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THE DOCK...
On Saturday morning, I was awaken at 5AM, by the sound of bagpipes playing the Scottish National Anthem...and as soon as that was over, the Rocky anthem played -- it was the Ironteam coach getting his team up and at 'em for their long training day. Because we set up tent in the middle of both the Ironteam and the Tri team, I was lucky enough to hear the wake up call, loud and clear -- too bad I couldn't hit snooze! =) But after all the commotion settled, I was able to go back to sleep for another hour and a half or so...
When I finally got up to start my day, I ate some breakfast (pop tarts, banana w/peanut butter, gatorade -- yes, this is the breakfast of champions! lol!) and got my gear ready. Our workout for the day = .25m swim followed by a 9m bike ride. This would be open water swim attempt #2 for me -- and considering how badly attempt #1 went, the benchmark was really low...
When we got to the swim location, we all put our wetsuits on and listened to the swim instructions. The water temperature was a warm 62 degrees -- which compared to Lake Del Valle, was indeed much warmer. The coach then told us that we would be walking down to the swim start and be jumping off the dock to start the swim -- wait -- did he just say jump off the dock?!?!? I was barely mentally prepared to swim .25 miles in a lake for the second time, but on top of that we had to jump off the dock? By this point I was convinced that triathletes ARE crazy! Before I could think about turning back and skipping the swim, one of my teammates was already pushing me down towards the dock -- we had to pair up to jump off the dock, and she wanted me to jump in with her. Before I jumped in, my swim coach Amy, gave me a few words of advice (relax, don't forget to breathe, and don't say "I can't!") and told me that coach Mike would be by my side during the swim -- whew -- that gave me some comfort because I knew if I couldn't make the entire swim, I could at least grab on to the lifesaver buoy that he had with him!
When we were walking up to the dock to jump in, I started to have issues with my goggles (again!). This was my 4th pair of goggles and these were definitely pulling at my eyes making it difficult to see (note to self: do not try/test a new pair of goggles during open water swims) -- then I started to worry that my contacts would fall out (again!). But with only seconds to think about anything, it was our turn to jump in -- my teammate counted to three and we were supposed to jump in together -- except that on three, she jumped in and I stayed on the dock :-/
I told her that I wasn't ready, but then she and coach Mike, who was already in the water, told me to just do it -- and so I did...I jumped in and when I got to the surface, I screamed, but then I realized that the water wasn't so bad -- it was cold, but definitely not as cold as Lake DelValle. I then scooped up some water into my wetsuit to get warm, and I started to just paddle away from the dock so that others could jump in. After a few minutes, my teammate asked me if I was ready to swim, I of course said, "no" -- then coach Mike told me to take a few strokes. I waited a few seconds to catch/control my breath, then took a few strokes, but when I came up, I realized that I wasn't blowing bubbles under water -- which caused me to gasp for air when I came up. So now, my issues weren't so much that I couldn't see crap underwater, but the fact that I couldn't get my breathing down. I tried again, and again, I wasn't breathing correctly -- and by about the 4th attempt, my stomach started to fill with air and I couldn't burp it out -- this part of open water swimming sucks! Coach Mike told me to keep trying to take strokes, but it was getting so uncomfortable -- and I was veering off course, away from the buoy to boot (so I was actually swimming farther than I needed). In the distance coach Amy was waving her arms at me and yelling for me to swim towards her, towards the buoy, at the .25 mile marker. I won't lie, it seemed pretty far, and that set me into a panic, so I floated on my back for a few minutes (I actually did the float-on-back thing several times -- it's slow, but hey, it works!), trying to take deep breaths and take control mentally. Then I attempted to swim towards the buoy -- it wasn't a pretty sight, but I actually made it to the buoy. When I got to the buoy I told the coaches, "ok, now can I ride the buoy back to shore?!?!" I was exhausted, and not to mention, uncomfortable because my stomach was still filled with air that I couldn't burp out. So now I had to swim back to shore. And all the issues that I had in my swim towards the buoy, continued and even got a bit worse because now that I could see shore, all I wanted to do was to give up so someone could drag me back to shore -- again, I was exhausted and uncomfortable -- oh, and did I mention that my contact fell out (again!) as I was swimming towards the buoy? Yes, I was also blind in one eye to boot!
As I was swimming towards shore, the next group of swimmers were getting ready to jump in, but they couldn't quite jump in yet because I was in the way. So as I am struggling to swim to shore, an audience of 30 other swimmers is staring at me and cheering me on -- embarrassing, yes, because these swimmers are standing on the dock, anxiously waiting to jump in and watching me struggle at the same time; yet motivating because all I want to do at this point is get the hell out of their way. So when I finally get to the point where I can stand up, my legs are like jello -- and I can barely stand up -- in fact, I fell once or twice trying to get up on shore. But after all of that, as I stood on the shore, it finally sunk in -- I swam to the buoy and back...I swam (using the word "swam" loosely here) .25 miles! Woohoo!
