Rainman Triathlon

Once upon a time, I was training for a sprint triathlon and had a horrible bike crash that left me unconscious, covered in road rash, recovering from bone fractures in my wrist and face, and traumatized.  Thus ended my triathlon career… or so I thought!   I gave up triathlons for several years until I decided to compete in one last Sunday.

I recently decided to register for the Tri-Freaks Rainman Indoor Triathlon, which seemed like a good baby step to get my feet wet with triathlon-ing again.  It avoided the intimidating/freezing open water swim by hosting the swim in an indoor pool, and it replaced the scary road biking with cycling on a trainer. This looked like the race for me!

THE SWIM: The swim was the most disappointing part of the race for me.  I think I could have pushed myself more, and I swam more breaststroke than I should have done.  I think I got a bit nervous because I couldn’t hear or see anything (with foggy goggles and earplugs), so I started swimming breaststroke because it made me feel more in control.   However, it is clearly a slower stroke.  It was also a bummer because I was in the midst of a lap when they announced that we had a minute left, and I decided to go all out and complete an additional lap (out and back).  I was just two seconds away from the wall when they called time, so that entire lap (both ways) doesn't count.  I was kicking myself because I know I could have gone faster on the way out (which I completed using breaststroke).  Oh, well!  I now can strategize better for next time.   I also have to say I felt like I was going to vomit during most of the swim, so perhaps the old adage about eating 30 minutes prior to entering a pool is true!

THE BIKE RIDE: Once time was up for the swim, we quickly collected our things and changed for the run (as the clock doesn’t stop for transition times).  The volunteers were amazing in having all the bikes ready to go by the time we were out of the water.  I had rented a nice racing bike for the event, and I got on it pretty quickly.  I tried to find the right resistance that I could maintain for 30 straight minutes, and I think I maintained a pretty good pace (a little over 8 miles in 30 minutes).  I have to admit that I hadn’t trained at all for the biking, so I was satisfied with it. But boy—my bottom was definitely sore after sitting on that rock hard seat for so long!

THE RUN: My legs felt a little bit wobbly after I got off the bike.  I got outside fairly quickly for the run and discovered that it was a lovely, sunny day outside. I completed the 3 miles at a pace of 7:42 per mile as I darted in and out of people enjoying the sunshine at Green Lake.  I was pleased with the run, and (to be honest) 3 miles felt like nothing after all of the marathon training I’ve been doing.

THE RESULTS: I was very pleased with the outcome of the race -- I finished in the top 10 in my first triathlon! The distances completed in the 15-minute swim and 30-minute bike ride were converted to the time it would have taken an athlete to finish a true sprint distance triathlon (800 yard swim and 13 mile bike) and then added to the actual time it took that competitor to finish the 3.1-mile run.  My overall time was 1:26:53.  I finished in 38^th place out of 173 male/female participants, 10^th place out of all 114 female participants, and 6^th place out of the 45 female athletes in my age category.  Sixth place is not too bad!

It was quite the struggle to get the rented bike into my car!

Here I am with Sarah, Amina, and Rachel as we showcase our beautiful swim caps before the race started.  We all registered for the same start time to share the triathlon experience together.  I was able to cheer them on at the finish.

This provides a visual of what the bikes looked like as they were in the trainers at the side of the pool.  I am on the left end.

I felt very strong and happy as I finished the run.   Issac, his mother, and his brother were at the finish line to support us.  

I can finally say that I’m a triathlete!!  I don’t plan on doing any hardcore races ever, but  perhaps this fun indoor triathlon has provided me with the confidence and encouragement  I need to participate in more triathlons someday.   

Destination Long Runs

The last few months have been a flurry of activity.  Any time I look at my calendar and discover a small block of spare time, poof!  It soon disappears and is filled with another commitment.  Anyone who knows me understands that I enjoy being busy, but this full calendar has (once again) made it difficult to keep up with a stringent marathon training plan. 

I traveled twice to California in the last month: once to Los Angeles/Long Beach to visit Issac’s family and once to Sacramento to visit my sister.  I was very proud of the fact that I was able to squeeze in all long runs scheduled for these timeframes without interfering with the tours, events, gatherings, and explorations planned for these travels.  My legs got quite fatigued after such long/eventful days, and my shins are still on strike, but I was so pleased that I didn’t let these trips ruin my strict running schedule.

