A Load of S*** - Really!

It's TRY training time again at the Y in Vincennes - preparing for the June 12's SIS Women's TRYathlon sponsored by the Knox County Community Foundation. This involves trips to Vincennes on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings - about 35 miles each way. Last year there were the 4-5 of us that carpooled and had a fun time, this year there is 1 other lady from town but we aren't always able to go together.

So a week or so ago I was headed out after missing the first 3 sessions for one reason or another. I was bound and determined to improve my attendance record and was really flying along lest I be late. About 15 miles into the drive there was a horrible smell - I knew I hadn't hit any dead animals, hadn't stepped in anything getting into the car, there were no sprayers out in the fields - BUT - there was an 18 wheeler with an open trailer ahead of me. Divining that this was the source of the stench, I backed way off instead of following at a normal distance. I was soooo far back that cars started passing me (even though I was still driving a smidge over 60), getting a whiff of what they would be following, and then passing him!

Just after the Lawrenceville turnoff, the 2 lane road goes through an area with no real shoulder, steep drop offs into a then flooded area, and curvy section that is impossible to pass in. This is the area where cell service goes to die as well. Since no one could pass there were perhaps 6-8 vehicles behind me, none of us wanted to get to close to the manure truck. All was well until the truck hit a bump in the road at a bridge and the back gate opened! YES! That's what I said too while slowing down before plowing through several inches (could have been a foot - the road was completely covered) of you-know-what! Chunks the size of golf and tennis balls were bouncing around the road (mostly under my van) and it just kept on coming and kept on coming out of the back of the truck.

No where to pull off, oncoming traffic - no choice but to keep going through it until about a mile up the road where we got 2 lanes and I could pull out to the left lane. Of course I laid on the horn and tried to use appropriate hand gestures (used all my fingers) to indicate that his gate was open but since he didn't pull over I don't think he got the full message that the other drivers who also pulled into the left lane and I were trying to convey.

I went through the automated car wash twice before going to the Y - not wanting to contaminate their parking lot - but as soon as I hopped out of GiGi I realize all the car wash did was smear it around - looked like I had been mudding all day with 'icicles' of you know what dripping from the wheel wells and a horrific stench. I turned her right around and headed back home where it took $8 (4 minutes hot soapy wash for $1) to clean her up (and crouching in the dark wash bay with the trigger spray in one hand and a flashlight in the other you just know I tipped over several times so that when the car was clean I certainly was not!). Then I pulled her out and squandered another $1 to clean up the wash bay for future customers.

Parked her on the street facing into the wind so that in the morning I could tell if anything was dripping (you know, the little things like brake fluid - I'm funny about that) - plus had I parked in the driveway the wind would have blown the remaining odor right into the house!

Didn't seem quite so bad the next day when I went to and from work but boy when I pulled into the yard the next night our dog was all over the van. He sure tried to find the intruder that had been around 'his' car but settled for spending most of his night 'marking' every part of it he could reach (so back to the car wash)!

By the next trip to the Y the stuff had been pretty well spread out (and carried away by other cars!) but the odor remained for quite a while! I consider myself extremely lucky - had I been following at regular distance when the gate opened, I could have been killed - or worse!

Pain Free Gait Analysis!

Since there is absolutely no hope of improvement in my 'swimming' (every time I get in the water is a victory for me given my aversion to being where I can not touch bottom!) and I have in the past been somewhat of a 'runner' (that would be 35+ years past in the high school days!), I decided that this year I would make an effort to improve my 'running'. For the 2010 events I simply walked fast although at the Watermelon Run in Vincennes I was compelled to jog a bit to keep the ladies in front of me in sight since I didn't know the course and there was no one behind me!

Knowing that it wasn't as simple as ordering the pair of cute pink and purple shoes off the Internet, I took advantage of a visit to Ultimate Fit in Evansville (shares space with Gilles Bikes at 1308 South Green River Road) for a 'gait analysis'. They had me walk in my present 'running' shoes and watched how I did that. Then I repeated the activity at a 'run' (and no one laughed!). Then they had me take my shoes off (socks stayed on - no partial nudity in the store!) and looked at how my fit hit the ground when I was seated. Then they measured my feet - yes - both of them, because apparently everyone's feet aren't necessarily the same size.

