Monday, August 30, 2010

Tri, Tri Again

Note: This post is chronologically out of order because there was a pic and video I wanted to add.  My apologies.

I love triathlon.  For many, many reasons, which I plan on expanding on in a future blog.  And I love racing.  I train all year so that I will be faster.  If I didn't race, I don't think it would be long before I fell off the bandwagon, so to speak.  My plan this year was to do six races - three sprint distance and three Olympic, something I had done once before I had J and really wanted to do again.  My grand finale was to be Riding Mountain Triathlon (RMT) on August 14th.

Now, some days, everything comes together perfectly.  The training has been ideal.  No sickness.  Plenty of sleep.  Perfect weather.  Today, or more correctly, yesterday (at the time of writing - now a couple of weeks ago...) was not one of those days.  The training had been pretty good until my competitive nature took over on Thursday during group trianing and I pushed a bit too hard.  Health-wise, alright, though I may be fighting a mild cold.  I did not sleep particularly well the night before.  And the weather?  The temp was 13 degrees (Celsius, of course), it was raining, and it was windy.

RMT is notorious for bad weather.  I have done the race four times.  The first time, it was cold, wet and rainy.  The wind blew the buoys off and the course had to be remarked along the beach, and without proper time to do so, they had measured it long.  The second year was hot.  Very, very hot.  Last year, it was cold, wet and rainy.  This year, well, cold, wet and rainy.

And expensive.  At least by Manitoba standards.  It may not make my racing list next year.

But I had a plan.  One of my friends, when I asked him what my best and worst qualities were, responded with, "You don't know when to quit."  He's right.  I didn't have to race today.  I only registered yesterday.  I knew what I was getting myself into.  But I had a plan.  This was supposed to be my "A" race, at least to the extent that I have one.  So I did it.

I have to admit that I did not start the race with a very good attitude.  There were already things about the race that had rubbed me the wrong way.  And now the weather was worse than anticipated.  And I did not feel like racing.

At 90 seconds to race start, I had not warmed up at all.  I hadn't even gotten water into my wetsuit, something I had learned the hard way was essential.  I quickly got enough it, put my goggles and swim cap on, found my starting spot, and had about 2 seconds to go time.

The number of athletes at RMT went up again this year.  Significantly.  I think the final count was something like 460.  That meant the start was bigger than anticipated.  And the swim bottlenecks as everyone tries to swim through the moored boats.  I swam on top of people.  People swam on top of me.  Nothing I couldn't handle.  But then, the shelter of the boats was gone, and the waves hit us head on. This is what the lake looked like:


You may notice that the boat on the far right is significantly off vertical.  For the record, it's not supposed to be that way.  At least not under normal weather circumstances.

Here's a look in motion. I was doing some commentary, but the wind noise won out. (And I don't think the sound of even that transferred.)  Near the beginning of the video, if you watch the boats, you can briefly see the extent that they were rocking. Yes, we swam in that.


There was no bi-lateral breathing today.  Not unless you wanted to swallow a waveful of water.  Forget drafting.  While this is usually my biggest concern in the swim, I couldn't think about it at all.  I was more concerned with not getting sick in the water.  Besides, I didn't know if the person in front of me was going straight, or if the waves had knocked them off.  And even if they were, the waves would knock me off.  Sighting wasn't any easier.  I would look up for the buoy, but all I would be able to see was the wave in front of me.  I had to sight every two strokes in hopes of spotting a buoy once in every 3-4 attempts.

I was so done after 750m.  I was wondering if they would let me switch to the sprint at that point, but figured I had better keep going.

After 1500m, I was thrilled to be on dry land.  Other than getting my right hand stuck in my wetsuit, T1 went as well as could be expected.  The bike, however, wasn't much better than the swim.  Although I had checked my bike before racking it, as soon as I got on, I could tell that something was rubbing.  That something was my back brake.  Now, there are many things I can fix on the fly.  This is not one of them.  So, off I got and adjusted the brake, losing seconds I was not in the mood to lose.

Normally the bike is my favourite part.  I don't know what my problem was.  I really don't remember.  Maybe I just woke up grumpy.  But I was NOT enjoying the bike at all.  Finally at 15km in I told myself I had paid $85 for this race so I may as well just suck it up and enjoy it.  It was better after that, but shortly after the turn-around I had to pull over yet again because my back brakes were rubbing.  Again.  And for the rest of the bike all I could do was wonder if I needed to fix the brakes again.

