The Nations Triathlon - 09/11/11

Being in Washington DC on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 was quite sobering. I am so glad I was able to be in our nations capital on that momentous day.



Stay tuned for the complete recap of the weekend and race!

Open Water ... Scary!?!?

What just touched my leg!?!  >  I can't see anything when I swim.  >  I'm in the middle of a lake!  >  I don't think I can make it!  >  I can't breath!  >  HELP!!!!!

Does this happen to you when you start the lake swim of the triathlon? Don't feel bad. It happens to many people. Whether it is because you haven't been exposed to lake swimming or maybe it is the anxiety of the race getting the best of you. Being out in the lake is one of the best ways to help overcome this.

In an attempt to get the TNT athletes ready for their open water swim, I went to the lake several times as support for my team as they exposed themselves to this type of swimming. Each time they swam about 1 mile and worked on their sighting in Lake Hartwell while I kayaked next to them. There was definite fear for some of them. Others picked it up like it was nothing. The Open Water Swims and Transition Drills are by far some of m favorite TNT training days!

By the last time we swam out there, all of them realized that they could do the swim for their triathlon. They believed in themselves ... and I would call that ... SUCCESS!!

Transition Drill Time

Transitions. They can make or break your race ... seriously! Think about it. If you take 1 minute in T2 while your competitor takes 2:30, they have to run 30seconds faster than you per mile (for a 5K) just to keep up with you. That 1:30 difference can make a big difference!

So, if they are important how do you make them fast? Practice. practice, and some more practice. This practice involves trying out different setups, a different order of putting things on, maybe different gear. You don't have to do loads of races to get this practice. Instead, you can do "mock" triathlon/transition drills.

Every time you finish a bike ride practice getting off your bike. Now, that might sound silly, but when stop riding ...
- Do you unclip your shoes?
- When do you take your shoes off?
- Do you completely stop before you do all that?
- How fluid/efficient is the movement?

Now, don't get me wrong. Those aren't the only thing that go into a fast transition, especially since all that happens outside of the actual transition area (TA) ... but it's a good start.

Before our Team in Training (TNT) athletes went to their big race, we practiced their transitions. Oh what fun it is to torture them. =) Jeremy Davis, president of SetUp Events, gave us a few transition bike poles to practice with. We made it a competition between them all and had prizes from our awesome sponsor TriSports.com. Nicole also got some gifts from her other sponsors to spice up the pot.

It was a great day. Athletes learning what works for them, what makes it efficient, the rules of transition ...

Practice your transitions ... what's to lose, but precious seconds off your race time!

Greenville Sprint Triathlon

This is a race that can't be missed. It's right in my backyard and all the big wigs of local triathletes come out to play. Fun times for sure! Besides the Westside Aquatics Center has gotten a complete make over and I was anxious to swim in their new pool. Some of my Team in Training (TNT) triathletes even decided to come out and race.

The morning started out early, as do all race mornings seem too. Not sure what the issues was, but I was all discombobulated this morning. Almost forgot to set out my helmet in my transition area! Finally got all set up and checked on my TNTers. Headed out for a quick warm up on the bike to check the gears. All as good, so time to walk up to the pool. Uh oh, had to run back to my transition and put my socks out ... and sungalsses ... oh, and grab my swim cap! Ok, now all ready.

SWIM: Seeing as I had signed up the day prior, my race number was at the end of the participants. Thankfully SetUp Events changed their timing for pool starts and I was able to jump in with Nicole. Funny thing, we get up there and this girl in front of us was talking about how these two girls always give her a beating in the pool. Pretty sure we are those girls. Heehee! For some reason she always starts before us, and then we have to climb over her in the water. Lady, please change your swim time and start with people that actually swim your speed!

At this point I am already excited to swim, and then we find out we are allowed to dive in ... yay! Boy was it fun to see athletes try and dive when they aren't used to it ... can we say BELLY FLOP! My swim went great. I had a great dive and caught someone before I even took my first stroke. A couple laps later I came up on that girl (from the starting line), but I was nice and went wide when I passed her. =) With abotu 75 meters to go, I lost my swim cap, but other than that the swim went well. Didn't completely find my groove, but was still very happy with my swim.

BIKE: 57 seconds = run in, socks on, shoes on, helmet on, sunglasses, & run out with my bike ... I've seen faster, but I'll take it! The bike starts with a long gradual up hill and continues with rolling hills. I reached the top of that first long hill, turned right and started cruising until this truck & trailer zoomed past me and then slowed down. I seriously could have gone right up onto the trailer if the ramp was down. Crazy! We slowed to almost a complete stop, so me being the impatient one did the illegal thing and passed on the right. Ahh, shocker. Yes, I broke the "riding rules of conduct," sorry. Susan passed me with a few miles left on the bike. I tried to hang close and was able to run in the T2 with her.

