So Where Was I? - Part I

Once again a stupid amount of time has past since I last posted.  There was supposed to be a follow up to my "travel blog" post where I was going to write about mishaps in Omaha.  That was going to lead into writing about the two aquabike races that were not on my original 2016 schedule, but I entered after having a little hissy fit over my Omaha debacle. Those two aquabike races would play a major part in how my 2017 season was/is going to play out. 

Then there were supposed to be a few posts about my new improved training routine and how this year was going so far.  Lots of ideas rattling around in my head, but no motivation to write any of it down.  I think breaking ribs in a moment of clumsiness, and then catching cooties from a sick kid didn't help things very much.  So here is some of the stuff I meant to get written down before moving on to 2017. Believe it or not, what happened in the latter half of my 2016 has impacted how I've approached 2017. More on 2017 in a later post.  Hopefully a post I'll make before 2018.  Maybe I need to change this blog to "Still Procrastinating After All These Years"

Age Group National Championships - Omaha, Nebraska

Big dreams of qualifying for Team USA and competing in Age Group Worlds in Rotterdam got squashed by the only damn hill in Omaha.  A piss poor shift on my part resulted in a dropped chain, and yours truly on the ground tangled up in her bike. Unlike 2015 Timberman Sprint, this fall cost me.  But it was more than the stupid hill. 

There was Thursday when I was going to pick up my bike from TriBike Transport (TBT) and ride it back to the hotel, but I forgot my pedals. Minor problem.  Then there was wandering the expo of Friday looking for TriBike Transport, and getting lost.  Finally finding them and discovering my bike shop had not replaced my rear flat as I requested before turning the bike over to TBT.  It took several guys to get the damn tire off the rims.  Zipp 404s from early 2000s suck when it comes to changing a flat easily.  If I ever flat in a race on these wheels, I'm totally screwed.  Then there was the case of my missing bag. I checked it to do the practice swim, and by the time I came back from the tire change from hell, the bag check people were gone.  At this point I'm tired, hungry and thirsty.  I finally was able to find the bag, put my frame numbers on and check the bike. 

Race morning I was still suffering from the "stupids".  I laid out all my stuff and couldn't find my sunscreen or gels.  After the race I found both them buried under my towel.  The only thing I did right on race morning was make it point to be on the first shuttle bus to the race venue.  People who came later got stuck in traffic, and they had to delay the race start by a half hour. I was in a pretty early wave which was good, because despite my off course swimming and my bike mishap, I found myself on the run course before some people were still waiting to go in for the swim.  I felt sorry for those people because it was already getting hot and there was no shade on the run.  My finish photo is deceptive.  I don't think I was really that happy when I finished.

 Watching women in my age group pass me in the last mile was really frustrating since most likely they would not have passed me if I stayed upright on my bike.  Ended out 25th in my age group. It would have been 26th, but after one woman passed me and then slowed down, I decided I would chase her down and pass back. I kept quoting Isaiah 41 "run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint, soar on the wings of eagles". I guess my finish photo was my soaring on the wings of eagles. Roll downs go to 25th, but with people aging up from F55-59 I was more like 32nd in terms of worlds qualification.

Okay, Now What?

After going to the awards ceremony and finding out just how poor my chances were of making it to Rotterdam, I cried.  Roll downs go to 25th, but with people aging up from F55-59 I was more like 34nd in terms of worlds qualification. Which lead to the what ifs? What if I hadn't gotten attacked in Seattle? What if I had been more disciplined in my training? What if I had run more in New Hampshire and Ireland? What if I had gone over the course so I would have known about the hill? Blah, blah, blah.

So after I sucked it up, I went out with a friend and had a delicious meal.  What did I have?  What else does a carnivore have in Omaha? Steak!

After dinner I went back to my hotel room and started working on plan B for Team USA.  Except plan B actually began with the letter A, as in aquabike.  I had found out on Thursday at the USAT banquet that aquabike was going to be included in the 2017 multi-sport world championships. This meant I needed to go to Miami in November and compete in the aquabike national championships at Miami Man.  Earlier in the year when I was planning my 2016 race calendar, I rejected the race because the entry fee was too high.  I took a deep breath and said "Suck it up if you want to be part of Team USA."

There was just one problem with this idea.  I had not planned on doing any aquabike races in 2016.  I was focusing on sprint and Olympic distance races which meant I was only training for races with a .9 mile swim and a 25 mile bike at the most.  Aquabike nationals' distances are 1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike. Although I have no trouble with either distance per se, could I race those distances? I figured the only way I would find out was to do an aquabike event before committing to Miami Man.  Where could I find such a race that I could drive to? Easy. Rev 3 in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.  Friends were doing a relay and another friend was doing the 1/2 ironman.  I was going to Maine anyway to visit my friend in Northeast Harbor on Mount Desert Island.  Why not break up the drive with a pit stop in Old Orchard Beach?

Rev 3 - Old Orchard Beach, ME

Two weeks after Age Group nationals I'm doing a race I haven't trained for.  Sometimes those are the best races.  Zero expectations means zero stress.  First of all there were no age group awards in the aquabike division.  Just the top 5 males and females.  I figured I'd get my butt kicked by a bunch of women half my age.  I was wrong. I got my butt kicked by women in their late forties and fifties.  Second of all I got to hang out with a bunch of my Rye Tri Club buddies. Jessica was doing her first 1/2 iron distance. Al, Dani and Mare were doing a relay in the Olympic distance race. Jessica's partner was our cheerleader and Sherpa.  Always more fun to have friends to hang with.

The race itself?  Great!  I was a little nervous about the swim.  Would be I be able to do the distance? How was it going to be swimming in ocean? Was I going to freeze?  The answers; yes, fine, no. I did wear a second swim cap and had my goggles under the race cap which was on top.  That ended out being a wise move.  I caught an elbow in the face from a guy I was passing.  Knocked my goggles a little askew, but was able to quickly adjust them and keep swimming.

Transition was insanely slow because there was a long run from the beach to the transition area.  I was wishing I had a pair of sandals to slip on for the run to transition.  Concrete and bare feet make a lousy combination.

The bike was a blast.  Lots of rolling hills.  The only problem was, I didn't really know who I was racing against.  They didn't put any special designation for aquabikers on our calf.  There was just the age.  I has doing back and forth with this one woman.  I'd pass her on the uphills and she would blow by me on the downhills.  She probably outweighed me by 70 pounds.  I had no idea if she was my competition or not because she was wearing calf sleeves so I couldn't even see her age.  I just treated everyone on the course as my competition.  As it turned out she was in the half iron and killed the Athena division.  The one interesting part of the bike course was getting stuck behind a hay truck going about 10 mph.  The workers sitting on the truck waved us through when it was safe to pass.  I was glad there were no USAT officials around as we were blatantly committing a double yellow line violation.  Life in the slow lane of farm country.  I was happier in the fast lane of triathlon country. I was happy with my 19.5 mph pace on the bike.

I finished 9th out of 21 woman, and  20th out 42 overall.  Not too shabby for a race I didn't train for and decided to do two weeks earlier.  What could I do if I actually trained?

Stay tuned...

