Yes, this race report is a bit late.  I also got to get OrangeMan AquaMan report out there.

I got to admit, I was really nervous and under prepared (logistics wise) for this race.  They day before the race I was buying a bike jersey and water bottle for race day.  These races just sneak up on me…I am so busy with the day to day stuff, I tend to not think that far ahead!

Pre-Race

It had been a few years since I had done a triathlon, so I was nervous.  I rode my bike down to the start at 5 AM and set up my transition area.

Me before biking down to race

I didn’t know anyone doing the race, so really didn’t have someone to talk to or hang out with.

This is a local race and the start is literally down the street from me.  There is really no reason why I can’t do this race every year!

As it got closer to the start time, there were people getting in the water to warm up. I usually don’t warm up in the water before my races and I didn’t this time.  Lesson Learned:  I should have warmed up in the water.

Swim

I ran out as usual and started to swim.  But something was different this time – I couldn’t breathe.  I started to have, what I call, a panic attack. I couldn’t catch my breath. I stopped swimming and started to tread water as I saw everyone swim away.  I did a breast stroke type swim for a little while and thought about quitting the race.

This had NEVER happened to me before.  I had done 1 sprint, 1 half Ironman and 2 Ironman races before this (albeiet 10+ years ago), but this was new to me.

Finally, I slowly started swimming again and was able to breath.  As I kept swimming and getting into a rhythm, the problem went away.  But that was a scarey experience, something I am still dealing with and need to understand why it is happening.

My time was not good, but I am proud for finishing after my episode.

Time: 37:16

 T1: not recorded, I have no idea – they had some timing issues and my times were some of the ones that were corrupted.

Me at T1

As I was going to my bike, I saw my husband and kids!!  It felt so good to see them there…it made some of my nerves go away.  I wasn’t sure if they were going to make the whole race, so it was so good to see them at T1.  I kept yelling “I did it!  I did it!” to them.  Of course, they didn’t know about the attack in the water…they probably thought I was crazy.

My boys waiting for me

Bike
The bike course is a course I ride all the time.  So it was familiar.  I am a slow biker. Period.  I am not sure why, but I can’t ride fast on flats, rolling hills, downhills.  I do really well on climbs and I love to climb.  But other than that… I suck. Not sure how to get faster.

But the bike is a nice hilly bike ride.  I got something in my eye and had to pull over.  Also, my chain came off when I switched gears too fast – had to pull over to fix that issue.  Other than that the bike was fun and uneventful.

Came in second to last in my division I believe .  As I said, I am a slow biker.  Need to work on this….

Time: 1:38:XX – this time was not recorded either.

T2:  not recorded.

Run

Loved the Run!  It was hilly and I was in my element.  I train on hills…I love running hills.  I was passing people and felt good.  There are some pretty steep hills on this run and you run on a combination of bike trails/trails/street.    As I came to the finish, I saw my husband and kids again and gave them high 5s.  So cool to see them at the finish .

They love eating “marathon” food as they call it

Time: 51:32

Overall:  3:07:16.9

The finish area is a great area.  Lots of room. Lots of stuff for the kids to do (playgroud, sand, water, etc).  I would highly recommend this race (train on hills!).

Next year my goal is to go under 3 hours.  I feel that is really doable consider the panic attack and having to stop twice on the bike.  Also, next year I will not be as nervous

Monday – 5:30 AM swim – swam for 50 mins – 2350 yd”ish”.  I thought I would go ahead and get a swim in because not sure when I could get 2 swims in during the week.  I am really glad I did this swim or I might not have been able to do 2 swim workouts.

Tuesday – REST DAY – I had a run scheduled from 11-12, but had an emergency meeting scheduled at this time.  So, decided to just take a rest day.

Wednesday - 8:30 am – Ran 5 miles – ran later because had calls all morning.  I like running AFTER having had my coffee – I think I run faster!!

4:00 PM – strength training at home

Thursday - 8:30 AM – swim at the Y – 60 mins – 2600 yd”ish”.

