I haven’t been writing much lately because there hasn’t been much to write about. I haven’t been training a whole lot because my neck has been bothering me. By bothering me, I mean I feel stabbing pains in my neck and shoulders 24/7. Can’t say for sure what the cause was, I just know on the morning of Dec. 5, 2009 I woke up with a sore neck. I kept hoping it would go away thinking I just slept funny. Needless to say, it didn’t. I kept asking my husband, Lou – ‘Should I go to the doctor?’ Every time he said yes. I shoulda listened to him. I would have felt better - sooner.
I couldn’t swim because I couldn’t turn my head. It kept getting worse and worse. Sometimes the pain was so bad it nauseated me. Not fun. I couldn’t bike because of the position of my head while riding. I couldn’t run because the pounding hurt it even more. Strength training – forggedaboudit. I still did a little if I had a better day than others, but nowhere near what I wanted to do.
Anyway, it took me until Dec. 31st to see my primary care physician. He gave me a muscle relaxant and pain killers. That was not the route I wanted to take but he wouldn’t recommend me to a physical therapist until I tried the drugs for a few days. He said if the pain didn’t ease by the following Monday, to call him and he’d send me to PT. I said OK. The drugs helped a little bit but only a little. Also, I couldn’t have a drink on New Years Eve because of the drugs. Bummer.
I called him that Monday and I got the referral for PT. It took over a week for the first available appointment, but I took it. I had a few appointments and was very disappointed. The pain in my neck kept moving from place to place (top right – lower middle – top left – back to top right, etc.) with no relief in the intensity of the pain. It was a mystery where the pain was going to move to next. As much as I love a good mystery – this one sucked!
After talking with my husband and a couple friends, all whom had seen a chiropractor before, I came to the conclusion that I needed chiropractic help. My friends opinions ranged from “I will never go again” to “I go once a month” but they all said the same thing – they experienced relief from their pain after seeing one. My biggest problem was that I was terrified of going to a chiropractor.
I went to see one locally. I made an appointment for that day. They took a full history and some x-rays – something the doctor and PT had not done. I was told I had a straight neck and sublaxation. Whatever – I just needed by back cracked by a professional. The doctor then proceeded to crack my neck then my back. It sounded like a 1000 bubble wrap bubbles popping at the same time. AHHHHHHHHHH! Instant relief. I hadn’t felt this good in nearly 7 weeks. I went back a second time for more of the same. I’m still not 100% but I feel so much better.
I’m hoping to bet back into training soon.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Third Times a Charm
I kept plugging and chugging. I still felt that I could do better. So I tried a third sprint triathlon. It was about the same distance as the last. 400m swim, 14.3 mi bike and 5K run.
A couple things were different with this one however. I had nearly two months of open water swimming training and my friend Aimee loaned me her sweet Bianchi road bike. I rode the bike a couple times before this race to get used to its feel. It is a lot different than my mountain bike with road tires. Just in training I was able to chop off 4 min per 6.5 mile lap where I ride.
Since the race was in Lorain, Aimee and Eric invited me to spend the night at their house. That would save me the hour and a half commute to the race (Thanks guys!). Originally, I was going to get up super early and drive myself to the race and they were going to ride their bikes and meet me there before the race began. No such luck. We all still got up early, but it was cold and rainy and a bit windy. They decided to skip the bike ride and just drive. I kept thinking – ‘Great day for a swim in Lake Erie!’
There was a light drizzle pretty much all morning. At times it was a downpour and others it was tolerable. However, it was not enough to cancel the swim. The race got off to a bit of a late start and the men went in the first wave and the women in the second wave. The course was out to the Lorain break walls, swim across two sections of wall and then back in to shore. It was actually OK. My biggest problem was the swim was east to west and I can only breathe on my right side. The walls were to my left and the waves (which were slightly large that day because of the wind and rain) were to my right. I got smacked by a few waves as I was breathing. But it wasn’t horrible and I wasn’t last out of the water. It was my fastest swim time yet – 12 mins. Once out of the water it is about a ¼ mile run to the transition area.
I was like lightening on the bike. Those skinny tires just glide. I actually held back because of the rain. I was a little afraid since I wasn’t used to the bike. I know I could have gone faster. It was fantastic! My bike was 54:14.
I am always slow at running but I was still happy with the result. It was raining still and I was chilled a bit but I felt great. The course was an out and back run with a few small hills. Very nice. I finished in 43:34.