2016 Review Part 2A- The travel blog

Tripping over Training

Although I had grand plans and goals for the season, sometimes things just happen a little differently then planned. I planned when I was in New Hampshire to focus on running and swimming.  I did get a lot of open water swims in.  That was easy, especially having a lake like this to swim in everyday.

I had planned to run two to three times, but it ended out being just once.  I ended out being a little busier than I thought.  Also who wants to run when it's 90 degrees at 5:00 pm in New Hampshire?  What happened to cool New England summers?

I got back from New Hampshire on July 10th. Ideally it would have been nice to have the rest of July and beginning of August to fine tune my training and preparations for Age Group National Championships.  However there was the small matter of vacation with my non-triathlete husband.  We did a Backroads bike trip to Alaska for my 60th birthday.  For his 60th we were biking in Ireland.  The biking was fabulous, and at times challenging.

I had the pleasure of climbing up this lovely road on the hottest day ever in Ireland. I never thought I would need an electrolyte drink on this trip.  I had visions of cool days and possibly some rain.  

Here I am on the Ring of Kerry in classic Irish weather.  I did not find a leprechaun or a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow behind me.  That was the one day where it really did rain, and we got really wet.

Our ride got cut short that day, but it gave me a chance for an unexpected training treat later that day.  We went back to our hotel which was located on a lovely little lake.  So what's a triathlete to do? Open water swim!!! Although it had stopped raining, it was windy and the water was rather choppy.  However I was quite happy to get 700 yards of unplanned open water swimming in.

I also managed to get a couple of good pool swims, and a couple of runs.  However none of this I qualify as highly useful training.  It was basically maintaining fitness, but not improving on speed or technique.  However it beat the alternative of eating and drinking my way through Ireland and gaining 10 pounds.  Trust me, there was a lot of good food and drink as the pictures below will show.

Turkey?  Yes they have turkey in Ireland.

Shepherds Pie

Dessert!

Beer! What would Ireland be without beer?

Lamb chops

Hopefully those lamb chops didn't come from these guys.  Yes, Ireland has lots of sheep. Which sometimes would be standing in the middle of the road.  However it wasn't as bad as the day we almost had a head on collision with a herd of cows.

Guess who had to wait for who?  One does nor argue with a herd of cows.  They had the right of way on this single lane country road.
 


So after 2 weeks of travel it was back to New York and 11 days before jumping on an airplane and heading out to Omaha for Nationals.  Was a it worth it?  Looking back at it now, I can say yes.  Though in Omaha it did question myself.  But that's the next story.

2016 Year in Review - Part 1

I thought I had posted more last than I actually had.  But it turns out I had an incomplete race report from St. Anthony's in draft mode, a couple of partial race reports in various Word documents on various computers, and one hand written race report in my journal.  I also had a lot of ideas in my head that never quite made it to paper or computer.  Such is the life of a chronic procrastinator.  In fact I had meant to post this on January 1st, but it did not happen.  Better late then never.

Last March I had listed some goals for myself along with a tentative race calendar.  As it turns out, the race calendar was about the only part I got right.  I did all five races listed, and threw in one more after having a meltdown in Omaha.  More on that later.  The running and swimming goals didn't quite go as planned, especially after "Sleepless in Seattle".  Also I made some personal choices that definitely impacted my training leading up to Age Group Nationals. Non-triathlon related travel does mess with one's training. I knew this was going to be an issue, but sometimes one's priorities change along the way.  Would I have wanted to trade a lovely vacation in Ireland with my non-triathlete husband for a couple of more weeks of focused training? Nope.  What about the week in New Hampshire doing a volunteer photography job at a wonderful girls' camp on a beautiful lake? Nope.  The New Hampshire trip actually did have a lot of opportunities for open water swims, which I took full advantage of.  The running didn't quite work out as planned.  Forget biking. I didn't even bother to take the bike with me.  I knew there would be plenty of biking in Ireland since the first part of the trip was a bike tour.

No lengthy race reports here, but quick summaries of my first two races of 2016.

 4/24: St. Anthony's Olympic distance. St. Petersburg, FL

 Initially I had set a goal of breaking 3 hours, and placing top 5 in my age group.  The super secret goal was 2:50 and coming in 2nd. 1st was totally out of the question knowing the competition.  I knew I had to change my goals and expectations based how I was feeling after getting attacked.  My focus would be on doing whatever my body would allow, and having fun.  This was not my A race, so worrying about results could wait.  I actually surprised myself with how it went.  I had a decent swim, a good bike, and an okay run.  I actually passed someone in my age group on the run.  When was the last time that happened?

I didn't break 3 hours and I was fine with that.  I did come in 3rd in my age group.  Even if I had hit my super secret goal time of 2:50, I still would have come in 3rd. 

6/26: Sleepy Hollow Sprint Triathlon, Sleepy Hollow, NY

 This was my Team in Training race.  This was the race that got me back into triathlons after an extended break that lasted until 2014.  I had modest goals back then.  The night before that race I posted on Facebook the following:

Hard to believe my triathlon comeback is almost upon me. Yeh, my heart rate went up a little as I packed my transition bag tonight. Everything is packed away. Checking my list, once, twice. Everything is nice.

The old tri-geek in me wonders if she can relive the glory days of age group wins. The comeback kid here tries to tell the old tri-geek to shut up and enjoy the moment when she crosses the finish line, and then enjoy the moments of my totally awesome TNT teammates crossing their first finish line. Tomorrow is going to be amazing no matter what happens.

It's been 9 years since that last age group win. Yeh, true I'm the "youngster" in F60-64, but who knows how this recent graduate of C25K will do on the run. Can I hold off some speedy 60 year old that still run 8 minute miles?
Now my goals weren't so modest.  I wanted to beat the time I did in 2014, especially the swim time, and win my age group again.  One out of three isn't so bad.  Sometimes things don't quite go as planned.  Nothing one can do when the mighty Hudson River gets gnarly.  

This was supposed to be a 1/2 mile swim. Roughly 800 yards.  The currents had a whole different idea as you can see from the swim segment from Garmin Connect.  During the swim I kept blaming things like my leaky goggles or my new wetsuit.  I had practiced in the new suit, but it was my first race using it.  There were times during the swim that I just wanted to say "screw it" and go grab a kayak.  I was thinking the entire time "I suck, I'm not going to win my age group, there are going to be no bikes left in transition, why didn't I get my goggles on right?, why did I get this wetsuit?" The one thing that kept me going was knowing that I had raised a lot of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and I'd feel like I let my donors down if I didn't finish.

I did finish the swim and when I ran into transition I was very surprised to see lots of bikes still on the racks.  Clearly I wasn't the only one having swimming issues.  I would find out later that a lot of people had to be pulled from the water.  It reminded me of that race I did in Delaware many years ago where the currents went crazy.  I smoked the bike, having the 5th fastest bike split among all women.  The 4 women with faster bike splits were 1/2 my age.  BTW, I did win my age group again.

First 3rd of my season completed.  Next on my schedule was National Age Group Championship in Omaha, Nebraska.  My last trip to age group nationals was 11 years ago when there ended out being no race, but lots of good stories to tell afterward.  Back then it was unheard of canceling a race.  These days it seems like races are either getting shortened, turned into different format, canceled or rescheduled.  Mother Nature has turned into a real bitch.  

