Off To The Lake

I wouldn't go so far as to call it a vacation, when what it truly was, was a respite from the heat. Several weeks of 90-105 degree heat has everything, from our lawns to our nerves, quite crispy.

Before we left, I got to enjoy the Washington State Cycling Time Trial Championships, which were being held on the road in front of my RV Park. How convenient! So, at 9am, I set up my lawn chair in a little spot of shade out on the front sidewalk, and proceeded to watch 4 hours of fast cyclists and some of the sweetest time trial bikes you ever wanted to see. Actually, for me, it was more about the bikes than about the racers... but someone's got to ride 'em, heh?

The start line was set up in the bike lane right across the street. They sent riders off at one minute intervals, starting with the Juniors at 9am and ending with the Cat. 1 riders somewhere around 12:45pm. The road they were riding on is a State highway, with a fairly decent shoulder and just a couple of hills. The Juniors raced for 20k and the Cat. 1-4 riders all went 40k, ending at the finish line just a few feet down the road from my chair.

A couple of interesting things that I noted: I saw only a couple of aero bottles. Many of the cyclists wore Camel Back type hydration packs under their jerseys. They had the mouth piece rigged up so it was right in front of their mouth. I thought it was an efficient way to hydrate in a TT situation. (Especially since it was over 100 degrees by the time the last racers took off! Poor guys!) I also gained some amount of satisfaction watching the state's hardcore cyclists assume the aero position. Forgive me for generalizing, but at least in this neck of the woods, roadies are not especially fond of triathletes. I don't quite understand it all, since we are all on two wheels, but the term 'elitist' comes to mind.

With riders going off every minute, it was a flurry of activity. The park across the road was the staging area, with a constant ebb and flow of cars and bikes. At some points, with all the riders warming up on their trainers, it looked like a scene out of the local health spa... just with more of a au' naturel park setting.

Priest Lake, Idaho


The bike race was fun, but it was time to get out of this heat for a while. We had heard that Beaver Creek Campground was nice, so we headed to northern Idaho to check it out.

The campground was situated in a thick grove of ancient cedar trees, and was at least 15 degrees cooler than back home. Once we got parked and situated in our site, I did some exploring and found the main beach for the campground. It was a beautiful sandy beach with a nice swim area. Although, it was quite a hike from our camp site. A little more exploration found a trail nearer to our site down to a different beach... a totally empty beach! Granted, it had pebbles and not sand, but we had the whole place to ourselves!


Each afternoon, during the heat of the day, Urs and I would head down to our private beach, splash around and cool off. The sun had passed over just enough to shade the beach, but leave the water sunny and warm.

It would have been a perfect place to get some open water swimming under my belt. The beaches were located in a large, shallow bay, with minimal boat traffic. But, I had come to play, not work, so we splashed, bobbed and enjoyed.

Whenever we travel in the motor home, I always bring my mountain bike. I use it mostly as a form of transportation, but I'm always on the lookout for a trail waiting to be ridden. As it turns out, my Mountain Biking Idaho book lists The Lakeshore Trail as the authors favorite MB ride in the state. The trail just happens to start at our campground! Sweet! Also starting at the campground, is the equally awesome Navigation Trail.

Now, there is one very important factor to take into consideration when riding these trails. This is bear country! Grizzly bear and black bears. When I asked the campground host if bears had been sighted on the trails, he said he hadn't heard of any. In fact, there hadn't been a bear in the campground for almost a week! Oh great. That didn't have me feeling very confident!

I have a reason for being somewhat apprehensive of meeting a bear face to face... you see, I've got some experience in doing just that. A couple of years ago, while were staying in a campground in Glacier National Park, I was standing on the bank of a small creek, when I hear a rustling of the bushes from the other side and BANG! Suddenly from out of the thicket, directly across the stream from me, comes the front half of a extra large Grizzly bear! It didn't help matters that I had just finished reading the novel Night Of The Grizzlies, a true story about two women who were killed by two different bears on the same night in two totally separate incidents... in that very park! So, I did exactly what you're NOT suppose to do... I ran!

All turned out ok, because as you can tell, I'm still here, but I hope to not have that close of an encounter with Ursus Horribilis ever again.

While I had no desire to meet up with Mr. Bear, or any other creature of the forest that might view me as a mid-day snack, my apprehension wasn't enough to keep me off one of the best trails in Idaho.

