Tower Triathlon Recap

My goals for this race were pretty simple. I was hoping to finish my swim under 11 mins, the bike under 45 and the run under 25. Based on my "training" for this race, my goals were realistic and my overall goal time was anywhere under 1:25 haha.. so yeah, I mainly just wanted to see what my base was.

Training
My triathlon training consisted of:

Swim: 2 or 3 times a week. Average time was ~15mins and I would usually just swim 400-500yds freestyle.

Bike: Commute ~15mi (roundtrip) 4 or 5 times a week to work. I was able to do 2 time trials before the tri.. an 11mile workout steady pace.. and a 20miler a weekend before.

Run: whenever I found time... lol usually 1 or 2 times a week.

What I didn't practice at all... was transition. Womp womp.. I was freaking out the day before the race, youtubing techniques that would get me in and out of transition the quickest.. and it worked for the most part.

Race Morning
I arrived bright and early and set up my transition area an hour before the race started. It felt so cool seeing my bike ready to go.

I stood there for a little bit... trying to visualize my plan once my bike and things were set up. I walked from the pool.. to transition.. and around to make sure I would know where my bike was. I also tried to walk from transition to the bike course.. I was barefoot so I didn't make it too far out. Even then I noticed the course was not well-marked. At least, not well enough for me. Oops. I had looked at the map.. but it was just hard visualizing it in my head when my nerves were through the roof.

Swim

I was in wave 8 out of 11(?) so I had a while to start.. I went and got marked up and waited with JV on the side of the pool watching the first waves go off. My heart was pounding... swimming competitively wasn't my favorite thing to do. I remember nervous I would get whenever they timed me in high school for my lifeguarding course... ahh. I swam enough to know I could do it. It was my waves turn. I jumped in the pool and had my timer/counter with me. I was so use to swimming with this thing, that I had to bring it with me today. The horn went off and I sprinted off the wall. By the 8th length I was starting to get tired... my breathing was off. I took a 2 second break. 8 more lengths and youre out of the pool Luz...

I heard JV screaming out my name to go. I kept swimming.. even if I had to breathe after every stroke.. I told myself to use my arms. It would be over any minute now. I quickly climbed out of the pool only to realize I was the 2nd out. YES! I looked at my timer. I had finished my swim in 9:36! but I still had to run to transition.. and I was already out of breathe.

Swim- 10:30

T1
I ran to the transition area.. and counted the bike racks.. somehow I ran past my bike rack haha and turned around only to find my bike behind me. Oops. I quickly put my helmet on.. socks and shoes. I had taped my sunglasses and Shot Bloks to my bike. hehe. So those were already with me when I rolled out of transition. I grabbed my gloves and off I went.

T1- 1:55

Bike
As soon as I jumped on my bike, I relaxed.. the hardest part (or what I thought would be the hardest) was over. I have grown attached to my bike every since my marathon in March. Since I haven't been able to run as much as I would like... my bike is the only option in terms of cardio that I prefer.
The bike route was a little over 2 miles with 5 loops around the same route. I pedaled at a comfortable pace for the first one.. asked for directions after passing the first timing mat haha and then got a hang of it. I pedaled faster for the rest of the course. My legs didn't burn as much as I thought they would... then again I wasn't going too fast. I still had a 5k to run after this. I looked at my watch when I knew I had half a mile to go.. and to my surprise I was way ahead of my goal. Hell yes!

Bike: 18k, 36:44 (avg speed 18.3mph)

T2
This was an easy transition... just had to take off my helmet and rack my bike. Done and done!

T2: 0:43seconds
Run
I started my Garmin as soon as I passed the timing mats. I saw JV in his running clothes as I was coming out of transition! AH! He surprised me. I had no idea he was going to be running with me. I told him I was thirsty.. the sun was def burning me up. When we got to the first water station I knew I wasn't going to be able to run a sub-8min 5k.. and I was okay with that. I had not prepare for this part.. I probably only squeezed in a few runs after a bike commute.. and I noted it, next time, I will need more preparation for this. My legs felt like LEAD. At the turn around, I was ready to finish this strong. I kicked it up a little... and kept reminding myself that this was my first tri.. and to take it easy. There's going to be many more in the future :)

Run - 25:36 (avg pace: 8:14)

Overall Time: 1:15:25, Placed 2nd in 18-24 AG

 



After the race... I was not only surprised of how good I felt, despite my lack of preparation, but I also felt hopeful. If anyone is thinking of doing a sprint tri, I highly recommend it. I had so much fun and it felt different than just running a race. I am looking up upcoming triathlons in the area. I'll def be better prepared next time.

 



Next Up: Allstate 13.1!

April Miles bring May SMILES!

I wanted to find a word to rhyme with "miles" but I failed miserably. haha.
co-worker actually yelled Smiles just as I posted this entry. ha!
Sorry... that was irrelevant.



April.

