Welcome to the blog of a newbie tri age grouper. I thought I would share my journey in the unlikely event that anyone gives a crap, or in the event that some 40-something woman is beginning to embark on this journey and is curious about the experiences of others, as I was. I'll say this...I have said aloud that I would never run a marathon, and that I could never do an Ironman, even though I thought it was very cool. This year, I am hoping to run a marathon, and I am registered for the Oceanside 70.3 at the end of March. Never say never.
I began training in February 2011 for my first half-marathon in Missoula in July 2011. My dear friend, BS, has been running seriously for a few years now, hoping to qualify eventually for Boston. I have been in awe of her and other marathoner friends (BE, TG, JO), and I decided it might be cool to try a race myself. So, I began running in February, and even though I have run on and off for decades, I have probably never run further than 5 miles. In fact, I remember DNF'ing a 5k race when I was 13 or 14 years old, killed by a big hill in my hometown. And now here I am, training for 13.1 miles! At first, just running the 2.1-mile loop in our neighborhood seemed daunting. We live at high altitude (7000 ft.), and in a very hilly area, so I found myself walking hills and running very slowly (16:30-minute miles initially). I should say also that I need to lose about 15 pounds currently, and I was probably 10-12 pounds heavier then, so running was difficult. And given how difficult 2 miles was, I was seriously doubtful that I would ever make it to 13. Regardless, I went online and checked out plans. I started with a plan to train for a 5k and ran a 5k in my neighborhood when I finished. Then I moved to a plan for a 10k and signed up for my first race (with my husband)...the Cave Creek Trail Run 10k, which I finished in 1:29:45, a pace of 14:26! I was not last, but I was close. Still, it felt great to finish...
In May, shortly after our first race, my husband and I joined our dear friends, B and R, in St. George for R's first Ironman. It was so inspiring!!! Watching people of all ages, shapes, and sizes cross that finish line after 140.6 miles made me weepy. A woman who was recovering from breast cancer, a woman with a prosthetic leg, a man who had lost 100 pounds training for Ironman...it was amazing. I had watched Kona on television many times in the past, thinking, "That's cool...I could never do THAT," but to be there and see friends and families rooting for their loved ones, well it really got under my skin. I actually had the thought that maybe I could do an Ironman someday. My husband had caught the tri bug from our friend, R, already, and had signed up for his first Sprint distance triathlon, which he loved!
It was probably in May that my IT band struggle began, which began on a short trail run by my house one morning and would act up if I ran uphill. The biggest problem was that I didn't know anything about IT band problems, and I ran on it for a while before figuring out two crucial strategies: walk hills if it hurts and rest, ice, and recover if I push too hard.
Our next race was in June @ about 8000 ft. elevation, with 1100 ft. of elevation gain during the course...the Gaspin in the Aspens 15k run, which I finished in 2:04:21, a pace of 13:20-minute miles. I walked the hills, but felt pretty good coming into the finish. I was not last, but I was close. But more importantly, the IT band did not give me any troubles that day!
About 2 weeks before my big race, however, after my longest training run of 12 miles, I suffered an injury to my right Achilles. WOW. But I was totally committed to half, having purchased plane tickets for my daughter and me already, so I rested, iced, and took the taper to heart. Once I got to Missoula, I took anti-inflammatories, soaked my foot in ice water, and tried to stay away from flip-flops, which seemed to aggravate it. It gave me trouble on the beer run, especially stepping off of curbs, but by the day of the race, I figured it was as good as it was going to get. For anyone who is considering running their first half-marathon, Missoula is a great race. It's relatively flat, well-organized, well-marked, and beautiful! And for me, it's at a lower elevation, so I felt really good! In my training, there had been 2 times when my quads and calves began to cramp so badly that on one occasion, I had called my husband to pick me up. Both times, it had been at the 10-mile mark, so not only did I worry about an injury acting up, but I worried also about bonking or cramping, and not being able to finish. I tried to run a steady pace and stick to my nutrition plan. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop...and at each passing mile, I became increasingly surprised as I continued to feel good. Mile 10...mile11...mile 12...mile 13...the finish line! I even sprinted at the end to pass a woman who had been playing cat and mouse with me for the last 5 miles. What a great feeling to finish! I finished in 2:46:02, a pace of 12:40-minute miles (see a trend developing here)! Of course, I had caught the bug and thought that maybe next year I would try to run the full.
Meanwhile, my husband had been training diligently for the Mountain Man olympic distance triathlon. He did amazing, and it looked like so much fun, I decided I might give triathlon a try. So in August, I signed up for the Oceanside 70.3. I did not really realize what I had gotten myself into, which might have been a good thing. I got online again and checked out some training plans and decided upon Ben Greenfield's Triathlon Dominator, which is a 36-week plan...just enough time for the race. I should mention at this point that I am not much of a freestyle swimmer. I started using the Total Immersion DVD and working on form. I found breathing particularly difficult initially and could barely swim a lap without stopping to catch my breath. It was frustrating. Really frustrating. But I plugged away, just trying to get a rhythm and get more comfortable in the water. The bike was no problem, but now Ben had me doing speed work and hills for running and biking. I could feel myself getting stronger. It felt good. And I was amazed at what I was capable of, what this oldish, biggish body was capable of.
