A Time for Reflection: 2012

Celebrating the end of my season after Miami Man

     My offseason is in full swing (although only 2 weeks from being over) so I decided to sit down and really think about last season...both the good parts and the bad. In all, my 2012 season was pretty great...I set up my tri blog, I got my first full time attorney job, I completed my first full Ironman, and I got myself a super speedy new TT bike. I might not have had all the great performances I was hoping for. But, that's okay because this was the first season where I actually had to budget traing time with being a real life adult. And, since I ended my season on a higher note with some good performances on my new ride, I'm 10x more excited for next season than I otherwise would have been.
 

    The only real downer of my season, regretfully, was something that happened to me in reaction to a post-ironman blog post I had made. I haven't commented on it anywhere...until now. But, after reflecting upon my year, it's still really bothering me so I've decided to comment on it.

     A few months ago I made a somewhat jocular post about my new Ironman tattoo. The post was up for a few weeks until one day I was at work and received a random, mean, comment on the post. Then, as the day progressed, my inbox got flooded by many more cruel comments and personal attacks on my character and my representation of the sport. Then, when I took the comment feed down, I started received e-mails with even more personal attacks. Not knowing why this was happening (and thinking it was possibly just spam) I looked at my viewer stats and eventually found a few forum feeds on various sport-related websites. And, what I saw on these feeds, was horrifying and cruel. The comments ranged from laughing at my race times, to name-calling, to jokes on my appearance, to actual threats. I wouldn't actually have cared so much about the feeds themselves, had they not instigated the nonstop e-mails of hatred. Receiving an e-mail that says "typical arrogant white american. disgusting. you're nothing special, yet your entitlement is vomit-inducing." (yes that was an actual e-mail) as I get into bed doesn't exactly give me a warm feeling inside.
 

   To cut this very hurtful story short, these feeds were eventually taken down (thanks Dan from slowtwitch) and the active participants went on with their lives (I hope). But, what's sad about the situation was that I never totally moved on. The incident really ruined my joy for having this blog and, admittedly, even tainted my love and respect for the sport of triathlon itself. So, to the people who were involved in the harassment, I just wanted to say this: 

You don't know me. But if you see me at a race and want to say hello, please do. I'll be the girl swimming over you.

And on that note....here is my end-of-season highlight/lowlight lists...just in case you're curious.

Best Memory of 2012 Season:

Feeling like a super star with all the spectators and volunteers cheering for me as the first Age Group Female out of the water and through T-1 at Ironman NYC

Worst Memory of 2012 Season:

The run at Miami Man Triathlon where I was so horribly sick and could barely breathe

5 Proudest Season Accomplishments:

1) Crossing the finish line at Ironman New York City

2) Holding off my toughest competitors until the run at Escape to Miami

3) Managing my new full-time job with training for my first Full Ironman

4) Buying my dream bike

5) Placing 10th nationally in the USMS 1500m LCM Freestyle rankings

5 Biggest Season Regrets:

1) Letting a bunch of bullies on Triathlon forums ruin my joy for writing on my Tri Blog

2) Not getting in enough run training before Ironman New York (or any of my races this season)

3) Not joining my Masters Team until September (I REALLY do enjoy it!)

4) Not knowing enough about bikes to have been able to fix my brakes mid-race

5) Not being grateful enough to my Boyfriend for suffering through a season of Ironman training (plus the 15 plus hours he spent with just my mom and dad while I was actually doing the race)

RACE REPORT: Miami Man International Triathlon

Swim Start

    I was originally registered for the Miami Man Half-Iron Triathlon on Sunday. However, starting last Sunday while I was out biking and preparing for my race, I begun to notice a slight heaviness in my chest. I was getting sick. My illness gradually increased as the week progressed until my throat finally closed and I was forced to stay home from work on Thursday and Friday. I was extremely nervous about racing a Half-Ironman on Sunday if I still did not feel well (and even if I felt better since I knew I still would not be 100 percent), so I asked the race directors if I could possibly downgrade to the lower distance. Luckily, the amazing people at Multirace allowed me to downgrade to the international distance race at bike check-in on Saturday. And THANK GOD that they did!