Mountain biking was my first love, although I rarely go alone since I have a tendency to get a little crazy on the trail. Some friends took me on a bike ride several years ago on The Route Of The Hiawatha, an all downhill dirt rail trail consisting of numerous tunnels and trestles. That was the beginning. I bought my first road bike to stay in shape for mountain biking. Little did I know that the speed of the road would overtake my love of the dirt.

These trails were awesome! They were smooth, soft and fast! They mainly consisted of gradual ups and downs and lots of sections of extremely fun whoop-dee-doos. There were only occasional hazards such as water bars, plank bridges over boggy areas, roots and rocks. The pictures definitely don't do it justice.

I have to admit, even with my bike decked out in bear bells, (I must have sounded like Santa and his reindeer coming through the forest) since I was alone, I was afraid to get too deep into the woods. Each day I rode 3-4 miles down one of the trails and felt like I had best be turning around for home.

Next time, I'll try to get someone to ride with me. As long as I'm not the slowest rider, I've got no worries!

Fixed Gear Fun

The instructor at my last bike skills clinic said that we should all strive to become accomplished cyclists. I wonder if this is what she meant?

www.www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=18648
(Give the video a sec. It looks like it is a broken link, but just takes a minute to load.)

It's Hawt!!

I know... it's hot everywhere this week. I really feel for the people racing in this heat. Isn't Ironman Lake Placid this Sunday? I'm sending good wishes to all those IM folks and hope they stay cool and safe!

That reminds me! I think Badwater is this weekend also! For those of you who have never heard of this Ultra-distance suffer-fest, this is a 135 mile run through Death Valley, dealing with temperatures up to 125 degrees!! The run starts at 280 feet below sea level and ends at the top of Mount Whitney, Ca. at a height of 8360'. It is the most grueling running race on the planet! If you haven't seen it, check out the documentary Running On The Sun. These people are amazing! (Now I feel guilty for complaining about 82 degrees!)

Here in the Pacific Northwest, our temperatures are 20 degrees above normal. Ouch! I am basically a lazy athlete. Actually, there is no basically about it! My favorite time to exercise tends to be about 9am, after sleeping in in the morning and about 4-5pm, before I eat dinner. The challenge is that these times of the day are pretty darn warm. Instead of adjusting my workout to earlier or later, I've tended to let them slip. I know, I'm bad. But, after all, I only have one more triathlon this summer, (Aug. 5th) and that's it. As temperatures cool down in the fall, I'm hoping to pick up the distances of my running in preparation for the Spokane Half Marathon in October. (October! Oh my... it sounds SOOO COOL!) :)

I did a quick trail run this morning. Was shooting for 4 miles, but quit after 2.2 when I ran out of water. While the temperature was only 83, the sun was torturous! Every time I'd break out of the shade into sunny spot, I felt like my skin was frying! Hot, hot, hot!

The purpose of today's run wasn't distance, it was to test out my leg. I've had some pain in my leg since my race last Sunday. It has been an odd pain, which comes and goes, sometimes around and behind my kneecap and sometimes my shin. The worst pain was in my ankle. Oddly enough, my ankle would be feeling just fine and then I would feel the pain starting to build over the course of about 5 seconds until it became excruciating! Then after about 5 more seconds, it would fade away and be gone! Weird, huh? Feel free to tell me what you all think, but I'm thinking it sounds more like inflammation issues vs an actual injury. So, I did a quick run today on a soft surface. We'll see how it feels over the next couple of days.

On Monday, Urs and I are headed out to a campground at a lake for a few days. We just bought a larger RV, so this will be our shake down cruise.


Here is a photo of our new baby. We needed something a little bigger than our last rig that we could live in for extended periods. We had been shopping for this particular motorhome for well over a year, thinking that we would have to fly to Phoenix to get a good deal on one. Lo and behold, we found this one 30 miles down the road! It's a 1998, a couple years older than we wanted, but the mileage (32k) was right as was the price. It's got a big 'slide out' on the drivers side that makes the inside feel like a mansion! I'm going to feel like I'm in the lap of luxury!


This will be Urs and I this next week at Priest Lake in northern Idaho. While I have high hopes of getting in a couple runs and mountain bike rides, the exercise will be punctuated by long stretches of slothfulness. As I've admitted, something I'm becoming quite adept at.

Speaking of mountain biking, not far from our campground is the trailhead for one of the most scenic mountain bike trails in northern Idaho. Photo's to follow.

Tomorrow, the Washington State Cycling Time Trials start and end on the street in front of the RV park. I plan on sitting in my lawn chair out on the sidewalk and watching the show. Expecting to see some serious bike porn! Nice of them to bring a cycling race right to my house! Very convenient!

