I forgot to write about our last triathlon. I am totally shocked I forgot because it was my best one yet! This one will be shorter than my other descriptions so no worries...you won't need any extra food or clothes nearby to get through this one!
Jake and I decided on the spur of the moment to do the Laurens YMCA Sprint Triathlon last weekend. The other triathlons were chosen way in advance so I had plenty of time to get caught up in my own head and become a mental case. This one we decided to do on Thursday for a Saturday race. We chose it because it was nearby and in it's first year so we thought that it would be pretty easy and not too crowded (only 45 entrants..12 women). We didn't even do our normal work of driving the bike and run courses to see what we were up against. We were just going to be relaxed to see what happened.
We got our stuff together and got up there around 6:00 a.m. Put the bikes up, put our junk out, registered, etc. It was pretty well organized for the first year. But then people just kept showing up. And not just random people, people with pointy aerodynamic helmets and really expensive bikes, and people we knew were people that did triathlons for money. Harumph. So this totally overwhelmed all of the volunteers. There was no space on the bike racks so people had their $5,000 bikes stuck in the bushes and leaning up against the building..no one got really rattled about it so it was good.
The actual race was pretty great. I swam super fast in the pool (under 6:30) somehow which is good because it is fast, but bad because it can mean you end up having nothing left for the bike and the run.
Oh well. I ran out and jumped on my bike. That went a lot faster than usual, so I was worried I had forgotten to put on my shoes or something...but I was fully clothed and on the road. Once again I am pedalling my trusty 400 pound mountain bike and depressing people with good bikes by passing them. I also started yelling "GO MOUNTAIN BIKER" at everyone I saw riding a mountain bike. I think I counted 4 of them. I beat them all by about 100 years. I was pedaling my bike too fast too, so I was pretty sure I would die on the run. I was right.
I managed to get off my bike without falling into any bushes and took off on the run. Like I said earlier, we didn't drive any of the courses so imagine my surprise when I turned the corner to get onto the run course and it was STRAIGHT UP. I am not even kidding. I ran uphill for 1.5 miles, then downhill for 1.7 miles. It was freaking brutal. The worst part is that at all of these races the finish line is situated at the top of a hill...GOOD GOD...I just ran 3 miles, take some pity on me and put it at the bottom of the hill. I was trying to run the 5K in under 30 minutes but missed it by 1 minute and 58 seconds. Everyone else said it was stupid hard too.
We headed home to relax and stopped at IHOP for brunch. I don't often get hungry for IHOP, but it was totally delicious. The lady thought we had really bad tattoos...they were our shoulder numbers from the race. It was funny.
Even funnier was the next day at work when I walked in and found a bright blue fanny pack on my desk. Apparently I had managed to win second place in my age division (what?) and someone had picked up my prize for me (we always leave early because we never win anything) and given it to one of my co-workers. The best part was that the person who beat me in my age group was a near professional racer from the triathlon store in Greenville. She beat me by 20 minutes, was 1st place overall for the women, and was running the run course (straight uphill) for a cool down after she was finished with the race as I was coming down the hill. She almost lapped me. It was funny.
I am now a proud owner of a fanny pack. It is the medal of my only individual success I have ever had in a sporting event in my life...and I can't wear it anywhere. That is totally my life.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Hurricane
In 3rd grade I remember having the section on weather and developing the ability to compare and contrast tornadoes and hurricanes. Pretty straight forward really you think. Both are bad weather and destructive, both in their own different and special ways. I will have to say that now having lived in hot spots for both, their differences are way more intricate than just cyclones over land vs. cyclones over water.
Tornadoes strike quickly with little notice and there seems to be a lot of luck associated with what gets wiped out and what doesn't. There is lots of severe devastation over short areas (per individual tornado) and the time of danger is usually relatively short. You don't have much time to think about what to do, you just do it. It is sudden, life threatening stress, but the threat is over pretty quickly and you can get down to cleaning up. We know very little about tornadoes and really struggle to understand and predict them.
Hurricanes give you days of notice and 15 different predicted paths. They even have a name..that is creepy to me. (PS: All this talk of hurricane Ike is making my dog nuts. He keeps hearing his name on TV, stands up and looks around expecting a treat or command.) Once you see it is actually heading you way you have to do all sorts of fun stuff. Boarding up your house, sandbagging, etc, all of which takes forever but may save your home. These things are fruitless against a tornado. If a tornado decides your house is gone, it just is. There is nothing you can do about it. With a hurricane you have days of weather that is relentless and widespread. Hanna is causing rain from North Carolina to DC right now, and is expected to ultimately make it all the way to New York City. You are also making one million different decisions once you realize it is coming your way. Do you evacuate and leave your home? What do you pack? Where are you headed and how long are you gone?
Life and death in a basement for 2 minutes I can handle. You have no control over what happens and there are no decisions to be made. Days worth of stress and decisions over what to do would ruin me. These folks along the coast live in some of the most beautiful places in the country, but with that comes a lot of extra mental cost.
Tornadoes strike quickly with little notice and there seems to be a lot of luck associated with what gets wiped out and what doesn't. There is lots of severe devastation over short areas (per individual tornado) and the time of danger is usually relatively short. You don't have much time to think about what to do, you just do it. It is sudden, life threatening stress, but the threat is over pretty quickly and you can get down to cleaning up. We know very little about tornadoes and really struggle to understand and predict them.
Hurricanes give you days of notice and 15 different predicted paths. They even have a name..that is creepy to me. (PS: All this talk of hurricane Ike is making my dog nuts. He keeps hearing his name on TV, stands up and looks around expecting a treat or command.) Once you see it is actually heading you way you have to do all sorts of fun stuff. Boarding up your house, sandbagging, etc, all of which takes forever but may save your home. These things are fruitless against a tornado. If a tornado decides your house is gone, it just is. There is nothing you can do about it. With a hurricane you have days of weather that is relentless and widespread. Hanna is causing rain from North Carolina to DC right now, and is expected to ultimately make it all the way to New York City. You are also making one million different decisions once you realize it is coming your way. Do you evacuate and leave your home? What do you pack? Where are you headed and how long are you gone?
Life and death in a basement for 2 minutes I can handle. You have no control over what happens and there are no decisions to be made. Days worth of stress and decisions over what to do would ruin me. These folks along the coast live in some of the most beautiful places in the country, but with that comes a lot of extra mental cost.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Easily Distracted
I have been thinking about "THE ONE YEAR POST" for two weeks, then forgot to write it.
Awesome.
I wasn't sure what to put into it honestly. Would it be full of deep thoughts? Tears? Would it be REALLY long, brief, detailed, vague..no wonder I forgot to write it..stressful. I know it should open with a great big THANKS to all of you who have been keeping up with us over the last year. Especially to my family and Jake's family for coming out to visit...you too Richard. Nice to be able to show you all what we are doing out here and why we are out here. I am sure you all wonder! I also really appreciate everyone going to the trouble of keeping up with our antics over e-mail, phone, text, blog reading, whatever. It really does make it feel less far away when I get to chat with you all. I appreciate the effort from all of you!
We have done really well over the past year with new challenges with work, culture shock and trying all sorts of crazy new things (triathlon and grits are the major ones). I have been pretty homesick a few times, but that is to be expected this far from home...hence the name. It is cracking me up that sometimes I get all deep and wonder if I am trying to "find myself".. and then I fall in a bush with a bike and realize that I already know who I am no matter where I live.
Know that you are all in my thoughts everyday and I love that you are part of Jake and my adventure!
Awesome.
I wasn't sure what to put into it honestly. Would it be full of deep thoughts? Tears? Would it be REALLY long, brief, detailed, vague..no wonder I forgot to write it..stressful. I know it should open with a great big THANKS to all of you who have been keeping up with us over the last year. Especially to my family and Jake's family for coming out to visit...you too Richard. Nice to be able to show you all what we are doing out here and why we are out here. I am sure you all wonder! I also really appreciate everyone going to the trouble of keeping up with our antics over e-mail, phone, text, blog reading, whatever. It really does make it feel less far away when I get to chat with you all. I appreciate the effort from all of you!
We have done really well over the past year with new challenges with work, culture shock and trying all sorts of crazy new things (triathlon and grits are the major ones). I have been pretty homesick a few times, but that is to be expected this far from home...hence the name. It is cracking me up that sometimes I get all deep and wonder if I am trying to "find myself".. and then I fall in a bush with a bike and realize that I already know who I am no matter where I live.
Know that you are all in my thoughts everyday and I love that you are part of Jake and my adventure!
Laundry Goddess I Am Not!
