I came, I tri-ed, I "conquered" ... now what?

It's been an interesting week since the race. Had caffeine in some fashion nearly ever day, two yoga classes, bike commuted once, swam 35 minutes, and danced my behind off at a wedding. That's it, though. I hadn't intended to take a week off, but that's essentially what happened. A nice respite from trying to do the 3/2/1 (runs/bikes/swim per week) - that felt pretty confining towards the end. Routine is nice and all, but I did routine starings at the black line of a pool for 13 years and I was interested in some variety and flexibility. Thought triathlon training would provide that - and it did to some extent - but I still felt constricted. Regardless, I don't have anything to train for (yet), so now working out will probably feel rather pointless. There's something to be said for simple fitness maintenance, but then again, there's a lot to be said for having a date written down on the calendar as a goal. 

I tossed around the idea of doing a half-mary; after all, I did a 12 mile run unintentionally earlier this spring (long story). Almost signed up for one with my friend until we got some serious sticker shock at the entry fees. As I don't have a car, I'm pretty limited in where I can go for a race, so if a friend is interested in one and they have a car, I always look into it. Tossed around the idea of trying to beat my PR in the 5k, which seems the most likely option right now, but I think I need to convince a different friend to do it for pacing purposes. Tossed around the idea of the Stockade-athon (a 15k race in my hometown), but it is on a weekend too close to Thanksgiving and not worth an entire trip home. I'll do it someday, it's on the list of 100 Things The Furmanator Should Do Before She Bites The Dust. 

I'm also considering taking a month off running. Focusing on my yoga. Building my cycling endurance, as I plan on applying to Bike & Build for next summer. I noticed today during yoga that after a week of not running, my hamstrings and hip flexors responded much faster to the stretches. I had my best downward dogs yet, and I even did a half-moon pose! I also am considering joining a local water polo club, but my skills are a little rusty, so we'll see.

I guess the point of this entry was to say that even though I finished the triathlon, I'll keep the blog going. I may only have 1-2 readers, but it's nice to have a record of life and thoughts. I also have some (potentially provocative) things to say regarding urban planning and Cleveland. Can't quite shut me up yet. :)

Cleveland Triathlon: Results

Thanks to Amy, who managed to find the results online a whole two days ahead of schedule:

Swim: 10:54 (includes T1), swimming about 1:30-1:36/100m (very approx... and slow)
Bike: 1:02:08, riding about 15.5 mph.
T2: 1:12
Run: 25:58, holding around an 8:23 mile.
Total: 1:40:11, or 6/18 in my age group, or 100/288 (or 100/292 if you count the 4 DNFs).

With improvements to my cycling speed (through training and through equipment upgrades), and increases in my running endurance, I could see an Olympic distance triathlon in my future.

Cleveland Triathlon: Sprint Distance RR

Aw, my very first race report. Apparently race reports should be long, drawn-out, epic tales of trials and tribulations, so hopefully mine will not disappoint. It certainly qualifies as long. My inaugural triathlon went REALLY well. I was going to wait to post until I got my final time and my splits and such, but it appears they won't be posted until Wednesday. From the unofficial results sheet posted, I finished around 1:40 and was sixth in my age group. Considering my goal time was to finish under two hours, I was really happy with my result. Okay, let's break it down:

[Jay, my 1981 Peugeot PH8 touring bike, all ready for his first (and hopefully only) triathlon. Hopefully my next triathlon will be done on a racing bike, not a touring bike. Also, my macbook's Photo Booth flips the photo around in case you're confused.]

Pre-race: I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked last night, but when the alarm went off at 4:26 am (ugh) I actually felt ready to go. Quick shower to warm up, ate some breakfast, pumped up the tires, and got on the 5:26 train downtown. Got to the transition area to discover that arriving early was not really necessary as there were only two racks for my "wave" (note: not heat, like in swimming). Laid everything out, including a pile of "just in case" clothes. Met up with my two friends who were also doing the race (one a first timer just like me) and lined up for the swim.

Swim: GROSS. They had us tread water before the start and I kept hitting nasty seaweed (lakeweed?). The start was really disorganized. We were kind of just milling around and all of a sudden they started us. I was expecting to get lined up like the previous two heats had been, so I was kinda chilling in the middle of the pack, instead of out front like I had intended. I spent the first few minutes of the swim trying to get past people, and finally got my own "space" after the first buoy. After the second buoy, started catching up to the stragglers from the heat in front of us, which resulted in me coming to a complete stop at least 3x. I had intended to try to "win" the swim for my heat, but I was also have trouble sighting, so I had to stay behind the lead girls. The water was disgusting and I was so happy to get out of there that I forgot getting out onto a dock is not the same as a pool and fell back in. :) It was hilarious to be helped out by these two volunteers! 