THE BOAR...
After the satisfactory 2nd attempt at open water swimming, it was time for a 9mile bike ride. When it was time for us to start the bike portion of the workout, the weather actually started to clear up and the sun came out -- what great weather for a bike ride! We were given the route and were told that the route started out with a lovely hill -- great, just what I needed...my legs were still trying to recover from the swim. When I started the ride, sure enough, a nice, steep hill with an incline that seemed to go on forever. There were a couple of times that I wanted to get off of my bike and just walk up the hill, but I didn't -- I kept going and thinking to myself "what goes up, must come down" -- and the downhill would be worth it...and it was! After that first hill, the rest seemed to be a piece of cake.
I rode for about 4.5miles out and turned around. Good thing I turned around when I did because apparently, close to the first aid station, some of the riders saw this:
A dead boar in the middle of the road! Had I seen this during my ride, I would have rode back to camp and packed up! They told us there were wild boars in the area, but I didn't think we'd actually see one -- good thing this one was dead! (sorry to all you animal lovers out there, but good riddance -- better it dead than terrorizing the campsite!)
THE RODENT...
After about an hour of riding, I had completed almost 9 miles -- I was ready to call it a day! When I got back to camp, I showered and ate. I was so hungry that I ate almost everything I could get my hands on. Good thing about all this training is that eating a lot is ok -- in fact, after long workouts, eating a lot is a necessity -- whatever, if you want me to eat a lot, you don't have to tell me twice! =) After eating, I took a 30min power nap -- another thing about all this training -- you get tired! When I woke up from my nap, I walked over to my teammates tent -- and on my way to her tent, I came across this nasty little critter (or at least, what was left of it):
THE RODENT...
After about an hour of riding, I had completed almost 9 miles -- I was ready to call it a day! When I got back to camp, I showered and ate. I was so hungry that I ate almost everything I could get my hands on. Good thing about all this training is that eating a lot is ok -- in fact, after long workouts, eating a lot is a necessity -- whatever, if you want me to eat a lot, you don't have to tell me twice! =) After eating, I took a 30min power nap -- another thing about all this training -- you get tired! When I woke up from my nap, I walked over to my teammates tent -- and on my way to her tent, I came across this nasty little critter (or at least, what was left of it):
Luckily, this was all that was left of it (whatever it was) and thank goodness it wasn't next to my tent! But this is reason #2943 that I hate camping -- you never know what things you're gonna see...ewwwww....
Saturday evening, Team in Training (TNT) hosted a pasta dinner for all the teams, along with some entertainment from the mentors/captains from each chapter. It was starting to get really cold as the sun was setting, and it even sprinkled a bit while we were having dinner. I was a bit worried about the weather because the forecast called for rain early Sunday...and for me, rain was the worst thing that could happen at night...in the middle of wilderness...with only a tent and sleeping bag protecting me from the elements... So by the time daylight disappeared, everyone started to get ready to call it a night -- after all, we all had a very long day, we were exhausted from the day's workout, and we still had one more workout the next day -- a nice run along the lovely hills of Lake San Antonio. And so by about 8:30pm, I was slipping into my comfy sleeping bag...hoping that the weather would cooperate...and for the most part it did, until about 2am, when the forces of nature began to make its stand...
Coming soon -- the last part of this three part series -- Part 3: We're Not in Kansas Anymore...But I Will Survive!
Saturday evening, Team in Training (TNT) hosted a pasta dinner for all the teams, along with some entertainment from the mentors/captains from each chapter. It was starting to get really cold as the sun was setting, and it even sprinkled a bit while we were having dinner. I was a bit worried about the weather because the forecast called for rain early Sunday...and for me, rain was the worst thing that could happen at night...in the middle of wilderness...with only a tent and sleeping bag protecting me from the elements... So by the time daylight disappeared, everyone started to get ready to call it a night -- after all, we all had a very long day, we were exhausted from the day's workout, and we still had one more workout the next day -- a nice run along the lovely hills of Lake San Antonio. And so by about 8:30pm, I was slipping into my comfy sleeping bag...hoping that the weather would cooperate...and for the most part it did, until about 2am, when the forces of nature began to make its stand...
Coming soon -- the last part of this three part series -- Part 3: We're Not in Kansas Anymore...But I Will Survive!
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