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Monday, July 19, 2010

Fat Salmon

My friend Susanne had an entry in to the Fat Salmon 3.2 Mile Open Water swim in Lake Washington that she wasn’t going to use. I started thinking a trip to Seattle to visit relatives would be fun and a chance to swim in a sold out event was something I couldn’t pass up. So I hurried and changed the registration to my name, made plans to stay with my brother and then started packing. Then I realized I had to swim 3.2 miles open water! That’s longer than I have swam in open water in about 10 years and I wasn’t sure I was ready. I hadn’t even tried on my new wetsuit, let along trained in it and I my race goggles hadn’t surfaced again from my last race. But I had the coveted spot in the race so I was committed.

I got to my brother Chris’ house in the afternoon on Friday. His girlfriend Carolyn and I went to watch him play with a band on Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, they actually started on time so we were eating dinner down the street for most of the 30 minute show. We did catch the last few songs but couldn’t see Chris since a giant speaker was blocking our view of him.

I started off a great race by almost missing the start due to long bathroom lines. Two bathrooms for a 300 person swim doesn’t seem like a good ratio, and it wasn’t. I was three people away from my turn when I had to race to the starting line. The start was uneventful, not too much grabbing, kicking or clawing. I was out with the lead pack and swimming comfortable, for 11 minutes. It was the next 67 minutes that were uncomfortable.

The pain I felt in my arms was like when you sleep with your arm folded up under you and then try to move it and you can’t or like when you carry a heavy grocery bag for too long and then you can’t lift you arm. It’s one thing when you just try to roll over and go back to sleep or set your groceries down. It’s a whole other kind of pain when you know you have to swim for at least another hour.

Every few strokes I’d change my stroke, incorporating all kinds of bad form to take the pressure off of my inner elbow and bicep. I dropped my elbow, crossed the midline, dropped my shoulder, over rotated and rolled. Nothing really helped and I went slower and slower. The more I grimaced in pain, the more my goggles leaked. Finally after an hour I couldn’t see anything so I had to stop and fix my goggles. But I couldn’t reach my eyes, my arms wouldn’t bend that much! I floated for a bit until I could finally force them to bend then shoved them into place as best I could.

I tried to start swimming again but then my arms wouldn’t straighten! So I kicked breastroke for a while. Finally I got my arms going again. They couldn’t really pull but at least they could go through the motions. I kicked and wind milled my arms as lightly as I could so they wouldn’t hurt as much. Slowly I made it to the finish and wondered across the timing pad. As the volunteer cut my timing chip off she said, “You don’t even seem tired.” I realized I wasn’t, I’d just floated the last mile. The most disappointing part was not that I didn’t win (and bring home a full salmon that I would somehow have to figure out how to gut or debone, or whatever it is you do with fish) but that I didn’t even get a good workout! I had looked forward to exiting the water, exhausted and shaky from a good workout. Instead I left the water with arms that I couldn’t straighten or bend completely but hung like an over muscled body builder. Luckily my friends Pat and Lynn where they are they took my cap, goggles and wetsuit off of me since my arms where useless.

In the end it was a fun day and a good experience. This summer has been a chance to do things I don’t normally get to do like local races, visiting new places and seeing relatives. When I get to travel to a triathlon again I will be excited for the chance to race but for now I will remember to enjoy the fun people, places and events in my own backyard.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Goin’ back to My Roots

Since April I’ve been struggling with hip pain. It has taken several months to determine the cause. The last doctor thinks it is caused by the right side of my pelvic bone being out of alignment which causes the nerves on the left side to be pulled against the iliac crest. I have been able to increase my training again in the last month but haven’t raced since Wildflower in the beginning of May.

I’ve started to get anxious to race again which is why I let my guard down when I stopped into fitness Fanatics and let Adrianne and Haley talk me into doing the Valley Girl Triathlon. I volunteered on Saturday at registration and then raced on Sunday.

It was great to be back on the starting line of such a fun local race. In the past I had several aunts, cousins, my mom and my sister on the line with me. Our husbands and boyfriends cheered from the sidelines and helped at the water stations. This year it was a smaller crowd. My aunt Ann and cousin Josie raced and I could hear my uncle Pat yelling for me as he hauled water jugs along the course. My dad was noticeably missing and along with him all the friends and family that he usually recruited for the race. I raced with him in mind, knowing he would be out there cheering for all of us if he were here.

I started in the second wave and picked my way through backstrokers and breastrokers after the first couple of minutes. I realized the nice thing about backstrokers is that they see you coming and just move out of your way. It was a quick swim and I was out of the water in less than 8 minutes.

I started 3 minutes back, in the second wave, so I had people to chase as I got on the bike. I passed a few in the first couple of miles, seeing some friends and cheering for them as I went. I chased my friend Adrianne right until the last mile when I finally caught her but she made me work for it. My time was a little slower than in the past but that was expected since I haven’t been riding much. It was a new course that seemed a little more challenging anyway, so it was hard to compare times.

The run course was similar to past years with a long gradual hill for the last mile. I couldn’t see anyone else on the course, I knew Haley was ahead of me since she started in the first wave, but I didn’t know how far ahead. As I started out on the run I was nervous to see how my hip would feel, it usually hurts the most off of the bike. I didn’t feel it! I pushed the run as much as I thought I could without hurting my hip. It was a hot day and the last hill always seems tough but I felt strong throughout. Maybe I would have pushed harder if I had been racing head to head but then maybe I would have hurt my hip too so it was a good way to race my first race back and it was a great place to get back into racing mode.

