The Hills of Gretna

Gretna Ride

After the Tri, I started concentrating on my biking in preparation for the 25 mile "ride around the valley".  I started out with a couple of 12 mile rides in addition to swimming.  My knee was feeling pretty good and the IT band pain was just about gone, but I decided to take a break from running for a while.  I went on one of my favorite 15 mile rides, only to find one of the main roads chewed up due to construction.  This brings up my next subject, the 'ride around the valley' disappointingly got cancelled due to road construction throughout the county.  I was getting bored with my usual rides, and to boot there was a heat wave; so my husband suggested I try riding in the hills of Mt. Gretna because it's nearly all in the shade.  He gave me directions, which I drew out on a napkin and shoved in my back pocket along with my phone.  Ordinarily this would sound like a bad idea, but I only had to check my cheat sheet once!  The route includes a couple really tough climbs, and a couple fun fast descents.  It's 11 or 12 miles and I can do it in under an hour... it's a great workout!  I did this ride 5-6 times in the last couple weeks, determined to master the tough hill in the middle.  Watching the Tour de France, I am aware of just how much determination it must take for the riders.  The hill I call "tough" registers a 5 on their difficulty rating which starts at 5 - with 1 being the most difficult.  My new favorite cyclist is Bradley Wiggins for telling those "f'ing wankers" to get off their "arses"http://   bit.ly/ND9ko5   
My husband and I dusted off our Trek tandem bike for a 20 mile ride on the rails to trails Tuesday.  I had a great workout, but all of the recent biking (which isn't supposed to hurt my knee) has yielded a bit of new and different pain.  Finally, I've made an appointment to see my family doctor to get some x-rays to find out how bad the arthritis is; and perhaps an MRI to check on the original injury and see what's going on with the meniscus and cartilage.  There is no instability, I feel strong and in excellent shape... just getting tired of the aches and pains of the last few years and finally ready to find out what's going on which will help me either fix it - or work around it.

Also, I got a new Trek mountain bike for my birthday and Bella and I have been hitting the rails to trails because it's shady there, and still 90 degrees.

   

Just Tri It: Stamford Olympic Relay

Frances and Ursula were great support!

Looking back at this weekend’s events, I can’t help but think of the Beatles “I get by with a little help from my friends”.  Being part of a relay team added a whole new dimension to my triathlon endeavors.

Back in January I convinced my husband Mike and friend Allison that we should do a relay at our hometown Stamford Olympic distance triathlon hosted by the local charity Kids in Crisis.  Mike wasn’t ready to sign up for a triathlon since he hadn’t yet mastered swimming and I thought I could use the summer to train for my first Olympic distance.  Over drinks, I had convinced Allison to join me for our first Olympic distance in September so we thought this would be a good “training tri”.  Hence Team “Just Tri It” was born.

After having done full Sprint distance triathlons, I wasn’t sure if I would find doing a relay fulfilling but it was in different ways.  First, it gave me the opportunity to do my first 10K run.  Secondly, it allowed us all to do a hometown tri that we wouldn’t have otherwise been ready to take on.  And, it was super fun to experience team camaraderie in an otherwise individual sport.  We were also able to host our friends and have local spectators.  It was the first time I had the opportunity to be more of a race spectator even as I still participated – I was in awe watching the elite athletes not just survive but thrive in their swim (especially the woman who beat many of the guys out of the water) and maneuver their bike transitions with shoes in their pedals.

After a nice Italian dinner at our favorite local restaurant, we along with our guests – Antoine, Ursula and Allison – settled in for as early a bedtime as we could manage.  Mike and I were already awake when the alarm went off at 4:15am.  Thirty minutes later, we were out the door.  While on one hand, it was our home turf, the logistics were extra tricky with two transition areas over one mile apart.

Allison was our team swimmer

Upon picking up our timing chip, we did a quick team practice how we would “pass the baton”.  We decided our strategy would be for a single person to both take it off and to put it on the other person.

The race kicked off at 6:30am with Antoine seeded in the Elite and first wave.  Allison went 15 minutes later in the fifth wave.  As I looked out at the nearly mile long swim course, I thought “wow, that looks long!”  But I just told Allison “it just looks long – you do it in the pool all the time!”  