It was bound to happen sometime in my life I guess. I had made it for 12 years of doing my own laundry without turning anything pink, but Wednesday I turned EVERYTHING pink (of Jake's that he likes). I put a beach towel that had been washed 100 times in with the "white load" and it bled all over everything. I can't say I take all the blame for it because I had no idea it had happened until it came out of the dryer. Jake was helping me and switched the laundry from washer to dryer and with the help of his trusty color blindness/lack of detail skills didn't notice that the laundry was PINK...not just a little either. Some of it was Pepto. In this load were several of Jake's most favorite things: shirt from our first 5K this summer, triathlon top he wears in all of the races and almost every pair of socks he owns. I don't know how I got lucky, but I did. So scroll down the blog to the pic of us after the first triathlon and picture his meshy, semi-gay shirt with the meshy stuff now a great shade of light pink....even gayer. He can't wear that or all the other guys will make fun of him.
So that leads me to today. I called Nikki for help guessing that the fashionista that she was she had dyed something at sometime. She was too busy laughing at me dying the top pink to begin with to be of any assistance. So, I am stirring a pot full of black water for 30 minutes in hopes that Jake's tri-top will emerge a semi-acceptable manly shade of something. He found the process fascinating and was looking around the apartment for anything else that needed dying. Luckily we decided we like Ike as a blonde and our bed comforter would be entirely to Emo in black so we restrained ourselves.
Wish me luck! Laundry Goddess signing off!
So that leads me to today. I called Nikki for help guessing that the fashionista that she was she had dyed something at sometime. She was too busy laughing at me dying the top pink to begin with to be of any assistance. So, I am stirring a pot full of black water for 30 minutes in hopes that Jake's tri-top will emerge a semi-acceptable manly shade of something. He found the process fascinating and was looking around the apartment for anything else that needed dying. Luckily we decided we like Ike as a blonde and our bed comforter would be entirely to Emo in black so we restrained ourselves.
Wish me luck! Laundry Goddess signing off!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tri #2
*No pics yet. There will actually be a website with some "action shots". Should be funny.
Build Up- We decided to do the Greenville Sprint Triathlon but I didn’t get into the race initially. It was full when I tried to sign up 2 hours after Jake. I was wait-listed. I was also baffled that there was a wait-list. It seemed like a lot. I later found out this is the biggest triathlon in South Carolina. There were 600 people signed up. Again, that seemed like a lot. I was really intimidated and secretly hoping I would not get signed up. Asheville was fun and I enjoyed it, and I thought if I did one that was too intimidating I would not enjoy it as much and it might turn me off of the whole triathlon deal. Yeah I managed to get this worked up over a silly voluntary sport….don’t you all know me at all? Anyway, I was a little stressed when I actually got in. “Oh well, I am sure there will be a nice t-shirt”..that is what I thought to myself to convince myself to actually do it.
Pre-Race- Our alarm went off Saturday morning at 4:00. That is a ridiculous time to get up to do a voluntary exercise activity by the way. We got our stuff together the night before and headed to the car with our bikes and bags full of Lycra/goggles/heart monitors and other essential geek gear.
We drove along in the dark arguing because Jake thought I was packing him breakfast (which I DID NOT say I was doing Captain Misunderstanding, I am not your mother) when I turned and said “is that lightening?” “Holy crap yes” was the appropriate response as the sky opened and turned the highway into a hydroplane-a-riffic mess. Hhhmmm, the weather forecast yesterday said 78 at race time with a 10% chance of rain later in the day. It said nothing of deluge, lightning and insanity at 5 a.m. This is not optimum conditions for changing clothes outside, riding a bike and running…FYI.
We got our chips, got body marked (Some lady writes on you with a marker. FYI #2 Kathy, I was just “body marking” my sisters back in the day and deserved none of the punishment that was doled out my way!) and then stood around forever. FOREVER. We were waiting for them to decide if we could use the pool or not. Apparently they don’t like hundreds of people in a pool, even if it is inside, during a lightening storm. I think I respect that. If the pool part had been called off we would have just had to bike and run. That wouldn’t have been as cool at all. So we stood around. Did I mention if was FOREVER?
Usually you set up all your clothes by your bike, mess around with stuff and chat folks up, but it was raining and I decided to just change out of my backpack so there was nothing to set out. So instead I was bored and nervous. That is not an annoying combination for poor Jake at all. Luckily some of our triathlon pals from the last race showed up to distract me. It is fun to hang out with people and compare notes and be nervous together. Makes me feel not as crazy. PS: Changing out of my bag would be a triathlon no-no as the changing gets factored into your total time. But the idea of running in wet shoes and socks seemed to outweigh an extra few minutes. Jake was tough and set his stuff out. I am not tough….no lie. I know my limits and wet socks are one of them. I am not a total dummy….Oh if I had only known what a lie that statement would be later.
Swim- I got to met the lady I was starting beside beforehand which was really fun. She was super nice and it was only her second triathlon too. We discussed how neither of us was an awesome swimmer or minded if the other one passed. She did not mention she was Wonder-Triathlon Woman with an invisible set of gills and wings on her feet so I had a false sense of security that she was a rookie “like me”…Yeah, “like me” only a whole lot better.
Once I jumped in the pool I wasn’t nervous anymore. It is like taking a final. You are a mess the 3 days beforehand, but once you hit the chair you are fine. I had also already done this once before, so come on…It is also a little known fact that lots of people pee in the pool before the start. That keeps your mind off of being nervous and puts it squarely on DOING ALL YOU CAN TO NOT GET THE WATER IN YOUR MOUTH.
It was our turn (“GO #416”), we took off and suddenly I was just trying to stay in her wake. You can draft in the swim and not work as hard if you stay “in the bubbles”…You just hope that all the bubbles are coming from their turbulence…not from last night’s burritos. Anyway, so I am happy in the bubbles until some random lady wants in on the bubbles and doesn’t see me so she runs me clear out of the lane. I got T-boned while swimming. What the hell, I am huge and wearing a giant hot-pink shirt with ORCA on it!? I am a killer whale in hot pink for Pete’s sake, stay the hell out of my bubbles!
Anyway, I ended up falling 30 seconds behind her coming out of the pool, but was really happy when I looked at my watch and saw 9 min 36 sec, which was at least a full 30 seconds faster than my Asheville time. I RAN across the WET pool deck, out the door on the WET concrete sidewalk through the WET asphalt parking lot…all barefoot, violating all of the rules about running on wet surfaces I have ever heard. I would totally scream at a patient for being stupid enough to hurt themselves doing exactly what I did.
Transition 1
So in the haste of the lightening storm I did not pay attention when I was racking my bike. I have a mountain bike (aka: I am the kid driving the pinto at the prom..seriously) so there is only one way for it to get “racked”, by the seat. That means that the bar I put it on has to be high enough to get over my seat or handlebars. I was the first one to hang up my bike so I didn’t pay much attention that the clearance was a little short until I ran out to my bike to get on it and couldn’t get it off of the rack because it was too short somehow. HOLY CRAP, I am in a hurry and am carefully trying to lift up the ENTIRE bike rack with 5 other really expensive bikes on it to get my crappy bike out. Can’t remember exactly what happened, but I got out on the road.
Bike- I am pretty good on the bike and had a really nice ride. I got a ton of water on my face from the wet road (which is something you don’t really ever think about) but the course was easier than Asheville and I really enjoyed my 15 miles. I was totally relieved when I turned the corner into the transition area because there had been a lot of wrecks on the wet road and I had survived.
I had my feet halfway out of the pedal and was thinking about the run. A big crowd gathers in that area because you can see everyone come in and take pictures of them. I was thumbs upping and smiling because I had a great ride on my kick ass Pinto (it was 52:20 for a 17+mph average). I knew I had to get off my bike at the speed bump but wasn’t paying attention as I came around the corner and the line came sooner than I thought. That is when I clamped down on my wet brakes…then Physics and Gravity showed up and kicked my ass. I stopped on a dang dime and tried to get off my bike on the right side…except my left foot had slid back into my foot cage due to the sudden stop and was now stuck in the pedal.
Transition #2- So I am hopping on my right foot trying to free my left foot while slowing falling backwards down the incline behind me. I almost saved it like 10 times, but then my right foot hit the curb behind me and I fell into a bush…with my bike…with my left foot finally out the pedal. Luckily there were 150 people standing there to see it. I jump out and take off like it was no big deal (because it wasn’t even in the top 5 falls of the past five years...if only these silly people knew about my sick falling skillz) and took off running with my bike to get ready for the run…covered in mud, leaves, and bush. I am pretty sure there is a picture of it out there in Internet world or on YouTube. Fabulous.
