Got the Nerve: Calmer nerves the second time

Suiting up for 64 degree water!

As I re-read last year's post, there was a lot I had forgotten about this Mountain Gretna, PA race. I remembered two things: the awesome Marine color guard presentation of the flag at the beginning, and my infamous forgetting my bike helmet incident. I had forgotten about my pre-race jitters and sleepless night. This year for my first race of the season, everything magically fell into place.

Friday night began with a surprise 75th birthday appearance for my Dad. I still managed to change a faulty bike tube on my bike (first time I managed to do it without assistance), pack my gear in record time, and get to bed before 11. With the race being 10 minutes from Barb's house and starting at 8:15am, I was able to get a good night's sleep. We had a new triathlon recruit this year as Barb's husband David decided to try the Tri! 

Barb's husband David's first triathlon!

This year I expected the water to be COLD, and it was at 64 degrees. I flipped over once on my back early on to catch my breath but otherwise managed to swim freestyle the whole race and sight the buoys perfectly. At 13:01 (311) I was 45 seconds slower than last year but it's possible the course was slightly different as we exited the water in a different place.

I now place my helmet on my bike so there is no chance of forgetting it. The hills on this bike course no longer intimidate me and so I climbed each one, passing some riders along the way and enjoying the scenic farms along the way. It wasn't hard to beat my bike time from last year, which I did by 5:26 coming in at 1:05:53, 14.6mph. (341)

I wasn't sure if I could beat my run time from last year. My trial BRIC workout from last week yielded a 10:06 pace. I had decided in T2 to grab my Garmin Forerunner watch to keep my pace and perhaps it paid off, as I came in with a 9:58 pace at 30:55, shaving 21 seconds from last year.

Mike finished 1:34:12, close to his 1:31:03 time from last year. David survived, thankful for the kayaks in the swim and meeting his objective to come in under 2 hours. My real objective was to beat my 2:00:12 time, which I did, coming in at 1:54:47 (334/445) vs 2:00:12. Comparing my time to others I can feel good at beating the 29 year ogld by 2 seconds but plenty of women in their 50s and 60s are still beating my ass and at 5/7 in my age group, I still have a lot of work to do!

A new bike for Dad!

But, we're never too old to keep pushing our fitness levels. After our race, we went shopping for my Dad's 75th birthday gift - a new bicycle! His brain still remembered how to balance on the bike and upon arriving home, he promptly took it for a spin around the neighborhood. A new bike always brings smiles:-). Perhaps he's a future Tri relay partner!

The Tour of Richmond

For any of you bikers who appreciate a great venue, the Tour of Richmond is one of the best.  David did the century ride in 2012 and was so impressed, he wanted to go back again in 2013.  The first qualification for a great biking event is:  being safe and well organized.  There were volunteers or police at nearly every intersection, as well as lighted signs warning motorists of the event.  The after party was fantastic with music, beer, and southern pork barbecue.
By September my knee was pain free (save the road rash from my previous post) and I was ready to tackle the 30 mile course.  My son Derrick had recently taken up more riding, so we decided to do the event together.  I was confident that the 30 mile ride in October would be manageable, and I was looking forward to a beautiful fall day in Richmond.  Unexpectedly, the temperatures climbed to 90 degrees in the days leading up to the Tour.  I knew my biggest challenge would be dealing with the heat and staying hydrated.  The course was reasonably flat with a few rolling hills, I found myself chuckling when my fellow riders complained about the few small hills we had to tackle.  I had spent the last several weeks climbing the hills in Mount Gretna, PA which were 3 and 4 times the grade and length of the Richmond terrain.  Given the 90 degree temperatures I had to stop at each rest area for more liquids.   Derrick, being young and ambitious only stopped once.  In the last 10 miles the heat started to get to me, and the final leg of the race - around the searing blacktop track at the Richmond Speedway - was a killer.
David had a flat tire, and still managed to finish 164/410 for males doing the century, 105/286 in the Masters category, and 22/71 in his age group.
Derrick at his first major bike event finished 45/201 overall on the 30 mile course, 30/113 for males, and 2/4 for his age group.
I finished 65/201 overall, 18/88 for females, and 6/12 for my age group averaging 14.5 mph and finishing the 30 mile ride in 2:05.
We're looking forward to doing the event again, and my husband in the spirit of: if you can't beat em join em.. has taken up swimming!
Hopefully we'll be able to do a Tri together in 2014!

Breaking 1:46 in my 46th Year

Every four years I get the Olympics for my birthday. This year the technological and athletic precision that goes into many of the events had me in awe. The bobsled and the skiers 17 degree angles to the ground have me in awe. The personal bests of skiers Bode Miller and Tim Leit are inspiring me. And the determination of older athletes like Bode and Tim prove to us all that we can keep pushing ourselves beyond previously thought retirement "deadlines".