Another thing you need to understand is that I am not a runner.  At least not a good one.  I generally spend most of the run just waiting for it to end.  While I was on the bike today, I was dreading having to run yet.  Today though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Really, truly.  It was my favourite leg of the race, something I have never, ever said before and really don't expect to say again.  After 1km, I realized that if I kept the same pace I could pull off a sub-55 minute run.  That made me really excited.

I had two things motivating me. 1) I wanted to hold Kate off until the 5km mark.  I saw her at the turn-around, which was just before the 5k mark, and managed to pick up the pace just enough to meet that goal.  2) I imagined that Kim was in front of me.  She had, I'm assuming jokingly, suggested that I do that on my Facebook status.  But when I was feeling like taking it easy, that visualization did help.  :)

I did pull off a sub-55 min run.  And, though the results say my time was 3:00:01, it was off by 5 seconds and I know that I came in under 3 hours, because my watch said so.

Overall, I have to say that I was satisfied.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

To Have a Good Time

XTerra:  What you do when regular triathlon isn't enough of a challenge.
Duathlon:  What you do when either the weather or the area isn't conducive to swimming.
XTerra Duathlon:  What you do when you have some sort of narcissistic personality disorder.
(Long course: 6km trail run, 20km mountain bike, 3km trail run)

Today was my first ever XTerra duathlon.  When Chris and Rhonda first mentioned that they were hoping to put one on this year, I was so excited.  I had met some XTerra triathletes down at training camp in the States, and loved the idea of it.  They chose to go with a du rather than a tri because a tri would require two transition areas (because of the area set-up), which would be too complicated, especially for their very first time putting the race on.

It's possible that at some point, someone somewhere has done an off-road tri or du in Manitoba.  In fact, I think I heard about one up at Grand Beach in years past.  However, there has been nothing lately, so this was a brand new experience for many athletes.  Triathletes are generally not seen off-road.  Mountain bikers tend to avoid running.  We were all (or at least most) about to embark on a new adventure.

I stayed out at my parents' last night, and during the hour long drive to the race site out at Birch Ski Area, I realized that we were going to encounter a good deal of rain.  Add to that cooler temps.  But thankfully, next to no wind.  The rain, though, can make very rideable trails vey unrideable.

I arrived, got marked, hid under the shelter until we got a brief break from the rain, and then ran back and forth to my van a gazillion times because I was always forgetting something.  (As it turned out, this was our only break from the rain, but thankfully it was never a downpour.)  During the pre-race meeting I took a look around at the other athletes.  There were quite a few I didn't recognize and...um...only two other women.  And I guessed that neither of them were doing the long course.

As we lined up at the start line right after the meeting, I found out that I was right.  Me and 14 guys.  Kate Okany looked at me and said (with a hint of surprise in her voice), "You're doing the long course, Terri?" "Yup. I figured if I'm going to pay for it, I may as well get the most for my money.  Besides, I'm here to have a good time, not to get a good time."  And off we went.

It didn't take long for the guys to drop me.  No big surprise.  I'm not a strong runner at the best of times, and there were some pretty good hills.  The short course athletes started just before I finished my first lap, and I actually almost caught one of the women on the run.  However, as I tried to pick up my pace coming into transition, I experienced a feeling I had never had before - tight IT band.  It didn't hurt yet, but there was a distinct tightness.  Since I knew I still had over two hours of racing to go, and I wasn't really competing against anyone anyway, I backed off.

As I rounded the corner into T1, I was pleasantly surpised to see that my bike was not the only one on the rack.  Almost.  But not quite.  There was, of course, the woman who was right in front of me.  But there were one or two others as well.

The bike was supposed to be easy to moderately technical.  Rhonda told me before the race that she had ridden the whole course, and had done it in under an hour (one lap), so I should be fine.  As I started the bike, it dawned on me - she hadn't run 6km before doing it.  Suddenly hills that would be comfortably rideable were very tiring, and the tiring hills had me walking up with my bike.  And you couldn't make up a ton of time on the downhill sections because it had started raining, which made them quite slick.  I saw a couple of places where someone in front of me hadn't quite made the corner.  Now, I'm sure that for those who had better mountain biking skills, and for those who know the trails at Birch well, the trails weren't too bad.  But since I am not in that situation, it was a tough ride.  I loved it, but it wore me right out.

The description of the course as easy to moderate was a fair one. There was very little flat riding with a few steep hills (they wouldn't have been as hard if it was dry, but they still would have been tough), but very little switchback. There were some sections that were freshly cut for this race.  When I saw Kevin Miller after the race, he had a big smile.  He was very pleased with the technical level of the course, as he had been somewhat worried going in that it would be too easy.  It was definitely doable.  But not easy.