 As we waited for Antoine and Allison to emerge, I came to realize how nerve wracking it is as a spectator to be wondering where your swimmer is as you just see a sea of caps – both out of desire to see them do well and for their safety (I got more nervous as I overheard the organizers on the shore saying there was one person being pulled out). 

Mike was our relay team cyclist

Our friend Frances along with her 10 week daughter (Mike’s Goddaughter) arrived at the beach in time to help us cheer on Allison as she completed the course.  I was so happy I had convinced Allison to buy swim booties as people were cutting their feet on the shells.  As Allison approached the transition area, I didn’t see Mike in his designated spot but he came running from the bathroom (the Italian meal wasn’t sitting well) to successfully receive the chip and proceed on the bike.

Antoine is - just awesome!

After waiting for the shuttle, Ursula and I arrived at T2 just in time to see Antoine zoom in on his Scott triathlon bike.  Being the elite triathlete he is, he gracefully had his feet out of his shoes before he ever touched the ground.  Allison and Frances caught up to us as I watched the clock and the stream of cyclists coming in.  I knew the fastest possible pace would probably be 25 mph but with hills, Mike would do something less than that and come in somewhere more than 1 hour and likely less than 1 ½ hours.  So at the 1 hour 15 min market, I went to the transition area and sure enough, he appeared at 1 hour 20 minutes and 11 seconds.  As I took his timing chip off and put it on me, I fumbled a bit and almost lost my water.  As I hit the hot pavement minutes later, I was glad to have retrieved it.

It was HOT!  We were in the midst of a heat wave and by 8:45 we were in full sun.  The first two miles went ok and then I really started feeling the heat as I ran through a particularly sunny section of the course.  Halfway through my fan club kept me going and Ursula’s “Cathy placard” (she had one for each of us as she was forced to the sidelines with an ear infection) made me smile.

On the second loop, the Stamford fire engine’s water spray felt really good.  As I – wearing my Army shorts – passed a 61 year old with an Army jersey on, I encouraged him with an Army Strong greeting, the campaign created by my former company.  “You Betcha!” he said proudly.

For a short time I befriended a fellow mid-forties woman as we kept relatively the same pace.  “My friends think I’m crazy,” she said.  “One third of mine think it’s cool, one third think it’s crazy, and I’ve recruited the other one third,” I replied.  It was her first Olympic distance and somehow she mustered the strength to pull ahead of me at the end.

I was happy as the finish line approached.  A young 24 year old male passed me, high fived me and encouraged me to keep going strong as I looked like I was wilting.  And, I did just that, exerting my last bit of speed at the end and passing him right at the finish line.  He was very cool and gracious and high fived me again!

I was the team runner

We finished 27^th out of 49 relay teams at 3:01:19.  I accomplished my goal to finish the 10K run in less than 1 hour at 58:16.  Allison achieved her goal with a strong swim at 40:51.  Mike placed 10 out of 49 amongst the relay bike participants with an average speed of over 18 mph on some hilly terrain.  And Antoine placed 8^th overall amongst all race participants!!!

Now we’re already planning how Team Just Tri It will shave off 1 minute 20 seconds to finish in under 3 hours.   I think we can…”I get by with a little help from my friends…”

