September 2nd Half Lessons

Now for the 2nd Half of my September Challenges:

I have 3 weeks before the 2.4 mile Tikiswim in Oceanside and I have still only swam 2 miles. However, I've decided to try again Sep 14 but first from LJ Cove towards Scripps Pier which is 1.5 miles away.  At least I have a big thing to sight and I can turn around at 1.2 miles.  there should also be virtually no waves to push through. I will  attempt this swim fresh with every expectation to complete the distance.

Sep 14: We hit some record heat temperatures today.  We left our house at 111 degrees and headed to the ocean... yea it was only 106!  But La Jolla Cove water was about 70 degrees and it was a perfect day to succeed at our 2.4 mile swim!  SUCCESS with 37 extra minutes to spare!!! I now know I can swim the distance within the 2:20 cut off!

Sep 16: Giro di San Diego 66 mile route was changed to 72 miles due to construction detours. Sadly I am riding without my Reynolds Wheelset which are still on order. We will see just how much "better" Zip 101s are... I guess we were lucky with some cloud cover at the start. My first 45 miles alone went pretty good.  Two friends turned back due to illness and I couldn't find the other at the start.  Many started earlier to get going before the heat picked up and boy did it ever... I wore my Cool Towel around my neck and I think it helped my core temp stay under control a lot.  I also wore arm coolers so my arms didn't fry in 5 hours of sun but they weren't pulled evenly so now I have one bright red wrist! hahaha! 

Anyway, SAG 3 felt good as it was past the mid point but 200 yards later I got a flat :( so I walked back to the SAG because I have huge difficulty rolling the last bit of tire over the rim and sure enough I couldn't do it so it was worth the walk.  Then a couple miles later. THUMP... I pulled over swearing at another flat but nope... luckily I noticed the bulging tire though where the tire wasn't fully in the wheel.  Maybe too much Co2?  I don't know but I released some and it popped back in the tire... so off I went... dragging my wedge on the back tire so pulled over again to reattach to seatpost.. and Darryl MacKenzie passed by!  yea finally someone I know since Marcus went to SF game and my other friends didn't make it....We chatted a few miles and pop.. now my front tire is flat...OMG... but Darryl is a professional and he fixed it really quick so we were off again for the most excruciating hills of my life in blistering heat... WOW I hurt everywhere.  Twin Peaks hill AGAIN? I swore I would never do it again but here I am so I just told my legs to shut up and just get through it.  I was so drained though that I finally gave in and stopped near the top for a break.  I kept thinking This Too Shall End... and one more SAG stop.

 I hated the new return route since it became and out and back route due to construction. This meant loads of left turns crossing over traffic which is dangerous at times. Finally I recognize where I am... but didn't realize that we went down 3 hills at the start SOOO that means 3 up hills at the end... I seriously wanted to be road kill at that point. What a relief to be draped in the medal, drink free Naked juice and get a customized tshirt too!  Then they fed us a nice pasta lunch.... HEY what happened to the free smoothies??? Screw it-- 72 miles/5000 ft of climbing to hell and back ... I earned the McD Frappe Chocolate Chip drink today!

Sep 22: USA Women's Half was cancelled for permit problems and poor planning on their part...luckily I can attend our club TCSD spirnt triathlon today instead!  It's my last tri race of my 48th year and my age group! After 3 rides on the ZIP 101s and the tire popping out of the wheel, I exchanged for ZIP 404s until the Reynolds arrive. These should be great!   I'm so happy I finally broke my average bike mph above 20 for the entire ride (12.5mi)!  I swam my fastest ever and I felt super comfortable at 1.8 mph (.44 mi) and I stayed under 10min avg for 4 miles.  what a great way to end my year!! I just love club races!  Felt so good to have aero bars and my aero water system.... really missed those.

 

Sep 23:  It was an awesome swim at Oceanside with about 20 others and Brian Long (RD of the Tikiswim) who also shares my birthday! We shared cupcakes after the gorgeous swim! Brian brought me an amazing maple cream filled donut which Brian and Marcus both devoured! hahaha!



