I went for a bike ride with an Olympic athlete this morning. He won a silver medal for cycling in 1984 and since then has been a top competitive rider nationally and internationally. He taught me in 2 hours what it would have taken me 3 years to learn on my own. In one ride, he turned me from a novice to an intermediate rider and sent my confidence through the roof. I rode 26 miles at a fast 19 mph with Brent and 3 other competitive male bikers. (The other woman in our 7am group dropped out after the first mile). I hung in the entire ride! Who would've thought when I bought my bike 2 years ago that one day I'd be trained (for free!) by one of the top competitive bicyclists in the world! Granted, he did have to push me up a couple of hilly spots as he rode beside me, and taught me to draft so I could get "pulled along" at times....but still my feet, my legs, my lungs, and my mind carried me through that ride. What a great morning.
This is how I met Brent Emery. A couple of months ago some friends advised that I find a triathlon store as a way to meet other athletes and shop for triathlon gear. I didn't know such stores even existed, but when I finally started doing some research, I realized there was a Triathlon shop just a mile from my house! I drove by Emery's most days for the past 3 years but had never gone inside until sometime early this May. The first time I went in, the workers were very friendly and excited to get to know me and my triathlon goals. One of the men, who seemed to be in charge, suggested I bring cookies as a bribe (it sounded like a good idea because chances were this not-so-handy girl would need some help with her bike at some point.).
I went to a bike maintenance clinic a couple weeks later to learn how to change a flat. It was way more complicated than I expected, especially with my skinny road tires. I was instructed to go home and practice right after the clinic but I never did. So when i got a flat this week, I decided I better take it in to get fixed and maybe I could find someone to show me/help me. On Thursday I went in to the shop with leftover pizza and bribed them to fix a flat for me even though they were about to close. I hadn't seen such big smiles and bright eyes all week! Apparently pizza is the way to a bicyclist's heart. I chatted with the guys for a bit and finally asked about the group bike rides I had read about on their website. I'd been wanting group practice but had been too chicken to show up for one of the rides. The store owner, Brent Emery, told me they usually ride about 40 miles at 20 mph. I told him I didn't think I could ride that far or that fast and that my average speed riding alone is around 16 mph. He told me I was "on the bubble" but I should come anyway and they'd help me through. He said they hated dropping riders and would do whatever it took to keep me as part of the ride.
So I went to bed early last night and showed up for this morning for what ended up being perhaps the most exciting bike ride of my life thus far. (Well maybe second to the infamous 20+ mile mountain bike ride in Lake Tahoe back in 2002.) But definitely the most exciting road ride. What a thrill to have Brent Emery (and another young, strong, competitive cyclist) teaching me how to improve my ride. July 13th...I am so ready to kick your butt!!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Reach
Only 18 days left until my race. I have started to wonder what it would take to keep me from finishing. I was riding my bike yesterday in pretty heavy traffic wondering what would happen if I got hit. How badly would I be hurt? Could I die? Could I still do the race with cuts, deep bruising, a sprain, a broken bone? I am more determined than ever to swim, bike, and run my best race on July 13. I've already overcome a car accident and a virus throughout my training, so 18 more days...I think I'm in the clear.
I hired a personal trainer a couple of weeks ago to help me with my swimming. I am getting better but still not completely confident about my stroke, comfort in the water, and endurance. I've had 2 open water practices. The one with the wet suit went great! And I am going tomorrow to reserve one for race day. My practice without the wet suit was not good. I panicked in the deep lake water, had water in my goggles, couldn't see, swam really crooked, and got really tired. BUT, I finished! Ugly as it was, I did it.
A week ago tonight I actually completed a mini-triathlon! I finished the swim 3rd from last in our group of about 20 and later found out one woman panicked immediately and didn't even do it. So despite my swim being really ugly, I did it, and in surprisingly good time. I swam about a quarter of the race length. I will be much more relaxed with a wet suit and if I can do a quarter of the length without one, I can definitely do the entire distance with one. They don't allow them if the water is warmer than 80 degrees and it was in the low 70s last week, so let's hope it doesn't warm up too much more! But the wet suit is a fantastic thing for a new swimmer...it's like wearing a giant floatie (I can't believe they allow them for the race...it feels like cheating) and swimming is almost effortless in one.