Team Just Tri It





Tri and Try Again

The time had finally come for Cathy and I to reunite in Quakertown for my second Tri, and her fourth.  For the most part I felt good going in to the event, except the IT band issue.  The weekend started out on a down note when I78 was closed mid way to Quakertown due to an accident.  Even though we left a little late, I had still hoped to get there in time to do the swim warm up and clinic to get me mentally prepared for the next day.  The two alternate roads to get around the accident both had "closed due to construction" signs; so we had to completely reroute.  Cathy and I are terrible navigators, and we admit this fact - this is why I have a GPS.  David only had a map of greater Philadelphia in his truck and I was trying to tell him how to get around the accident using the map on my phone.  This got me car sick and gave me a headache, also I told him to zig right when he should have zagged left because the image was upside down!  So I missed the swim clinic but made it there just in time to pick up my registration packet.
After checking into the hotel Cathy, Mike and I made a trip for extra provisions which gave us all deja vu because they were all the same stops we had made the previous year:  Dollar Store, the sporting goods store, Walmart, and Dunkin Donuts.  Then we went to the Brick Tavern for a tasty and relaxing dinner on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful evening.  A quick dip in the hot tub provided further relaxation and I fell asleep immediately.  However I woke up in the night and couldn't fall back asleep because my new kick-ass playlist was already swirling around in my head.  Last year I trained to some relaxing beats to help me stay calm, this year it was all Green Day, Kanye, Billy Idol and anything else I could think of to get me ramped up and mentally tough.
Having done it before, I knew I could complete the course so the only mental issue was knowing that my training hadn't gone as I planned.  My only goals this year were to average better than 14 mph on the bike and not to stop during the run.  I wasn't really concerned with improving my time because I had done about half the training of last year.
Getting in the water, I bobbed up and down trying to get some of the cold water in my wetsuit so it wouldn't be as much of a shock when the race started.  This was to no avail, because the cold water took my breath away again just like last year.  I had trained to start out with a strong breast stroke instead of trying to freestyle, which I knew would work better for me.  I was breathing hard though and felt my heart rate going crazy, so after rounding the first buoy I settled into a relaxing side stroke.  Rounded the second buoy and flipped on my back, keeping my arms at my side and kicking hard just like the drills we did in our master's swim class.  Then hearing the "green caps" approaching from behind, I went back into breast stroke but the breathing was much better at this point.  I felt good coming out of the water and assumed I had done about the same as last year.  Later I was surprised to learn that I had taken almost 4 minutes off of last years time!  The lesson here is play to your strengths:  I knew I couldn't freestyle in a lake so I had practiced mostly breast and side stoke.
Coming out of T1, I had more trouble clipping in going up hill than last year, but overall felt very strong on the ride.  Remembering what David had told me to do, "power over the apex of the hill"  "put it in your big ring"   "pull up and push down"  all these things were in my head along with Billy Idol's Rebel Yell!  I was so surprised to learn later that I did about the same on the bike as last year because I felt much better and was averaging 14.6 the last time I checked my flight deck.  Cathy and I later remembered that there was a pretty strong head wind for part of the ride so that all made sense.  Going into the T2, I clipped out early to avoid any mishaps, which did not work because I lost my balance while dismounting and toppled over right before the white line.  I smiled and jumped up, saying "I'm ok" and the spectators were all saying "take your time.. you got it" to encourage me.  I ran in laughing at myself and put my bike on the rack, quickly shifted from bike shoes to sneakers and trotted off for the last leg.
I was definitely tired, but I had grabbed my water to sip and spit and also one final power gel I had laid out next to my hat.  Getting a side stitch, I knew I could run through it if I slowed my pace just a bit..  passing other walkers, I kept saying to myself "I will not walk, every second counts".  Finally the turn around came into view and I knew I would make it although I didn't feel as good at this point as I had the previous year.  Plus I wasn't chasing down Cathy like last year, which was extra incentive!  I tried to lengthen my stride, and managed to sprint in the finish - but it was still almost a minute slower than last year.
Surprising I somehow took 5 minutes off of last year's time with half the training!  (Going from 1:22 in 2011 to 1:17 in 2012)  Part of this was because I did wait for Cathy a bit in T1 last year, I was truly worried that she wasn't out of the lake because I knew we swam at the same pace.  This year's T1 was a full minute less than last year, but I don't regret waiting - she's my sister!  So my transition times went down a good bit, and the improved swim time was a very nice surprise.  Overall I'm thrilled to have bettered my time despite lack of training and a sore IT band.  I'm not sure what the future holds... but if I do another Tri, I'll find the happy medium between the overtraining I did the first year resulting in injury -  and the unforeseen undertraining of this year resulting in less endurance for the run.
Cathy improved her time to 1:06 as she continues to train for her Olympic length event.  And her husband Mike, who only started swimming a few months ago, gets the Beast Award for doing his first Tri in under an hour!!  Just as last year, Piranha Sports put on a well marked, well organized race with good food and nicely done goodie bags.