However before making my way to Omaha there would be a couple of non-triathlon trips in July, including that vacation in Ireland.

Stay tuned for Part 2...

Yes I'll even slip a few Ireland pictures in there. Although this is a triathlon blog, I sometimes like to pretend it's a travel blog instead.

Here Goes Nothing!

Tomorrow I get on a plane and head to Tampa/St. Pete for the weekend.  What kind of weekend it will be? Who knows.  Since I last posted things haven't exactly gone the way I wanted.  I did get to do three rides on the triathlon bike before I dropped her off at the shop for Tri-Bike Transport to pick up.  The back was a little gnarly by the third ride where I went close to 40 miles.  It's more than I'll be doing in the race, but I always like having time on the triathlon bike.  The road bike? Not so good.  I was slow and the back felt like crap.  It just confirms what I already know.  I need to get another fitting for that bike.  I'm just not very comfortable.  Fortunately I won't be riding that bike on Sunday.

Swimming hasn't been so bad.  I had a few good workouts and actually repeated the T1 test that I had first done in February.  My times for the 300s went from 5:58 to 5:50.  Clearly the work I'd been doing was showing.  My last pool workout was Sunday with my Team in Training group.  It was a relatively short workout for me.  1600 yards total.  My back was barking at me.  Probably didn't like the 8 x 25s that I did in 23 seconds per 25.  The 1 x 400 that followed was over 8:00.  Not so good. 

I've run once since I got back.  I ran 3 miles on the track.  Took it easy.  Who knows how 6.2 miles is going to feel after swimming and biking on Sunday.  I've been doing a fair amount of walking, and I've just resigned myself to the fact that I'm probably have to do frequent walk breaks.

This past week I've been really cranky and suffering from a case of the "stupids".  That's where I just space out and don't remember what it is I'm supposed to be doing.  That's not a good thing when one is packing for an out of town event.  I have my check list with everything I need and have packed.  I've even put notes on what item is in what bag.  That way I don't have a panic attack when I can't find something in the gear bag that I actually packed in my suitcase. 

I've been trying to deal with the fact that despite my good winter of training, I may not be able to achieve what I was aiming for in this race.  It's rather frustrating to have all my work get trashed by one of moment of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Although this is not my A race for the season, I did want to do well.  I thought 2:50 - 2:55 was a reasonable time, which based on last year's results would have put me in top 5 in my age group.  This big fish in the little pond wanted to see how she could do with the bigger fish from the bigger ponds.  That may just have to wait. 

If nothing else, I'm going to Florida.  Nothing wrong with that.  I just have to not be stupid on Sunday.  I need to listen to my body, and hope it speaks louder than the inner tri-geek who wants to go for it. 

Bump In The Road - Sleepless in Seattle

In my last post I asked, "How am I doing?"  Up until March 24th I was doing pretty well.  I had been meeting my stated goals of swimming and running 2-3 times a week.  I had structured swim workouts and some help from a friend who's also a coach.  My running wasn't particularly fast, but I had gotten a few 6 mile runs in. Cycling was taking care of itself although I wasn't satisfied with my pace.  However part of that is because there are parts of my group rides that are slow.  I try to make up for it when the group splits up.

I went on vacation on March 23rd.  Start with a couple of days in Seattle, followed by ferry to Victoria for Grand Pacific Open chess tournament over the weekend. Back to Seattle Monday night and dead eye (red eye) back home.   I was really looking forward to the weekend in Victoria where there are beautiful places to run, and a 25 meter pool in the health club attached to the hotel.  I was really pumped up knowing I was going up there with a good running base.  For the first time ever, I'd really be able to enjoy some nice long runs in Beacon Hill Park. There's a beautiful path that overlooks James Bay.  Previous visits I've spent a lot of time walking there and taking lots of pictures. This time I was ready for some serious running.  Though I wouldn't have minded an opportunity to ride with those guys in the picture below. 

It's beautiful place to run and there's even a statue honoring Terry Fox, the Canadian runner who was trying to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.  Sadly he was not able to complete the journey due to his cancer coming back.

I even had looked into possible group runs.  I think I packed almost many workout clothes as regular clothes.  When I discussed my plans friends were asking "Aren't you going there for a chess tournament?" Yes I was playing in a chess tournament, but the schedule is such that there's lots of time to do non-chess stuff like swimming and running.  Did I mention shopping?  Spring sales at The Running Room and MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop - Canada's REI) in addition to the US dollar makes shopping in Canada a sport of its own. 

*Sigh* Sometimes the best intentions get waylaid by unforeseen events.  You've heard of the movie, "Sleepless in Seattle"? That's what my Thursday became.  The day started out nicely. Did a tour of a couple of Washington State wineries tasting rooms, Snoqualmie Falls and ending with Boehm's Chocolate.  That's probably the best chocolate I've had anywhere.  All handmade right there at the store.  Wine and chocolate! My favorite two food groups.  :-)

Snoqualmie Falls

 

Chocolate!!!

I should have quit when I was ahead.  However I did want to go out for dinner on my last night in Seattle, unlike the first night when I noshed on munchies and had wine at the hotel happy hour, went back to my room and fell asleep at 9:00 pm.  Hindsight is 20/20. One of the people I met at happy hour and I decided to skip the usually overpriced and not so great food at the hotel restaurant and venture out about town.  Ended out a place called Von's 1000 Spirits.  They make their own sourdough pasta right on the premises. This was a new one for me.  We split a beet salad and an order of sourdough pasta Mac & Cheese.  This was not your Kraft Mac & Cheese out of a package.  This was to die for! Even though we split the dish, I knew I'd need a few runs to burn that off.

Okay, once again I've turned my triathlon blog into a travel blog.  You're probably wondering where this is all going.  What's the bump in the road that I referenced in my title? To make a long story short, on the walk back to the hotel we were waiting at a light to cross the street.  Out of nowhere a woman comes up and tries to grab my purse off my shoulder.  I'm holding on for dear life.  In the melee, my phone goes flying out of my purse, I get knocked to the sidewalk, but manage to push her away, grab my phone and hold on to my purse.  She runs off, but several witnesses chase her down.  Really all I wanted to do was go back to my hotel and not be bothered since I didn't lose anything.  However when I stood up, I hurt like hell and sat right back down on the sidewalk. 

God bless all the people who helped me out.  There were the people from Benaroya Hall where the Seattle Symphony was performing that evening, who brought me a wheelchair and got me out of the cold. There were people who called the police and others who were able to identify the suspect.  Then there was my dinner companion, who I'd only met a few hours ago at happy hour, who took me to the hospital, stayed with me for the almost 3 hour stay in the ER and got me back to the hotel at the ungodly hour of 1:00 am. 

I didn't get much sleep that night. Hard to sleep when one's back is screaming "What the hell happened?" I did make it to the ferry on Friday, and got to Victoria.  The people from Victoria Clipper Ferry were very helpful in getting me off the boat, gathering my luggage and getting me through immigration and customs.  One of the organizers from the tournament met me at the ferry and helped me get to the hotel.  The hotel is a 5 minute walk from the ferry, which I usually have no trouble doing even hauling suitcases.  That was not the case.

