You Should Tri It....

Swim, Bike, Run...

You Should "Tri" it. 

Get it?

This was my 3rd year doing the Desert Grande Triathlon in Casa Grande.  More and more people we know are doing these!  We talked my parents into trying it this year, and we had some people from our ward and stake there.  There aren't a lot of Tri's on Saturdays, so us mormon folks flock to them when we can find them.  Here's me and my mom before the race.  (No, my teeth aren't that white... I was totally playing around with photoshop on this picture... took 15-20 years off both our faces!  I figured my mom wouldn't mind!)

Taylor is a natural Triathlete.  Really.  Of course we expected him to do well on the swim.  And the run.  But the bike?  He only went out on one training ride with me, and he wasn't even working very hard.  After a year's worth of cycling, Eric still only beat Taylor on the bike by 2 minutes.  I wish I could have watched him for the whole race.  He really has a gift for this.  I think we are going to have get him a road bike.  He took first overall in the swim and also took first in his age division.  He has a title to defend.  Crazy, huh?

Since Taylor was first out of the pool, I instructed him to get the camera out of my bag once he was done, and surprisingly, he remembered!  He did get some pics of Eric coming across the finish line.  He got a tri suit on sale at REI and we've had fun teasing him by calling it the "unitard".  I think we may have given him a complex.

Eric and Taylor ran with me the last quarter mile or so.  Kind of like a police escort.  I think I deserve the title "most improved" - I took 10 minutes off last year's time!!!  I owe it all to Marla (the spin instructor at the gym) and ChiRunning. 

Mom and Dad finished strong as well.  They were pooped, but we were all proud of them for doing it!  They were both really happy with their times.

Now, I need to do some serious searching... I'd like to find 2-3 more of these to do each year... that way I don't slack off on the training and I keep it going year round.  Triathlons are definitely addicting!

Swim... Bike... Run!

A week and a half ago, Eric, Taylor and I participated in a Sprint Triathlon. We signed Taylor up at the last minute, once we knew he wasn't going to the State Swim Meet. He wasn't super excited about it. In the week preceding the big event, he didn't go out for one run, or get on his bike once. He kept telling us he was ready, but we thought he was going to be in for a rude shock come race day.

Setting up Transition...

The swim portion is in an Olympic sized pool, so the starts are staggered. Taylor got in the water 2nd. We got in the water 40 minutes later. By the time we got to transition to go on the bike, he was already running. By the time I came back from the bike to start the run, he was finished!
Eric and Taylor both did really well. Taylor finished in 1:09:05 minutes. Here is it broken down: Swim 6:08, Bike 41:17, Run 21:40. He took 1st in his age division (15 and under). He was riding a super beastly mountain bike that weighs like 50 pounds and has super knobby tires. Think what he could do with some training and a road bike!

Eric finished in 1:13:13. He did amazing too! Swim: 8:52, Bike 42:11, Run 22:10. He finished 16th in his age division... Not bad for a first timer, eh?

I almost bailed out of this one. I had started a headcold and was sick and tired. I didn't want to go, but Eric talked me into just coming and watching. Well, once I got there, I decided to go for it. After all, I'd already registered, and I'd been planning on this for a year, plus I wanted that t-shirt, bad! And they give you the shirt when you cross the finish and turn in your timing chip... so I couldn't cheat and get the shirt. Since I felt so tired and crummy, I didn't have any time goals... I just wanted to finish without having an asthma attack or passing out. My total time was 1:33:29 (15 seconds faster than last year). What made the difference was the bike... thanks to Marla and spinning class every Monday morning, I was so better prepared for the bike this year. Without really pushing myself very hard I shaved 6 minutes off my biking time! (An added bonus was the slicks Eric installed for me earlier in the week.)

Overall it was a great experience and I'm so glad we all did it! Eric is totally pumped to do another one, and we may have found the perfect sport for Taylor. Taylor was incredibly sore for about 5 days after the race because of his lack of training, so he knows now that he can never again just roll out of bed and say, "I think I'll do a Tri today!" and not pay the consequences!

Desert Grande Triathlon

Saturday morning was clear and cool and most importantly calm (no wind) ... we headed down to Casa Grande for their annual Desert Grande Triathlon/Duathlon. Here is my bike with my friend, Hillary's bike... we were in the minority as far as bikes go... most people had super streamlined road bikes... maybe next year....

Hillary and I just before we lined up to start... I did the Triathlon, she did the Duathlon (torture in my opinion... running, then biking, then running AGAIN!) I'd much rather swim!

The first leg... swimming... my favorite part! As prepared as I thought I was, the swim was much harder than I anticipated! Swim time: 9:33. ( I thought I could do it in 8:30, but I've been swimming in a 25 yard pool and this was a 50 meter pool, so my estimations were a bit off I guess....) I was really trying to save my legs during the swim, so I gave it everything I had with my arms and shoulders... the end result of that was that I could barely pull myself out of the water at the end. I was shocked at how hard it was to get out of the pool!

No pictures of me on the bike, which is just as well, because this was my weakest link. I didn't have biking clothing on, didn't have a road bike and didn't even have toe clips for my shoes! Oh well, I still had fun, although I was wishing I had my ipod or someone to talk to... 10 miles riding solo gets boring and tedious after about 15 minutes. (I missed you on this stretch, Maureen! Remember how fun the bike was when we did the Pleasanton Tri all those many moons ago?!?)
I didn't pass one person on the biking portion of my race... which can be disheartening, but thankfully I was prepared for that reality. I blame it on my fat tire handicap.... My bike time 54:25 (this includes the transition from swim and dropping off the bike to start the run).