5:30 PM – 5 mile run once my husband got home from work.  Love running in the evening on the trails.

Friday - 4:00 PM – 50 mins on the bike trainer while watching American’s Next Top Model….yes, I admit I do watch that show.  I am not proud of it, but I am hooked.

Saturday - 1:00 PM – 16 miles on the bike outside.  I got a new helmet and bike all tuned up this week.  Nice to finally be riding outside.

Sunday – 6:00 AM  – 8 mile run in the morning.  Felt really good – ran 9:06/mile, but last week on same course after coffee I ran it in 8:46.  hmmmm, does coffee make you faster?  Something to think about….do you get a better workout in after you have your caffeine?

All in all, I had a great week.  I missed my second strength training session, not because I didn’t have the time…I just didn’t do it. Opps!

Total Hours – 7.18 hours

* Swimming at 8:30 AM at the Y is a bit different than swimming at 5:30 AM:

5:30 AM -Nice and quiet, usually only 1-4 people there.   I always get a lane to myself and everyone is pretty much doing their own thing. On Wednesday’s I am usually the only one there – me and the Life Guard.

8:30 AM – I get there and no one is there..Great I thought, a lane to myself.  I comment on the lack of people to the Life Guard.

Me – “Not many people here at this time”

Life Guard – “Yes, but Water Aerobics starts in about 15 mins.  You should swim in that lane (pointing to furthest lane)”.

Me – ” Ah, ok sure”

And then I get into the water…the warm bathtub water. Yikes, I think – this is pretty warm.    I start to swim, already feeling pretty suffocated in the really warm water.

One by One the ladies are showing up for the class.  And about 8:45, the water starts to get a bit wavy.  I start to smell different smells – someone has some really strong perfume on!!

And then at around 9:00 AM, when the class starts, it gets really wavy – I feel like I am swimming in open water!  And still smelling different smells – some of them not so great .

But all in all, I had a great 8:30 AM swim – I got in one full hour  (2600 yard”ish) because I didn’t have to rush home to get the kids ready for school.  And I still got my own lane .  I am just going to have to get used to the differences.

Yes, I do not deal with changes very well and I am a baby about it.  But my work schedule changed and I have to support clients in both Europe and Asia Pacific.  So that means really early morning 5:00 AM calls (during my early morning workout time!!).  I have had to rearrange my entire workout schedule.  I really love getting up early and getting at least one of my workouts done. There are so many things that come up during the day that it’s always a possibility I won’t be able to work out (like Tuesday when I had meetings get scheduled all day long).  And that stresses me out.

But, I need to think positively about this.  I have blocked off time during my workout schedule to workout after I drop off the kids, so 8:30 AM.  This gives me the opportunity to run during the day (trail running!), go to spin classes at the gym, get a tan while swimming.  Positive thoughts, right?  Also, I am very lucky to even have a job right now, so who am I to complain?

Like my husband said, there will be obstacles along the way…I need to learn how to deal with them.  And that I am.  But a girl needs to vent every now and then!

I got to admit, I am so excited for the Ironman.  I love this stuff..I love the the challenge.   Here is my workouts for week 35:

Monday – Day Off

Tuesday – 5:30 AM run.  My body is getting used to waking up at 5 – not as tough to get up anymore.  Only taken like 5 or 6 months to get used to…yikes.

Wednesday – 5:30 AM swim.  I did 2050 yds today in 45 minutes.

2:30 PM – strength for 30 mins.  My plan for strength training is to get it done during the day at home.  I have weights at home and I work at home. Often times I find myself not taking breaks from work during the day, but if I put a  30 minute break on my calendar, I will take the time to lift weights.  The meeting notifications make me feel guilty if I don’t do it!!  Working great so far.

Thursday – 5:30 AM – 45 mins on the bike trainer.

5:30 PM – 45 min run once my husband got home from work.  Went around the neighborhood 2X…nice little trail run.

Friday – 5:30 AM – swim 2300 yds.    That afternoon I was supposed to ride the trainer for 30 mins…but I literally forgot to do it.  I remembered about 8 PM and was too tired….so I decided I had to get it in – I would get up early on Saturday.