I was able to catch up with lots of friends at the end of the race and see lots of Moms in Motion women that I helped coach in the pool finish the race. It was a fun day and it boosted my spirits after several of months of resting, rehabbing and slowly beginning to train again.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Who knew I had such force?

I headed out on Thursday morning with Laura, Haley and Ann on the long drive to Lake San Antonio for the first race of the season, Wildflower. We had a fun trip down and met up with friends once we got there.

Saturday morning I felt great warming up and I was excited to start the race. It was cold when we left our motel but by the time we were putting our bikes in transition the sun was over the mountains and shining down on us.

We all lined up for the start at the shore of the calm lake. I lined up on the left and when the gun went off I started to cut to the right to stay with the leaders as they headed for the first buoy. I got on the feet of a swimmer in the chase pack. We swam together most of the way, switching leads at half way. I felt really good, the water was cold but not cold enough for my hands to get numb. I came out of the water in 5th.

The bike course winds through the campground until it climbs a big hill to head out on the main roads. I passed a couple people on the big hill and then settled into my pace as we turned onto the main road. A few cyclists passed me in the first 20 miles but not as many as last year and I held them off longer than before. I rode a tri bike for the first time and I noticed a difference in my comfort and aerodynamics. I was doing well as I climbed the biggest hill and even passed a couple people on the hill. That’s when my amazing force came into play to my own detriment. I was out of the saddle, hammering up the hill, pushing about 1000 watts, apparently, because I broke my chain. This is the problem with being so strong, if you’ve seen my quads you might be surprised at the power they can produce. I was too.

There wasn’t anything I could do to fix it so I set my bike down and cheered for the other racers coming up the hill. After the last pros passed, the age grouper men climbed the hill. They grunted it out to beat each other to the top. “Where are the hills?” they asked. Even as they struggled up the long climb they were happy to be out there and even out of breath they thanked me for cheering. It was a fun perspective that I don’t usually get to see. There weren’t many people out cheering on the course at that point so they seemed to appreciate the encouragement. I saw my friends Sam and Troy from Spokane. Usually I don’t get to see their races. I kept watching for my friend Leia. I thought she would be coming early in the women’s race. But a mechanic finally showed up after an hour and I was talking to him so I figured I’d missed her. He was able to put a new link in so that I could make it home but I only had one gear. As I got on my bike to limp back to transition I thought I’d missed Leia. But I turned to the left and she was riding next to me. Perfect timing! I talked to her for a minute and then she took off to finish a great race.

I made it back to transition as the last female pros where finishing. I changed my clothes and headed to the stands to watch everyone finish. The rest of my travel companions had great races and it was fun to see them cross the finish line.

I have a new bike on the way and I’m looking forward to the Boise 70.3. I won’t unleash all of my power so that I can finish the ride in one piece and test my legs on the run.

View photos

Friday, February 12, 2010

A Winter of Training and Cooking

Getting Stronger

After a break in November, this winter’s training quickly ramped up. I started a fun and challenging new weight program. I feel a lot more power when swimming and on the bike. The YMCA added a TRX class, where you do resistance training using bands that attach to the ceiling, or for lack of a better place, the climbing wall. I talked my friend Susanne into doing it with me. We do TRX, yoga and then swim. My hope was that if I kept adding workouts in before swimming, I would tire her out enough that I could keep up in the pool. No luck, but I am swimming faster than I had been, so I guess it’s still beneficial.

A New Bike

I got a new bike in January. It hasn’t made riding indoors any less boring, but it does make me even more anxious to get outside. We haven’t had much snow so I have been able to ride outside a few times, but it was right before my new bike came in. Grrr. Soon though. My friends Phil and Adrianne have kept me company on the long weekend rides inside. We’re catching up on movies and a few cooking shows. There are 216 noodles in each can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. I wouldn’t know that if I hadn’t spent the day on my bike flipping channels. So there are some advantages.

A New Project: Cookbook

In my spare time, which ended up being less than I thought, I wrote a cookbook. It will be finished today! I’m excited and a little nervous to see the finished product. It is a compilation of my favorite gluten free recipes and recipes that can be adjusted to be gluten free. Hopefully it will show that gluten free eating doesn’t have to be boring and repetitive. If you aren’t gluten free, the recipes are still good everyday meals that anyone can enjoy.

Racing

Tomorrow I will be back in race mode (hopefully only for about 35 minutes) for Cross Country Nationals, which will be held here in Spokane. It looks like a fast field with past Olympians racing. I’d like the change to watch the race but it will be fun to be racing against these fast runners too.

At the beginning of March I’ll run the Snake River Half Marathon. It’s a fun out and back race along the Snake River. It’s completely flat but you never know which way the wind will be blowing. The first year I ran it there was a tail wind going out and a terrible head wind on the way back. The following year it was the opposite. Having the head wind on the way out seemed good because I thought I’d have an easy return trip. Unfortunately, I think it was harder since I was more fatigued from the first half. We’ll see what happens this time.

For now I’ll continue with training and trying new recipes, I’m getting tired of testing the same recipes again and again.