Beaver Freezer 2018

It's been awhile since I've done a post.  It's been a busy few months.  I've been working through the affects of Seasonal Affective Disorder and am feeling better.  Not 100% but definitely not as bad as it was in January so that is a blessing for sure.  Last month I had the joy of getting shingles.  Ugh!!!  Talk about painful.  It was on my chest and shoulder, right where my bra strap sits.  I was a wee bit miserable.  I managed to work for a week and a half before I finally said screw it and took time off.  Luckily it was almost Spring Break so I took two days off of work and then got a week to try and rest and hope it went away quickly.  The rash is almost gone and I'm not as in much pain as I was but there is still discomfort.  The discomfort is tolerable in comparison to how it was.

Somehow I was able to do most of my workouts in spite of the shingles.  Although, usually the best part of the workout was finishing and being able to take my shirt and sports bra off.  So I was proud of myself for at least being able to keep moving even though sometimes it wasn't pretty.

Suddenly it's April and time for the first Triathlon of the season.  I wasn't able to do this race last year because of some heart issues.  Thankfully the issues have been resolved so it was just a small blip in the large scheme of things.  But I was sure disappointed to not be able to do the Beaver Freezer last year.

This year, in spite of the S.A.D. and the shingles I was able to participate in the race that was my first triathlon.  Well, not totally my first.  I had done the Last Chance Triathlon before I did the Beaver Freezer.  But this was the first where I was training and working towards a goal, not just gutting it out to see if I could finish. lol  So I think of it as my first serious triathlon.

I have been having some pretty good workouts the last few weeks, in spite of the shingles.  This week I have been struggling with a runny nose and a harder time breathing so I think the allergies are starting to kick in.

The weather report for the event was less than promising!  There was a high wind warning in affect for the area starting Saturday morning.

That adds a certain amount of anxiety to race preparation.  I already get nervous the day or two before a race, this just made it worse.

I went to Corvallis on Friday to pick up my race bag and my shirt.  Then I spent Friday evening getting all my stuff put together and organized.  That part seems to be a little easier.  I know what I like to have and where I need to have it.  Didn't keep me from double and triple checking to make sure I had everything I needed.

My name is the last name on the Z and ends on the E.  lol

I woke up around 4:00 a.m. and needed to pee.  I couldn't get back to sleep because I could hear the rain falling.  It was a lot of rain!  I had worn my Oregon Dunes Triathlon the evening before in order to remind myself that I had successfully completed a triathlon in yucky conditions last year.

I had to keep reminding myself of that.

Repeatedly.

I was glad when it was time to head load up and head to Corvallis.

It had stopped raining by the time I went to load up the bike and it was breezy but not too bad....yet.

Joe worked Friday and got off of work at 7:00 a.m.  So he was waiting for me in the parking lot at Reser Stadium.  He helped me carry my stuff to transition which was very appreciated since I had the bike, my backpack and my helmet.  I could do it all by myself but it is nice to have a handsome sherpa along to help me out.  ;-)

When we got to transition there were only two people at that particular entrance doing body markings.  So Joe asked one of the guys that he knows, Taz, if they needed help.  Taz was very glad to have another person helping out, so Joe handed me my stuff and I headed down to find my spot to rack my bike and start getting set up.

It wasn't too long before I saw my friend and teammate Rebecca.  Then I saw another teammate, Cathy.  These two ladies are amazing!  I have appreciated getting to know them better over the last year!

Cathy, me and Rebecca!  💜  Those are some seriously awesome smiles!!

I finished getting my things organized and had a little snack.  Suddenly it was time to head to the pool.  I had decided to have my towel and hat outside the pool this time.  Last time I had my running shoes and socks and put them on there but since I am now using clip in shoes for the bike that wouldn't have been a good idea.  We have a bit of a run to get from the building where our pool was to the transition area.  Small problem though, the door I went out to put my towel down locked behind me so I had to trot around the entire building to get to the door that I could go in and back down to the pool.  lol  Nice little warm up, in bare feet!

We got all lined up for our swim start.  I ended up with two other young ladies and we had fun chit chatting as we waited for our turn to start.  I always love the fun of meeting new people and getting to encourage other people.

I could see Joe and Jon up in the viewing area taking pictures.

