Movin' On Up in the Tri World

That sure is a pretty skyline off Lady Bird Lake

This is not the first time I have swam along side that beautiful city, with the duck and bat poop and a thousand other crazy people, in what used to be called Town Lake. It surely will not be the last. At 8:06am last Monday I stuck my face in that dirty ole Colorado River, in the lake that's now named after LBJ's cute little wife, and swam with all the other 40-44 year old women in the 2012 CapTex Olympic Triathlon.

This was my second olympic length tri. It's a 1500 meter swim in the previously mentioned poopy lake, a 40K bike ride (over 24 miles for the Americans) over 4 loops of downtown Austin streets near the Capitol building, and a 10K (6.2 miles in 2 loops) run on those same streets. There are professional athletes doing this same course like Andy Potts, Hunter Kemper, and Sarah Haskins. These stellar athletes finish much faster than us amateurs and for over $40,000 in prize money. This tri is one of the more expensive ones to enter, without a charity cause that benefits, and placing in it gets you ranked with USAT or something fancy like that. There's also a paratri division, a first-timers division and a spring-distance division. This is a big money tri.

My swim was less than rank-worthy. I have been training in the cleaner Lake Pflugerville and felt great on most of those swims. I even did a 2K swim in the lower end of Lake Austin 3 weeks ago in which I felt pretty darn good, even though it took me 56 minutes to complete the 1.2 mile swim. I wore a wetsuit that time but the water Monday was too warm for it, so I was on my own. I never felt a flow in my stroke but I kept up my freestyle. The course seemed to go on forever and many of the colored-caps in the waves after mine zoomed past me but in 41 minutes I climbed out of the water.

A run through transition to put on my bike gear, and off I went on the bike course. Its a fast course and I love it. Last year I hauled some ass through it and had a rough run after, so this year I thought I'd keep my cadence high and my speed a bit slower to ease the wear on my legs and finish the tri strong. Last year's pace was 17.1 mph. My final pace this time? 17.2mph. Oh well. I just never learned to ride anything but fast.

Swooshed through transition again, changing shoes and throwing on my running visor, and I'm off on the run. Now last year I hated this run. Two loops, 5K each. I didn't know the course well and I wasn't sure how far the first loop was so I felt like it went FOREVER. I walked a lot of it last year. Oh and did I mention it was after 10am and blazing hot? No difference in that this year. Same distance, same 2 loops, and same hellacious heat. But I was prepared. Experience paid off. I planned a 4/1 run. Run 4 minutes, walk 1. I've practiced this over the last months and it has always come in fairly close to longer run/walks or full-out running. So I ran and depended on those one minutes like they were a vacation. I grabbed water at every station and drank a little and poured the rest down my shirt. I ate a GU and had some Gatorade. I watched other people struggling, even vomiting, but I kept golng at my pace. With an 11.26 minute mile I finished the course and my final race time was 3:25, 7 minutes faster than last year.

My new tri standard is the olympic distance. I began my sprint tris 5 years ago and every year I got be more efficient and more competent at them. I even placed in the top 10 in my age group in a few of the smaller ones. Its time to move on up to the next level. I have two more olympic tris planned. Bring it.

Training Without Borders

As I swam my 1000 meters today in the lake I train , I remembered where I was one year ago today. Not exactly what I was doing but where I "was".

I might've been doing a training swim last year at this time right before Memorial Day; I was training for the same triathlon I'm doing this Memorial Day. Last year I did it only 3 weeks after being diagnosed with breast cancer and having my first lumpectomy. I hit that anniversary a few weeks ago.

In a few weeks in June I will pass the anniversary of th second lumpectomy and the start of radiation. I did three more triathlons in June, July, and August last year. It seems like the cancer happened a lot longer than one year ago. I swam strong tonight and I have run and biked strong this week and these past months. I have had a great training year.