Here is the Public Link to the pictures from the 2012 Quakertown Independence Tri:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151777069700507.848607.885265506&type=1&l=91fd39a32d

Independence Triathlon: One Year Later

One year and three triathlons later makes a big difference!  I was excited to return to the event that had marked my first ever triathlon and to be joined by Barb and my husband Mike.  We all had a great race with Barb and I chopping multiple minutes off of our time, and Mike, who watched from the sidelines last year, joining us for his first race.

This year I practiced flat tire changing a week in advance instead of a last minute day in advance.  Mike and I fortunately had the opportunity to practice in the lake the day before and we took a ride around the bike course. The only small snafu was that my triathlon watch decided to die this week but I was pleasantly surprised to find a replacement in Walmart when we stopped for a few provisions.  After a nice dinner and a soothing jacuzzi, we went to bed around 10pm and I fell asleep quickly, unlike last year!

So as the alarm went off at 5am, I popped up, was organized and packed from the night before, and this time remembered to eat my breakfast.  Going down my checklist, I kept Mike organized as well.  I had warned him how fast the clock ticks, which he came to realize as we still headed out 10 minutes later than planned at 5:40.  But arriving at the transition area I was much more organized than last year so I had just enough time to set up my area and put on my wetsuit.  It helped that Barb and I were in wave 2 and Mike was 10 minutes later in wave 4.

And we were off!  I sighted the first buoy often, determined not to make the same mistake of going off course as I did last year.  Neither the swimming mob nor the plant infested, dark water lake freaked me out so I warmed up going out the 200 yards to the first buoy.  Rounding the second buoy, I sprinted my way in for a personal  record .25 mile swim in 8:22 and cutting more than 10 minutes off of last year's time!

This year I had my wits about me enough to remember to start taking my wetsuit off as I exited the water and ran into T1.  I still wasn't immune to mistakes though as I realized I hadn't unvecroed my bike shoes.  I also had multiple attempts clipping my shoes into the pedals on the incline at the bike start despite having practiced it.  But once on my new Specialized Amira racing bike, I sped off and did more passing than being passed, except for the pro men on their triathlon bikes with whirring wind resistant wheels that cost more than many people spend on a car.  And there was that one 59 year old woman who passed me - inspiration!  I was happy to shave 1:36 off of last  year's time.

Coming into T2, I looked at my watch and I was 49 minutes into the race so I had motivation to give the run my best as I was exceeding my time expectations.  I had seen Barb on the bike so I knew she had been doing alright but I had not seen Mike so I was worried if he had made it out of the swim ok.  But after the run turnaround we passed each other.

I thought Mike would catch me but I wasn't turning around to look for him - I kept my eyes on the finish line and ran 3:27 faster than last year!  My overall time of 1:06:22 (11/27 in my age category) was a full 16 minutes faster than last year!    I cheered on Mike a couple minutes later who I think should earn some sort of first timers award for his 00:57:41 finish, especially since he just started swimming a couple months ago!  Just think what he could have done if he had been on his Felt rather than his $95 Schwinn!  And Barb cut a full 5 minutes off her time too!

Now if I can just get better at being the car navigator.  Even google maps couldn't help keep me on course as we ended up with the scenic Poconos route coming home...

Quakertown Triathlon T Minus 3 Days

Cathy and I will be doing our second Quakertown Tri (Sponsored by Piranha Sports) this Sunday, we're both excited and much more comfortable than last year!  Cathy's husband Mike will be joining us for his first Tri, having purchased a 2XU wetsuit.

After working with Cathy's swim coach for the past month, he's already swimming a mile!  Cathy will be riding her sexy new racing Specialized, I will be riding Phil's old Klein which I have named "The Blue Beast", and Mike will be riding a $100 Schwinn (with which he still beats Cathy on her new fancy bike).  In a flurry of texts yesterday we compared the expenses of Tri training.  Aside from the improved bike, Cathy spent about $180 on swim coaching.  I only spent $10 on a couple of Master's Swim classes; but after weeks of doing the breast stroke had to spend $180 on new bras at Victoria's Secret.  Cathy and I both agreed that our husbands didn't mind our spending habits involved with training because it's keeping us in good shape!