So all those runs I planned on were replaced by frequent naps, a massage and some gentle swimming in the 25 meter pool.  At least my swimsuit got used.  All the running and gym clothes remained unpacked.  By Monday I was able to do some easy walking around town where I did indulge in retail therapy.  The ferry ride back to Seattle was beautiful, however the plane flights were painful.  First flight was a case of "good news, bad news".  The good news is, I got an upgrade to first class.  The bad news, last row in first class against the wall where the seat doesn't recline.  That sucks when one wants to recline the seat and try to sleep.  The second flight was worse.  No upgrade, lousy seat with no legroom, and a broken seat that wouldn't recline either. 

So where does all of this leave me?  The back is still hurting, though it's getting somewhat better. I have my good days and my bad days.  My training has been totally trashed.  I've managed to do some swimming since I've gotten home. Actually the swimming has gone pretty well.  I've been out on my bike once.  The back actually seems to hurt less when I'm riding on the aero-bars.  Mother nature has been a royal pain in the ass.  Winter didn't seem to get the memo about it being spring.  Tuesday it was 23 degrees in the morning with 9 degree wind chill factor.  It's been raining a lot.  Maybe I brought the weather back from Seattle.  Though I think it rained less out there than it has here since I got back.  The big question mark is running. I haven't given that a try yet.  I want to give that a little longer.

I have my first race in two weeks.  St. Anthony's.  Yes, the very race I want to redeem myself from the horror show of 2009.  Despite this setback, I'll still probably do better than I did in 2009.  However I may have to adjust my expectations for this particular race.  Looking at previous years results in my age group, I felt I had an excellent chance of placing in top 5.  2nd - 5th looked quite doable since those times were over 3 hours.  I'm not sure this is still a realistic goal.  However no matter how I feel in two weeks, I'll be there.  I have non-refundable plane ticket and hotel room. I've paid to have my bike send down there.  One day at a time.

Stay tuned....

What's next?

As I looked back on the last two years since I rejoined the ranks of triathletes, I realized that despite my run and swim "training" (I use the term lightly) I did pretty damn well.  The question I had to ask myself was; "Could I do better?" Hmmm, eight age group firsts and one second isn't too shabby.  Really? Can I do better than that? Oh yeah, don't be one of the last swimmers in my age group, and don't let that woman you chased down on the bike pass you on the run at West Point Triathlon.  No problem! Just swim and run faster, and the bike will take care of itself.  It always does.

Although I'm not one to make New Years Resolutions, I do like to set some goals for myself.

• Swim more.
• Run more.
• Bike better.
• Lose the holiday pounds. 

Those are the little goals that are a little too general and vague.  I needed to clarify them more:

Swim more.

• 2 to 3 times a week.
• Increase my yardage.
• Be more specific about workouts.
• Work on my technique.

Run more.

• 2 to 3 times a week.
• Increase my mileage.
• Work on improving speed, with more structured workouts.
• Jun a running club.

Bike better.

• Knock off the junk miles.
• Work on pedaling technique and cadence.
• Ditch the group if necessary for speed work.

Lose the holiday pounds.(5 pounds)

• Be more diligent about tracking food.
• Find the right balance between carbs, proteins and fat.
• Cut back on the sweets.
• Let the increased mileage do its thing to my metabolism.

Those are my training goals, but what about racing?

4/24: St. Anthony's Olympic distance. St. Petersburg, FL
6/26: Sleepy Hollow Sprint Triathlon, Sleepy Hollow, NY
8/13: USAT Age Group National Championships, Omaha, NE
9/25: Westchester Triathlon, Rye NY
11/13 National Aquabike Championships, Miami, FL **

** I've been thinking about a 70.3, but that would totally depend on what I actually can do with my running.  I also don't know which one I would do. If I go for the 70.3 then I'd skip the aquabike, unless I find a race that's far enough away from the aquabike.

Next post: How am I doing?

Revisting the Scene of The Crime....St. A's 2009

In my last post I had written a summary of the last year and a half of my triathlon comeback.  I ended the post by writing the following:  "2016?  I'm looking to expand my horizons beyond the northeast.  Time to see if this big fish in the little pond can go swim/bike/run with the big fish in the big lakes.  First order of business is to revisit the scene of the crime.  The crime being my pathetic exit from triathlon with my sad performance at St. Anthony's Triathlon in 2009."

So what was so criminal about St. Anthony's in 2009? You've heard the expression "pouring good money after bad"?  Going to St. Anthony's that year was a classic example of that.  I was supposed to do St. Anthony's in 2008.  I wasn't doing it with Team in Training. I had signed up on my own with the idea that it would motivate me to get back to swim, bike, run as opposed to long walks during marathons.  I wasn't ready for various reasons, so I paid to defer my entry to 2009.  March of 2009 came and I had not been in the pool, I had not been running, and had only been on the bike a couple of times.  A person with half a brain would have said to herself. "Okay you paid $75 to defer your entry to this year.  It's a month before the race and you haven't done any swimming or running.  Just eat the $75 and be done with it. Why spend money on hotel, airfare, food, car, etc. just to justify spending $75 to defer your entry?  Can you really do an Olympic distance race with barely any training?"

I do have a full brain, however the prudent half of the brain was shouted down by the "what the hell, go for it" half of the brain.  So to justify paying to have my entry deferred to 2009, I spent $100 to go to the pool maybe 3 - 4 times before the race.  I also bought a plane ticket, rented a car, booked a hotel room, and paid TriBike Transport to ship my bike to Florida.  (That was the best money spent for that trip! I loved not having to schlep a bike case through airports and worrying about whether or not my bike would arrive on the same plane as me.)  Let's not forget about food and gas.  I don't recall how much I paid for all of that, but I'd guess probably around $1,200. That's not counting the money I probably spent at the expo buying stuff I didn't need.  All of that to justify the $75 deferral fee.  It's true there are worse places than St. Petersburg, Florida to spend a long weekend.  On the other hand, I could have saved that money and gone somewhere even better, and saved myself the angst of doing a race that I wasn't physically or mentally prepared to do.

The only reason I was able to finish the race was because the swim got completely canceled.  The day before when I went in the water, I couldn't swim much more then  200 yards before I was gasping for air.  The waves were high and I was struggling to make any progress.  I got out of the water that day and thought I would have my first DNF on Sunday when they have to save me from drowning in the rough water.  Thankfully the race organizers thought it wise to cancel the swim due to the rough water.  I was relieved that they weren't replacing the swim with an extra run before the bike. Instead the race went off with a time trail start on the bike. Every two seconds they would send a person out on the bike.  However it was done in number order and with a number like 3099 it was going to be a long time before I got on the course.  I can't remember how long it was before I got to go.  However I spent a long time out on the course for just biking and "running".  I averaged 14.1 mph on the bike, and walked a 16:40 pace and completed the race in 3:35:01. I finished 31st out of 33 women in the 55-59 age group. I had just turned 55.  Quite a comedown from 2005 when I finished 3rd out of 35 in my age group (F50-54) with a time of 2:43:10.

