We arrived two days before the race to relax, get set up, go for a swim, pick up our race packets and have some fun!  First of all, we camp for those of you who don’t know that.  And for those of you who don’t know me, that adds a WHOLE new level of stress to my world.  I don’t camp. But, after we went up for training weekend I knew what to expect, and what not to, so at least I wasn’t coming in blind.  We were packed in like sardines, but it was great- it all contributed to the convivial feeling of the weekend… but onto the important stuff. The race.

The day before the race we grabbed our wetsuits and went down to the Boat Ramp where we were allowed to get into the water at the swim start.   I almost tossed my cookies at the sight of it.  That and the sight of the time clock counting down the final minutes until the race.   Until I actually got into the water, I really thought I was going to be sick.  But we got in, I felt the coolness of the water, and we swam out to the first buoy and I felt really good.  With the entire team around me, I can’t imagine doing it any other way.

After our short swim, we went and got our race packets, wandered around the expo and went back to our campsite to hang out and make final preparations.  I foolishly made the rookie mistake of making an adjustment to my seat, so I had to have our in camp bike mechanic help me out and adjust it a bit.  That done, I was ready to go… and wait for morning when we would get up and head down for the big day.

The energy in the air the next morning was electric and terrifying all at once. We got down there early and because my wave start wasn’t until 9:20 am (yes, that is correct- the first wave started at 8am…)  USAT rules say that you start in the age group of the age you are as of December 31st.  That meant for me, an entirely new age group and 5 minutes less time on the course.  Great.  One more thing to worry about.  As a result of this,  I had lots of time to kill and be super nervous.  I saw off some of the other people on my team and then it was time to get ready.  Putting on my wetsuit was surreal. It felt too tight, I couldn’t breathe, I was already hot and I wasn’t confident that I was going to meet my time cut offs.  I got to see my fiancee come out of the water- that is how long after his start I had- I got really emotional when I saw him…  Finally, it was my turn. My wave was finally able to get in the water and I was so nervous I didn’t know how long to paddle out or when I should turn around. I prepared myself at the start and kept saying to myself “just breathe, just breathe.” The horn sounded, and we were off. As it turned out, being in the age group that I was in (35-40) was the best thing in the world to start my day.  There were a fraction of the amount of people and these ladies were calm – no climbing over one another, kicking and hurried frenzy that I experienced at Desert Tri.  I kept waiting for that nervousness and panic to set in but I found my rhythm right away and kept pace the whole time. Wow- kept telling myself not to think about it lest I start panicking- what an amazing way to start the day. The ladies in the 35-40 age wave seemed to carry me all the way around the turn, then I looked to my right and saw Ali, my teammate, right by my side. I wondered if she took as much comfort in that as I did.

Coming out of the water I was dizzy but that quickly subsided as I scrambled to pull my wetsuit off and hose my body down with sunscreen. I have to work on my transition times that is for sure- my hand kept slipping on the sunscreen bottle and I wanted to be sure that I got my back- some of the burns my teammates had received through the season were nasty! Off on the bike I wondered how my teammates were faring. I faced Beach Hill and saw several of my fellow teammates on Beach Hill- and hoped to give them encouragement.  Although one of them was stopped on the side throwing up and another said already that she was having a hard time.  I knew I had to keep pushing up though- on race day it is every man (or woman) for themselves.  My legs felt heavy and tired, but I knew as soon as I could get out of the park then I would be in good shape. One of the speedo clad teen aged boys yelled that I was hot at one of the first aid stations- I can’t tell you what a boost that was, as I sailed by with a big “35” on my calf.

I met up with four other of my teammates as we traveled along and we leap frogged for a while then gradually separated. I had already planned my rest stops out based on training weekend, thank you very much, so mentally I was easily prepared for each stage so to speak. Mile 26 was my first stop, then it was cruise time until the metal bridge for stop 2 to gear up for “The Grade.” For those who are not familiar with Wildflower it is termed “Nasty Grade” for a reason.  A 1400 foot elevation gain over 2 miles- basically straight up.  Only now do I realize I should have taken a salt pill when I stopped. It probably would have made all of the difference in the world for the end of my race. But I did a quick time check and knew I had to get back on the bike quickly. (I had to be off the bike by 2:45pm.  I got to the grade after 2 hours and 50 minutes and knew I was making good time. Thankfully there were people handing out water bottles at the beginning – perfect for dumping on my head. I felt energized and ready to tackle the hardest part. Another teammate was in my head singing “Never gonna break my stride, never gonna slow me down, oh no! I got to keep on movin’!”I was almost there, it was hot, but I started talking to another gal and told her for her as much as myself “you got this!” “You can do this!” “Come on!” “That’s it!” And we pushed to the top. “Nasty Grade has nothing on me yeah!”