Run- My near death experience with the bush was not nearly as traumatic as my shoes and socks full of water after the bike. I didn’t think about that happening as the water was shooting all over me during the bike ride. Running is really my least favorite part. I am just bad at it. Fact. The last course was flat for the run and I made it in 34 minutes and I was hoping to do the same. The bike course had been 3.5 miles longer, so I knew my time would not be as fast in total, but was hoping to break 30 minutes in the run. Amazing that I was excited to do that in June at the first 5K I ran..that was without swimming 400 meters and riding a bike 15 miles beforehand! Then the run course loomed ahead.
It was a hilly mug with some trail running after a huge rainstorm. It was rocky and scary and “uphell”. It was also a two loop course. I had to run past the finish line to run the second lap… Yuck and depressing.
I did get to see Jake and some of our pals cheering me on. I totally forgot that I was muddy, leafy, and bushy until I ran past and heard Jake say “Why are you so dirty?” I turned around and yelled “because I fell off of my bike” and just kept going. His face was hysterical. I can’t imagine what everyone running by me thought had happened. Anyway, the uphill junk was evil so I had to walk a few times and knew my run time would be terrible. I didn’t have anyone to race against to the finish, but still heard Jake yelling “stride it out”...Still don’t know what that means. I ran across the finish line and hit my watch and almost died of shock. I ran that nasty course in 30 min 59 sec. Pretty darn good.
Whole Thing- I ended up doing the whole race in 1 hour 37 minutes. The Asheville one in 1:32 but the bike was 3.5 miles shorter so I really did better only it took longer. Weird. Jake did his in 1:22, but he is more awesome than I am at all the events. He is just lucky that being really, really good looking is not an event or I would totally kick his behind in the whole thing.
The field at this triathlon was about one million times tougher than the Asheville one. I did much, much better and placed much, much worse. The fastest lady did it in 1:05, the slowest in 2:08. I fell right in the middle. I improved all my events though and feel really good about the whole thing. The next one is in October, and I definitely have some ideas on how to improve! But, I now know what it is like to race with 600 other people and can say that I competed in the largest triathlon held in South Carolina. As I sit here and think about it, my time was really not bad at all after you take into account I dressed out of my bag, got my bike stuck under the rack, and fell into a bush. All in all a really solid day…and all of this before 9:20 a.m.
Build Up- We decided to do the Greenville Sprint Triathlon but I didn’t get into the race initially. It was full when I tried to sign up 2 hours after Jake. I was wait-listed. I was also baffled that there was a wait-list. It seemed like a lot. I later found out this is the biggest triathlon in South Carolina. There were 600 people signed up. Again, that seemed like a lot. I was really intimidated and secretly hoping I would not get signed up. Asheville was fun and I enjoyed it, and I thought if I did one that was too intimidating I would not enjoy it as much and it might turn me off of the whole triathlon deal. Yeah I managed to get this worked up over a silly voluntary sport….don’t you all know me at all? Anyway, I was a little stressed when I actually got in. “Oh well, I am sure there will be a nice t-shirt”..that is what I thought to myself to convince myself to actually do it.
Pre-Race- Our alarm went off Saturday morning at 4:00. That is a ridiculous time to get up to do a voluntary exercise activity by the way. We got our stuff together the night before and headed to the car with our bikes and bags full of Lycra/goggles/heart monitors and other essential geek gear.
We drove along in the dark arguing because Jake thought I was packing him breakfast (which I DID NOT say I was doing Captain Misunderstanding, I am not your mother) when I turned and said “is that lightening?” “Holy crap yes” was the appropriate response as the sky opened and turned the highway into a hydroplane-a-riffic mess. Hhhmmm, the weather forecast yesterday said 78 at race time with a 10% chance of rain later in the day. It said nothing of deluge, lightning and insanity at 5 a.m. This is not optimum conditions for changing clothes outside, riding a bike and running…FYI.
We got our chips, got body marked (Some lady writes on you with a marker. FYI #2 Kathy, I was just “body marking” my sisters back in the day and deserved none of the punishment that was doled out my way!) and then stood around forever. FOREVER. We were waiting for them to decide if we could use the pool or not. Apparently they don’t like hundreds of people in a pool, even if it is inside, during a lightening storm. I think I respect that. If the pool part had been called off we would have just had to bike and run. That wouldn’t have been as cool at all. So we stood around. Did I mention if was FOREVER?
Usually you set up all your clothes by your bike, mess around with stuff and chat folks up, but it was raining and I decided to just change out of my backpack so there was nothing to set out. So instead I was bored and nervous. That is not an annoying combination for poor Jake at all. Luckily some of our triathlon pals from the last race showed up to distract me. It is fun to hang out with people and compare notes and be nervous together. Makes me feel not as crazy. PS: Changing out of my bag would be a triathlon no-no as the changing gets factored into your total time. But the idea of running in wet shoes and socks seemed to outweigh an extra few minutes. Jake was tough and set his stuff out. I am not tough….no lie. I know my limits and wet socks are one of them. I am not a total dummy….Oh if I had only known what a lie that statement would be later.
Swim- I got to met the lady I was starting beside beforehand which was really fun. She was super nice and it was only her second triathlon too. We discussed how neither of us was an awesome swimmer or minded if the other one passed. She did not mention she was Wonder-Triathlon Woman with an invisible set of gills and wings on her feet so I had a false sense of security that she was a rookie “like me”…Yeah, “like me” only a whole lot better.
Once I jumped in the pool I wasn’t nervous anymore. It is like taking a final. You are a mess the 3 days beforehand, but once you hit the chair you are fine. I had also already done this once before, so come on…It is also a little known fact that lots of people pee in the pool before the start. That keeps your mind off of being nervous and puts it squarely on DOING ALL YOU CAN TO NOT GET THE WATER IN YOUR MOUTH.
It was our turn (“GO #416”), we took off and suddenly I was just trying to stay in her wake. You can draft in the swim and not work as hard if you stay “in the bubbles”…You just hope that all the bubbles are coming from their turbulence…not from last night’s burritos. Anyway, so I am happy in the bubbles until some random lady wants in on the bubbles and doesn’t see me so she runs me clear out of the lane. I got T-boned while swimming. What the hell, I am huge and wearing a giant hot-pink shirt with ORCA on it!? I am a killer whale in hot pink for Pete’s sake, stay the hell out of my bubbles!
Anyway, I ended up falling 30 seconds behind her coming out of the pool, but was really happy when I looked at my watch and saw 9 min 36 sec, which was at least a full 30 seconds faster than my Asheville time. I RAN across the WET pool deck, out the door on the WET concrete sidewalk through the WET asphalt parking lot…all barefoot, violating all of the rules about running on wet surfaces I have ever heard. I would totally scream at a patient for being stupid enough to hurt themselves doing exactly what I did.
Transition 1
So in the haste of the lightening storm I did not pay attention when I was racking my bike. I have a mountain bike (aka: I am the kid driving the pinto at the prom..seriously) so there is only one way for it to get “racked”, by the seat. That means that the bar I put it on has to be high enough to get over my seat or handlebars. I was the first one to hang up my bike so I didn’t pay much attention that the clearance was a little short until I ran out to my bike to get on it and couldn’t get it off of the rack because it was too short somehow. HOLY CRAP, I am in a hurry and am carefully trying to lift up the ENTIRE bike rack with 5 other really expensive bikes on it to get my crappy bike out. Can’t remember exactly what happened, but I got out on the road.
Bike- I am pretty good on the bike and had a really nice ride. I got a ton of water on my face from the wet road (which is something you don’t really ever think about) but the course was easier than Asheville and I really enjoyed my 15 miles. I was totally relieved when I turned the corner into the transition area because there had been a lot of wrecks on the wet road and I had survived.
I had my feet halfway out of the pedal and was thinking about the run. A big crowd gathers in that area because you can see everyone come in and take pictures of them. I was thumbs upping and smiling because I had a great ride on my kick ass Pinto (it was 52:20 for a 17+mph average). I knew I had to get off my bike at the speed bump but wasn’t paying attention as I came around the corner and the line came sooner than I thought. That is when I clamped down on my wet brakes…then Physics and Gravity showed up and kicked my ass. I stopped on a dang dime and tried to get off my bike on the right side…except my left foot had slid back into my foot cage due to the sudden stop and was now stuck in the pedal.