Overall the swim went pretty well.  Had a few small issues.  My watch has a triathlon setting but since I only really do one triathlon a year with a pool swim I forget that it's set for an open water swim.  I also lost count of my laps.  Good thing there was a person counting for me!  The other thing that was a bit of an issue was my tri shorts.  While I haven't lost any weight for a long time it seems things have been changing in my body.  My shorts kept sliding down. lol  They have before in pool swims but usually stop at my hips and it's fine.  This time I could tell they were getting down to my butt cracky.  Nobody wants to see that!  So a couple of times when I got to the wall I had to reach down and give my shorts a yank up. 😁

Annoying, a little embarrassing, and yet I'm a little pleased to have that kind of problem.  Reminds me that not everything in being healthy is about the scale.

My swim time on my watch was 11:33.  Not too shabby.  Not as good as I've been doing in the pool but considering the allergy issues I've had this week I'll take it.  😀

I tried to get out on the wall but this pool has a stupid high wall with a ledge and it was really slippery.  I gave it one shot and decided to use the ladder since I was only one lane over.  Less stress in the long run.

The timing mat for the swim isn't until we get outside of the building.  I grabbed my hat and put it on and then my towel and took off for transition.  I was drying myself off and trotting along and there was a very tall OSU student sitting on a bench between Dixon and Goss Stadium and he looked at me like I was crazy. lol  Yep, pretty much!

My watch said this was almost a 1/4 mile.  

I got to transition and put on my shoes and socks, arm sleeves, coat, gloves, sunglasses and helmet and took off.  Joe was right there cheering me on.

As I moved through the transition area I got a big smile and a fist bump from my good friend Chad.  Always fun to see him at events!  (Can't wait to cheer him on at Ironman Canada this summer!)

Got to the bike mounting line and off I went.  The bike felt really good.  I think if there hadn't been so much wind I would have been even faster but I still was faster than I was in 2016 so I'll take it.  There was a couple of times where we were biking right into the wind.  On the way back from the 2nd turnaround the bigger wind gusts started catching my bike.  Whoa!  That is a weird feeling to have the bike wobble all over because the wind is having it's way with me.  You could hear multiple riders all go "Whoa!" when it would happen. Pretty funny.

Not only did I have a solid ride but it was my first race where I had on clip on shoes.  I managed to not fall down at the dismount area.  Which was good since I had a dream that I did just that the night before.  😉

Coach got this one of me finishing the bike ride.  I'm very visible in my jacket.  😉 (And check out those calf muscles!)

I headed back to my spot in transition to get ready for the run.  I wasn't moving very fast.  It takes a bit to get the legs going again and it's a little hard to run fast in clip on shoes.  While I was moving I unzipped my coat because I knew I wouldn't wear it on the run and I took off my gloves.  A few less things once I parked my bike.  When I got to my spot the lady next to me had her bike all the way over so there was no room for mine.  I seem to have the worst luck with that.  Seems like most of my races I have to fuss with moving someones bike or stuff out of the way.  The owner of the bike was standing there so I asked if it was hers and if I could move it, then I didn't wait for an answer and just moved it.  lol

From the dismount line to the start of the run, aka T2

I think I had a pretty decent transition time considering this was the first time I had to change shoes from bike shoes to running shoes.  Changed shoes, helmet off, coat off, grab race belt with bib on it and water bottle and go.

Overall the run went really well.  I went back and looked at my 5k times for all the sprint triathlons I have done the last two years.  This was my fastest other than the first Beaver Freezer.  Considering heart rate issues and figuring out fueling that wouldn't upset my stomach I'm okay with that.  While it wasn't my fastest 5k in a triathlon it was my second fastest.  Not too shabby.

I had kept my arm sleeves on but it was just warm enough for me that they were making me hot.  So I stripped them off and hoped that Joe would be at the top of the hill for me to throw them to him.  He was and I did. 😉

I felt pretty solid.  Not as fast as I had been in training runs but definitely felt better than I had at some of my tri's last summer during the run.  And it still wasn't raining!!  Although when we got to the bottom of the hill and had to run along 15th street heading south there was definitely a lot of wind there!!

Heading up the hill.

One more lap to go!

And done!  

Official finish time was 1:52:19.  That was an improvement of 2 minutes and 16 seconds from my race in 2016.

At first I had mixed emotions.  I knew that I had done better than the first time but I had been hoping to get under 1:50 so I was a little disappointed about that.  But at the same time I knew I had gotten a PR so that was super cool.  Proud and disappointed all at the same time.  Weird I know but I'm weird like that.

Looking at the numbers, my swim was faster, my transitions were faster and my bike was faster.  My run was a little slower than 2016 but it was still an average pace faster than any triathlon I did last year so that works for me!