But wait, where was the aid station that was supposed to be at the top? Damn, stop 3 plan was disrupted. Where was the next station? Even though you have gone up the hardest hill on the course, you still have several climbs ahead of you from mile 43-56.  I started to get really nervous, I started to get the chills and my stomach started to turn over. F**K! Not now, not now! Get to the next station and switch to water quick. Got there, got cold water, dumped that on my head, got another bottle for my bike to take with me and the nice guy there had chips for me to try and choke down. I needed salt, and I forgot I had the salt pill in my bag. Lesson learned: TAKE THE DAMN SALT PILL NEXT TIME! Somehow I pushed through to the bike finish- coming at the top of Lynch Hill and seeing my Coach and assorted other IronTeam supporters gave me a great surge- it can get really lonely out there.

Time check- off the bike at 2:08pm.  You did it- you made the bike cut off in plenty of time. Back in transition, it was all about getting some glide on my feet, shoes check, visor check, race belt check. Got out of transition and to the stairs when I realized I had forgotten to take my bike gloves off! Oops. No turning back now, but still worried about how I was going to fare on this run.   Started running- uh, yeah that wasn’t going to happen. I was disappointed to say the least because running is my first love and as a sub-2 hour half marathoner, I wanted desperately to put in a good performance.  So, I walked a bit more- get to the next aid station get some water- thankfully they had some pretzels. More water, more salt. Ok, feeling better. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, walk walk walk. Just keep getting to each aid station and you will be ok.  When do I realistically throw in the towel?  Stop thinking like that! Then I heard my name, “Erin!” I turn around and it was another teammate. I looked at her and said “We are in this together now!”  I was immediately renewed, even though I still had a big lump in my stomach that threatened to come up every time I started to try and run.

It was a walk/run interval until I pushed enough fluid to feel normal again. I was delirious and dizzy at times, but my teammate kept me going. We said we would walk the whole thing if we had to.About mile 7 I finally had to go to the bathroom- yeay- although a Gu or anything of the sort was NOT going to happen.  I have never run a Half marathon on nothing but water and pretzels, but I guess I learned it can be done.   Then this fantastic woman heard me asking about salt, and gave me a salt pill- it changed my world. We somehow kept our Walk/ Run thing going through to the end. We started the down Lynch Hill into the finish.  We were both emotional and choked up and  if I had been able to cry, I would have, but since I was dehydrated, that was never going to happen.  I saw the turn into the chute and somewhere out of nowhere, my legs started to turn over faster and all of the sudden all of the pain was gone, the frustration was gone and that finish line was the best sight EVER! I saw the team and realized how lonely it would be to do this on my own and I was so thankful to be a part of something so amazing.  Our whole IronTeam waited at the finish line for everyone to come in- even those who didn’t make the time cut offs.  It was simply incredible and as I did my happy dance at the finish and then lept into my fiancee’s arms, I felt like such a sense of …. well, that I am a total BAD ASS!  Yeah, that is right, I felt like a rock star!

Heading to the Fluid Recovery tent to get I said I never needed to do that again, but now, today, I find myself talking about next year-  what?!!! Next year?  Jesus.  What do our coaches put in the sports drinks? It is like crack!  Now, a week later I have dreams of shaving just a little time off the run for sure…. maybe a new PR? In case you are wondering, my times were as follows:  44:28 for the swim, 4:11:56 for the bike and 2:48:39 for the run for a total of 7:57:49.  Wildflower, you will see me again.

What is next? possibly Barb’s Race, another Half on July 31st, but I do also have a wedding to plan… stay tuned.

Coach tells us the first drill.  50m kick on side with 50m swim.  No problem, I think.  And for one of the first times, I am not the last person in the lane.  Second drill, forward kick with 50m swim.  Again, I am doing ok here.

Then it happens.  The long distance swim 100m hard, 100m recovery, then 200 hard, 100 recovery and so on and so forth.  We start out.  Then it happens, I look up and I see the last person in front of me is now 25m ahead, so I push it a little.  My breathing quickens and then I feel it.  The panic, the sheer panic of not being able to go fast enough, not being able to catch my breath.  I start breathing on every stroke to help.  That just makes me slower.  And slower.  One of the evil swimming twins (we will call them that, because I manage to get into a lane with these two every single time and instead of being encouraging, they are just haughty and make me feel stupid for being in the water in the first place) in the lane passes me.  Damn.  More panic.  Can’t breathe.  Then the other twin passes me…  If I could just catch my breath, then I might be able to keep up for once!

Finally, the coach asks me if I am able to bi-lateral breathe.  Of course I can, but I say instead that I can’t seem to ever get enough air.  He tells me to try and bi-lateral breathe on my recovery laps.  Neat, in theory.  And form?  Well, that has gone to hell in a handbasket already.

