I guess it's time that I put down into a post exactly what's going on. The news article should be up on the internet today, and in print tomorrow. You can also find me on facebook and twitter as 26point2forEDU.
Basically, I'm running a marathon in firefighting gear. No, I'm not crazy.
What I am, however, is determined. I was once asked by a hiring board to sum myself up in one word. I chose the word "tenacious." The hiring board asked me what the difference was between that and bullheaded. At the time, I didn't have an answer, but more than a decade later I can tell you the difference. It's the difference between a strong will and a strong won't.
So, on February 19th, I'm going to run the Austin Marathon in firefighting gear. I'm doing this to raise money for a scholarship in the name of a dear friend, Leonard Reed. He was an amazing man, and inspired quite a few amazing things. You can read about him here.
What the scholarship aims to do is to send kids to fire school and police academies after high school. Support Behind the Badge is the group that formed the scholarship, and I'm running to support them.
There are several community resources and corporate sponsors that have gotten involved.
Infinit Nutrition has been amazing. In order to do something like this, I have to have the right nutrition - customized and with Infinit's support and ability to work with me has made it possible. If you order from them, they'll give you a discount, and 10% of the sale goes back to the scholarship. See my previous posts on nutrition for more information. Use the code "firegirl" at checkout to get the discount.
The scholarship has been set up with Dell Cares. If you work for Dell, you can donate, and Dell will match your donation.
Inspire Fitness has provided some wonderful people to support me along the way. They're going to make sure that I have someone with me at all times during the marathon so I have everything I need. I can't say enough wonderful things about the group of ladies that's running with me. They're the Gems and you can find their running group here.
Jeff Hayes at Plasmafire Graphics did the logo for us. He really did a great job!
Johnny at Hill Country News has been awesome enough to help us get the word out. Thanks, Johnny! Here's the link to the story.
Did I forget something? Post below and I'll add it! And don't forget to follow me on facebook and twitter!
Donation Link Want to donate to help our future generation of firefighter and police officers? This is a secure donation link.
A little about me:
I'm a career firefighter going on 13 years. I'm married to a police officer and we have two great kids. Hopefully they'll go to college and be doctors or astronauts, but for the time being, I want to show them that you can do anything that you decide you can do. I'm not new to running, or to endurance sports. I've been a runner for years, and started in triathlon last year.
Two days ago I completed the Tejas Trails Bandera 50k. WOW. What. An. Experience.
I drove out on Friday night and got in just before 10pm. I was planning to camp so I'd get the "full" ultramarathon trail race experience. The Lodge still had a light on, so I found my way in and found some of the crew chilling out before a big day. They were welcoming and friendly, and flat out awesome! I got to meet the race director, Joe, and several of the guys he works with. Great guys.
My "tent"
Pretty soon, I headed off to bed. I'd decided to camp in the back of my suv, so I had less to worry about on race day.
I wound down by reading some from "Hunger Games" and fell asleep about midnight. I should mention that cell service was nonexistent for most of us.
The next morning was chilly, but the day wound up being perfect for the race. I got up, got dressed, got my cherry pop tarts, and went to packet pickup, about 100 yards from where I was camped (very cool!). Packet pickup went fast, and pretty soon, I was back at my car getting last minute things ready for the race. 70 oz of water in a nathan back pack, 3 hr flask of Infinit on my shoulder, with a 3 hr baggie and a 1 hr baggie ready to mix at the aid stations when/if I needed them. Baby wipes, ID card, camera, race number, hat. And I'm off to the starting line.
We stand around in a pack until the horn blows. And here I have to give you a visual. Have you ever seen the movie "Hidalgo?" Watch for 1:30.
As soon as all 200 of us hit that first narrow/downhill/treacherous footing area, we slow down and it becomes a nice stroll through the Hill Country. As soon as we get around that corner, I can start getting around other athletes, and I'm off again. The first 9 miles are rough. I don't mean a bad day on the pavement. I mean up, down, twisting, climbing, hands, feet, knees, cactus, poop of all kinds, rocks, trees, brush, etc.