Hope everyone is staying cool! It's suppose to be 102-104 for the next 5 days here! WOW-ZER!

Top 50 Signs You're A Triathlete

Thought I'd share this just in case someone hasn't seen it. Always gives me a chuckle.


Here are the top 50 signs you're a triathlete:

50. You are over 30 and there is still someone in your life that you refer to as "coach."

49. Your last bike cost more than your first car.

48. You have peed outdoors more times in the last year than you did in your first year of university.

47. You think of mowing the lawn as a form of cross-training.

46. You've worn a heart-rate monitor to bed.

45. And it wasn't when you were sleeping.

44. You refer to the front hall of your house as the "transition area."

43. When you get home from a training session at the pool, the newspaper is just being delivered to your house.

42. You have changed more flat tires this year than light bulbs.

41. The most frequently used software program on your computer is the one that keeps track of your workouts.

40. You have no idea why they called Cal Ripken Jr. "Iron Man" when, after all, he was a baseball player.

39. The first three items on your grocery list are Gatorade, power bars and gels.

38. When you floss at night, it's to get the bugs out of your teeth.

37. Your legs move in a cycling motion while you are asleep.

36. When you see a drop of blood, your first reaction is that you spilled some red Gatorade.

35. You know how far you biked and ran last year, to one-tenth of a kilometre.

34. You think the ultimate form of wallpaper is about 64 racing bibs.

33. A 19-year-old kid who works in a bicycle shop knows more about you than your next-door neighbour.

32. Your children are more likely to recognize you if you put on a bicycle helmet.

31. You have a vanity licence plate with the word "Kona" in it.

30. About half the shirts you own have at least a dozen logos on the back of them.

29. You don't find the word "fartlek" in the least bit amusing.

28. When you refer to your "partner," you mean neither your spouse nor the co-owner of your business but the person you run or bike with three times a week.

27. You shave your legs more often than your wife.

26. The closest you came to punching somebody was when they disagreed with your position on whether wearing a wetsuit amounts to cheating.

25. It doesn't feel right that you can't "clip" in and out of the pedals in your car.

24. There is a group of people in your life about whom you are more likely to know how fast they can swim 100 metres than their surnames or occupations.

23. Some of the shorts you wear today are tighter than the ones you wore in high school.

22. You are frustrated with the latest Garmin Forerunner because its live readings have a margin of error of approximately three per cent.

21. There's a separate load of laundry every week that is just your workout clothes.

20. One of your goals this year is to be faster at getting out of your wetsuit.

19. You failed high school chemistry but you could teach a course on lactic acid.

18. All you want for Christmas is something called a carbon crank set.

17. You wore a digital watch to your wedding.

16. You have to have completely separate meals from your spouse because he or she is on a low-carb diet.

15. Your bicycle is in your living room.

14. You have stocked up on a brand of cereal because it has a coupon that will save you money on your next two pairs of running shoes.

13. In order to establish a new personal best, you considered peeing without getting off your bike.

12. One of your proudest moments is when you lost a toenail.

11. When a car follows too closely behind you, you accuse the driver of "drafting."

10. When you went for a job interview, you wrote your social insurance number on your arm in black marker.

9. Your spouse cried during Terms of Endearment; you cried during the television coverage of the Hawaii Ironman.

8. You're comfortable discussing the sensitivity of your nipples with other guys.

7. Your spouse is looking forward to the day when you will slow down and just run marathons.

6. You have paused in front of the mirror in your wetsuit and thought, "Hey, I look like Spiderman."

5. You see no issue with talking about treatments for chafing or saddle rash at the dinner table.

4. You recently asked your spouse out for dinner by asking if he or she wanted to "fuel up" together.

3. For you, "bonking" no longer has a sexual connotation.

2. The magazine secretly tucked under your mattress has pictures of really expensive bicycles in it.

And the No. 1 sign you're a triathlete:

1. Most of this list doesn't seem like a joke to you.

Joke? What joke? :)

Valley Girl Triathlon

This was the race I had been waiting for, my 'A' race... the one I had been looking forward to all year. While Valley Girl doesn't sound like a very tough race, only in it's 3rd year, it is already the largest and best run sprint distance in the area. While there are numerous first time triathletes at this women's only event, it becomes apparent, based on the number of Cervelos in the bike racks, that all the local tri divas have turned out.

