Fear

I have a fear. It may not be rational and it may be completely unreasonable, but I am afraid. I'm afraid that I've fallen in love with triathlon and that I'm going to fall out of love someday. I see SO many people post about post-Ironman blues. I see people talk about losing their mojo. I see people get injured and have a ridiculous time coming back. I see myself, fighting and searching (oh how I searched!) for something to fulfill my need to compete and something to drive me and something to complete the picture and something to strive for. . .  and I'm afraid of losing that. I know that's ridiculous, but #thestruggleisreal.

Week 2

Well hell's bells. Week 2 of my renewed vigor has been railroaded. Sidelined. Totally cast off. We have the flu. All of us. The kids and I got our shots. Hubs did not. What started as a little bit of snot has morphed into gallons of snot, runny noses, bloody noses, ear infections, chest-rattling coughs, and feverish sweats. I first noticed it Monday, but tried to work through it. I swam 1000 meters and sat in the sauna for a while, trying to power through. To no avail. Tuesday, I took a 4.5-hour nap. Wednesday, I had to rest after folding 3 loads of laundry. This. Sucks.

On a more positive note, I was on a roll. A *real* roll. I got up earlier than usual on Tuesday and Thursday and changed up my running routine. I usually drive to meet my group at the local church at 5:30 and we run a 4.7-mile loop. Last week, I ran to the church, adding 2.5 miles to my run. That felt great and I was really feeling positive about the changes I had made. And then this. Boom. Flu. Down for the count.

I'm trying not to lament too much, but dang. This sucks.

Ironman Texas. 70.3 style.

I just pushed the button on THE race. The one I've been talking about for weeks months. I finally put my money where my mouth is. As I was discussing with my husband whether it was time to drop the $291 to register, he said to me, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. If you think you can, push the button." I can. I will. I pushed the button. Today is the day. Tomorrow begins the real training. Day 1 of 145. I've been training hard, but my vigor is renewed. Watch out, Galveston. I'm coming.

The bike hunt

The bike hunt is over. After days and days and days of spreadsheets, pros and cons columns, test riding, researching, and number crunching, I have a new steed to call my own.

Before I get all crazy with the details, let me just say that Randi Rea of Katy, Texas is a tri angel for allowing me to borrow her Scott road bike over the last 6 months. As previously noted, I completed my first tri on a $40 mountain bike I snagged on craigslist. Her name was Sally and boy did we Ride. Ha. Get it? After completing my first tri, Randi graciously offered to loan me her bike until I decided what I wanted to do. Bikes are expensive. Tris are expensive. Good friends are good to have. Any-ol'-who. Larry and I spent many miles together. Larry is the name I gave the Scott - he was my "great, white hope." You know - Larry Bird. We rode several hundred miles together. I knew I was in love with triathlon, but Larry was just too big. Randi is two inches taller than I am and Larry just had me all kinds of over-extended.

My birthday rolled around and I scored some serious birthday cash. I asked Doug for "leeway" for my birthday so that I could get a bike that loved me as much as I loved it. We agreed on a general ballpark figure and off I went. Meet the contenders.

Behind door #1, we have the Giant.

The Giant Trinity 2, ladies model, was conservatively priced at $1499. This is the first bike I rode. I felt that the Giant was a little flimsy, but overall, a good fit. I couldn't believe how easy it was to get into aero position on this bike. Larry and I struggled with aero. He was too big, the bars were too far out in front of me, and I was scared to death. It took miles - m i l e s - for me to talk myself into aero. Every time, I felt like I was going to die. I dropped down in the parking lot with this little lady. The Giant was at Bicycle World in Houston, which offers financing, but is an hour or more from home.

Contestant #2 is the Felt.

