What a difference a week makes!

The picture to my left is a photo of Tempe Town Lake. This lake is not my friend. My first time in it I swam the wrong direction while backstroking. The second time I was in the lake I doubled my pool time for the same distance. The third time in the lake I had a panic attack and tried to quit. Today was going to be different.

Kate's 2nd Splash N Dash . . . .

I started the day feeling much more confident. Last night's practice swim in the new wet suit felt good. I have a full sleeve "19" wetsuit. I think it gave me a little confidence boost. It also helped that it was a 750m swim v. the 1000m swim I was expecting. I had a very busy work day so I didn't have time to obsess about the race.

At 4:00 I packed up and went down to the race. It was a cold day for Arizona. Maybe 65 or 67? Usually when it hits 70 degrees here we all have our sweaters on. So this type of weather was not idea. I couldn't imagine what the water tempature was going to be.

Peter got to the race before me. He was only 1 of about 30 people! We were still a little early so maybe others would be coming. The race organizers talked about how the weather might be keeping people away today. By the time we were to start the race, we had 52 people participating. Unheard in Arizona to have race that small but I dug it! It turns out that it was a no chip race this time. They were going by our bib numbers. This should be interesting!

I looked at the water and got a huge pit in my tummy. The buoys were so far apart!! How could that be 750m? It looks like WAY more than that. It was again a triangle format. I can't believe how far they are! I had to stop looking b/c I could feel my heart rate going up.

As we started to get our wetsuits on an older lady befriended us. She was CHATTY! Turns out she has done ironman races and does about 15 marathons a year. She talked about how she was the last on across the finish line in IMAZ. She didn't care one bit! It was all about the finish for her. I was so impressed with her attitude. It turns out she is a slow swimmer too who is doing the same race I am doing on Sunday. I think her chatting helped me get through my prerace jitters. She didn't stop! It was cute though. I think she was happy to be with some folks.

Soon it was race time and we were to get into the water. It was cold!! I recognized some faces from last week and made some small talk with some folks while we were getting used to the water. A few of us self described slow people talked about where to go and when to start. So far so good. No panic yet.

The next thing I knew the horn blew. Deep breath . . . Here I go. For a brief moment I flet a little uneasy. Not getting into the flow but that soon passed. I tried to get a little chant going in my head. "1, 2, 3 . . . Breathe! 1, 2, 3 . . . Breathe!" I decided I would try to sight about every 10 strokes. I realized that I wasn't freaking out! I am doing this! I take my first sight and put my head right back in the water and didn't skip a beat. Hey, I just passed a guy! "1,2,3 . . breathe!"
The next thing I know I am at the first buoy! How did that happen? I am doing this!! As I am going I see some folks floating on their backs. I haven't had to flip over yet. Hooray! As I am swimming I realize the longer I keep stroking the faster I will get done.

As i reach the final stretch I got pretty emotional again. This week I'm emotional for a different reason. I totally concurred my fear! I didn't give up and worked to get over my issue. Pretty cool. As I started to walk up the boat dock and man was right behind me. He asked the race official "Are we the last ones out?" AND the race dude said "NO!" I can't believe it!

I quickly went to the transition and got my shoes on. The the running begin! I was about a mile into the run when I saw Peter coming the opposite way (We had to do two loops) He said "YOU DID IT!" It must have been obvious b/c he was still on his first lap.

I was on cloud nine. I knew I was still back of the pack but I was SO OK with that! When I finished Peter told me that I was only a couple of minutes behind him!! He thinks I really cut a ton of time of my swim!

Here are the results.

• Today: 750m swim and a 4k in 43:46
• Last week: 500m swim and a 4k in 45:52

I was trying to calculate the numbers. I don't know how this time can be possible though. It is pretty darn good if you consider the time includes the swim, transition of getting my wetsuit off, AND a 2.5 mile run! What ever. I'm not going to over think it. I'll take it.

I drove home with a new attitude. I can do this! This is a whole new ball game now! I can do this! Now that I know I can do the swim, I can start thinking about how to become faster and stronger v. thinking about surviving the swim.

What a difference a week makes!

Our Weekend Ride - "Eric & the Skins"

My friend Eric does weekend up recaps of our rides. He is so great at them! I am posting here but not taking credit for his work.

I will add a couple things. (1) It was truly 'Eric and the Skins'. We had two Navajos (Ron and Derrick), a Comanche (me), a Laguna (Suzanne), and a Stockbridge Munsey (Jake). (2) It was a beautiful ride and I was so excited b/c the last time we did this ride we saw a Coyote and a Roadrunner. Unfortunately, I did see the coyote again. It was dead on the side of the road. Sad. (3) Derrick really did kick butt on this ride. When Ron and I first started there is no way we could have handled two loops. Derrick did it! He is going to be up to speed in no time.

"Eric & the Skins"
Today at 12:48pm

While riding with the usual weekend group yesterday, I rode alongside Kate for a while and we chatted a bit. She told me she was calling our ride that day 'Eric & the Skins'. I nearly crashed when I heard this name because of how funny it struck me. Turns out the entire group, other than me, were Native Americans. I received permission to use the name. I thought it was pretty catchy.

