Sinus Issues and Triathlon

AKA "The stupid sh*t we do for the sport."

While this really happened, the idea for telling this story came from a blog that I follow.  One of the posts had me laughing so hard I nearly cried. Here's my version of going to the doctor's office for something with a race in the future.  

Race day is just over two weeks away, and for the first time I stand a chance of standing on the podium for a half iron distance race.  Unfortunately, I'm currently enjoying one of the benefits of having kids.

It started last week when Thing 2 got a stuffy nose.  Two days later, Thing 1's nose started dripping, too.  And like a freight train coming down the tracks in slow motion, I saw it headed towards me.  So, three days ago, when I started coughing, I knew.  I hadn't dodged it.  Whatever sinus-crud-that-goes-around decided to move into my sinuses and start setting up a shop.

So yesterday, when I woke up and both ears were hurting, it was time to call the doctor.  A good friend of mine recently went through this...  Then promptly lost nearly a month of training as one thing developed into another and she wound up with pneumonia.  She's finally recovering, and I am incredibly grateful for that, but I didn't want to wind up with the same thing.  So I called my doctor's office at 8:40 on a Thursday morning:

Nurse: "Hello?" (Wait...  Don't they usually answer with the name of the doctor's office?)
Me : "Um, yes," pause... "Did I call (doctor's office)?"
Nurse: "Yes, you did, this is (nurse's name), can I help you?"
Me: "Yes, I'd like to get in to see the doctor.  It's possible I have a sinus infection, and I want to keep it from getting worse. I have a race in two weeks, and don't want to wind up sicker than I am now."
Nurse: "Okay, can you give me your name and number and we'll call you back?"

So I gave her my information.  An hour later, since I needed to get a copy of some paperwork from the doctor, anyway, I drove up there.  There was no nurse there by the name I had been given.  What the h3ll is going on?  So I asked if they had time to see me, explaining that I have a race in two weeks, and I don't want whatever is going on to get any worse.  They were completely booked.

Since they were booked (I worked Friday and Monday, so I wouldn't be able to get back until Tuesday) I drove around the corner to the instant clinic at the grocery store.  Oooh yay.  A doctor nurse practitioner that doesn't know me and the ridiculous shi*t I do for endurance sports. This should be fun.

I went into the store and signed in and explained again,
Me:"MykidsgotmesickandmysinusesandearshurtIdon'twanttogetanysickerbecauseIhavearaceintwoweeks."
Person checking me in: "Why don't you stay in bed and not do the race?"

Me: composing myself "I already paid for it, and besides, I still need to be a mom, go to work, and basically function between now and then anyway.  So how about that appointment?"
Person checking me in: "Alright, sign here and here, and...."

Finally, paperwork signed and my firstborn promised to the healthcare government, the person checking me in takes my information and vitals.

Person checking me in, "Height?"
Me, "Between 5'3" and 5'4"
Person checking me in, "Weight?"
Me, "127-128 depending"
The person checking me in frowns at me and taps the BMI poster on the wall. "You know, that puts your BMI at the top of healthy. You should be careful."
Me, "Wait, what?  What does that have to do with me needing to see the doctor?
Person checking me in, "Well, it does leave you more susceptible to getting sick when you're heavier."
Me, "Oh thanks.  I'll remember that. Cause BMI is soooo accurate."
Idiot checking me in gives me a dirty look.

So finally I get to see the nurse practitioner.  Once again...  Wait. Nope, not gonna do it.....
Her: "So what's going on today?"
Me: "I'm sick."
So we go through the whole song and dance again.  I'm in and out in about ten minutes.  Less time than it took for me to get checked in.  The only problem now is that this thing is likely viral, meaning no antibiotic in the world is going to do a damn bit of good for what's going on.  And the treatment is the most horrible thing in the world.

A neti pot.

Okay, I don't really care if you think it's the greatest thing in the world.  I do unintentional-sinus-rinse-by-swimming-pool at least twice a week, usually three. So what good is a neti pot going to do?

So I wander over to the pharmacy section of the grocery store, and stare at the neti pots.  Ooooooh look!!!  Something that I can pour water up  my nose!  Let's get one of each!

Not.  But I did find a battery operated one that eliminates the need to turn your head upside down over the sink.  I added some over the counter allergy medicine to the basket, and mosied over to the checkout (remember, hubby has the kids, who have been doing their best to redefine the meaning of "testing my patience" lately).