 

Sep 28:  I'm so happy to finally say MY bike is complete!  I took her for a 24 mile spin today and all seems pretty good.  My wheels look awesome!  Tonight is my last 2 mile swim before the tikiswim 2.4 on Sunday.  We will celebrate our training with the monthly TCSD potluck buffett tonight!

 

 Sep 30: Yea!  it's TIKI SWIM day!!! Oceanside Pier...( silent prayer: Dear Lord please don't let there be waves so I can live to swim another day)

 

ok, fine....waves... BRING IT ON!!  After breaking through 5 of these monsters... I was pretty proud of myself and "just kept swimmimg" with my virtual Dory imprinted on my brain.

 

 

well, since I've practiced many times, I knew the 1st buoy should be at about at mile .3 but I didn't get to it until .67!  I knew I was in trouble already... the current was wicked and continually kept pushing me off course.. buoys on my right shoulder??? rarely... I couldn't keep a straight line so they were usually on my left... I checked my watch a few times while swimming but never stopped for GU nutrition because I was so concerned about time.  Eventually I was happy to see 2.4 miles in 1:29.  Wow what an improvement from 1:43!  oh but wait.. I'm not even close to the finishline!!!  First I was pissed off. I wanted to be finished. Then Dory said... just keep swimming... and I calmed down and said thankyou for helping me reach another new milestone... little did I know it would be 25 minutes later and almost 3 miles!

 

 

My biggest lesson learned was my success in breaking through the waves... as the wave approaches, go under it.  then pop up on the other side and side stroke to the next wave which makes my breathing match my cadence... nice and slow.. and I can still see the next wave coming in time to dive under and start the process again... 5 waves later.. I was out of the turmoil and returned to Freestyle without any panic attack or hyperventilation.  Thankfully I also tightened my goggle straps a lot so they couldn't be flipped off without a lot of force! 

 

 

 

Wow it has been an AWESOME Month!!!  October will be filled with lots more running!

 

SEPTEMBER TRAINING MILES

SWIM: 32,349 yards (18.7 miles)

BIKE: 385 MILES

RUN: 84.14 MILES

TOTAL HOURS 61:14

WEEKLY AVG 15 HRS

September 1st half Lessons

September is my favorite month of the year. I love the weather and the activities in San Diego are boundless. 5 races this month so I'll split up the blog. I also celebrate my 49th birthday and the end of my race group 45-49s!

I must digress to honor my Wilson's death on Aug 27 at the Oceanside Pier.  I was attempting my first 2.4 mile swim.  Alas I changed my routine and put my neo cap on first, then latex. I always put my Garmin 310xt (named Wilson) under my neo chin strap cap for security.  It's in my cap not wrist so I never lose GPS on my swim.  I changed my alert to vibrate every .20 mi so I could count 6 and turn around.  I did not know I also needed to change the lap trigger which was still set at .25.  This caused irregular alerts to go to off so I was very confused about my distance.  I was anxious to return to land to check my Garmin distance.  TOO anxious. I failed my own strict advice: NEVER remove anything until ON the beach.  The tide was pulling hard.  I didn't make it to dry land before I flicked off my latex cap and forgot Wilson was there, not under the neo cap.  He flew off into the ocean as I screamed hysterically for my training partner to surface.  I cried and cried franctically grabbing at the water...not only has he been with me my entire tri journey but he was $300 new.  I had to face the fact to replace the watch for $150 -$200 or buy the upgraded 910xt which has amazing swim tracking improvements including lap swims but $400.  I researched through tears for hours untill I finally went to Road Runner for the 910xt.  I cried when I bought the upgrade even... it got me additional discounts though because the clerk felt so bad for me... saved $116.  Out the door was $308.  Now I have to learn all about my new partner before the disney race Sunday. But this quick video is absolutely how I felt:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ig2z_cast-away-lost-wilson-the-movie_shortfilms


Sep 2:  I wanted to run Disney Half last year but it sells out so quick that I had to set my calendar in January, 2012 to signup!!! I believe every race should have a goal and this one is to take lots of fun pictures at every mile marker and enjoy it with Marcus, Ryan and Aliyah! 

