Bronze at Bala!

My second triathlon of the season, and my placing improved!

Bala is beautiful and the day was perfect. I did not sleep in this time and my younger son was with me, which I always appreciate -- he's been my cheering squad since my first tri, runs with me on the course and has only missed two ... which happened to be my last two. It was nice to have him back.

My goal this time was to try to improve transition. When I began triathlons I made a conscious decision to not worry much about transition but to make sure I was comfortable going into the next leg. Now I've done a whole bunch I've gotten faster but still not where I should be. My goal was to have each transition come in under 2 minutes.

So, the swim -- wave starts, and thanks to my age and gender I was one of the later starts. I don't mind that though -- I'd rather be later than first, frankly. I tried but failed to find someone to draft, so I was on my own. At one point I saw someone who looked to be struggling and called out to make sure he was okay, and he said he was, so I continued on. The first half of the swim was moderate. The last half was much better, and it had nothing to do with current but was because of my breathing patterns. There's a way I breathe when I train which works very well for me but just doesn't work in races. You'd think I'd figure this out at some point and stop trying to do it during the race! Next time. Once I settled into the proper racing breathing pattern I sped up quite a bit. My swim time was 15:36 for 750m (including the short run up) so it was pretty close to my last race.

T1 went pretty well, I thought. Took off the wetsuit, shoved a bit of banana in my mouth, threw my helmet and shoes on and went running off. My time was 1:57, so I made my under 2 minutes goal!

I kept hearing about how challenging the bike course was, but I found it pretty good. Again, I didn't do quite as well at the beginning as the rest, and in retrospect I think that was because I kept hearing how challenging it was and was waiting for the big hills! They never really came and it was honestly just a nice ride. A couple of guys passed me at the beginning and then I passed dozens, especially in the last quarter. I did think my time had been better than it was, but I did 30k in 59:26 including the run up/back from transition. One of the faster women's times.

T2 I thought I might not have beat my 2 minutes because as it turned out I hadn't done my helmet up properly and couldn't get it undone. I had to somehow slip the strap over my head (not sure how I managed that) but as it turned out T2 was 1:31 -- pretty good!

But as soon as I started running, I knew what was coming. I'd been really, really dumb the night before and ate some curry and rice. Normally this food is totally fine, but running ... er ... churns things up in the digestive system. The gas pains began, and definitely affected my running. My son was waiting for me and it was so great to have him there through the run. I was pretty sure I didn't have a great run time and I was right -- 42:36 for 7.5 km. I should have been at least two and more like three or four minutes faster. And since the woman who came in second was less than two minutes faster than me, that hurt a little! Next time I have to listen to myself when I tell myself not to eat something before a race. The woman who came in first was about 15 minutes faster (yes, really!) so I wouldn't have had a chance at that position.

Anyway, I did feel I'd had a good race and anxiously awaited the results. I was thrilled to see I'd come in 3rd, and my son was very proud of me. Then I was afraid there might not have been very many people in my age group -- it's not nearly as good coming in 3rd out of 5 as it is coming in 3rd out of 12, for example. As it turned out, there were 17 in my group so I felt even better. And overall I came in 21st out of 150 women. I was pretty pleased with that too, at nearly 45.

Onward and upward, I guess now I'm shooting for second. Wish me luck!

New Routes, Roads, and Roving

I have been struggling lately to get out and train, I seem to have lost my motivation for getting the heart rate up and pushing my limits. Perhaps it's because there aren't really any races coming up that excite me, I should probably sit down, look at the calendar and really put together a plan, but instead I seem to be drawn to doing new routes, getting out of the monotony of my weekly schedule and go long distances and explore new areas.

One of the things I like best about riding is the distance that you can cover and what you see by bike that you don't see by car. This past Saturday I mapped out a route along roads I had never been on. The goal was to do 130 km; however, due to construction and the slow going on the 10 km of gravel that I found myself on, I ended up completing 107 km in the time I had to ride before getting back to prepare for a dinner party. The wind was blowing on the way out, I wasn't riding very fast, but I enjoyed every second of my ride and would have been quite content to ride all day.

There were no fewer than 5 towns or hamlets that heard my wheels woosh by and saw my pearly whites as I was smiling the entire time. I started in Oakville and rode past a garage sale at the church in Limestone, found myself in Terra Cotta waving at the volunteers for the "Garden Tour", my eyes darted from one cute house to another in Glen Williams and I made a note to return and spend time in the galleries, down Main Street in Georgetown I used all my will power to not stop in the bakery or coffee house where I have spent time enjoying a treat in the past. And the wind was at my back as I headed down the familiar roads on my way home. What a great way to celebrate a Saturday.

Once a month the women's group that I meet on Thursdays meet on Saturday for a long ride. The picture is of the cafe in Glen Williams and the plan is to return on July 31 and stop in to refuel with the gang - I can't wait!

