September 15, 2009

WoW! Fitness Lifestyle – Try a Tri

OK.  I did it.  I accomplished one item on my “bucket list”, to complete a triathlon.  I have a lot of work to do to actually compete in a triathlon but this weekend I did participate.  I learned quite a bit in the process.  Many thanks to April for escorting and coaching me along the way.  This is one sport that you cannot complete without some valuable conversations and preferably with someone who has experienced the challenge before.

Five lessons learned:

1.  Training is Important: When ‘they’ say to train in all three sports, that is good advice.  Advice that I did not listen to with both ears.  I am a good swimmer.  I depended on “Muscle Memory” from last summer to get me through 600 meters.  Not a good plan.  When swimming in an open lake, the water is deep, unmarked, without sides, coated with pollen, and full of others who seemed to want the very space I was struggling to move through.  Biking, no problem here, that was the restful part of the event for me.  Running, well, I covered the ground without stopping but a 3 legged dog could have easily beat me.

2.  Dress to Move: Michael (April’s husband) sent me a list of things that I needed for the event.  His list was correct–I hesitated to rent the wet suit that he highly recommended, but I did.  It arrived the Monday before the event.  I should have read the directions, but I didn’t.  I put the suit on backwards and no one pointed this out until I noticed that I was the only one with a zipper in the front.  I also struggled with swimsuit–I could not figure out how to get my head through the opening when I had the bottom on, so I reversed and put the top part of racing suit on first and I could get the bottom part on–I just went home. After I consulted with my daughter, she reminded me I should have entered from the opening at the neck.  Oh well.  Muscle memory failed me again.  I went back later an purchased a Speedo that I really didn’t need for the event anyway–I’ll use it for training.  I did get trishorts and a top–they worked out great.

3. Words are Everything:  There are so many subcultures in this world with their own set of rules, norms, and vocabulary.  Triathlons are not an exception.  Words I learned: brick – the period of time as you move from riding your bike and running and your legs melt; transition area – where your park your bike and lay out your things for the event–for athletes only; trishorts – biking shorts that are thin biking shorts that you swim and run in and you don’t wear underwear; marking area – where you go and people write on your arms and legs so that know who you are in case something happens.

4.  Make It Happen: The event is like no other that I have experienced.  We went to preview the course the night before.  My knowledge of geometry came back. The hypotenuse of a triangle is the longest leg–the longest leg of the swimming event triangle was 300 meters long.  I got the swimming picture.  The bike course seemed practical and non-threatening. The map on the web site showed the elevation so I wasn’t worried about that part of the day.  The race course looked pretty reasonable too according to the elevation map.

Rules–oh boy–I did not know there could be so may new rules–swimming–stay to the right of all buoys, keep your swim cap on, wade in to your waist before you start swimming, start taking off your wet suit as you ‘run’ up to the transition area, don’t get on your bike until you pass the transition line, keep 3 bike lengths between you and the next rider, always wear your helmet, if you are passed, drop out of the drafting zone, no drafting. I am quite sure there are rules that I broke and rules that I did not know about.

We arrived at the park over an hour before the start with 100 other women.  As the participants arrived I realized quickly that this was not a St. Joe’s 5K, this was a different group of people.  I wondered what we would do with all that time.  I soon found out that we needed every second.  You have to carefully lay out your equipment so that you can eliminate precious seconds when transitioning for the next event; you have to be marked–they write your race number 4 places on your body, and your age on one calf-thank you.  You have to make sure everything works, make a couple of trips to the bathroom, and get wet before the swim so that you are use to the cold water.  Oy.

Then it happens–first the swim–I was determined to relax and just experience everything.  And I did.  What I did not expect was to swallow so much pollen in the water.  This left me coughing — my arms and legs felt fine, but the coughing in the open lake was not fun.  I hailed the men in the boats several times to let me hold on and cough.  They were always present and became close friends by the time 600 meters was over.

Running (OK, I was walking) up to the transition area, was a good break. I was glad to get the wet suit off and into the comfort of my biking shoes.  I made all the changes without a problem and was off for the bike ride.  Even though I was the last one to leave the transition area–I know I was last because I heard the race officials say, “The last one, number 37, is leaving the transition area.” That was my number.  Well I biked right on up the first hill and passed 5 riders–I needed that little boost.

The transition to running was smooth, I did not experience the brick that I had read about.  Thank goodness.  I moved on out and passed about 10 more people.  After the 2-mile mark April showed up to run with me to the finish.  Now that was a treat–she would not let me walk.  I made it to the end in just over 2 hours.  I know that time because the scores were posted within minutes because of the computer chip around my ankle.  Very public display of progress or lack of progress.  They added in the time it took to transition both times–every second matters.

5.  Attitude Matters: I have no regrets.  I am very glad that I was able to check off another “bucket list” item–I have many more to go.  I registered for this event and for the Iron Girl in June on an impulse – impulse registration.  I treated this first triathlon attempt as just checking it out.  I wanted to know what was involved in completing a triathlon–I had never seen one.  Now I know.  I am going to alter my training (I should say begin my training)–I am scheduled for 2 swimming workouts next week along with 3 days of WoW! Boot Camp and my weekly bike ride.  My time is limited–I cannot spend the time that others might be able to spend.  What time I do have, I will spend training in all 3 sports.  I will continue to listen to others and learn from their experience.  I would encourage anyone who has the slightest interest to just do it (thank you Nike).  If you get in trouble, there is always help nearby.  Most of us can do anything for two hours (in my case 2 hours and 15 minutes).  The opportunity is there if you want it.  Try a Tri.
—
Sherrie Gibney-Sherman

Sherrie wrote this after finishing her first triathlon last year.  She has continued to train & compete diligently ALL year and i’m proud to say we’ll be competing in our 1st Half IRONMAN event in Augusta in 2 short weeks (Sept 27th).  What’s a Half Ironman?  1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike & 13.1 mile run.  We’re on it!!

Below is a picture taken at the Tugaloo Triathlon this past weekend.  We both placed in our respective age groups.  It’s the WoW! Fitness LIFESTYLE…not a Diet!