Sunday morning will mark the 7th running of the Disneyland Half Marathon with a field of over 17,000 runners from 14 to 78, representing all 50 states and 19 countries. Getting up before dawn to go for the gold…Disneyland gold...

I must admit that was the fastest - slowest- most enjoyable half marathon EVER!  Cheering everywhere on the course. Loads of costumes. Running through the Angels Stadium was so much fun!  My new Garmin 910xt worked fine... I think... although my mileage said 13.5 miles and Marcus was 12.97... odd

However, I seem to be on a roll of tri drama.... during dinner the night before the race, my bike shop called...they had a burglary and my bike was stolen.  I have a race this coming weekend and I have to rebuild a new bike all over again.  I guess it is great I will get all new stuff, but not great that I have to start all over with a million questions of what should I upgrade now that I have the chance? And do I want to spend the money on upgrades while I am unemployed?  Does everything in my life have to be a double-edged sword ?

Sept 8:  SD Classic Olympic Triathlon (ironically sponsored by Moment Bike Shop where my bike was stolen)
Started with setting the alarm incorrectly and awaking when we were supposed to leave!  However, we were out the door in 20 minutes and had a few minutes to spare before transition closed although I was in Wave 2.  It appeared we would start swimming in the dark and I had black goggles...really need a yellow pair!  My race rack was packed as expected so I moved over to wave 3's rack with the guys who are much more accepting of a girl squeezing in. However, it didn't give me a chance to think about my swim focus.

Swim: I guess I watched the girl next to me because I started far too fast and started hyperventilating very quickly...I couldn't relax my breathing for at least 3 minutes while I side stroked beating myself up mentally about what a loser I was pouring in the swim practice and producing such a pathetic result. I finally started swimming and then the sea of male piranahs started swimming over me. It was hell. I got hit in the goggles twice.  I had to fight not to just quit.  Eventually I found my rhythm and got through it. My final swim time showed me I could have had a PR result minus the first .2 mile as I ended 1.6 mph finishing in 37 minutes with an extra 100M since I sighted to wrong buoy!

As I expected my bike was not completely ready.  Loaner wheels were disappointing and no aero bars or water system but the worst was the handlebars that were too wide and the seat was too low.  I was super uncomfortable on the bike. I loved the new Ultegra shifting upgrade.  Felt like butter and I passed many. Because I didn't have my aero bar water system, I had to carry a bottle in the cage which I promptly dropped on the first gulp resulting in no nutrition on this ride.  Luckily there were 2 water stations.  Oh well, dropped the first bottle of free water too. I couldn't get my hands dry.  By the 2nd bottle, I drank all 8 oz at one time! I saw a major pile up crash and went on the wrong side of the road to avoid it.  Saw many with flats and chain issues too and some walked up McClellan hill. Very glad to have ridden up the hill 4x previously. So happy to have not experienced mechanical hell on race day. I was happy with 17.8mph with the hills finishing 1:23.  I was nervous I had not eaten and needed to run.  So, T2 took a bit longer because I had a bottle of water to chug with a Roctane GU and grabbed another for the route. Had 2 more GUs on the run with water so I felt fine.

Run was pretty steady which is normal for me as I'm not a sprinter...however a girl did a faceplant right behind me trying to do too much at one time... take an extra 5 seconds and walk to drink...she tripped right over a ledge.  Happily the 2 hills were not too steep but I had to stop for a few seconds to fix my footpad in my sock...I figured do it now or run an hour in agony!  It was worth it!

Still finished 47% of my age group and it's likely my last race in the 45-49 group.  finished 3:16. Still bummed about my swim... I must get revenge and do this race again next year! I learned I did just fine without food on the 25 mile bike, and I need to always swim my cadence.  Giving myself kudos for not stopping on the swim.  I also still miss Wilson 310xt.  my 910xt does track swim distance better but the alarms are very faint in the water so I cannot tell how far I have swam without looking at the watch. that totally sucks.