Because they start the slower swimmers first and then the faster people later it makes for a lot of people of all different paces finishing at the same time.  I started about an hour earlier than most of my teammates so I finished but didn't have to wait long to see them going by on the run.  Loved being able to cheer some pretty cool people to the finish line.

Smiling before the race, still smiling after.  I think these two ladies are pretty badass! ❤

There was a little problem with the race results.  This is part of the reason for the delay in my race report.  The race organizers had given us the option of not doing the bike ride because of the windy conditions.  This would make the race an aquathon. When the race results showed up they showed all races as aquathons.  So my bike ride and my run were combined.  It looked like it took me an hour and thirty minutes to run 3.1 miles. lol  That's a wee bit slow, even for me.  😜

Today when I started looking at my race results for all my sprint distance triathlons I realized something else, this was my fastest sprint distance triathlon time overall.

That helped put things in perspective.

I did my best time overall in a sprint triathlon with super windy conditions during the bike ride that I know made my time slower than it would have been on a normal day.

I'm going to keep focusing on the fact that I feel stronger and faster in my workouts.

A couple of years ago, when I started getting serious about triathlons, I looked at the races I had signed up for and thought, "What the hell was I thinking!!!???"

Now I look at the races I have signed up for and I am ready to see how I can do.  How I can improve? And if I don't improve, figure out what to do next time to overcome whatever obstacles got in my way.

Thank you to my husband for coming and supporting me in my race.  I loved seeing him all along they way and loved all the pictures he took.  I couldn't ask for a better partner in all our adventures.

Thank you to my awesome coach, Jon Booth (Pure Endurance).  I appreciate his ability to push me out of my comfort zone to do things I'm pretty sure I can't, while also respecting that life throws curve balls that get in the way of training.

Also, my amazing daughter Bri, who spent all fall giving me swim lessons twice a week.  There has been some serious improvements in my swim the last few months and I know it's from all the lessons with Bri!!!  She is an amazing swim coach!!  (I'm not just saying that because she's my daughter! Seriously, she is a really good teacher.  I'm a wee bit proud of her.)

I'm really excited to see what the rest of the season brings.  I have three races that I have done twice before and I have added a new one.  I switching out my sprint in June for an Olympic distance at Pacific Crest at Sunriver at the end of June.  Little nervous and a lot excited about that race so that will be fun.  😝

I have 9 weeks of school left.  Lots to do at work, lots of training to be done.  It's going to be a busy few months!!









  

Beaver Freezer 2017

The first triathlon of 2017 has come and gone.  Lots of fun things to celebrate about this race.  A few things that didn't turn out quite like I had planned.

Out of the group that all works with my coach, aka the Booth Bunch, my husband Joe, Marcus, Ron, Mike, James and Jon's wife Janelle were all participating.  As well as our good friend Chad.  Quite a crew!

The weather wasn't terrible.  Not as awesome as last year but it wasn't super cold and dumping down rain.  It sprinkled a bit at the beginning so there were wet roads but overall not too bad.

Jon & Logan talking with Janelle before she started her swim.

Janelle was the first to swim.  She had been a little nervous about the swim but looked really good in the pool.  She did a good job of not going out too fast and getting out of breath (the way I did last year!)  It didn't take too long and she was out of the pool and heading to transition.

Love this picture!  Jon cheering and Janelle with a big smile! 😀

At this point I had to leave for a little while but I was able to make it back in time to see the guys start coming in from their bike ride.  I didn't get pictures of all of them but a few of them.  I missed seeing Janelle finish, which was a bummer but she said she had fun and felt like she did well.

Joe had a great ride.

Joe had a speedy transition and was quickly heading out to run.  

Next to come in was Marcus.

Looking good Marcus!

Melissa and Kirsten cheering Marcus as he starts the run.

I always love hanging out with Melissa at events.  We spend a lot of time laughing and talking!

Jon and I stayed and watched for Ron and Mike to finish the bike.  Almost all of the team was wearing Pure Endurance triathlon kits.  We got them last fall and they look great.  At one point I looked at Jon and asked him, "How does it feel to see Pure Endurance kits coming down the hill?"  He gave me a big smile and said it felt pretty good.  😃

Once everyone had finished the bike ride we walked over to watch them do the run.  The run is three loops around the Oregon State University campus.  

All the guys looked good on the run and finished strong.  

Joe running well.

Mike letting us know he hears us cheering for him. 

Joe coming into the finish. 

The athletes with their awesome coach (and coach's helper, Logan)

All of the participants looked like they had a lot of fun and they all did really well.  It was fun to be able to cheer them and encourage them along the way.  