T1: Once up the slippery ramp, I was able to jog into the transition area. Decided to just bike in the outfit I had on (two piece swim top and tri shorts), since it wasn't raining. Note to self: bring a small towel to dry feet off. I kinda rubbed them around on the floor towel then shoved my shoes on. Jogged the bike up to the mount line and I was off.

Bike: I ate a gel as soon as I got on the bike, good thing I managed to ooze it all over my face and the photographer caught it... haha. Starting off the cycling portion all sticky was interesting. Riding on the shoreway was actually quite nice. It is surprisingly hilly. Bike commuting of the Giant Hill of Doom (Cedar Road, Edgehill, Stokes/Fairhill) was probably the best thing I could do training-wise. The only time I was really able to pass people was going up the inclines. Of course, since I don't weigh much, have wide tires, and don't have aero-bars, I kept getting passed on the way down. I also managed to either break my front derailleur or screw up my shifter (I rock downtube friction shifters. Be jealous.) since I wasn't able to shift into the big ring. My only hope on downhills is to be able to shift high enough to pedal downhill, but no such luck today. I tried to tuck myself into the most aero position I could do to compensate. Nutrition-wise, I ate the Gu Chomps, which are like big gummy bears, but ridiculously sticky. The course was actually quite scenic. You pass right by downtown and the lakefront and see all the cool lofts and industrial sites and such. Going by on a bike at ~12-15mph gives one a much better opportunity to sightsee than driving on the shoreway at ~55-65mph. 

T2: I don't have cycling shoes (yet), so I was able to have a really fast transition. Jogged my bike in only to discover our rack had been knocked over. This is probably the only time having a kickstand on my bike turned out to be an advantage. :) Switched helmet to a visor (thanks, Anthony Travels!), put my race belt number on, and was off. 

Run: Coming out of transition straight into a hill was not fun, but there was an aid station to distract me. I got two cups of water, one to sip from, one to dump over my hands in an attempt to de-sticky myself. Only somewhat successful. I felt really good on the run and just tried to maintain a constant pace, and I ended up next to a middle-aged man running the exact same pace. We pretty much ran side by side for about 2 out of the 3.1 miles. The course was okay until I hit some headwind on Lakeside Ave. Cruising downhill around the Browns stadium was fun, but the last little run around the harbor and under the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was hard. I saw a girl in my age group pass me, and I tried to catch up, but didn't quite have it in me. Finishing was fun. Not only did they announce my bib number, but they announced my name and said that I had a good race. They might have been tipped off by me pumping my arms over the finish line (the photographer was there!) but I like to think they were just amazed at my triathlon prowess. ;) 

I'll post my official times when I get them. Right now I'd like to thank my roommate JS for the awesome poster on my bedroom door and the wild goose chase to find a cycling jacket yesterday (only to not need it today, ha), my friend DN for cheering loud enough that I could actually hear and for the ride back, my friends DP and MS for also doing the race, everyone who commented on facebook and twitter wishing me luck, my family for saying they wished they could be here today, BH for providing foundational advice on triathlons back in the fall, and most especially, Amy for providing advice, inspiration, and the chance to witness a rockstar Ironman performance. I'd also like to thank whoever invented showers because man, that one felt good. 

Pre-race preparations

I had a million things to do today to get ready for this race: 

• One last micro-workout (15 mins on bike, 15 mins jog with one 20 yard surge to make sure my legs were still there). 
  
• Pick up the race packet (train trip downtown and then sat through course director's meeting)
• Fill inhaler prescription
• Find a cycling jacket (weather forecast is looking iffy) and bar end plugs. Ended up buying a bento box, too (best idea EVER).
• Buy some duct tape to make sure bar end plugs stay in, this will be my third set for this roll of bar tape!! 
• Buy Immodium. I'm feeling fine, but you never know what will happen during a race...
• Strip down all the commuter accoutrements off my bike. Not that they add a lot of weight or anything, but my touring bike with its fenders and headlights already looks a little silly for a triathlon. Leaving a bell on won't help. :)
• Pack the saddle and bento bags.
• Assemble a new pair of goggles (note to self: don't leave goggles at the gym). 
• Pack all the other stuff for the race. Thank goodness I brought my old Speedo backpack, because that thing is HUGE. Good thing it's almost full. I just want to make sure I have everything, because I'm not sure what the weather is going to do. 