Saturday – 4:30 AM – yes, that is right – 4:30 AM.   I rode the trainer for 30 mins then did a 7 mile run!  I was so proud of myself for getting up early and getting it all in – even the trainer ride I missed on Friday.  I had baseball at 9 and soccer at 11, and soccer pizza party at 12:30, so it was a busy day. Early morning was the only time to get it done.  The run felt great, even after riding the trainer.  I just love to run .

Sunday – I also forgot to do strength training on Friday.  So I did 30 mins of strength on Sunday.

Also, I rode my bike outside for the first time in 2.5 years!  It was a big accomplishment for me, even if it was only for about 30 mins.

Over all about 7:15 hours

Also, my tech guy (yes, my wonderful techy husband ), has got me set up on a GPS and heart rate monitor. I will be using the Garmin 310XT watch which has the option for a heart rate monitor (the strap is in the mail!!!).  Once I get my strap, I plan on doing my Lactate Threshold and Max Heart Rate tests.

I want a treadmill really bad. David and I are thinking of setting up a gym in our garage – weights, treadmill, bench, trainer.  How great would that be…there would be no excuse for not working out on something.  We have everything but the treadmill and the bench.  We are still deciding what we want to do…but something for us to consider.

Here is my summary for the week:

Monday – REST DAY.  The “Be Iron Fit” plan has rest days on Monday, which actually works well for me.  So, for now, I will rest on Monday.

Tuesday – 5:30 AM – Swim – 2150 yds in ~ 50 mins and PM run.

My wrist does not hurt when I swim, so I have been swimming.  Although it is not healed and I am getting a little worried if I am doing the right thing by swimming.  I can’t lift heavy things and I do feel it when I am doing chores around the house.  But I don’t believe it is making it worse by swimming (???).

5:30 PM – Run!!  4.5 miles (didn’t bring watch so not sure how long).

I haven’t done a weekday evening run in ages.  David agreed to do dinners once a week so I can get an evening workout in.  Thank you David!   When I left the house for my run I had a huge smile on my face.  It was so much fun to run in the evening.

Wednesday - Transition day – 30 min bike on trainer and then 20 min run.

I started doing transitions every Wednesday – this is what Be Iron Fit plan has, so I decided to start it now.  It is something I have never really incorporated into my training, but I like dong the transitions.

Thursday – 5:30 AM – Swim – 2150 yds in ~ 50 mins.

I started not feeling too well on Thursday.  I think I was really tired, but I felt like I was on the edge of getting sick.  So, Thursday night I decided not to wake up early on Friday morning.

Friday  – REST day – I should have ran this day, but took it safe by not working out. Felt much better on Friday and I am glad I “slept in” (until 6:15 instead of 5 AM!).

Saturday – 5:30 AM – 30 min bike on trainer and then 5 mile run in 47:32.

I felt bad about missing Friday workout, so I got up early on Saturday and got a transition in.

Sunday – 5 mile run in 47:00

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Total Hours – 5.33          I feel like I should be getting in a lot more hours at this point.  Also, just getting in 5 to 6 hours is hard…how the heck am I going to get up to 15 hours????  This is going to be quite an exciting journey.

Just a couple of thoughts:

1) Goals for this week is to incorporate core and leg training.

2) Goals for next week – need to bike outside!!!  All my bike training has been on the trainer and I am itching to bike outside.

I decided to do the Intermediate 30-week plan from “Be Iron Fit“.  I read a lot of good reviews about this book, so decided to give it a try.  I need to be realistic though, I don’t think I can do the Competitive plan, although I’d really like to….I will keep it in the back of my mind though.

I need to do my max heart rate tests to get a better understanding of my heart rate zones.   I also need to get a heart rate monitor.  I have never been technical in my training, but rather just ran/biked/swam.  I would really like to be a bit more technical this time.  I figure now, with my limited time, I need to get pretty technical as every workout needs to be quality.

