Willoughby Lions Duathlon

Sorry I have been such a bum lately about postings. I have been in a bit of a funk this last month and haven’t been able to shake it. Bear with me it will probably take a couple of posts to catch up then explain why. There is a lot I need to post so I will take it one post at a time.

On June 13th, I did a duathlon that consisted of a 5K run, 20 mile bike and a 5K run. I was using it as a ‘C’ race to see where I would be for the Olympic distance triathlon I had coming up in Philadelphia on June 25th. It was essentially the same distance without the swim and a break for the run.

This is a small local race and very low key. I like it a lot because it is good for beginners. However, most of the people participate in the biathlon that is a 5K and 13 miles on a bike. I did that one last year.

I got my TEAMPHLY tri suit and wore it to this race. It feels nice to be a part of such a great thing.

It was very muggy that day and by the end of the race, fog had rolled in off Lake Erie.

I did come in second place in my age group for the duathlon. But to be fair, there were only two people racing in my age group. There were only about 30 people who competed in the race and only 6 were women. Essentially, all I had to do was cross the finish line and I would win, place or show in my age group.

Now, in general, I have never professed to be good or fast at swimming, biking or running. I only profess to enjoy doing it. If being fast was a prerequisite, I would have quit a long time ago. I did come in last place in this race but I finished. I am glad for that. I do not worry that I’m last. I believe I’m making last ‘cool’ – as a new running mate of mine – Lisa – said recently.

The only problem I had was when the municipal guys came by in their truck picking up the race cones when I was still running the last 5K. I was thinking – Nice. How will I know where to turn? There is this weird part of the course where you go thru someone’s backyard. If they removed the cones I could be going thru the wrong back yard. Luckily, another course volunteer came out to direct me in.

I was happy with my slow result. I figured I would add about 35-40 minutes to my finishing time if I added a swim for an olympic distance tri.

Recent Training Update

Some updates about my progress in training. I finally hit a huge personal milestone in swimming. I have been swimming 2000 yards or 1.11 miles for the last week during my pool training days. I have been doing it in about 54 minutes. Now that I’m nearly at my max training swim distance I will work on speed more. I know swimming is my weakest of the three sports. I also know I will spend the least amount of time doing it as compared to biking and running. At the Rev3, I only need to know that I will finish by the cutoff time, which I believe is 1 hr and 10 min.

I also made it out into Lake Erie last weekend. It was my first time in open water since last September. It was not pretty. The waves were choppy and 1-2 ft. They were also relentless. I couldn’t get into any sort of rhythm. I normally have decent form but it all goes to pot when I’m in open water like that. I revert to every bad habit and poor form I spent all winter working on improving. When I did get moving I did well for several yards, then a wave would catch me and I’d take in a huge gulp of Lake Erie water.

A couple times I had to stop because I took in so much water I had to hurl it back up. See what I mean by not pretty. To make matters worse, there were about 20 kids playing in the lake while I was swimming and most were focused on me as I was gulping and hurling. I love being judged by a bunch of 9-12 year olds! One even told me that I’m not supposed to do that. Really? You think?

I also later found out that the lake water had 4x’s the e-coli bacteria allowable for swimming. I did not see a red flag at the beach which is surprising because they usually put one out if bacteria is at dangerous levels. Yum. I’m actually glad I managed to get rid of most of it.

My bike is currently at the LBS. I need to pick it up today. I just had some minor tweaking to the rear tire – it needed to be trued. My first race is this weekend and I wanted it to be ready. It is a duathlon – 5K-20 mi -5K in my hometown. I can even ride my bike to get there. I have no excuses – my bike training route is the exact course of this race. I have ridden this route so many times I know where every bump in the road is located. I only have the weather to worry about. There are thunderstorms in the forecast.