I trudge along and hate every minute of being in the pool and while I am not a crier, want to just break down and sob because I am tired and miserable and just want this to be over.  Finally, blissfully, everyone has finished- I still have 50m to go, since everyone has now passed me.  Maybe they won’t notice if I don’t go those last 50m.  I stop.  I am panting and everyone else seems to be just fine.  WTF!  This sucks.  What if I can’t get out of the water in time during the race?  The coaches would have talked to me about that right?  They would have seen my time trial times and suggested that I not do a Half Ironman right?  They haven’t done that.  But the panic is still there, and this craptastic swim practice only sets me in a bad mood.  And then creates angst when I get into the pool on the next time that week, even though I don’t have the evil swimming twins on my heels the entire time.

They don’t tell you about the mental aspects of Triathlon training.  I emailed my coaches and told them about my panic attacks.  Relax, they said.  Triathletes are notorious for trying to compete with their teammates.  To be fast in the water, you have to be relaxed.  If someone passes you and gets annoyed, that is their problem.  Great point.  Someone will always be faster than I- I know this about running for sure, my ego got checked a long time ago on that, so why can’t I get it into my head here?  Who knows- perhaps it is the close quarters in which we train?  So for next Tuesday, my mantra is going to be “It’s All About Me, It’s All About Me.”

Hopefully this will be the key to finally achieving the breakthrough.  That elusive thing that I have felt only once before.  You know what I am talking about, where it actually feels like you are slicing through the water instead of  fighting it.  Where your breathing is good and you are for once doing it and doing it well… Watch out evil swimming twins… I am coming for you.

Last Saturday we got back in the saddle (both the proverbial one and the literal one) after three weeks off… I got sick and then we went on vacation and there was nary a bike in site…  Anyway, I digress.  Our ride was longer than I had spent on my bike ever and while I had my cushy Pearl Izumi bike shorts on after an hour and a half- OUCH!  That and I didn’t use enough Ride Glide- that is not an experience I care to duplicate.  (See my last post for comments on that). The upside is that I didn’t fall – dare I say that those days are behind me?  We will see but the streak continues for now… Legs were a burning and lungs were on fire- Wildflower is going to be much harder than our measly 21 mile ride last weekend and I have to wonder if I have it in me to take on Nasty Grade?

Additionally, I am finding that I am spending quite a bit of time by myself on these training rides, which I guess is fine since I will be all on my own for the actual race, but Bobby’s experience last year lead me to believe that I was in for a different ride- pun intended.  He said he was always chatting with people on the rides- I have yet to ride with anyone.  Our team is broken up into two groups- a beginner group and an intermediate/advanced group.  I am certainly a neophyte and for some reason I keep ending up in the intermediate/advanced group for the rides.  It is almost that I am too fast for the beginners, but not fast enough for the intermediate/advanced group- aren’t there any others out there like me?  Personally, I like to think it is my incredible athletic prowess that has allowed me to excel on the bike, although I could just be masochistic and like to push it to the limit by going out with the advanced riders.

Running, like cycling, after some time off, be it for illness or otherwise SUCKS!  We did legitimately run on vacation but running in that humidity for this So Cal gal was incredibly hard so that happened only twice.  Sunday was our first hour run after a break, and I find myself frustrated that I am not running at my peak pace.  We have not been running three times a week as I am used to with the normal additions of speed and hill work.  I know there will come a time in the very near future where that will change, but it still annoys me that I am not running as fast as I know I can.  I mean really, I run a sub 2 hour Half Marathon- not to brag but I look forward to the time where I am running for several hours and not feeling like my lungs are going to burst while doing it.

We had our first time trial in the pool tonight.  Swimming is undoubtedly my weakest sport and my biggest fear.  I have now had several dreams where I don’t make it out of the water in time and my timing chip is taken away.  Can we talk about how unnerving that is?  Bobby says until I conquer Desert Tri in March I will continue to be anxious because it is a big unknown.  All I know is that I felt like my arms were going to fall off and that I had to keep telling myself to stroke and, no I am not going to drown.  I am still the tortoise, but for the first time I almost overtook someone!  It was a small victory indeed.

It is officially on and I am told that training is really going to ramp up now.  In the coming weeks I am going to dive into nutrition and look forward to beating the bonk!  I guess in the end of all of this, consistency is the key to training- you build up endurance where you had none, strength where you need it and confidence when you have doubt.

First, there is the simple.  Swimming WRECKS my blonde hair.  My hair feels like straw, I risk having a green tinge stick to my strands every time I get out of the pool, and can we talk for a minute about the smell?  Thankfully, there are answers to this issue.  But as I have said before NOBODY talks about these things.  First, for us blondes, you need to wet your hair before you get into the pool.  That keeps the copper from depositing on your hair causing the green buildup.  But in order to really keep this from happening, you also need to coat your hair with a conditioner or a pre-swim gel, paying attention to the ends.  Currently I have been using a Redken product, that of course, has been discontinued.  I have spoken to some fellow blonde swimmers and they recommend simply a thick conditioner or Burt’s Bees makes a hair oil.