I had fun over the weekend hanging out with friends. The race sucked though I did enjoy walking with a guy in the 75-79M age group.  We talked about races we had both done, and places we had traveled.  However I would have rather been talking about this stuff over a nice meal and a glass of wine, not during a slow walk in a triathlon. 

After that race, I decided I was done with triathlon.  I was too damn competitive to be satisfied with back of the pack results.  I had given up on ever being able to run again, and felt I was too young to be reduced to walking the run course.  I thought I'd be in my 70s or 80s before I'd have walk the run portion.  Never thought it would happen in my mid 50s. I would now refer to myself as a former triathlete. I'd concentrate on Tae Kwon Do, working towards my Black Belt, and maybe do some bicycling.  Little did I know that 7 months later, my world would be turned upside down with a tumble down my stairs resulting in a broken ankle.  The black belt would have to wait a year and bicycling would have to have to wait two years.  Triathlon?  Not even on the radar. It was only a scheduling conflict between Tae Kwon Do and Team in Training that brought triathlon back into the picture.

Seven years later I'm returning to the scene of the crime to make my peace with St. Anthony's.  Call it the seven year itch, or revenge of the tri-geek, but a new attitude about swimming and running is going make things a lot better this time around. Stay tuned.

Catching Up!

I truly suck at trying to keep this up to date.  My last post was in July of 2015 where I was trying to review my comeback season of 2014.  Here it is February of 2016, and I didn't even finish reviewing 2014, much less write anything about 2015. So here it all is in a nutshell.

Rest of 2014

Westchester Triathlon: Good swim, crashed on the bike, made sure the bike was functioning somewhat, finished the bike course, ran most of the 10K before the endorphins wore off and shuffled the last mile and finished in 3:09.  A rather painful finish!

As soon as crossed the finish line I was immediately dragged into the medical tent. (First time for everything. Hopefully the last time.) That's what happens when one of your Team in Training coaches is charge of the medical tent. Still won my age group. Then again the other person in my age group, got pulled after the bike leg because she way over the cut off time.

Treasure Island Triathlon, New Jersey: Rented a house Jersey Shore with a bunch of my Team in Training buddies.  Party time with a sprint triathlon thrown for good measure.  Day before race I could barely lift my arm while swimming.  Shoulder pain from the crash two weeks earlier.  Thanks to the magic hands of our in-house PT, I was good to go.  Survived the swim, kicked butt on a 4 loop closed bike course (no cars!), and held on for dear life during the run, and won my age group by a couple of minutes.  Could have won the aquabike division if I opted for that instead.  Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

2015

June 7: America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride, Lake Tahoe, CA.   Spent all spring putting in lots of miles on the bike in order to do the 100 miles.  Not much swim and running during that time.  But I had a great ride! 6:35 ride time

June 14: Sleepy Hollow Sprint Triathlon: A week later I do the triathlon with very little swim and run training. I was slower than the year before, but not a problem, still won my age group.  Beat some of the same women as last year.

June 27: Islandman Triathlon, Avalon, NJ: This was kind of a homecoming for me. Our family would spend a week there at the beach. I had not been down there since the first anniversary of my dad's sudden passing in Stone Harbor which is next town over.  The race was supposed to be 1/3 mile ocean swim, 12 mile bike and 5K run. However when the ocean looked like this:

The swim got replaced by a .8 mile run.  Oh joy! Just what I needed was an extra run to start off the race.  However I managed to chase down all the women in my age group on the bike, and somehow held them all off on the second run.  Still haven't done a triathlon with an ocean swim, but won age group for the first time ever in a duathlon. Generally I avoid duathlons because I have to run twice.

August 15, Timberman Sprint, Guilford NH: I had not done this race in 10 years.  Always loved this race.  Very competitive.  Nice swim, 14 mile hilly bike course, and a short 5K run. It definitely plays to my strengths.  I had slight mishap on the bike. I dropped my chain, tried to pedal it back on, lost my balance and toppled over.  Only thing injured was my pride as I was in the midst of trying pass a group of riders, who then proceeded to pass me as I lay on the pavement.  "Stuff" happens. Won my age group, but was shocked how I won it.  2nd place was 20 minutes behind me.  Twenty minutes is an eternity in a sprint.

September 13, Toughman Aquabike.  USAT National Aquabike Championship, Croton, NY
This was my A race.  I had looked at the results from last year's race in Ohio, and felt I could beat the winning time in my age group which was little over 4 hours.  But there's always the questions that linger.  How many in the age group? Will more East Coast people come? How do the courses compare? I knew this course was going to be hilly which for me is good.  I didn't feel I did as much hill training as I should have, but bike mileage was solid.  I felt good about my swimming.  I spent a lot of time doing open water swims over the summer.  The swim was not easy.  The Hudson River can be rather gnarly when it wants to be.  Fortunately the currents weren't too bad.  I loved the bike course due to it being totally closed to cars.  Not an easy course though.  A big climb up an 8% grade early on.  Since it's two loops, got to climb that sucker twice.  However coming down that same hill was rather scary.  I hit my time goal of under 4:00 with a time of 3:56. Yes it was good enough for the win. National Champion!  Even got a National Champion tri-top.  I don't think I'll wear it in any races.  Don't want to have the proverbial bulls-eye on my back, especially if I choose to go to this year's Aquabike National Championships.



September 27, Westchester Triathlon, Rye, NY:  I stayed upright on the bike, and shocked myself on the run by doing it in just over an hour.  I still can't figure out how I struggle to run sub 12:00 miles in training, but go into a triathlon and knock out sub 10:00 miles.  I guess it's a combination of adrenaline, the competitive fire within and perhaps I need a bike ride as a warm up.  Maybe I should do all my runs as a brick.  I did break 3:00 hours which was one of my goals. 

A year later I'm looking a lot happier as I cross the finish line.  Staying upright on the bike helps a lot.  And yes, with it came another age group win. 

So the first two years of my comeback have resulted in eight 1st place age group wins, and one 2nd place.  I guess getting old isn't such a bad thing.

2016?  I'm looking to expand my horizons beyond the northeast.  Time to see if this big fish in the little pond can go swim/bike/run with the big fish in the big lakes.  First order of business is to revisit the scene of the crime.  The crime being my pathetic exit from triathlon with my sad performance at St. Anthony's Triathlon in 2009. That's a whole other post, which I promise won't come in another six months.

Catching Up on 2014 - Part 1

I had all these wonderful intentions of reviving my blog as I revived my triathlon career last season.  I managed one detailed report from my 1st race of last season.  I wrote a very detailed report of a small race I did in New Hampshire, but half the text vanished into the Internet's version of a back hole.  Hours of writing....poof!!! Gone.  Instead my followers (do they actually exist?) got treated to a travel piece accompanied by lots of photographs from my Alaska trip.  Did I ever tell you in my dream life I'd be a widely read travel blogger who gets free trips to write about?  Wishful thinking.  Just about as likely to happen as winning my age group at ITU Age Group World Championships. 