On my 46th birthday I headed to the pool for a session with Coach Matt. We've been focusing a lot on my technique this winter season. Now that I'm a competent swimmer, I've decided I have more to gain by balancing out my swim, bike, run workouts rather than emphasizing the quantity of pool time. So in each swim workout, I'm really going for quality and focus on technique - and it seems to be working. A few weeks ago I broke my previous 100 yard personal best.

A few weeks prior I had managed to get a personal best, knocking down my time to 1:46:15. So close to 1:45 I told myself. So I showed up the pool on my birthday with energy and determination. I knew I would need to do it early in my set before fatigue set in so I was happy when after some drills, Matt established we would start with 3 x 100. I didn't tell him about my intended drive for a PB but surely as I took off with the first 100, he could see I was on a mission.

When I had a less than perfect wall turn, I thought, oh no, maybe it won't happen on this one. Perhaps it made me push harder. I got to the finish thinking if anything, I would be within a thousandth of a second from my PB, and I thought I heard Matt wrong when he blurted out 1:44:75!!!!

And so, I've proved once again, we can get better with age.

The Exercise Cure

Hello, my name is Cathy and I’m addicted to exercise.  That may as well have been the introduction for those of us who attended the launch of Dr. Jordan Metzl’s latest book, The Exercise Cure.  As I scanned the room and spoke with those in line for the book signing, Dr. Metzl is most likely preaching to the choir with this crowd.  I also ran into my good friend Will, who was my first inspiration to contemplate doing a triathlon.  “Boy, you really got hooked!” he exclaimed as I rattled off this years’ races.

I’m not only hooked on exercise, but these days I devour reading anything about its benefits so I frequently consume the Phys Ed column in the NY Times (I guess there was a reason why Phys Ed teacher was on my 6^th grade list of “what I want to do when I grow up”).  The Exercise Cure gives great evidence on the need for people to exercise.  I had to have this book!

Getting my signed copy at the book launch

 The book cites many of the clinical studies I’ve been reading about the last few years such as:

• Exercise lengthens life – just 2.5 hours of moderate exercise per week can increase your life expectancy by 3.5 years (2012 study in the journal PLOS Medicine)
• Low fitness is the single strongest predictor of death – highly fit 80 year olds are less likely to die than unfit 60 year olds. (Dr. Steven Blair, University of South Carolina Arnold School for Public Health)
• Being fit is key to work performance – and fit people out-earn their peers

The Exercise Cure provides various exercises that address specific health issues.  A few days after the book launch, my normally energetic colleague was clearly in pain from a back issue.  “I have just the book for you!” I proclaimed.  I went on to tell her how 5 years ago my husband was experiencing even worse symptoms.  The doctor told him there was a 70% chance he would need surgery.  Our physical therapist brother-in-law confirmed the chances – but pointed him to some exercises that gave him hope for curing his ailment with exercise.  He diligently followed the exercises and overcame the issue.  Anecdotally, I’ve heard stories of people who underwent the surgery and found themselves in worse or no better shape than before the surgery.  As the book points out, in the US, we spend 17% of our GDP on healthcare to the tune of $8,300 and yet we only rank 28^th in the world for life expectancy.

If the evidence is there, why don’t people exercise more and what can we do about it?  In my professional life, we study a lot about human behaviors related to health.  It often comes down to habits – both good and bad.  Everyone knows cigarettes are bad for you, many desire to quit, but knowledge and desire are not enough for many to kick the habit.

If you are reading this blog, chances are I’m also preaching to the choir.  And chances are, if you are in “my choir”, you are middle aged like me.  So here’s my idea – we fitness prone, middle aged folks need to rally the rest of the population.

We are the sandwich generation who can influence both the younger and older generations (ever notice how families fit levels are clearly mirrored?  Make it fun – e.g. see my “natural StairMaster” Paris workout which will save you money and time seeing the Eiffel Tower).

We are the bosses who can encourage healthy habits and sponsor active team outings (our company sponsors a regular healthy lunch, participation in events like 10K and 5K walks/runs, gym memberships, and a WebMD health and wellness program).

We are the healthcare professionals who can influence our patients (read The Exercise Cure for the one simple test he recommends all physicians do).

We are government officials and teachers who are impacting this country’s fitness levels (I can point to the government sponsored Presidential Physical Fitness tests as a source of my early enthusiasm – while I wasn’t necessarily good at all of the gym team sports, I still have a fond memory of my gym teacher challenging one of the jocks to beat my record breaking chin hang, which he could not do!).

Remember these patches?  I wore mine proudly!

Make it your New Years’ Resolution not just to get yourself healthy, but those around you!

P.S. Thanks Will for that early inspiration!  While I’ve always been an active person, triathlon training provides a whole new level of commitment and here I am, 3 years later and still committed with even better habits!  And…isn’t it interesting to see the web of influence of those I’ve influenced who are now influencing others.

 
Dr. Metzl is my sports medicine physician.  His first book, The Athlete’s Book of Home Remedies, that I wrote about made me a successful patient – but perhaps not a successful “customer” since I’ve since been able to stay out of his office!