Catching up #1

Oh, my word ...it's been way too long, friends. I apologize. Though I do sometimes wonder if anyone lands in this space any more and bothers to read since I have been so remiss about posting lately. That's gotten to be a constant refrain, hasn't it?! I think about posting, but there just doesn't seem to be physical time or mental space to sit down and plunk it out here. But, I have hopes ... hopes of writing more.

How about a little catching up to start with. The last post was pre-triathlon. Andrew and I did the TriLatta on June 13th and I can honestly say that it was a blast! I was worried about the swim and figured if I made it through that open water swim without freaking out, I was good. I am happy to report that doing the practice swims paid off and I was calm and happy during the race. I never felt like I was hyperventilating, never had to roll over on my back, hardly even breast-stroked. It was easier than I anticipated to site the large red tomato shaped buoys and I even sort of "drafted" behind or alongside other swimmers. I was so happy when I finished the swim that I flashed a thumbs up at my cheering squad and headed up the hill to T1 (first transition).

I took my time getting ready for the ride. Wiped the sand and dirt off my feet. Put on socks. Drank some electrolyte drink. Remembered to tie on a bandana for the sweat (I hate getting sweat in my eyes) and buckle my helmet.

The bike ride was fun. I passed people going uphill. That, my friends, was a thrill that I had not expected. I passed a woman I had met the night before (at the pre-race meeting) on the uphills and she leapfrogged past me on the downhills. I ended up finishing before her in the bike portion, but she passed me on the run. No surprise there.

The run went pretty much as I expected, which is to say ... slow. Quite slow.  I walked some of the uphills, but did it with no shame as I saw people who were in front of me also walking. It was so encouraging to see Coty at several points along the run course. He is the epitome of race spectators. He figures out just where to go and shows up oftener than you expect along the course with claps, cheers, words of encouragement, and coaching. "Drop your shoulders, sweetheart. You're looking great!" (which I don't really think I was at that point, but it was still nice to hear, and yes, I did drop my shoulders and try to relax the rest of the way to the finish).

After crossing the finish line and seeing Coty and Andrew, I burst into tears. Just. so. happy! Andrew had finished strong, running the 5k at the end faster than he expected. We talked about doing the TriLatta again next year or finding another race. I'm thinking about a race in the fall, perhaps. We'll see. Anyway, I'm so glad we did it, enjoyed it thoroughly, and want to continue doing triathlons as long as I'm able.

Just a few more yards to go. 

There's Coty in the red shirt behind me heading toward the finish line.

 

My triathlon partner moves to New York City next week. Though we haven't trained together, except for a few bike rides, it meant a lot to work toward the same goal with my son, Andrew. Hoping we'll both keep it up and compete in another race together before too long!

 

One week to go

This time next week I'll have my race packet. I'll have my number on my bike and helmet. I'll have the bike loaded on the car ready to head to the park ridiculously early - 4:30 AM, that is, since the park gates will close at 6 AM and all competitors must be inside the park, ready for the 6:30 swim start (my swim start will be a bit later, since starts are staged according to age group and mine is one of the last - I think it's a 7:10 start).  I will have attended the pre-race gathering the evening before and heard race instructions. Training will be done. It'll be race day.

I'm fighting nagging nervousness. My panicky experience two weeks ago with the open water swim practice has me feeling a little less confident than I had been feeling. My trail run today, which felt long and slow has me a bit worried about that 5k at the end.

I'm trying to be positive, trying to do all the mental work to set myself up to finish well. I'm telling myself that my goal is to finish, but really, I'd love to do it in a good time, though what that is for this first-time sprint triathlete, I'm not really sure.  We shall see. (Yes, I did the Ramblin' Rose in 2012, but that wasn't an official sprint tri. The Tri Latta is an official distance).

Tomorrow I'll do another open water swim practice. I hope I can breathe after 20 yards and don't have to flip over on my back and talk myself out of panic. If I do have a panic reaction again, I know what to do. It'll be ok and I'll just keep stroking and breathing and get past it.


I am so grateful for the gift of health; for the ability to swim, bike, and run; for the support and encouragement of family and friends.  I haven't shared in this space the really good news that my RA is now in medical remission, but that, too, is a tremendous gift which means that now when I hurt, it's not because joints are being destroyed, but because I've done a hard workout. It also means that I live mostly pain free these days, swollen joints no longer inflamed, hands and wrists no longer hurting all the time, rings sliding on and off easily. I wake in the mornings and do not hobble downstairs. It is good.

A year ago, I could not have imagined feeling this well. I had gotten used to pain, forgotten what it felt like to not hurt all the time. I just thought pain was my life. So, honestly, whatever happens next Saturday, it's been a journey that has been so worth taking. I'm already starting to wonder about the next race and how to improve ...

For now, time to pack the swim bag and get to bed. I'll keep you posted ...

We did it!

Andrew and I signed up this week for the Tri Latta Sprint Triathlon in June so we have five months to get ready. The race includes a 750 meter open water swim, a 17 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. I've certainly got my work cut out for me.  I'm psyched ... and a little bit scared, wondering what I've gotten myself into.  But mostly, I'm psyched and eager for the increased rigor of training with a focus. Working toward a goal.