Sunrise from the course
So the course is rocky, filled with a kind of mini-agave cactus plant called sotol, and there's very little truly flat running area. You might as well have already offered your shoes to the gods of trail dust and horse poop, because you're going to step in it at some point. And if you don't, you're going to hurt yourself avoiding it. Either way, it's a crappy situation. The area has beautiful vistas, but keep your eyes on the trail while you're running-it would be easy to twist an ankle, run into a cactus or a tree, or off a cliff. So, please. When you decide to do this race, plan to add an extra few minutes to your time to see how beautiful the course is.
At one point I heard two guys griping and I chuckled... "What," I
asked, "Didn't you read the brochure? They said everything cuts, stings
or bites." They laughed. Of course, the athlete guide also boasted
names of hills like "Sky Island," "Ice Cream Hill," or "Lucky Peak."
Nice names that don't give you any idea of what you're really in for.
Ice Cream Hill became the subject of many jokes. Mostly intended to
keep our minds off how bad we're hurting.
"There should be ice cream at the top!"
"I know why it's call Ice Cream Hill... Cause you eat it going up, and you eat it going back down!!!"
"Oh, I thought it was because 'I scream!"
This kind of dialogue went on the whole race. Turns out trail runners tend to be a funny bunch.
I want to mention the sotol. As I said before, it's kind of a miniature agave, only not as pleasant. You can't get tequila from it (thanks to a reader that I wish I could credit, I found out this is wrong-see the comments!). I got warned about it. Specifically about a small patch of it, so I wore some running pants that would protect my legs. Well, it's all over the place. Not just one small field, but all over the place. And it's taller than me in some places! Really though, it isn't that bad.
The course is well set up and well supported. About every 5-6 miles you see human beings with food and water. They are angels bearing manna from heaven. The volunteers were amazing. They knew that there were a bunch of type A athletes who were specific about nutritional needs and made the aid stations about the athletes' needs. All the aid stations were super mellow but way on the ball, and the volunteers made the effort to be sure that everyone had exactly what they needed, when they needed it. Essentially, the volunteers and crew made the race. All you had to think about was forward motion.
For me, the day was a mixed bag of emotions. I rocketed between wanting to give up or deciding that I was too tough to not finish. Every time I wanted to stop and walk, a small but pushy voice decided that I could walk for a few yards, but I needed to start running again after that. As a primarily pavement runner and triathlete, I came closer to my first dnf than I've ever been before. I found that my fifteen minutes between nutrition breaks went fast, making for a fast six plus hours. At Chapas I stopped and had help refilling my nutrition flask. For something that could have been really complicated with the help of a volunteer, it was really simple and went smoothly. I scrounged some baby wipes just in case, and I was off again. Just before my second pass at Crossroads (26ish miles?), I came around a bend in a tree and there was a camera. Really, guys? Really? I smiled the best I could. Grimaced, maybe. But something happened that really made me feel great. After the first initial rush of people, people stopped passing me. I started passing people, and from mile 10 until I finished, I kept passing people. What did this mean for me? Only one thing-I paced myself just right. I finished with very little left in the tank, but I had some. Meaning-this race went just right for me.
And, because Infinit Nutrition has been very generous in sponsoring me for the upcoming marathon, I want to give a shout out. You know that runner's stomach you get when you've been going too hard for too long and your nutrition doesn't agree with you? It never happened. Partway through (20ish miles in), I realized I needed to hunt down a bathroom. And the cedar trees just weren't going to cut it. Finally, after 26 miles, I found a bathroom. And found out that the problems I'd had in my nutrition before weren't happening again. My stomach was fine and my energy level was more than okay. My limiters in this run came down to training, never once did it come down to nutrition. So, thanks Laurie, and Infinit. Once again, I've put you to the test and you didn't let me down.