I took my time getting home, but opened the neti pot box as soon as I got there.  My desperation to breathe was increasing to the point where I'd try anything.  So...

I opened the box and read the directions "soothing sinus massage...."  Riiiiiggghhhtt...  And I'm a yeti.

I followed the directions, got everything together, bent over the sink so I wouldn't make a mess, put the spout of the neti pot to my nostril, pressed the button, and...

OMG WTF WAS I THINKING?!?!?!?!?!?!  I JUST SHOT WATER UP MY NOSE WITH A BATTERY POWERED STUPID LOOKING WATER GUN!  I should have saved the batteries (and my money) for something much more useful or entertaining, and used a $5 super soaker to accomplish the same damn thing!!!!!!!!

So then my husband tells me, "You're doing it wrong.  You're supposed to tilt your head to the side and do this..."  He then demonstrates with the neti pot he'd bought years ago that had been hiding at the back of the medicine cabinet.  It goes in one nostril, and out the other.  And he doesn't choke, no pressure on the inside of his eardrums, just a nice nostril wash.  WTH?!?

And then... I tried it again.  This time it went down my throat.  So now it's not only annoying as hell, it's gross, too!

Not that gross ever stopped anyone from being a triathlete.

It took a few tries, but I eventually figured it out. And to be honest, it's much more effective than the swimming pool sinus rinse that I usually wind up with. But let me just say that I would rather do another Ironman before I ever use another neti pot.

Hopefully the sinus crud will go away by race day, otherwise, I think there might be some unhappy/grossed out athletes behind me.  Although, the day does start with a nice swim, so maybe that will take care of the nose wash for me.

At least, though, the neti pot from hell wasn't entirely a wasted purchase.  My son is currently using it to surprise my daughter whenever she walks outside.  It shoots water a pretty good distance. (don't worry, I cleaned it before I let him "bathe" his sister, the dogs, the car, etc...)

Oh yeah, and I never DID get that call back from the mystery nurse at the doctor's office!

Weekend Humor - Swimmer Style!

Finally finishing up the series.  ENJOY!

Bastrop Lost Pines Sprint Triathlon 2012 Race Report

I went looking for my race review from last year, only to find out that I didn't do one.  Bummer.  It's a good race, and it's run by an amazing company, Redemption Race Productions.  I follow their race schedule to do as many of their races as I can.

A little bit about last year:
2011 was an interesting year.  In April I'd completed the Galvestion Half Ironman, and had been convinced to do the Austin Half Ironman as well.  So a friend and I went out in search of a sprint and an olympic/quarter to do before the Half Iron in October.  Bastrop was that sprint.  We'd gone out looking for a simple sprint, one that would be too difficult.   The pre-race briefing started with

"Welcome to the toughest little tri in Texas!"

My friend and I looked at each other.  What had we gotten ourselves into?

It turned out to be a snake style pool swim, a VERY hilly road course, and an equally hilly run course.  The thing about this course is that the hills aren't rolling hills.  The grades are much more extreme than many are used to.

Megan and Me

This year, the course didn't change one bit.  I loved it.  I convinced a couple of friends to go do the race with me, and found out later that a few others were going out too.  Small world!

The swim - 200 meters snake style in a 33 meter pool with a time trials start.  This year's swim was great.  I was seeded pretty well (last year I was behind two teen/preteens that were slower than I and made the swim/passing difficult).  The person behind me passed me after I accidentally kicked him, but we talked after the race and I got to apologize.  One thing about this swim - the chop from the other swimmers makes this a lot like an open water swim!

Transition was fast!  I got hung up a little bit on my race belt, but sorted it out and got moving.  I'd rolled my socks up so I could just roll them onto wet feet.  It worked out really well.

