Trifunster

I’m hurt and cannot blog.  I hope to be back.

If you’ve read the blog or heard the podcast you know that GI problems when I run are fairly regular.  I have found a few techniques, like eating little, eating very early, etc. but have never mastered the perfect running stomach, particular in the evening.

Today was one of those days.  It hit me about 9 minutes into the run and I toughed it out until at 20 minutes, with no potty in site, that I was in trouble.  So, I did what I’ve read about, I did a bush pitstop.  This was drastic but I had absolutely no choice. 

We were running on the dike in Richmond and there isn’t much cover but I spotted a concrete barricade and I could hide under it.

I had to make another stop but used the public restrooms.

Breathing not quite back to normal, as normal as it gets, but 40 minute run done!

I had a severe asthma attack just as I was heading out for today’s run.  I was grounded to the sofa. 

I pouted all day!

I have 2:45 on the schedule and as I head out I realize it is spitting a little rain.  What is this all about?  I just watched the Weather Network and they said no rain until this afternoon. Come on guys, I need you to get this right!

Anyhow I get rolling and it’s spitting so not too bad.  Until I hit Delta port and got dumped on.  I was soaked.  And I wasn’t dressed for it because I foolishly believed the weather dude. 

I had planned to meet up with the South Delta Tri Club for the last 1:15 of the ride but I gave up.  I didn’t want to be out any more.  I was drenched and unhappy and getting cold.  And I am never cold!

I made a management decision to pack it in after 1:30 and pray it was nicer in the afternoon and finish off the rest of the ride later. 

I didn’t want to split the ride because I knew it would be tough to get back out there.  We would have our grandson and I wouldn’t want to miss time with him plus there was a chance it was still raining in the afternoon.

But it wasn’t raining.  It was gusty windy but generally dry.  I got the rest of the ride in.  It’s the first time I have split a ride workout but it made sense today.

MUSHY BLOG ALERT!

I had a one hour steady ride on the schedule and planned a route to my parents for dinner.  Proper reward for a week of solid workouts.  Plus we had the grandson and I would get a little more time with him.  Extra rewards!

As I was riding my bike I thought, you know, in just one week it’s the Delta Tri, my very first triathlon.  In 2005 I became a triathlete, out of nowhere and now in 2010 I am going to try to do Ironman. 

How did this ever happen???

Riding today over familar routes I approached the Arthur Drive overpass.  In 2005 I used to almost cry when approaching it, wondering if I would have the energy to get up.  I made excuses to avoid it.  Now it’s just an overpass along the way.

Doing the hour ride was just a light day and I never believed I would be able to ride that long and was happy that first triathlon was only 20k which I could do in under an hour.  Of course, I had that 5k to run but figured it would somehow get done.  And it did.

I thought back to the clinic I went to where I was introduced to all these fun triathletes (yes, per my podcast, I hated them all, but that is long in the past) and my first coach, Neil.

Neil will be out watching on Saturday and I have thanked him for all he did for little old me.  I’m never going to be the star athlete that coaches can brag about but he changed my life.  What he did will always be special to me.

I did warn you this was a mushy blog.  Imagine that I actually did the ride thinking about all of this stuff.  Funny what runs through our minds during training.  Today it wasn’t the pain but the journey.

Here I was riding on a fancy tri bike, clipless pedals, wearing the club kit, in the aero position.  Who would have ever imagined.

And as I thought about next Saturday’s race I remembered how nervous I was.  Would I finish?  How could I possibly finish? Am I insane to be thinking I could do this???

Any yet I did manage to finish the race.

This year’s Delta tri is like a training day and I’m not nervous.  My time is probably not going to be any faster but I don’t have jitters, I know what to expect and I will enjoy myself.

This memory is very important as my goal of Ironman Canada gets closer.  I am terrified of the race.  Will I finish?  How can I possibly finish? Am I insane to be thinking I can do this???

Hope so!

I now have a run on my Thursday schedule and this is difficult to schedule as I see my grandson on Thursday evenings and he is only 6 months so is unpredictable for runs in the stroller so I’ve decided to try and run at lunch.