Transition #2- So I am hopping on my right foot trying to free my left foot while slowing falling backwards down the incline behind me. I almost saved it like 10 times, but then my right foot hit the curb behind me and I fell into a bush…with my bike…with my left foot finally out the pedal. Luckily there were 150 people standing there to see it. I jump out and take off like it was no big deal (because it wasn’t even in the top 5 falls of the past five years...if only these silly people knew about my sick falling skillz) and took off running with my bike to get ready for the run…covered in mud, leaves, and bush. I am pretty sure there is a picture of it out there in Internet world or on YouTube. Fabulous.
Run- My near death experience with the bush was not nearly as traumatic as my shoes and socks full of water after the bike. I didn’t think about that happening as the water was shooting all over me during the bike ride. Running is really my least favorite part. I am just bad at it. Fact. The last course was flat for the run and I made it in 34 minutes and I was hoping to do the same. The bike course had been 3.5 miles longer, so I knew my time would not be as fast in total, but was hoping to break 30 minutes in the run. Amazing that I was excited to do that in June at the first 5K I ran..that was without swimming 400 meters and riding a bike 15 miles beforehand! Then the run course loomed ahead.
It was a hilly mug with some trail running after a huge rainstorm. It was rocky and scary and “uphell”. It was also a two loop course. I had to run past the finish line to run the second lap… Yuck and depressing.
I did get to see Jake and some of our pals cheering me on. I totally forgot that I was muddy, leafy, and bushy until I ran past and heard Jake say “Why are you so dirty?” I turned around and yelled “because I fell off of my bike” and just kept going. His face was hysterical. I can’t imagine what everyone running by me thought had happened. Anyway, the uphill junk was evil so I had to walk a few times and knew my run time would be terrible. I didn’t have anyone to race against to the finish, but still heard Jake yelling “stride it out”...Still don’t know what that means. I ran across the finish line and hit my watch and almost died of shock. I ran that nasty course in 30 min 59 sec. Pretty darn good.
Whole Thing- I ended up doing the whole race in 1 hour 37 minutes. The Asheville one in 1:32 but the bike was 3.5 miles shorter so I really did better only it took longer. Weird. Jake did his in 1:22, but he is more awesome than I am at all the events. He is just lucky that being really, really good looking is not an event or I would totally kick his behind in the whole thing.
The field at this triathlon was about one million times tougher than the Asheville one. I did much, much better and placed much, much worse. The fastest lady did it in 1:05, the slowest in 2:08. I fell right in the middle. I improved all my events though and feel really good about the whole thing. The next one is in October, and I definitely have some ideas on how to improve! But, I now know what it is like to race with 600 other people and can say that I competed in the largest triathlon held in South Carolina. As I sit here and think about it, my time was really not bad at all after you take into account I dressed out of my bag, got my bike stuck under the rack, and fell into a bush. All in all a really solid day…and all of this before 9:20 a.m.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Stupidly Nervous
Jake and I have another triathlon this weekend. It is in Greenville. It was full, but I got in off of the waiting list. A race with a waiting list? The race is HUGELY big with like 600 folks. Yikes. I am not racing in the new person division, instead I am going with people my age. I feel good about it. I think racing with people that know what is going on will help me...if I am not too depressed they are all passing me all over the place. I need to keep that in mind. It is going to increase the amount of stupidity I feel riding my mountain bike, but I will get over it. Everyone else has a "road bike" which is built for speed. Road bikes are tons lighter and let you get into a more aerodynamic position as compared to the mountain bike..that is built to drive on a mountain and is about as aerodynamic as a sailboat.
My first race went so well that I am really nervous to do it again. That seems silly, but it is one of those things where if I never did it again I would only have a good experience. I have never been good at dealing with the unknown outcome. Maybe I will do even better...hmmm.
I get nervous. I was nervous before the damn suitcase race in 7th grade at Play Day. I was nervous before 7th grade basketball camp. Seriously it is just stupid, but I can't stop it from happening.
I am a dork. I am nervous about a race I do for fun that has no bearing on my actual exsistence and does not have any sort of impact on the rest of my life...with the exception of maybe making me fitter and having a reason to wear spandex in public. Like I needed a reason.
My first race went so well that I am really nervous to do it again. That seems silly, but it is one of those things where if I never did it again I would only have a good experience. I have never been good at dealing with the unknown outcome. Maybe I will do even better...hmmm.
I get nervous. I was nervous before the damn suitcase race in 7th grade at Play Day. I was nervous before 7th grade basketball camp. Seriously it is just stupid, but I can't stop it from happening.
I am a dork. I am nervous about a race I do for fun that has no bearing on my actual exsistence and does not have any sort of impact on the rest of my life...with the exception of maybe making me fitter and having a reason to wear spandex in public. Like I needed a reason.
Fear the Viking Tour
Jake and I got to spend the weekend with my folks and some of their friends (Viking Tour Group to be exact) in Williamsburg, Virginia. We drove the 7 hour trip on Saturday, stopping only in Durham to get a look at Duke. It is a beautiful campus, but much smaller than you would think it is. All of the campus buildings (student loan, different specific studies) are just old houses they have converted and slapped up a sign. They are nice houses, but still not what I expected.
Williamsburg was tons of fun. It was great to see my folks, but 36 hours is just not quite long enough! The weather could not have been better and the company wasn’t bad either. The first night we ate at the Fat Canary and had fantastic food and great wine. I had sturgeon on truffle mashed potatoes with a topping of scallops and lobster…Yeah, it was just as good as it sounds. PS: The wine’s name was Bleasdale mom. We got to sit outside and enjoy the stars and then we went to the witch trial. Yep, I said witch trial. We were late to it (shocker) and I didn’t realize just how serious it was going to be. They were actually putting some lady on trial. The evidence was overwhelming and I voted to burn her…what? She “floated in an unnatural position” when she was tied up and thrown in the lake.
The second day the lady folk were to shop while the men golfed..But instead we found a great wine and cheese bar around noon and pretty much hung out there for 4 hours. It was fun to catch up while relaxing outside with a procuitto and provolone sandwich while munching in cranberry cheddar cheese…and a bunch of wine. Good stuff. We got cleaned up and went to dinner at the most imposing seafood restaurant I have ever seen. It was a huge buffet with something for everyone and giant masts/booms/etc above the buffets. Crazy.
The guys and some of the ladies played golf on the third day, and the remaining ladies managed to keep out of the wine all day. Everyone should be impressed. I had a wonderful run through the old part of Williamsburg and the College of W&M around 6:45 in the morning. Of course I got really lost and ran for 50 minutes, but it was a really enjoyable 50 minutes! It was a great morning, no traffic, and the scenery was perfection. I can see why you would want to live somewhere with such beauty and historical significance. W&M is a college founded by a President, just miles from the first settlement of the US, and full of Civil War and Revolutionary War history. Yeah, but there are a billion people there. That is enough to turn me off.
We said our sad goodbyes as I looked around at the most exhausted group of 50 year olds I have ever seen. It must be what the kindergarten bus looks like on the way home from a fieldtrip. Jake and I then took off for home….the long way.
Williamsburg was tons of fun. It was great to see my folks, but 36 hours is just not quite long enough! The weather could not have been better and the company wasn’t bad either. The first night we ate at the Fat Canary and had fantastic food and great wine. I had sturgeon on truffle mashed potatoes with a topping of scallops and lobster…Yeah, it was just as good as it sounds. PS: The wine’s name was Bleasdale mom. We got to sit outside and enjoy the stars and then we went to the witch trial. Yep, I said witch trial. We were late to it (shocker) and I didn’t realize just how serious it was going to be. They were actually putting some lady on trial. The evidence was overwhelming and I voted to burn her…what? She “floated in an unnatural position” when she was tied up and thrown in the lake.
The second day the lady folk were to shop while the men golfed..But instead we found a great wine and cheese bar around noon and pretty much hung out there for 4 hours. It was fun to catch up while relaxing outside with a procuitto and provolone sandwich while munching in cranberry cheddar cheese…and a bunch of wine. Good stuff. We got cleaned up and went to dinner at the most imposing seafood restaurant I have ever seen. It was a huge buffet with something for everyone and giant masts/booms/etc above the buffets. Crazy.
The guys and some of the ladies played golf on the third day, and the remaining ladies managed to keep out of the wine all day. Everyone should be impressed. I had a wonderful run through the old part of Williamsburg and the College of W&M around 6:45 in the morning. Of course I got really lost and ran for 50 minutes, but it was a really enjoyable 50 minutes! It was a great morning, no traffic, and the scenery was perfection. I can see why you would want to live somewhere with such beauty and historical significance. W&M is a college founded by a President, just miles from the first settlement of the US, and full of Civil War and Revolutionary War history. Yeah, but there are a billion people there. That is enough to turn me off.