So, truthfully, I don't know if I'll do a trail race again. Probably, but I'm a pavement runner. So the jury's still out on that one. But I do know that if I do a race, it will be with Tejas Trails. And as far as trail races go, this was an amazing one and has just about everything you could ask for in the perfect trail race. Tejas Trails put together a great experience. I enjoyed every minute and every mile of this race, as my friend Dave put it. (Thanks, Dave!) If (more likely when) I decide to do another ultramarathon trail race, I'll pick this one, or Cactus Rose, also put on by Tejas Trails.
I learned a lot this race:
I learned that I can put six scoops of Infinit in nine ounces of water for a three hour bottle. HOORRAAYY INFINIT!
I learned that trail running is harder than road running if you aren't trained for it.
And I learned that I'm tougher than I thought I was.
So I'm going to end with a saying that I stole and rewrote for my purposes today (yes, I know I'm being cheesy). I didn't write it, I only read it somewhere.
At 20k I thought I was dead...
At 30k I knew I was dead...
At 40k I wished I was dead...
At 50k I realized I was too tough to kill.
Well, that's kind of true. Anything over an hour, I take in nutrition. And I start taking in nutrition early. Recent research has led me to adapt what I'm doing, and I'll be changing my methods a bit. USAT had a good article on nutrition myths this month that is worth a read-emphasizing the importance of individual nutrition. Meaning-don't take the cookie cutter approach to your race/training nutrition. What nutrition works for one athlete is not guaranteed to work for you. But this blog is less about the nutrition, and more about what happens between the nutrition...
Read on:
For a triathlon, I'll take in a half serving of my Infinit marathon formula about 15 minutes before the triathlon starts, then I'll start with my cycling formula right out of T1 and every 15 minutes after that until I hit T2, then I switch to my marathon formula.
For a running race, it depends on the distance. I'll take in nutrition starting 15 minutes before the race starts, and nothing else unless the race is more than an hour. If it is, I'll take in my marathon mix every 15 minutes.
But back to my point. I train 15 minutes at a time. I break down my 60 minute, 90 minute, 120 minute (OH MY GOSH THIS WORKOUT IS NEVER GOING TO END) into smaller, more bearable portions, broken up by my nutrition needs. How does this translate to race day? I swim/bike/run from transition to aid station, or from aid station to aid station. And that's it. I focus on each portion as one manageable bit at a time.
And the best part? Each 15 minute segment is different. The scenery changes, the people change, my train of thoughts change, etc. It's like my system reboots every time I take a nutrition break and I'm ready to start again.
During a half/marathon I usually run aid station to aid station and I walk through the aid station so I don't unintentionally wear my water. The 15 minute rule gets a little more flexible, but the concept is the same, and the nutrition still happens on the 15 minute mark.
"Why 15 minutes?" a person might ask. I've set up my nutrition to take in about 18-20 oz of water per hour as recommended and trained for, and the Infinit as directed and trained with. If I take it in every 15 minutes, I tend not to get "sloshy" or bloated. So the answer is "personal choice."
Truthfully, switching to Infinit has helped substantially. No more "What was next? Gel? Drink mix? Ugh, NO MOAR," and abandoning my plan to switch to on-course offerings. I know my stomach won't revolt. It's simple and doesn't take any extra thought.
But the race or training session is manageable. It's not one huge event, but several smaller ones that don't overwhelm me with the thought of completing it. Beyond that, I take one day at a time. Ironman training for IM Texas in May? Nah. I entered each day from the Beginner Triathlete basic Ironman plan into my calendar, and I'm looking a few days ahead at a time. Not weeks, not even to the race. Just to the next day or so to make sure I have time to complete the training sessions, and switch around what I need to. I did the same for the Marathon in February, and the Ultramarathon on Saturday.
The lesson is the same whether you're training or racing. Small, manageable parts. I've chosen to break mine up by nutrition breaks (and sleeping at night!).