Yesterdays ride took us around the Usery Pass loop twice again. I hadn't ridden with the group in a few weeks and figured that my first ride back would be this one. This is by far our hardest ride. Lots of hill work, but very scenic. For a little extra torture, I threw in the Las Sendas mountain loop as well. Normally, this ride wouldn't kick my ass as much as it did yesterday. Saturday night, I went out with some friends to watch the UFC fights and had a couple beers. No big deal except that is was a couple more that I normal have the night before our rides. The first half of the ride, I was really feeling sluggish.

We had a couple new participants this weekend. Derrick, who is a 3rd year law student and Jake who is a 1st year. Derrick had just gotten his bike the day before and probably hadn't had time to have it fitted properly. He hunk in there and rode the whole ride. Once he gets his bike fitted to him, he's going to kick butt! Speaking of kicking butt, there's Jake (aka Kid Rocket). This "kid" is built like a cyclist; tall, thin, & lean. I rode with Jake for a while and talked to him and all of a sudden, he was gone. He started pulling away from me and I don't think I ever caught him except when he stopped for me. Oh sure, I could make all kinds of excuses; the beers, the age difference, the bike, this kid is just fast. I felt like I spent the first half of the ride "chasing the rocket".

Once we reached the 1/2 way mark and headed back out, I decided I was going to do my best to keep pace with him. We started up Usery (the easier side) and I suddenly felt pretty good. I cranked! I pulled away from the group and saw Jake trying to catch me (for a change). I told myself that I'd be OK if he didn't catch me until the top. After the top of the hill and as we started the long descent, he caught me. I felt good knowing that I was able to hold him off as long as I did. Once we got to the bottom of the hill we rode together again for a while. Next up came the biggest, steepest hill of the ride (I call it King Kong). Suddenly, the rocket takes off again. WTF? Wasn't this the same kid who was saying after we came down that hill that he'd probably be walking up it? He absolutely flew up this hill. I wish I could hate him for it, but he's a pretty nice guy and that wouldn't be right.

We all finished the ride separately but within minutes of each other. Kate & Ron hung back with Derrick which was cool of them. Suzanne, Jake, & I pulled away from them on the return Usery climb. Since Jake was so far in front of me, he missed the turn to go up Las Sendas but still made the climb once he turned around.

It seems that I have inadvertently recruited Kate & Ron to join me on my century ride. Kate mentioned it while we chatted. It would be great to have some company! I think we are shooting for December sometime. Hopefully before the end of the year!

All in all, a great day to ride. A little chilly to start, but ended with perfect weather. The rest of the day I spent with the kids and massaging my legs from trying to catch "Kid Rocket".

I have Open Water Swim Panic!

The photo above was taken after the Splash n Dash. Suzanne and Peter did great and I floundered. Let me tell you my story.

I'm scared of the open water swim but I want to get better. Thursday we had a race where we had 500m swim and a 2.5 mile run. I was SOOO nervous. Not only did I have to swim in Tempe Town Lake but it was also going to be my first swim in a wet suit. My fears started to escalate the night before the race when I tried the wet suit on. It fit better than it did when I first got it but it was still a size or two too tight. My husband said "it will look great when you lose about 20 more pounds". Whatever. Mom said, "are you really going to wear that tomorrow?" Whatever again.

I was extra nervous on Race day - should I even wear the wetsuit? I never knew I so vain until these damn triathlons. I spoke to my tri buddies (Peter and Suzanne) they both encouraged me to wear it just to test it out. They were very supportive. If I try to wear it, at least I will know how it feels to float. This was my first Splash n Dash. You could do a 500 or 1000m swim. We got signed up and were stunned by the crowd. There were only about 150 people. The last race we did there were about 1500 people of all shapes and sizes. The 150 people doing the Splash n Dash were all "super duper fit". They all must have been training for the SOMA HIM or the IM-AZ. I think there was only 1 woman heavier than me and I only saw 1 man with a beer belly. INTIMIDATING! These people had the type of bodies where they walk around in their speedos or their tri bikinis. The Suzanne said "I hope I look like that when I am 40! I've got 15 more years to get there!" Yes, I am training with a 25 year old.

I decided I was going to power through though and do this. Who cares what anyone thinks. At least I am trying. I got my wetsuit on easier than I thought I would. It was ok. The 1000m people went first and we took off about 3 minutes later. (I knew one person in the 1000m group.) There were only 13 of us doing the 500. When I got in the water I was stoked. I didn't even have to tread! The suit floated for me. I was very optimistic. I could really float! I wasn't going to sink!! HOORAY!