We said our sad goodbyes as I looked around at the most exhausted group of 50 year olds I have ever seen. It must be what the kindergarten bus looks like on the way home from a fieldtrip. Jake and I then took off for home….the long way.
"Elbow Room Cried Daniel Boone"
The title is a direct quote all Toll children are aware of. It is what you say when you want people to scoot over. Kind of a precursor to the shove or slug that you know is coming. I have no idea what it really means in it's originial historical text. I digress.
So, the “long way home” involved driving from the ocean to the mountains. We took off across North Carolina and ended up in Boone. It is a neat little town. Boone is allegedly the old stomping grounds of Daniel Boone, and home to Appalachian State University. ASU is of course home of the Mountaineers that knocked off Michigan in the Big House last year, and old stomping grounds of Coach Prince. Hopefully we can channel the ASU spirit we got in this area and give the Wildcats some good juju from SC so they can get it together.
The campus is gorgeous. I expected hillbilly shanties and liquor stills by the creek. Yep, I was wrong. They are building like crazy, all the buildings have the same brick style, and the area is picturesque. We stayed at the campus center that is part hotel on the hilliest campus I have ever seen. I am not lying. We went on a run and I first almost died falling down the hill, and then almost had a heart attack on the way back up. It was ridiculous. They have a campus shuttle to drag folks around so they can get class to class, it is that tough. I would be fit, with a capital F-I-T if I were a Mountaineer. If you aren’t, you are either not going to class or need to lay WAY off the Ding Dongs.
We drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I totally recommend, and went to Grandfather Mountain. We did some hiking to a swinging bridge that I crossed without issue. Impressive as I have paralyzing fears of heights and general mechanical failures of all bridges, planes, cars, guardrails, elevators, and ski lifts. There are all sorts of signs with the jist of “KEEP TRACK OF YOUR DAMN KIDS” and “IF YOU HIKED UP HERE, THERE IS NO RIDE TO THE BOTTOM FATTY”.
We were sure tired when we got home. It was a ton of fun though. We are pretty good at being really great sight-seers that don’t take good pictures. Hope I use my words well.
So, the “long way home” involved driving from the ocean to the mountains. We took off across North Carolina and ended up in Boone. It is a neat little town. Boone is allegedly the old stomping grounds of Daniel Boone, and home to Appalachian State University. ASU is of course home of the Mountaineers that knocked off Michigan in the Big House last year, and old stomping grounds of Coach Prince. Hopefully we can channel the ASU spirit we got in this area and give the Wildcats some good juju from SC so they can get it together.
The campus is gorgeous. I expected hillbilly shanties and liquor stills by the creek. Yep, I was wrong. They are building like crazy, all the buildings have the same brick style, and the area is picturesque. We stayed at the campus center that is part hotel on the hilliest campus I have ever seen. I am not lying. We went on a run and I first almost died falling down the hill, and then almost had a heart attack on the way back up. It was ridiculous. They have a campus shuttle to drag folks around so they can get class to class, it is that tough. I would be fit, with a capital F-I-T if I were a Mountaineer. If you aren’t, you are either not going to class or need to lay WAY off the Ding Dongs.
We drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I totally recommend, and went to Grandfather Mountain. We did some hiking to a swinging bridge that I crossed without issue. Impressive as I have paralyzing fears of heights and general mechanical failures of all bridges, planes, cars, guardrails, elevators, and ski lifts. There are all sorts of signs with the jist of “KEEP TRACK OF YOUR DAMN KIDS” and “IF YOU HIKED UP HERE, THERE IS NO RIDE TO THE BOTTOM FATTY”.
We were sure tired when we got home. It was a ton of fun though. We are pretty good at being really great sight-seers that don’t take good pictures. Hope I use my words well.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Thong at the Gym? Really?
I spent a terrifying 45 minutes at the gym earlier this week watching a lady's rear end try to eat her pants.
It almost got it done. She was on the StairMaster and every step she took was one step closer to the WORLD BIGGEST WEDGIE....I have given my share of wedgies to my siblings and was pretty mean about it, but I never would have intentionally pulled any one's underpants up their keester that far for fear of mortally wounding them or causing them to never be able to sit again without a blow up doughnut. But it didn't phase this lady. She was getting it done on the StairMaster while I squirmed on the exercise bike trying to stop the northbound progression of her underpants with my mind. It was a train wreck, I couldn't look away. I finally had to cut my workout short and switch to a different machine before I lost it and jumped on her to picked it out myself in order to save her life.
Ike the Flake
I love my dog. Everyone knows that. He’s my workout partner, my protector when Jake is out of town, and my best furry friend. He is also the really big flake.
Today we were running in a really nice subdivision that has a large lake in the middle. South Carolina has been in a severe drought over the past two years so the lake is not so much a pristine, crystal blue oasis as a stinky, murky mud pit. But, it was really warm out and the dog was panting and slowing down so I thought I would let him jump into the lake for a quick dip. He was thrilled with the idea and proceeded to do the regular Ike in the water routine that involves lots of acting like he has never seen water before and he is totally out of his gourd excited about the experience. All’s well until he shoves in face under water to rub it on the dirt and comes up with a six inch tall mud pie on his snout. He is totally in shock and not happy. He jumps out of the water and runs over to me and looks at me like “aren’t you going to do something about this” and just stands there. It has to look ridiculous. Some stupid lady in workout clothes when it is too hot to work out standing next to some dog with a mud pie on his head. I know I am an exaggerator, but I am not kidding when I say it was a six inch tall pile of mud on his snout. Sticky, stinky, bottom of the lake mud. I coax him back into the lake and try to get him to put his nose underwater to clean it off, but that is not going to happen in Ike’s world. He knows the last time he put his face underwater it was not fun so there is no way he is doing it again….he is also not going to let me do it. He is all about cause and effect and has a better memory than me. We put him in the bathtub ONE TIME in Manhattan and he still will not get within 5 feet of a bathtub, not even a bathtub full of steak. So he is standing in the water just out of my reach and whining, while I am trying to toss water on him as he is trying to dodge the water…and looking at me like I am trying to abuse him. That is the look I get all the time from that dog. I was giving him a bath in the car wash area (people who wash their cars there have to love me doing that) of the apt complex afterwards and you would have thought I was trying to put acid on him. Flaky, ridiculousness.
You know they say dogs are a reflection of their owners….poop.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Atheltic.
Okay, here is the disclaimer. This is going to be a very long post about the triathlon we did over the weekend. It is going to be full of monotonous detail, little chunks of entertainment, and a lot of thoughts. If you are not up for that type of commitment, you’d better go read People magazine because this will be both boring and without any celebrity cameos.
The adventure started on Saturday when we headed to Asheville to get checked into the hotel, “pick up our packet” and “go to the pre-race meeting”. I seriously knew what none of these things meant with the exception of the hotel part. Actually, I am incorrect, the excitement started Friday night when my husband decided to shave his body to get “ready for the race”. Yes, I had a sober adult discussion with him about how to go about shaving his legs..with a razor. He also shaved his chest, back and legs. Somehow in his mind his arms didn’t warrant shaving. I didn’t get it, but I didn’t argue. 8 months ago the man didn’t exercise, suddenly he is shaving his body hair in the name of fitness he is so serious about it. I feel like my life is weird sometimes. I digress.
“Picking up your packet” means going to the race site where you show your ID, get a packet full of stuff with lots of instructions and get your t-shirt (the important part for me, I would eat poo if there was a t-shirt involved) and get a look at what you are getting yourself into. You are given 3 sets of numbers: one goes on your bike where it will rub your leg and get in the way of your water bottle, another goes on the front of your bike helmet so you can look like an even bigger goof than if you are just wearing spandex, and the last one goes on your shirt or race belt while you run so there is something for you to swear at and try to fix while you are running to serve as a distraction.
“Going to the race meeting” means standing around a bunch of uptight, Type A personalities (most of which hadn’t done a triathlon before) while they tried to scream questions at some poor guy who was balancing on a fence so he could yell loud enough for us to hear him.
“Why couldn’t you hear him” you may ask? Well, it just so happened that every African-American person in Asheville had come to the park for the “Real Families Picnic” (I don’t really understand what that means and am confused) and there was a sound system and everyone was free stylin’ with the mic yo. I’m not kidding. Nothing like trying to figure out how not to get disqualified from the swim while some guy and some buddies are layin’ down a beat by gettin’ jiggy wit it and “keepin’ it real for da hoz” (direct quote).
