Almost Autumn

So, the season is over. AGAIN. Maybe I need to live somewhere warmer so triathlon season is longer than two weeks like in MN. Yes, we have 10000 lakes, but we can only swim in them when the ice is melted from July 10th to July 25th. OK. I am exaggerating, but not too much.

I am a list maker. A goal maker. Dream maker. Love taker. Don't you mess around with me. Uh, ok. I have ADD too. That song was just too shiny to not be distracting. Back to the goals. Short term. 1 year. 2 year. 5 year. 10 year. lifetime. Well, on a few of the goal lists, I have triathlon specific goals. And marathon goals. And other life stuff. On my tri goal list is to do sprints in a time, Olympic time, and a half Ironman time. I have not gotten to an Ironman time. Just that I want to do one by the time I am 40. Or when I am 40. Not sure. It is on both lists for now. The lists are always on the chopping block.

This year, I had 5 triathlons to do. And two marathons and a duathlon. I have no interest in the du...and no idea why. With regard to the tri's...I had three sprints and two Olympic distances.

And the results are:

Manitou Triathlon 13th in Age Group out of 38.
Lifetime Fitness Triathlon 9th in Age Group out of 89.
Brewhouse Triathlon 5th in Age Group out of 34. Athena was not an option here.
Square Lake Triathlon 2nd of 25 as Athena.
Championship of the Amateur Triathletes DIDN'T Go due to weather...mostly due to not wanting two year old to be sick because his mom was selfish enough to think he could sit out in the rain for 4 hours while she did a tri.

The average swim was SLOW. I avg'd 18 minutes for 1/2 mile.
The average bike is 19.0. The low was 18.5 and the high was 19.9.
The average run is 8. The fastest was 7:31 and the slowest was 9:08 (in 98 degrees at noon at Lifetime Fitness).

When can we do this again? Oh yeah, in 8 months.

Post 9/11...yes, it is 9/12

This was a good week. Had a nice birthday and am now officially the USAT age for 2006. For those readers who don't know, and I know there are a lot of readers, the USAT rounds up the age to the end of the year age, so as an age grouper you compete as though you are older for the entire year. My hubby surprised me with a night out for eats on my day. I figured we would not have a sitter, so I was really pleasantly surprised. We went to the spot where we met 7 years ago and had two belts and I schooled him in pool, twice. And then we headed to the oh so written about spot, Town Talk Diner. It was good. The idea is cool. Diner with gourmet fried goodies and cocktails. So, we enter and they greet us and happily have us sit at the diner bar. Very friendly, introduced themselves, shook hands, the whole bit. We totally felt welcome. And we had fried pickles (frickles), cheese curds with some herb in them, garlic fries, and a sandwich. My hubster had a pulled pork sammie and I a tempeh sandwich. It was good. They will make it if not for the fried food, the atmosphere and friendliness. The rest of the week is a blur. We were at a 5k run on Friday night. My hubby, CadesDad was going to run it. And we found that they had a kids run prior to it for a 1k dash. I had asked Cade during the day if he wanted to run it. And the rest of the afternoon, he ran around saying 'runnin' racin', so I knew we had to go. It was cold out and windy. He was a great sport and certainly was the youngest dude out there running. He managed to be a good competitor meanwhile he was very environmentally friendly by hugging two trees and checking out two trash cans to make sure they worked while running the 1k. He was also astonished by the crowd clapping as he ran back in and he stopped to clap with them, not knowing they were clapping for him. Smile.

On Saturday a.m., my lovely sis offered to stay home with Cade, so Brian and I could do the tri thing together...meaning, I was competing and my spousal unit was supporting me on this particular day. So, off we went. I estimated our drive to be 40 minutes and it was closer to an hour. Needless to say, I was frazzled by the time I got there. Bri ran to fill up my foot washing tub and I got my tires aired up and got all ready....too fast for me. I like to figure out the transitions etc. and take a big breather and go from there. The weather was still cold like on Friday night. The water was 12 degrees warmer than the air. I think the water was 70. So, neither were warm. The swim was brutal. I am not sure why. I felt like I kept pulling and just going along, but I was fatigued and my time was slow. I entered the race as an Athena (women who weigh over 145lbs) and in the results, I was 8 minutes behind the first gal in my division. I had some ground to make up. So, I rock and rolled out of the transition, determined to have a better ride. It was really cold on the bike though. And in typical fashion, I didn't have any other clothing to put on, so I rode in my tri suit without sleeves. I was determined to just give it my all but to still try and go easy enough to have some legs left for the run. I have managed to get better throughout my four years of racing in triathlon and as I have, more and more, I am only in the company of men on the course. And this day was no different. However, there were some really fast men on the course and I continuously was passed causing me to think I was really putzing along so I worked harder. I got off the bike at 19.8. Again, not in the 20.x+ that I long for. Perhaps, I should train, like CadesDad says. So, maybe that is what he is not aware of my doing at 4 and 5 am. :) I was happy with my pace. I got off the bike and had totally numb feet. I got out of T2 right behind the same two guys that I followed into T2, so I knew we were fast (about a minute) and I was just determined to give it my all and be able to hold it. We rounded the corner out of the park and onto a gravel road and a long long hill. I just kept plugging away. It was not my best run either, but in my own defense, I have not been running any distances to speak of. Mostly, I have been doing more speed work. So, I just went out and managed what I could. I was 45 seconds per mile slower than on a sprint length. It is ok though. So, without having trained for an Olympic distance, I am happy overall. It was a tough race for me mentally, but partly due to the distance being a tad longer and partly because fall is upon us and I feel like laying under a blanket with a bowl of macaroni and cheese. Very much a bear.