However,  I was supposed to be participating too.  That part was hard.  Really hard.  I was so looking forward to doing the Beaver Freezer again and this time not being so scared.  

My swimming has been getting stronger, which is where I really struggled last year.  My biking and running are also faster.  I was really excited to see how I could do compared to last year.  

Last month I started taking a number of supplements to help with my new diagnosis of insulin resistance and hoping that it would help with my tired issues.  About two weeks in I lost a filling in a back tooth and ended up having it pulled.  

About a week later I was going on a bike ride and it was awful.  My heart rate was really high, I could feel my heart pounding out of my chest, I was sweating like crazy and I felt queasy.  So I didn't go for the longer ride I was supposed to but headed back towards home.  I had to go really slow in order to keep the heart rate from being out of control.

The next day I had to do a 30 minute run and was supposed to do a 11:20 pace.  I did pretty good for the first mile and then everything fell apart again.  My heart rate was over 190 and I felt terrible.  I started walking and my heart rate wouldn't come down.  Probably got all worked up about it which didn't help.  

Talked to my specialist and he had me stop taking the supplements that have methyl in them.  The methylfolate and the B12-Methyl.  He's pretty sure that I am having a reaction to the methyl in the supplements.  Doesn't happen often but it does happen in rare instances.  Leave it to me to be the rare case.  My journey never goes in a straight line.  😜

This past week it was a little bit better.  The bike ride the heart rate didn't get completely out of control, although I was being very careful and not going as fast as I usually would/could.  It spiked during my run again but when I walked it came back down pretty quickly so that was progress.  

Monday I happened to be in to see my regular doctor about a sleep study I had done a couple of months ago and I mentioned that I had a call into the specialist to ask if any of the supplements could be causing the problem.  Dr. David was not happy about the heart rate issue.  He decides I need an EKG for some baseline data and then he wants me to wear a heart rate monitor for two weeks.  I'm not supposed to get it wet or too sweaty because then it will fall off.  I tell him that I have a race on Saturday and ask if I can still do the race and then put the monitor on. He decides that will probably be okay if I have someone who can be keeping an eye on me in case something goes wrong or that I will stop if things start getting really wonky.  I said that I would do that and volunteered my coach to keep an eye on me.  

I had a bike ride that went well but my run on Wednesday was not good.  I was supposed to do 1/2 mile intervals on the track at a 10:30-10:45 pace.  I ended up only doing 1/4 mile intervals because each time my heart rate got over 190.  A couple of times it got over 200.  Didn't think it was a good idea to keep pushing it for another lap when it got that high.  Ugh.  

Thursday I got to go for a short bike ride with the Booth Bunch.  We met at Jon's house so we could ride, practice transitioning to running and do a short run.  Then we got to stay and have grubbing dinner.  Jon talked with the group about fitness and fatigue and why we taper before a race.  It was cool to see a graph that showed what he was talking about.  I love looking at data and seeing how it all connects.  That is one of the fun parts of having a Garmin tracking my workouts.  I like looking at the information and being able to compare it to other workouts.  

When we were getting ready to go Jon asked me to hang for a minute.  I knew we were going to talk about how my heart rate issue was going and about the Beaver Freezer race on Saturday.  And I knew what the result was probably going to need to be.  

I had run for only five minutes after my practice transition and my heart rate had gotten up to 185 in the first couple of minutes.   That's not good.  

Originally I had thought that I could kick ass on the swim portion of the Beaver Freezer, cruise through the bike part without pushing it too much and then walk/run the 5k and just enjoy the day.  I could be happy with that because I wanted two things out of this event.  First, I wanted to do well with the swim portion because last year I had some struggles.  Second, I wanted to go into this event and not be scared.  Last year I was so scared and nervous.  I wanted to just have fun and I figured I could do that even if I could go all out and get a PR.  

But they had to change the bike route a little.  The added a little steep hill about halfway through.  A totally doable hill.  We went and drove it and I have done hills that steep.  But the problem is that when you have to crank up a steep hill your heart rate goes up quite a bit for a while.  I was worried that it would get up in the 190+ range going up that hill and then it wouldn't come down like it should.  If I got dizzy or wonky coming down the hill that could be bad. 

So I have a heart that is beating faster than it should during runs and on certain bike rides.  It hasn't improved significantly in two weeks.  My doctor is concerned and reluctantly has okayed the Beaver Freezer.  And now there is a hill that will add to the concerns.  