Among the things I have learned here, I have been informed by several African-American people at work that they do indeed tan and do not like to be called African-American. I have also been informed that they do not swim. Seriously…not at all with the swimming. They actually said on the nightly news here lately that black people are 3X more likely to drown than their counterparts. No clue as to why.
There was a lot of irony involved as all of the really fit white folks in technical t-shirts and sensible sandals were very confused by what was happening up the hill with the rapping and da beatz, and occasionally someone dressed in a gold shiny Celtics jersey or short shorts holding a plate of barbecue would accidentally walk through our area and try to get out of it as quickly as possible for fear of being captured and made engage in our exercise lunacy.
It was just really bizarre.
Oh and there was an ice cream truck that kept dragging by the meeting with the mind-bending music thinking one of the really fit people was going to come to their senses that they wanted a bomb pop in the middle of the meeting?
So then we went to eat Mexican food….I know, it was all we could find at the time. Then went to the motel and set out labeling everything and getting our things together for the next morning. On top of the Lycra, we also needed shoes, socks, hat, number belt, bike helmet, bike gloves, stuff to eat/drink, swim cap and goggles. For those that know me from my childhood, you will know that I usually packed all of those things in my school bag to take with me in case something came up during the day. I will get into where you actually put all of this stuff later. We went to sleep with the alarm set the next day for 5 a.m.
It is really dark at 5 a.m. Seriously. It was also pretty chilly in the mountains (around 60) so we had on a couple layers over our race clothes. We ate something, loaded up the car and headed over to get set up.
There were all kinds of folks at this thing. This was a first timer “friendly” race as well as a favorite for really good racers, so it was a crazy mix of folks who had no clue what they were doing and people that knew exactly what they were doing and were intimidating (see man riding bike with child on his bike while not wearing shoes). We put six bikes on a rack at our assigned spots and went to set up our “transition areas”. In a triathlon you swim, then run out and change into bike gear, then come back and change into running gear all at a little towel area you claim for yourself by your bike. You set everything out in a orderly fashion so you can screw it up as little as possible as you are kinda deranged between events trying to hurry to the next one (a lady rode the whole bike race with her gloves on upside down because she was hurrying). Kinda like the suitcase race at field day in 3rd grade with serious adults…If you were a bystander at this thing and stopped to watch, it would be hysterical.
So, you get your junk organized and then go over to “body marking” where people write your race number on you with giant markers. They do it on both shoulders, both thighs, and then write your race category on your calf. They really like to keep track of you as you could potentially fall over in the ditch at any point along the 12 mile bike course or 3 mile run course and they would have no idea the last place you were otherwise. My number was 241 and my calf got a great big “N” for novice..which is code for “if I am looking lost or in distress please help me because I am completely clueless as to what is happening”. After all that you stand around waiting for the deal to start.
SWIM:
I was the 241st person into the pool (there were 300) and we took off swimming. This was the part that was the scariest to me. I had only been swimming in a 17 meter pool and was now swimming in a 50 meter pool for 8 lengths. I figured I would go too fast, then have to stop and get passed by everyone. My main goal became just not to drink any of the pool water as I was certain it was full of pee. Don’t ask why I thought that.
It actually went very well for me. I passed a bunch of people, went at a good pace, and didn’t stop once. Wait, I did have to stop when all the sudden there was a big backup as a lady was BACKSTROKING with a whip kick and taking people out all over the place. She was like Jackie Chan of the triathlon, accidentally beating the crap out of everyone. It was even worse because she was with the “novice” division so none of us had any clue as to what to do about it. I just gave up and kinda timed it so I jumped over her leg somehow and kept going.
I was really happy with how smooth I was going as I neared the end. Then I “chicked” a guy. It is by far the most fun athletic thing I have ever done. “Chicking” someone in triathlon means that a girl passes a guy…I have no idea what they call the reverse…could rhyme with “chick” but imply male and I won’t write it in my blog for fear of my mother. Anyway, the guy started 10 seconds ahead of me, but I caught him by the end even though he was not going to let me. He was right on my tail as I hauled myself out of the water onto the land and staggered towards the timing mat (records time) barely beating him. Ten minutes was my time. Awesome. Exactly what I thought I could do if everything went perfectly. And I chicked a dude. I would have broken my leg before I let him get in front of me once we were out of the water.
TRANSITION 1:
So I make it to my little place and put myself together for my bike ride. Socks are hard to put on wet feet and the bike seat is slippery when your pants are wet. All obvious to the brain, but much scarier in real life.
BIKE:
Jake and I drove the course the night before and knew it was going to be brutal. I am not even exaggerating brutal. Although I had pointed out to him several weeks earlier that doing our first triathlon in the MOUNTAINS may not be bright…I need to be more insistent.
So I started up the bike course. I am in pretty good shape on the bike (see prior blog about Jake’s patent pending training methods) but I had no idea how bad of shape everyone else would be in. I can’t even explain how hard it was but there were people walking their bikes up the hills in bike shoes (not easy) and barfing on the side of the road…and they weren’t first timers either.
I managed to ride the whole thing without stopping on my trusty mountain bike (may have had an advantage for once) and passed 20 people or so, only getting passed by 2. There were volunteers and police at all of the intersections to make sure I didn’t end up a grease spot on the road and I yelled “thanks” to all of them and asked a few if they wanted to trade me places…they declined. I think it was all the barfing around me that was scaring them away.
When I pedaled to the finish I was super proud of myself since I had finished in under 45 minutes (better than my goal), but knew that I had pushed too hard on the bike and the run was going to be nasty as my legs were REALLY TIRED.
TRANSITION 2:
So Jake put some super cool shoelaces in my shoes but I didn’t pay enough attention to figure out how to work them….note to self….problem. You have heard the expression “a monkey doing a math problem”…get me a banana because I was confused. My number belt also proved pretty confusing as it migrated up/down, in circles as I never did use it correctly.
RUN:
I did manage to get going and my goal was to run as much as I could without stopping. I knew that walking if I needed to was good so I could keep going but that if I started walking I would not want to run anymore. It was kind of a lonely 3 miles. I chatted sporadically with people that I passed or that passed me or that were running the other way but I had no one to hang out with. I managed the whole thing without walking once. That was way more than I thought I would be able to do. I even passed some folks..Look out, I am speedy!
I saw Jake on the running course twice. Once on my way in with my bike, and once on my way out to the turn around as he was headed back in. He started the swim 10 spots ahead of me and I knew he would be faster than me in all of the aspects of the race, but knew I was going at a great pace when he was still running when I came in off of the bike. It was very funny to kiss him goodbye at the beginning, but really fun to see him towards the end. I think we may have been the only couple racing the race at the same time.
I was worried I would not do as well without him (we run together) as I am a weenie and depend on him for random things that I don’t like to figure out for myself (and lack patience for), like telling me what bike gear to be in and putting fun laces in my shoes. Strangely enough, he has the same shirt on and build as several other guys so I was thoroughly over friendly to several people from a distance only to realize it was not Jake as they got closer…that is awkward…no where really to run off to or anything to do except for avoid eye contact and be very busy with your watch.
Anyway, you can hear the crowd at the end from about a mile out, so that really pushed me through to the finish. Jake was standing at the turn into the last half mile and that was fun…he took some really unflattering pictures of my terrible running form and “ORCA” shirt…Good god.
It was fantastic to come across the finish line and hear the PA guy butcher my name “War-chest-ter” and I was shocked when I hit my watch and it said 34 minutes for the run with an overall time of 1 hour and 32 minutes. That was great. My over-achiever goal was going to be 1:30, and when I saw the bike course I thought I would be 8-10 minutes slower. I was so excited.
After that was over I got myself back together and we waited for some ladies we met on Jake’s bike rack that were fun. They were from Clemson and new to the triathlon stuff too. We had chatted before the race, in the swim line, then intermittently as we passed each other during the race. It was fun to have people to cheer you on and to cheer on for sure. We chatted afterwards and they are thinking about doing a triathlon here around Greenwood in October and we may go see them at the Clemson race next year.
So in the end Jake came in 2nd place with 13 novice males, and I was 6th out of 21 novice females. We both were awesome on the swim and bike (Jake had the best swim and bike legs in his group, and I was 3rd on the bike and around 10th on the swim though my split didn’t register for some reason) and terrible at the run (Jake was 11th and I was 12th in our respective groups). I am really not overly concerned as the bike course was super mean and I am just proud to have finished it without walking my bike, much less having enough “go” left to run the whole 3.1 miles without stopping. On June 7th I ran my first 5K and on July 20th I ran a 5K after swimming 400 meters and riding my bike 12 miles. Not bad improvement really. Jake has of course broken down the whole thing in his head to all the ways we can improve, but for right now I am pretty happy to be dragging my very sore self around the house as a “triathlete” this morning.