The bike to run transition is BRUTAL! I had practiced it, but it still didn't prepare me for the real thing! I used Eric's garmin GPS watch to keep track of my milage and pace and it was an absolute LIFESAVER because I could easily tell how much father I would have to go before I got to the end... here I am just crossing the finish.... I was sooooo dang happy to see that finish sign, I can't even tell you! My run time was 29:45! Based on my treadmill training, I thought my best possible run time would be about 33 minutes, so I was dang happy about this one!

My overall time was 93:43!!! I was estimating 105 minutes, so I was very happy to come in twelve minutes under the expectation! Many thanks to Eric for getting up on the crack of dawn on Saturday to drive me down and cheer for me and take pictures and to Hillary for sticking around long enough to cheer for me when I crossed the finish line! I wish I could have done the same for her, but she finished before me!

I've come to a very interesting conclusion about myself... I have to be motivated by something to workout. When I don't have a "reason" to go to the gym, I can find all kinds of reasons to talk myself out of it. When I sign up for a race, then believe me, I'm motivated to get my butt to the gym and get prepared. (I have the same issue with cleaning my house... I often invite people over because it is about the only motivator to get myself to get it clean!)

Now I'm going to attempt something I've never tried... Eric and I are going to sign up for a 10K run on Thanksgiving morning in Mesa... I've never been able to run much past 3 miles, so this will be quite the adventure for me. Only 3 and 1/2 weeks to really ramp up my running, but I think for the first time in my life, I can actually do this! And, I've finally got Eric excited about trying out the Triathlon circuit... he was really wishing he had signed up with me on Saturday morning!

Lofty Ambitions

I blame the designers on Project Runway for my current predicament. Watching that show over the last 2 months has given me the itch to do some sewing... My favorite designers Korto and Leanne make it look so darn easy and even FUN! This project has been anything but fun....

I've spent two whole days sewing Megan's dress and this is all I have to show for my efforts:
Yes, it's coming along, but I spent wasted 4 hours on Monday sewing the bodice and back pieces in all wrong. It wasn't until I put it on Megan Monday evening that I realized my mistake. So, I had to pick it all apart and start over again on Tuesday morning.... I still need to do the back closure, hem the sleeves and bottom and hand stitch some decorative trim all over it...

I haven't even started on the boys' tunics yet. I'm praying that they go smoothly and I won't do anything really stupid because I don't have any more time for costly mistakes!


On the exercise front, I do have better news. I've started working on "brick training" this week. (Brick Training is when you train for two events back to back as you would do them in the race.) Monday, I rode the bike for 45 minutes and then got on the treadmill. I managed to squeak out 2 miles before my knees screamed, "enough!" and Tuesday, I swam for 20 minutes and then got on the bike and rode for 30 minutes. The swim to bike transition isn't hard at all... maybe it's because you have a buffer zone in there where you spend time putting on your shoes. The bike to run transition is KILLER... so that will be my main focus over the next week. Today is my "off" day for training, so I'm going to spend 30 minutes with my Yoga DVD and then hit the sewing machine again.

Solitary Confinement

Reality has come crashing down on me this weekend.

I have my triathlon in 2 weeks and I'm not nearly as prepared as I want to be. (I don't want to be the last one in my age group crossing the finish....)

AND....

I've started making 3 Halloween Costumes from scratch... which didn't seem bad until I realized that we have our Ward Halloween Party in SIX days.... so one whole week of sewing time I thought I had to work on these costumes just vanished into thin air!

So, if you try to call me this week and keep getting the machine, it's probably because I'm either at the gym working out, or I'm at the sewing machine working like mad! Leave me a message, and I'll get back to you after next Saturday night!

Wish me Luck! I'm going to need it to pull this off!

Motivation

I love to exercise, but I'm having serious motivation issues lately. While the kids are home, I am totally content to stay and home and hang out with them, not get my backside to the gym. So, I heard that in November there are a couple triathlons in the area and I've decided I'm going to do one! I did a sprint "tri" 4 years ago with my good friend, Maureen, and LOVED it! We signed up for it because we knew if we paid good money to be in a race, we'd get our backsides out to train. And we did... but mostly we trained so we didn't embarrass ourselves in a public place where people are generally considered athletes! :) (For my Bay Area friends, it was the "Tri for Fun" series in Pleasanton at Shadowcliffs. I highly recommend it!) So, I've decided I need motivation like that again! This triathlon is in the "sprint" category also and it's totally doable for me by November. The swim is 1/4 mile (it will be 8 laps in a 50 meter pool - sweeeeet, no swimming with the nasty fish this time!), a 12 mile bike ride and a 2 mile run. Easy, right?

This week I bought a yoga DVD and got out my old Pilates DVD that I love. My goal is to do 20 minutes of yoga every morning and 20-30 minutes of pilates every evening to help get me limber and toned. That's always one of my biggest failings in exercise... now, I just need to get back to the gym and get going on the treadmill! And now that I've told all my cyber friends my plan, I will have to follow through, right?!?