After a moment the gentleman came out of the back with 2 pair of shoes that he recommended based on what they had done. One shoe from one pair went on the left foot and one shoe from the other pair went on the right foot. They laced/tied them and sent me off to 'run' again (and still no one laughed!). I liked the left shoe better than the right and turns out I have a narrow foot and the shoe on the right foot had a wider box. So we put both of the shoes from the left foot pair on and did some more 'running' and was pronounced good to go.

So, looks like I'm a New Balance girl! Our local cross country coach really likes the Asics brand, so I asked the gentleman why I wasn't going home with Asics, since they are so highly regarded. He quickly agreed as to the good reputation of the brand but my narrow foot/feet are too small for the Asics structure! The gentleman then wanted to know who the xc coach was and, small world, turns out they ran together in college!

I am sure there are MANY other places that will carefully fit you for your shoes - but I can personally recommend Jim Nolan (manager/fit specialist) at Ultimate Fit. Their web site is www.ultimatefit.biz and their phone number is (812) 431-0201!

Let the Training Begin!

Actually, it began some weeks ago and I have been too busy recovering from the sessions to update the blog! And astounded that I forgot or failed to post the rest of the story from last fall! To make a long story short (and it is a LOOOONGGG story!) - 6 of us took in the Last Chance Tri hosted by the Mattoon YMCA in October - while the swimming was in an indoor pool, the bike route (nearly 13 miles) was all but 4 miles into a stiff headwind in already brisk weather! It was brutal!

I've signed up for a twice a week TRY challenge class at the Vincennes YMCA - Wednesday nights a fun assortment of spin, core, running, and aerobics while Saturday mornings we swim and usually 1 of the other activities. While there are other places to swim, I must have not only lifeguards but instructors to keep me headed in the right direction. For example, I had forgotten that I was supposed to be bubbling out while my face was in the water so that I could breathe in during the time my face is turned up - Sandy was onto that in a flash and it was amazing how much less difficult it was when I wasn't trying to blow out AND breathe in during the same nanosecond! No illusions of ever being a particularly great swimmer, but less fearful of the water every time I get in the pool!

My criteria for making the trip is that the temperature has to be above 10 and the roads have to be clear - so I missed last Wednesday (too cold) and Saturday (6" of fresh snow overnight). Tonight we did the accursed spin bikes for 20 minutes (I went 5.6 miles!), then 'ran' for 20 minutes (I did 1 lap jogging 1 lap walk for 6 sets - so a mile, then walked briskly the rest of the time), then 10 minutes of aerobics with weights (thank goodness there was a set of 2 lbs left!) and 10 minutes of core to wrap things up.

I was feeling fairly good about my 'stick to it'-iveness until we were in our 80th minute (core) and 'wrapped it up' with 25 ab crunches (in a row!, then bent up one leg and lifted the other 3" above the floor and did 25 more, then switched legs - that's 75 ab crunches! Then we did 30 second planks (front, right and left) and then (when I thought it couldn't get worse!) we did only 20 of some type of torture that involved laying on our backs with our legs together up in the air (making an 'L') and by some mysterious gyration we were supposed to raise our hips as well! Our instructor (who can talk while doing these things!) suggested we could do an ab crunch at the same time!

It was a full 90 minutes and it took 2 bottles of water and 4 granola bars on the drive home to give me the strength to stagger into the house and a desperately needed shower!

My First 5k!

Lately I've been making threatening noises about developing my 'running' technique (usually I just walk pretty fast!) since my cycling seems to be coming along ok and we all know the best I can hope for with the swimming is to flounder a bit more briskly.

So I was at my desk, actually working (really!), late last week when one of the angels reached out to invite me to a 5k on Saturday morning in Vincennes. Since that would trump weeding in the front yard (which has been dreadfully neglected due to time devoted to tri-training activities), of course I said YES!