I also had some other miscellaneous errands unrelated to the triathlon like dropping a dress to be repaired at the tailor's and buying a gift for my friend who watched my plants while I was away. Thank goodness, because I feel like if I had time to sit and think I'd start pscyhing myself out. 

I can't believe it's here. I've had the goal of completing a triathlon for over a year now, and have been training for it since this past fall. I don't know if I will enjoy or what I will do next (though I have some ideas), but nonetheless, tomorrow is a day to enjoy. Even if it starts at 7:10am by swimming through that nasty water. 

Planning a Triathlon: Nutrition Strategy

I can't help it; there's a reason why I am studying urban planning. I love plans. City plans, race plans, Friday evening plans: all are great in my book. As the Cleveland Triathlon rapidly approaches (race is on Sunday!), it's time to plan it out. And just as a good city plan involves many facets (transportation, housing, environment, etc.), so must a triathlon plan.

First off is the nutrition. This may only be a sprint triathlon, and I may have been a distance swimmer, but a 19 minute 1650 (I swam DIII for a reason, okay?!) as my longest race is now seeming nice and short next to what might be up to a two hour long race for me. After consulting Amy, this is how it is going to go:

• Clif bar and/or Larabar for breakfast and some fruit (banana?) and soymilk
• 1 gel, post-swim
• Drink a 1:1 mixture of Gatorade and water during bike
• Eat Gu Chomps during bike
• Depending on how feel, 1 gel before run
• Drink water at the run aid station

Post-race? Something tasty and hopefully not sweet! I'm reading this over and it's all sugar, sugar, sugar. 

I'm back and Amy is going to Kona

Apologies for the lack of posts recently; I was traveling the past ten days. Things like "email" and "blogging" fell by the wayside in favor of "going to the pool" and "spectating at Ironman Lake Placid." All in all, it was a really great trip, and of course: too short.

The early portion of the week was spent at home with my family. Got to go to the pool several times, officiate a swim meet (and disqualify someone who started swimming freestyle in the backstroke... silly), tour a swank retirement home for my grandmother, get brunch with a high school friend, and shirk all my duties as president of the American Planning Association chapter at my graduate school. 

Also got a few decent workouts in during the trip. For some reason, swimming at the pool makes me feel really, really slow. I grew up swimming there, surely I should be used to all the jets and the very shallow shallow end, but still, felt slow in the water. I must have been compensating for the jets pushing me around because my elbows started to hurt, meaning my technique was off. Not a good feeling, but it is nice to swim outdoors. Ran a bit, too. One 30 minute run easy, one track workout, and one semi-tempo run while in Lake Placid. Also while in Lake Placid, I got to swim the Ironman course (the race is done with 2 1.2 mile loops). Once I got my stroke together (not used to sighting), I felt AMAZING in the water. I only intended to swim about 20 minutes, but ended up swimming the whole 1.2 miles. I suspect it took me around 30-35 minutes. Passed just about everyone else swimming (they were all in wetsuits) except for one guy who swam next to me for maybe a quarter of a mile before *finally* pulling in front of me. While I know everyone was swimming easy pace to prepare for the actual race, I wasn't swimming very hard either (except for about 20 yards to sort out my stroke), so I feel super confident for the swim portion of the triathlon next weekend. I was also proud of myself for not panicking much in the water (I did for about 10 seconds when I started swimming due to seeing plants underwater, but once I couldn't see anything, I was fine). I cannot remember ever doing a lake/river/ocean swim before without fighting off a panic attack at some point during it. I read Swimming to Antarctica earlier this year, and actually had to put down the book at one point because reading the author's descriptions of her open water swims made me panicky. Not sure what changed between now and then, but I'm not questioning it. I am now hoping to dominate the swim during the Cleveland Triathlon (less than a week!!!) since it is unlikely I could dominate the other two disciplines.