How do you break your training sessions up?
To my readers: Infinit Nutrition has ended their amazing yearly sale,
but you can still save some money. Use the code "firegirl" at checkout
to save 10% and help to fund the scholarship that I'll be running a
marathon for in firefighting gear!
Ugh. I still haven't learned how to use this blogger. I thought it was going to post this automatically-so to my readers, I'm sorry for the delay.
I'm putting off a promised blog post about taking breaks during running to post about my nutrition.
When I started running, I was clueless. Sometimes I still am. I was so proud of how I looked with something like fourteen packets of Gu stuffed in a running belt during the Austin marathon...
I used Gu to keep the calories in. On my frame, however, I took in too many calories. Now, several years and many evolutions of my nutritional plan later, I'm still running water stop to water stop, but my nutrition is different. None of this occurred in one huge leap, but more as a series a stumbles and hops as I (eventually) took advice of those smarter and more experienced than I.
The first major evolution of my nutrition came when I moved to triathlon. I started using a packet of Gu before my swim, then water and Gu just out of T1 and every 30 minutes for the rest of the race. I added a half serving of Perpetuem per hour on the bike and took in water when I took in Gu. Essentially, every fifteen minutes I was taking in Gu or Perpetuem.
Guess what? Still. Too. Much. Nutrition. At my last triathlon, I wound up abandoning my "tried and true" nutrition plan and taking in coke on the run just to try and settle my stomach. It was a less than pleasant experience (well of course it was, it was a half ironman, silly) and I vowed not to repeat the nutrition portion. But since I'm gearing up for Ironman Texas and a marathon and........ Anyway, I had to figure out what I was going to replace my defunct nutrition plan with.
Enter Infinit. (Can you hear the angels singing?) I'd been considering switching anyway. I was tired of all the gels, all the mixing, keeping it straight on race day, and trying to figure out where to put all my gels (There's a joke there..) So I logged onto the Infinit website, ordered an initial consultation, and waited patiently. The slider thing on the front page didn't do much for my Type A personality because (are you listening Infinit?) there are no numbers on the sliders to tell me what exactly is in my drink at each step of the way. Okay, I'll wait for a real person. And of course, I'm a typical athlete. I know what I need, I know what's best for me, just set it up so I can do it the way I've been training and let me order it!!!!!! Yeah, about that..... I got a email from Laurie asking me some basic information about what distance races I usually tackle, how heavy do I sweat, do I have any GI issues, my, ahem, weight...... In a pretty short period of time she had two formulas set up for me. One for running and one for cycling. I looked at the nutritional values and (drumroll please)......
Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to run on that? My pet dog couldn't run for an hour on that, let alone me. But her email was so convincing, so I decided to give it a try. I ordered my first bag, a cycling mix, and I didn't just settle for any test. I put it to a real test. I set out for a 52 mile bike ride. Hills. Sustained climbs. Wind. Heat. With no backup nutrition. Just me, my bicycle, Infinit, and of course my cell phone, just in case my stomach decided to revolt and I had to turn my bike ride into a sudden duathlon involving a run for the treeline away from the road.
What happened next was pure magic. No stomach upset. No bonking. I felt strong, I felt good and my bicycle had wings that day. Okay... I'm convinced... Slightly. Let's see what happens when I run. Surely this is a fluke and can't happen twice. So I ordered a bag of the running mix. Once again, a real test. Fourteen miles in Texas heat. Once again, magic. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not just taking my word for it. I'm putting it to the test. Again. And again and again. And we'll see what happens. But through this whole process, Laurie has been amazing. She's been patient with a Type A athlete who is demanding and not understanding. I just run this, I don't do the whole microbiology thing where you need to understand exactly how muscles/cells/organs work and work under the stress of endurance exercise and then how to feed them. I mean really, who has time to do all that? But I'm glad someone does!