The bike.  Getting out of transition I had some trouble getting my left foot clipped in, and wasted a few seconds trying to get moving.  Not a big loss, but one that pissed me off all the same.  Not sure if I had mud or debris from the previous night's rain in the cleat, but it took some doing.  Once I got on the bike, things were smooth.  Well, as smooth as it could be.  The course is considered to be a pretty technical course.  I know of at least two broken chains and many flats, mostly due to steep uphill climbs and road debris.  The course is an out and back with a net downhill going out, and a net gain on the return.  The roads were damp and winding so getting up to speed was quickly followed by a climb or a quick slowdown for a turn.  I held back a bit on the way out because I remembered from the course from the year before and really hammered it on the way back.  Getting close to the turnaround I started counting how many women were in ahead and started chasing the one in front of me.  It seemed I was a better climber, but she had better speed on the downhills.  Two new things for this race - a disc wheel cover from Wheelbuilder and an aerohelmet from Rudy Project.  Not a huge difference for a 16 mile, very hilly course, but good practice for the half iron distance race next month.  I'll blog about the wheel cover and helmet soon.  I did use some of my Infinit Nutrition cycling mix in the FLEXR Sports remote kit to get calories in.  It's debatable for that distance that one would use any, but I was going to need water anyway, so I added the calories.  It was nice to have.  I was a little nervous using the Duro Tire slicksters on the wet roads, but they stayed fast and grippy the whole race - no skidding or sliding out of control.

Transition was good.  F A S T.  And onto the run!

The run was tough.  Hilly, humid.  But not hot because of the rain the previous evening.  I was still chasing the same woman from the bike, and still she had the speed on the downhill, but I would catch up on the uphill.  Most of the run I didn't see a single other person until I joined up with the cycling course in the last mile and a half of the course.  The downhills were rough.  Then it was mostly uphill and to the finish.  The finish is a bit confusing, and I went the wrong way at some point, but was quickly directed back to the correct path by the volunteers.  I finished strong and smiling and happy with this year's Bastrop Lost Pines Sprint.

Volunteers - these guys and gals can make or break the race.  They really made it for me.  Supportive and all about the athletes.  Thanks, guys!

Hover Rachel

The race is well organized and fun, and they have lots of food available for the finishers and spectators.  The proceeds support a donation for the park, which suffered a devastating wildfire last year, seven days after last year's race.

My one complaint about the race has to do with my rack neighbor in transition.  At some point when he came into transition on the bike, rather than rack his bike (he couldn't get his seat under the rack) he just leaned his bike up against mine.  WOW.  I was appalled.  It's one thing to have your bike fall or cause another's to fall by accident, but to save time in transition by leaning your bike against someone else's is just wrong.  I checked his results later - the time he saved by leaning his bike on mine didn't help him at all.

So - since no race report would be complete without finishing times and places:

	2012	2011
200 m swim with swim exit	2:14	2:24
T1	1:17	1:56
16 mile bike	52:45	56:18
T2	0:36	1:05
3.4 mile run (measured 3.5)	26:29	28:29
Overall Time	1:25:22	1:32:20
Age Group Finisher	1	1
Gender Finisher	2	4
Overall Finisher	16	17

We were told that race registration increased from just under 150 to 210.  Add this race to your calendar and let's make next year an even bigger event!

From fat to fit, the journey of many triathletes

Today I read a post on facebook that said, "I lost my other half.  Has anyone seen it?"  At first, I thought it was going to be a sad post, but then I remembered that last week this person had posted about how close they were to having lost half their body weight during triathlon training.  Kudos to you girl - I really admire how hard you've worked.

Incidentally, during a similar conversation at work, I was discussing diet and excercise with one of my partners.

When I saw that picture that started my journey to the ironman, I was approaching 200 pounds.  Granted I was in the latter months of my first pregnancy, but babies don't come in the 50 pound variety.  We wouldn't want them to!  So at 200 pounds I started trying to get fit again.

Today, I'm dealing with a different sort of problem.  I'm at a healthy weight when I get on the scale, but I (like many other athletes) take advantage of the countless training hours and eat junk, and whatever I happen to be craving at the moment (the guys I work with have endless fun with that one!).  Today my lunch revolved around a certain favorite energy drink and a small container of cookie dough.  Okay, USUALLY it isn't THAT bad.

So I can't stress enough the importance of seeing a quality nutritionist.  One that comes recommended by other athletes in the field, and preferably, doctors and other sports professionals.

Some things to mention about losing weight:
Hair loss - often the first to suffer, your hair and nails frequently take a toll when you lose a lot of weight.  I can mark the major endurance sports events by the horizontal lines in my nails.
BMI is a bullshit metric.  Guess what.  In fall of 2010, my BMI and my body fat percentage were roughly the same.  Today, my body fat percentage is roughly half of my BMI.  In those two years I've lost about ten pounds.
Women - your menstrual cycle may disappear.  YAY!  Hooray for freedom, hooray for the extra space in my purse and tri bag, Hoor... Oh wait a minute.  Doctors say this may actually be a bad sign.  So before you celebrate your freedom, at least get checked out by your doctor. You may need to change your diet, add a supplement or multivitamin, or take some time off for pregnancy. Interesting article here...
And remember - huge calorie deficits may actually cause the body to destroy lean mass.