I was really hoping that I would not get lapped on the bike.  I am a new mountain biker, and my skills are desparately lacking.  Still, I figured it was pretty unlikely, since it was a 10km loop, and I was right.  In fact, I managed to pass one of the short course athletes. 

The second loop bike loop was more painful.  Not only were my legs extremely tired, but my IT band was now complaining quite loudly every time I got off my bike, especially the couple of steep downhill sections that I opted to walk my bike down.  I figured for the amount of time I lost not riding (not much due to the braking I would have had to do to stay safe), I made up for by not crashing.  (I did have my bike slide out from under me on one of the very rideable corners, which kind of made me happy - meant that I was pushing my envelope.)

As I ran out of T2, I knew my second run would not be a good one.  I should have been able to come in under 3 hours quite comfortably.  As it was, running on the flat was painful, and running on the hills was virtually out.  I contemplated walking the whole thing - I was in first place regardless - but figured I would run as much as I could, while at the same time trying not to push too hard.  By the end of the run, either I was getting used to the pain, or it had eased slightly, but it was still definitely there.  I'm going to have to do some serious resting and working on that if I'm going to be running the half in Niverville in a month.

The best part of the race?  The post-race food.  Of course, when you are hungry for the last half hour of the race (misjudgement of fueling on my part - I should have had 1-2 more gels during the race), pretty much anything will taste good.  But it was still very good.  And LOTS of food.  Unfortunately for the race directors, there were only 22 racers.  There were several reasons for the low turn-out, the mountain bike provincials tomorrow being one of them.  Fortunately for us, they had made sure there was food for many more than 22.  We left well-fed.

I ended up crossing the finish line in 3 hours, 1 minute and 8 seconds.  I was the very last athlete across the line, something which I am very proud of.  (There have been several times when my kids have asked me if I ever came in last in a triathlon or duathlon, and I had to say no.  Now I don't have to.)  As it turns out, there were three guys who DNF'd.  And even if you just cut my time in half, I would have beat two of the short course athletes.  I'm ok with that.  I did not only have a good time, I had a great time.  And I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Just not today.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

An honour bestowed

The other day I was reading a friend's blog and noticed a comment that said that she had been nominated for The Versatile Blogger award.  I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if someday someone made that comment about me."  Imagine my surprise when I read her blog today and found out that she had nominated me!  Here's what she wrote:

"Another fellow triathlete, Christian, mother of 4, student, and recent very good friend and my most feisty competitor, Terri writes about everything worth living about. She is thoughtful and because she is the newest blogger of the bunch I suggest, I am very excited about where she will end up. The real life Terri amazes me and inspires me and her blog is doing that too."

She made me cry...

Apparently there are some rules that accompany this award.  They are as follows:

1. Thank the one who gave me this award.
2. Share seven things about myself.
3. Present this honour onto 15 newly discovered bloggers.
4. Drop by and let my fifteen new friends know I love them.

I hereby fulfill my obligation to the best of my ability.
 
A Truly Versatile Lady
 
I'll never forget meeting Kim.  We were at a Tribalistic going away party for one of the coaches who was getting married and moving to England.  I hadn't been very active with Tribe, and was feeling a little sidelined at the party.  I found a couple of people to talk to, and then somehow at some point fell into conversation with Kim and Ed.  I liked her right off the bat.  She was fun, enthusiastic, and well, she was talking to me. 
 
I'm not sure exactly how we became friends.  I suppose we saw each other now and then, somehow became Facebook friends, and now she is one of the few people I feel completely safe telling anything to.  We are also competitors in the best sense of the word.  Kim spurs me on to do my best, and inspires me with her own training and racing.  She's also an inspiration to my blogging, which is still very young.  Reading her blog made me want to start my own, so being listed for this award was quite humbling.  Thank you Kim for doing so.  Oh, I have decided that, in honour of your nomination, I will write my next few blogs about the things you used to describe me.  :)
 
About Me
 
I once wrote a list of 25 random things about me.  I'm sure I could list seven more, but to be honest, it's after midnight and I don't feel like it.  So, like Kim, I'm going to take the easy way out and refer you here if you would like to read them.
 