I'll write about Lake Placid more later, but I'll give you this spoiler now... okay it's not really a spoiler since Amy is probably the lone reader of this blog... but AMY IS GOING TO KONA. Yes, the world championships for Ironman. Not only does Amy finish her first Ironman, she beats her goal time by 20-odd minutes, PRs her marathon time, gets second in her age group, and scores a spot to Kona through the roll-down (first place girl already qualified this year). I kid you not. This girl is baller. Read her blog here. Hopefully she'll post her race report soon, and hopefully I'll get around to writing about my side of things: support, sherpa, and security! 

This just in: All registered

I finally put the plastic down and ponied up for the Cleveland Triathlon this morning. Experienced a bit of sticker shock... but I did have to pay extra to join USAT for the day. Anyways, no backing out now. Time to put my head down, keep training, taper a teensy bit, and be on the starting line by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at 7:25am on Aug 2 ready to race.

That being said, training between now and the race is going to be interesting. I have an incredibly bizarre schedule now that we started the driving portion of my internship. Basically we spend about 6-7 hours in a car spread out over three time periods (morning rush, midday off peak, and evening rush) in one day. This is repeated 3x: Tuesday-Thursday. I end up working about 10-11 hour days. I can squeeze in a tiny workout, but there's just not a long enough break between driving shifts. It is... less than fun, but it's only for this summer. I am also traveling home sans bicycle for a 10 day stay in the great upstate New York. Guess I'll just have to focus on running and swimming!

The last weekend I am at home - the one of July 26 - is my friend Amy's first Ironman in Lake Placid! We volunteered at it last year so I've seen it before, but I'm excited to see her race. Someone to look for out on the course! Look for a blur on a Felt bike, that's probably Amy.

When I go back to Cleveland it'll be only a few days before the tri!

Get lost: When 2 turns into 3.5

In honor of our country's birthday, the powers-that-be deemed we get Friday off at work. The prospect of an entire day off begged the question: what to do? The weather finally cooperated, so I decided to spend some quality time with Jay, my 1981 Peugeot PH8 touring bike. I intended to ride for 2 hours, maybe 2.5.

Well, apparently my subconscious had other plans for me, because as I was toodling around the Chagrin River Valley area, I managed to take a wrong turn. Me! The one who studies maps of the area all day at work! I ended up riding another 1.5 hours due to my wrong turn for a total of 3.5 hours of riding. I even had to stop for directions (and re-fueling by that point). When I had some weird premonition to bring cash with me (I normally don't encounter any convenience stores or the like), I should have known something was up. As Amy pointed out, apparently I made up for all my days off due to rain this week!

The mare in the night

This past weekend I spent quite some time looking over the Cleveland Triathlon's website, including the course map and photos from last year. Probably - nay, definitely - a bad idea. I like to race in blissful ignorance. Not to say I'm not prepared - I always have a race plan - but not knowing what's ahead allows me to race at my best. I didn't like knowing what the sets were going to be in swim practice; I don't like mapping a course out for myself for my long rides or runs. I can always deal with what comes as it comes.

I am a bit nervous already for the race. Maybe because I've never done transitions before, never swum in Lake Erie before, and never rode with so many cyclists on the same road before. Knowing the course, seeing the pictures didn't help. I've started having pseudo-nightmares about the race. A remarkably realistic dream on Sunday night involved me missing my heat by 10 minutes. Another involved my bike being stolen out of the transition area (weirdly, it was indoors and it was storming during the race). I have never dreamt about a race before. Even in the 13 years of competitive swimming, even knowing I had a tough race ahead of me (like swimming the 1650 for the first time), it never happened. I guess I always felt prepared enough. Having a coach and a race plan and a team help. Here I'm on my own.

Breaking news and breaking records

The breaking news is that we have officially determined what triathlon and what length we're doing. After speaking with my one buddy last night, we decided on the sprint distance of the Cleveland Triathlon (my heat goes off at 7:25am on 2 Aug) as it minimizes the amount of time we have to spend in the disgusting waters by the E 9th Street Pier. I think I can handle the 10 or so minutes to swim a half mile in the flat water. Here's to hoping I don't finish having grown an extra limb or a third eye or something. The 16 mile bike course is entirely on the Shoreway... a highway! The 5k run is also mostly on the Shoreway as well. The race is a little over a month away. It's time to start working on some speed instead of endurance.

I broke two personal records this weekend. Saturday I went for a 3 hour bike ride (I'm pseudo-following a tri training regime I found on my computer... where it came from nobody knows!). I hit a couple rather large hills, and as I pretty much slow to a crawl up hills, my overall speed wasn't that fast. Despite that, though, I rode 37.5 miles, which I'm 99.999% sure is the longest I've ridden. I only stopped 3x- once for my normal food break, once to relieve myself, and once because I dropped my chain. I was pretty proud of myself afterwards.