So I'm still taking in nutrition every fifteen minutes, but not at the higher levels of calories I was taking in before. Laurie dialed it down for EXACTLY what I needed. She seems to be an expert or something!!! She asked the right questions and got the answers she needed so that my hypersensitive-going-to-need-counseling-before-this-season-is-over stomach could handle the stresses I'm putting my body through.
And that's the foundation behind Infinit. The formula is designed with each athlete in mind. How many calories, how strong you like your flavor, how much you'll be sweating, how much caffeine do you want (if any), do you have any gi issues, etc.? Infinit knows you aren't just another athlete with a number. You're an individual with different needs than the ones that you're racing, and I really got that feeling throughout this whole process.
So, Thanks, Infinit. And Laurie... Standing ovation!
Infinit has goodies like energy drink mix and recovery drink mixes, water bottles and hats. Don't forget that when you order from Infinit, you can help to fund the scholarship by using the discount code "firegirl" at checkout.
To my readers-I hope your holiday season is going well. Happy New Year!
So I interrupt this crazy Holiday week to bring some really great news!!! Infinit Nutrition has agreed to help sponsor me for the marathon!
What this means:
Are you an Infinit Customer? Use the code "firegirl" at checkout to save 10% on your order and Infinit passes your savings to us!
Are you considering switching to Infinit? Use the code "firegirl" at checkout to save 10% on your order, and Infinit passes your savings to us!
Do you know anyone who uses Infinit or is thinking about it? Pass on the discount code to them. Let's get this out there!
Tomorrow you'll see another blog post about my Infinit journey and the evolution of my nutrition to where I am now. I started using Infinit before they became a sponsor. Give their custom blend nutrition a chance, and you'll see why they have such a great product!
Infinit Nutrition really is an amazing product, but even more-they are an awesome company. So send over your order today and help us fund scholarships!
You can find Infinit Nutrition's American Website here .
There, I said it. The boring, mind numbing, OH-MY-GOSH-THIS-WORKOUT-IS-NEVER-GOING-TO-END, work that involves a treadmill or a bicycle trainer (better known as dreadmill and drainer, muahahahahaha) is important to a triathlon training program in my opinion. With winter setting in for the Northern Hemisphere, many of us relegate ourselves to hours of indoor riding/running. Despite the mindsuck that is trainer riding/ or treadmill running, this is something that is an important piece of the triathlon puzzle for me. Here's why:
No breaks, unless I take them.
When I'm out for a ride on the road, even on the flats, I can get to a point where I can stop pedaling and coast for a bit. Not true on the trainer. If I stop pedaling, the trainer stops. Constantly pedaling, constant effort. It's the same on a treadmill.
Of course, there are the breaks that I take... More on this in my next blog post...
Increased resistance... (trainer)
I've found that it takes more effort to push those pedals a similar distance when my bike is properly installed on the the trainer. And, depending on the model of the trainer, I might even be able to increase the resistance even more.
Increased speed... (treadmill)
I've found out how fast I can really go under controlled circumstances, leading to greater gains in the wild. Ideally.
Unsolicited advice:
The biggest thing here is if you are running this seriously that you care about times and gains and are keeping track of your miles, you should consider investing in a high quality gps heart rate monitor. One that can keep track of your mileage inside and out. The reason here is that I started to discover inconsistencies between treadmills and their speeds. The key is that I calibrated my gps monitor about two weeks after I buy every new pair of shoes. I'll post more about that later this month.
Cadence:
You can keep it where you want it for as long as you want it. Well, if your legs hold out!!! Thanks to tougholdbuzzard for pointing out this one, you can keep your cadence where you want it for a specified amount of time. Combined with resistance, this makes for a MEAN workout! This goes for both the bike and the treadmill. No dodging or running from dogs, cars, geese, or snakes (Texas, remember?) I seem to remember my running and cycling mentors nagging me to keep my cadence high for both cycling and running, and, well, my training still reflects that teaching. So, depending on what metric you use for training, cadence can be an important factor. It's one of the few that I look at on a post run analysis (distance, speed, time, cadence: that's it)
Inclement weather...