The Felt B16 was the second bike I rode. It had SRAM shifters (which I wasn't a fan of). They were sticky and fought back. And loud. Very, very loud. POP POP POP. Not my idea of fun. Rinny and Daniella had just taken 1st and 2nd at Kona on Felts and I was confident in their ability to build an outstanding bike. When I first starting paying attention to bikes, I really fell in love with the look of the Felt. I really wanted to love the Felt. I rode around the neighborhood, played around in aero, and was chased by a dog. Fun. Felt is an American company. Bonus points from the state of sunny California. The Felt was priced at $1799 at Webster Bicycle in my backyard, which offers layaway, but no financing. 

Our final contestant is the Fuji.

On a whim after a long ride, I dropped into Sun and Ski Sports. My friend Melissa works there. She and I have known each other since the 90s. Whoa. We're old. She's an Ironman, a mama, and a good person. I wanted to see what she had to say, so I popped in. The Fuji was priced at $1899, which was starting to eke out of my price range (regularly $2899). I took this bike for a spin in the parking lot and was instantly enamored. The bike fit well, but it was a little out of my league. Sun and Ski offers several payment options and is also in my backyard. Fuji, surprisingly, is also an American company and hails from PA. 

Doug and I kicked around these bikes. I tortured myself over $100. We went in to Sun and Ski together, and I had basically made up my mind that we were going to finance for a year and buck up and buy the Fuji. Doug wasn't sold. Yet. When we started talking real details with Melissa, we looked at what $1899 would get us at another store. It was NOT this bike. $1899 at another store would have given me a lesser bike with lesser components. Even the Felt at $1799 was well below the quality of the Fuji. After we talked through all of the details of the bike and what the shop had to offer in the way of payment plans and maintenance packages, we were ready to talk numbers. For anyone who's wondering what it was about the packages that sold me - Sun and Ski offers free fits for life, free minor adjustments for life, and they also offer a 4-month layaway plan where you get to take your bike home and leave them 3 post-dated checks. Pretty compelling compared to free fits for 90 days or 6 months, which was what Webster and Bicycle World were offering.

Because the bike was a 2012 and had been on the floor awhile (and demo'd a few times), they were willing to negotiate. When the night was over, I walked out with a brand new bike, a 3-year maintenance plan, and a new hydration system for under $2000. As an added bonus, Melissa put her old SPD pedals on the bike and loaned me her Sidi shoes until the time is right for Looks and fancier shoes. 

So without further ado, I give you Bruce the Bike. He and I will do great things together. We ride at dawn. I'll let you know how it goes.

Race report - Oilman 70.3 VOLUNTEER

***Let me be perfectly clear - this is my race report from my morning of VOLUNTEERING at my first 70.3 experience.***

Now that I've conquered the Olympic distance triathlon, my sights are set on HIMTX - the Galveston 70.3 race in April. Before I committed, I wanted to at least see a half iron so that I would have my head firmly wrapped around what I was stepping up to. Enter Oilman 70.3.

I woke up this morning at 3:30. 3:30 in the morning. You know. Like 30 minutes before 4:00 a.m. Anywho, I drove 82 miles without passing a single place to stop and get coffee. Dunkin Donuts snubbed me. McD's snubbed me. Hell. Even the gas stations snubbed me. It was brutal. Dark. Early. 39 degrees. No coffee. No breakfast. No adrenaline (because of the no racing thing). Two miles before my destination, I finally found a gas station that was open. Incidentally, every athlete on the way to Oilman found this place, too. The parking lot was a bike porn fantasy. After I snagged some less-than-stellar coffee, I finally made it to La Torreta.

I made my way to the volunteer area where I spent the next hour and a half directing folks to T1 and to the timing chip line. Not exactly glamorous, but I did get to see a ton of awesome athletes, bikes, and transition bags. When T1 closed, I was directed to the swim start with a bag full of extra caps. Of course there was only one guy who dropped his cap on the way, but I was glad I was there to help.