And speaking of multivitamin...  You should be taking one anyway.  But do me a favor?  Ask your doctor when you go in for your yearly physical with bloodwork.  Endurance sports, weight loss and all the stupid crap athletes do that goes with the territory should be accompanied by a yearly physical.  And something that's starting to be more prevalent across all ages is a physical with a heart checkup. You don't have to search far to hear about athletes dying from heart attacks.

But back to my regularly unscheduled post.  At the athlete dinner for Ironman Texas, they asked people to stand up if they'd lost more than forty pounds training for the race.

More than a quarter of the athletes stood up.

At the half iron race in Galveston in 2011, I met quite a few athletes that race because they love the sport.  A year later at the same venue, the change in each was amazing.  More confident, more fit.  Happy.

And while this post is about the weight loss that accompanies training, there are a few things that go with fat to fit.  A few friends manage their diabetes with/at the same time they do endurance sports.  Diabetes isn't a disease for the overweight, although they often do happen together.  Sports and exercise help the body manage the disease, although I'll have to ask those friends to guest post for me on the subject.

Mental fitness.  (How many of you reading just went, "Yup."?)  Between work and kids and other responsibilities, I'm never alone.  Training is my chance to be by myself without any demands other than the ones I choose right now.  Know that feeling? I know a few parents that do, too.  Training relieves stress for many of us.  I know of one mother with three children with a few more challenges than the rest of us.  She finds peace in her training and sets an amazing example for her children.

So many inspiring athletes - I often feel like a spectator in the stands watching so many friends who are exceptional age group athletes succeed at their fitness goals.  There's no way I could put every athlete in here - everyone has an amazing story of success. Each of them inspiring.  Each of them an example for those around them, often without realizing it.  But one thing I've seen all of them do - practice patience and hard work, whether they realized it or not.  And one day, suddenly, they were successful.

But the true measure of success is that each of these athlete get up every morning and don't give up.  They took the first step on their respective roads and they don't quit.  And I believe that none of us wound up where we expected to. Mentally or physically.  And our views on fitness have been completely overhauled.

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. - Douglas Adams

Breaking down walls

When I started running again, it was because I'd seen a picture of my fire chief crossing the finish line at IM Canada.  I saw it and thought "I could do that."  So I started running again.  One race after another, and I rediscovered my love of running.  And competition.

I soon found that in local races, I'd do well.  Usually well enough to place, or at least close.  But distance running, my first love from middle school, was my favorite (although, somewhat slower now than I was then).  I'd do well enough to make a ten minute mile average pace over the run, and could hold that.  By the time I ran my first marathon in 2009, I only had one goal: to run faster than a ten minute pace.  I did it.

Last year I made the transition to triathlon, and made a few breakthroughs.  With the addition of swimming and running to my training, I found both my 5k and long distance pace getting faster, incrementally.  While experts and veterans may argue whether or not the addition of other sports or simply the extra miles made the difference, I still found myself doing better.

Then, a month ago, Jeff at Apex Endurance started coaching me.  I've been self trained for the majority of my experience - picking up bits here and there, and mostly looking up to a few people who are good at endurance sports, without ever really understanding how to get better.  Prior to any formal coaching, my training usually involved running/cycling/swimming at whatever pace I could handle, for however long my training plan called for.

Suddenly, over the past week, I've started to see improvement.  Higher power numbers during cycling, faster swimming for some of the same drills.  But the best moment came for me during a hour and forty five minute run two days ago when I broke the mental and physical barriers of the nine minute mile average pace during that hour and forty five minutes. And I hold no illusions that this is a fast pace in the running world. But there came a moment when I realized I could do it, and that I was breaking down any preconceived notions about how fast I can run.  What is important, though, is that in my love of running, I'm seeing improvement.

Kirsten, at Awesomeness of You, taught me last season to break down "realistic expectations" I hold for myself.  The result is that I enjoy my sport so much more.  Essentially, Kirsten has taught me not to have limits for myself. She taught me to not believe that I can't do something, that a certain athletic capability is out of my reach, or that something is unrealistic to expect.  She taught me how to teach myself and believe that I can.  Race jitters are pretty much a thing of the past, when they used to tear up my stomach before a race.  Kirsten taught me to look beyond what my mind and body were telling me to do and find out what I really can do.