My husband, always eager to encourage and enable my athletic endeavors gave me a new, much lighter, road bike for Christmas. It's taking a little bit of getting used to - new shifters and a different posture on the bike, but it's sure nice on the hills!  I can tell quite a difference.

Tri-training 2015.  Here we go!

The last leg

It's been almost two weeks since the triathlon.  About time I finished telling you about the race.  We left off at the end of the bike portion.  On that last uphill, I described my legs as feeling like burning lead.  When I got off my bike, they had turned to concrete, quads so stiff it was hard to lift my knees.  I had to push my bike back to my transition spot, rack it, take off my bike helmet, don running cap, and go!  In my head, I was doing all those things.  My legs were saying, "Not so fast."  They did reluctantly cooperate, however, and though stiff and jerky at first, after about 3/4 of a mile, I realized that I was actually feeling pretty good.  I was running along, lifting my knees, going uphill, and feeling good.  Imagine that!  I also realized that once I reached the cone at the top of the incline about a quarter of a mile away, it would be all downhill or flat the rest of the way!  Happy thought.

Coty appeared at various points along the course shouting encouragement, usually something like, "Drop your shoulders, push hard!"  I tend to tense up my shoulders when I run and I know I needed to relax, but all I could think of was "just a little farther and you can stop."  I had no idea what my pace was.  It felt slow, but turns out it was right on my goal pace.

Once again, my cheering family made me smile and feel like pressing on.  Early in the run portion, Andrew, Thomas, and Kay ran alongside me for a few yards, shouting and shouting.  At another point, they all shouted in unison, "Go, Mommy, go!"  When I crossed the finish line, there they all were and believe me, I felt elated.  I think I just said, "I DID it!"  and couldn't stop smiling.

We got water and snacks.  We hugged and talked about the race.  We walked around a bit and watched more finishers coming in.  And then, it was time for Coty to go to the airport for his flight to Newark/Hong Kong/Singapore/Indonesia.  I am just so glad he got to be there when I finished.  He was such a huge part of the triathlon training, it would have felt very strange, incomplete really, if he'd had to leave before the finish.

And now?  Everyone's asking me, "What are you going to do now?  Are you still training?"

I've been thinking about it.  I loved training for a race.  I learned that training makes me more serious and committed to exercising and pushing myself beyond what I think I can do ... and that's good.  I also loved the excitement of the race itself, with all the jitters and nervousness.  I learned so much about cycling, running, and swimming, and about how to handle the transitions in between, I'd really like to do another triathlon and build on what I've learned.  The race felt like the start of something, not the end.

I think I'd like to do an open water triathlon.  The thought is a little scary to me, but the challenge is intriguing.  Have you ever watched the start of an open water tri.  I know, probably not.  Coty and I watched the entire women's Olympic triathlon and I'd never seen anything quite like it!  (If you click on the link and want to see the start, it's at 4:11 in the video).  Most other open water swims I've watched start with athletes running into the water to start the swim, not diving off a platform as in the Olympic tri.  There are a number of open water triathlons around here, so I'm starting to keep my ears open for one I might attempt next spring or early summer.  But, we'll see.

For now, I plan to keep swimming, cycling, and running.  I haven't done a long ride since Coty left, but now he's home and we'll go for a long ride on Monday.  Yay!  I kept up my membership at the aquatic center and will keep swimming during the winter and of course, I can run anytime.  I don't have a specific plan at this point, but I just know that the type of training I did this summer was very good for me.  My arthritis is much better, due I think, to the low impact nature of swimming and cycling and somehow, the increase in intensity has been good, too.

So, yes, I'll keep training and looking for another race.  And now, time to get outside on this lovely fall day and ride my bike.  And you ...

Race day: Getting ready

I set my alarm for 5:06.  My race number was 506.  How's that for a nice little bit of synchronicity on race morning!  Everything I had read said to eat something but not to do anything new, so I made my oatmeal, added the walnuts and craisins, and despite the jittery feeling in my stomach, ate it down.  Everything I read also said not to have caffeine on race morning, so I skipped my usual one cup of dark roast and opted for water.

The night before I had packed all my gear, checked and rechecked it, and checked again.  Shoes, check. Helmet with race number affixed, check.  Sunglasses, check.  Bike jersey, check.  Race belt with number attached, check.  Towel, check.  Goggles, check.  Swim cap, check.  Lip gloss, check.  Wait.  Lip gloss?  Well, I don't like the feel of dry lips so, yes, lip gloss went in, too.  And I used it, too.  Cost me a second or two, but it was worth it.

It was dark when we left home.  We were told to arrive an hour and a half ahead of the 8:00 start time.  There is a lot to set up and go over before the start of a triathlon and I was glad I had that much time.  We parked down the road and I wheeled my bike, while Coty carried my gear.  I had packed it all into an empty detergent bucket, which would, during transition, double as a stool.  Nice little tip I picked up online.