I knew what Jon was going to say.  I knew he was going to be right.  Didn't mean it wasn't hard.  As much as I wanted to be in the Beaver Freezer I am not a stupid lady.  I have to take care of myself and make sure I don't do something that will damage me in the long run.  So with a lot of tears on my part we made the decision for me to not participate in the Beaver Freezer.  

Now here's the thing about my coach.  He knew this was going to be hard.  As we discussed it and I cried he was so very kind and understanding but let me know he was concerned.  Then he told me that I could blame him.  Tell people that he wouldn't let me race.  lol  Whatever.  He sent me this text later that evening.  

Here's what I had to say to him.

I have a very good coach and an even better friend.  

I then drove to my husband's work.  He opened the door for me, took one look at my face and put me in the office and shut the door.  He knows me so well and he knew I was a very unhappy camper.  He let me cry as I told him and just listened.  Agreed that we had made the right decision and basically loved and supported me.  He does that exceptionally well.

So Saturday when I had to leave the race it was to go over to my doctor's office to have the heart rate monitor attached.  I am glad I don't have to do the one that has all the wires and a box to have on my belt the whole time.  This one is basically just taped to my chest.  

Could be worse.  

Now I tend to worry and think way too much about things that could be bad or could be nothing.  I think about all the worst case scenarios.  It takes a few days for me to process and kind of find my footing.  Pull my big girl panties and deal with the unknown.  My poor husband has to deal with my while I work through my process.  One of the blessings of being married to my best friend for so long is that he knows my process and gives me time to go through it.  And if I'm wallowing a little too long then he gives me a shake and tells me to get moving forward.  I love this man so much!

Joe getting ready to race.  If I can't race at least I can support my favorite athlete!! 💜💜

So I have a heart rate monitor on for about a week.  I have stop taking some of the supplements and we are hoping that is what is causing the problem.  

In the meantime, I am still biking and running.  I will adjust workouts if things get wonky but at least I can keep moving!  Hard to believe that the thought of NOT being able to work out makes me crazy.  It wasn't that long ago that the thought of HAVING to workout made me crazy.  I like that working out is part of me and my life now and that I can't imagine not doing it.  

I'll be praying for answers and that the doctors don't find anything other than a reaction to the supplements, that there won't be anything else for them to find.  

Next race is the Oregon Dunes triathlon in May.  I'm going to plan like I'm racing, prepare as best I can and be hopeful that everything will be good and settle down.

In the meantime, I was able to cheer on my team at the Beaver Freezer.  Which was a total blast.  Love getting to workout with these people and love seeing them get stronger and reach goals.  

The Booth Bunch!  Good looking group!

Looking forward to more adventures, whether they are the way I had planned or not. 

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Beaver Not So Freezer

Turned out to be an amazing spring day in Oregon.  I have been to the Beaver Freezer as a spectator a bunch of times to watch my husband or other friends.  It's always freezing or raining, or both.

Not this year!  Blue sky.  Hardly any wind.  Absolutely gorgeous!

After I got off work I did a 10 minute bike ride around the neighborhood.  Practiced starting and stopping, you know, just to make sure I won't fall down.  Then I did a quick five minute run up and down my street.

Joe had to work on Friday so I went with my daughter and picked up my packet and my shirts.  Yep, I got two.  One is a short sleeved Beaver Orange shirt and the other one is a long sleeved hot pink one. :-) I figured I had earned them.  Then we went to the local bike shop and picked up a race belt and a nice timing chip strap.

When I got home I started getting my stuff together. One pile for the swim, one pile for the bike and one pile for the run.  Most of the stuff was the same for the bike and the run which made it easier.  Then I had to clean out my workout backpack so that it only had the stuff I needed for the race.  I made sure that my water bottles were all filled and ready to go on my bike. I had my helmet and gloves set out.  Then I got my race packet.  I put the number on my bike and helmet and got my bib put on my race belt.  I put the timing chip on the strap that I had bought.  I was already happy that I decided to buy that, the strap that came in the race packet looked like it would be very itchy and would rub.  I felt pretty set.  Nervous but as ready as I could be.

The nice part to being married to a guy who does lots of triathlons is that I help him get organized a lot of the time.  So I was pretty comfortable about knowing what I needed and what would work for most of the day.

I got tri shorts last week because I didn't want to wear a swim suit and wear it the whole time or take the time to change out of it.  I decided to just wear my sports bra as my top.  I tried it out at the pool earlier in the week and it worked pretty well.  I was very self-conscious about having everything hanging out but I decided not to worry about it and focus on what I wanted to do in order to make the race work for me.