Saturday, the day before, started off somewhat stressfully. As I started to get my gear together, I pulled out my bike to clean the chain. As I spun the pedals, at the same point in each revolution, I could feel the bearings in the bottom bracket seizing and grinding while they emitted a loud squeak! Oh NO! Why Now??? I quickly called the little bicycle/band instrument sales store down and street (I know, what do ya do?) to see if he could squeeze me in on short notice to look at my bike. He took in my bike, but when I went to pick it up at the end of the day, he told me that he had been too busy to really work on it. AARRRGGGG! I took it for a ride when I got it home, and sometime during that process, I either pulverized the offending bearing or forced everything back into place, because the pedal resistance and squeak disappeared. Thank Goodness!

Race Day! Being the ever diligent, rule abiding Virgo that I am, I followed the instructions outlined in the race packet to the letter! Although, it did occur to me that a 6-7:30 bike check in would leave a lot of slack time prior to the 9am race start. None the less, I arrived at the parking area at 7am and proceeded to ride the 3/4 mile down to the transition area. I discovered that I had forgotten the sponge that goes in the top of my aero bottle that prevents the fluid from splashing out. Fortunately, I had prepared and brought my Gu2o sports drink in bike bottles, so I just used the cages on my bike. Quick change of plans... disappointing, but no biggie.

Off I went to the transition area. I think I had my bike racked, got body marked and had my timing chip all before 7:30. The race started at 9am and my wave wasn't due to go off until 9:15. What's a person to do for over an hour and a half? Once again, I was amazed at how friendly my fellow triathletes were. Hopefully, there are two new triathletes in the world that feel the same way because of me. My bike was racked right between them, and as I returned from body marking to set up my transition area, I heard one of them say, "I have no idea what I'm doing. We can just watch everyone else and see what they do." This was my opening to introduce myself and teach them how to set up their transition area. I must have endeared myself to them because later on, one of them called me over so she could get her picture taken with me. HaHa! I thought it was very cute.

The water temperature was a balmy 72 degrees, and wetsuits were optional. I did several short warm up laps in the swimming area, and decided to go without my wetsuit since the temperature felt quite pleasant. I met and chatted with numerous ladies as they tested out the water. Everyone was talkative and happy, although somewhat apprehensive about the 500 meter swim that lay before them.

From shore, the furthest buoy looked a LONG ways out there! The course appeared to be a rectangle with a point on the end. From the swim start, we would swim straight out with the very large green buoys on our left. After the last green buoy was a little yellow buoy (Waaaay out there) that we had to round and then swim back down another set of large green buoys to the swim exit. What made the swim look so long was that darn little yellow buoy. What we couldn't tell from shore was that the buoy was not small because it was way the heck out there, but because it was Actually a SMALL buoy!! Duh!

With about a half hour until the first swim wave took off, I was running out of things to do and people to talk to. I figured I would just chill out and relax, so I sat down right at the edge of the water and kicked back. I probably sat there for 20 minutes. The water lapping up over my legs, sun on my shoulders... watching the activity of the swim and transition areas. I could have stayed there all day. It was very enjoyable and relaxing. But, next came the pre-race meeting and then everyone started lining up for their swim waves. At the last minute, after the first wave of swimmers had already started, I decided to wear my wetsuit. I had gotten a little chilled sitting in the water, and was now wanting the warmth of the suit, so on it went.

The swim waves were divided by age group, each wave having a different colored cap and starting 5 minutes apart. I was in the fourth wave, yellow caps, which consisted of the 40-49 year olds. It was a lot of fun watching the three waves go before me, and being able to watch the leaders exit the water and run into transition. But soon enough, it was my turn.

I think my favorite part of the race is the swim start. After all the training, the waiting and the build up... the gun goes off and it all culminates into this grand finale. I think what is even better than the moment I cross the finish line is the feeling I get running into the water, feeling the resistance on my legs, then diving and feeling the cool fluid rush past my body.

Triathlon has brought out the competitive spirit in me. And yes, I always want to do well, and finish strong. I think one of the reasons the swim start is my favorite part of the race, while it sounds a little cliché, is that starting the race is a much larger challenge than finishing it. There are so many people who will never have the courage or ability to experience this sport we do... and I used to be one of them. I feel very proud and a great sense of accomplishment toeing the waters edge with other triathletes.

So... the gun goes off and my wave of yellow caps hits the water! The first 50 meters, I swim pretty hard to get out in front and avoid being overtaken. I can sense that there is someone right to my left, another swimmer maybe 20 feet to my right and one drafting right off my heels. By 100 meters, the swimmer to my right starts to angle in towards me, so I intentionally angle a little towards her with the intent of drafting behind her. It works perfectly! I swam the next 100 meters first drafting off her hip, then off her feet.

