Emergency Preparedness

August 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

VA/DC/MD readers: Where were you during Tuesday’s earthquake? What was your first thought? My first thought – as the Tysons Corner building I was in began to sway, slowly at first, then more violently, and everything in the room began to shake – was, “should I put my pants back on?” Not a normal earthquake-inducing thought, but I had just arrived at the laser hair removal center…

It was just as well I was late for my 1:45 appointment, because, had I been on time, the laser probably would have been zapping away when we felt the earthquake at 1:51. Now THAT would have been something to write about.

So now that the excitement over an earthquake in Virginia has subsided, we are all getting hyped up over a hurricane. Granted, Irene is huge and scary, a bit like a lunch lady I once knew by the same name, but we like to go a little nutso here, all the same. For fun, I mentioned on facebook that we’re running a little low on TP. For fun, I went to Costco to pick up my son’s glasses and look at what people had in their carts. Mostly lots of water. Some of these people probably don’t ever buy water, but now they’re feeling a compelling need to buy it by the crateload.

While everyone else gets ready to hunker down, I’m getting ready for South Riding Triathlon, scheduled for Sunday morning, which just happens to be the same time hurricane Irene is supposed to hit our area. This could be interesting. I’m having visions of getting blown away on the bike in the predicted 40 – 60mph wind gusts. Then of course there’s the 1 – 3 inches of rain to deal with.

I am prepared for the emergency. I went to RedBox and rented The Lincoln Lawyer and the Adjustment Bureau and made sure we have plenty of wine.

Since I have no pictures of the earthquake or hurricane, here are some random pics from Iron Girl:

Best shot of me exiting the swim...

I like race wheels and aero helmets

Why does my number always gravitate to my butt?

Soooo glad THAT's over!!!

Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: , , ,

Unfinished Business at Iron Girl

August 24, 2011 by 5 Comments

With all this pink...definitely a girl's race

It’s amazing how many female triathletes look like men when they’re on a bike. From behind, that is. I can’t decide if it’s the muscular legs or broad shoulders or unisex outfits, (or my general state of mind), but as I approached several bikers during Athleta Iron Girl Columbia, I was convinced they were men. In fact, there were a few men out on the course but I could tell they weren’t racers as they had little backpacks on, I’m guessing containing tools and stuff to save us the dirty work of changing a tire should we get a flat. How considerate.

Iron Girl is, obviously, a women’s race. (I don’t think any men entered as a protest-measure, like they do at Disney’s Princess Half Marathon.) And in case you forgot, there were reminders: pre-race, every 5 minutes, the announcer would let us know that there was Charmin in the bathrooms. I thought about asking what they had in the lake, since that was where I planned to go. (I don’t like waiting in line.) We were asked, repeatedly, to help our rackmates by lending out our pumps, since there was apparently a very long line of ladies waiting to have their tires inflated at the Princeton Sports tent. Women helping women,or something like that.

Last year I helped no-one. I didn’t even mention to the girl who laid her stuff out in front of her bike that she might want to move it off to the side. She – and everyone around me – was my competition, and you don’t help the competition. Yes, I was Mean Iron Girl. :( And I didn’t like myself very much.

So this year I was Nice Iron Girl. I announced that I had a pump over by the fence and anyone could borrow it. I did freak out for a bit when it disappeared, but it reappeared later so I guess someone just took it to their bike so they could, um, actually use it. I gave electrical tape to a girl whose number wouldn’t stay on her helmet. I moved my bike down when the racer next to me clearly was a no-show, to give the other girls more room. And I admit that it felt much better to be nice, even though I still wanted (and planned) to kick every one of their butts. Iron Girl was the only triathlon I completed last year in which I didn’t podium. I needed a top 5 age-group spot to secure an award and ended up 7th. So you could say I had some unfinished business with this race.

It was pitch black when we arrived in transition at 5:15am. I remembered from last year that the lights they have in transition, huge though they are, do nothing for those of us racked all the way out in West Virginia. And, how on earth did I get the SAME rack spot as last year? No kidding. I had the same spot AND the same number: 542.

Last year's number...this year's number...

Racked in West Virginia...before rack-mates arrived on Saturday

Chaos of transition in the dark

I had a little flashlight with me which was helpful for seeing little things, like the valve stem on my tires, and not much else. I held the light in my mouth to see the gauge when I put air in my tires, then I found a good spot for the light on the end of the rack so I could towel off my wet bike, get the shoes ready, aero bottle in place, GU taped on, etc.

As I was leaving transition to head over to the swim start at 6:30 I heard a rumble of thunder and then the heavens opened. Good thing I toweled off my bike. So it poured and thundered and we started talking about delays and duathlons and what the race organizers might do. The announcer said there would be a 10, max. 15 minute delay. We were told the storm was moving and should be out of the way soon. All I could think was that last year it poured on the bike and it was so hard to see anything and I DID NOT want to relive that. Bombing down a hill at 35mph when you can’t see a thing and are afraid to brake is not my idea of fun.

And then the skies cleared, and the first swimmers were in the water, 20 minutes late. I had 11 minutes to go. Up until this point I was fine, but the pressure of wanting that top 5 spot was definitely getting to me. This is the time before a race when I question what I’m doing here, why I’m even here, why I put myself through all this, etc. etc. I’m usually fine once the race starts so I focused on that, rather than on how I felt at that moment. Fruitcake comes to mind.

THE SWIM

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned 1000 times before, the swim is not my strong suit. I’m glad it’s first, so I can get it out of the way and move on. That being said, I was determined to have a good, strong swim and take 2 mins off last year. At 1000 meters, the swim at Iron Girl is long for a sprint and so the good swimmers have a clear advantage. I got in the water expecting it to be bathtub temperature and was surprised that it actually felt a little chilly. I swam out towards the start buoy and realized my chip band was sliding down my ankle. I couldn’t tighten it while treading water so I had to head back to shore where I could stand. I found a rock to stand on which was nice because the bottom of Centennial Lake is goo – I’m guessing a combination of algae and goose poop. Best not to think about it. When the announcer mentioned we had a minute before our start I headed back over to the buoy to get a good position.

During the first half of the swim people on my left kept swimming in to me. I was getting quite pissed off and was wondering why it kept happening when I realized, as I tracked the buoy, that I was actually veering left as I swam. I tried to straighten out but it wasn’t until we had rounded the second buoy that I realized I was veering left because I wasn’t really pulling with my left arm. Once I started actually using my left arm I started swimming much straighter. By then I had caught the back of the previous wave (50-55) and was making my way through, which was a confidence boost. My swim time was 21:19, 2 minutes faster than last year.

THE BIKE

There’s not much to say about the bike except: I went fast. I had no definite plan other than to beat last year’s speed of 18.3mph and I crushed it with a 19.4. Last year 3 or 4 people passed me on the bike. This year I didn’t get passed at all. I hammered the uphills as well as the downhills. I stayed in my seat on the uphills. I got as much as I could out of the downhills. The only thing I forgot was to drink enough (I actually felt like I was drinking constantly, but I guess I wasn’t) and take my GU. I finally took the GU in the last couple of miles, which was way too late.

THE RUN

So I have learned that when you bike hard, the run suffers. The run was as bad as the bike was good. My legs simply wouldn’t work. They couldn’t respond to the hills and were doing little baby steps. I willed them, I talked to them, I tried everything, but there was nothing. And the late GU was sitting in my stomach, reminding me that it was there whenever I tried to push the pace. I ended up running the same pace as last year (7:06) for the hilly 3.3. mile course, which wasn’t terrible, but certainly wasn’t the planned 6:50.

THE RESULT

My final time was 1:42:38, 6 minutes faster than last year and good enough for 2nd in my age group! I guess being nice is good karma. Eh, most likely was the training.

My award...difficult to take pictures of these plexiglass things...

If you like stats, overall:

  • My swim was ranked 229th
  • T1 was 10th
  • Bike was 14th
  • T2 was 106th
  • Run was 5th
Oh, and as you go through the finish they announce “You are an Iron Girl. There’s Charmin in the bathrooms.” (That last part may not actually be true.)
Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: , , ,

Bathroom Reading

August 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Got some great reading material for the bathroom today:

The 2011 Athleta Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon Athletes Guide, at 35 pages, is quite a hefty tome for a sprint triathlon. I’ve had a quick flip through and have made a few notes:

  1. This is Iron Girl Columbia but it takes place in Ellicott City. I’m confused. If I get lost while out on the bike, which city do I ask for directions to?
  2. On p.11 there’s a picture showing how to properly rack your bike. The bike is racked fine but the positioning of the gear on the ground is idiotic! The shoes are backwards and in the wrong order (should be bike first, run second) and why is the helmet on the ground? I was sending this picture to my sister, who’s doing her first tri in September, as an example but ended up having to explain why it’s a bad example.
  3. Also on p.11, note that “if you choose to place a plastic bag on your bike, staff will remove it” because plastic bags litter the area.  They suggest using an old race cap to protect the seat from moisture. Hello? I’m getting on the bike after swimming! There will be plenty of moisture! Or am I supposed to ride with the cap on the seat? I’m confused.
  4. I am in wave #4 of 15 (yes!) which is orange cap. I happen to really like orange, and it’s a definite improvement over last year’s lilac, but it’s going to clash really badly with my red/blue tri suit.
  5. On p.20: “Turns are marked by Orange Tetrahedron Buoys.” I must have missed that math class. What’s a tetrahedron and will I know one when I see it?
  6. Also on p.20: “A participant may stand on the bottom…” I don’t recommend it. The bottom of Centennial Lake is a spongy bed of goose poop.
  7. On p.22: “There is no public urination permitted.” What?! Does this include peeing while biking/running? What if I have an “accident?” I’m really concerned about this one.
  8. On p.31: “Please trim your fingernails and toenails…” I like this one since I prefer not to get gouged during the swim.
Despite my concerns, I am really looking forward to this race. It’s the only triathlon I didn’t place in last year. Top 5 in each age group get an award – last year I was 7th. This race doesn’t play to my strengths because the swim is long at 1000 meters, so placing would be really great! Also, this year Athleta is the title sponsor so I’m hoping there are some cool Athleta giveaways…
A lot of people missed getting in to Iron Girl Columbia this year because registration closed just a few hours after opening. I just happened to be farting around on the computer the morning registration opened, so got lucky. I plan to give it everything I’ve got…and a little bit more, so if I end up violating #7, it will be a result of my trying so damn hard. Maybe they’ll let me off. :)
Filed Under: Blog, Running and Triathlon Tagged With: , ,