Greetings Earthling, brace yourself for immediate disintegration. 

After months of avoiding injury, I managed to re-tweak my knee last week leaving for work.  Carrying my 11 pound Morkie and work bag, I thought I was stepping onto hard surface but landed in mulch instead.  As soon as I felt my ankle twist, I took the weight off of my right leg and caught myself with the left.  I knew my left knee would be sore immediately, I was just hoping it was nothing major.  Sunday I had a fantastic ride, but the run afterwards yielded some IT band pain which I had also experienced after last year's tri.  This week we're doing iontophoresis to the front area which David calls "the insertion point", and he has taped the IT band from the back which last year fixed the problem instantly.  David calls the tape we use "medical duct tape" because it's very strong.  There was something about doing a 'fibular glide' while taping and anchoring to the tibia - whatever he does, it releases the tension.  Insurance companies don't want to pay for Ionto because they consider it "experimental" but it also fixed some bad wrist tendonitis that I had this year.  It's only used in certain circumstances, but it does work and has been around a long time.  If we ever treat an insurance company exec, I would love to say, "Oh we could fix that with Ionto but according to your company it's experimental."

        

Hopefully we'll have great stories & pictures to share after Sunday; and Mike will join our Blog Team with a post about his first big event.  Go Us!

Where have I been?

As much as I would like to say I've been doing a secret training plan in the Swiss Alps, the truth is less exciting - I've been at work!  The last few months have been a challenge of a different sort.  One of our office staff members had a sudden health crisis, and was unable to work.  In our hopes that she could return, we chose to wait several weeks before hiring someone.  The charity sports auction, of which I am a committee member, was also fast approaching April 14; there were final meetings to attend, posters to hang,  and a music playlist I was in charge of compiling.  This and pulling double duty at the office, was leaving little gym time, but such as most of life - shit happens.
At the time Derrick had not found a job yet, so I put him to work Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8-1 at the front desk.  He was impressive greeting and scheduling patients, entering the schedule into the computer, taking co-pays, and sending faxes.  I was happy to know first hand that wherever he got a job, they would be lucky to have Derrick.  A job interview in Richmond the week before Easter proved fruitful, as he was offered a position the same day.  The company owners went out of town for a week, giving him time to think about the offer and the prospect of being in "the real world".  He visited a few apartment complexes on the way home from Virginia.  I wished I could be there with him, but I needed to be at the office and after all, this was going to be his decision.
That Thursday, the stress and long hours had their effect -  I came down with bronchitis, dashing any hope of getting caught up (or going to the gym) over the long Easter weekend.  Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday were spent at the office but didn't get as much done as I had hoped.  Saturday Derrick accepted the job, and we made a deposit on a nice apartment in a gated community.  There was a lot of organizing to be done - and despite antibiotics I was still hacking and miserable.  Dad came to the rescue with his cargo trailer, and on Sunday picked up furniture from our storage unit.  The week was crazy as usual with an overbooked schedule of patients.  Derrick worked at the office and packed while also arranging utilities at his new place.  Saturday was the sports auction, Sunday I drove to Richmond and back to help move Derrick into his place as he would start work the next day.  Monday I thought I would finally catch my breath, when mid afternoon I learned that the sports auction founder's house was burning down!  Tuesday I had planned gym time, but helping our friends was more important - they had 3 daughters, a dog, and no house.  I stopped by what was left of the house, and found myself choking back tears at the devastation my friend must have been feeling to see his house in ruins.  It was a new house, and they had just moved there in January.  The house was a total loss, as were most of their belongings.  When people are faced with such tragedy and you ask them, "what can I do?" they are so overwhelmed there is no answer.  So I chose more specific questions and came up with some things I could get immediately that would help.