As I rounded the last green buoy on the swim out and sighted on the yellow buoy, I realized that the yellow buoy wasn't further out in the lake, as it had looked like from shore. The swim was 200m out, 100m across, and 200m back in. It made me feel pretty good to know that the swim was shorter than it appear and I was already half done!

When I rounded the last corner to start the swim back to shore, I came up on two yellow caps swimming side by side, so I double drafted behind them for a while. It was very helpful that the different swim waves were in different colored caps. Since I had caught up to the back of the wave in front of me, it was obvious that I should stay away from the green caps and go after the yellow caps. While swimming through the maze of green caps, I had lost track of the two women I had been drafting off of. At about 100 meters out, I caught sight of one veering way off course to the right. This was my chance to pass her... and I did!

I feel really good about my swim. I have come so far and improved so much in the last couple of months, it just amazes me! I felt great the whole swim, heart rate under control, and alligator eyes keeping me right on course! I've still got lots of room for improvement, I'm actually surprised that my time wasn't a little faster, but I exited the water in second place in my age group!

T1 seemed a little slow, but I was only about 15 seconds slower than the fastest in my age group, so that's ok. Had I not worn the wetsuit, I could have been a little faster in transition, but possibly slower in the water. Give and take.

Off onto the bike. The course started with what looked like a pretty serious 3 block assent, but as it often happens to me, once I am actually peddling up the hill, it's not nearly as bad as I had thought it would be. I had my bike in a really easy gear... up and over and onto the course! The course had lots of corners and three turn-arounds, which I hated because I felt like I lost a lot of time braking around these points. I sprinted out of the slowest areas to try and make up time. While I past numerous people on the bike, some obviously past me, and I fell back to 5th place in my age group..

T2 was pretty fast and I gained an age group spot.

Off onto the run. Just before the first mile, someone ran up pretty fast and past me. I looked at her left calf and saw 41 written there. Hey! Whatcha know? She's the same age I am! WHAT? Oh crap! She just blew by me and she's in me age group!! I sped up and jumped on her heels. When we hit the water station at mile 1, she stopped to drink. What? She's stopping? Well, that means I can't! I grabbed two cups of water... one for over my head and one to drink, and just kept plugging along. It didn't do much good. Within a quarter mile, she had caught back up with me and past me again. I paced off of her for another quarter mile until I succumbed to the side cramp that I had gotten and stopped to walk. What? Walk? What the hell are you doing?? Get your ass moving! You are tougher than this! I walked for maybe 10 seconds, but in that time, Miss 41 had pulled a good 25 yards ahead of me... and that's the last I saw of her. In the end, she ran almost a minute faster pace per mile than I did, could, or ever have. So, it was inevitable. Maybe next year!


So here are the final stats:

Swim 500m: 13:37
T1: 2:14
Bike 12 mi: 36:35 (19.7 Ave. mph) (This seems faster than I felt like I went)
T2: 1:17
Run 3mi: 26:22 (8:47 pace)
Total: 1:20:07

I missed my time goal by about 5 minutes, but finished 5th out of 48 in my age group, which I'm very happy about. Overall: 54th out of 478.

The remainder of the morning was very nice. I met up with my two new swim buddies, one of whom took first place in her 55-59 age group! She was pleasantly surprised! We hung out, ate free Mexican food and chatted. Ursula's brother was there playing in the band, so he cheered for me when I was called up to get my little 5th place ribbon. (Yea! Awards 5 deep!) :)

I had a surprise waiting for me in my email box when I arrived home. I had been emailing with a local guy who had his Garmin listed for sale on a local tri site. He happened to be at the race taking pictures, and when he heard my name called at the finish line, he started snapping photos. Since we have never met, he was hoping he was taking pictures of the right person! He then emailed them to me and they were waiting for me to view when I got home! What a nice surprise!! The photo I posted is one that he sent me.


Here is a wonderful photo I swiped from one of the race photographers sites. He didn't get a picture of me on swim, bike or run, so I've decide to claim this one. It's better than any pose I could have mustered! Doesn't it just remind you of how you felt after your first open water swim? Love it!

This was the last race I had committed to for the summer. In August, there is another sprint at the lake not far from my house. Since all my new tri friends are doing this one, I'd also like to do it. The week after is the Coeur d' Alene olympic distance race. While I'd like to get an olympic distance race under my belt, I've heard that the bike course for this race is very difficult, and since I've spent almost no time doing bike training this summer, I'm feeling somewhat hesitant about signing up for it. Time will tell.