I'm like 2 weeks late but who cares! I have gotten really bad at logging my bike/swims .. especially on DM. It's gotten real messy.

Total Bike (Commute & Non-commute): ~215.2 miles
Total Swim: ~4,250yds
Total Run: 32miles (!)
Total p90x Sessions: 17

ProgressRunning:
Pre-Bike Mini-Accident, I can run again! I have been trying to run 2 times a week and I think I'm ready to increase it to 3 times :) so happy.. then the mini-accident happened yesterday and I will not run till the tri. I am just gonna let it heal/rest.

p90x:
I've been able to stick to the p90x program! I got through April.. and I'm currently finishing week 6. I def feel the difference. I was able to do a couple pull-ups. I have always struggled to do ANY. And I went and bought myself a pull-up bar. 6 weeks into the program, and I am able to do an unassisted pull up (or 2.. or 3 I cant count). I have to jump and grab on since I'm kinda short, but I did it! *happy dance

Swim:
I'm getting use to swimming, but I lack technique.. so I am no pro just yet haha. But seriously, I need a coach or something to tell me what I am doing wrong or what to adjust. I know my freestyle looks like I'm fighting the water.

Bike Commute: I LOVE MY MORNING COMMUTES ON MY BIKE!!! I cannot and will never take the CTA ever again. My home-to-work PR is currently ~34 minutes.. it would usually take me 45+ on the CTA. But now I have to deal with pissy drivers.. whatevs. You need to wake up an extra 5 min earlier lady, not my fault the road is under construction... more on pissy drivers later.
On a serious note, please be aware of any bikers on the street. I try to be as courteous and BRIGHT as possible so everyone sees me. But people are just in a rush all the time...

Now that I bike to work/school.. I've seen the weirdest of things.. so I think I'm going to start a "What I saw on my Commute" thing. haha.

Weirdest/Silly/Random things so far

• Dude riding with one arm on handle and the other drinking coffee (dude, how do you do that?!)
• Mom seriously multi-tasking (she was walking her dog on the street..on her bike... while her little boy biked on the sidewalk to school)
• Dad & Mom biking... while the mom had her little daughter on one of these.. cutest thing!

•  Guy with rear-view mirrors on his bike
• Girls with sundresses... uhm. I wonder how they do that. and can you teach me 
• a banana peel on the street. Just like in Mario Kart haha

I was so distracted and dazing off yesterday, that I almost busted my front tire (WE NEED MORE BIKE LANES Mr. Rahm Emanuel!)

I was in high spirits and on my way home.. going a tad bit fast. I was approaching a bridge.. and didn't want to bike over the weird metal square things on the bridge. So, I biked onto the sidewalk. I was going too fast to notice I was approaching one of these

 instead of this...

 I tried braking but my back wheel skidded instead of stopping (from the cracked pavement and rocks)... that I ended up on the ground. Ouch.

I'm so glad I always wear my helmet and I'm also glad my gloves arrived a few days ago in the mail. Or else my hands would look like my arm and knees. haha. I only scraped my knees, elbow and my shoulder a tad bit. Oh and a bruise... but all else is well!

Today I am scheduled to swim a few laps... but idk. IT BURRRNNNSSSSSS.

I hope this little accident of mine doesn't interfere with the tri in 2 days.... It left me with a huge bruise on my knee... and the knee isn't feeling so good. damnit.

This year I turned into accident/injury prone person... let's see how this goes.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!

SportCount Counter (for swimmers) Review!

I've incorporated swimming during the week while my knee gets better as well as biking. Something that would really bug me was losing count of the laps I was swimming.. I have the memory of a goldfish lol so I tried timing myself with my iPhone (leaving it wrapped in my towel) jumping out of the pool and typing in the laps.. this only worked for so long. And I didn't want to keep taking my phone to the pool. I searched and searched and found this little itty-bitty mini-garmin haha for swimming. I don't regret the $30.

-It counts my laps every time I clicked it with my thumb
-It's small enough to put on your finger and forget it's there
-It keeps track of your overall time, Fastest/Slowest lap
-Spits out your average lap time too
-for $30, it does it's job well

Like I said, a mini-garmin haha :-)

So if you like to swim.. and are like me and my horrible memory.. I really recommend this little device. I can't swim without it now lol

I'm Alive!

 

Finals are OVER. and I was so into studying and all that shenanigans that I aced all my finals. My goal for this semester was to try getting all A's and I did it! I was def slacking last year.. Oops. Take that Junior year!

I won't be on summer vacation for long.. :(
I'm taking some extra courses over the summer and still working part-time. I'm also starting to look into potential grad schools.. dun dun dun.

Has anyone taken the GRE? I have no idea how that works.. but I guess it's time to take it soon... ??

Ay ay ay..

I will def do an April recap before my first sprint tri this weekend. I'm super excited. I've been somewhat training for it while trying to balance school work these past few weeks, so we'll see how I do. Other than that, HELLO SUMMER!