Woo Hoo! Yea for me! My finish time was 1:56:54!!! I broke the two hour barrier and it is a full hour faster than my first triathlon in Philadelphia.
Overall:
Swim: 12 min
T1: 5:47 – including the ¼ mile run to the transition area
Bike: 54:14
T2: 1:19
Run: 43:34
Total: 1:56:54
After the race all I wanted to do was dry off, put on some warm clothes and head home. I did the first two, but as I was driving home, my family called me and said they were at the Waffle House near our house and wanted to know if I wanted to meet them there. I said yes and they ordered a pecan waffle for me. It was piping hot and just delivered as I walked thru the door. Delicious. It can’t get any better than this.
A couple things were different with this one however. I had nearly two months of open water swimming training and my friend Aimee loaned me her sweet Bianchi road bike. I rode the bike a couple times before this race to get used to its feel. It is a lot different than my mountain bike with road tires. Just in training I was able to chop off 4 min per 6.5 mile lap where I ride.
Since the race was in Lorain, Aimee and Eric invited me to spend the night at their house. That would save me the hour and a half commute to the race (Thanks guys!). Originally, I was going to get up super early and drive myself to the race and they were going to ride their bikes and meet me there before the race began. No such luck. We all still got up early, but it was cold and rainy and a bit windy. They decided to skip the bike ride and just drive. I kept thinking – ‘Great day for a swim in Lake Erie!’
There was a light drizzle pretty much all morning. At times it was a downpour and others it was tolerable. However, it was not enough to cancel the swim. The race got off to a bit of a late start and the men went in the first wave and the women in the second wave. The course was out to the Lorain break walls, swim across two sections of wall and then back in to shore. It was actually OK. My biggest problem was the swim was east to west and I can only breathe on my right side. The walls were to my left and the waves (which were slightly large that day because of the wind and rain) were to my right. I got smacked by a few waves as I was breathing. But it wasn’t horrible and I wasn’t last out of the water. It was my fastest swim time yet – 12 mins. Once out of the water it is about a ¼ mile run to the transition area.
I was like lightening on the bike. Those skinny tires just glide. I actually held back because of the rain. I was a little afraid since I wasn’t used to the bike. I know I could have gone faster. It was fantastic! My bike was 54:14.
I am always slow at running but I was still happy with the result. It was raining still and I was chilled a bit but I felt great. The course was an out and back run with a few small hills. Very nice. I finished in 43:34.
Woo Hoo! Yea for me! My finish time was 1:56:54!!! I broke the two hour barrier and it is a full hour faster than my first triathlon in Philadelphia.
Overall:
Swim: 12 min
T1: 5:47 – including the ¼ mile run to the transition area
Bike: 54:14
T2: 1:19
Run: 43:34
Total: 1:56:54
After the race all I wanted to do was dry off, put on some warm clothes and head home. I did the first two, but as I was driving home, my family called me and said they were at the Waffle House near our house and wanted to know if I wanted to meet them there. I said yes and they ordered a pecan waffle for me. It was piping hot and just delivered as I walked thru the door. Delicious. It can’t get any better than this.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tri Tri Again
Although I was thrilled beyond belief to finish, I knew I could do better than I did. My biggest limiter was obviously open water swimming. Luckily I live about 3 miles south of one of the best places to learn open water swimming – Lake Erie. It has all the largeness of an ocean, but none of the salt water.
I discovered the local Lake MetroPark System offered a class that was nothing but open water swimming in Lake Erie. It was in Fairport Harbor and every Tuesday morning at 7am I could swim or kayak with a large group and lots of lifeguards. I went every week except for one when I was out of town. We could swim a half mile out to the breakwall and a half mile back. At first I would kayak out to the wall and start the swim back. If I got too tired, the life guard would pull me up on his wave runner and ride me back to shore. Each week I could swim farther and farther. I also learned to relax more so I didn’t panic in open water. By the end of the summer, I was able to complete the entire distance in about an hour. It is still slow, but at least I know I can do it.
Right now the lake is iced over, but I plan on getting into the open water earlier in the season than I did last year.
All that extra swimming started to pay off.
I did my second sprint triathlon at the end of July. It was the Pirate Triathlon at Fairport Harbor – exactly where I’d been training. This one was a little shorter – 500 m (1/3 mile) swim, 20K bike (12.4 miles) and a 5K (3.1 miles).
Swim – 28:38 min
Bike – 1:00:56 including transition
Run - 40:21 including transition
My transitions were about 5 mins each.