When I left off last season I was sweating about doing the West Point Triathlon and what time I'd leave the house.  Neurotic old tri-geek left early.  The short version of my West Point race report: In my age group I got trashed in the swim.  I roared back and passed them all on the bike, but reverting to an old pattern, I got caught on the run.  So 2nd place in F60-64. I was satisfied since that has always been a very competitive race.  I finally got to meet the other Polly who does triathlons.  She finished 3rd and did stay for the award ceremony.

Labor Day Weekend I did a road trip with my sister and did another small race in New Hampshire.  The Circle Triathlon.  Nice course with a serious badass climb on the bike course.  The one thing that stuck out about this race was playing cat and mouse with this one kid on the bike course.  I was getting kind of annoyed because he's riding a plain old bike with no bike shoes or toe clips.  I couldn't get rid of him. (The inner bike snob in me was showing.)  I'd pass him and then he'd pass me.  Every time he passed me he give me a look, and when I passed him I'd give him a look.  We came into transition together and after that I never saw him again.  When I looked at the results I'm thinking how did he have those crazy fast transition times.  Turns out he did the entire race including the swim in Vibram 5 toed shoes.  He's a really fast runner, and I should point out about 45 years younger.  No age group awards in that race either.  I can't remember where I finished overall.

A Letter to My Neglected Road Bike

Dear Ms. Light,

I know you've been wondering where I've been the last 3 weeks.  All those Tuesday and Thursday mornings you waited, expecting me to pump up your tires and take you out the back door for the Unemployment Ride.  Instead I'd grab a small gym bag with Tae Kwon Do gear and leave without you.  Then there were those Saturdays and Sundays that I was not working that you would wait patiently for me.  However I'd stumble by you at 9:30 am having just gotten up, and brought in the newspapers.  Later on you might see me with the gym bag, or on some days you'd see me peeling off layers of snow covered garments. You're probably thinking to yourself, "There she goes again, ditching me for another sport."

No, no it's nothing like that at all. Yes, I'm doing Tae Kwon Do and I'll be testing for my next Black Belt in November.  But I've not given up cycling.  After all I'm planning to do the Lake Tahoe Century with Team in Training again.  I can't be neglecting my cycle training when I'm planning to ride 100 miles on June 7th. So what's the deal with all those missed mornings?  You're also probably wondering why you see me taking cycling clothing out of the washer and taking it upstairs to dry.

I have a confession to make.  I've been seeing another bike. Yes, I admit it! I've been cheating on you. No, I have not been going out with Blue Bayou. Winter is not the time to be cruising around on my tri-bike.  That will come later.   You've never seen the bike or the people I've been riding with.  This brutal winter weather has caused me to go over to the dark side.  Yes, I've been hanging out with the beautiful people in their cute tank tops and colorful tights.  Yes, those type of people that I see going in and out of Soul Cycle in Greenwich, CT  Yes, those people that Lisa and I make fun of while she's massaging the hell out of my cranky joints.  However I'm not at Soul Cycle in Greenwich. I'm at Flywheel Sports in Scarsdale.

Rest assured I've had not totally gone to the dark side.  No cutesy tops and tights for me.  Regular cycling shorts and a run or tri top.  Also I do compete in class by having my stats show up on the torq board.  I've yet to have the top score yet.  The best I've done so far is 2nd.  It's all about power and there are bigger and younger women who take these classes.  Just maybe before this temporary affair is done, I'll be able to beat all the ladies.  I wonder how they'd do outside in the cold?

Dearest Ms. Light, bear with me.  Once Mother Nature stops being such a witch you and I will be together again.  We'll go out with the boys and cruise up Rte. 22. We'll go climb some hills and hang with the pack.  Understand that I need to hang out with Fly so that I can be ready for the peloton.  You wouldn't want me to embarrass myself by getting spit off the back before the Kensico Dam because I wasn't doing any training?  Fly will never be as dear to me as you are.  She doesn't know that I will be ditching her as soon as Mother Nature allows me to. 

Enjoy the warmth of the house while you can.  Sooner or later I'll be looking for you to join me on the road again.

Love,

Your roadie girl Polly

Big Oops! & a few random pre-race ramblings

I was looking back at the last post I made and noticed 1/2 of it vanished into thin air.  Either I'm getting senile and didn't really write up the race report portion of my post, or it went to the great Internet trash bin.  I know I did write it, but it's gone. Maybe I'll get to rewriting it, but then again probably not.  Tomorrow is another day and another race.

My comeback so far has consisted of two sprint races on a pretty small scale.  The Sleepy Hollow Sprint Triathlon had a few hundred racers.  The Marshmallow Man Sprint triathlon had 34 individuals and 5 relay teams.  Now it's time to hit the major leagues.  West Point Triathlon is the big leagues.  We'll see it goes.

I think I last did it in 2004,  It was lot different back then. It was still very laid back, and reasonable entry fee. Now it's become one of the big boys.  USAT sanctioning and an entry fee that's about double of what paid in '03 and '04.  Triathlon boom strikes again.  I won or placed high in my age group back then.  Not sure how I'll do now that my running has slowed down considerably.  This is just another step towards my Olympic distance comeback in September.

I need to go to bed.  It's about an hour's drive and I can't decided whether I'm going to be totally neurotic and get there before 6:00 am and stand around for 3 hours waiting my wave to be called.  I'm in the 9th of 11 waves.  Race goes off at 8:30. I don't hit the water until 09:10.  Practicing my military time.

Another Trip, Another Race - Blogger Meet Twitter

Wow where did July go?  On July 3rd, I reported on the first race of my triathlon comeback. Suddenly it's August 10th, and I haven't written another word.  Did people think I took my Sleepy Hollow Sprint Triathlon gold medal, and ran?  Or perhaps decided this triathlon thing was not such a good idea after all?  Au contraire!  The fact of the matter is, I think I'm becoming a full-fledged tri-geek again.  However before I could even think about starting my Jardin Westchester Triathlon training there was something called vacation I needed to attend to. Two and half weeks in Alaska!

Bike training was not going to be an issue since for 6 days I would be on a bike tour.  Running and swimming on the other hand.....I had great intentions in terms of doing a little swimming and running on the trip.  I brought a bathing suit, cap and goggles.  I also brought running shoes.  The swimming gear never came out of the suitcase.  The running shoes got used for walking.  My hiking boots got more use then my running shoes.

The biking was everything one might expect in a place like Alaska.  Incredible views, long climbs, headwinds, screaming downhills, rain and run ins with the "official state bird" (mosquito!)

Cresting the top of Thompson Pass.  

That was followed by a screaming descent into Keystone Canyon. I hit 45 mph!

Then there was the matter of rain.

a. Get wet and stay in the headwind

or

b. Get wet and sit on a tall rider's wheel and get muddy.

I chose b.

No matter where we were riding there was always amazing views and scenery. This was taken at Sheep Mountain Lodge.  Beautiful place in the middle of nowhere.  Although a few days after we left a big bike race would be starting there.  The Fireweed 400.  Various distances are contested.  The 400 mile option being the longest.  I did not do 400 miles, but I did end out with around 260 miles for the 5 days of riding.