Hot Hot Hot Water Water Water

How are you enjoying the weather we've been having in Ontario?! For those in other parts of the world, it has been stellar hot here, 40 degrees celsius and I have been loving it, but with hot weather comes the need to hydrate, hydrate, and if you are exercising outside, hydrate some more.

So here are some tips to surviving the heat.
* Drink more water during the day, before you exercise, pre-hydrate
* Take more water, or money if you will be near stores, then you think you will need. It is recommended that you drink a water bottle every hour, so when it is hot plan to drink 1.5 to 2 bottles.
* The other option to point 2 is to plan your route around a community centre or some other building with a water fountain so you can re-fill your bottles.
* If you like cold beverages put your bottles in the freezer half-full the night before you exercise. Then top them up with water before you head out to exercise.
* I prefer drinking water that is the same temperature as me to keep my temperature constant rather than drinking cold water.
* Take a bottle with an electrolyte drink or electrolyte supplement of some sort such as e-Load Discs, especially if you sweat a lot and notice white marks on your helmet straps or hat.
* Drink more water than you normally do after you are done exercising, especially if you feel a headache coming on.
leave your wrists exposed and turned in to the wind, or blow on them to cool yourself down.

Hope some of these tips help.

Chin Picnic

A few years ago I raced in the Chin Picnic. I had been excited about the race, it was a Criterium, meaning it was a 1 km loop at Exhibition in Toronto and would be fast. I love Crits, they are short, generally under an hour, and full of action. Usually, they are so much fun that I forget about how hard I'm working and get caught up in the tactics of the peloton, but that's not what happened in 2008, that year I got dropped early and eventually pulled before the end of the race. I had never been more disappointed with myself, it was just a bad day with lack of training leading in to it.

So this year I was ready for some sort of redemption. I still haven't been training like I used to, or would like to, but was feeling good heading in to this year's race and had the plan to simply do the best I could, ride smart, corner well, stay out of the wind, and do the best I could. There was a good field of women with all the categories making up a field of 33 and I started out feeling good. I was moving through the pack to be in the position I wanted to, but wasn't aggressive enough to hold the wheels I wanted to and would slip backward and have to use unnecessary energy to move back where I wanted to. I saw all the attacks as they were happening and positioned myself well to react without having to over exert myself, but then an attack went that was just too fast for me and I saw 14 riders ride past me, leaving me in no mans land.

I rode hard by myself for several laps until the chase group behind me caught up and I rode with a group of about 7 riders, always staying in the top 3 and doing my share of work at the front. With 5 laps to go I started planning where I would initiate my sprint for the finish line with the plan to be the first one in my group to cross the last line. The last lap went as I thought it would and a few women in my pack initiated an early sprint, then I jumped and started chasing them down, but one women was a bit too strong for me and I came second in my group, top half out of all the women, and I won my category. Turns out I won $100, some cool prizes, and made new friends, not a bad way to spend Canada Day!

Tosca talks about her first triathlon!

At the age of 51, Tosca Reno wanted to challenge herself so she signed herself up for an Iron Goddess triathlon. Watch as this Eat-Clean Diet rider (and the author of our famed series) recounts her race experience just two days earlier on youtube.com/eatcleandiet.

QUICK UPDATE! Two 1sts and a 4th!

Eat-Clean Diet Women's Cycling Team racers Tosca Reno and Rachel Corradetti just returned home from Michigan after grabbing 1st place finishes in their sprint age categories at the 2010 Iron Goddess Triathlon!

Back home in Ontario, Eat-Clean Diet racer Wendy Morley (see her race report below!) finished in 5th place (final race results say 4th place now) in the Welland Triathlon.

Full reports to follow!

Congratulations Ladies!

Maybe leaving late suits me!

So today was my first triathlon of the season. It's what I call a long sprint -- 750m swim/30k bike/7.5k run. I only signed up for it on Monday because it's extraordinarily difficult to plan around kids' soccer, husband's work, other commitments, other races and find triathlons that I can actually get to. Welland Ontario by default became my first of the season.

Now, I don't live near Welland. According to Google the drive should take 2 hours and 23 minutes if I take the 407, and about 2 1/2 hours if I take the 403/QEW. The race began at 8:30 this morning and the cutoff for getting your number was 8:15. Because it's a triathlon (3 events) you have to plan your little place out pretty carefully with everything you'll need for all three: bike, helmet, bike shoes, running shoes, water, nutrition, sunscreen, sunglasses, etc etc. Plus each triathlon is (obviously) set up very differently regarding where transition is relative to swim and all that. I like to get there quite early so I can see ahead of time where I'm swimming, the distance and path to transition and all that. I was planning to get up at 4:15, leave the house by 5:00 at the latest and get there by 7:30. That was the plan.

Thank God I got everything pretty much ready last night, because at 6:15 my husband woke me up, saying "why are you still here?" YIKES!!!! I jumped out of bed, said "OH NO!! There's no way I can even make it now!" And then I remembered our clocks are just a wee bit fast. I said, putting on my outfit that I'd thankfully laid out the night before: "Well, I'm going to try and make it."