Jeff is teaching me what I'm capable of.  Every day, I look at what he has scheduled for me to do and think  "He's crazy! I won't be able to finish that!  Okay, I'll do what I can, and finish as strong as I can, and go from there.  I'll have to email him and let him know that it was too much."  And yet, every day, I find that I can finish the workouts, and finish them strong.

So here's to the future.  I don't hold any expectations, and I haven't found my limits.

Weekend Humor - Cycling Style!

I present this weekend's humor to you without comment.  Well, without much comment!

And finally, LMFAO and Jimmy Fallon in their Spin Class Song!!!

Adventures in tan lines...

Anyone who has spent a season doing triathlon probably reads the title of this post and smiles, knowingly, and partly in frustration.  There's one tan line for running, one tan line for cycling, one tan line for swimming (if you choose to swim outside), and another one for racing.  That's if you wear the same style of clothing for each sport.  You still wind up with a watch tan line, a chip strap tan line, a RoadID tan line, a sunglasses tan line (aka "reverse raccoon"), and a helmet strap tan line.  Of course, you could always choose to wear a tri suit for all sports, eliminating the eighteendifferenttanlines triathlon special.  But then, you wind up looking a bit like this:

or this:

or even this:

So, you could do this:

I don't recommend it since there are typically nudity laws.  And if you crash, well.....  And even if you don't crash, that might be bad too.


But back to the subject.  Mostly, lately I resemble this:

That's not me, just some other poor soul who has the same kind of dilemma I do.

But to further complicate the issue, you may have noticed I'm a redhead.  Which means I'm a little like this in the sun:

So getting some color without burning is typically, well, difficult.  I slather sunscreen on like I'm trying to paint my skin (and blind the other athletes), and hope for the best.

I. Still. Have. Ridiculous. Tan lines.

I've taken to doing my swim drills outdoors, in a tyr bikini (that's a whole 'nother post - yes I know it's tight, no it's not too tight, it's supposed to be this tight, yes I KNOW it's SQUEEZING ME OUT THE SIDE....) in 45-60 minute increments in the morning so I can get a gradual fix to my tan lines.  So that when I DO take my kids to the pool, well, I don't have to worry about sunburning in regions that would just make life miserable.  Welllllllll.  I didn't account for the tan line my swim cap would leave...

I need to break in to the story for a second here - My mother says that "Everyone has 5 minutes of stupid every day.  If you're lucky, it happens when you're sleeping.  Some people save theirs up..."  Well, I guess I saved mine up.

I realized that during my swim drills, I was only getting sun, for the most part, on my back.  AND apparently just enough on my face to leave the swim cap line and the reverse raccoon eyes line.  Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind the reverse raccoon eyes.  But a forehead that is half white and half brown. Just. Isn't. Cool.  People aren't looking me in the eyes when they talk to me, they're looking me in the forehead. I have this huge white patch at the top of my face that makes it look like I have some kind of weird huge forehead and a receding hairline and coupled with the reverse raccoon eyes, I might as well ask you to take me to your leader.  Not that you'd notice what I was saying.  You'd be distracted/blinded by my forehead stripe.  I won't post a picture, because you would be so distracted by the picture, the rest of the post would get forgotten.

So in my infinite wisdom, I decided to take the kids to the gym daycare, and lay out by the pool for 45 minutes on my back to get some sun on my front.  I read a book.  I relaxed.  I didn't worry.  I spend 45-60 minutes 2-3 times a week in the pool in the sun and don't burn.

Yeah.  About that...

Several hours after getting out of the sun, I got my first indication something was wrong.  My tummy looked a bit pink and was warm.  An hour after that, I knew I had a problem.  My face, neck/chest, tummy, legs and shins were fire engine red!  And there were definite lines on the side. The worst part of it all is that I still have a swim cap tan line.

So it looks like I'll be wearing a hat for the rest of my life.  Or until I can "fix" the tan I have on my face.  And probably wearing pigtails (and no swim cap) in the water (I wonder how hydrodynamic I can get them...).    But if the "tramp stamp" tan line I'm still wearing from April of 2011 (it's currently July of 2012) is any indication, I'm going be wearing that hat for a long time.