I also recently had to get new cleats for my shoes. One of them broke during a training ride about a week ago. I have Time Impact pedals. They came on my bike that I bought on eBay. I’m learning they are an older style pedal. They work just fine but the history of the cleats is poor. From what I was told at the LBS, the cleats were originally made of metal and near indestructible. However, in a future model year, the cleats were made of a resin that was not as durable as the metal and they broke – a lot. That is what made them fall out of favor. I bought a used set of cleats on eBay. However, if another cleat breaks, I’m going to buy a new set of pedals and cleats. Hopefully that won’t be for awhile though. I’m open to anyone’s reviews of the pedals they are using.

Random Stuff

I officially logged 100,000 miles on my Honda Pilot this morning. I bought it new in December 2005, so I am averaging about 22,650 miles a year. In Honda years it is just middle aged. My oldest son Sam was with me at the time and he watched the odometer turn over with the same enthusiasm as watching the winning run of a baseball game in the bottom of the 9th!

I loved the LOST series finale. I love how they brought all the characters back together at the end. My favorite was Sawyer and Juliet.

I’m glad Michael won on the Biggest Loser. I originally thought he was a knucklehead but he seemed to get it more and more as time went on. I just hope he continues to lose weight because he is not done yet. The past winners that were in the audience that night seemed to have gained a lot of their weight back. Koli seemed cranky but I think he just plays everything close to the vest. I did vote for Daris.

There is a rust stain on the bottom of the pool at the Bally’s in Willoughby that is in the shape of the United States.

My youngest son Tom broke his wrist – just in time for summer.

Sam, who will be in 7th grade in the fall, wants to play football for his school. He has never played this sport before and he weighs about 80 lbs soaking wet. He is strong and very athletically gifted, but this is a whole different animal.

I drove the run and bike course of the Rev 3 70.3 a couple weeks ago. Boy did it seem long…and I was in my car. I cannot let that psychology seep into my head.

I bought a SPI belt to hold my phone, ipod, key and some cash, while I run or bike, at the recommendation of two fellow runners. I hope I like it.

I changed the burned out headlight and the windshield wipers on my Pilot all by myself. I was very proud – especially for the headlight.

Gasoline – heading into Memorial Day Weekend – is $2.51. Yikes! I can hardly believe it.

I listen to my ipod when I’m running. Only I’m not listening to music. I listen to books. I’m currently listening to ‘World Without End’ by Ken Follett. It is about a 1000 page book so it will do for a long while.

Things I learned from my bike ride to work:

1. I clearly work at a higher elevation than I live. Didn’t seem like it at the time, but my commute to work on my bike yesterday was totally up hill. My commute home was a breeze. Literally. At one point I was going so fast down hill I felt as if I was going to go headfirst over my handlebars.

2. The break-in period for my bike shoes is officially over. They felt a little pinchy at first – probably because of their stiffness. So either I’m used to that feeling or they have stretched enough to conform to my foot.

3. I’m a klutz. I knew this before, but it was extremely evident yesterday. It is so bad, my boys now say my theme song is ‘Clumsy’ by Fergie - because I’m always trippin and stumblin and fallin. It is also partly why I have the Bumble on the top of this blog. (Bumbles bounce!). They think it is hilarious.

I fell twice yesterday on my way home. Both times I was at a complete standstill – foot off the pedal and all. Just lost my balance. The first time, no one was around. The second time I was at a red light with several other stopped vehicles. I probably scared the crap out of the car drivers. Luckily, as I said, everyone was stopped. However, my elbow and knee took the brunt of the fall.

4. I am capable of riding 40+ miles on my bike without pain in my neck or back side. Just not in a row.

5. My bike is the right size for me and it is fitted correctly.

6. The people at work think I’m crazy. The best response I got was ‘I don’t even like to drive 20 miles let alone bike that far!’

~o

Guess what I did today?

For the first time ever, I rode my bike to work today. It is about 20 miles and in theory, not a bad distance. However, in practical application, not so much. It took me about 25 minutes longer to get there than I expected.

I packed my work clothes and stuff to take a shower when I arrived in a small backpack. I figured it was small and light enough that it would not matter. Right? Wrong. I chose poorly. The backpack kept sliding from one side to the other while riding. I was very annoying and I kept on having to readjust it. I think I’m just going to leave a clean change of clothes and my shower stuff at work.