After the swim, I transitioned to my bike and set out for my ride. At first I was just riding along casually and comfortably, enjoying the lake view and the cool night. But suddenly it occurred to me that I could ride faster than this. And this was a race. So i should be riding faster. So I turned it on and passed almost everyone- all but a handful of the best swimmers who still had a pretty good lead. I biked about 9 miles (3/4 of the race length) then transitioned to my run. It was a good transition and I set out with another woman but immediately set a faster pace than her. The run felt good. It was wonderful to feel my feet on the ground and to still have energy left to propel my body forward. And I was able to keep my heart rate at a comfortable level in the 150s. I ran about 2 miles (2/3 of the real race length).
So I am officially a triathlete now and it was good to practice all three sports in a group. I am so excited to run my best race on July 13 and be a part of a group of 4,000 female triathletes, each with her own story and reason for racing.
I'm working on finding an "at bat" song. So far I'm thinking "Reach" by Gloria Estefan (Song from the Olympics) or "Beautiful Day" by U2.
Ooh, and tonight I discovered that chunking my 750 meter (1/2 mile) swim into seven 100 meter chunks plus a little 50 at the end will probably be my strategy on race day. During practice tonight I took 60 breaths/100 meters, and thinking of it as a 450 breath race feels more manageable to me than thinking of it as "swimming across a lake" or "swimming a half mile." And as I improve my stroke over the next couple of weeks, that number of breaths will probably go down significantly.
I am a triathlete
I swim.
I bike.
I run.
I hired a personal trainer a couple of weeks ago to help me with my swimming. I am getting better but still not completely confident about my stroke, comfort in the water, and endurance. I've had 2 open water practices. The one with the wet suit went great! And I am going tomorrow to reserve one for race day. My practice without the wet suit was not good. I panicked in the deep lake water, had water in my goggles, couldn't see, swam really crooked, and got really tired. BUT, I finished! Ugly as it was, I did it.
A week ago tonight I actually completed a mini-triathlon! I finished the swim 3rd from last in our group of about 20 and later found out one woman panicked immediately and didn't even do it. So despite my swim being really ugly, I did it, and in surprisingly good time. I swam about a quarter of the race length. I will be much more relaxed with a wet suit and if I can do a quarter of the length without one, I can definitely do the entire distance with one. They don't allow them if the water is warmer than 80 degrees and it was in the low 70s last week, so let's hope it doesn't warm up too much more! But the wet suit is a fantastic thing for a new swimmer...it's like wearing a giant floatie (I can't believe they allow them for the race...it feels like cheating) and swimming is almost effortless in one.
After the swim, I transitioned to my bike and set out for my ride. At first I was just riding along casually and comfortably, enjoying the lake view and the cool night. But suddenly it occurred to me that I could ride faster than this. And this was a race. So i should be riding faster. So I turned it on and passed almost everyone- all but a handful of the best swimmers who still had a pretty good lead. I biked about 9 miles (3/4 of the race length) then transitioned to my run. It was a good transition and I set out with another woman but immediately set a faster pace than her. The run felt good. It was wonderful to feel my feet on the ground and to still have energy left to propel my body forward. And I was able to keep my heart rate at a comfortable level in the 150s. I ran about 2 miles (2/3 of the real race length).
So I am officially a triathlete now and it was good to practice all three sports in a group. I am so excited to run my best race on July 13 and be a part of a group of 4,000 female triathletes, each with her own story and reason for racing.
I'm working on finding an "at bat" song. So far I'm thinking "Reach" by Gloria Estefan (Song from the Olympics) or "Beautiful Day" by U2.
Ooh, and tonight I discovered that chunking my 750 meter (1/2 mile) swim into seven 100 meter chunks plus a little 50 at the end will probably be my strategy on race day. During practice tonight I took 60 breaths/100 meters, and thinking of it as a 450 breath race feels more manageable to me than thinking of it as "swimming across a lake" or "swimming a half mile." And as I improve my stroke over the next couple of weeks, that number of breaths will probably go down significantly.
I am a triathlete
I swim.
I bike.
I run.
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