So... another race is in the books, and it was a goodie! The live band, the good food, latté stand, excellent and numerous volunteers, makes this a must do race next year!

Another One In The Books

Just a quick post to update everyone. Yes, 2006 Valley Girl Triathlon is in the books. It was an exceptional, well run event, with tons of volunteers.

My goal was 1:15.

Unofficial time: 1:20, which netted me a 5th place age group finish.

I had a really nice day and am pleased with my results. Full race report to follow in the next day or two.

Ready To Go

My homework is completed, to the best of my ability. Valley Girl Triathlon is Sunday, and I'm ready to go. I drove the bike course yesterday, and then ran the run course. Today I did a 12 mile bike ride followed by a 1.7 mile brick run. I may go for a slow run tomorrow morning, but that will be it until race day.

I'm really glad I was able to inspect the course prior to the race. I think it's very important to know what to expect around each turn. I had a couple concerns about the bike course. Right out of T1, the course goes up a 4-6% grade that is about 3 blocks long. There is no time to get any speed up, so it'll be a hard grind from a dead stop, up the hill with rubber swimming legs. Just looking at it caused my heart rate to hit the roof! It looked so steep, I just had to go back and measure the incline with the Garmin.

The bike course returns down this hill, and since the transition area is right at the bottom, it will be very important to control my speed for safety, but not lose too much time with the brakes on. The bike course is somewhat technical in that there are lots of corners and turn arounds. I think it will be important to take advantage of the straight aways and try not to lose too much time through the corners.

When I initially drove the run course, I thought the whole thing was up hill! Once I actually laced up the old running shoes, I discovered that only the second half of the run was up hill! It's a pretty mild incline, so I'll just need to shorten my stride and power through it.

Prior to looking at the course, I had assessed the distances (1/3 mi. swim, 11.5 mi. bike and 3 mi. run) and the finishing times of last year, and thought I stood a decent chance to meet my goal of finishing in the top 5 in my age group, with a time of less than 1:15. After seeing the course, I was having some doubts. After doing some calculations, I realized that last years top finishers had a average bike speed of 20mph and run pace of 8 minute miles. My average speed is about 18mph with 8:45 minute miles if I'm really, really lucky!

It's going to come down to not wasting any time in the transitions, pushing hard through the bike and hoping that none of those fast old ladies catch me on the run! I've noticed that a lot of the ladies took 3-4 minutes in T1. I'm hoping that if the rest of my race goes right, the 2 or 3 minutes I can save in transition could make all the difference. Maybe not enough, but we shall see. I'll give it my all and see how it goes.

Ironman Fans

For fans of Ironman, the website www.ultrasport.tv is showing the hour long film 140.6 until July 23rd, 2006. Click on the orange Launch Player button.

I watched it this evening... and of course, several sections got me all choked up. Man, I love this sport!

Alligator Eyes

Saturday started with another AWESOME open water swim! Each time I get into the open water, something clicks, and I make some huge progression in my swimming skills. From the gal that brought us Gorilla Arms, huge thanks again go out to JC, for blogging about Alligator Eyes.
Alligator Eyes was her descriptive term of how to sight when swimming in open water. This is a skill that I really needed to perfect since I tend to pull to the right. If I didn't sight often, I'd probably swim in circles! I used to lift my head clear out of the water, which was very disruptive to my stroke and breathing. Usually on my first look, I wasn't able to clearly focus on the buoy, so I'd have to do several more strokes with my head out of the water, often at the expense of my heart rate.

I am a very visual person, so with the reptilian term in my head, I was easily able to perform the skill. I immediately thought, ahhh... this is how it's suppose to feel!

The skill is pretty easy to do. After taking a breath to the side, instead of turning your head so you are looking at the bottom of the lake, turn your head so you are looking forward. The key is to not lift your head out of the water. Your eyes are above the surface of the water and your mouth below, just as though you were going to blow bubbles in the water. Exhale your breath while looking forward. You can easily swim several strokes this way, or if you want to breath again, turn your head back to the side breathing position and take a breath. Either resume your normal breathing or look forward again. Because you don't have to struggle to lift your head out of the water, your breathing, stroke and heart rate shouldn't be effected.

I've got a race this next weekend, so I'm really looking forward to putting all my new skills to use.