While in Long Beach, Issac and I completed a 17-mile run that took us along the waterfront.   We passed a crew regatta (which caused me to reminisce about my college rowing days!) and lots of beach panoramas.  There were several downpours during our stay, but, remarkably, it didn’t rain at all during our run!  The stormy clouds were slightly ominous as we looked out over the water, but we had a lovely run.  Here are photos that I took on our way:

My first run in Sacramento was perhaps one of the most amusing ones that I’ve ever had.  As luck would have it, I had mapped out a route that precisely mirrored the course for the Shamrock'n Half Marathon on the American River Trail.  I found myself out on the course ahead of the runners of this race (as I had started prior to their 8:00AM start time), and many of the police officers, course volunteers, and bands thought I was in the lead of the run!!  They cheered me on, and two of the bands started playing when they saw me coming up around the bend.  I was actually quite embarrassed but had no alternative route planned, so I kept running along and announcing whenever I got the opportunity, “I’m sorry, I’m not in the race!”  Some of the kids volunteering at one of the water stations responded, “You still are doing a great job!” and continued to cheer me on anyway.  It was very cute.

Eventually, I reached a point where the course turned onto crowded Sacramento streets with many spectators lined up on both sides of the road.  I clearly did not have a bib number, and I felt uncomfortable completing a training run through such large crowds.  I had only finished about 7 miles, but I called Erica and asked her to pick me up and take me home.  I enjoyed this taste of what it would be like to be out front in a race, but I was ready for the adventure to end!

I also realized that I would have to run the opposite direction of the Shamrockn Half’s 5K event for my last 9 miles.  I certainly didn’t feel up for having a “fish swimming upstream” experience, so that was another reason to end my run early.

My second attempt to complete an 18-mile run in Sacramento went much more smoothly. 

I passed the sunrise over this bridge on the American River Trail.

I encountered several vocal wild turkeys as I ran.

I had finished the entire run by 10:00AM, which gave us plenty of time for our programmed culinary walking tour of downtown Sacramento. 

I don’t have any more trips planned within the 6 weeks between now and my second full marathon, but I’m looking forward to many other scenic and memorable runs!

Lake Sammamish Half Marathon

Ladies and gentleman, I have proof that I am getting faster!  I completed the Lake Sammamish Half Marathon in 1:44:46 on Saturday.  For frame of reference, my time for the same race in 2013 was 1:58:22.  That’s an improvement of 13 minutes, 36 seconds.  Not only is it a personal record, it’s also validation that my hard work is paying off!

The weather cooperated perfectly for the race.  It was a beautiful sunrise as we drove over to Redmond at 6:00AM (lovely shades of purple, pink, yellow, and orange over the water and mountains), and it didn’t start raining until we were driving home afterward.  The course was flat (hooray!), and it took us from Marymoor Park to Lake Sammamish State Park with pretty scenery surrounding us for most of the way.   About 30% of the run was on gravel surface, and 70% was on pavement. 

The Lake Sammamish Half Marathon came right in the midst of marathon training for me—with my most recent long run spanning 17 miles.  I’ve been having shin pain recently, but my shins gave me surprisingly little trouble during the run.  My legs (especially my quads) started to feel tired near the end of the race, but I felt really good overall.  Issac and I ran the first 9 miles (or so) together, which is another sign that I’m getting faster because he used to leave me in his dust!  My fastest miles were 6 and 7 (7:52 and 7:54, respectively), and my slowest mile was 12 (8:34). 

Here are my stats for the race: official finish time= 1:44:46, pace per mile= 8:00 (8-minute-miles right on the nose!); place in my division= 48 out of 426; place out of female finishers= 110 out of 1,150; and place overall= 327 out of 1,785 finishers.  Rumor has it that the course was 0.2 miles too short, which would mean my actual pace would be 8:07 per mile.  This would still be a 13.1-mile PR for me by several minutes, so I’ll take it!


Here I am at the crowded start line, excited to get moving!

Race photos are never flattering (how do they always manage to capture images at the perfect angle to make everyone look wiiiiiiiiide?!), but I like this picture of me and Issac because we are completely in unison with our stride.   Look at our feet-- we are in sync!



I was very content with the race.  In fact, I was so happy at the finish line that I snapped a picture of the computer screen displaying my official finish time.

Perhaps I’ll make Lake Sammamish an annual tradition.  Who knows—maybe next year I’ll have increased even more in speed?!