Race report and slaying the dragon.

Me and Mom

I never did do a race report for my March 24th Olympic Distance triathlon in Clermont, so here it is:
Woke up at 1am the night before the race with stomach pains/cramps.  Brian had gotten what we thought was food poisoning but was likely something else that he passed on to me.  Though I did not suffer as badly, it still really sucked.  The middle of the night pain was not unbearable and never resulted in any bathroom emergencies (TMI? sorry) but I could not get back to sleep.  My anxiety was tough to control knowing I had to get up at 4:30.  I started singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall but kept getting distracted (well, bored) and thinking of other things.  I remember getting to 71, and I might have fallen back asleep right before the alarm went off (I hate that!).  Cancelling the tri was not an option, but as the stomach pains continued and I worried about eating--I didn't feel like eating but knew I needed to fuel up.  By the time the race started the pain had subsided--whether it was from the Pepto or the adrenaline or the attempt to ignore the pain, who knows.

The swim was horrible.  I truly hated every second of it, which made me sad because I was so looking forward to liking the swim this time!  It had nothing to do with technique and everything to do with the conditions. Cold water, wetsuit that was a little too snug, strong wind and current, low lighting (cloudy) made it difficult to see the buoys.  An all-around mess.  On a good note, I did not get overly tired on the swim from the actual swimming part, just the swallowing-water-and-struggling-to-stay-on-course part.  I went through a lot of negative self talk on that swim, which of course didn't help.  I was so happy when it was over.

Transition was not as quick as usual, notwithstanding getting the wetsuit off (I had help from a "stripper"), but I was slower than usual compared to others.  I made a conscious effort to drink frequently and eat (1 gel) on the bike since I know I will have to do that for the IM.  It was SO windy, yet I felt like I was doing okay.  I passed so many people, only 4 or 5 men passed me, no women passed me on the bike.  But the wind took its toll and I did not have a very good average.  The last few miles were flat but the headwind felt like a brick wall.

The run started out okay, my legs felt fine, but my stomach was not happy.  I tried a lot of positive self talk, telling myself just to focus on quick feet, a quick turnover, but I still couldn't get my speed up to where I wanted it.

In the end, I was disappointed overall, but I got over that quickly because I know I gave it all I had.  I did have a lot of doubts crop up in the form of "If I am struggling at this distance, how am I ever going to complete an Ironman?"  Every time that popped in my head (which was often during the last 2 miles of the run), I pushed it out and reminded myself how much more time I have for training and I'm not supposed to be ready for the IM yet.

So here I am in week 10 of my training...week 10!  I can't believe it!  It is significant because my training plan is broken into three 10-week sections, each with a different goal.  So I have almost made it through a third of my training, the Base Phase!  I must admit that I skipped my first training session this past weekend.  I was supposed to do a 75 minute run on Sunday, and I slept in, which felt great!  So then I planned to run later, no problem...but the day progressed and I just didn't make it happen.  I thought about making it up on Monday, my rest day, but then decided not to.  And I am absolutely fine with that.  So in total, for 9 weeks of training, I missed 1 run and 3 strength training sessions.  Since the strength training are "extra" I don't really count those as a missed workout.  I'd say that's pretty good!

As I enter the second phase of training, the Build Phase, I must admit I'm a little nervous.  As I was writing out my calendar for the next 10 weeks, I realized that the time investment does increase quite a bit.  A third swim per week is "officially" added, but I was already doing three swims, so that's no big deal.  But the weekends now have two sessions per day, a bike and a run on both days.  Sometimes this is in the form of a brick/transition workout with the run immediately following the bike, but others will be two-a-days, meaning I'll have to fit in a morning and evening workout, usually on Sundays.  That's going to be tough.  Two other challenges in this section (at least that I've identified so far)--a half ironman distance event this month, which I'm not prepared for, and a vacation at the end of May.  For the HIM race, I am fully going into it as a training exercise, testing nutrition and not worrying too much about performance.  Of course I will try my best, but I won't push it so hard that I'll need two weeks for recovery.  As for vacation, we're heading to San Francisco for 5 days (well 4, really, because the 5th day consists of travel all day).  It will be no problem to get runs in, but I won't be taking my bike, and although there are some masters swim class options, I doubt I'll be able to fit them into the schedule.  Plus I'll be eating a lot of yummy, non-paleo stuff!  I'll get plenty of exercise because we'll be renting bikes for a day and walking everywhere, but it's not triathlon training.  I will try not to worry too much about that, but I know it will cause some anxiety.

Speaking of yummy, non-paleo stuff...I regretfully have been eating too much of it lately.  I am still having trouble getting back on track with my eating.  Last week the evil stomach plague from hell stayed with us through Friday in the form of major intestinal cramping every time we ate something.  It was awful!  I hadn't gone to the grocery store due to being sick, I still got my workouts in but often with uncharacteristic heartburn throughout, and at night ate for convenience and comfort rather than fuel.

This week I am back on track.  I went shopping and cooked my healthy food for the week.  Everyday I am still battling the Overeating Dragon, trying to push back against wanting to continuously stuff my face.  Surrounding myself with healthy foods helps, as does the disappearance of the evil stomach plague from hell. I've decided that April is going to be a fantastic month!!