I went to bed around 10:00 p.m. but had a hard time falling asleep.  I think I finally fell asleep before 11:00 p.m.  I needed to be up by 5:30 so I could get breakfast eaten and then do all my last minute getting ready things.  My eyes opened at 4:00 a.m. and I could not get back to sleep.  So I finally gave up and got out of bed.

Breakfast.
Last check of my gear.
Get dressed.
Put bike on the rack on the car.
Load up the car.
Head out to Corvallis.

Oh crap.  Here we go.

I was supposed to meet Joe at the Reser Stadium parking lot at 7:15 a.m.  When I pulled in I could see his truck was already there. He wasn't so I figured he was picking up his packet since I hadn't been able to get it for him the knight before.  I was supposed to take a short spin on the bike and then make sure the gears were set so that I would be ready for the hill that is right at the start at the bike ride.  So I rode around the stadium.  Joe pulled up on his bike. He had gone down and gotten his packet and gotten his numbers put on his legs and arm already.

Sunrise from Reser Stadium

Getting ready to go check in.  

We finished getting things organized and then walked our bikes down to the transition area.  I got my numbers drawn on my legs and arm and my hand.

Lots of space in transition, it's pretty early yet.

Here's my spot.  

The weather was amazing!  We couldn't have ordered a more beautiful morning.

One of my favorite buildings on campus, Weatherford Hall.

We got our stuff all set up and Joe and I talked about where I should put things and he gave me advice on where and how I should put things on.  Then we were just standing around which was giving me time to start worrying.  He could see that I was getting teary so we went for a walk to scope out the set up at Langton and how to get to the transition.

Our first triathlon together.  

The men were swimming in Dixon this year and the women were swimming in Langton.  They switch it every year.

Dixon is right next to the transition area.

Langton is not.

We went into the pool so I knew where to check in for my wave and where the warm up pool was.  Then we walked outside so I could walk the route to transition. Joe suggested I put my shoes, socks, hat and towel right outside the door.  This way I could dry off my feet, put on my socks and shoes and  be able to run to the transition easier.  I wasn't the only one that was doing that, there were lots of shoes and towels sitting around outside the door.

Then we walked the green mat all the way to transition.

The first part of the route takes us straight towards Goss Stadium, the baseball field.

Then you run on the cement between Goss Stadium and Dixon Rec Center.  Follow the cones.

When you come around the corner you go along the side of Dixon out to the transition area. The men come out right here. 

My friend Faylene arrived so I was able to get a HUGE hug which was very much needed.  Then Kristy and Tony arrived and I got more hugs!  I felt pretty blessed to have them take time out of their weekend to come cheer me on!

I headed over to the pool so that I could set up my shoes and towel and then do my warm up.  Warm up felt good.  I was relaxed and breathing comfortably.  We got lined up for check in and I asked if it would be possible to be in one of the outside lanes because my knee still hurts when I put pressure on it.  The volunteers were great and made that happen so that was one less thing to worry about.  We got into groups of four and pretty soon it was time to go get our timing chip scanned.  My crew of friends were in the balcony cheering for me already.

Felt a little weird to be the one being cheered for instead of being up in the balcony doing the cheering.

Getting last minute instructions.  I'm the big girl on the end.   

Pretty sure this was when I was still struggling with my breathing.  Ugh.

I jumped into the water and I could tell on the first stroke that something was very, very wrong.  My breath was hitching.  I don't know how to explain it very well.  It was like in the middle of my blowing out the air my body wanted to take another breath and would hitch because, obviously I couldn't with my face in the water.  So then when I would turn my head to breath I didn't feel like I could get enough air.  I kept thinking that if I could just get one looong breath to blow out right then I would be okay.  After a couple of laps it was obvious that wasn't working.  I ended up getting so frustrated and off kilter and knew that it was not going to work to do that for the whole 500 yards.  So I stopped at the wall and just took a moment to kind of reset. I took a couple of long breaths to even out my breathing and then got started again.  It was much better after that.  Still wasn't as good as it could have/should have been.  But it was better than if I had kept fighting myself.

My Garmin said that I finished with a time of 12:52 which is decent.  I was hoping to get under 12 minutes.  I didn't go over the timing mat after the swim until after I got my shoes and socks on so my race time says I did the swim in 15:52.  I didn't think of that at the time, obviously.  :-)

I then made my way to the transition area. Having the shoes on did help me move right along compared to some of the ladies that were barefoot.  I got to the bike area and put on my tank top and jacket.  Got some water and some food and then helmet, sunglasses, gloves and I was ready.  I headed to where I could get on the bike.