    I was not feeling too great on Saturday morning at bike check-in. However, come race day, I was feeling relatively coherent with just a slight cough. I figured I was close to normal and tried to pump myself up for my shortened end-of-season race. They closed transition pretty early to send off the Half-Iron athletes. However, I still had about 2hrs of waiting before my start wave would go off. So, I walked around the park a bit, and held onto my long sleeve shirt and shoes in an attempt to keep warm.

    About 45 minutes from the start of my race I went for a warm-up swim in the lake. People kept asking me how cold I was, since this was a wetsuit-legal race and I was just about the only person not wearing one (I opted not to wear a wetsuit since the swim was so short and any advantage by wearing one would be counteracted by the amount of time it would take getting it off post-swim). The water was a little cold when I first got into it (colder than I remember for this race). But, I figured it wouldn’t be a problem since I have been swimming regularly at 6am outside in a competition pool over the past few weeks. I swam a few hundred yards and then went back to shore to wait for my race.

RACE BREAKDOWN:

The Swim (.6mi):

Swim Split: 16:12
    The swim wave did not go out very fast even with everyone wearing a wet suit. I noticed two girls ahead of me at the first buoy but did not pay much attention to them since most people tend to take out the swim too fast for them to maintain. In fact, I never pay much attention to others on the swim since I am pretty aware of how fast I am capable of swimming. I try not to let others distract me from my own pacing. My goal, in this race, was to take the swim out just about as hard as I could. I knew that being sick, I might have more difficulty as the race progressed. So, I wanted to get out in front as far as possibly. Or, that was the goal anyways.

About half-way between the first and second buoys, I passed one of the girls in my wave. However, I never saw the second girl and did not know if she was behind me or in front of me. It was especially hard to tell where she was since we were THE VERY LAST wave. This did not help much with keeping up a strong swim since I had to swim over literally every other person in the race to maintain a strong speed. Nevertheless, I had a pretty good swim and wound up having the fastest swim in my Age Group by over 3 minutes.

T-1:

    Transitions were an interesting situation for me this year. This race always racks each age group together, which is nice because you can figure out who is in front of you whenever you reach transition. However, since I had downgraded at the very last minute, I was racked over with all the 25-29 Half-Ironman athletes instead of the International athletes. I was not quite sure how this would play out. On one hand, I had absolutely no idea whether or not I was the first one on my age group to come out of the water. But, on the other hand, all the other people I was competing against would have no idea that I was even out there. I figured, since I knew I would be one of the first out of the water, that this would work to my advantage. I knew that I would start the race ahead (as usual). But, they wouldn’t know that I was out there to catch…

    Nevertheless, I assumed that there might have been one girl still ahead of me….just to be safe.

The Bike (22mi):

Bike Split: 1:06.00
    My body felt okay until I clipped into my bike pedals. I immediately felt exhausted. I can honestly say that I tried my best notwithstanding the fact that my legs felt very heavy. The bike course was EXTREMELY windy which used to be a big problem for me both mentally and physically. But, ever since I got my new bike, I feel far more compact and streamlined making the wind much easier to slice through.

    So, although my body was tired and crampy, I really tried to push through the wind on a high gear knowing that my run was probably not going to be all that fantastic. With the wind I was going upwards of 26mph. Against the wind, I was flying by people at an amazing speed of 16.5mph. The bike was tough, but I suffered through and somehow still managed to have the fastest bike split in my age group.

T-2:

    My transitions weren’t all too fantastic. To be honest, I felt a little ‘out-of-it’ due to my cold and had a tough time rushing transition as needed. I lost a little bit of time in transition. But, I wanted to make sure that being a bid dazed, I wouldn’t forget anything.

The Run (6.6mi):

Run Split: 1:00.14

  This was where my race completely fell apart. I felt TERRIBLE. I knew that the run would be a bit of a struggle so I hoped that my swim and bike would have been good enough to keep me in award position. The first 2 miles, although slow, did not feel too terrible. But, as the sun started to come out, I started to have some difficulties breathing and staying focused. So, I zoned out knowing that I was in no shape to ‘race’ the run. My only goal was to make it to the finish line. I hoped that I wouldn’t get passed by too many people. But, it was a bit out of my control at this point.

