Stinky Little Race Report

Yesterday was the first of the indoor sprint triathlons. Last year there were 4 of them spaced 2 weeks apart; this year there are only 3 because one of the clubs “didn’t see hosting as within their vision” or some bullshit like that. The races benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and are very beginner-friendly, so how that club came to that conclusion befuddles me.

Anyway, last year I won my AG at all 4, which made me the series winner. I did really well at these last year, and I think this year is the fourth time I'm doing them. Format is 10' swim, 10' T1, 20' stationary bike, 5' T2 and 15' track run. Scoring is based on distance covered, so it favors bikers, and then runners. A very short race indeed! I do them just to get in some speedwork, benefit a worthy cause, kill off some of the winter blues, get a nice little massage afterward, and actually feel like a triathlete!

When I registered, at first I thought the first race was only 2 weeks after Goofy Challenge, in which case I would skip it (or not, who knows?), but I was experiencing calendar dyslexia, and was happy to realize it was THREE weeks after Goofy. Still, I wrote on my training calendar, "I might really suck" since this time around I am training harder than ever, and well, it is 3 weeks after a marathon.

On Friday, I had a pretty good 7500 swim, although I felt like a truck had run me over the rest of the day and into Saturday morning. I conferred with some of my ultra friends, and reviewed what I thought I may have done wrong and here's the analysis:

• Did I eat and hydrate properly the day before? Yes.
• Did I take in sufficient calories and hydration during the swim? No. My pool was warm (85-ish?), and even though I thought I drank enough, in reality I didn't, and even though I think I'm not burning that many calories swimming, I am, so I will fix those things this Friday.
• Did I replenish my calories sufficiently when I finished? No. Turns out I need to have like a full meal of like 600 calories right when I finish. Ideally, I'd take a nap or at least lay down for an hour, too, but unfortunately this is all happening by 9AM on a work day, so no chance of nap! Although I will try and find a way to at least lay down for 1/2 hour this Friday.

So Friday I felt like crap, but it was a new kind of crap. I was determined to fix myself, but on top of it all, I had trouble falling asleep. Saturday morning I felt a bit better, well enough to get on the bike, but again, I should have dumped in a bunch of calories right away.

Are we seeing a pattern here? I swear, the eating thing is HUGE! So that is the plan from now on, eat more, drink more, especially before/during/after big workouts.

I got on the trainer Saturday morning and wasn't sure what I would be able to accomplish, but the plan was to ride for only 2 hours, so I figured I could manage that, even if it was just easy spinning. But it turned out I was able to put out some decent power, then I took my time in changing into running clothes and heading to the Y for a short little transition run. I only ran for 20', but it felt good.

When I finished all that, I still wasn't feeling all that great, so instead of trying to accomplish all sorts of things, I basically rested, but managed to go to the grocery store, stretch and fix dinner. I got myself organized for yesterday, since I'd be doing a good warmup, the race, and then running more afterward.

I had a little trouble falling asleep, and I awoke at least an hour before the alarm went off, but didn't feel particularly bad. I just reviewed the situation, though, and decided I didn't have high expectations for the race.

I got to the club, checked in, and they give us a booklet that talks about the race, sponsors, and then they list the AG and overall winners from the previous year. I did get a nice smile out of seeing my name in there!

I headed upstairs to the treadmills and got on one and started out real easy and it felt REALLY slow, so I guess that was a good thing. I did 10' on it and then since the first wave wasn't yet on the track, I ran a few laps quickly. The stationary bikes were set up inside the track (which is 8 laps to the mile), and I got on the spare bike to warm up. I pedalled really easily for 10' and it didn't feel at all bad, but knew from years past how "not good" the bike would feel during the race.

I went back to the locker room to put on my swimsuit, and walked out on the pool deck, got body marked (yes, even for this they follow the tradition!), and when the previous wave was finished, I jumped in. Wow, a nice, COLD pool! I did like a 300 warmup, but it takes me like 800-1000 yards to warmup, so whatever. While warming up, I could feel a cross current that was pushing me into the ropes. Oh well.