Overall my time was 2:09:55.
Woo Hoo – I knocked 40+ minutes off my time.
I discovered the local Lake MetroPark System offered a class that was nothing but open water swimming in Lake Erie. It was in Fairport Harbor and every Tuesday morning at 7am I could swim or kayak with a large group and lots of lifeguards. I went every week except for one when I was out of town. We could swim a half mile out to the breakwall and a half mile back. At first I would kayak out to the wall and start the swim back. If I got too tired, the life guard would pull me up on his wave runner and ride me back to shore. Each week I could swim farther and farther. I also learned to relax more so I didn’t panic in open water. By the end of the summer, I was able to complete the entire distance in about an hour. It is still slow, but at least I know I can do it.
Right now the lake is iced over, but I plan on getting into the open water earlier in the season than I did last year.
All that extra swimming started to pay off.
I did my second sprint triathlon at the end of July. It was the Pirate Triathlon at Fairport Harbor – exactly where I’d been training. This one was a little shorter – 500 m (1/3 mile) swim, 20K bike (12.4 miles) and a 5K (3.1 miles).
Swim – 28:38 min
Bike – 1:00:56 including transition
Run - 40:21 including transition
My transitions were about 5 mins each.
Overall my time was 2:09:55.
Woo Hoo – I knocked 40+ minutes off my time.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
My First Triathlon
It had been raining in Philadelphia the week prior to my first triathlon. The swim was to take place in the Schuylkill River near Fairmount Park. The water quality was officially rated as ‘RED’ for most of the week – meaning the water was not suitable for swimming.
I was kinda scared about the whole thing but deep down I didn’t want the swim part to be cancelled because it wouldn’t be a triathlon without the swim. Eventually the water cleared up enough for the swim but the current was very swift. From what I understand, the current is usually not a factor at all.
For the 900M sprint swim, the course was the shape of a rectangle. I first swam against the current, then across and against the current, then with the current, and lastly, across and against the current. So, 3 of the four legs were against the current. I was exhausted! I got cramps in both legs and was in so much pain I couldn’t move. I almost quit twice. But I didn’t put all this time and effort into training, spending mine and others money, and drag my family 8 hours in a car for me to quit a tenth of a mile into the race. So I just kept going until I was done. I knew the swim wouldn’t last forever.
I was kinda scared about the whole thing but deep down I didn’t want the swim part to be cancelled because it wouldn’t be a triathlon without the swim. Eventually the water cleared up enough for the swim but the current was very swift. From what I understand, the current is usually not a factor at all.
For the 900M sprint swim, the course was the shape of a rectangle. I first swam against the current, then across and against the current, then with the current, and lastly, across and against the current. So, 3 of the four legs were against the current. I was exhausted! I got cramps in both legs and was in so much pain I couldn’t move. I almost quit twice. But I didn’t put all this time and effort into training, spending mine and others money, and drag my family 8 hours in a car for me to quit a tenth of a mile into the race. So I just kept going until I was done. I knew the swim wouldn’t last forever.
One thing that was interesting to me was that we started the swim in waves. I was in the ‘old lady’ swim wave. Officially it is known as the ‘age 40 and over female’ wave, but that is just semantics. They started a new wave every few minutes. The wave behind me was the men’s masters group – meaning a bunch of very strong male swimmers. I thought to myself ‘who thought this was a good idea?’
Within a short time, many of the powerful swimmers were right by me. I got punched in the head at least 3 times and my goggles knocked off twice. Granted, they all apologized, as a friend of mine said: if I got hit that hard by a man on dry land, I’d be calling the cops.
I finally finished the swim and as soon as I did I knew I could finish the race. I had pretty much used up all of my energy but I didn’t care. I knew I could do it. I got up on my bike and finished the 15 miles without any issues and started the run.
I can’t exactly say what I was doing was running, but it was moving in a forward motion resembling running at times. I was tired. I ran when I could. I did high five a co-worker who was doing the race too. He looked as exhausted too. At the last half mile, my husband, Lou, ran with me. I thought that was great! He kept me going a little faster that I would have without him.
I crossed the finish line and I was ecstatic and overjoyed! I did it! I felt so amazing and had a huge sense of accomplishment. Woo hoo!
My times were awful, but after the swim, I’m glad I just crossed the finish line.
Quick joke – What do they call the person who crosses the finish line last? A triathlete!
