My Oh My

Where has the week gone? I have been feeling a little under the weather this week and have neglected my blog. I feel like a cold is coming, but it just doesn't want to. This was supposed to be the week I started getting into shape for the triathlon. However, I decided against it because of sinus pain & pressure. Sinus trouble makes for unpleasant enough days without adding running into the mix.

Speaking of the triathlon, the sign-up opens tomorrow for the Chicagoland Danskin Tri. I will be signing up soon, but need to talk to Erin about signing up by age group or mixed age. I screwed that up last year, but I think it worked out well other than missing her crossing the finish line. :(

Also Up

Triathlon Pictures! You can see the shots Bob & Olivia were able to get at flickr.com.

I should have a few more to post, but I don't know when I will have access to those. Danskin had photographers every step of the way. I am waiting to hear word those pictures are ready. My fingers are crossed they had a photographer at the finish line. Bob & Olivia were there, but didn't see me.

Tomorrow, I Promise!

Bob took a few days vacation this week. We have just been enjoying time together. I have my story ready to go. I will type it up and post tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a story to inspire...

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/432483,181NWS4.article

Amazing, isn't it?

Tri THANK YOU!

The Danskin Triathlon was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I need sometime let everything soak in and write about the weekend. I want to express the emotion I felt during the event for all of you who supported me. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for that support. I could not have done this without you.

I Am a Triathlete

I was up just before 3:00 AM, and we were on the road by 4:20 AM. We had to catch a shuttle from Dairyland Greyhound Park to the race site. Parking and catching the shuttle were a piece of cake. (Erin was not so lucky! She left her house about an hour after we left ours. Arrived to near Dairyland at about 6:00 AM and waited in traffic for over an hour.)

Bob & Olivia were with me. I sat with them for a few minutes before I went to set up my transition area. Unfortunately, I made a rookie mistake when I racked my bike yesterday. I left too much space between my bike and the one on the end. My bike was "bumped" from the second to the third spot on the rack. Still easy to find.

I joined Bob & Olivia again for a little while. We were watching for Erin not knowing how she was stuck in the horrible traffic. The start of the race was actually delayed because of the traffic. They also allowed anyone who missed their swim wave to join one when they were ready.

At about 7AM I began walking over to the swim start area. A slow take in all the sights & sounds walk. As I walked along the run path, I wondered about the stories of these women. About half way along the path, I came across a woman who had just finished chemo treatments. Her complexion was beautiful & flawless. I will carry the image of her in my mind always. As I passed her, the emotion of the day began to hit me. A tear trickled down my cheek. As competitors continued to walk a man began to speak about Danskin Triathlon traditions and other things that would happen today. A beautiful instrumental played for a few minutes before the National Anthem. The woman who sang it had a beautiful voice. The emotion of the day hit me again at that point and a few more tears flowed.

It was now time for the triathlon to get underway. The first wave, The Elite, are brought down into the water. They have a few minutes with Sally Edwards, National Spokeswoman for the Danskin Women's Triathlon Series. The Danskin traditional countdown began. 10 9 8... and the first wave was off! The event I have worked so hard to prepare for is here.

The second wave, Survivors, is brought to the water. Just about 30 seconds until they are on their way. The following waves go every 4 minutes!

I finally spot Erin in the crowd. She didn't get to see the start of the event because of the traffic at the shuttle pick up site. While I missed her & am sad she missed the start of the event, I was (am) thankful I had that alone time to experience the sights, sounds, and emotions of the day.

Erin & I talked for a few minutes before I headed over to the swim start to join my fellow yellow capped, 35-39 year olds. We visited with one another. Talked about race numbers, triathlon training, our strengths/weaknesses, and triathlon experience. There was only one other woman near me who was a first timer. The veterans encouraged us! Suddenly, the crowd behind us and to the right began to roar. The first runner was coming by. She completed the .5 mile swim, the 12 mile bike, and part of the 3 mile run before we were even hitting the water. I would estimate she did that in less than 45 minutes.

As our group was "on deck" for the swim Disco Inferno by The Trammps played. We all sang and danced to keep loose and get pepped up. The 15th wave was off and that means we are next. Looking around I see a few women who look a little nervous about the swim. The group I was talking to all looked pretty confident. We are in the front line of the wave. I was front & center! :) One of the Danskin Angels, the swim volunteers, leads us in some cheering. Asks us a few questions about who we are going to pass first (pink caps -- wave 15), and who we aren't going to let pass (green caps -- wave 17). She then gave us a word to remember as we go through the day - FANTASTIC! We are to use that word to remind us we are fantastic swimmers, fantastic bikers, fantastic runners, and fantastic triathletes. The countdown begins 10 9 8... and we were off. It felt really great, but the sun glared made sighting something on shore very difficult. Twice I swam outside the buoys and had to swim back to the right. I still felt like I was making really good time. I could see myself passing pink caps and only saw one green cap pass me. Bob said in my wave there were only about six women out of the water before me.