The adventure started on Saturday when we headed to Asheville to get checked into the hotel, “pick up our packet” and “go to the pre-race meeting”. I seriously knew what none of these things meant with the exception of the hotel part. Actually, I am incorrect, the excitement started Friday night when my husband decided to shave his body to get “ready for the race”. Yes, I had a sober adult discussion with him about how to go about shaving his legs..with a razor. He also shaved his chest, back and legs. Somehow in his mind his arms didn’t warrant shaving. I didn’t get it, but I didn’t argue. 8 months ago the man didn’t exercise, suddenly he is shaving his body hair in the name of fitness he is so serious about it. I feel like my life is weird sometimes. I digress.
“Picking up your packet” means going to the race site where you show your ID, get a packet full of stuff with lots of instructions and get your t-shirt (the important part for me, I would eat poo if there was a t-shirt involved) and get a look at what you are getting yourself into. You are given 3 sets of numbers: one goes on your bike where it will rub your leg and get in the way of your water bottle, another goes on the front of your bike helmet so you can look like an even bigger goof than if you are just wearing spandex, and the last one goes on your shirt or race belt while you run so there is something for you to swear at and try to fix while you are running to serve as a distraction.
“Going to the race meeting” means standing around a bunch of uptight, Type A personalities (most of which hadn’t done a triathlon before) while they tried to scream questions at some poor guy who was balancing on a fence so he could yell loud enough for us to hear him.
“Why couldn’t you hear him” you may ask? Well, it just so happened that every African-American person in Asheville had come to the park for the “Real Families Picnic” (I don’t really understand what that means and am confused) and there was a sound system and everyone was free stylin’ with the mic yo. I’m not kidding. Nothing like trying to figure out how not to get disqualified from the swim while some guy and some buddies are layin’ down a beat by gettin’ jiggy wit it and “keepin’ it real for da hoz” (direct quote).
Among the things I have learned here, I have been informed by several African-American people at work that they do indeed tan and do not like to be called African-American. I have also been informed that they do not swim. Seriously…not at all with the swimming. They actually said on the nightly news here lately that black people are 3X more likely to drown than their counterparts. No clue as to why.
There was a lot of irony involved as all of the really fit white folks in technical t-shirts and sensible sandals were very confused by what was happening up the hill with the rapping and da beatz, and occasionally someone dressed in a gold shiny Celtics jersey or short shorts holding a plate of barbecue would accidentally walk through our area and try to get out of it as quickly as possible for fear of being captured and made engage in our exercise lunacy.
It was just really bizarre.
Oh and there was an ice cream truck that kept dragging by the meeting with the mind-bending music thinking one of the really fit people was going to come to their senses that they wanted a bomb pop in the middle of the meeting?
So then we went to eat Mexican food….I know, it was all we could find at the time. Then went to the motel and set out labeling everything and getting our things together for the next morning. On top of the Lycra, we also needed shoes, socks, hat, number belt, bike helmet, bike gloves, stuff to eat/drink, swim cap and goggles. For those that know me from my childhood, you will know that I usually packed all of those things in my school bag to take with me in case something came up during the day. I will get into where you actually put all of this stuff later. We went to sleep with the alarm set the next day for 5 a.m.
It is really dark at 5 a.m. Seriously. It was also pretty chilly in the mountains (around 60) so we had on a couple layers over our race clothes. We ate something, loaded up the car and headed over to get set up.
There were all kinds of folks at this thing. This was a first timer “friendly” race as well as a favorite for really good racers, so it was a crazy mix of folks who had no clue what they were doing and people that knew exactly what they were doing and were intimidating (see man riding bike with child on his bike while not wearing shoes). We put six bikes on a rack at our assigned spots and went to set up our “transition areas”. In a triathlon you swim, then run out and change into bike gear, then come back and change into running gear all at a little towel area you claim for yourself by your bike. You set everything out in a orderly fashion so you can screw it up as little as possible as you are kinda deranged between events trying to hurry to the next one (a lady rode the whole bike race with her gloves on upside down because she was hurrying). Kinda like the suitcase race at field day in 3rd grade with serious adults…If you were a bystander at this thing and stopped to watch, it would be hysterical.
So, you get your junk organized and then go over to “body marking” where people write your race number on you with giant markers. They do it on both shoulders, both thighs, and then write your race category on your calf. They really like to keep track of you as you could potentially fall over in the ditch at any point along the 12 mile bike course or 3 mile run course and they would have no idea the last place you were otherwise. My number was 241 and my calf got a great big “N” for novice..which is code for “if I am looking lost or in distress please help me because I am completely clueless as to what is happening”. After all that you stand around waiting for the deal to start.
SWIM:
I was the 241st person into the pool (there were 300) and we took off swimming. This was the part that was the scariest to me. I had only been swimming in a 17 meter pool and was now swimming in a 50 meter pool for 8 lengths. I figured I would go too fast, then have to stop and get passed by everyone. My main goal became just not to drink any of the pool water as I was certain it was full of pee. Don’t ask why I thought that.
It actually went very well for me. I passed a bunch of people, went at a good pace, and didn’t stop once. Wait, I did have to stop when all the sudden there was a big backup as a lady was BACKSTROKING with a whip kick and taking people out all over the place. She was like Jackie Chan of the triathlon, accidentally beating the crap out of everyone. It was even worse because she was with the “novice” division so none of us had any clue as to what to do about it. I just gave up and kinda timed it so I jumped over her leg somehow and kept going.
I was really happy with how smooth I was going as I neared the end. Then I “chicked” a guy. It is by far the most fun athletic thing I have ever done. “Chicking” someone in triathlon means that a girl passes a guy…I have no idea what they call the reverse…could rhyme with “chick” but imply male and I won’t write it in my blog for fear of my mother. Anyway, the guy started 10 seconds ahead of me, but I caught him by the end even though he was not going to let me. He was right on my tail as I hauled myself out of the water onto the land and staggered towards the timing mat (records time) barely beating him. Ten minutes was my time. Awesome. Exactly what I thought I could do if everything went perfectly. And I chicked a dude. I would have broken my leg before I let him get in front of me once we were out of the water.
TRANSITION 1:
So I make it to my little place and put myself together for my bike ride. Socks are hard to put on wet feet and the bike seat is slippery when your pants are wet. All obvious to the brain, but much scarier in real life.
BIKE:
Jake and I drove the course the night before and knew it was going to be brutal. I am not even exaggerating brutal. Although I had pointed out to him several weeks earlier that doing our first triathlon in the MOUNTAINS may not be bright…I need to be more insistent.
So I started up the bike course. I am in pretty good shape on the bike (see prior blog about Jake’s patent pending training methods) but I had no idea how bad of shape everyone else would be in. I can’t even explain how hard it was but there were people walking their bikes up the hills in bike shoes (not easy) and barfing on the side of the road…and they weren’t first timers either.
I managed to ride the whole thing without stopping on my trusty mountain bike (may have had an advantage for once) and passed 20 people or so, only getting passed by 2. There were volunteers and police at all of the intersections to make sure I didn’t end up a grease spot on the road and I yelled “thanks” to all of them and asked a few if they wanted to trade me places…they declined. I think it was all the barfing around me that was scaring them away.
When I pedaled to the finish I was super proud of myself since I had finished in under 45 minutes (better than my goal), but knew that I had pushed too hard on the bike and the run was going to be nasty as my legs were REALLY TIRED.
TRANSITION 2:
So Jake put some super cool shoelaces in my shoes but I didn’t pay enough attention to figure out how to work them….note to self….problem. You have heard the expression “a monkey doing a math problem”…get me a banana because I was confused. My number belt also proved pretty confusing as it migrated up/down, in circles as I never did use it correctly.
RUN:
I did manage to get going and my goal was to run as much as I could without stopping. I knew that walking if I needed to was good so I could keep going but that if I started walking I would not want to run anymore. It was kind of a lonely 3 miles. I chatted sporadically with people that I passed or that passed me or that were running the other way but I had no one to hang out with. I managed the whole thing without walking once. That was way more than I thought I would be able to do. I even passed some folks..Look out, I am speedy!
I saw Jake on the running course twice. Once on my way in with my bike, and once on my way out to the turn around as he was headed back in. He started the swim 10 spots ahead of me and I knew he would be faster than me in all of the aspects of the race, but knew I was going at a great pace when he was still running when I came in off of the bike. It was very funny to kiss him goodbye at the beginning, but really fun to see him towards the end. I think we may have been the only couple racing the race at the same time.