While we were standing on the edge of the water in the now-40-degree howling wind, I met some pretty amazing people. First, this guy's family. They were there to commemorate the two-month mark of Matt's passing at the Bridgeland Triathlon. Matt's brothers and sister-in-law completed the relay. Inspirational stuff. Then I met the guy who isn't Mike Reilly, but he still gets to say, "YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!" hundreds of times a year. His name was Mark. He was wearing a pink sock hat that said #MEOW. I learned a lot about racing from Mark and I hope to find him at another race some day soon. Somewhere in there, I saw Adam Ring and wished him a great race. It's so cool to see people you actually know at a big race! I also met Alan from Austin who was sporting bib number 512. Serendipitous, he said. Alan was a para-athlete who had lost his left leg. Doing what, I know not. But it really doesn't matter Alan was embarking on his first 70.3 race and he needed somebody to keep his leg safe and make sure it made it to the swim finish. I was his girl. I followed Alan to the water, helped him pack up his leg, and told him I'd pray for him while he was in the water. Alan did amazing. He finished right in the middle of his age group. Go Alan, go! I helped him get out of the water and over to wetsuit stripping, where he reassembled himself. I can't wait until they post results so I can see how Alan did for the bike and the run!

While I was waiting for Alan, I had 40-ish minutes to observe, cheer, and learn. I learned a few things.

First - people are amazing. I believe the field was almost 900 folks. Of those 900, I think I watched at least 850 climb the ladder out of the water. Totally amazing.

Second - people are jerks. I witnessed the single-most jerk-like thing I've ever seen in my life today. At Oilman, they have the ladies swim first. This can be super cool if you're really worried about making cutoffs. If you're worried about the more aggressive men swimming over the top of you, this could be a not-so-cool thing. If you're worried about the most asinine jerk on the face of the planet PHYSICALLY REMOVING YOU FROM THE LADDER as you try to get out of the water... well, that was this guy. There were two ladies at ladder 1 of 6. This dude swam up behind them, pushed the first lady out of the way, and grabbed the second lady (who was easily 3 rungs up the ladder), and tried to pull her off the ladder. She screamed, "HEY!" at the dude as I simultaneously leaned over the edge of the dock in my super official CREW shirt and said, "NO SIR - there are FIVE other ladders if you're THAT anxious." Can you imagine swimming 1.2 miles and having some creeptastic twit pull you off the ladder? Holy cow! Poor woman.

Third - I can totally do this. I will do this. I cannot wait to do this. April will be here before you know it and I will be the one standing on the water's edge in my wetsuit instead of my CREW shirt and wind pants.

Fourth - you should always take two seconds to thank the volunteers. For every dozen racers who didn't thank me, the 13th racer who did made it worth my while to drag myself out of bed at 3:30 and drive 84 miles to stand in the cold to make sure that everybody out there had a good race.

Fifth - smile. Seriously. The people who were smiling were moving so much more nimbly. It was incredible to see the difference in the posture of the athletes who were smiling versus those who were grimacing. We do this for fun. Smile = fun. It's simple.

Sixth (and last) - if you choose to volunteer, go out of your way for someone. Whoever had chip number 128 lost the chip before he or she ever set foot in the water. I snagged it, found another ankle strap, and strapped it to the racer's bike. I don't know who number 128 is or whether that person had a good race (although I will know tomorrow when I check the results!). I don't know whether he or she was a smiler or a scowler. Heck, it could've even been jerkface who pulled that lady off the ladder. But just whatever man. When that person got to TI with no chip and found that some tri angel (ahem... moi) had strapped that chip to the bike racked at 128? I sure hope that person sighed a huge sigh of relief and had an incredible bike knowing that there was somebody out there who cared enough to lend a hand.

So there ya have it. My first 70.3 experience was super rewarding and very educational. Now if you'll excuse me, I got up at 3:30 this morning. I have a rendezvous with my pillow.

Birthday Tri!

A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to do an Olympic triathlon before the season ended. Looking at the calendar, there were only two left that I could possibly make happen. They were both on weekends that did not jive with our family calendar. I got the hair-brained idea of hosting my own triathlon! I figured I could get at least one other person to come out and hang with me on my birthday while I swam, biked, and ran my way into 35. I had four other friends stick with me for the whole thing, and Doug joined us for the run. It was the best birthday I've had in a good, long while!