My swimming partner had told me about a "master's swim class" Thursday nights, and was begging me to come.  I was still coughing, and agreed to go if she agreed to give me CPR - should I sink to the bottom of the deep end.  After coughing and hacking my way through the workout (my first in 3 weeks) I did feel better and announced my comeback!  It has been a slow return to the nice base I had built up earlier in the year, but I'm starting to feel good on the bike again.  I haven't done half of the training I did last year, and might as well be doing a TWT.  But I feel confident I will survive, just not sure about improving on my times of last year.  The only good thing is that I haven't gotten injured because I haven't been doing much.  As opposed to Cathy's new fancy bike and her fitting guru, I have opted to ride one of the kids' road bikes which is lighter than mine, with a shorter top tube that suits me better.  Hopefully May will offer no new emergencies and I'll be in good enough shape to put in respectable times for the Quakertown Tri early June.  On a lighter note, I got carded while ordering a glass of wine at the Macaroni Grill this weekend.  My husband quipped that our waitress must have been drunk, but still - Go Me!            

A Bicycle Fitting at Cycle Center of Stamford

Nate Rex at Cycle Center is a master at Bike Fitting

Before I had started shopping for a bicycle this time around, I hadn’t heard of a “bicycle fitting” beyond a seat adjustment.  Since I was now becoming a more serious cyclist, however, the concept was now prevalent in articles I was reading and shops and exhibits I frequented.  And, as with most things regarding amateur sports these days, the advanced computerized methods available to professional athletes are now readily available to us amateurs.

Besides a great staff – I met and talked with many of them throughout the process – Cycle Center in Stamford, CT offers a free computerized fitting with your bicycle purchase.  Most of the shops I visited still charged something for this service even with the purchase of a bicycle in the price range I was shopping for so this became a key reason for purchasing my bicycle from them.  In addition, through out the process they had taken a lot of time to educate me and had a very low key approach to sales.

Nate Rex is their certified master bicycle fitter and, according Cycle Center’s website, was one of the first 20 bicycle fitters in the in the nation to become certified for a fitting process called BG FIT which was developed by Specialized Bicycles.  According to the website, Specialized worked with medical professionals, doctors, and physiologists to develop the system “to help cyclists ride faster, longer and in greater comfort, while reducing the chance for injury”.  They have a school that was developed by Dr. Andy Pruitt of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine.

Nate has been working in bicycle shops since the age of fourteen and it’s apparent that he truly loves his chosen profession.  I think one of the loves of his life besides his wife and child is the BG FIT computerized system he uses for a bicycle fitting!  Nate showed me the manual method he used to use for a fitting and, being a lover of all things tech, I also became infatuated with the video computerized program.

Nate had me ride my 51 inch framed bicycle on a Cycleops trainer and took a video of me riding before any adjustments.  In the before image that you can see that on the left, I’m a bit hunched with not enough extension. The first obvious adjustment required was the height of my seat.  My long legs actually would require a 54 inch frame.  The next obvious adjustment required getting my short torso to not have such a long reach.  Nate said that my torso actually would require a 48 inch frame.  So for that adjustment, Nate swapped out the handlebar post to something smaller.  With each adjustment I was hopping on and off the bike for a video analysis that allowed Nate to instantly measure the precise angles of my legs and arms.  He also adjusted my cleats and fit me in a way that would help with the bike to run triathlon transition.  In the after image, you can see that my spine is more neutral, allowing my weight to be more evenly distributed.


The "Before" and "After" videos of my bike fitting

Nate spent a good hour or so with me.  Apparently, I’m a tough fit with my long legs and short torso – and that’s why a Women Specific Design (WSD) is the best for me.  Nate said I’m actually borderline on requiring a custom fitted bike for the optimal fit.

I rode my new baby home from Cycle Center meandering through the back roads of North Stamford.  I had mapped out my route to avoid highly congested traffic roads and to take it easy on the hills.  Unfortunately the map didn’t mention the grooved pavement I encountered and, not knowing an alternative route, I proceeded anyway figuring how long could it be?  It was long!  Probably about 3-4 miles of an uncomfortable ride!  While the remaining 5 miles was smooth sailing, I’m obviously looking forward to my first “real” ride on my new baby.