Apparently I Swim Like an Elephant.....

I just don't get it.....    at yesterday's Triangle Triathlon I felt as if I had put in a good strong freestyle;   I thought that I sighted well;  I drafted off a few guys;  I swam close to every buoy and I was pleased with my turns........

.......and yet my time was four minutes slower than last year when I struggled and had to throw in breaststroke!

WTF?    Sometimes triathon is just plain strange........

This Should Be Interesting

Saturday morning will see me competing in the Triangle Triathlon (sprint) organised by Set-Up Events.   I raced it last year and very much enjoyed it - I would be really looking forward to this year's event but for the fact that my training has been so disrupted by travel and illness.   I'm not exactly race ready!......

What can you do but suck it up; get out there; do your best and have fun?  

Despite my poor preparation I still think that I can go under last years time.   It's just a short event:  750M swim (in the hot, green soupy waters of Harris Lake - not too far from the nuclear power station!); 17.5 mile moderately hilly bike ride and 5k run - mostly on trails.

That water's fine I'm sure....    What could possibly go wrong?  :-)

Come on in, the water's fine....

Bloody Typical!

As often seems to be the case, my workouts leading-up to a race (Triangle Triathlon on July 14th) have been disrupted somewhat by work travel, but it seemed this time as if I was getting things back on track a couple of weeks in advance of the big day.  Swims have been pretty good; I feel as if my running legs are back under me and, after a short forced lay-off because of the travel, the bike also feels about back to normal.

I have enjoyed a couple of days at the coast for the July 4th Holiday, with a little extra time to train.  Some nice open water swims; a good long bike session and some runs...  what could possibly go wrong (apart from the ridiculous heat!)?    UGH!   Two evenings ago my throat felt a bit "scratchy" and I was concerned something was up.  Yesterday morning my stomach was a bit upset (but feeling better by lunchtime) and I was coughing slightly.  This morning I woke up completely congested and with nasty sinus discomfort and headache....    the dreaded "summer cold"....   this BLOWS!   Why, oh why, can't I have a "normal" lead-up to a race?

Not much I can do apart from suck it up and try to get better.   I have a long ride with two 10 mile time trials scheduled for today.  Hopefully I'll feel a little better this evening and at least be able to give it a try. 

The Tortoise and the Hare

So, as noted in yesterday's post, I went out this morning for a long ride with The Compass on a typically hot and sticky central NC morning.   In retrospect, taking on a 70 plus mile ride after a relatively inactive couple of weeks might not have been the smartest idea!

We left from the White Oak entrance to the American Tobacco Trail at 06:30 and after about ten miles saw a rabbit on the side of the road and a turtle crossing in the same place.  This immediately brought to mind Aesop's fable "the turtle and the hare".  Unfortunately for me, today The Compass was both Turtle and Hare and showed both endurance and speed while I languished in her wake!



I could certainly feel that I haven't been on the bike for a few weeks!   I managed to just about keep up on flat sections and the steeper gradients, but as soon as there was a long steady uphill stretch The Compass dropped me like a bad first date!   That's what I deserved, I guess, for posting her finish line picture yesterday - I'm pretty sure that she was enjoying herself!  :-)

To make matters worse, The Compass managed to navigate the entire route without a cue sheet (well, almost!) thereby eliminating any small victory I might have been able to claim if she got us lost!   Now I just have to hope that my performance was, at least in part, due to my short lay off and the long days working in Boston this week and not some terrible power outage.

Awesome riding Lindsay - I hope that I didn't slow you down too much!

Back in the Saddle

The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a blur to say the least!   Firstly a weeks vacation with family in New England and then a week in Boston attending our biggest industry tradeshow and conference of the year.  Long days!

The upshot of all of this is that I haven't kept to a normal training schedule and have been pretty "slack" for a couple of weeks.   All I have really managed to fit in over the past two weeks is a few runs, the longest being an eight miler.  I wasn't too worried during the first week (it was vacation after all - everyone deserves a break and we were very active every day) but I'm disappointed that I didn't manage to do more during the second week - it was just too busy and tiring and sleep seemed more important than getting up at 05:00 to squeeze in a workout.

So....    now I'm back and I have to get back at it.  I'm hoping that my fitness hasn't suffered too much, but I think that I'll probably feel it a bit!   The first big test will be tomorrow morning when I'll be literally and figuratively "back in the saddle" on a ride with The Compass.   This will be my first time out for a while with the newly crowned Three Little Pigs Triathlon overall women's champion, so I may have to bow or something when I see her!  This is what a champion looks like crossing the finish line.....

Sorry Linds....    How could I resist?  :-)

It's going to be an early 75-80 mile ride, and it will likely be hard work as the humidity is forecast to be 96% at 07:00.   I'm guessing that after posting the above glamour shot, The Compass will also be trying to pile on the speed to make me suffer!   I'll let you know how it goes.

Designated Open Water Mauler.......

Yeah!   I have finally found something that I'm good at during open water swims!....

Enjoyed a good open water swim training session early this morning with The Puppeteer at Jordan Lake, NC.   Many of the drills we did were aimed at getting everyone comfortable with drafting off other swimmers and, in particular, getting used to being bumped, banged, thumped, swum over, kicked and generally beaten-up duing close quarters racing. 

Drafting at the hip

As this mornings workout featured me and four ladies, I was paired with The Puppeteer on several of the drills, including one where I was to swim as close as possible to her hip.  It's not every day that you get to beat up on (a) a lady or (b) your coach, but how I enjoyed that 100 yards of mayhem as I continually pummeled her with my right arm on every stroke!    :-)    Small victories!    It's actually all great practice and I was accused of being a "mauler" which I believe was meant as a complement (I certainly took it that way).   Less complementary was when The Puppeteer informed the ladies that they would have to get used to being run over and bashed by "Clydesdales" like me.....     I am NOT in the Clydesdale weight division thank you very much!   :-)

There was definitely some close quarters swimming - on one start one poor victim had her goggles ripped off (unfortunately only to sink to the bottom of the lake never to be seen again) and I saw plenty of feet in my face!   Lots of other good drills - fun!

So....   I have no fear of the open water itself (no sea monsters for me!) and I enjoy the heat of the battle and am "Designated Mauler" - not at all worried about getting bumped about.    Now if only I could learn to swim in a straight line and build some more endurance I could do some real damage!

The calm of Jordan Lake this morning.....

....vs. the chaos of a triathlon start!

Milk as a Recovery Drink....

We're supposed to take in protein shortly after any workout of an hour plus, and one of my favorite "Recovery Drinks" is skim milk with malted Ovaltime - yum!

I know that some cyclists are out for hours and hours though....   what to do?

This guy has it covered....      "On The Go Recovery Drink Refils!"   :-)