Getting ready for the bike. 

That's when I messed up my fancy shmancy watch. I hit the button for transition to be done.  Then it didn't look right so I hit the enter button and stopped it.  So I went to start it again but hit the button to end the bike and start the next transition. At this point I knew I had totally messed it up but I didn't want to spend any more time futzing with it. I had my phone on my bike with Runkeeper going to track the bike, it just wouldn't track my heart rate too. I wasn't going to worry about it.  I'm sure my coach wishes he had the heart rate information.  :-)  At least I have the pace and time info.  :-)

Heading out!

Up the hill.  :-)

They had volunteers at each corner and intersection stopping traffic and making sure we knew which way to go.  That made it much faster to get through campus and out into the country.  My goal was to do the bike ride faster than I had done it a few weeks ago with Janelle.  Because I had paid attention to my speeds on the hills during the practise it made it easier to know if I was going faster or not.  I did better on the hills for sure.  The weather was great and for the most part the cars that went by were patient about going slow and waiting for the race participants.  I even passed a few people, not just on the downhill either. ;-)

I had just gotten up the big hill after the last turnaround and was heading back to campus when I saw my husband go zipping by.  He was whooping it up and made me smile.  Not much later I saw my friend and co-worker Chad heading out.  It was fun to see smiling faces that I knew out there.  :-)

I had the funniest thing happen when I got onto campus. I was on the road that would take me back to the transition area.  The runners are on the other side of the road, the bikers that are just starting out are next to them.  I notice a squirrel running down the road between runners and the bikes. Everyone was laughing about the squirrel wanting to be part of the triathlon.  Then it moved over and ended up running in the road straight at me!  Guess it wanted to play a game of Chicken with me.  I'm laughing and hoping that I'm not going hit the silly thing in front of everyone and then crash. lol All of a sudden it stops and I swear it looked like a cartoon character.  The look on it's face was, "Holy Shit!" and it suddenly dove to the bushes on the side of the road.  I won the game of Chicken!  The spectators were cheering and laughing.  It was fun to end the bike ride with laughter.

I came down the hill and got off the bike in the appropriate spot....and I didn't fall down!  I walked the bike into the transition area.  Probably should have been trotting but it felt good to give my legs a little time to get used to being upright again.  I drank some water, got more fuel, used my inhaler (just to be safe) and headed out on the run. Started the Garmin for just a run so that I could have the info for all three parts of my day, even it it wasn't all tied together with transitions like it should have been.

Heading out for the run. 

Oh my word, my legs felt so slow!  It is a very weird feeling to run right after a long bike ride.  I headed up the hill to get to the loop I would be doing three times.  It was getting warmer but I was handling that better than I have in the past.  The route is three loops around campus.  You go down a hill, cut across, go up the hill on the other side of the block and then go across and repeat. The hill doesn't seem so big until you are in a race and you have already done a swim and a bike ride.

My friends were waiting at the top of the hill and cheering me on.  Perfect place for them to be. Motivated me to run up the hill each time because I didn't want them to see me walking up it. :-)  Just past them was the water station.  I always get a couple cups of water and walk and drink until I get to the last garbage can.  Give me a chance to drink the water instead of wearing it and I have found that the short break actually helps me do better during the run.  As I went around the corner my calves were starting to feel tight so I slowed down a little.

Coming up the hill.

I heard someone coming up behind me and then they kind of hovered right there for a bit. Suddenly I got a big smack on my ass.  My husband had caught up with me.  Good thing it was him.  :-)  He ran with me for just a little bit to see how I was doing and then took off to finish up.  He wanted to be at the finish line waiting for me!  Gotta love that!  :-)

Coming up that hill the last time and having Joe, Faylene, Kristy, Tony and Jon all hooting and hollering for me was awesome!  Pretty awesome cheering squad!!

A little farther up the road was our friend Joe and his son JJ were there cheering on some friends but definitely included me in the mix as I went by.  I heard and appreciated their cheering at the transition and on each lap of the run.  It was awesome to run by and see their big smiles.

I have this thing were no matter how I have done during a race I have to run well at the finish.  There have been races where I have had to walk almost the whole race but I still run into the finish. I'm not going to walk in front of all those people cheering.  :-)

Joe was there waiting for me as I was getting ready to turn the corner into the finish area.  Love my guy and how much he believes in me.  He ran along side me on the other side of the fence right to the end.  That's where I got my big hug.  I think that's my favorite part about doing events with Joe. We get to be proud of each other at the end.

Finish Line!