Pretty obvious here. But what sends one person indoors may just be another day on the course for another...
The pros do it...
Do I need any other reason? Okay, so I'm kidding. But, the pros do it. Companies that make money producing indoor workout videos for cycling make a big point of counting how many of the podium winners at each big race use their videos. Lately I've been hearing more and more about treadmill videos! But pros don't typically do useless workouts. And as I get more and more educated about the elements of workouts the pros do and why, I'm adapting my workouts as well.
I want to point out that I'm not saying take ALL your workouts indoors. I'm saying that I think I should do a few workouts a week indoors, and that I think treadmills and trainers are valuable to a triathlon training program the way that a race belt is to a marathoner. Valuable, probably helpful, but not necessary.
There are many more reasons... I'll update my blog post as readers give me some great reasons.
Why do YOU take your workout indoors, and why do you believe it's a necessary part of any good training program?
With winter setting in for the northern hemisphere, many of us are moving our workouts indoors. Well, those of us who don't have a support crew that we occasionally, uh, need a, uh, short, period away from that causes us to occasionally have an indoor workout anyway. I'll call a spade a spade, and admit I'm a weenie for running indoors in 40 degree weather (truthfully, my favorite is 50ish and clear) but yeah, it's for the support crew. That's right, I'm keeping them comfortable. Suuuuurrrreee I am...... And honestly, the whole: "He's touching me," "MAMA DAWGEE!" "He's breathing on me!" "SCREEECH!" "MOOOOMMMMMMMY, he's LOOKING at me!" wears me out more than running a half marathon in Texas heat can.
Um, so what do you do? It's not like running faster helps much. And I don't think that CPS would look kindly on me force feeding them cheetos to keep them happy for a two hour run.
So I move my winter workouts inside quite often. And the cardio cinema at Gold's Gym is great. Could you think of a better way to pass two hours than to have someone else take care of the support crew while you run on a treadmill and Indiana Jones saves the day, yet again. I mean talk about motivation. Could you imagine snakes and house size boulders behind you in the dark, and if you stop running or slow down, you'll get smooshed?
But this latest treadmill workout brought out something that I, thankfully, don't see very often. So I figured I'd put it in letter form.
Dear dude on the treadmill next to me today.
1. Axe body spray in copious amounts is not recommended before your
workout. It does not work like a magnet for the chicks to your
"manliness" like the commercial says. Please reconsider before you have to start purchasing gas
masks for the people around you.
2. The aforementioned axe body spray does not hide the fact that you
are not wearing deodorant. Yes it's gross. Yes, you need it. Please
reconsider before you come back to the gym.
3. Sharting is real. Yes, I can tell you did it. No, the
previously mentioned axe body spray and lack of deodorant does not hide
that you (a) failed to wipe your bottom, or (b) lifted so much weight
before coming over to the treadmills that you are now experiencing anal
leakage.
The tears in my eyes have nothing to do with the fact that I'm so
grateful that an Adonis like you had the time to run on a treadmill next
to me in what you must still think is a meat market. It has more to do
with the dry heaves that your 'fragrance' has sent me into. Frankly, I
get to see people that look way better than you, and take fitness (and,
to be honest, personal hygiene as well) much more seriously than you on
a regular basis, but thanks again for the compliment you paid me by
running on the treadmill next to the only other occupied one in the
joint. I'll remember that when I see (and attempt to avoid) you in the
future.
Sincerely,
No, please, stay where you were, I'll find another treadmill.
While we're at it, what do you want to vent about now that winter is here?
I'm sitting here bopping to the music on one of the Phineas and Ferb shows while my Support Crew eats breakfast and bops along with me. The music makes me think of last night's training run.
I had a great training run last night, but for one exception: I treated myself and dusted off my poor, neglected mp3 player.