Not that all this training will shave hours off my finish-times, it won't. I'm a 42 year old weekend warrior, I won't be carrying home any hardware that every other finisher doesn't also have. The damn 40-44 year old women's age group is always huge. And there are ladies in MUCH better shape than me getting the top spots. That's fine. There might be one good thing about turning 45...or 50...smaller age groups.

So once I was done with radiation last August I got my energy back within a few weeks and I started training. We had an easy winter so I never stopped riding and running.

My social world revolves around mostly working out and races. I love that about my friends.

DONE~ two half-marathons, a 10-miler (I know I blogged that it sucked but it was still running 10 fucking miles!),and biking the Pedal Thru the Pines 55 miler, the Rosedale 45 miler and several other long training rides, including the two-day MS150 last month. All since just this past December. I even did a 5-miler with my Sinatra.

My basic training run went from 2-3 miles to 4-6. I signed up for two Olympic tris and am contemplating a half-iron, either relaying with my team or doing it outright myself. I decided the Sprint tri and the 5Ks were not necessary even though as I get better I could maybe place in my age group at the smaller races. Its not about winning. Its about the challenge.

If I dare compare myself to the great Lance Armstrong....I've gotten better since the cancer. As he said, "I hope it sends out a fantastic message to all survivors around the world. We can return to what we were before – and even better.” In Paris after taking his first Tour title in 1999

Scattered thoughts from an Overused 40+ Year-Old Mind

In June I will be 42 freakin' years old. I'm okay with the number. My life at 42 is no one else's but my own. Not dependent on anyone and I handle my own shit. Can every 42 year old say that?

I have 2 kids and 2 dogs and 2 bikes, a house, a car, and a yard of my own. I'm a single parent. If the grass grows, I mow it. Well, sometimes I pay the teenager across the street when he wants to make a quick 20. When the house needs cleaned, I clean it. Ok, I make my kids do some of it, but they aren't that great at it. When I'm having a bad day I wallow in it. Alright, I call a meeting of my BFFs and we meet for margaritas or wine. Its better than therapy.

Clearly I am an independent woman, but am not shy about asking for help.

I have a phone with a calendar on it which Google links to a calendar on my laptop or any computer I'm near. I love calendars. I have things scheduled already out to August at this point. I like to know waaaay ahead when something's coming so I can stick in my calendar. It gives me peace of mind to add an appointment. Then I know I have a chance of not forgetting it. I thrive on checking today's date and making sure I've got my ducks in a row for the day. Wow, that sounds a bit sick.

I make lists. On envelopes or post-its or scrap paper. Bills to pay, things to buy, places to be, people to call. Every week a new list. I add the status on my 401K and my mortgage balance and my weight. I throw everything on there. It soothes me. Out of my head and on to paper. Then I really get jazzed when I can cross off stuff...or maybe check it, whatever my mood demands.

I try to stay active and by doing that, I schedule every single minute down to the second with "stuff". Why? When do I rest? 42 ain't no spring chicken! Metabolism is slowing, brain function is getting muddled, skin is drooping, hair is graying. But I'm told I don't look 40+. No matter I'm told that by 75+ year olds, hey, I'll take it anyway. Because my 42 year old brain can't click as quickly as it once did, my calendar alerts keep me from forgetting something important and let someone down. I'm a pleaser and a perfectionist. Not always a good combo. I am not the most organized person either. It looks unorganized to the untrained eye, but my mess is mine and I know where everything is. Or at least what pile its in. Here is a picture of my actual workspace at work...sticky-notes, piles and all:

I know it looks like a scene from the movie A Beautiful Mind but I know where any manufacturer rep's phone number or insurance account number are hanging in the mess. It would make sense to put those stickies on one single computer-typed page. I look at my mess and am sometimes disgusted. I'm sure my office isn't professional-looking. I don't do well with change so in the 12 years I've hibernated in this office daily, this is what I get. The mess isn't going anywhere. It is all I can do to get from one day to the next without forgetting to put on a shirt each morning, so if I'm arriving at work fully dressed, getting my kids and the dogs fed, and moving my ass enough that I don't weigh 200 lbs, I figure I'm doing alright.