Swim Time 00:16:28
Rank 1065/3919

I ran to my bike. T1 went quickly and pretty well. I know I can shave more time off of it for next year.

T1 Time 00:03:11

The bike was tough. A lot tougher than I had anticipated due to the high winds, the heat, and the HILLS! I also need to look into getting a road bike for these events. The wide mountain bike tires are killers on a road in a race.

Bike Time 00:57:07
Rank 3051/3919 (UGH -- definitely needs work)

I hopped off the bike at the dismount point and my legs felt like Jell-O -- not the bricks I was expecting. Ah, a watering station. I wove my way between the racks to my area. I racked my bike and I was off.

T2 Time 00:02:04

Ah, another splash of water before I ran. My legs didn't feel too bad at all when I began the run. I think to myself I might be able to run the whole thing. I guess I though that too soon because shortly I felt my heart rate soar. I slowed to a slow jog. A lady points out that I had forgotten to take off my helmet after the bike. Oh, crap (excuse my french...lol)! I take it off and try to figure out what I am going to do with it. I thought about throwing it down in the grass, but eventually I looped the strap onto my tank top. Looking back, I should have thrown it down. Bob saw me running with the helmet and when I took it off. He was trying to run after me to get it. He said it was pretty sad he couldn't catch me even after I had just finished the swim & the bike when he had done nothing but walk...lol.

The heat during the first half of the run was brutal. I did a little running and walking. I wanted to be able to RUN across that finish line and wanted to conserve that energy so I could. The watering station at about half way was a welcome sight. As was the Jelly Belly Sports Beans station, but neither of those were as good as the hose the firefighters had to spray us. I drank the water, ate half a package of the sports beans, and enjoyed the water from the hose. The course continued on about a quarter mile before we got to turn around and enjoy those three stations again. At the half mile left mark we got the biggest boost any triathlete could hope for -- an open fire hydrant! More pressure than that hose and just what I needed to refresh me for the home stretch. I ran the entire last mile and it was so exciting to see the word FINISH up ahead. Sally Edwards was there cheering us on, and as we crossed the finish line our names were announced and we were given a medal!

Run Time 00:43:40
Rank 3076/3919

Total Time 02:02:33
Overall Rank 2636/3919
Class Rank (35-39) 460/578

I did it! I am a triathlete!

Danskin Triathlon Expo

Erin & I arrived near the race venue at 10:00 AM. Right on time. The line of traffic waiting to enter the lot was backed up at least a mile. We sat & waited about 30 minutes before we were able to get into the lot & park.

We entered the Lakeview RecPlex at about 10:35 AM. The room was full of the buzz of excitement & anticipation of tomorrow's event.

Erin & I split up to make picking up race materials go more quickly. Turned out to be a great plan. Our lines were about the same length, and we finished at about the same time. When picking up our materials we found out our swim waves. I was wave #16 - Yellow & Erin was #28 - Purple. (The colors are the color of cap our wave wore.) We then had our timing chips scanned to verify all the information linked to them was correct.

Then we were off to pick up our shirts, swim caps, and great bag from Danskin. There were goodies all around from race sponsors. The best by far had to be the folding tool from the great people at Trek.

Neither of us thought the first timer's overview would help us with anything we could change the day before the race so we skipped it. There was still a lot of time until the next course overview so we decided to skip it too. I don't think we would have been any better prepared had we seen either one of those. We knew the course, we swam in that lake before, and were as pepped as we were going to be at that point in time.

We went back to the car to get out bikes for racking. The line for racking had to be about a mile long when we got back from the car. Fortunately, a volunteer opened another gate for racking & we weren't too far from it. We split up again to rack and met back at the gate. I got a great spot. My rack was about half way between the swim finish & the run start. I was lucky to be able to get a spot near the end of the rack. Erin got a great spot too, but she was closer to the bike start/finish than I was. At this point we were both hating the heat and were a little worried about how it would affect us tomorrow.

A quick stop at The Brat Stop for lunch, and then we headed home. I relaxed most of the afternoon & evening. I planned on heading to bed early, but wasn't that tired. I didn't want to lie in bed awake thinking about how I should be sleeping so I stayed up until about 10:30.

OH NO!

As you all know, the triathlon is Sunday! Look at the forecast -- 96 degrees with a "real feel" of 99 -- UGH! Hopefully, it will stay mostly cloudy. I hate to think of what that temp would say if it was supposed to be a clear day.

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

I will be drinking LOTS of fluids! Hopefully, not much of the fluid will be Lake Andrea water...LOL!

Fantastic Fundraising

As promised, here is an update on my fundraising. I have raised money through the ChipIn! in the right sidebar here, the official Danskin online link, a letter campaign, and pink paper ribbons at a local restaurant. My total as of this afternoon, is $582*.

