I finished my first race of the 2005 triathlon season and thought I would give a play by play. Just a taste of what a sprint triathlon is like for me. I had two goals going into the race 1) finish in less than 90 minutes and 2) not make myself sick with a migraine following the race. Last year at the same race I finished at 1:33:32.
6am: Wake up. Dress in sweats with my swim outfit (bikini top and tri-shorts) underneath. Eat some cereal. Grab bag full of gear and bungie cord my bike onto the car.
6:30 Drive to Bonelli park. Drink water to hydrate. Park not too far from race area (thank goodness I remembered to steal some money from Gary's wallet to pay the parking fee).
7am Register. Argue with race volunteer that I do not need to pay the extra "insurance" fee since I signed up online and already did the waver and fee through the internet. Get my racing number - 25 - marked in thick pen on my arms and legs. Find a spot to put my bike and gear. Realize I only have one bicycle glove and run back to the car to find the other in the back seat. Use the potty one last time. Warm up and stretch.
8am Drink some more and grad a mouthfull of gu. Head down the the very cold (~65 degree) water. Splach around nervously until the race starts.
8:45am Swim Start The race starts late - Ugh! It is cold and it starts to drizzle. At the starting gun I cram into the cold lake with about 60 other women in my division. I'm doing pretty good, only bumping into a few people. Looking up alot to see where I"m going. Make the first buoy and pass some of the slower men in the division that started before. Although its cold, but I'm doing okay. Then Wham! ... I slam into something hard. Looking up I see long surf board with one of the lifeguards nearby trying to help some pooped-out swimmer. I swim under the surf board and continue, feeling that I am going at a good pace. Swim Time - 11:00 compared to 8:15 last year
T1 I run up the beach and find by bike. I take a while to towel off and brush the sand off my feet. I probably took too long here. (Next time, I'll try to skip the toweling off and just put socks on sandy feet.) Change into bike shirt , shoes, helmet, and gloves.
Bike Start Feeling pretty good, still a bit cold (and now wet) but I'm sure I'll warm up. Take the tight turn made more difficult by having to go from zooming down the hill, turn sharply, and then start climbing up a steep slope. Drinking gulps of gatorade. Passing slower people. Annoyed that my race number was not attached to my shirt very well and is now flapping around in the wind and making noise. Up another hill.
Got a shock as I passed a down and mangled racer. He apparently had crashed and was now lying twisted and unconcious around his bike. As I whizzed by a park ranger and another racer were crouching over him - one asking "Hey can you hear me? Are you there?" It made me cringe and say a silent thank you that it wasn't me. The second lap around there were two fire engines, several police cars, and an ambulance at the scene.
Towards the end of the second lap my thighs start to ache and my feet feel numb. I regret not wearing a warmer top. Try to finish off my bottle of gatorade before the run. Bike Time 57:50 compared to 59:26 last year.
T2 Get off the bike. Take off helmet, gloves and bike shoes (consider not wearing gloves for shorter races - but then again it was cold and I wouldn't want my hands going numb). Feet are pretty cold and as I shove my feet into my running shoes (new "no tie" laces speed things up).
Run Eventhough I'm slightly worried that I cannot feel certain parts of my feet, I assure myself that my shoes and legs will work even if my feet feel weird. I pass up all the water stations since it would only slow me down and it is still pretty cool weather. Pass a few people on the run. The hills are tough but I manage to run up all of them. As one guy who passes me yells encouragingly "only one mile to go." I joke back "oh no, they make you circle the lake another time." The last few yards on on grass which makes me nervous as I don't want to slip. I cross the finish line - feeling that I hadn't totally drained myself, but still ready to be done. Run time 28:39 compared to last year 26:14.
Overall I did not meet my time goal coming in at 1:37:29. Perhaps the cold and akward transitions slowed me down. But I did not get ill afterwards - which is probably more important. You can compare my recent to last year's results.
This weekend is going to be crazy - I have so many different things planned: athletic, religious, role playing fantastic, and social events. Saturday I will be getting my bike and gear ready for my first triathlon of the season. That evening I'll be heading over to my parents' house for the first night of Passover and our traditional seder dinner. I have to remember to bring over the matzah and special no wheat cookies we got to share with them.
Then, Sunday morning I"ll be up bright at early for a sprint triathlon in San Dimas. I am really excited about the race; I've been training hard and hope my recent cold won't get me down. My goal is to finish under 90 minutes. Then Sunday afternoon it's back home for a session of Dungeons and Dragons. Finally Sunday evening Gary and I plan to go to another Passover seder at family friends.
Hopefully I will survive it all. My main goal is to avoid a migraine on Sunday. After the last triathlon that I did I got really sick (granted it was also a month before my wedding and I was totally stressed out). So if I don't make myself sick, it should be a great weekend.
Sunday Gary took me to see Fever Pitch, a romantic comedy about a competive work-a-holic and an obsessed baseball fan. Although we aren't as extreme as the characters in the move, Gary and I could relate to many of the situations brought up. I was pretty good, not that I'd see it again, but it made a nice date.
I have had a cold for the last few days, nothing I thought was too bad. I could sleep through the night and wasn't sneezing my brains out or anything. But last night it started to hurt when I talked and this morning I woke up with no voice.
It is a strange situation to not be able to talk. I imagine everyone goes through it every now and then. It is hard to appreciate how important speach until it's gone. I guess I just take the gift of vocal communication for granted.
I went to work (because I feel fine, just can't talk) and planned to just do paperwork. But it is frustrating when the phone rings or I find someone I need to call, but it will have to wait. Also, just everyday situations like coworkers saying "Good morning" in the halls , I hope they don't think I'm rude when I don't respond.
Oh, so if you were planning to call me (read Mom), I won't answer, at least for a little while.
Work has been kind of weird. As I have reported in the past, I have been cycling through temporary secretaries for almost a year. Now, since Kaiser has taken away my boss, I'll have temporary supervisors as well. My first two reactions were - first, I hope it wasn't my fault and second, I hope they don't fire me. But my colleagues reassured me that it is just office politics and I should not worry. But like I said, wierd. I am the only permanent person in the genetics office and the others just float in and out.
On the more normal side of life, I a nice relaxing weekend. Played alot of computer games. Taking things a bit easy on the exercise and enjoying the nice weather. Gary and I went swing dancing Saturday in Pasadena. We have danced at parties in last few months, but I don't remember the last time we actually went out just to dance. The band was great and there were some really great dancers. We're going to try to get out there more often.
Have you ever heard the song from Damn Yankees "Six Months out of Every Year?" Well I think I'm going to start singing it.
Baseball season has started again, and if this year is like other years I've experienced living with Gary, means I will be seeing much less of him. Well, I'll see him with my eyes, but I will get less meaningful interaction. With baseball games on most evenings, even if its not his favorite team - the Angels - he's glued to the TV. Also, much of our conversations include some amount of him telling me about the latest baseball news, which sounds mostly like gibberish, so I smile and nod.
Well, its only six months out of every year.