Another thing I had to deal with is the construction. Here in northeast Ohio, we only have two seasons – winter and construction. I knew I would have to deal with the construction projects but I didn’t realize how dangerous and scary they were to navigate through during morning rush hour. Most of the people in cars were kind and courteous but the few who were not truly scared me. Granted, the lanes are narrower in the construction zones but that doesn’t mean they have to run me off the road into the gravel. I was trying not to take up too much space.

I also found it scary to cross major intersections. Everyone was in such a rush I felt very pressured to get up to speed in a very short period of time. Next time I might take a longer route just to avoid the above issues. I am happy to report that I am getting much better at getting in and out of my clipless pedals.

Next thing that happened that I did not expect was … I got lost. OK - not lost so much as confused. The roads look so different when you are in a car vs. on a bike. Plus I’m not extremely familiar with the area. However, I did have my GPS, but that didn’t help as much as I had hoped. I finally had to call my husband to help me out of my jam. Thank God for cell phones and map quest (and my husband too-who picked up the phone after only one ring). I was right back on track, but that episode took about 15 minutes.

I made it to work none the worse for the wear. Now I only have to get back home tonight. At least the forecast is not calling for rain.

Random Stuff

This is the caricature an artist drew of me and my oldest son Sam after the Turkey Trot in Erie, PA last year. Isn't it awesome? It was free. The Erie Running Club has some of the best schwag at any race I've been.

After 2+ years of unemployment, Lou got a 8-10 week gig. Yea!!! We hope it becomes permanent but won’t know for a while. So now my problem is finding daycare in the summer for the kids. Now that’s the problem I want to have.

My company is awesome. Can’t fully elaborate but they really encourage their employees to do triathlons.

My blackberry decided to wipe itself on Monday. Total dump. Thankfully, the information is backed up and I only had to wait 15 min as the help desk at my company reset it. It would have made for a lousy Monday had it not been backed up.

The Biggest Loser is my favorite show, but I really like Lost too and will miss it when it is gone.

My friend and running partner, Jean, turns 74 today. She is awesome and kicks my butt on a regular basis. She will be running in her 50th marathon next week at the Cleveland Marathon.

My friend and triathlon inspiration, Aimee, just completed her first Ironman – St. George. I am very proud of her.

I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time finding a swimming coach. I have had 4 bag on me already – meaning a first appointment was set and they canceled and never rescheduled. Two are from the local YMCA. Aren’t they supposed to help everyone? I’m am working on a 5th but can’t get a hold of her.

Lou can’t make it to the PHLYTri this year because of his new job so I will be relying on my 12 year old son for help.

The heater at the Bally’s where I swim has been broken for 2 weeks. The water has been hovering around 74. A little nippy for my taste, but it does keep the crowd down. They say it will be fixed this week.

At the age of 72 and 70, my parents are finally connected to the internet and have email addresses.

I just cashed in 190,000 Speedway points for a $200 Speedway gas card. Took me about 8 months to earn those points.

Injury report

Well it was bound to happen some time. I fell on my bike while I was riding last Saturday.

As I was riding what I call my 'training loop' last Saturday - the 6 1/2 mile loop that is pretty close to my house - I was approaching that same damned intersection at Reeves and Lakeshore. There is a traffic light there and it always seems to be red. I slowed down as I approached it hoping it would turn green before I got there, but that didn't work. It was still red.

It wouldn't be so bad except for the steep incline of the hill. I was slowed down, praying the light would change and when it didn't I had no choice but to stop. However, I didn't exactly stop the way I would have liked. Basically I just fell over trying to unclip my shoes from the pedals. But because I felt my bike was more important not to injure rather than myself, I bore the entire brunt of the fall on my right wrist. The injury report for my bike is good - no scratches. Not so good for my wrist. I think it is sprained because it still hurts - but after a little ice and an ace bandage, I'm good as new.