GEAR REVIEW: Swim Spray

    There comes a time in ever swimmer's life when you just don't feel comfortable wreaking of chlorine anymore. I admit that I haven't always cared that I smell like chemicals. As a life-long competitive swimmer, I got very comfortable with my chlorine stench. While still in school, I remember that the smell used to keep me awake during boring lectures...one sniff of my arm and I was alert. And in College, I always figured that smelling like chlorine was better than what most kids smelled like in 8am lectures. But, I'm not in college anymore. And frankly, I'm sick of being able to smell myself after leaving a room, of suffocating my colleagues at firm meetings, and of experiencing a burning in my eyes as the chlorine smell emanates from my skin all day long.

So, I got referred to a product that is supposed to cure all these problems....Swim Spray.

The Item: 

    Swim Spray

The Claim:

    "SwimSpray immediately neutralizes chlorine. If you don't want to use shampoo or soap with SwimSpray, simply rinse off in the shower, spray SwimSpray on your hair and skin, and then rinse off the SwimSpray with water. That will eliminate the chlorine and you won't smell like chlorine." - From Swimspray.com

My Initial Reaction: 

    The first time I brought it to the pool I tried to use it after I got out of the shower.  Turns out, had I actually read the directions (aka Swim Spray's ONLY direction), I would've realized that you're supposed to use it IN the shower before you shampoo and soap. Oops. 

   So, the next day I went swimming, I actually followed the directions and used the Swim Spray while in the shower.  Then I changed and headed off to work as usual.  I admit, I was originally doubtful as to whether or not this stuff would actually work.  However, after trying it out  and sitting through meetings all day, I was convinced...Swim Spray ACTUALLY WORKS!

    For the first time my office didn't smell like chlorine after I had already left it.  For the first time, none of my colleagues commented on whether or not they could tell that I had been swimming that morning.  And, for the first time, when I went to do my afternoon bike trainer workout, I didn't sweat out the chlorine that had been trapped in my pores all day.

My Opinion Now:

   I'm glad to have found a product that actually does what it says.  My only gripe, however, is that I find that I have to use a lot of sprays in order to cover my body.  This means that each bottle might not last as long.  However, considering the fact that I also like to splurge on expensive shampoos and $30 bottles of leave-in conditioners from Sephora, I think that paying the price for a product that actually works...is definitely worth it. 

Price Tag: 

$12.95 for a 4oz bottle from SwimSpray.com OR SwimOutlet.com

New Year, New Plan

    After ending my 2013 racing season on a bit of a high note, I was extra excited to get a jump on my training for 2013. I didn’t have much of an offseason. It was only a month-or-so in total. However, I thoroughly enjoyed some time away from my more focused training. I swam to have fun with my teammates. I biked to enjoy just getting outside during some cooler Florida weather. And, I didn’t run once...I never even picked up my sneakers from my shoe stand.

    However, come Christmas, it was time to take what I learned from 2012 and figure out how I was going to approach 2013. I had some good races at the tail-end of last season. But, there were also some major problems in my performances that desperately need to be fixed. So, I thought about how I trained, tried to be realistic about my analysis of my training, and came up with two resolutions for the new year:

1. I would seek training workout guidance from an outside source 
2. I would keep up on my running throughout the season

    In regards to Resolution #1, I can honestly say that I put in as much time and effort last season as I could probably handle. However, as seen in my performance results, this was not good enough. Yes I’m limited on the amount of time I can train since I do have a full-time job. But, I don’t think that I can really improve my performance any more without some coached help. Up until now, I’ve been exclusively trained by myself in all three sports.

    After years of swimming, I think that I have a pretty good understanding of how to generally shape workouts. However, having never been a runner or cyclist, I’m pretty limited on how to include variety or specified training. So, I decided that I needed outside help.

    The first step was in joining a Master’s Swim Team. Although I didn’t need the help creating or completing the workouts, I decided that I needed the “push” in pacing that can only be had by swimming with others. At recent workouts my 100 LCM pace times have steadily decreased to slightly –above my college pace times. There is NO WAY I could’ve been able to do this by training solo.

    My next step was to look for some coaching guidance online or in the area. However, I’m very financially limited and just can’t afford another large monthly expense. So, I applied to win a free year of coaching from a well-known coach online. Although I wound up being a finalist, I didn’t actually win the prize. So, I did some research, asked around a bit, and wound up purchasing a Training Plan book on my tablet. I’ve heard pretty good things about these training plans. So, after reading through much of the book, I picked a specific Ironman Training Plan and intend to stick with it as much as possible. So far, I’m doing pretty well with keeping up with the plan’s demands.

    I know that a standard plan is not as good as personal coaching. I also know that there is a possibility that the plan might not even work for me at all. But, since I felt so stagnant in my training, I think it’s worth a shot. And presently, I’m feeling pretty strong and not yet over-trained. Here is to hoping the plan is a success!

    In regards to Resolution #2, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I really missed the boat last year in my run training. Prior to getting my job in May, I was doing pretty well with keeping up my mileage. But, as the mileage was supposed to increase, I got lazier with my running. I planned most of my running workouts for the mornings. However, I slept through half of these workouts since running doesn’t motivate me out of bed the same way swimming does. So, this year is going to be different. Now that I’ve joined my USMS Team, I am able to have better morning pool access. Thus, all my swimming workouts will now be done in the morning and my running workouts will be done at night.

    Hopefully this will allow me to keep up on the run training a bit better. Additionally, now that I have an actual training plan which requires that I run certain workout an “X” number of times per week, I feel a bit more obligated to keep it up. Essentially, I’m more than willing to admit that if it were up to me, I’d never go running. Last year it WAS 100% up to me. So, I really never went running. But, this year it’s not entirely up to me. And hopefully that will be enough to keep me motivated. So far, I’m doing extremely well with it.

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!