S: 39:30 T1: 5:25 B: 1:14:12 T2: 3:03 R: 49:45
Final: 2:51:58 1374 of 1440
I met all three of my goals. I finished, I was not last and I was not last in my age group. Success!
Of course I could not walk hardly at all for days after that. I can assure you that did not make my family happy because they had to wait on me. Sorry guys!
Please stay tuned. My times do improve. :-)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
My decision to do triathlons
After I found a new position, I found the company I worked for supported triathlons and sponsored them as well. They even encourage their employees to work out at lunch. So I thought the natural progression to running would be triathlons... right?
I suppose you should also keep in mind that I only learned to swim when I was 40. So to progress to triathlons after only two years of knowing how to swim is pretty good. The one thing that I didn't know until I got to my first triathlon was that open water swimming is nothing like swimming laps in a pool. The biggest difference is the lack of a wall to push off of every 25 meters. The next biggest is there are no lines at the bottom of rivers and lakes to guide you and keep you straight. Next would be that I don't usually encounter masters swimmers coming up behind me and knocking me in the face full force in my lane at the pool.
I started training last March for my first triathlon at the end of June. The triathlon was a sprint distance and had a 900M swim, a 15 mile bike, and a 5K. During training I was swimming a mile in the pool no problem, riding my mountain bike for 15 miles no problem, and a 5K - no worries at all. I even took a course on transitions thru the local park system. I was all set.
I suppose you should also keep in mind that I only learned to swim when I was 40. So to progress to triathlons after only two years of knowing how to swim is pretty good. The one thing that I didn't know until I got to my first triathlon was that open water swimming is nothing like swimming laps in a pool. The biggest difference is the lack of a wall to push off of every 25 meters. The next biggest is there are no lines at the bottom of rivers and lakes to guide you and keep you straight. Next would be that I don't usually encounter masters swimmers coming up behind me and knocking me in the face full force in my lane at the pool.
I started training last March for my first triathlon at the end of June. The triathlon was a sprint distance and had a 900M swim, a 15 mile bike, and a 5K. During training I was swimming a mile in the pool no problem, riding my mountain bike for 15 miles no problem, and a 5K - no worries at all. I even took a course on transitions thru the local park system. I was all set.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Let's start at the very beginning... a very good place to start...
It is best to just start at the beginning. Last year when I was looking for a new job, I wanted a way for prospective employers to find positive information about me if they Googled me. I could either pay someone $2,000 to do this for me by planting info on the internet or I could figure a way to do this my self. Not one to pay $$$ like that for that kind of service I decided the best and fastest way to get my name out there was to run in local road races. They are published on the internet all the time.
So I ran… and I ran… and I ran. Then something funny happened. I started to feel really good. I liked the way I felt when I was running. I especially liked it when I was done. I felt like a million bucks! I met so many new people. Several encouraged me to join the local running club, Northeast Running Club (http://www.northeastrunningclub.org/) and I kept on running. I made improvements and got better and stronger the more I ran. (I hesitate to use the word faster because although I did get faster, it is all relative. Faster for me is still a turtle’s pace for the overwhelming majority of runners)
I set my sights first on 5K’s, then 10K’s and then finally half marathons. My first year out I did 4 half marathons in a 3 month period. I love half marathons. They are long enough to sound impressive to someone who doesn’t run, but short enough that it doesn’t have as long a recovery time as a marathon.
More later…trust me this is the shortened version.
So I ran… and I ran… and I ran. Then something funny happened. I started to feel really good. I liked the way I felt when I was running. I especially liked it when I was done. I felt like a million bucks! I met so many new people. Several encouraged me to join the local running club, Northeast Running Club (http://www.northeastrunningclub.org/) and I kept on running. I made improvements and got better and stronger the more I ran. (I hesitate to use the word faster because although I did get faster, it is all relative. Faster for me is still a turtle’s pace for the overwhelming majority of runners)
I set my sights first on 5K’s, then 10K’s and then finally half marathons. My first year out I did 4 half marathons in a 3 month period. I love half marathons. They are long enough to sound impressive to someone who doesn’t run, but short enough that it doesn’t have as long a recovery time as a marathon.
More later…trust me this is the shortened version.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Tara from The Biggest Loser will be there too...
I just found out that Tara Costa from ‘The Biggest Loser’ Season 8 is competing in the full iron distance triathlon at Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH at the same Rev3 race and at the same time as I am doing the half iron distance. She is a machine. She was so awesome and inspirational on The Biggest Loser. She pulled a car for goodness sakes! I hope I see her at the race.
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