On Your Left!

Just finished the Cohasset Tri yesterday. It was an absolute beautiful day, calm flat ocean - clear skys, etc. Apparently the last few Cohasset races were not so lucky! This race is a nationals qualifier so all the elites of New England show up! It was the fastest sprint sellout in the country- It sold out in just 60 hours!

I felt kinda icky on Sat, nothing in particular, just my lower back hurt and my hips/ITbands always hurt. Woke up Sunday bright and early 4AM, and I didn't eat what I had prepared to eat. We ended up being a little late so I ate a bagel instead. Anne stayed over and we picked up Alexis and went on our way. Arriving in Cohasset right on time 6:15AM.

You had to park 1.5 miles away from the venue, our Tri-Sherpa John brought a bike too so he could also ride to the race site! We get to registration pick up, I give the woman my info, she checks me off the list and goes to get my packet.. of course it's missing.. seriously I AM MURPHY! So we stand there for a while as they dig around the boxes, then he race director comes over and shoves a "race day late entry" thing in my face and tells me to sign it. ???? I"m like "uh, I've done this??" - he THEN explains that they'll issue me a new # if I fill it out. So I fill it out, then some guy comes over and hands in my packet, they had given it to someone else! We joked that it was probably Scott Brown :) - ONLY ME!


The race was in a great location, the beach was awesome but freakin COLD! I debated between sleeves and sleeveless. Anne had a shorty sleeveless so I decided to go sleeveless just because she was. I'm glad I did too! They had a pretty long wait between waves and it was VERY hot out. I would have died if I had that long sleeve on!


I've never done an ocean race, nor a beach start. I like messing with my goggles in the water. With a beach start you have to have them set before hand! This way you can just high-tail it down the beach and dive into the 60 degree water!


I dove in and YIKES, I knew how cold it was because I was already in there. I need to practice diving in and NOT messing with my goggles. Of course they fogged up on me, I tried to deal but I took a second to rinse them again. Then the most freaky thing to me was the breath. My friends have all told me about how the cold water takes away your breath, I didn't believe them! It was like I had 1/4 the lung capacity. For the first several strokes (1/2 way to the first bouy) I took a breath EVERY STROKE! jeeze.


The rest of the swim was ok, my arms weren't too numb - feet were just fine. I tend to stay back and to the right so most of the pack was in front of me. I prefer to not get kicked so I'm ok with this location. That second buoy seemed SOOO far away though! The third buoy came quicker, I guess I found my stroke by then. Next thing you know I'm on the beach again, and there's another 50 yard run UP THE BEACH.. and I mean UP! YEA!

I walked, Alexis passed me on the run up and was like "why are you walking?" LOL!!

Transition was fine, mediocre T-time, but I learned to not put my socks on for the bike. I just dont need them. This also means they're DRY for the run! The bike was beautiful but it seemed like it was 40 miles long! I kept looking at my HRM and it said "4 miles" I'm like "WHAT??"


The whole town comes out in some fashon, so there's lots of people sitting out, cheering you on! The entire bike all I heard was "ON YOUR LEFT" "ON YOUR LEFT" "ON YOUR LEFT" (for those of you that don't race, that's what you're SUPPOSED" to yell when you pass someone on the bike). -- I decided that was the motto of this SEASON for me! "ON YOUR LEFT!"

Given my Murphy's law history, I round this corner and see a sign "Warning, Golf Course"- watch out.. I'm thinking to myself "today IS the day I"m going to get hit with a golf ball!...

It was just a short twist through there, but I was totally convinced I was going to get clobbered by a golf ball! Luckily, I survived.

I finally came to the dismount on the bike! I thought "what, now I gotta run?" it was getting hot and I was just not having fun today. I am so not a quitter so on went the socks and shoes and off I went. I jogged/walked. Then I met my new friend Veronica. We walked a good portion of it together (nope it's not cheating). I crossed the finish line and still didn't feel quite right, so I sat in the shade and drank some coconut water and some Owater (that stuff is pretty good). Eventually I felt better!

BUT, I kept thinking to myself "HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO AN IROMAN IF I CAN'T RUN 3 MILES!!!"

Ugh.. guess I need to step it up a "little."

Lots of Races

I apologize again for not writing in a while. I was consumed with the Adventures of Flat Stanley! That's not to say that I didn't' have lots to write about with my Tri-world, I just need an additional day or two in the week.

Since I last wrote, I've been seeing a physical therapist weekly for IT band syndrome and hip bursitis. That's just lovely, right? They ask you "what's your level of pain?" The hip is typically a 2-3 for me on a 1-10 scale, but I'm comparing that to a 9 migraine! I really have no idea how severe it would be for others! They just look at me like I'm crazy for being there for a "2."

I've also had a crazy unforgiving piriformis muscle. I joked to the PT that I've had "more people touching my butt this week than I have--EVER." He totally didn't find it amusing at all! The PT, the Chiropractor, the Massage Therapist and the Pilates instructor all have had their pain sessions with me and that muscle!


I've been working with Alexis with a Triathlon group, sharing my experiences, helping with swimming, hopefully providing comic relief, and most importantly letting people know its OK to be a TRI-TURTLE! Finish what you start, that's the key!

I've had two races since I last wrote. I actually placed in "The Y-Tri" - the hilarity of this statement still kills me! This was a TINY race, there were only 2 people in my category. YEA ME, right? HAHA!! The Turtle takes the race!

This was probably my last race in a pool, I really don't like the pool starts, I feel like I'm racing alone. I really need people around me to keep me going. This past weekend I rode the Webster course with Alexis and John's friend Jay. There happened to be a triathlon going on at the same time! We started out on the bikes just before the elite men exited the water. The confusion on their faces when they saw a GIRL up in front of them was priceless! I'll take this as another "win" - I was in the front of the pack for the race - HAHA!!


The second race was the King Pine Triathlon in Madison, NH. BEAUTIFUL.. but.. if you're going to do a race in the MOUNTAINS, and the transition area is in a SKI RESORT parking lot, EXPECT IT TO BE HILLY! - No idea why I thought it would be anything different than that! The swim was good, I expected it to be cold but it was a balmy 68! Bike was a nice hilly, you could really crank it on the downhills, but the run was pretty challenging for me. It was also quite hilly, and it was mostly trail. I really need to work on the run! Nice little benefit was the cute twenty-something massage therapist dude after the race :).


My Sunday ride is getting to be pretty cool. There are a variety of riders, and enough of us to push each other, but also enough that we don't have to feel guilty if we can't make it. I like organizing the Sun ride, because it makes me get off the couch early in the day.

I won't be doing it this week though, because I have the Cohasset Tri with Alexis & Anne. "Not last" could be a problem at this one, it's a regional qualifying race! Lets hope I dont get run over.

Next scheduled race is the SheRox on July 25th that'll be #6 of the season!

-Tri-Turtle-

Apologies

I haven't written in a while, I have been fully engulfed in a Flat Stanley project which has consumed all of my writing time! I do have a ton to say, and so much has happened! School is out tomorrow so I will be done with Flat Stanley and will be back to the Fat Girl!

Please feel free to check out Flat Stanley's Adventure!