I also wanted to tell you all about a great new place I discovered to run. It's so strange how something can be right in front of my nose, but I'm so focused on the old routine and established habits that I've got blinders on!

Right behind my property is an old abandoned railway access road. It's smooth dirt single and double track, punctuated by deep ruts where ingrates have tried to drive in during the mud of spring. I used to ride my mountain bike on it, and I steer campers with bikes back there for nice little spot to ride. But, I had never run on it until the other night.

A little further out away from my property is another access road that has been graded and graveled. This one is much flatter and easier to run on. The only times I have ever ventured "out the back way" with my running shoes on, I have run on the graveled road... and only for the purpose of following it to asphalt.

That was my intent last week. I ran out the back way to avoid going through the crowded rv park and found that the graveled road I would normally use grown knee high with dead grass and weeds. So I back tracked back to the old dirt road, to find trail running nirvana. Ok, so it wasn't nirvana, but it was pretty darn nice.

I ran out along the 3/4 mile long trail with the intent on hitting the pavement at the end and finishing my run on the road. By the time I got to the end, I was having such a nice run, I thought I'd better turn around and do it again. In the end, I found that 3 out and backs equal exactly 5 miles. (I love my GPS!)

The nice thing about this little route is that running on dirt is easier on the knees than running on hard surfaces. I think I'll continue to do my longer runs (5 miles or more) on the trail. The other great benefit, now that it is so dang hot, is that back in the trees is a lot cooler place to run than out on the street.

It was a productive weekend. Tomorrow morning I'm going to drive out to the site of next weekends race and check out the bike and run course. Will post details!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Scootathlon

If you need a smile, watch this video. A triathlete in the making!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNn5vtiX6oY

Driven

What drives me to do this crazy thing I do?
The question has been posed... by myself, as often as by others.

On the surface, it is a swim, a bike and a run... but each athlete has their own story, often making the race much more than a physical pursuit.

Sometimes we need to push ourselves to test our mettle. The pain and discomfort proves to us how alive we are... and how mortal. I think if it didn't hurt, the victory would be lessened.

Part of the prize is in not giving up... on yourself or your goal. It isn't about crossing the finish line, it's what happens before the finish line that is important. The journey, the ability, the gratitude.

Some days are hard, and others are harder... but had we wanted easy, we would have stayed home on the couch. The gift is when it all comes together, and for a brief moment in time, that at which we toil, becomes effortless.

To say I am a triathlete, only scratches the surface of what I've really become. Only those that share the title can understand the path to deserving it.

Some would say I should be satisfied to have achieved more than I ever thought possible... but I remain driven, because so much lies ahead.

Being A Fish

So ok, the water was a little choppy... but we got through it alright. HA! You couldn't get me out in that!!

This incredible photo is courtesy of TriBoomer. He said it was his worst swim ever! No kidding! I came across it on his blog and just had to share it with you all. (With permission, of course!) Can you believe it??? Never again will I complain about waves or choppy water!

I actually did get in a 4th of July open water swim, a very flat one! I met two new friends, Anita and her boyfriend, Charles. Anita responded to an email I sent out to the bike club looking for swimming partners. Since this would be Anita's first open water swim, Charles came along in a canoe for support.

We met at Medical Lake, the same location as my last two tris. Remember my post about the Trailblazer Triathlon which turned out to be an Ironman warm-up? Well, as it turns out, Anita was at Trailblazer cheering on Charles who, yes indeed, was warming up to complete Ironman Coeur d' Alene the next weekend! He finished Trailblazer in something like :57 minutes!!! That's rocking!! Despite having an asthma attack during the bike leg, he completed Ironman in something like 12 hours! (Sorry Charles, I don't remember your exact time, but it was very impressive!)

The swim was to serve several purposes. Anita had rented a wetsuit and wanted to try it out before Valley Girl Triathlon, which is in a couple of weeks. And... she needed to get her first open water swim under her belt. My goal was to just get into the water and maintain the comfort level I've worked so hard to create over the past several weeks.

We paddled around a little bit and Anita tried swimming both with the wetsuit and without. She liked the safe feeling the wetsuit gave her but it felt uncomfortable around her neck and arms. I think she is going to find a sleeveless to try out next time. I've been really happy with my sleeveless QR and have always been perfectly warm, plus, it allows totally free arm movement.

Anita was using the day as a full triathlon trial run, complete with transitions, bike ride and run. I wimped out and didn't bring my bike since I knew the temperatures would be in the 90's by the time we got done swimming. All worked out just fine. Anita took off on her bike leg and Charles and I got back into the lake for another swim.

