Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate / Cyclo Femme

This past weekend I have completed my second stepping stone race to Barb’s race.   This was a mid sprint Tri course... involving a 1000 meter swim, 16.4 mile bike ride, and a 5 mile run to finish off.

This was a slightly different experience then the last one.  After the last race, I decided to go out a purchase a SwimIt.   (Its a small pack with an inflatable life jacket that you can wear on your leg.  If I start to panic, I can pull the cord and inflate the jacket.  Of course that means I would be disqualified from the race.  But I’m okay with that if it means I don’t drown).  I got several questions and comments on it.  It seems there are a lot of other triathletes who are nervous and panic in the water as well.   Overall, in the swim I felt slow, but good.   When I reached the shore, I was happy to be back on dry land, but felt I could have done another lap if needed.   Still haven’t seen the SwimIt in action, but thats a good thing :)

As for the bike... There was a good amount of elevation gain.  Per my GPS it looks like it was over 2000 ft of elevation gain in just 16 miles.  The best part of being a circle course, is what goes up, must go down. WHEEEE!!! I love the downhills!!!  Overall, my legs felt pretty good.   However, I missed an important step during the ride, which is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate for the run.   Finished the bike ride with no major issues.  

Then the run came... Sun was starting to shine brightly and it was starting to get super hot.  (Note: I don’t enjoy running in weather hotter than about 72, and this was close to 80 by the time I started my run.   I’m definitely a beach city runner and not an inland empire runner.)  I was happy to find that the first mile of the run course was in the shade.  Only to realize miles 1-4 were in directly in the sun and uphill.   Lets just say, I hit a mental block and bonked on my run, which has became more of a walk/run.  I like to think if I had stayed hydrated better on the ride, I would have been much better prepared for the run.   

Anyways,  thats another race in the books.  I will learn from it, and continue on with my training.

Cyclo Femme Woman Global Cycling Day 

The following day, I participated in Cyclo Femme.  

From cyclofemme.com:

CycloFemme is a socially-driven grass-roots celebration of women on bikes. We are of a growing community, for a growing community, and 100% volunteer-based. Our annual Mother’s Day ride unites riders, regardless of gender, age, ethnicity or bicycle preference to share in the joy of cycling. In our first year, 163 rides were registered in 14 countries with many others joining in to celebrate in their own special way. Ride with us this May 12, 2013 as we Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, Empower the Future of Women in Cycling.

I met with a great group of ladies, Beach Cities Women Cyclist and rode a flat 36 mile ride through huntington Beach, Newport Beach and the Back Bay.   There were about 11 of us on a mission to get out and ride.   It was a beautiful day with wonderful weather.   I was a little nervous, because my legs were already exhausted from the day before, and I hadn’t put on more than 30 miles on a bike ride since last summer.   The first 20 miles were fast and speedy,  the last 10 miles not so much. I was impressed with the ladies who were able to go all out for the entire ride.  Maybe next time I will be one of those ladies...however,  for a day after a race, I was happy just to survive :) 

Beach Cities Women Cyclists - Participating in Cyclo-Femme

Quick Update: 1 Official Week down of training 13 more weeks to go.

First off,  I just want to thank everyone who has donated.  I have officially met the minimum race requirement for fundraising. I'm amazed and blessed by all the support I have received in this short period of time.   I can now focus 100% of my attention to the training. If you didn't donate, but still want to, here's the link:  http://www.active.com/donate/vineman13/MelissaErwin     

As for the training side... I have been very busy.  This was the first official week of my training plan.   For the most part I have stayed on par with the plan.  This consisted of 2.5 hrs of swimming, 2 hrs of running, and 4.25 hrs of cycling/spinning.   The only exception to the plan was Friday's swim.  It was suppose to be an hour swim, but it turns out the beautiful weather caused the outdoor pool to be super popular so I was only able to fit in a half hour swim.   

Also, I have joined a master’s swim program at my gym.   I think it will probably be the best decision in my training plan.  In this program, I have learned that I have a horrible kick, an incorrect stroke, and loose core.   All causing a lack of efficiency.  Hopefully with some instruction, I can break all my bad habits and become a stronger swimmer.  

After one week of training, I’m exhausted and looking forward to tomorrows rest day :)    

Some Races are Better than Others

This weekend involved my first open water triathlon of the season.   It was a sprint Tri, which means it is some distance shorter than an olympic distance tri.  For this race, I had a 500m swim in a lake, followed by 14 mile bike ride, with a 5k run to finish it off.   

Each race I do is a stepping stone the the half ironman in July.   This one had some great lessons learned.

Lesson 1:  Need to be more comfortable in open water

I’m a novice swimmer.  I have grown up spending all my summers in a pool, but mainly playing on a diving board.  I have never been part of a swim team or had a reason to swim long distances.   So I have acknowledged this as my weakness in my training and have made it a priority to swim the required distances with some instruction.   However, thats all in a pool with a pretty black lane line to follow and the knowledge of the pool edge is only 25 yards away.   Open water swimming is a completely different experience.   First, the water is a lot colder than a pool.  65 degrees vs 80 degrees. Second, the water can be murky and hard to see.  Third its up to me to remember to look where the buoys are to swim around.  Fourth, wearing a wetsuit for a swim is a completely different feeling than a bathing suit.  Take all that, while being kicked by a herd of swimmers equals a very stressed out swimmer.    I must make it a point to swim in open water more often other than race day.