15 Blogs???
 
If you look at my list of blogs I follow, you'll see that there are not very many.  Seven, in fact.  Certainly NOT 15.  So, I will nominate four.
 
spo(R)ting life Ok, legitimately I shouldn't nominate her back, but I really think that Kim is a very versatile blogger.  I love reading about her triathlon/cycling adventures, life and love adventures, and just her opinions on many different topics. 
 
the windswept sparrow I have only met Zoë once.  Well, possibly twice.  She is a friend of a friend who talked about her on a regular basis.  I had also seen her comments on his Facebook and had also seen her in some video work he had done.  He said that she was cool and I'd like her and I had the feeling he was right.  He was.  Zoë's blog focuses on the struggles of dealing with depression and anxiety, but encompasses life.  Her writing encourages many as she openly reveals many of the things that she has and is going through.  She can bring tears to my eyes with one blog and make my heart joyful with another. 
 
A wee bit of BS B - Belinda, and her initials are B.S.  :) - was my R.A. for my first year of college.  She is currently my boss.  She is also my friend.  B is someone who will fight fiercely for those she cares for.  I am always blown away that I am honored enough to be in that category.  She has an incredible heart for the people in the West End.  She is also a relatively new blogger, and I always enjoy seeing where life is taking her.  Or maybe rather, where she is taking life...
 
iNNERFREQ I have known V for years.  17 of them.  He has always been able to make me laugh hysterically, and has always been there with the best hugs when I needed them.  He is random and unique, and his writing reflects that.  I just love the way he looks at life.
 
As for Rule #4, well, I had better go do that I guess, so they can do with it what they wish.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Questions. And sometimes, Answers.

We ask many questions in a day. How are you? What would you like for breakfast? Where are you going? What are your plans for the weekend? Would you like fries with that? Most of our questions are standard and are followed by standard responses. But once in awhile, someone asks a real question, and for me, it always throws me off. Because it's just not expected.

Several months ago, at some point after coming back from ICTN triathlon training camp, I was spending the afternoon with a friend, and the subject of the camp came up. I told him, as I had told many others, that it was fantastic. "Tell me about it," he said. "What made it so great?" And then he sat quietly, in anticipation of my response. I found myself without words. People don't ask questions like that. Questions that actually mean something. That probe beyond the surface we like to live on. And then pause to listen, really listen, for the answer.

It reminds me of another friend who, out of the blue at church one Sunday, asked me how my spiritual life was. "Feel free to tell me that it's none of my business" followed. Maybe that's part of the problem. We think nothing should be anyone's business and are equally afraid of sticking our noses where they don't belong. I chose to answer honestly.

A couple of weeks ago, a co-worker I had just met asked me point blank if I had a man in my life, or if I was interested in anyone. It made me laugh. No pussy-footing around. I answered with the truth.

On Saturday, my son's father is getting married, and we are invited. I was asked yesterday if I had any feelings about the wedding. "Yes, I have lots of feelings about it." I would have gone further into it, though I struggled with two things: how to describe the feelings, and which were appropriate to share with the given individual. Dani came up to us and put a stop to the conversation, but my struggle continues. How do I describe these feelings I have? Which are appropriate to share, with whom, and which should I just bite my tongue about?

Sometimes these real questions don't need to be answered with words. But I think we should ask more of them.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Two Ladies, Some Tools, and a Shed

Move over Tim Taylor, we're gonna get 'er done!

Yes, there were times when we could have used "more power" but for the most part we did just fine with what we had.



Ok. Boxes moved from friends' garage to my house, and opened. Oh good! The instructions are lying on the top in box #1 - packed by a woman, perhaps?









Pieces all laid out, as instructed.


"Now...what comes next?"






All finished! Arrr, arrr, arrr!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

The End of a Branch

I realized this morning that our last name dies with my generation. Well, in our branch, anyway. My dad had four siblings - two older sisters and two younger sisters. My brother was similarly stuck between my sister and me. I never had any "Wolfe" cousins. In fact, I don't actually know any Wolfe relatives. They're out there. But I don't know them.

My brother and his wife have two girls, and unless there is some big surprise, they're done. Now, I know that one of their girls could choose to keep her last name and give her son the last name Wolfe, but in all reality, that's not very likely.

This realization made me wish, momentarily, that I had chosen to give Justin my maiden name. Choosing his last name was actually my most difficult decision, as far as names go. I ended up going with May so that we would all be the same, and I don't regret that decision. If he wants to change that in the future, that is perfectly fine with me. I suppose he could choose to change it to Wolfe and keep the name going, but somehow I don't think he will do that either. I suspect, that if he does opt to change it, he will go with Myhre. But that's a decision for another day.

Today, it looks like our Wolfe branch will soon be done, at least by last name. It makes me a little bit sad.