I am THRILLED. The day I signed up I set $250 as my goal. I had never raised funds for an event such as this for myself and thought my original goal was almost out of reach. I kept the faith, kept working hard, and I did it!

I could not do it without you! I thank you for your support and generosity from the bottom of my heart!

*This total does not include any donations sent directly to the address on the donation form I included with the letter.

More Tri Progress

Things just got really busy on the fundraising front! The friend I am doing the triathlon with works at our favorite local grill & bar. It is owned by her parents. I met her there Tuesday afternoon to cut out 200 card stock pink ribbons. She came up with the design, and they look GREAT! Yesterday, I ran (not literally ran...lol) the signs I made up over there to "advertise" our efforts!

My sign!

I finished up my fundraising letters yesterday and they are going out today. I am at $285 right now and hope to break the $500 mark before the end of June!

As for the training for the week, I am slightly behind with running & swimming. Memorial Day along with a daughter who can't seem to get the concept of bringing her dirty clothes down to the hamper got me off track.

Totals so far:

Mon: 25 minute run
Tue: 85 minute bike (that was 17 miles to & from the restaurant where we cut out the ribbons)
Wed: REST
Thu: 30 minute swim
Total: 140

Remaining training for the week (day I plan to get it in): 35 min run (Fri), 25 min swim (Sat), & 20 min run. The total training time for the week is schedule to be 205 minutes. If I get all this in my time will be 220 minutes. I thought I was going to be behind with all the extra stuff I had this week. It's good to know I am ahead of schedule. Next week's 245 minutes is going to be tough, but then it begins to taper off as the event approaches.

Training Totals

Here are my training totals for the week so far.

Mon: 40 minute bike
Tue: 35 minute run
Wed: REST
Thu: 30 minute swim
Fri: 50 minute bike
Tot: 155 minutes

My training schedule calls for 215 minutes total this week. I have a 25 minute swim and 35 minute run left to complete. I plan to do those over the weekend.

I continue to do a light strength program while training for the tri. Since I posted about the 8.5 lb loss on May 8, I have only lost another half a pound. While I the numbers on the scale aren't moving much, I do see a difference in my body and how my clothes fit. Most importantly how I feel. I enjoy biking, running, and swimming. I plan to keep it up after the tri!

I have been eating healthy and only have one Diet Pepsi a day. (One soad per day is a HUGE improvement for me.) I need to to track what I am eating to see if I am eating enough calories to fuel my body for the increased exercise. I am wondering if that is why the pounds are coming off so slowly. I don't mind them coming off slowly. Those are the ones that stay off, but I am curious to see if that might be the cause. I am so close to getting into those capris & shorts from last year.

Thursday Thirteen #22

As you can see, time is ticking away until the triathlon. Since it is on my mind a lot lately, I decided to list thirteen of the things I will need to bring with me on race day. Of course, this list is not all inclusive. I have a much longer list sitting with the rest of my race stuff. This could be a continuing TT topic! ;)

Thirteen Things Things I Need to Bring on Triathlon Day!

1. Timing chip and strap

2. Swim cap and race numbers given with race materials during pick up

3. Goggles

4. Towel

5. Bike helmet with race number affixed to front

6. Fix-a-flat kit & bike pump

7. Running shoes/socks

8. Shirt I plan to wear during the run with race numbers pinned to it.

9. Sunglasses

10. Food/snacks to eat during and/or after race.

11. Bottled water/fluid replacement drink on full bottle in cage on bike to drink during the bike leg. Additional fluids to enjoy after the race.

12. Sunscreen

13. Cell phone

I didn't mention bike because it will already be there. We pick up race materials and lock our bikes in the staging area the day before the race.

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Dress Shopping -- UGH!

We have a wedding Friday afternoon, and I have been looking for a dress for a couple weeks now. The reception is at a country club so I want something not too casual, but not black tie formal either. Do you know how hard it is to find something like that? I did find one this afternoon, but now that I have it home I think the style is too mature for me. Guess that means I have to go back to pounding the tiles of the mall once again tomorrow.

Tuesday's Tri Training: 35 minute run
Today's Tri Training: REST (If that's what you call running from store to store in two malls.)

Tri Training

This is for you Martha! ;)

Saturday was such a beautiful day here so I decided to go on a training run, but combine it with a walk. I walked a little over 4 miles from home and ran back only stopping once during. I walked for about five minutes and continue my run! Boy, did that feel good. I am pretty sure I got to the 3.1 mile mark before I had to stop.

Today I went on a nice bike ride. I don't know the exact mileage, but got a pretty close number from usatf.org/routes/map/. It was 8.25 miles in about 40 minutes. No resting here. I think the challenge with the bike portion will come after swimming half a mile.

To kind of try to tackle that, I plan to bike to & from one of my swimming sessions each week. This week I will probably do that on Thursday! It's less than three miles from home, but I think it will tell me a lot about how it will feel to swim then ride!