns from France.  My first comment was, "that's ok - you're not a real biker unless you have some road rash".  I'm just glad she was ok!  My husband has been in a few serious bike crashes, to the tune of broken ribs, elbow, sternum, wrist, more ribs, a lacerated ear, and 2 concussions.  Some of these occurred while racing, and one while he was headed to the rails to trails and was hit by a car.  Even though Cathy was ok, it brings up a good point... bike crashes can be serious.  Many drivers do not watch out for motorcycles, let alone the average biker.  If you're training, wear a helmet, bright clothing, and never assume a car that you can see or hear, sees you back.  It's easy to lose your "riding focus" when you're having fun flying down the road on your bike, or lost in thoughts of work or an upcoming race.

Dave's Bike after he was hit by a car, decorated
courtesy of his buddy on the police force.

     The last 2 weeks I've been busy with the usual chaos of raising 3 college aged boys and life in general.  Speeding tickets, stolen iphones, short term leases and long term loans.  Car repairs and oil changes, far away trips and airport runs.  Overnighting a car key to the beach, cats going to the vet, and calls to insurance companies.  Anyone reading this should call their mother right now and say, "I love you".  Amidst the insanity, I managed to get in a stress-busting workout yesterday.  20 min walk on the treadmill and light weight workout.  Then an 8 mile ride on my road bike, which in the 90 degree heat may as well have been a hundred miles.  I suffered terribly, which according to the tour de france commentators is a good thing.  I averaged a measly 12.4 miles an hour, but did make it up the mean hill I had considered riding around.  If I add on 3 miles a week, I should be able to do the 25 mile "Ride Round the Valley" at the end of August.

To Clip or Not to Clip

That is the question.  I say clip!  As Cathy mentioned earlier, I was able to pass her going up hill.  Certainly this was due to my ability to pull up as well as push down while wearing my bike shoes.  Don't worry Cathy, I've been riding with clips for probably 10 years now.  But the first time was a different story.  There was no riding down the street, practicing carefully.  My husband just expected me to do it on the first try.  In the parking lot of his office I clipped in just fine, but stopping for traffic to get out of the lot, I fell over flat on my hip.  Yes, it was funny.  And painful.  But I got back in the saddle and it was all downhill from there.  Except for the time I ended up in a cornfield.  What was that thing Cathy said about me having no fear to try new things?  Maybe a little fear is good.
My training, meanwhile has been seldom the last month thanks to a chest cold and now a stomach bug.  However, last week I did go on a successful ride with my husband to start getting ready for the 25 mile "Round the Valley" ride in August.  This was a "recovery ride" for him because he had done a century ride the day before, but the steady pace was just right for me and I practiced spending more time in my "big ring".   Bella & I drove the support car for his 100+ mile venture, an annual pilgrimage to his Mom's place in Bristol.  For the 4th of July we spent the weekend in Philly, took in a show, and spent a good 2 hours walking fast for exercise.  My husband is doing the Gran Fondo ride in Philadelphia early August for the second year in a row, so it's his turn for a big event now and my turn to be a lackie.  Hopefully I'll be back to the gym Thursday for a decent workout and sweat out all of those germs!

At the doctors office today for my stomach bug, he is feeling around like they do - and says, "what's that"?  Then he pauses and says, "Oh my God are those your abs?!"  I guess in Lebanon County, home of opera fudge, honkey eggs, and the whoopee pie, he doesn't see to many girlie six packs.  Keep working on your core strength Cathy!!!!!!!!