The 6 day bike tour was followed by some amazing trips to Seward, Spencer Glacier and Denali National Park.  Yes, Denali is a totally amazing place.  I was fortunate to be part of the 30% who actually see Mt. McKinley on their visit to the park.

 The clouds are starting to roll back in.

Close encounters with bears.  Fortunately we're in a bus.

Don't mess with momma grizzly and her cubs!

Okay so I had to throw in some Alaska pictures and pretend this a travel blog.  I just had to show off some my travel pictures.  At least I didn't try to post all 2,000+ pictures.  Anyway that was the first part of July.  I got back from that trip on a Tuesday. By Thursday I was already thinking about my trip to New Hampshire to take pictures at Camp Onaway.  This was my second summer going up there to take pictures of the campers and staff for their "yearbook".  It's not a paid photo gig.  However being able to spend almost week on Newfound Lake, hang out at the camp I attended as a kid and spend time with my sister is not such a bad deal.  Not to mention, amazing sunsets! This shot was done on my iPhone.  The pictures taken with the real camera are on the other computer.

While looking at the triathlon calendar I happened to find a race in New Hampshire. I wasn't looking for a race to do necessarily.  I was checking on a race in New Hampshire that I'm planning to do over Labor Day weekend.  Other races in New Hampshire showed up and one of them happened to be  on the day I was planning to head back home.  So I decided I would do the Marshmallow Triathlon in Laconia, NH.  Sprint distance with a 1/4 mile swim, 14 mile bike and 5K run.  These are distances that are little more to my liking as opposed to the way too short bike leg of Sleepy Hollow.

I guess the old neurotic tri-geek decided to make an appearance as I left at 5:30 am for a race that was 40 minutes away and wasn't starting packet pick up until 6:30.  That's kind of typical for me when I'm going to a new location.  I have to factor in getting lost.  GPS makes it less likely I'd get lost, but I still manged to get lost using GPS.  I was the first one there.  When I arrived there was nothing resembling a transition area.  One of the race organizers said the equipment guy thought the race was the next day, so the racks and such were not there yet.  He was called, so the racks were coming, but a little late.

I love the charm and simplicity of small hometown races.  One of my favorite ones was the Dutchess County triathlon in Hopewell Junction, New York that was held back in the 1980s.  It was sponsored by the local chapter of the Sons of Italy.  It was held at the town park and the swim was in this tiny lake.  It was advertized as a 1/4 mile swim, but probably more like 1/8 because I always had these ridiculously fast swim times.

I'm not quite sure what happened here, but I seem to have lost 1/2 of this post.  I did write about how the race went.  It was rather detailed, but since I have another race tomorrow I don't have the inclination to rewrite the report at this point.  So here's the Twitter version. 

Time: 1:30:49 5th woman overall out of 21. 14th overall out of 34. No age group awards. #smallrace.

I'm Backkkkkkkkkk!!! - Sleepy Hollow Sprint Triathlon Race Report

I wasn't quite as diligent as I would have liked to been chronicling my comeback.  I made it through the C25K app and got myself to a point that I could cover 3 miles, albeit slow but no walking breaks.

The night before the race, I posted the following on Facebook.

Hard to believe my triathlon comeback is almost upon me. Yeh, my heart rate went up a little as I packed my transition bag tonight. Everything is packed away. Checking my list, once, twice. Everything is nice.

The old tri-geek in me wonders if she can relive the glory days of age group wins. The comeback kid here tries to tell the old tri-geek to shut up and enjoy the moment when she crosses the finish line, and then enjoy the moments of my totally awesome TNT teammates crossing their first finish line. Tomorrow is going to be amazing no matter what happens.

It's been 9 years since that last age group win. Yeh, true I'm the "youngster" in F60-64, but who knows how this recent graduate of C25K will do on the run. Can I hold off some speedy 60 year old that still run 8 minute miles?

No point losing sleep over it. Although I may lose sleep anyway, because that never changes the night before a race.

I guess i should hit the sack.

Sunday June 29th I walked into the water and began my race.  I was on my way to being a triathlete again.  My approach to the day was very different then that of my last serious race in 2005.  How different was it?  Let me put to you this way, I wasn't the crazy one who had to be the first on line to pick up her packet on race morning.

I got my packet, got body marked and headed to the transition area to set up.  I kind of had to give myself a little refresher course on what all the numbers were for and where to put the timing chip.  The next thing was laying out my transition area.  I used to be one of these people who brought everything, but the kitchen sink into transition.  I decided I needed a picture of it. Much simpler then the past, but a little messy.

Let's make this official.  We need a picture of me in transition. Note I don't have my wetsuit on or anything.  Smile!

It's almost 7:30.  I haven't put on my wetsuit, I haven't check the various entry and exit points of transition.  However I did manage to see where my rack was in relation to everything else and I had my bright purple bandana to make my spot stand out.  I didn't get time to do the walk through because it was time to do another team photo.  This crew loves pictures.  If we can't get someone to take the picture we've mastered the art of doing large group selfies.

One of the great things about this race is the women are in the earliest waves.  Not only that, the oldest women go first.  The first wave was 45+ women.  The first men's wave would be 9 minutes after mine.  I figure I would be safe from getting run over by alpha males.  Also being in the first wave I would have a wide open bike course to do my thing.

Our wave was not gigantic.  There was plenty of room, but some how I managed to find myself sandwiched between two women.  One of them kept smacking me in the head every stroke.  I did get away from them and got into clear space. The swim was point to point.  It was a very calm day so the current didn't play any part in the swim.  It was like swimming in a lake.  The only thing that was a little confusing was where we would turn right to go into shore.  All the buoys were the same color.  Many races I've done, the last set of buoys have been a different color. That way it's easy to tell when you're getting to the end.  I did a lot of sighting to stay on course and also figure out when to turn.  As I get closer to the turn I did start to see women in red and pink caps pass me.  They were from the next two waves.  Although I'm a decent swimmer there are plenty of women who swim much faster then me.  My mission is to blow by them on the bike.

T1 has a long run from the beach up to the transition area.  I have run up a ramp and then a set of stairs, and then across to park.  By the time I get to my spot in the transition area I have the wetsuit down to my waist.  From there my transition goes all to hell.  I had a lot of trouble getting out of my wetsuit.  That's been a constant battle for me since we started the open water swim training.  It seems like in 10 years my body has completely changed shape.  Although I weigh less, "stuff" has moved.  I thought updating my wetsuit collection would help, but even in practice I was still having trouble pulling my monster calves out of the legs.  I manage to get the right leg free, but the left leg is giving me problems.  The timing chip is huge and keeps catching on the wetsuit.  I finally sit on the ground, take the chip off, pull my leg out, and put the chip back on.  I made sure the chip was close by.  That's all I needed to do was misplace it.  How to totally screw up a race.

A few weeks earlier at one of our group training sessions, I had forgotten socks.  I did the course ride with no socks. My feet felt fine so I figured I could do the bike leg with no socks.  I practiced that way a few more times and decided that would work well in the race.  I've always had difficulty putting socks on wet feet.  Waiting to put socks on in T2 would resolve that problem. Running without socks is a whole different story. Tried it once, and had blisters after about a mile.  Orthotics and bare feet are a lousy combination.