    I felt worse and worse as the run progressed. And, I HATED the fact that this run was 6.6 miles instead of the typical 6.2miles. That extra half a mile felt like it took forever. I still figured that I might have had once girl come out of the water ahead of me. Not a single girl passed me on the bike course though. So, I knew, worst case scenario, I was in 2nd going into the run unless somebody had snuck by me somehow in transition.

    Around mile 4 of the run, I got passed by a girl in my age group. I did not want anybody else to pass me so I tried to pick up my pace. However, I was coughing a whole lot and just couldn’t get my body moving any faster (I also couldn’t seem to run straight either). Then, without about half a mile left to go, I looked behind me and saw a few girls. I picked up the pace, not a lot, but just enough to be able to build into a sprint for the last few hundred yards before the finish line. The girls behind me (who, as it turned out were in my age group) never caught me and I wound up getting second.

My awesome stuffed tiger award

    As it turned out, I had lost that other girl somewhere during the swim and had led the entire race with the fastest swim and bike splits. I slid into second place when that girl had passed me on the run course. But, I’m not very upset about it. After all, had I been healthy, I wouldn’t have even been competing in this race distance.

   So, I closed out my 2012 Triathlon season with a second place finish while sick. Not a bad way to go out…

Overall Time: 2:26.24
Place: 2nd in AG

RACE REPORT: Tropical Splash Dixie Zone Open Water 5k Championship

Me and my Teammate before the race

    I've never done an open water swimming race before (unless it was attached to a bike and a run).  But, I decided I wanted to try one out.  So, this past weekend I competed at The Tropical Splash Dixie Zone 5K Championship in Siesta Key, FL.


    I woke up Saturday morning pretty exhausted after having woken up at 4:45 am, having done a 1 hour swim practice, suffered through an-all day work seminar, and driving 4 hours in the rain the day beforehand.  Nevertheless, once I was up and moving around, I got pretty excited for the race. I arrived at the race site about an hour before the gun.  I picked up my swim cap and timing chip, met up with a fellow swim team member, and walked down to the water for a quick warm-up swim before race-time.
 

The Race:

    Although the beach was beautiful and I've been feeling very comfortable in the water, the race didn't exactly go as expected.  About 250m into the race course, we entered deeper water where, apparently, there were a bunch of small jellyfish.  I was just starting to get into my 'groove' when all of a sudden I felt some sharp pinches all down the insides of my bathing suit.  I tried to convince myself that I was just feeling slight 'rubbing' from my brand new suit.  But, as my skin grew itchier and itchier, I knew what it was...sea lice.      

    I know that sea lice isn't too big of a deal.  But, having never gotten stung by a jellyfish before, and having not even contemplated their existence in the ocean this time of year, I panicked.  I tried to keep it out of my head as long as possible.  But, as the current started to pick up as the race went on, the stings got more frequent.  I kept imagining myself, running out of the water towards the finish line with giant red slashes all across my face and body.  And, just like that, my mind was lost. I think it would have been different had I known about the jellies ahead of time.  But, with something that unexpected, it was hard to stay mentally focused.
    Additionally, no matter what I tried, I could not stay on course for some reason.  The sun and the fact that I had lightly tinted goggles was partly to blame.  Otherwise, I'm not sure why I was drifting so far off course.  Perhaps it was exhaustion.  Perhaps it was just the distraction of the jellies.  I had my Garmin on and was keeping track of how far I had swam.  And, I have to admit, it was a bit disconcerting to look down and see that I had technically swam an entire 5K when I was still several buoys away from the finish line.  

I wound up swimming (according to my Garmin) 3.67 miles- over half a mile more than the actual race.

   My time wasn't the greatest and I'm a bit peeved about that.   Even though the conditions weren't what I was expecting, I know that I could have done better.  So, this definitely was not my first and last open water race. Next time, I'll just have to be a bit more prepared.