I didn't feel like talking much.  Arriving at the site made me feel a little more nervous and I just wanted to get my bearings.  There were so many people, but everything was well organized and plenty of neon green shirted volunteers were there to answer questions.

Coty and I found the timing chip table and I picked up my timing chip and ankle bracelet.  Then we  walked to the transition area.  Only competitors are allowed inside transition, so I left Coty and went to find the bike rack with my number on it, and set up my little transition spot, a bright blue striped beach towel, which could be found easily, on the ground near my bike.  I lined up my shoes and race belt and laid my helmet down with straps out, sunglasses inside it, open and ready to put on.  I laid the lip gloss beside my helmet.  The bike jersey I thought I might wear if it was cool, was unzipped, ready to slip into.

Once my transition spot was ready, I found Coty and we located the start and finish of each leg, making sure I was clear on where I would go.  Come out the doors of the pool, through the pool finish arch to my bike rack.   From the rack, through the bike start arch to the mount line.  After the bike, dismount and through the bike finish arch.  Rack the bike and to the run start arch.  Each of these arches had a timing mat so that when each person crossed the mat, it would pick up the signal from the ankle bracelet timing chip and log the split time.  Does this sound complicated?  It did to me, too, when I was reading about it beforehand.  That's why it was so good to have so much time before the start of the race to make sure I understood it all.

Sorry it's a bit blurry - it was early and still a little dark.  This is the transition area with bike racks.  

Notice the balloons?  Women put those up to mark their rack and make it easy to find.  

That's a lot of bikes, so any little thing you can do to make it easier to navigate transition helps.  

I tied a piece of bright blue sari fabric onto the end of the rack where my bike was.

The pool was open for a while before the start, too, to allow racers to swim a few laps.  I took advantage of that and swam four laps, practicing going under the lane ropes a few times.  That little swim took a bit of the edge off the jitters and made me feel more ready to start.  The only problem is that when I got out of the pool, I had to go back outside to await the start.  Since it was a chilly morning, I got cold.  But looking around at all those women in tri-suits and swim caps, I'm sure I wasn't the only one feeling the chill.

Outside before the start.  A whole lot of women feeling the chill or early morning and ready to go!

Wet from the "warm up" swim and cold and just ready to go

We waited outside the aquatic center for ten minutes or so.  Coty was with me, arms around me to keep me a little warmer, and just being quiet support.  At one point, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around and there was my sister!  Annie had said she was coming, but I didn't expect to see her before the race.  Her husband and son, Joseph, were there, too.  Seeing them and knowing they would be there just made me happy!  And happy is a good way to be at the start of a race!

After a welcome and a few announcements from race officials, it was finally go-time!

It's go-time for other things for me this morning, so I'll stop for now.  More about the race later ...

Just the stats!

It's Tuesday.  Already several people have asked me why I haven't put anything here yet about the triathlon.  I think I'm still basking in the glow of finishing it, and just thinking about the whole experience.  It's hard to put into words, so give me til tomorrow.  For now, how about the stats:

From the race website age group results:

5.

506

55

BETH PINCKNEY

HARRISBURG NC

3

6:04

2:30

5

28:58

1:54

5

19:29

0:58:53

And a translation:

5. My overall place in my age group, I was the fifth fastest among the women, ages 55-59.

506  My race number - you remember the tattoos, right!

55  My age, but not really.  It's the age I'll be at the end of December, which is how they assign you to age groups.

skipping over the obvious ...

3  My place in the swim, in my age group.  I was the third fastest swimmer, ages 55-59.

6:04 My swim time.  Slower than I thought, but I didn't realize how it would work in the pool and how it slows you down to have to pass people at the end of the lane.

2:30 T-1 time, which means how long it took me to jog from the pool, outside to where my bike was racked, get on my shoes, sunglasses, and helmet, and jog with my bike to the bike start

5 My place in the cycling portion, in my age group

28:58  My cycling time

1:54 T-2 time, which means the time it took me to get off the bike at the dismount line, jog to my spot, rack my bike, unclip and take off my helmet, put on my cap, and get to the run start line.

5 My place in the run portion, in my age group

19:29 My run time

58:23  My total time, which includes the swim, bike, and run and both transitions.

Those last two numbers mean the most to me because I had two goals.  One was to finish the whole race in under an hour. I did it with a minute and 7 seconds to spare.  My second goal was to finish the run portion in less than 20 minutes.  My time: 19:29!  I think I was most happy about that time because, well, you all know that the running was the hardest thing for me.

The race organizers also posted overall results.  In the overall standings, I finished 155th out of 671 women, 163rd in the swim, 137th in the bike, and 198th in the run.

Most people don't really care about all those numbers.  But my sweet coach, who is now on the other side of the world, is a numbers man, and he really likes seeing all the stats and figuring out just how I did as a competitor.  He's kept track of my progress by tracking my times all through the training.  So, in honor of the man who helped me all the way, enjoy the stats.  I'll be back with more words and pictures tomorrow!

With my sweetheart, right after the race ...

and just before he headed to the airport!