I'm not kidding that it was a treat. I LOVE music. It really gets me moving and helps keep my mind off the miles, which have become harder since some of the miles have recently included firefighting gear. Since starting triathlon, the mp3 player has taken up residence in a forgotten place with the running shoes I no longer use but can't bear to throw away, race shwag I haven't found a use for yet, long expired coupons and receipts for athletic products, etc. The problem with listening to music comes when the chorus of "Bust a Move" comes on in the middle of an intersection and I have the sudden urge to stop running and literally bust a move. Too bad I have the same dancing skills my two year old has. It's much cuter when he does it, though.
So, I don't doubt the the miles were slower than I had wanted, and my movements that had absolutely nothing to do with the motions required for forward progress attracted some attention. But it was fun. And that's really the point. There's almost always this point in a race where I think "I don't want to do this anymore." It doesn't usually last long, though. I won't always be (one of) the fastest in my age group and I won't always meet the goal. But I will always accomplish something. Even if it is just to have fun.
And to show my kids, er, I mean, Support Crew, you can do anything you want to.
WOW. High Five Events, you get a standing ovation. Well done.
You guys even got the weather to cooperate.
The
drive in wasn't so bad. Two-ish hours from the Austin area, through
beautiful central Texas. The Inn of the Hills hosted the event, and the
packet pick-up, expo, and athlete meetings were all in the same
building, about a block away from bike check-in. The whole thing felt
well organized and welcoming from the beginning. I was one of the last
minute registrants, but, not a problem, the race organizers still had it
work smoothly. I registered for the quarter iron distance, got my
wristband and shwag, and got some last minute items from the expo. I
picked up some Zensah sleeves, anticipating a cool start for the next
morning (Thanks, Hill Country Running!). Bike check in was next. T1
was about a block away from packet pick-up, and once again, well
organized. Everything went smoothly. Thanks to the help of a volunteer
who is slightly OCD like myself, the race number got onto my bike and
my bike got checked in. Off to T2 and run bag check in. Once again,
thanks to the help of a VERY smart volunteer, I got my bag set up and
ready for T2.
Next stop? Got to find dinner. Chili's was very welcoming, and
the servers even seemed excited for the race, wishing us good luck on
the way out the door.
Back to the hotel to get ready and rested.
The morning was in the 50's. Off to the races. Parking was near
the finish line/T2, with a shuttle to the starting line/T1. The half
iron distance waves went first with the quarter (olympic) distance waves
last. As far as an open water swim goes, the water was a dream. It
was as calm as you could get, and you could get a view of the half iron
distance swimmers as they went by. The race announcer was a hoot! I'm
not sure who he was, but he had us cracking up while we were waiting for
our wave. Then, 3-2-1 and my wave was in the water and off! The water
was almost warm enough to go without wetsuits, but not quite (which was
good, because most of us used wetsuits for warmth before the race, not
during!).
The swim was good. After my wave thinned out, it was fairly
calm, with very few people running over each other. Then, out of the
water, up the ramp and over to the strippers. And first, I need to give
props to the guy that made the ramps. 'Cause dude, you rock! Back to
the strippers... If you've never done a triathlon needing a wetsuit or
that had strippers, you need to. These guys and gals are awesome. You
and they get the wetsuit down to your waist, you flop down on your butt,
they rip the wetsuit down over your feet, and off you go. But this is
where I had a problem... When the strippers ripped my wetsuit off, the
chip strap on my ankle broke. No, I don't mean came undone. It
broke. And the chip must have flown a good ten feet or more. Thanks to some sharp eyed volunteers, they saw it take a hike, and got it back for me. So I wasted several minutes while one of the awesome volunteers
figured out how to make the thing work for the rest of the race. Did I
mention how awesome the volunteers were?
Run up the hill and to my bike. Except for the mishap with my
chip strap, T1 went well. Then, onto the bike leg. Which. Was.