So the horn goes off and we are going. I felt good, felt like my stroke was good, but I just didn't have any speed (500 yds. WTF???). Oh well, at least I didn't suck any worse! The young man who was counting laps for me (although I count myself) had asked me before I started how much I thought I'd do and my response was, "I just don't want to suck!"

Despite not swimming very fast, the effort got the lactic acid going (and yes, I got pushed around by the current and the guy swimming breaststroke next to me), but I had to move on, so I showered quickly, and changed out my swimsuit bottom for bike shorts, socks and shoes, a hat (token-I rarely actually wear it). I was drinking Infinit for this, so I got in a couple of swills, and then got on the bike.

The evil bikes. I was relaxed about it, figuring I'd do whatever I was capable of doing, I would work hard, and it would be what it would be. It was good in that my wave had a bunch of youngsters in it, which to me is more motivating than racing against just my own AG, since I tend to be at or near the lead. I was on bike #5, and started out easy for maybe 30 seconds and then started into intervals. I have found that these bikes favor high RPM's, and in fact one of the men who does really well puts the thing at like Level 1 and just spins his brains out.

Anyway, in this wave, I was not the first to make 1 mile--I was 5th, but that was OK, they were all far younger than me. In watching the time and my mileage, I realized I wasn't doing that poorly, but it still sucked--I HATE those Precor bikes! In the end, I ended up at 6.01 miles, so I was at least glad I hit 6, although last year I almost hit 7.

When I got off the bike I just wanted to lay on the floor for a few seconds, so I threw my towel down and did just that. Of course, someone asks if I'm OK, and yes I am, just leave me be! I found my run lap counting volunteer guy, and I figured him for a triathlete himself due to his lack of fat and general build. He asked how many I thought I'd do, and I chuckled, but before I knew it, we were lining up and the gun went off.

I decided to just run, not look at my watch for lap splits or anything, try not to go out too hard, and just suck it up. It's only 15 minutes, right? Good thing they had one of the back doors open as you'd round the third turn, and that cold air felt really good! I had no idea how fast I was going, but I was behind the young speedsters, and after 1 lap began passing others who had taken off way too fast.

My lap counter guy sensed that I was "not bad" and with maybe 2 minutes left started yelling at me to pick it up a little, and I actually did! I'm sure I scowled at him, but even as bad as it felt, I did pick it up just a little and he even ran out to me the last minute to get me to hit 3/4 lap. I ended up at 14 3/4 laps, which is 8:08 pace, don't laugh I know I am slow! Still, I was surprised, and felt like I'd accomplished one goal for the day which was to not totally suck!

After walking a bit and nearly puking (I got asked yet again if I was OK--so OK I know I am not good looking or anything but do I really look that bad?), I decided I had better go and get my run on before I bagged it and just got a massage right then.

I changed out my top, grabbed some Gatorade, and went back upstairs to the treadmill. Oh boy, this is the part I hate! 2 years ago was the first time where I'd race and then continue running afterwards. I ended up doing 1:15, Z1-Z2, and was ready for a massage, so I headed back to the track for that, then I showered up and changed into regular clothes and went to watch a wave where I knew a few super fast people.

Before leaving, I thought I'd go ahead and check the results, just to see how bad I'd done. They had little strips of paper pinned to a bulletin board, and I guess I thought they were in rank order, as I quickly spotted myself down in 3rd place. But then I looked at the actual results and saw I was actually 1st! I jumped up and shouted, "YESSSS!" I'd actually not done nearly as bad as I though I might do, and it was all sweeter to me considering how hard I've been pushing myself lately.

But then I thought, crap, now I have a streak going, so I am going to have to work hard in 2 weeks at the next race! And I will, as long as it's within my power.

The interesting thing yesterday was going in with no expectations, but knowing that I could push myself anyway. I'd done it Saturday and I did it again yesterday. I remember vividly during both the bike and run (I just can't do it swimming) thinking it's hard, it sucks, but I can do it.

Last week saw me put in um...17 hours of training. This morning I decided I've earned a rest day, so I let myself sleep a bit more. I may still lift weights, but am not going to swim or run. And I think I'm going to do that after the next 2 races. Something tells me I need to back off a little...still complete my long swim, bike and run workouts, but the rest will be what it will be.