My husband made me a tea with warm water while I threw on my clothes and ran for the car, three bananas in hand.

I'm not much of a speeder, rarely doing more than a few over the limit, but I pushed it a wee bit today. Got about 10 k from my house when I realized I had not taken my bottles pre-filled with water, oj and salt to bring on my bike ride. Nothing I can do about that now. Looked at my gas gauge. 1/4 tank. It might bring me there.

Decided to take the 407 after all to avoid the mess that always clogs up Oakville and to pick up the pace a bit. Oops! Got messed up by the sign for QEW (thinking QEW Niagara) and ended up getting onto the QEW right before Oakville! Thankfully at that time of the morning there was no traffic jam.

I'm heading down the QEW making pretty good time (oh, and by the way, I was unsure about the cutoff time to pick up your number. I thought it might have been 8) but the minutes are just clicking by. I noticed that my gas gauge was looking pretty low and sure enough, the gas light came on. I debated for a couple of exits whether I'd have enough to get there but figured I'd better pop into a gas station.

The gas station had these 15-packs of water on sale so I grabbed one of those and a bottle of OJ and headed back on the road. The gas station guy told me Welland was 20-30 minutes from there, depending how fast you drive. My clock said 7:45.

Raced toward St. Catherines, finally got on the 406 and raced toward Welland. Thankfully I'd printed out directions the night before too, or I'd have been totally lost. Got to Welland and eventually got the right exit, and then tried finding parking. Every lot was full! I turned around, looking, and almost parked at the hospital and then asked someone who told me of another spot around the corner.

Parked the car, ran to transition (not even knowing where it was!) then found I had to go inside this building to get my number before I could bring the bike in. I kicked off my sandals and ran barefoot into the arena, got my number, ran back to transition, got set up, pulled on my wetsuit up to my waist and headed to the river.

The swim was started time-trial fashion every couple of seconds, and people were already swimming when I got there. I found my spot and could finally calm down for a minute, but I was sweating like crazy! I was with some very nice women and we chatted while moving closer to the water. By the time I got close to the water I'd cooled down enough to pull on the wetsuit, which gave me just enough time to put my goggles on before entering and swimming. The cool water felt lovely!

I felt my swim was pretty good. I was cautious getting out of the water and going (quite far) to the transition area, because I've had some issues running out of the water lately with low blood sugar .... and I definitely had low blood sugar this morning. The distance from the swim to transition was substantial, so I walked a bit until I knew I was okay and then jogged the rest of the way.

Getting on the bike was fine, made sure I had my timing chip (If you read an earlier post, you'll know why I said that!) and set off on the bike. My speed seemed okay although when I got to the 5k mark I said "what? Only 5k?" I had the same reaction to the 10k. I had to work to stay positive. 1/3 down! I told myself. It was drizzly, which was not bad. Was passed by a few who looked very strong. Saw a couple of people at the side of the road changing tires, which made me wince. At turnaround I decided to really work hard the last half to keep up my speed, and I passed lots of people, especially in the last 5k. Only trouble was that I'd chosen not to wear bike shorts since they're impossible to run in, but the shorts I chose were bunching up around the bend in my hip joint, which became quite uncomfortable (esp since they're wet). But soldiered through. Spent about 2k riding inches from a cement truck, which was not fun.

Felt like I made pretty good time on the bike and did not have the least problem going from bike to run ... considering I've really not been doing bricks I was surprised how easy it was. Lost a little time in transition because I had a pebble in my shoe. Then the run. To be totally honest I had a hard time on the run. By the time I got to turnaround I felt like I'd been running far longer than 3.75k or whatever it was at that point. But I just concentrated on my breathing and forced myself to pass people. No one at all passed me till near the end when two separate men in their 30s passed me. I had to really push myself to the finish, and at the finish line just downed water and rested, leaning on the table for a couple of minutes. I felt ill, like I might throw up, but I knew it was my low blood sugar, so headed off in search of the food. As soon as I began eating I felt better. Walked around eating for a while and then allowed myself to sit, feeling pretty good about my race on the whole.

Eventually went and packed up my stuff at transition and then found out the results were up. I came in 5th in my age group, which is the best I've done yet. I was really hoping for a sub-two-hour time but I got an achingly close 2:00:35! Darned pebble. I'm choosing to look at the long run between swim and transition and telling myself I actually did sub 2 hours! A number of women came up to me to tell me how great I'd done on both the run and the cycling. My average cycling speed was 33 point something, which is not shabby in a triathlon. I did the run in 39 minutes, which is a 5.15-minute km -- not at all bad for me.

I will never intentionally show up seconds before a race again, but in this case it seemed to work okay for me! I will post a picture when I get one.

UPDATE -- according to posted results, I actually came in 4th. One step away from a medal!