My first sprint-distance triathlon was the Powell3 at Lake Powell in October.
I felt really ready, but was nervous about the swim. I watched Will and R take off in their swim wave, swim, and move to T1! My wave, which was last, started about an hour after theirs, and I took some time to get my face in the water and do a short warm-up swim. I felt really good right before the race started, but once we all started swimming, I literally forgot to exhale. I found myself thrashing about, gasping for air, and within a minute or two (it all happened so fast), my chest felt like it was in a vise, my lungs were super tight, and I was wheezing. I have no history of asthma or panic attacks, but because I am a psychologist, I know a panic attack when I see one. So I tried in vain to slow my breathing. I swam to a kayak and tried to get my wits about me. I could see there were a few other women struggling, as well, but I tried to focus on calming down. I caught my breath and started swimming again, but every time my heart rate accelerated, breathing became painful again. And I was having a really difficult time putting my face in the water. At one point, the nice boy in the kayak I was frequenting asked me if I'd like to quit, and I said, with a heavy, heavy heart, "I think so." However, we looked over at the rescue jet ski, and he was pulling another woman out, so I decided to try to go a little further using the breaststroke, with my head above water. In fact, I swam the entire 750 meters that way! I stopped at the kayak (who stayed with me, btw) several times, and when all was said and done, I was the VERY LAST person out of the water at 32 minutes. 32 minutes. Ugh! I made up some time, passing people on the big hill during the bike, but I was so exhausted by the run that I walked a bit of it and lost some ground. I was last in my age group, and close to last overall. I felt happy that I had finished, but was a bit demoralized, finishing in 2:13:46, with a run time of 44:28 (yuck!).
Next, I had signed up for an Olympic distance tri in Palm Springs in the beginning of December (HITS), but given my difficulties with the swim, I switched to the Sprint distance a week before the race. I just felt that if I had another panic attack, I knew I could make it 750 meters, but I wasn't sure if I could make it 1500 meters under those circumstances. Also, this race had cutoff times, and I was worried about swimming that distance in under an hour. So, leading up to the race, I really concentrated on making the cutoff time of 30 minutes for 750 meters. The day of the race, I felt really ready. We stretched out my wetsuit a bit so it wouldn't feel so constricting (I felt as if I were being strangled at Powell). I did a lengthy and real warm-up swim in the 54-degree lake prior to the swim. I hung toward the back at the start. I was a little nervous, as my last swim start was a wave of about 40 women, and this start was a mass start of 300 men and women of all ages. It was chaos. Within a few minutes, lots of people were in trouble, and there were only 2 paddle boards, a kayak, and a motor boat for support. I could hear a few people off to my right screaming for help, and I started in with my self-talk. I stuck with the breaststroke for a while, until I could get my bearings, but every time I began to freestyle, it seemed someone would bump me, and I would get a little freaked out and have to calm myself again. There was a woman calling for someone by name, over and over. I could hear someone near me wheezing as I had at Powell. And as I swam by the first paddle board, I could see about 6 people had grabbed on and the paddler was fighting to keep it steady. I kept swimming, using mostly breaststroke, putting my head underwater this time, and trying to use freestyle every once in a while, feeling uncomfortable about poor steering and people around me struggling. I finished in 25:25, sooooooo happy!!!! And I was not even close to last (unbelievably)! I felt good on the bike and passed many people along the way...I was only passed by 3 people. And on the run, I felt pretty good and passed and was passed a few times, cheering on others every time.
I finished in 1:55:55, with a run time of 34:56, which might be the fastest I've ever run (sub 11-minute miles!), especially off the bike!!! I think that racing below sea level really helped! I was 4/6 in my age group, and 217/253 overall. I was very pleased with my performance and felt excited to continue with training for my half-ironman in March. I felt like this thing is really do-able, even for a person like me. And I should say that I began to develop symptoms of strep throat the next day, so I probably wasn't even 100%.
One frustrating thing about signing up for an early spring triathlon is that there are not many shorter-distance triathlons nearby in the winter, even in Arizona. I will have to do my own olympic-distance "race" sometime in February, since the closest one is in Palm Springs, and that was a long trip for a short race.
So, that was 2011. 12 months ago, if you had asked me if I would have completed 5 races this year, I would have laughed hysterically. I wasn't even serious about running one race, and triathlon wasn't on my radar. And yet here I am. I am trying to set a good example for my daughter, who completed her first 5k this November!!!!
I am hoping that as BS and R and Will and L and others I am beginning to meet inspire and push me, that I can do the same for someone else. My goals for this year:
- Complete the Oceanside 70.3!
- Race the Mountain Man Olympic or Half, as well as a few other races, maybe even a full marathon
- Run a race at a 10-minute mile pace, which I consider to be the middle-of-the-pack pace
- Lose another 10 pounds to make racing easier, but honestly, I am sooooo appreciative of what my body has already done for me this year
- And, if all goes well, volunteer at IMAZ 2012 (Will is registered!) and register for IMAZ 2013!!! (Hopefully, if I do register, the world will not end in December 2012, as predicted)