At the crack of dawn Saturday (why oh why can't Vincennes be on our time like Evansville is?), 4 of us loaded up and headed out. Turns out it was the watermelon fest down at the riverfront - really cool shirt and they were giving away free watermelons too!

Beautiful morning with a nice size group - we saw several folks from Olney there as well as quite a few of the TRYathlon ladies - either as participants or event volunteers. There may have been a few more participants than expected, as there was no sound system for everyone to hear the starting instructions, so while we caught something about 'straight through to the finish line' none of the 4 of us realized that what was said was after you cross the last street (where everyone is standing and cheering) you need to keep going about 100 feet to the chute (ooops!). Turns out all 4 of us missed it and wandered around with our water taking in the sights before kind hearted souls took pitty on us and steered us to the actual finish line. I'm certain that made a tremendous impact on our times!

I was last in my first solo 5k with a time of 47:57, roughly 16 minutes/mile, but my splits were better for mile 3 than mile 2 and better for mile 2 than mile 1 for the simple reason that as the pack got further and further away and I was who knows where in a strange city, I figured there was no one around to see me so I jogged one block (to say I 'ran' would be way too generous!) and then briskly walked two blocks, and repeated. It wasn't half bad! And certainly beat weeding! Who knew!

10 To Tri!

So at the crack of dawn on Sunday (August 1st) - 10 excited Olney 'triathletes' (!) appeared at Lytle Park in Mattoon, Illinois (about an hour from Olney). All 5 ladies had participated in the SIS Women's TRYathlon in Vincennes in June and we were joined by 5 guys - 1 with considerable tri and marathon experience, 1 a swimmer, 1 a runner, and the other 2 well, lets say just because!

The Lytle Park Triathlon was a USA Triathlon sanctioned event - so attracted some serious competitors - fancy tri-suits, heart monitors, their own timers built into their watches, teardrop (aerodynamic) bike helmets, no body fat - really lean machines - and then there was our group!

Body Marking:
- participant number on your right shoulder, your self-reported swim time on your right wrist (I said 15 minutes because I didn't want to be in anyone's way), and your AGE on your right leg just below and behind the knee (for EVERYONE to see!) - I'm telling you that would never fly at the TRY!

Bibs - none!

Swim - Lytle Park pool is, in a word, enormous! Ran in as far as you could (about 10 feet for me with my short little legs!), shallow dive, then just under 100 meters to the right side diving board. Go around a buoy out in the water (where I can't stand up) and diagonal to another buoy 50 meters toward the start. Go around that buoy (where I still can't stand up) and diagonal another 50 meters to buoy #3 at the left side diving board then straight out the last 100 meters to the exit point. The first swimmers had 4 minute (self reported) swim times - however, several got cross ways (no lane ropes since we were swimming an 'M' pattern more or less) and wound up swimming a lot further. With the advantage of being in the back of the pack, we divined that on the last long leg we should stick to the right side of the pool and would be able to stand up sooner.

Transition #1 - there were very few people who took flip flops/shoes to the pool deck and even fewer who had towels! There were rug strips to go on from the pool to the grassy area leading into the transition area, but apparently there were stones under the rug which caused some dismay. Our gang all had our buckets but there were only a handful of buckets belonging to others. My bucket had been used by someone before I got there as it was wet when I went to sit down!

Bike - 12+ miles pretty much out and back - well marked - pretty much flat - windy both ways (shouldn't have been surprised, but I was!). Our group, of course, called out 'good job' and 'almost there' to each other as we met - but didn't seem that any one else was. There was one busy road to cross and there was uniformed law enforcement in place to assist us, which was really appreciated. My blaze orange shirt was a hit as they could see me coming for a long way!

Transition #2 - no issues although as the sweeper I did get a few looks from the folks who were trying to nap as I wheeled in!

Run (or in my case, Walk) - water stop at mile #1 - passed several Churches which were letting out or getting started and I was pretty disheveled looking by that point - although folks were supportive! One of the young guns in our group had finished and went back out on the run course to encourage some of the others, which was appreciated.

Finish - a loop through the park and under a balloon arch - I was the last one in and had lots of support from the crowd!

Snacks - water and pizza and plenty of both.

Timing - some type of snag with the timing and all the results weren't immediately available. Folks who had registered just that morning weren't on the preprinted list sorted by age groups - we determined that 2 of the group had trophied in their age groups, so brought home some hardware!

Some marked differences between this coed event and the women's only event in Vincennes -
- there were real competitors with 30 second transition times - no drying off after swim, many were barefoot in the park (!), lots of energy gel packs taped to bike frames (and littering the bike path), some Camelbak hydration systems - some really fancy bikes (had only seen a Cervelo on TV coverage of Tour de France!)
- while our group supported each other as we met along the way - and had signs - there were no other signs and not much of a crowd - where in Vincennes entire families came out to support their Mom/Wife/Mother - of course there were nearly 3 x as many participants in Vincennes, so that may have been a factor too!
- 115 registered and 102 finished - don't know if the others did not show or perhaps dropped out along the way - the last 3 years there were fewer than 90 participant times posted on the web site - so we upped the totals by 10%!
- our group members finished 43rd, 45th, 79th, 92nd, 94th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th and 102nd (that would be me!)
- since I consider this an 'event' as opposed to a 'race' it was perfectly fine for me to be the last finisher - and even so I improved my bike pace, 'run' pace, and transition times!
- got to see 'bike frames' in action
- everyone got home safely (a no blood event!) and generally enjoyed the morning

Photos to follow!

Here We Go Again!

Several of the local ladies have kept in touch - kind of at loose ends now that we aren't in TRY training and headed to Vincennes 3 times a week! We've all pledged to keep up our exercise - having worked so hard it seems silly to let it all slide (! - no pun intended - ok - maybe it was!).

One of the group had tumbled onto another triathlon in about 6 weeks in Mattoon ... so Jim and I took a road trip Saturday up to Mattoon – the August 1st event is very doable for us!

It is a USA Triathlon sanctioned event – I am told it will attract the elite triathletes, the beginner triathletes, and every one in between! Registration is online only via the Mattoon Multisport site (www.mattoonmultisport.com).

We entered Mattoon from the south on 45 – turn left at the stop light at Marshall (you’ll see the Auto Zone on the left and it’s the next cross street). It’s quite a ways up – just before 45 takes the sharp right turn. There are 2 lanes of traffic each way plus a center turning lane on 45 all the way up from the 57 interchange on.

From Marshall you’ll go down quite a ways (10-12 blocks or so) and then turn right onto 32nd – 32nd street is under construction at this time – I don’t know enough about paving to know if it will be fixed by the time of the event or not – looks like it is scraped all the way to base so it’s gritty and uneven at best.

Lytle Park is on the left after the railroad tracks and 32nd is the east border of the park. We turned into the park at the second entrance and parking is on the right (gravel lot) and pool on the left up a bit. Pool entry was $4 so we just took photos from outside the fence. I didn’t mind the chain link fence at all, but the barbed wire section on the top was a little ominous. I had to hold the camera well above my head to clear the chain link sections yet tilt it to stay under the barbed wire – I’m surprised the pool folks didn’t challenge us; we must not have looked too threatening. Also surprised I didn’t manage to drop the camera!

Per Justin, the chatty pool manager I spoke with by phone, we will be able to ‘run’ in almost half of the first 100 meters, then do a shallow dive, swim the ‘M’ course, and part way back on the last 100 meter leg we’ll have our feet under us and run out. Also per Justin, it’s more of a 200 meter swim and he has an outstanding lifeguard staff that will keep a close eye on us! Justin wasn’t around on Saturday, but pool staff told us the transition area is in the grass just outside the pool house – if that is correct we’ve got a photo of it t

The bike route goes out the lane we drove in on (or there is an exit just a bit north at the other end of the gravel parking lot). Left onto 32nd, up a block to the north end of the park, left onto Western, down a block to 33rd (on the right), then straight out of town. 33rd is all marked up as if it is doing to be resurfaced as well, but was fairly intact as of Saturday.