I am a runner at heart, so my default workout is to run, as you can tell from my workouts this week :

Monday – Swam for 50 mins for 2450 yards.  I have been doing 350 warm up, 3 X 500, 5 X 100.  100 cool down.

I fell and hurt wrist on Monday also.   My wrist hurt so bad on Monday night, there was no way I could workout the next day.

Tuesday -  Went to doctor – REST

Wednesday – Not motivated to workout, wrist was hurting – REST

Thursday - 4.5 mile run in the morning. Wrist started to feel better.

Friday – 4.5 mile run in the morning

Saturday – bike 30 mins on trainer

Sunday - 5 mile run

—————————————–

Total – 3.67 hours

- On Friday, January 13th, I woke up with a foot cramp. This cramp caused me to limp around until Tuesday, where it finally went away.  So no, I did not get my planned run in that weekend.  Luckily, I believe it is gone. I feel a little bit in my arch, but I am still going to run.  My right foot has been giving me problems though, so I definitely need to monitor how it feels.

- Later that day, I found out there as a death in my family. I hopped on the next plane to Arkansas go be with them and attend the funeral.  It was very emotional and sad experience. It just isn’t fair when such nice, honorable, hardworking individual has to die.

- On Tuesday, Jan 17th, when I arrived home from the funeral, I was exhausted…mentally exhausted.  And I also had a cold.  By Thursday, I was really sick…couldn’t move sick.  So I missed my workouts..again.

- By Sunday, I was running again.  I. ran. 3. miles.  I was supposed to run 10 that day.  But that’s all my body gave me that day.

- On Monday, I felt good…I felt like myself again. My motivation was back.  I went swimming Monday morning and planned my workouts for the week.
Then the fall………..the fall on my butt…..the butt that just got better about 2 weeks ago.
I want you to imagine the fall being one when I was running, running fast and working hard, but then I noticed a child crossing the street and I fell to the ground while saving this young child from crossing the street.

But…no, I fell from my foam roller while I was on the phone talking to a co-worker. For some reason I was standing on it while I was talking and it slipped out from under me. How. Embarrassing. I can’t imagine what it sounded like to my co-worker when I fell…..

So, my butt didn’t get that damaged, just a bit sore.   Just a bit sore because my wrist took all the impact.  I went to the doctor on Tuesday and it looks like I have a hairline fracture.  So, no swimming for me for the next couple of weeks.  I also missed my workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday.

But today is Thursday and looking better. I ran this morning and felt good.  My wrist is feeling better. I am back…………right?

All I know is, my son “Loves me because he loves me”.  And that’s all that counts

Until Sunday….and yes, I will post..the good and the bad.

- On Tuesday evening,  I rode my trainer for about 30 minutes while the boys played.  After I finished Parker came up to me and told me he had written his workout down and wanted to go outside to do it.  Parker’s workout (which he wrote on an index card) included:

10 laps bike, 10 laps scooter, 10 laps running, 10 laps walking

So cool!!!  We went out side and he did his workout – 4 times!   10 laps of bike and scooter around the cul-de-sac and then 10 laps of running/walking around the driveway.  I was really impressed and felt good that maybe all my training will influence my sons in a positive way

- Training for this week – I completed 6.28 hours of training.  I am starting to feel strong and really good.  Would like to incorporate more strength training, esp boot camp like training (push-ups, pull-ups, interval running, dips, etc).  I was at my peak performance when I was doing a hard core boot camp 3 days/week.  I need to come up with a plan….

Monday – REST Day

Tuesday – 4.5 mile run in the morning and 30 minutes bike on indoor trainer in the afternoon.  I worked pretty hard on the bike because it was so short.  Need to get some anaerobic training in.

Wednesday – 2350 yd swim in the morning

Thursday – 4.5 mile run in the morning

Friday – 2350 yd swim

Sat – 60 min on indoor training watching Scrubs (love that show:).  My husband downloaded Gladiator for me, so next session I get to watch this movie!!

Sun – 7 mile run around 9 AM.  FELT GREAT!  Followed the run with 20 mins of strength training.