Finishing Time: 1:32.02
Place: 3rd in Age Group

RACE REPORT: Escape to Miami

Transition with "Escape Island" in the background

    This past Sunday I competed in the Olympic Distance of the Escape to Miami Triathlon.  The race was only about a month after my Ironman "A" race.  Additionally, I decided to ride my brand new TT bike in the race having only been outside on the bike twice since I purchased it (I got in a few short trainer rides though).  Thus, I didn't really know what to expect out of myself.  Nevertheless, I really enjoy this course and wanted to put my best foot forward. And, I wound up having a pretty great race.

RACE BREAKDOWN:

The Swim (.9mi):

Swim Split: 22:40

    I've been feeling pretty great in the water recently since I have been attending Masters swim practices 3x a week for the past 2 weeks. I was already in good swim shape from the summer, but I really felt like those few organized swim practices had gotten me a better sense of how to pace a distance swim.  

   In this race, all the Olympic athletes have to line up to board a ferry at 5am to be taken out to a tiny island off the coast of downtown Miami.  The swim can be a bit daunting for many athletes as there can be a strong current and buoys can be hard to spot.  As a good swimmer, however, I can really use my only advantage in this race to good use. 

   Since the swim is more challenging for some and because I've been feeling very smooth in the water, I decided to take the swim out pretty hard.  And, I did.  Even with a stronger current than I remember and with a lot more seaweed getting wrapped around my arms and neck, I wound up taking about 3 minutes off my best time for the course and came out of the water first in my age group.  I was off to a great start.

The Bike (24.8mi):

Bike Split: 1:12.06

    I always have a hard time in Olympic races because I normally come out of the water in front, only to have others catch me a few minutes into the bike course.  I was riding my brand new BMC TM02 for the first time in a race (a big step up from my old Cervelo P1).  In the two outdoor rides I had on the bike, I felt extremely fast and comfortable.  So, I really wanted to try and push myself to see whether or not I had made a good purchase.  I did.

    Averaging a little over 21.4mph (a bit higher than if you convert the time because of the added run to/from the bike mount line), I was able to maintain my lead for the entire bike course.  There was one girl, who wound up taking second overall that passed me about 20 minutes into the course.  But, all the other girls (who normally race in the elite category, I might add) never caught me.

   It was a great feeling, being able to maintain about 2-3mph faster than I ever have before.  I also had a bit of a problem as a bolt on my seat-mounted water bottle cages came loose and I wound up losing both my bottles.  It was also pretty annoying listening to the cages rattling around for an hour.  But, even without any water, I felt pretty strong (and thank you to the random man who offered me a few sips from his bottle). 

    The next girl caught me in the bike/run transition (yes, I KNOW I need better transitions).  She told me "great job" as she put on her shoes.  She was pretty surprised to see that I had been in front of her the entire time. Yes, I got passed in transition. But, I still managed to best my best bike course time by about 10 minutes.  No complaints there.

The Run (10K):

Run Split: 56:32

   My run split wasn't the best.  I admit that.  But, I've pulled back a bit on running since my Ironman and, after really attacking the swim and bike courses, I didn't expect it to be too incredible anyways. 

I wound up getting passed again.  And, although I technically fell down in the rankings, I'm still very pleased with my overall performance.  I wound up taking 3rd in my age group and besting my overall time by 20 minutes from last year's race and by 12 minutes from the year before.  Yes, I PR'd by over 10 minutes in the race and getting an award...can't be too upset about that!

Overall Time: 2:35.13

Place: 3rd in AG

Back on the Team

Pool where I've been training and will continue to train with a team

    This law week was pretty exhausting as it was my first week back on a swim team.

    I've been looking around for quite a while for a team that I would like to join. And, I FINALLY found one. I first decided that I would like to start training with a swim team a few months ago. As a lifelong swimmer, the swim portion of a triathlon is my only real advantage. So, I have to do as well with that advantage as possible. And, although I've done very well training on my own, it's just too difficult to work on proper pacing when training alone.

    I also did a few Masters Swimming Meets this past summer just for fun. And, I really did fall back in love with the sport again. Of course, the surprisingly quick times I posted at those meets was pretty exciting as well. So, I looked around and eventually found a very competitive swim team at the long course pool where I've been training (a long course pool about 45min away). And, I'm very excited to now be a member of it.