Having finally completed my transition it was time to get down to business on the bike.  Now I was ready for some serious fun.  The course starts off flat with a lot of turns.  I'm passing people and but at the same time, I'm making sure I take the turns carefully.  Cornering is not my strong suit, but with no pack to worry about, I can take the turns a little wider then I would in a bike race.  I was looking forward to getting to Rte 9 and climbing the hill.  One of my bike club teammates was working the intersection where we make the left turn for Rte 9.  I give him a shout, and he yells back, "Go Polly!"  Having done the course a number of times I had gotten a feel for how I wanted to take the hill.  The last training ride I had done on the course I tried to go close to race pace so that I could work out my gearing and how much I wanted sit or stand while climbing.  I do a combination, but I do like standing and stomping on the pedals.  I passed a lot of the 2nd and 3rd wave "fishies" who had passed me in the water or in transition.  I was keeping my eye out for 60 year old women, but didn't see any ahead of me.

I must admit I love the reactions I get when I pass younger women and they see the age on my calf.  I passed a 46 year old woman on Rte 117.  That part of 117 is a steady incline.  It's not steep, but it goes on for a few miles.  When I pass her I hear her say something to the affect of, "Oh my God, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. You're amazing." Hearing reactions like that just get me all pumped up.  I tend to push harder after hearing something like that.  It's not the first time I've heard things like that, but it's been a long time. 

On Rte 117 there's a U-turn where you turn to go back the other way.  You see people coming the other direction.  As I'm heading towards the turn around the woman who won the race had a big lead on the other women.  She's incredibly smooth and powerful.  Last year she had finished 2nd. This year her goal was to win the race.  I notice there aren't a whole lot of women coming back the other direction which means I'm pretty far ahead of a lot of people.  I know that's not going to last once I get to the run.  On the bike I try to pass as many people as I can, and try not to be passed by too many.  One woman passes me on a slight downhill.  I catch her on the next slight uphill.  However then the rest of the course is downhill, so she passes me for good.  No worries, she's 50 years old.  It's funny thinking that way.  It seems like such a short time ago I was a 50 year old worrying about 40 year olds passing me.  I guess because I haven't raced seriously since leaving the F50-54 age group I forgot what it was like thinking 40 was young.  I never raced in the F55-59 age group.

After I made the U turn I got to see what was going on in the other direction.  I saw a few of my Team in Training teammates going out.  I give a loud "Go Team" as I head back.  I have no way of knowing where anyone in my age group is in relation to me.  All I know is I'm having a good ride and I need to just keep pushing, because eventually I'm going to have to get off the bike and run.  I have no sense of my pace or time because the computer on my bike is not running, and my watch malfunctioned while trying to save the swim portion.  In the past that would have made me nuts, and had me obsessing about what pace I was doing.  It didn't matter.  I could tell where I was working hard and feeling the climbs, and when I was in hammer mode.

The last few miles of the bike course has some screaming downhills that are difficult to totally let loose on.  The roads are rough in spots and there are a couple of sharp turns.  Although I practiced the descents I didn't feel totally comfortable letting it all hang out.  No sitting on the aero-bars and flying.  I think I spent more time on the brakes.  However I wanted to get through the bike portion in one piece.  I certainly did not want to wipe out on the corner where John was standing.  It's bad form to scare the crap out of one's spouse by wiping out in front of him.

I got back to the park and dismounted.  Being the first TNT'er in I got a lot of cheers.  That got me me rather pumped up.  T2 was a lot smoother then T1.  I got the bike on the rack, took off my helmet and shoes.  Fumbled a little with the socks and running shoes, but not terribly.  Putting socks on dry feet was much easier.  I run hard out of T2.  Lot's more "Go Team" cheers and the coaches calling out "looking strong Polly!"  So much for taking it easy on the run.  All the cheering go me totally jacked up and I couldn't help myself.  Somehow despite what I had been saying to most people about just not going crazy on the run, I went crazy on the run.  With no watch on I had no idea how much time I had been out on the course, and I had no idea what type of pace I was doing.  I just ran.  It wasn't pretty and as I got further away from the park and the crowds I started to come down from the crowd infused adrenaline.

Although the run course is flat, its hard.  There is no shade on the course and it was getting a lot warmer.  The run is where I come back into the pack.  Men go flying past me, as do the younger women that I passed on the bike.  Each time I see a woman pass I check out the age on the calf.  I'm seeing 30s, 40s and an occasional 50 year old.  I'm feeling pretty confident that I'm ahead of my competition.  However since I don't know how many women are in my age group or who any of them are it could all be a crap shoot.  I'll admit the day before the race when I was up at the race site to do a swim clinic and scope things out, the old inner tri-geek was hoping to see an entry list.  That did not happen.  Nothing I could do, but just run the best I could and hang on for dear life.

The run course also has an out and back portion so I did get to see some of my teammates and give a high five or two.  I don't know if it was because I didn't really care that I might be giving away valuable time with the high fives, or that I was so confident I was kicking butt.  I just like giving the high fives and give a little encouragement.  I also needed those high fives and shouts of encouragement.  There aren't a lot of spectators on the run course.  Thank goodness for the two water stops.  The way the course was set up, I could get water from both stations twice.  With the heat the way it was, I grabbed two cups.  One cup to drink and another to dump on my head.

I sure was happy to get off the hot pavement and running back into the park.  The crowd was cheering a lot and the positive energy bjust pushed me.  I sprinted to the finish line. I don't even remember if I was trying to pass anyone or just felt like bringing it in hard.  As I crossed the finish line I jumped for joy.  I became a triathlete again.  It was a wonderful feeling to cap my comeback on a happy note. Looking at the finish line clock I finally had a sense of what I did.  Seeing the time of 1:25:40 up there made me very happy.  I wasn't sure I could break 1:30.  I guess I was wrong.

Part of the Team in Training experience in the bonding that goes on between teammates.  An important part of that is being around the finish to cheer in one's teammates as they arrive at the finish.  Most races all I want to do is scarf down as much food as I can get a hold of, find a massage table and just veg until the results are posted.  I did grab a bagel to scarf down, but I was anxious to get back t the finish line and watch my teammates come in. They had announced the results were posted. I didn't rush over there to see where I placed.  I could find that out after the last TNt'er arrived.

The picture below shows the true nature of teamwork.  When our last teammate came into the park, we came out to greet her, and run her in. This is a Team in Training tradition to bring in the last participant. It's the team being behind everyone.  It's a cool thing to see and to be part of.  This was truly one of the best teams I've ever been a part of.  There was just an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm.  Although many of my teammates could have been my daughters.  It makes me feel young being around these energetic young women.  I look forward to doing Jardin Westchester Triathlon with some of the same people.  I'm already fundraising for that event.  Click here if you want to join me in my efforts to raise another $3,000 bringing my combined total to $6,000 for 2014.

T Together

E Everyone

A Achieves 

M More

Oh, by the way I did manage to make my way over to the results sheets, and yes the old tri-geek came through with another age group win.  However the comeback kid was part of the equation too.  The old tri-geek pushed herself hard.  The comeback kid didn't let her get crazy over wetsuit issues and watch malfunctions