So our 500m horn went off and I took of swimming like a champ. My swim coach was right! I can do this! Mind over matter. I had my head in the water breathing ever 3rd stroke. I realized that when I actually do my stroke correctly I can cover a lot of ground! Then it happened . . . I looked up to sight and freaked. I started to lose my breath. I flipped to my back and tried to get my heart rate down. I back stroked then rolled to my front again. Can't seem to get my groove back. Oh no! It was a triangle bouy set up. 1000m folks did 2 laps and we did 1 lap. In the middle of the first and second bouy, I called the lifeguard boat over and told him to pull me in. I was having a panic attack. I lost my breath and was freaked out. He said "do you really want me to take you back?" I said "Yep! I can't do this." I held onto the boat and tried to catch my breath but he couldn't go anywhere b/c there were swimmers going by. I then thought I had to keep going so I let go of his boat and took off again. Same thing all the way back. Stroke and covered a lot of ground and then flipped to my back. Stroked and covered ground and flipped to my back again. Awful!

I finally reached the finish line and got out. My friend from the 1000 got out the same time I did. (Yes, he lapped me.) At first I could tell he was proud that he lapped me but then he must have seen the defeated the look on my face. He tried to cheer me on and helped unzip my wetsuit. I got to the transition and told myself i was done. I quit. I'm not going to do the run. Then I thought, what am I going to tell my kids! I can't tell them I quit. So I got on my shoes and ran. Plus, I knew I had to get a couple more miles in for the pumpkins. I ran and I finished the race. Many of the 1000 m people passed me on teh run but they were superhuman triathlon people so I didn't care. I almost started crying about 3 times but sucked it up. My two tri buddies were waiting for me at the finish line. They were so cute. They tried to make me feel better but it didn't help much. Peter said I was in a "triathlon death spiral". They said it was all in my head and I just needed to keep at it. I know they are right.

On the way home I called my man. He tried to pump me up. He said he would take me to do more OWS and support me getting a swim coach. it was nice but I was too down to appreciate it. By the time I got home i had given myself a migrane. I put the kids to bed and then put myself to bed b/c my headache was so bad I couldn't see. I've only had 2 other migranes in my life - both when I was pregnant.

The cute thing is that Peter called this morning and said "guess what!? All 3 of us won our age groups!" (13 people remember) He also told me I wasn't last. I finished 12/13. I think I must have passed someone on the run.

So now I am dreading next Friday's 1000m Splash n Dash. (no 500m option this time) Peter and I are also doing a tri next Sunday. This wasn't on my radar but Peter wants to do it. It has and 750m OWS. The next week another tri with a 1000m OWS. I know the OWS practice is what I need but I'm just sick about it.

What am I going to do?! If I can't even swim a 500m how am I going to do my HIM swim??

Meet Suzanne!

Meet Suzanne! She is also known as "The Swimmer", "The Mountain Goat", "The Law Student", "The Bad Ass"!

Peter and I have a couple of tri buddies who are also going tackle the California Half Ironman - Kyle, Suzanne, and Derrick. This is Suzanne. I have mentioned her to some of you in passing before. I think we called her the "goat" a few posts ago b/c she is so good at climbing hills on the bike. She is awesome at triathlons. She is so good I told her if the law thing doesn't work out she could probably b/c a professional triathlete. In our big Nathan's race, she finished 30 something out of 280 women. In a race yesterday she finished 3rd in her age group and got a medal! She is a bad ass. Suzanne is participating in many of the same races that Peter and I are doing for training. The next one on the list is a "splash N dash" in Tempe Town Lake this Thursday. Lucky for Suzanne, she can actually swim!

I'm going to add her as an author so you can hear from a "real" triathlete. Hopefully some of her SWIM POWER will rub off on me!

Race Hotel Booked - Now I need a training plan!

HOTEL: This race is feeling more real everyday. Today I booked my Half Ironman race hotel. I am hoping it is really as convenient as I think it will be. It looks like it is about 1 mile to the swim starting line. My family will be able sleep in and get to see me possibly swim and run. I don't think they will be able to see the bike part. It feels awesome and scary as Hell to be getting closer and closer to race time.

TRAINING PLAN: The big date is NOVEMBER 9th. That is when we need to start our 20 week training program. It sounds like a long way away from the race but it is a big count down for me. I'm hoping to find a good training plan that will keep me from getting hurt and give me a solid foundation.

Kate's Back

I haven't train for a while now. It has actually been a full month. For those of you who don't know, I've had two funerals, the flu and a sinus infection in September. I think I was physically and emotionally drained from the back to back deaths of my grandpa and my dad. During that time I had a very poor showing in the Open Water Swim portion of one race and I missed my San Diego race. (I'll tell you more about my swim some other time.)

Now I feel very behind on my training. I have to make up some ground very quickly. Peter and I will have to start our "official" 20 week training program in early November. I've rearranged my training schedule, found some new races and I think am ready to go. These are events that are paid for and quickly approaching:

• Long course triathlon (11/8)
• 10 mile all girls run (11/15)
• 67 mile bike race (11/21)
• Marathon in early January (26.2 miles)

This weekend was my first round of exercise since getting sick. I did a 30 mile bike ride with friends and completed a 4 mile run today. I think I'm ready to hit it hard again.

One quick weightloss note: I am down 14 pounds for the year. I feel great. My goal for October and November is to really concentrate on my food intake. I'd like to get another 10 pounds off before the big race.

Wish me luck!! I will need it.