This involved the logistics of bringing running gear to work.  Changing into running clothes, get the run in, shower and eat lunch. 

The run was complete crap.  First, I couldn’t get the Garmin to register the satellites because of the buildings, I guess.  I gave up and just started running but could tell it was off as in the end it said I ran 10k in 45 minutes which didn’t happen.

I ran along the seawall in Stanley Park.  It was nice to see so many people out walking and running.  The weather was beautiful, hot, in fact.  I just wanted to enjoy it but I felt sluggish and tired and my breathing was very laboured.

I dug deep and did the run.  No idea how I went but for a couple of the kms my pace registered normal so I may have felt I wasn’t moving but apparently I was. 

I headed back into the office shower and was just about to undress when I realized I had grabbed my gym bag but not my work clothes.  Wouldn’t that have been nice to have showered and then had nothing to put on.  At work!

But, this was averted and I headed back up to my office and got my clothes and headed back down to the shower.  Phew.

But no, something was missing.  After my shower I went to get dressed and couldn’t find my underwear.  I had worn trishorts for the run so removed my underwear to avoid chaffing and now I couldn’t find them.  I emptied my bag, went through all my clothes, both workout and work clothes and no underwear. 

Where did they go?  I have no idea.  I traced all my steps and they were gone.  I am wondering if I dropped them along the way somewhere.  I feel very bad for whoever found them. 

I had spare socks in my gym bag but that was it.  I have since discovered that commando is cool and so I feel less awkward.  But just a little less.

And I thought the run was the disaster.

Wednesday club rides are repeats of the UBC hill.  I’ve never joined the club for these rides and so today was the day I found out what they were all about.  I quizzed everyone I could to ask how hard it was.  As this is a major hill training location I was worried I wasn’t fit enough for this hill.  Oh well, what’s the worse that can happen.  It’s not like anyone expects me to be good or anything.

Off we started on the ride and we park at 41st and Camosun and ride up Marine Drive.  Immediately there is a problem as it’s a slight incline.  With my asthma it is helpful to start easy but this is going to push me more than is good for my breathing.  But, what can I do so off I go.  It took about 25 minutes to ride to the hill and down was very fast and I braked a lot because I was unfamilar with road.  Seemed to about a minute to get down but it was longer than that.

One of the coaches adjusted my quick release as it was not positioned properly and up the hill I went.  Funny thing is I kept waiting for the hard part.  It was steep in spots but not as steep as other hill climbs and so I was surprised that I got up and sailed down and went up again. 

Ha!

The best part for me was not only was there lots of clubmates to see as we all went up and down at our own paces but it seemed like the entire biking and triathlon community was there and the energy made me feel great to be part of this awesome group.

The ride back is very cushy as it is almost all downhill.  I kept my cadence up and my average for the entire ride, including hills, was 81.  Not too bad.

Looking forward to next week to do more repeats!

Yup, I’m in the pool and swimming once again on a Wednesday morning.  This swim was uneventful and all I can say is it was done.

All my perfect plans were out the window when my work had an unscheduled meeting at 5pm and I usually leave at 4pm.  As the meeting was only to be “15 minutes” I knew there was little chance of that happening.  Five people cannot meet for only 15 minutes.  It’s takes us that long to show up.  I held out a glimmer of hope that if that 15 minutes came true then I could race home, change and maybe get there on time or at least run a few minutes late but since there was only 40 minutes on the schedule I would join up with the group for post-run coffee.

When you read the title of this post you are thinking, she made it.  Wrong!  Didn’t get out until 6pm.  Typical “15 minute” meeting. 

Running with the club was out but I got home, changed and ran from home.  I was disappointed to be missing the club socializing but some days are like that.

So, what’s magic?  Well, while I was running I kept looking at my pace and thought to myself, I’ve be fairly consistent with my training and bit by bit the pace gets a little faster.

It’s like magic!

After today’s run I headed right to the pool for a 1 hour swim.  I knew that if I waited there was no chance I would make it to the pool.  I had missed a bike this week due to illness and so I didn’t want to miss anything else.

So swim I did.