    Hopefully, by training under a new coach and alongside some pretty quick swimmers, I'll be able to pull back down my 100 pace times with the goal of excelling in both triathlon, pool, and open water swimming. Granted it will be pretty nice to have that extra team motivation to get out of bed in the morning to train...even if the drive to the pool is, kind of a trek. Although, the Dunkin Donuts I pass while traveling from the pool to my office is a pretty big perk as well!

Baffled by Brakes

Joseph Gordon Levitt in the movie Premium Rush

    I saw the movie Premium Rush a few weeks ago. In the movie they made a pretty big deal about how Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character, a bike messenger, doesn’t have brakes on his bike. All the other characters think he’s crazy. So what’s his reasoning? Because the worst accidents happen when you use your brakes.

    On Monday I was out riding outdoors for the first time since Ironman NYC. I already resented my brakes a bit for malfunctioning during my race and causing my brake pads to get stuck on my back wheel (something in the brake disconnected and my brake doesn’t release without a little manual help). Anyways, I was out riding and all of a sudden I hit a rock-covered road adjacent to a construction area. I panicked. I hit my braked and, fortunately, slowed down enough to allow myself to unclip from my pedals and get my feet on the ground before toppling over. For the most part I escaped unscathed. But, the incident got me thinking…nothing good has ever happened to me from braking. So, why the hell do I even have them?

    I’ve had a couple other minor accidents before. But, each time I’ve toppled over from skidding on some dirt of rocks, I went over because I braked. It wasn’t really ever the sand beneath my wheel that caused me to fall. It was the fact that I clenched my brake, lost all momentum, and stopped dead in my tracks causing my own body weight to drag me over. I should also probably note that one time when I was little, I flipped over the handle bars of my little kid bike while braking to avoid hitting a rock. Clearly losing consciousness then did not make me reach this anti-brake mentality any sooner.

    In a way, you can compare the scenario to driving in the snow. Drivers Ed teachers always tell you that if you hit a patch of ice, the worst thing you could do is to slam on your brakes. Instead, you want to turn your wheel into the skid so that you don’t wind up flipping your car. We really need to apply the same principles while biking. You’re probably better off biking through the skid than stopping cold.

    So, maybe Joseph Gordon Levitt wasn’t as crazy as everyone in this movie thought. Now, even if just for the sole purpose of making my mother feel more at ease, I’ll let you know that I’m not about to go rip off my brakes and head out into the world like a crazy person. But, I’m definitely starting to think about using those brakes only as a very last resort. What do you think?

Pulling Back and not Falling Behind

On the trainer during Hurricane Isaac

    My Ironman may be over, but, my triathlon season is not. I still have an Olympic Distance Race in a month (Escape to Miami), a 5K Open water Swim Championship a week after, and, I’m closing out my season with a Half-Ironman (Miami Man) a little over a month after that. I still have about 2.5 months to go in my 2012 triathlon race season and I’m struggling to figure out how to re-tailor my training for these events.

    After racing 112 miles on a mountainous bike course, there is no doubt that the 26 miles of the Olympic course is going to mentally fly by. But, that doesn’t mean that I can just sit back and enjoy the ride if I want to place well. I need to turn up the gear and power through the course hoping that my muscles can handle it. But, can they? In a month from now, will my muscles even really be there anymore? I don’t know.

    It’s hard to force myself to back off of my intense Ironman training in favor of quicker, more intense workouts. I feel like I’m going to lose all the strength that I have gained over the past few months. But, no athlete can continue year-round at such an intense level. Yes, I still need to train hard for my Olympic and Half-Iron races. But, it’s a different sort of training. I need to add more speed work and decrease the amount of pure endurance training. I just hope that I can handle it mentally.

   Right now, I KNOW that I’m still in great shape. But, I fear that I’m going to lose it. I fear that I’m going to go out too hard with the endurance base no longer there to back me up. And, that fear is what, I think ultimately, could be my biggest hindrance in doing well in my upcoming races.

So, I've created a new plan....I'm going to work hard to overcome this fear by mentally leaving my Ironman behind.  For now, my upcoming races need to be the focus of my season, and not the race that has already come and gone.   We shall see how it goes.  Although, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...