RUN: YES! I beat Susan out of TA! But, of course she passed me before the first turn like I was standing still. This was a 2 loop course. I pushed through it & got to that finish line!

Frank Roth ... a-m-a-z-i-n-g! He pulled and pushed my sore muscles into submission. =)

This race was one of my TNTers first triathlon. He is a cancer survivor and his such a happy spirit about his everything. He has pushed his body passed his physical goals. Watching him cross that finish line was not only humbling, but also inspiring!

Hills -or- Wind??

What would you rather deal with when biking, hills or wind?

This past weekend, my coach (Nicole) & I went on a charity ride called the Flight of Doves. It was a fantastic metric century w/ the best SAG stops in the state. With me training for a 70.3 in October this was the longest distance I had done yet this season. I was excited, yet a little nervous for what was to come. Thankfully my coach was out for an easy ride, which helped keep the pressure off of me.

We all start out & instantly I am having flashbacks of a few weeks prior on another group ride. Everyone was riding so close together (something that triathletes rarely experience unless they also have a road bike, which I do not) & I was enjoying the draft. The group was charging up the first several hills & I was going right with them. Soon though, I remembered it was a metric century ride ... my longest ride yet of the season. I backed off. Instantly once I was out of their draft the realization set in that now I had no help pulling me up the hills, except for my own legs. My coach, Nicole, is too small to get a good draft off of!  =)

Up and down, up and up and up and down. It seemed like there were way more up hills than down hills, but I guess it always seems that way! We were cruising along just fine and then mile 48 hit me. Yep, I started bonking. We had 14 more miles to go & I was hurting. My back was hurting, my legs were hurting & I was just spent. Every time I saw a new hill I became pretty vocal about it! At the last SAG stop I ate some cookies, gelled again & sucked it up for the last few miles.

During my bonking session & my extremely cheerful spirit about the hills (hahaha), Nicole asked me if I'd rather ride up hills or against the wind. Of course I barked back "WIND! WIND IS WAY BETTER THAN THESE STUPID HILLS!" At that moment, when you are bonking, I think everyone would probably say they'd rather deal with the opposite of what their current suffer-fest involved.

As this week has gone by, her question has stuck in my mind. What would I rather deal with ... honestly? Hmm, yeah I think I would rather have hills. Shocker I know after this past weekend. But think about it. You can train on hills. There is always an end in sight. Hills are mini challenges, or major challenges depending on the hill/mountain, but when it comes down to it, there is a top to each and every hill no matter how long or steep it might be. Wind on the other hand is unpredictable & you can't really train specifically for head winds. How long will they last? Who knows. How strong will they be (how slow will they make you)? Who knows.

I choose hills!

Heat, Hydration issues ... use NUUNs!

I just have to say NUUNs are awesome! We've been having many days, make that weeks, on end where the heat factor has been over 100 degrees. Wow! its hot out there folks. I get off work at 11am and you guessed it. I'm out in that heat. Smack dab in the middle of the hottest part of the day. It's great race day training right?!

Well, if you are going to be training in the heat, you had better be well hydrated! But, you can't just drink water. If you do, you will still have big problems. So what do you do? How do you get rid of cramps in your legs/feet.  Some people will try things like pickle juice ... YUCK!  Don't really think I could handle that one. But, what I can handle is NUUNs. Their awesome flavors & their easily accessibility makes them my first choice in hydration. They are tablets and they fizz up and dissolve in your water without any stirring or shaking. They are great for not even training, but every day activities. Heck, I even use them when I am standing on the outdoor pool deck when I am life-guarding!

Where has the summer gone??

Well, it's been quite the summer. Racing, working, relaxing, friends ... hmm ... GOOD summer!! There have been a couple races since my last post:

Festival of Flowers International Triathlon:
 - To give you a little view into my day ... after I crossed the finish line I had to lay under a truck because I was so ill and couldn't move. It was a tough day out there for me. Physical battles of GI issues & the mental battles to go along with those made my day difficult. When you are throwing up the entire bike & then loose your gel flask, you kinda bonk. And bonk really really bad.
 - There were some awesome friends down there. And, it was so fun to see some of our "crew" members! When you are desperately struggling just to finish, there is nothing better than having Nicole running towards you yelling and making you push that last little bit you have left.


Caine Halter YMCA Sprint Triathlon:
 - How fun to be racing in my backyard. I've been working at this YMCA for the summer and so I was very familiar with the course. I was 4th female out of the water ... woohoo!!! The bike was 3 loops around Greenville Technical College. There were quite a few good hills on that loop! The run course ended up being pretty flat, just what I like.
 - Finished with 2nd place in my Age Group!
 - Thanks to my mom for coming out and cheering me on. It was really fun to see her at random corners along the course screaming wildly! =)