Because I was responsible for the route, there were no surprises on race day. Except for the wind. Holy moley. It was so windy, the swim start was actually chilly (October 4 in Texas is NOT known for chilly!). We headed out for the lake/T1 on the bikes. My dad and Daniel followed us over to the lake in the truck with our swim gear. They were our sag support for the morning. Daniel even needed a flannel shirt while we swam! This was my first time wearing my wetsuit and I loved it! This was also my first time swimming in "chop," however mild it may have been. I was surprised at how naturally I was able to settle into a rhythm of stroking and breathing *with* the chop. I took quite a bit of time off of my average pace. I swam .8 miles in 28 minutes. I felt good about this!

The five of us headed out on the bikes. The first few miles were great! And then came the headwind... Oh my soul. We were averaging about 11 mph into the wind and close to 20 with the tailwind. I felt like I was pedaling through mud! We finally turned a corner, but low and behold, it was time for our big climb. At least we weren't climbing into the wind! We came down off the big bridge, hooked a right, and hoofed it home. All in all, it was a great ride. I'm starting to feel very comfortable with 25 miles. I guess it's time to up the ante!

My house was our staging area and T2. My mom, dad, kids, aunt, and cousin were all there to cheer us on and enjoy some birthday festivities with us. Doug was all suited up and ready to run. We took off for our 10k and continued to enjoy the day. The weather for running was absolutely perfect. It was about 70 degrees with no clouds and just a bit of a breeze inside the neighborhood. I didn't PR, but only just. It was my second best 10k time ever! I was very pleased with this, considering I had just swam nearly a mile and biked 25! The course was very flat and took us around the golf course with plenty of shade and water coolers along the way. Again, because I was responsible for the route, this was a course I am very familiar with. I ran with my friend Randi for most of the route. This is amazing to me as she is a two-time Ironman and five-time marathoner. I am neither of those things, but with a little help and encouragement, I one day hope to be. Daniel met me about 20 yards from the finish and ran me in. That was so much fun! I've always wanted my kids to run me into a race, but it just never quite worked out. I guess the trick is to host your own race!

After we made it back to the house, we had a feast!  Pumpkin oreos, birthday cake oreos, breakfast tacos, beer, and cupcakes. It was wonderful. After everyone refueled and cooled down and stretched, it was time for us to say goodbye. My friends went home and my family hung out for a bit longer. As I mentioned, this was a wonderful birthday! I'm pretty sure we will make an annual event of this.

I had a great time and learned a lot. My nutrition was spot-on and my hydration was great. I was second guessing myself on the nutrition, having never done an Olympic before. With one in the bag, I feel like I could make a couple of adjustments and have a really great race. 

I've been saying that the Olympic was going to be my litmus for the half iron. Well. I think the litmus looks good. Now to download the training plan and get after it!

SBMAT 2015

A few months ago, Swim Bike Mom sent out an all-call to apply for the 2015 ambassador team. When I first saw her post, I got all crazy jazzed and excited and thought, "YES! I'm totally applying for this!" Then my brain started working again and I realized that I would likely be one of about 252  applicants. Applicants who had been tri-ing for more than 5 minutes (or 4 months, as the case may be). Applicants who, you know, were actually *good* at triathlon. So I thought about it for 2 more minutes and I shelved the idea.

Fast forward to the day the applications were due. We were home. My kids were happily occupied with Legos and a movie. I saw something come across my feed about the deadline and I started furiously writing (er, typing... whatevs). I don't know what possessed me to apply, but it came from left field. I went with it. I typed and deleted and typed and deleted for a solid hour. When I finished, I read some of it to my husband. I told him, "I'm sure I won't get picked, but I hope I at least make her laugh." Well. Apparently, I did. 