Lesson 2:  Sometimes a Flat Tire Happens

The bike course was a hilly 14 mile course.  I definitely wasn’t crushing it, but I think I was holding my own (passed several ladies on the second loop).   I had just climbed the last hill of the bike loop and ready for a down hill rush only to feel my bike wanting to slow down.  Looked down and “crap” my back tire was flat.   (Note: prior to this flat, the total number of flats I have changed on my bike is 1 and I watched a youtube video the entire time).   Luckily I had a spare tire and a CO2 cartridge to fix the issue.   The whole ordeal was about 20 minutes.   But during that 20 minutes I got to watch everyone I worked so hard to pass, pass me.   Very frustrating.   All I wanted to do was quit and call it a day.   Which leads me to my next lesson...

Lesson 3:  No matter what happens don’t give up

Coming into the transition area after my bike ride was a little disheartening.  A lot of people had already completed the race and were packing up.   Me, I still had a 5k ahead of me.   I was pretty much guessing I was dead last, can’t confirm this though, and frustrated over the previous two sections of the race.   It took every ounce of energy to force myself to continue with the run portion of the course.  But I didn’t sign up for a duathlon, i signed up for I triathlon and I was going to finish it with my head held high.    I headed out of the transition area on my run all by myself with the course volunteers cheering me on.  Around mile one I slowly started to pass a few of the competitors, which definitely helped motivate me.  At mile 3, I was able to help out a kid who seemed ready to quit (dad was doing anything he could to motivate this kid) and challenged him to a race to the finish.  We both sprinted .15 miles to the finish line and crossed together.   No matter how hard it seems, we can always surprise ourselves and do the unthinkable.  I just have to remember, the unthinkable won’t happen if I don’t try.  

Now time to get back to training :)

Developing a Training Strategy

Okay so I have signed up for this race...  but where do I begin???

After talking to people and researching training plans, I have settled on a training plan laid out in the Training Plans for Multisport Athletes book.   "Multisport Athlete" ... I like the sound of that.   

I came across this training plan due to a recommendation from a co-worker who does full iron-man triathlons, but I choose this plan because it seems doable with my work schedule.   Most weeks average about 8 hrs of training with the max hours of training for any given week is 10 hours.   A bulk of the heavy work outs are on the weekends, with a long bike ride on one day, and a long run on the other day.  

This is a 13 week plan which means it officially starts the last week of April.  But there's nothing wrong with starting it earlier and repeating weeks as needed.   

For the past couple weeks, I have just been doing my own thing just trying to build a base in the individual sports.  Swimming is going to be the leg of the race where I will just want to survive.   I have swam the race distance in a pool, but I'm slower than molasses.   Cycling has consisted of spin classes for the most part, but now that its spring I hope to start riding my bike to work again at least one day a week.   Running has been going strong.  I have gotten my speed from slow to acceptable.  Overall I still have my work cut out for me.   Its not going to be a walk in the park, but just have to keep thinking of how awesome I will feel when I cross that finish line.   

Time to Race on the Base - Reverse Tri

Today I participated in a Reverse Triathlon.   It starts with a 5k run, followed by a 13 mile bike ride ending in the pool for a 200 m swim.   Now I know this is no where as tough or as long as July's big race.   But it allows me to see where my base is at.

Overall, I really enjoyed the race.  It was so nice to start with the run. It allowed me to have some pep in my step.  It also let me know I can run at a decent pace with out any music.   (I'm dreading the 13.1 mile run with no music... there's a no headphone rule for safety reasons).  I ended up having my best 5k race time which was 29:54.  

The bike portion was 3 loops around the runway.   This was the first race I have done with a loop.  It was encouraging because I was on loop 1 or 2 at the same time as the faster riders (they were probably on loop 3).   They helped push me to ride harder and stronger.   Ended up finishing the bike portion in 46 minutes.   

The final 200m zig and zag through the swimming pool was a great way to cool down after the bike and run.   Plus I didn't feel all stinky and sweaty on my ride home after the race... always a plus :)

I definitely enjoyed this event and would do it again.   It was great way to start the day.   Can't wait for the first normal direction triathlon of the season in April.   

And so the journey begins....

Never in my right mind would have I thought this to be a good idea.  However, for some reason I feel the need to push myself to the limit.   So come this July I will be swimming 1.2 miles, followed by a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile run.   That's right I've just signed up for a half iron man.  Barb's Race to be exact.   This will be a good 7+ hour work out for me.   So I have my work cut out for me.

I have completed many half marathons since 2010 and have recently completed a sprint triathlon and an Olympic distance triathlon.    So I'm not starting from scratch, but definitely not a walk in the park. I do have a lot of stepping stones planned leading up to the race with several  shorter races.

I hope to maintain this blog through out my training to keep me motivated on the event and keep anyone who is interested updated on my progress.   

Who would have thought I would have such a crazy goal as this?