I have recently come across a line of products from a great Southern California company called Reflect Sports.  They make some fantastic products for swimming.  To continue my train of thought from above, they make a great pre-swim gel, but more importantly, they make a fabulous post-swim shampoo and conditioner.  The shampoo not only helps to keep your hair from going green, but it also takes the nasty chlorine smell out of you hair and off of your body- it can be used as a body wash as well.  The conditioner is rich and as good as any expensive salon shampoo.  www.reflectsports.com  Go check it out… They have another great product too that pertains to the not so pleasant part of this discussion…

Ok, here it is- the second, which is the not so simple and the stuff they don’t tell you about.  Guys reading this- if you get squeamish at all, you may want to stop reading.

Alright, you had your chance- here it goes.  I love how when we started the training process that the coaches say- oh you only need one pair of bike shorts for our rides.  Um- eew.  First of all, gross because they get pretty smelly, but even more gross, because you do not wear panties under your shorts.  And seriously, would you ever wear your dirty smelly panties again after wearing them all day?  I think not.  And if you do, you risk such things as yeast infections and something called “crotchitis.”  Yes, it exists and I have read about it.   Don’t know about you but “Crotchitis” is not what I signed up for when starting to train for a tri.  So, my advice to any woman who is embarking on this road- multiple pairs of bike shorts.  Multiples are good for so many things- this is yet another.

One other thing they the almighty coaches have not explained or explored is the need for an anti-chafe product when on the bike.  Yes, it is true, parts of your body will chafe that you didn’t even realize could chafe.  Men know it, yet they don’t care to share this with their female counterparts.  Of course the options for preventing such things are male oriented and smell nasty… So again, I turn to Reflect Sports for their “Hoo Ha Ride Glide.”  In a word, this stuff is sublime when you are in the saddle.  It smells nice and feels tingly. I put it on my inner-thighs, but some ladies just put it everywhere.  It has tea-tree oil in it which is a natural antibacterial- another bonus.   In the end, I have even gotten my fiance to use this as well- so although it is for your “Hoo Ha,”  it is nice for everyone.

Products are good- use them and be comfortable and unsmelly.

We have been in the pool as a group three times, and all times I have gotten my rear end kicked by being the slowest swimmer in the lane.  I am the turtle right now… at least I am not the walrus?  I am using muscles that I have never used, but I find that this girl who hated to get her hair wet actually enjoys the challenge of the water.  My fear of drowning is diminishing each time I conquer a work out which is encouraging.

Biking is another story.  Having not ridden a bike for about 13 years, I found myself a great road bike online and have actually started to enjoy it.  That is until I fell twice last week because I leaned the wrong way when coming to a stop.  Honestly my pride was bruised more than my body, but it is still not fun.  Our first coached ride was this morning and we went over some great basics- shifting, clipping in, rules of the road.  Yes, I managed to fall again.  I am so over the falling thing…

Running- well there is something I know.  I have competed in 4 half marathons and one full, with a smattering of 10k’s and 5k’s thrown in for good measure.  Even though I am totally comfortable with running, I still worry that my pace won’t be fast enough and what will people think about my strategy of taking walk breaks?  I get twitchy that I am not running three times a week right now, but I am sure we will be adding more running in sooner than later.

Clearly I have a long road ahead of me and if I ever had any ego about any sport, it needs to be checked at the door.  Toto, we are DEFINITELY not in Kansas anymore.

That pretty much sums up the first four weeks- getting used to training, getting a sense for each individual sport and building slowly.

I am in Arnold California near Murphys California.  Little old mountain town that is so quant and cute that you can see every star at night!  It is gorgeous here…  a little chilly during the day but perfectly clear.

WOW do my calves hurt.  I got out of bed today and was in beautiful pain.  Not sure I would ever say that but I know that means I was running correctly in my new $150 Newton Gravity shoes.  I am excited only because I did a little taste test yesterday with my shoes.  I ran three miles with Erin in the morning with my new shoes and then ran another 2 miles with my Neutral Support Asics.  I could easily feel my knees and IT band tighten as soon as we ran 1 mile in old shoes.

The only way to wear in your Newtons is to run 3 to 4 miles 3 days a week for about 4 weeks.  After that your calves get accustomed to the new stride.  I have 1 run down and about 11 more to go.  We run at 8 AM tomorrow near the LA Zoo.

I immediately went upstairs and got on the stationary bike for about 15 minutes.  Ended the workout with a great protein shake from the bar.

The JC is a very nice beach club and its facilities are more than adequate for triathlon training.  Being situated on the beach bike bath makes for great place to run and road bike.

Beach Club