The phone rang Wednesday morning with a number from Georgia. "I don't know anybody who lives in Georgia," I said to my friend. We were sitting at Einstein Brothers, enjoying all the pumpkin. My brain kicked into overdrive, and I realized that I DO know a few work folks in Georgia, so I politely answered the phone, "This is Sheri." What happened next floored me. For real. I heard this, "Hi Sheri! It's Meredith Atwood from Swim Bike Mom. Is this a good time?" I swear I sat there for 10 minutes with my jaw sitting in my lap and tears streaming down my face, but my friend has assured me it couldn't have been longer than 9 minutes. After I stammered a little and regained my composure, I said something. Obviously it was English, because I quickly accepted Meredith's invitation to be a part of the team. 

I have no idea what part of my application stood out to her, but I am SO beyond grateful that I plopped down that Saturday and offered up my thoughts on triathlon and how it's continuing to change my life. I am SO excited about this opportunity and what the 2015 racing season holds for me. I cannot wait to get started and give back to this sport that has so willingly given to me. So YAY! Just keep moving forward and stay tuned for many updates to come!

Mother's Day Tri!

Race report!! The swim was very intimidating until I heard the bullhorn. As soon as I dove in, I was fine. Nobody kicked me and I'm pretty sure I didn't kick anybody either. :) I felt like I was SO.SLOW, but my parents said I was right in the middle and even passed some people from the first wave. ~8 minutes. I felt strong coming out of the water and passed several folks into the transition area. My T1 was pretty quick - in and out in 2:30. The bike was fun, but I heard "On your left!!!" about 600 times. I definitely need a real bike. My shining moment was getting passed by a 10-year-old. Beast mode... T2 was great - less than a minute!!! And the run was the best. I passed all those chicks who passed me on the bike, which felt great. My folks and Daniel were at the finish, but doug and Lia missed me cross by about 10 minutes. I'm pretty convinced I'll be doing another one soon. Super fun and super rewarding. And not nearly as taxing as a half marathon. I highly recommend it!

It's that time again!

It's that time again! In 10.5 hours, I'm going to attempt what I once believed impossible (and maybe even insane). I'll be diving in to Lake Houston at 7:04 tomorrow morning to take on my first triathlon. Prayers, positive thoughts, and support are appreciated, especially for calm nerves in the water! Thanks, y'all!

I don't need no stinkin' noodle

I went to Williams Indoor Pool today to practice swimming for my triathlon. A couple of observations.

1. Swimming is freaking hard.
2. 200 yards is a LOT farther than I thought.
3. I don't need no stinking pool noodle.

I don't know how many laps I swam, but MAN. I needed to get out and get a drink at least 3 times in the 30 minutes that I was there. As soon as I got home and ate allllll the food, I started looking for a different triathlon with a "real" swim. I don't need no stinking pool noodle.

Luckily, I went to see Dr. Moore today. There are a ton of folks on his staff who do tris. A couple of the ladies there recommended this Mother's Day tri in a couple of weeks. I looked into it. 200 yards, 8 miles, and 2 miles. I think I'm going to do it. I don't need no stinking pool noodle.

Tri-ing something new

A couple of weeks ago, Doug and I ran our last 13.1 of the season - Angie's Half-Crazy Half-Marathon. This made 13.1 number 4 for me this year. I felt great. Ran great. Fueled great. Recovered great. There was a little flyer in our packet about the Life's a Beach triathlon that's ON MY BIRTHDAY. I'm not really taking issue with turning 35, but it just kinda seems like a super groovy way to spend my 35th.

Here's the cool part - I can use *anything* I want to on the swim, except for a surf board or a boat. Like a pool noodle! Surely I can swim 200 yards with a pool noodle. Yes?

I already have my junker mountain bike I got on craigslist to ride around with Daniel. And I only have to ride 5 miles on the beach. The only thing I'm missing is a helmet. And I know I can run 2 miles on the beach. Easy peasy.

So why not? I think I'll sign up, give it a shot, and cross "triathlon" of my bucket list.