I was worried I would not do as well without him (we run together) as I am a weenie and depend on him for random things that I don’t like to figure out for myself (and lack patience for), like telling me what bike gear to be in and putting fun laces in my shoes. Strangely enough, he has the same shirt on and build as several other guys so I was thoroughly over friendly to several people from a distance only to realize it was not Jake as they got closer…that is awkward…no where really to run off to or anything to do except for avoid eye contact and be very busy with your watch.
Anyway, you can hear the crowd at the end from about a mile out, so that really pushed me through to the finish. Jake was standing at the turn into the last half mile and that was fun…he took some really unflattering pictures of my terrible running form and “ORCA” shirt…Good god.
It was fantastic to come across the finish line and hear the PA guy butcher my name “War-chest-ter” and I was shocked when I hit my watch and it said 34 minutes for the run with an overall time of 1 hour and 32 minutes. That was great. My over-achiever goal was going to be 1:30, and when I saw the bike course I thought I would be 8-10 minutes slower. I was so excited.
After that was over I got myself back together and we waited for some ladies we met on Jake’s bike rack that were fun. They were from Clemson and new to the triathlon stuff too. We had chatted before the race, in the swim line, then intermittently as we passed each other during the race. It was fun to have people to cheer you on and to cheer on for sure. We chatted afterwards and they are thinking about doing a triathlon here around Greenwood in October and we may go see them at the Clemson race next year.
So in the end Jake came in 2nd place with 13 novice males, and I was 6th out of 21 novice females. We both were awesome on the swim and bike (Jake had the best swim and bike legs in his group, and I was 3rd on the bike and around 10th on the swim though my split didn’t register for some reason) and terrible at the run (Jake was 11th and I was 12th in our respective groups). I am really not overly concerned as the bike course was super mean and I am just proud to have finished it without walking my bike, much less having enough “go” left to run the whole 3.1 miles without stopping. On June 7th I ran my first 5K and on July 20th I ran a 5K after swimming 400 meters and riding my bike 12 miles. Not bad improvement really. Jake has of course broken down the whole thing in his head to all the ways we can improve, but for right now I am pretty happy to be dragging my very sore self around the house as a “triathlete” this morning.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Shag The Movie
For those of you that had a different upbringing from me, were never in my sorority, or did not spend extensive amounts of time with me, this title may be strange. For those of you on the other side, you will know that this movie is a very important part of Americana and one of my favorites. This movie is a funny, coming of age sort of thing set in South Carolina and centered around the regional dance of SC, THE SHAG. There is of course a shag contest and some turmoil, but generally a lovely absence of conflict...which is why I love it so much.
"THE SHAG": This is a dance set to "Beach Music"- which has not been fully explained to me what makes "Beach Music", and is prevalent along the beaches of SC and they are very proud of it. No one here can understand how I could live somewhere that I hadn't already learned all the steps. Then I start talking about the movie and they look at me like I am asking them about life on Mars. I don't think there is one Kansan that has not see the "Wizard of OZ", but I have yet to found a South Carolinian who has seen this movie. Mind you, everyone thinks the movie about Dorothy was shot IN Kansas, and that the tornadoes and flying monkeys are real. The Shag movie is not only about their state, but shot in their state, about their own state's dance. Seriously? We would be showing that thing every two weeks in the schools as part of the curriculum.
The best part is that Greenwood has a large number of British folks that silently giggle when everyone here starts talking about "Shagging" with such bizarre gusto....I giggle with them too.
"THE SHAG": This is a dance set to "Beach Music"- which has not been fully explained to me what makes "Beach Music", and is prevalent along the beaches of SC and they are very proud of it. No one here can understand how I could live somewhere that I hadn't already learned all the steps. Then I start talking about the movie and they look at me like I am asking them about life on Mars. I don't think there is one Kansan that has not see the "Wizard of OZ", but I have yet to found a South Carolinian who has seen this movie. Mind you, everyone thinks the movie about Dorothy was shot IN Kansas, and that the tornadoes and flying monkeys are real. The Shag movie is not only about their state, but shot in their state, about their own state's dance. Seriously? We would be showing that thing every two weeks in the schools as part of the curriculum.
The best part is that Greenwood has a large number of British folks that silently giggle when everyone here starts talking about "Shagging" with such bizarre gusto....I giggle with them too.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Bad News Bears
I went to a training program for the past two days in Charleston to learn about how to be a better manager. Everyone at work was very excited for me to go... Anyway, I learned some good things but had an interesting group. You really don't know what you are walking into at the deal on the first day so I was open. Not nearly open enough. We were seriously like the movie Bad News Bears. There were 5 out of 12 with college educations, 2 did not speak English, and 4 were angry they had to be there. Fascinating. One of the non-English speakers didn't show on the second day and his other barely English speaking friend told us that he got too freaked out that he didn't understand A WORD the first day and decided to skip the second day. Not sure what he was expecting.. The guy running the show had to want to beat his head against the wall. The comments were amazingly weird and the group work was carried by specific people which was weirdly uncomfortable. The facilitator was silly enough to give homework which half the group just flat refused to do. Luckily all those fools were all there for manager training and are now responsible for shaping America's work force. Holy Mooley.
We went out to eat in Charleston on a mini appetizer/Happy Hour crawl. It was great. We started at a fun restaurant and then got a suggestion for the next place...we did that 3 times. We had some GREAT wine and fun appetizers and capped it off with a ridiculous dessert that involved a waffle bowl made of pralines and filled with an ice cream sundae. Fantastic.
I am headed to Augusta to do some recruitment tomorrow which should be interesting and hopefully fruitful...or just not a tremendous waste of time.
We went out to eat in Charleston on a mini appetizer/Happy Hour crawl. It was great. We started at a fun restaurant and then got a suggestion for the next place...we did that 3 times. We had some GREAT wine and fun appetizers and capped it off with a ridiculous dessert that involved a waffle bowl made of pralines and filled with an ice cream sundae. Fantastic.
I am headed to Augusta to do some recruitment tomorrow which should be interesting and hopefully fruitful...or just not a tremendous waste of time.
Naked in the Ditch.
So, here are the get ups that Jake and I are wearing in the race. Yes, seriously. Jake wanted to make sure his outfit got in the blog too (mine is the pink one) and I told him that this was MY blog and that since he has never posted (except when I have accidentally posted under his name) I didn't think he should get to be in the blog, but then I thought everyone should giggle that he is dressing in the same insanity.
The picture is a little blurry, but the front of the pink jersey says "ORCA" which is a very famous triathlon company...unfortunately it is also the name of a whale. Didn't think about it at the time I bought it. I guess I am just glad it doesn't say "Shamuu" or "Free Willie" or "Fatty". I will tell you that if I get into any sort of an accident and am lying in the ditch, I am stripping completely naked of this crazy business just to stop anyone else from having to see me in it. I may be missing a foot, they I will not be lying there in bike shorts and a shirt that says "ORCA"... FACT.
Brilliance or Insanity?
My husband is either the most brilliant triathlon coach of all times or a complete sadist. His brand of "hardship" training (which is absolutely an accident) will hopefully pay off in this triathlon thing being easier than I am thinking it will be. We keep doing stuff that is really retarded and then later he says things like "wow, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be", or " it was probably too hot to ride that far", or my favorite "I probably shouldn't have told you to try and run a mile after an hour long bike ride at 93 degrees". If I thought it was intentional, I would have killed him by now.
Everyone knows that he is not an early riser which is not necessarily a problem unless you are riding a bicycle greater than 15 HILLY miles at 10 in the morning after several beers the night before when it was at least 20 degrees cooler 3 hours before. Not to mention that he has a fancy bike that makes him leave me even further in the dust. That is when your charming wife turns into a swear machine. Oh, and then there was the time we got lost and rode for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Nothing really seems that bad after that. I think that maybe that's the idea. Complete brilliant insanity. Two days and counting to see if it all pays off.... GO TEAM WOO!
Everyone knows that he is not an early riser which is not necessarily a problem unless you are riding a bicycle greater than 15 HILLY miles at 10 in the morning after several beers the night before when it was at least 20 degrees cooler 3 hours before. Not to mention that he has a fancy bike that makes him leave me even further in the dust. That is when your charming wife turns into a swear machine. Oh, and then there was the time we got lost and rode for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Nothing really seems that bad after that. I think that maybe that's the idea. Complete brilliant insanity. Two days and counting to see if it all pays off.... GO TEAM WOO!
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