Results rolled in and I was 1 minute behind my counter Athena. It said I was second. Or really it said 2/3. So, I was the first loser of three as I see it. Ok, not really, I was trying to be funny, but that never works online. But when the end was totally in, there were 16 of us, or at least 16 that were able to admit they are over 145lbs. So, I left with some bling. And naturally, I lorded this over my hubby all weekend, oh wait, I am still wearing it. Or maybe he is. I dunno.

Spent the rest of the time with Sis and Cade and CadesDad. It was wonderful just hanging out.

Onto next weekend and the Championship Sprint Tri...Best of the Amateurs. I am very excited. That is the name of the race. I am not one of them....yet.

Me Again

I cannot believe it. I enjoyed blogging so much the other day and felt like Carrie Bradshaw. I wear more comfortable shoes than she, however. I cannot say my fashion sense is any better though.
The tri season is over. And I am trying to figure out what I can train for. MUST train. MUST have something to strive toward. Just being is not enough to occupy my mind. In fact, I already feel like I am in syrup or molasses or something that is really slowing me down. A good new goal will give that some lift.
I still need to blog on the last tri 10 days ago. It was an Olympic distance in Stillwater MN.

Drivin n Cryin

I have some time today to read as Cade is sleeping and CadesDad is with the hounds at the dog park, actually, he is running at the off leash dog park with them. That way, he can run and not pop his knees (or shoulders) out of their sockets being pulled by two 85lb dogs.

Back to reading...I was reading Triathlete magazine and there is an article about the Tour de France (obviously, I am also behind in my reading as well as my writing). And the article spoke of not liking Floyd Landis' coach, Ventura, due to his being too prep school happy and sugar coatish about Floyd's being driven as the reason he was able to come back from a terrible prior stage to win the next day's stage. So, the article continues on to talk about Lance's upbringing and perhaps the subsequent influence on developing drive in a young person when faced with difficulty at a young age.

And I wonder if this is the way it is. Do coddled individuals ever become athletes? Or at least great ones? I suppose it is true, but we just do not hear of their upbringing as a contributing factor. Who knows? What drives the athlete?

I question this because in my profile, I write that I am driven but to what or from what or why, I do not know. It has always just been this way. In school, had to be first, had to be all A's, had to prove over and over. To whom? Me, I guess. At the Brewhouse Tri in Duluth, a group from UMD was taking a survey about a triathlete's drive and compiling the results to try and determine some basis of analyzing the athlete who competes. What makes an individual want to compete as opposed to just 'stay fit'? I know this is different as we age. With that in mind, what is the basis in a personality that makes, and I am going to say a woman for the sake of this blog, want to continue to compete and not simply go to the class at the gym to stave off cellulite? Where is that coming from? I, for one, would never so much as break a sweat if only for the 'diet' or 'fat control' aspect of it. I say women because as a whole, fewer women tend to stay competitive or even active as they age. More men have team hockey or some other sport than women. More women will fade from competition and games and go toward exercise for 'being fit'. I am the odd woman out in this aspect. There are a few of us, but we are not the majority.

As a reader of the classics, I have often found characters that have similar personalites....in one of my favs, Travels with Charley (John Steinbeck), there is this passage right at the beginning where he says “… For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I’ve lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as punishment. I did not want to surrender fierceness for a small gain in yardage.”

This sums up my own personal take on my drive. Nothing is middle of the road. Perhaps, things would be more stable and more secure if that were the case. And there would be a small gain in yardage. But what else would be lost?

Gotta go...I hear Cade.

August? What?

Hmmm, well, I blog as well as I kept a diary as a kid. I had friends that always said they 'diaried' each night. I was probably out running around until I dropped into bed...and my choice was to bury inside a good story and read, not write. So, here I am...gung ho in May with 4 updates...one in June....one in July. So, I settled on once a month for a blog update. And I look down today at the calendar and realize it is September. How does that happen?

August was a busy month. A good month, a good busy. Weather was hot hot hot, until the last week. We did the Brewhouse Tri in Duluth on the 6th, and also did a series of 5k's due to a comment among friends at a 'fun run' in July about wanting to increase the 5k time. So, we signed up for a race each Saturday. I am really much more of a triathlete. The swim is just OK. I was better last year. A toddler has made swimming laps difficult. So, we end up playing on the edge of the pool, lake, whatever more than swimming. And the bike is always the same, whether I bike a lot or a little, I stay between 19.0 and 19.9 mph. Not sure how to get over that threshold. How do people get faster when they have to abide by traffic laws? I just get on a good pace and am really starting to work and I have to slow for a stop light/sign/car. Maybe, I have to drive to the boonies to ride on a highway with tractors? But, there again is the time constraint. I typically ride at 5-5:30 and am home by 6:30, so CadesDad can get a sticker for being the first to arrive at work all week. OK, I know he is my main reader, so I am only kidding. Sort of. :) That is one of my questions about training effectively for tri's. I used to have difficulty with transitioning from the bike to the run. Now, I push a smaller gear and up the rpm and get off on totally fresh legs, not tired at all. It works for me. So, do you train in a big gear? I am reading/hearing that fixed gear riding is such great training due to the amt of work the legs do in a shorter time frame. That seems to make sense, but is it practical for a brick?

Now that this is my big blog day, I will be totally ADD in my subject matter and cover anything that I have thought of in the last 45 days. The flurry of 5K's was good. Each of us improved. There were 5 runners to start. And 4 by the second race, 3 + a new person by the fourth, and 3 by the last. So, with the core three, there was definitely an increase in time. I am not sure if the actual racing was the contributing factor or if it was the weather (the last race was flat and cool) so I know that is why I was faster. I started in the back of the pack with the joggers on the last one and finished as the 5th woman...granted the 5k was a small one. There were more than 5 woman though. I think there were 6. CadesDad didn't finish faster in this one, but he still had a good time (fun and clock) as he was pushing Cade in the jogger. Hence, that is why I started with the jogger strollers.

Now, we are back into September and I am usually depressed and anxiety ridden of the impending darkness of winter. The cold is not that great either, but the darkness really takes its' toll on me. HOWEVER, I have found two more triathlons to do and keep the dream alive that summer is still here. So, I am signed up to do the Square Lake tri in Stillwater on the 9th. It is the shorter of two courses, but it is still just shy of an Olympic length course, so not really short, per se. And yesterday, I got an email for a Champs of the Amateur Triathlete triathlon in Excelsior on the 16th. It is a .5 swim, 15 mi bike, and 3mi run. Gotta do it. I love that distance. YAHOO!

One last thought then I better go as the tot is yelling and the muffins are almost done this morning...so, I have two odd things that have often happened throughout my life. One is that a series of numbers keep appearing. That is another subject for another day. But, secondly, have you ever had a 'run in' with an individual over and over but they don't know you and you them. For instance, I know a certain triathlete only because she beats me by about 30 seconds in each race she is in...and subsequently, I had to know what this person looks like, so if I see her on the course, I am going to get her. Well, I am typically ahead of her in the swim, transition1, bike, transition2, and then she cruises on the run and beats me. I am not slow, but I am not swift either. This girl will get out of the t2 and hit the road running 6:30 miles....she can get 3-4 minutes on me by the time we are done, and I lose my lead. So, I have obviously obsessed about this and wished I was able to cruise at 6:30's for a few miles. And so, I was inquiring with another friend, non triathlete, for a doctor referral, and sure enough, she emails me this woman's name. I asked her if she was tall and thin and in her early 30's. She is. I told her she is my secret archnemesis, but probably does not know it. I know that I typically do not know the names of the folks who finish behind me in a tri, but only those ahead of me. So, if she does the same, she does not know me. BUT, I know her. Perhaps, I will end up going to her and have a Dr. that I also am out to get....only on the course. Of course.

Phew. September. It is hear. Are we supposed to be thrilled to wear sweaters and pick apples? And take Sunday drives to see the leaves? Sounds fine for a few hours, but then I want the green back and short sleeves and racing season.