Favorite part of an event!

Love this man so much. 

Then hugs and high fives from the rest of the crew.  I have some pretty amazing people in my life. Stuff like this, whether I'm the one doing the cheering or the one being cheered for, makes realize that I've got great people around that I get to call friends.

Joe, me, Ron, Mike and Coach Jon.  All Beaver Freezer finishers. :-)  

Then we got some food!

We got last hugs and goodbyes from our friends and started making our way down to transition to pick up our gear.  When we got to Reser Stadium we put our bags in the car and then went for a 15 minute ride around the parking lot. Jon had said to do that before we left campus to give our legs a bit of a shake out.  If you are going to have a coach you should probably listen to what he says.  I'm sure people in some of the buildings nearby thought we looked funny because we basically found a quiet corner of the parking lot and just went in circles for 15 minutes.

After race picture. 

Then we headed home.

Food, shower and then nap.  Aaaahhhhhh.

The Bad:

• Struggling with the breathing during the swim.  I'm going to have to work on that.  I didn't use any of the things that Bri has taught me to get it under control.  I could have flipped over and done backstroke for awhile. I've also could have done breathing on one side which forces me to slow the exhale down and gets me smoothed out.  I didn't do that either.  Had a little bit of a panic attack I think.  Anxiety about wanting to do well and knowing people were watching me.  Need to get over that. :-)  
• Transitions were slow.  I knew they would be and so I didn't let myself stress about them.  I had to start somewhere.  Now I know more what to expect and can work at making that better during the next to events I have coming. 
• Learn to work the technology!  lol  Seriously!  
• I will need to be stronger on the bike for sure.  But I know that I'm so much farther than I was that I'll just keep working on it and making progress. It will be interesting to see where I am next by summer time.  
• After we got home and had lunch I took a shower and headed to bed for a nap.  Felt a little shaky so I went and checked my blood sugar and it was pretty low for me, which was weird because I had a good solid lunch, not to mention the snacks after the race. I had a banana and felt better after my nap.  But my numbers continued to be low all afternoon and evening. Still low a little this morning compared to what I normally am in the morning.  That's going to be something I will have to watch. I haven't been checking my numbers because I have been feeling solid, even with all the new working out.  I'll have to start checking more often just to see how things are doing when it's just regular workouts and then again at the next tri and see if a pattern emerges.   

The Good:

• I finished in under two hours, which was my goal.  Here is my final results:
• I wanted under 13 minutes for the swim (which I did get) and the good is that I was able to calm down and do better.  Proud of being able to mentally reset when things were tanking in a hurry.  That is not something I could have done a few years ago.  
• I wanted the bike to be under an hour and I wanted my average pace on the run to be low 12 minute miles.  Got both of those. :-)  
• I didn't crash on the bike!!!  Yay!
• I was very tired and worked very hard during the race but I'm not completed wiped out and sore.  That's a big win because the first and only other time I did a tri I was a sore wreck for a couple of days.  Definitely more in shape this time!
• I had the support of an amazing husband, fantastic friends and a coach that I'm loving working with.  Pretty sure that I can't fail with that kind of posse behind me!
• I had fun!  It was challenging and I have a lot to work on but I had a blast.  Sunshine added to the fun factor for sure!

I will keep working at getting stronger and better.  I will work on the other areas that didn't go well.  But it was a very good day and I had a great time.  Fun way to start off all these triathlons I'm signed up for.  

I saw elite athletes that finished their entire tri in less than an hour!  I saw really young people and really old people.  I saw men and women of every age and size possible.  I saw people swimming that looked like they were fighting the water and might drown if they actually put their face in the water.  I saw people riding bikes that looked and sounded awful, but they were getting it done. I saw a guy walk his bike the last three or four miles because he blew out the back tire of his mountain bike.  It was totally shredded.  He declined offered of a ride to the transition because he was determined to finish the entire race, one way or another.  I saw runners that looked like everything hurt but were still moving.  I saw runners who looked like they hadn't been doing anything up until the run, fresh as can be.  (Maybe they were on a relay?)  I saw people fly up the hill and others walk.  But you know what every single one of us had in common?  We all did the Beaver Freezer Sprint Triathlon!! 

A big part of my journey to being a healthier me has been learning to celebrate that I have done the race.  I love celebrating what others accomplish, I have been learning to celebrate what I accomplish. I did a sprint triathlon!!  It was awesome!!  :-)

Next up, the Oregon Dunes Sprint Triathlon.  Need to start working on riding on hills.  Lots and lots of hills.  ;-)