He pointed out a dock across the lake that he said was about a half mile away, and off we went. The swim out felt pretty good. I started off drafting off of him, but couldn't keep up. I tried to practice my sighting and focused on not pulling to the right. We probably swam 2/3 of the way to the dock before Charles thought we'd better turn around to go meet Anita.

The swim back was glorious! I focused on my stroke and controlling my breathing. It seems that once my breathing and heartrate is under control, there is very little that my physical body can't do. I swam the whole distance without stopping, just stroking, breathing, sighting... totally comfortable in the water.

I have to wonder if the previous swim had a positive effect on my performance. I've never been one to warm up before a race. When I was less fit, I thought I'd be wasting energy that I would need during the race. I'm discovering that if you get your heart rate up prior to the race, ie: warm up, your heart rate doesn't spike as high when you start the actual race. This allows you to produce a more consistent effort sooner. Hmmm.

It just amazes me how far I've come. Just a few short weeks ago, I was afraid to get into the lake, and now I wish I could swim in the lake every day! I am still apprehensive about swimming alone, so hopefully I'll be able to swim with others a couple more times before my next triathlon.

Swim on little fishes!

Look At Her Go!

I've spent considerable hours searching for the key to running fast. I've scoured the internet, searched the message boards, absorbed books and listened to podcasts. In the end, I remained a plodder.

I wasn't always a plodder. Just over a year ago, I would have said, "Hello, my name is Barb, and I am a... heal striker!!" Yes! And I am ashamed to admit it! But, I saw the errors of my ways (literally, in a race photo) and learned to shorten my stride and land somewhere between the flat and the ball of my foot.

I learned to plod along in an effort to reduce the pounding on my knees and hopefully run more efficiently. My goal was never to run fast... my goal was to just run, happy with 12 minute miles on a treadmill. That was fine last year when running my very first mile was still recently fresh, and the urge to kick back and light up a Marlboro still crept into my head now and then. But now... Now I have completed 4 triathlons and a half marathon, and I'm really thinking it's time to learn how to do this running thing better.

I've heard time and time again that the key to running fast is using a short stride with high turn-over. 180 steps per minute is suppose to be the optimum cadence. I have no problem maintaining this on a bike, but darn if I can do it with my feet. I know this is where Speedwork comes into the picture, training the muscles and acclimating the legs to a faster speed. Ah yes... how often it is that when we want something, we aren't willing to pay the price to obtain it.

I know all about speedwork. I know how difficult and painful it can be and I know how easy it is to become injured while doing it. While many triathletes, just by their nature, have a superhuman athletic drive, I will probably always remain a fair weather sportster, willing to endure only moderate amounts of pain, in the most comfortable of settings, in pursuit of my perfection.

I've always thought that knowing my pace as I ran would be helpful. That way I could push myself to go a little faster each time, and have an alarm sound when I was lagging behind. Since I have a birthday coming up, (don't we Always have a birthday coming up?) I used that as an excuse to buy a used Garmin 201 off a buddy from Triscoop.com. I love it!

So... here is the first thing my new GPS tool told me. Well, it actually confirmed something I already knew but hated to admit... my 5k pace (9:45mi) was identical to my half marathon pace. HA! What's wrong with THAT picture??? Plod, plod, plod...

Then the other day I was listening to an old Phedippidations podcast and the host, Steve Runner, said something no one else ever has... "the key to speed ISN'T turnover, it's stride LENGTH!" What? How can that be? That is totally opposite everything else I've heard or read over the past year! But you know what? It is sure easy enough to try, especially now that I have my little Garmin baby to give me instant feed back and gratification.

Since I've learned what it feels like to land mid foot, a small lengthening of my stride, didn't change my foot strike. That is good. This is better! Here is what has changed:

Previous 3 mile pace: 9:45 average

New 3 mile pace: 8:56 average
Mile 1: 8:48
Mile 2: 9:23 (shortened stride to rest a bit)
Mile 3: 8:35!

Wow! I knocked almost 3 minutes off my 5k time! I've always felt that 5k was a short enough distance that I should feel like I am sprinting, albeit a slow sprint, the whole distance. I have that feeling now. I think I've moved from a jogging stride where I basically shuffled my feet along the ground, to a running stride where I have some short leg extension and a heal kick.

I'm looking forward to continuing to practice this. I think I need to go out slower and speed up each mile with a sprint at the end, just like a race scenario.

Hope everyone has an outstanding holiday weekend! Happy Independence Day!