AWESOME. If you're familiar with Central Texas, you know that cycling
can sometimes be a crapshoot. Hills, traffic, chipseal, hills, lights,
itty bitty shoulders, hills, roadkill... You name it. Well, the course
was mostly flat-ish, some chipseal, and wide shoulders/protected
roadway/quiet roadway. Gorgeous hill country. Two hills that reminded
you that you were, in fact, still in the hill country. Fast enough of a
course that I was grateful for my sleeves! Great, well supported
course.
Then into T2. Great transition-uneventful. And on to the run.
Well supported. Did I mention well supported? Two loops through
downtown(?) and a park. Then the finish line. It was a beautiful
thing. They even stretched a tape across the finish line for each
finisher so you could "break" it. Results were up so quickly that my
head was spinning! Post race massage, snacks, and adult beverages were
available. There were finisher's medals for everyone that completed the
quarter and the half distance events (I'm not sure about the sprint
from the day before).
I just got my email saying that pictures were ready, and
my post race high is typically smooshed by viewing those pictures. Well,
Kreutz-thanks for not ruining that high! Kreutz Photography did a
really good job.
My stats:
4th in my AG, 7th woman. 24th finisher overall. Time 2:50. Great place to start!
Congrats to all the finishers.
Pros:
The volunteers were amazing
Beautiful race
Well organized
The volunteers did such a great job
Great swim course
Awesome bike course
Nice shuttle between T2 and T1
Strippers
Post race party
Kreutz Photography did a great job
Well organized
The event was about the triathletes, focused on having fun
The town got involved and was very welcoming.
Did I mention the volunteers rocked it?
Cons:
Mud in T1
Half of the run course was off road
The run course may have been longer than it was advertised
At least one aggressive cyclist that would pass people and then cut them off-she was really rude!
I frequently see the question, "What do I wear for my triathlon?"
You can find many different solutions online. Search the forum at iamtri.com or beginnnertriathlete.com and you can find this question has been answered over and over again.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the two-piece tri suit. I have three. I train in them religiously and I have my favorite. One of them even matches my bike.
But I've learned several things about what to wear, and what not to wear during endurance sports.
First, the baggier your clothing is, the more likely you are to chafe. Coming from a running background, I have all the cute running skorts. Guess what. I used to bathe in body glide to keep from chafing so badly that I'd walk bowlegged for a few days. I once saw a guy during the Austin Marathon bleeding from his nipples from chafing so badly. No more cute running clothes...
Second, everyone wears tight fitting lycra, and no one cares!!! If you catch a stranger looking at you, they're probably admiring your tri suit or jersey, and wondering what brand it is. In one race, I saw athletes with their names on their bottoms. Try not to stare at that!
Third, train in it. If you wear your pretty new tri suit the day of the race, you won't know where the hot spots are. I have one tri suit that I have to coat the inner seams so I don't chafe or blister. I'm glad to have found this out before race day!
Unless you're doing an Iron distance event, the likelihood is that you won't have a changing tent-meaning you won't get to change. Tri suits reduce the time spent in transition and give you one (or more) fewer thing(s) to worry about.
Since I started doing triathlon, my running gear has gotten a makeover. I now run in either a tri suit, or compression shorts and a racerback top.
The most important thing to remember is that no two bodies are alike. What fits one person just right and doesn't chafe may be too harsh on another person's shape. One brand may work well for one person, but not at all for another. Be prepared to try different things.
So, on February 19th, I'm going to run the Austin Marathon in firefighting gear. I'm doing this to raise money for a scholarship in the name of a dear friend, Leonard Reed. He was an amazing man, and inspired quite a few amazing things. You can read about him here.
Inspire Fitness has provided some wonderful people to support me along the way. They're going to make sure that I have someone with me at all times during the marathon so I have everything I need. I can't say enough wonderful things about the group of ladies that's running with me. They're the Gems and you can find their running group here.
Jeff Hayes at Plasmafire Graphics did the logo for us. He really did a great job! 
A little about me:
