I'm a Triathlete!

And I have a medal to prove it!


Did you notice Laurie just behind me in the run?

Stay tuned for the next one on September 7 in Federal Way.

Race Day

The day began very early - we left at 5:30 a.m. to be at the course by 6:20 to see the first wave of racers set off. After boiling hot temps yesterday, there was a thunder and lightning storm over the lake as we drove up to the race site but the weather system veered off before 6:30 and left us with perfect temperatures and great conditions. We watched the Elite racers take off first and they made the swim course look so easy, that it actually looked like fun. We watched them speed through the course, step out of the water, run to their bikes and begin the bike stage. And then the cancer survivors hit the water with tremendous support from the crowd. At that point we went to set up our staging areas at our bikes, laying out our clothes and shoes for the transitions to come. We put on our purple swimcaps and headed to the Corral and waited for our wave to begin. Sally Edwards gave us each a high-five (that's 4,000+ high fives) as we entered the water.

We hit the water around 8:00 a.m. The truth is I know now why the swim is the first event of the triathlon. You just have to get it out of the way. We were in the water with 120 other women in our wave. The flight or fight syndrome set in immediately and my first reaction was a brief panic and hyperventilation (They warned us that might happen). I had every intention of remaining calm and focused and just going slowly swimming the crawl, but I could not do it and began to do breast stroke so that I could see who I was bumping into and who was bumping into me.

The millfoil began wrapping itself around my limbs. At the first buoy we had to turn about 240 degrees to swim the second leg of the triangle-shaped course. All the swimmers clumped together and we had to scramble to keep out of each others’ way. I began reciting the names of the cancer survivors/victims I was racing for hoping that would keep my mind focused, but it didn’t help much, so I flipped onto my side for a while and did a little side stroke. I actually began laughing at one point it was just such a miserable experience – but I was still passing some swimmers and knew I was slowly getting to the next buoy – it was about 100 yards to the first buoy, 500 to the second and then 200 to the finish line. The finish line was eventually within reach and a very kind hand reached down to help me out of the water. I took off running with all the other triathletes barefoot on cement, dry grass, asphalt and gravel to find my bike in the transition area. I absolutely had to go to the bathroom and lost several minutes there, but got on my bike and had an awesome ride across the Mercer Island floating bridge in the express lanes.

The approach to the bridge was quite awkward, we had to ride up a very narrow lane just wide enough for two bikes; slowpokeson the right walking their bikes while others rode on the left up the hill, but of course some were much slower than others, and you had to gear down and proceed cautiously. Once on the bridge, it was fantastic. We rode to Island Crest Way and then turned around and rode back. Unfortunately we saw one nasty wipe-out near the tunnel which required the race to stop briefly while an ambulance got through to help the racers. We hollered and rang our bells as we went through the tunnel. I have to say, I love my bike and was really pleased with how well prepared we were for the biking. I passed a variety of road bikes – there was nothing really difficult about the ride, and my mountain bike handled very well.

We zoomed back down Lake Washington Blvd and I couldn’t help myself I just had to ring my bell wildly because it was just so exciting and the crowd was incredibly supportive. At the bike finish line, we had to dismount abruptly (I nearly knocked someone over at the dismount) and all the racers began running their bikes back into the transition area so I copied them – not a good idea. I had jelly legs and almost fell down.

I re-racked my bike and took off running with Laurie right beside me. We had not expected to see each other at all during the race but ended up 12 seconds apart (she beat me) and we hung together during the run. The run felt remarkably good. I thought that might be as much of a trial as the swim given that my energy would be wearing down at that point, but I set a steady pace and stuck to it throughout. The course was flat until the last mile. We ran up a steep but short hill to reach the last few blocks before turning into Genessee Park to the finish line. As we ran up the hill, there was a group of drummers playing the conga drums and other percussion instruments to encourage us at the toughest part of the run. (Where were they when I was swimming?) At the top of the hill I almost ran out of steam, but a well-placed volunteer yelled “you can do it – only four more blocks until you reach the finish." So I kept going … around the corner… and there was my friend Joyce smiling at me ... and there were Mae and Jeannie .... and then Mark. I made it and I have a Triathlon Medal to prove that I AM A TRIATHLETE!

Overall, the race was a blast and I'm really pleased that I trained so hard and finished it well. here are my times:

½ mile swim: 22.53 mins. (it was a horrid, horrid nasty experience!)
Transition to bike: 9.27 (I had to go to the porta-potty)
Bike 12 miles: 43.23 – 16.5 mph (what fun!)
Transition to run: 2.11 (not going to the porta-potty makes quite a difference)
Run 3.1 miles: 31.24 – 10.08 minutes per miles (and the finish line was ahead!)

I was 1919 of all 3710 racers and 361 of 1030 in the mixed ages.
Overall time: 1 hour 49 minutes 20 seconds. Woo-hoo. Less than two hours (and the slowest of the three of us, oh well).


It was such a success that I've just signed up to do another on September 7. Stay tuned ... more triathlons and photos of the Danskin Triathlon Number 1 will follow when Laurie's computer gets better.

Inspired

This triathlon thing takes true commitment. Brooke, Laurie and I met at 6:15 this morning to go to the pre-race event in preparation for tomorrow's race. As a cancer survivor, Brooke wanted to attend the Survivors' Breakfast and invited us to go with her. Sally Edwards, the queen of triathlons was the keynote speaker and she greeted us with a hug. I took my Triathlon book written by Sally so that I could get her autograph (like a true triathlon groupie) and had a great chat with her. She said "I don't want to see you tomorrow - I run in with the last person." She's run 120 Danskin Triathlons. I asked her how/why she got started with Triathlons. She said 30 years ago she was a marathon runner and was bored so thought she'd try a Tri. Within a few years she did an Ironman (remember that's the 4 mile swim, 120 mile bike ride, and the marathon run). Sally got the audience warmed up and energized for tomorrow and then turned it over for the survivors to tell their stories.

Imagine a room of some eighty women of all ages, almost all of whom have survived one or more cancers and have then gone on to be come triathletes. When I say "all ages", I mean it. The oldest of them, a woman aged 76, will be competing in her first triathlon tomorrow. Can't wait to tell my 83-year old mother about that one. Another much younger woman - I would guess not yet 30 - told her story of training to compete in her first marathon and learning two weeks before the race that she had cancer. Her race plans thwarted, she was devastated until a friend told her "You were training - you just didn't know what you were training for." Her incredible health from her training helped her through the treatments. There were many teary moments; a lot of mothers inspired by their daughters, some of whom will race with them tomorrow. A few devoted husbands came with their survivor wives and will support them tomorrow.

As I listened to the stories, I began to feel incredibly shallow, humbled and aware of the selfish reasons why I am doing this race - to prove that I can or because I wanted to get in better shape. It was very inspiring to think that people going through cancer treatments can have the where-with-all to begin a training program as rigorous as the training we've just put ourselves through. Almost every one of them said "... and it's been so much fun," which is what I've also been saying, but I haven't been dealing with cancer either.

The race helps to raise funds for breast cancer research . A portion of our race entry fees goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and as participants we could raise money from those who wish to sponsor us. I know that some of my readers have contributed and I thank you.

So, inspired and humbled, we learned about tomorrow's race route, got our race packets with ankle chips/straps, purple swim caps, Danskin Triathlon t-shirts and various other goodies. We wrote our race numbers on each others arms and legs (I look a little like an escaped convict as I write this), took a mental swim/bike/run through the race with Sally, and then headed over to Genessee Park on Lake Washington to rack our bikes for tomorrow. We took a look at the swimming course and felt humbled yet again at the distance and the waves and boat wakes, but I've decided to "be in the moment" and not panic. If things go awry, at least they can identify my body from the numbers painted on it. It was 95 degrees this afternoon - I'm glad we'll do this early tomorrow. Our wave will begin between 7:50 and 8:20 and we estimate between 90 and 120 minutess for completion, so hopefully before the sun gets too hot. They tell us the Lake should be about 70 degrees tomorow.

It's pretty exciting - this time tomorrow we'll be AWESOME TRIATHLETES and can begin training for the next race.

No photos this Post - my camera batteries died today, but Laurie took some I'll add later.

It's almost Race Day

WE DID IT!! Well almost.

Brooke, Laurie, and I met for our final workout on Wednesday night - this is supposed to be our easy week as we ease into the race weekend according to all the experts. So I took a few days off work and went on a trip to the Oregon Coast with Tom and Sally where we made a few ascents of the sand dune at Cape Kiwanda - isn't it beautiful? I had every intention of beating them to the top of the dune but youth won out inspite of all the training.

I'm not sure what Brooke and Laurie were doing for workouts in the meantime, but we got together on Wednesday evening for our last hurrah: swam 1/2 a mile at American Lake - this time with no stopping - then hopped on our bikes and rode to Steilacoom and back. Brooke quit wearing her boot and decided she would walk the 3.1 miles on Sunday.

Helles Belles Rock!! Watch for the next episode after Sunday's race.

Ten Days and Counting Down

The Danskin Triathlon is on August 17 - barely ten days from now - which means I'll either have to find another race I can continue to train for or quit eating. Guilt-free food consumption has definitely been one of the benefits of training along with reliving my childhood (at least the good parts) through bikeriding. Biking is so much fun. Who'd have thought?

This past weekend's training included a hike on Mt. Rainier last Saturday to Grand Park with Patti, Chris, Laurie and Mark (Laurie's taking the photo). Laurie and I had hiked this particular trail last fall and both recalled it being a pretty long slog but with gorgeous views across an expansive mountain meadow with Mt. Rainier looming larger than life ahead. While the hike itself felt relatively easy this time (our training's paying off), the views were missing. We sat on the promontory to eat lunch and take in the scenery and watched as the clouds rolled in around us obscuring the mountain and reducing our visibility to the trail ahead. But we had a good time, think we smelled a bear, saw mountain bluebirds and lovely wildflowers and enjoyed a beer in the Nachez tavern when we were done. But what you really want to read about is the real training:

Brooke, Laurie and I met for a trial tri on Sunday; we swam 1/2 mile at American Lake then practiced our transitions by hopping on our bikes for a 10 mile ride to Steilacoom, in the middle of which Laurie and I ran a 1-mile loop while Brooke (with broken bone) stayed with the bikes. (She says her foot is fine for swimming and biking and was hoping the Doc would give her a boot reprieve so she could complete the whole triathlon on Aug 17. Well no such luck. She'll still compete but cannot run and says she'll walk the three miles in her boot. And she will, knowing Brooke.) We finished our trial run through in a little over 90 minutes which seems very reasonable and think we're as prepared as we can be at this point. We definitely have all the right gear - I purchased a tri-suit last weekend which you wear for all three activities, so you literally get out of the water and get right on your bike without changing clothes, then go straight from biking to running. It feels pretty comfortable too, and of course is every bit as fashionable as a wet suit. But the swimming in open water remains an exercise in endurance and not much fun at all.

I think the cost of this event is closing in on about $800 when you add up race entry fees, bike maintenance, clothing, wetsuits, etc. My commitment to triathlons just intensified. I'll have to keep competing to get my money's worth. I've been tracking training mileage too and since March have biked 291 miles, swum 8, and run 63 miles. (Anne wanted the training details.) For the past week following the Vashon bike ride, my training was: monday swim 1/2 mile, run 1.5 miles, 1 hour yoga; tuesday 1 hour yoga; wednesday 4 mile hill walking; thursday 1 hour yoga, 1/2 mile swim; friday - rest; saturday 8 mile hike; sunday 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike ride, 1 mile run, 1 huge dinner.

Stay tuned. There's one more week to go.

Boots, Rattlesnakes, Hills and more

Well, the bad news is that Brooke's foot is in a boot. She's broken a bone, but tough-nut that she is, she is determined to compete. We have a plan to do a mock-tri two weeks before the real race, and Brooke intends to do it with us. Remember, this is the woman who had only just completed chemo when she competed the first time. Where there's a will...

Meanwhile, our training continues. I took a few days of vacation in Stehekin with friends and while hiking there, we saw a rattlesnake - photos to prove it. Meanwhile, Laurie (who is also somewhat of an animal) did a nine-hour hike to Camp Muir, base camp for climbers who want to summit Rainier. The day before I headed off on vacation, in a fit of madness Laurie and I did a whole triathlon after work. We swam 1/2 a mile in the pool, hopped on our bikes and headed to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, across and back home (about 10 miles we think), then parked our bikes and jogged over to the track where we propped each other up as we completed 12 laps of the track - it took us quite a while to complete it, but the important thing is we did it. Now we know that we can complete the whole race. The most amazing thing to me was the amount of food I consumed the next day - I could not stop eating.

So last week, we did two-thirds of a tri - swam 1/2 mile in the pool, then rode our bikes over to Pt. Defiance Park and around the 5-mile loop and back. Laurie set the pace and we peddled harder than either of us have ridden before. Had a great ride! It was good practice for the long Vashon ride we planned for the weekend. So last week's training was perhaps the most ambitious for me yet: biked 53 miles; ran 3; swam 1-1/2 miles; did three yoga sessions; and one steep hill walk. I need to give Mark credit for accompanying me on a freezing cold open water swim in American Lake on Friday. As far as I know, he didn't really have hypothermia.

We finished the week's training with the Vashon bikeride. We met up at 8:30 a.m., rode our bikes about 4 miles to catch the ferry to Vashon Island and rode 32 of the hilliest miles around the island. The guidebook said the route followed the Murphy's Law of Bicycling - all uphill and into the wind. It was a tough ride with a few beautiful spots ( but not quite enough to attract me to ever want to do it again). We made it back to the ferry in a reasonable 4 hours with stops for coffee and lunch, and collapsed on the beach while we waited for the ferry. The only flaw in our plan was we then had to ride home from the ferry once back in Tacoma. Aaagh. The photo is of our bikes on the ferry. If you look carefully, you'll see us swimming alongside .....

Will the remaining three triathletes compete?

The question of the day is "what has Brooke done to her foot?" Yesterday Mark e-mailed me to tell me that Brooke had injured her foot and may not be able to compete.



I immediately called Laurie and we said "No way is Brooke going to miss the triathlon after all this training." Brooke laughed when I called her. She didn't know what she'd done. Her toe was swollen and didn't look good but she was still in. Someone told her she'd broken a bone and suggested magnets as the secret antidote to the swelling. Apparently one magnet applied to either side of the injury would help realign her foot. Whatever. I guess we'll find out tomorrow if the magnet therapy is the magic cure.



Meanwhile I should write about the latest open water swim from last Friday. (Brooke seemed fine that night by the way.) We met Kristin, an Olympic triathlete (not as in the "Olympics" but as in "Olympic triathlon" distance, the next one up from the Sprint triathlon which we're doing). She's also a cancer survivor, as is Brooke. Kristin had graciously agreed to meet us to give us hints, tips and pointers on how to be more comfortable in the water. We met at Lake Washington at about 6:30 Friday evening and donned our wetsuits.



Kristin immediately pointed out a buoy that was about 1/8th of a mile off shore. She said we should swim out and back twice to get a sense of the 1/2 mile distance we'd need to swim in the race. We chatted about our various phobias (some of us having more than others) - feeling that you're out there adrift, fear of murky water, inability to breathe, you know, the usual type of things. She encouraged me to roll onto my back to collect myself if panic set in and to close my eyes in the water so I didn't have to look at the murk.



Her advice proved to be very sound and I actually had a great experience. We all did. We all made it out to the buoy and back t wice but not very quickly - we were passed by several other swimmers. But the point is that we made it.



We then drove to Genessee Park boat launch where the race will take place on August 17, saw where we'll park our bikes, how we'll ride to the Mercer Island floating bridge, and where we'll run and cross the finish line, victorious. We're wondering how we should celebrate the momentous occasion. Should we have champagne? Should we do it twice? Perhaps we should just go home and take a nap. The options are endless.



Anyway, then it seemed to be time to go and find a place to have a cold beer and fries to celebrate our successful open water swim.



By the way, we need a team name. So far the best we've come up with is Hells Belles. After reading this if you have any good suggestions, let us know.