After a few blocks on 33rd there is a 2 way stop at DeWitt with a gas station on the corner. 4 lanes of traffic going east and west (we are going north) that does not stop – surely there will be law enforcement to cross us… After that it’s a straight shot out with just one 4 way stop intersection out in the middle of some corn fields. Good concrete road – you can see forever – it reminded me of Ste. Marie if you go north from Seven Hills Road. Some slight inclines but nothing that could be called a hill. Might could be called a grind though …

The spot on the map marked as the turn around point was a small gravel lot with some silos – nothing else around that could be the turnaround area either – just a whole lot of not much out there! I think we saw 2 cars on our way out and back (we drove it as it was high noon and the car told us it was 95 degrees).

You get back into the park the way you left it. Take the ‘road’ in the park around the back of the pool and out onto 32nd again – this time from the southernmost entrance to the park. There are about 10 speed bumps along this access road. Back left/up 32nd like we did on the bikes to the corner of Western again. This time turn right (east) onto Western and go down to 21st, circle an empty block, back onto Western headed west and back to the park. This road has sidewalks on both sides, houses set way back on the lots, some shade. The street itself is a lot like East (although flat) – plenty of room for 2 lanes of traffic and cars to park on both sides. No clue as to whether we ‘run’ in the street or on the sidewalk.

This is a coed event. There is nothing jumping out at me in the material that indicates there are separate flights for men/women. Teams are allowed and may also be coed. My registration was $60.80 and includes a one day USA Triathlon (USAT) membership. As near as I can tell all it takes to be a USAT member is a credit card! I have already registered online and it never asked me for a swim time – but Tony Garrett from Mattoon Multisport and Justin the pool manager each said participants would enter according to swim time.

I’m in – I figure if I’m going to continue ‘training’ I might as well have something to train for! At least we won’t have a time change to deal with! Not overly wild about running with the alpha males, but then I’ll be in the back with the omega females anyway!

I've got photos of the pool/park and the swim/ride/run routes - and registration details - let me know if you want them!

What We've Learned ... or ... The Blooper Reel!

the slowest rider in the group probably shouldn't be the one holding the keys to the car holding all the water!

urping on your car window/door (rather than over your passengers and car's carpet) will result in stuff dripping inside the door frame and short out the window motor!

sports bra with zipper on the front will really hurt when laying face down on the exercise balls!

'naked' fruit drink that tastes really good going down will come up in your throat while biking really fast/hard on a really hot day!

a women's only event brings out the best in all of us, toward all of us, for all of us

if you change in your office before headed to TRY training, the only time you lock yourself out of the office - requiring Maintenance and/or Security staff to let you in so you can get your stuff and leave - will be when you decided to go to the bathroom AFTER applying spandex and only when you mystically have a Medium size t-shirt (to cover up the spandex) instead of a Large!

probably best to use all your fingers to wave back to the bike riders who are so cheerfully breezing back in just when you are first headed out on the bike ride!

somehow a discussion on body piercing and tattoos led to a series of deep thoughts about how we could 'clip in' to our bike seats like some of us 'clip in' to our pedals - and whether that would cause us to pedal faster or not ...

this exercise thing gets to be a habit - and it's highly contagious!

take your allergy or asthma medicine before starting training as you can count on someone being out in their yard mowing

when we are asked to swim half the length of the pool, somersault, and continue the rest of the length it's good to have a spotter to make sure we don't get disoriented and swim the wrong way after the somersault!

laugh quietly during core training when the instructor says 'downward facing dog' as she controls our destiny until the end of the session - although overall the TRY training instructors are a special kind of saint

most of us are only truly 'racing' against our own selves / our minds

at the start of the event the timing buzzer was really annoying but nothing was sweeter than the last buzz as we crossed the finish line!