The other record was broken this morning. I jogged over to the track in the drizzling rain to run 3 one mile repeats. I was striving to hold somewhere around a 7 minute mile pace, since I held near-ish that pace in my best 5k time (also, my very first 5k time). I went 7:04, 7:11, and then... a 6:56!! During the last one, I realized I had not run a timed mile since 8th grade when I went a 6:59. Three seconds worth of improvement since junior high may not be something to write home about, but is better than nothing.

Head, shoulder, knees and toes, knees and toes

I never seem to be far from some sort of minor ache or pain; this week has been no exception. After taking the weekend off from training due to an unusually busy schedule, I hit the bike commute hard on Monday, especially on the ride back. I took the long, scenic route, and ended up climbing quite a bit which made my knees less than happy. Ice and another day of rest took care of that one. I went swimming last night only to have my shoulder act up during my warm-up, but it went away as I swam more. Today, before heading to work, I did a "surges" track workout (a more formalized version of a fartlek and what cross country runners apparently do to better their second half of their runs). Now my heel hurts a teeny bit and all I have are silly little cutesy flats with no support! None of these aches & pains are anything more than minor, so I'm fine.

The good news is that I managed to blow through my morning bike commute with only having to stop three times at stoplights... the whole 6.5 miles! The workout had taken less time than I had budgeted, so between leaving earlier than usual and barely stopping the whole route, I got to work quite early, meaning I can leave early (or pad the week so I can work a shorter day tomorrow). Yeah! The other good news is that I managed to run the whole time with my hair in a low ponytail for the first time. I expect that I will have to do that for the triathlon (no need to waste time in T2 styling my hair!) so might as well get used to it now.

Running without an agenda

"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt." - Kurt Vonnegut

It is entirely possible that I am taking that quote out of context, but taken on its face it describes perfectly my run today. The past two days I have allowed myself some "no agenda" runs. I run without a watch, without my iPod, without any goals, without any pacing and without any set course. The only thing to do is run.

You never know if you're going to barely make it 15 minutes before wheezing or if you're going to go 12 miles on the longest run of your life. Both have happened. Today, however, I managed almost 6 and 3/4 miles. Nothing especially outstanding in mileage, but I felt amazing the whole time. I live in a beautiful suburb full of architecturally distinguished old homes on tree lined streets, with a handful of lakes and lots of green space. The golden glow of the early evening light on 1920s brick Tudor and Georgian manses certainly elevates an ordinary run to a new level. As no soreness or aches or pains bothered me, one can see how Vonnegut's quote describes it perfectly. The day before on my "no agenda" run I had to walk. Today I floated. The beauty of the "no agenda" run is that neither is a failure and neither is a success. It just is.

I think "no agenda" runs also help to remind me why I do what I do. Other than the chance to run through a well-designed community (urban planning dorkdom!), running without a purpose lets me enjoy running for running's sake. I was getting frustrated with triathlon training earlier this month/end of last month, and sometimes one just needs the chance to remember that this can be fun.

I tri; therefore I blog

Why a semi-return to blogging? I have this theory that if one is a triathlete (even a fake one like me), they must blog. Think about it- do you know of any triathletes who don't have a blog? Nope.

Therefore, since I am training (and have been training) for a triathlon this summer, I must also engage in the somewhat self-indulgent activity of posting my thoughts to the web just like everyone else (when I start purchasing compression socks, someone slap me across the face). I am aware 99.99% of the world could care less what I think so I will make no pretext that this blog will somehow transcend the usual pedestrian fare out there. I'm more of a fan of the 140 character limit imposed by Twitter anyways. Eliminates a lot of the rambling. If you want to read a cool blog, or at least a blog written by a cool person, I'll be putting up a list of ones I enjoy (again: narcissism at its finest) on this page. If I get around to it, of course.

Now that we have buried any potentially high expectations for this blog, let me share some relevant information about my life, as it likely what I'll be posting about. I'm currently in graduate school in urban planning, I intern in the transportation field, I am a dedicated bike commuter (more due to poverty but lately to activism thanks to my internship), I live in a Rustbelt city along the Great Lakes and yes, I am training for a triathlon. Now go navigate your IE or Firefox or Safari to a more exciting site and find yourself something entertaining to read.