Camille's Summer '08

Here's a bit more on Summer 2008, featuring some of Camille's adventures.

There she is, a blur of speed in the water at one of her swim meets.










This is Carolyn, who joined us on our Fort Flagler camping trip. Maybe we should have explained that we sleep the long way in a tent, not sideways.

... Carolyn and Camille on the ferry ride, wearing those fashionable, but goofy looking over-sized sunglasses.








What's a trip to the beach without burying someone in the sand?

On a gravel pile in Kansas City, Camille strikes a pose that somehow captures the spirit of her personality. I call her my "Tough Customer". She's a strong-willed kid, persistent but with a compassionate heart and a sensible head.

A trip to Hawaii in July? Sure, can I bring a friend? That would be Camille's pal Hannah who joined her and her dad Mike, who was there for a business trip. The girls had free run of the resort, took a catamaran cruise and a helicopter tour over the volcano there.

This is a mom-cat and her 7 kittens that we fostered over the summer. We have fostered cats and kittens since 2000 with the Seattle Animal Shelter (in fact, I was the team leader of that busy program for about 4 years and I can wax eloquent about cat care). These kittens were born at the shelter on July 2, we took them into foster care when they were 2 weeks old, cared for them until big enough for adoption - at 2 lbs. or about 9 weeks old - got them spayed, neutered, vaccinated, wormed, healthy, friendly and then found good homes for them through one of the shelter's adoption events. The mom kitty, remains in my home as a foster guest for now, until she finds an adopter for herself (interested in a nice cat???? Just reply to this post and we can talk! : )

Here is Camille's friend Alina at Sheep Lake. I've known Alina since before she could walk. She's always been a little reserved, careful and conscientious about things, wore clean, tasteful outfits and sometimes was a little bit timid about rough and tumble stuff. Well, we took her hiking and she declared "I LIKE getting dirty!", she leapt up the trail ahead of me, plunged into the alpine lake and stayed in that cold mountain water for 1/2 hour and scrambled rock walls that made me nervous to climb. Oh, and she petted her first dog EVER when we visited my brother and his dog. It was fun to see this new, bold Alina emerge and I look forward to taking her back-packing again next summer.

Camille experiments with her cameras a lot and has started posting some stuff on You Tube. Here are a couple video snippets from our road trip to Fort Flagler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmCh4FZ8nag&feature=related
Yes, that's me enjoying Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHTvPQAXGxM&NR=1

Summer 2008: My Races

Age Group Worlds was previously reported on, but can I really consider that a "summer" race? It was in early June and weather was not friendly.

Here is a picture of me, in my Wonder Woman Team USA uniform, actually RUNNING (ok jogging) at Worlds, not walking (I walked a lot during that race).

I did 2 back-to-back open water swims and triathlons: the Fat Salmon 1 mile Open Water race on July 16 was followed by the Seafair Sprint Triathlon the next day. Later in August, I swam the Emerald City 1/2 mile Open Water race on Saturday and then did the Danskin Tri the next morning, August 17th.

Fat Salmon Open Water Swim - 1 mile/wetsuit
7/19/08
1st in AG/9th OA women
37:01

Seafair Sprint Triathlon
7/20/08
1st in AG
Total 1:21:08 (about 5 minutes SLOWER that last year's time on the same course)

Swim 13:26

T1 1:36

Bike 37:59

T2 1:07

Run 27:00

As expected, all legs of the race were a bit slower that last year, but it was mainly the run that deteriorated the most. The good news is I felt pretty good, enjoyed the anticipation of competing. I did stop to walk a bit on the hill in Seward Park nearly 2 miles into the 5K run. A racing pal Lisa S. passed me and urged me to run with her which helped a lot to keep me from giving in to walking longer than I really needed to (or thought I needed to). THANKS, LISA for the encouragement!

A few weeks of recreational bike riding, the occasional run and a couple days of easy backpacking filled the month until my next set of races:

Emerald City Open Water Swim - 1/2 mile/wetsuit
8/16/08
1st in Division (wetsuit)/3rd in AG (though technically I'm not compared to the non-wetsuit division)
13:12

After the Emerald City swim that morning, I plunged into the Packet Pick-Up Experience for the Danskin by driving into the black heart of the Eastside: downtown Bellevue and then back to south Seattle for the Bike Racking Experience. All this day-before activity has always felt like a lot of fatiguing busy-work before the Danskin, but with 3500+ women racing on Sunday, it's a necessary task.

Here is the Elite wave swim start at the Danskin.

Danskin Triathlon
8/17/08
10th/13 in Elite Division/12th Overall
Overall time 1:13:55
Swim 14:02
T1 1:47
Bike 31:48
T2 1:32
Run 24:45 (7:59 pace)

Wow! I had a pretty good race actually. It's hard to compare splits/times with previous years. The swim was longer by 200 yards this year, not to mention the somewhat choppy water due to wind. The bike was certainly shorter as everyone I know posted faster times/paces than is typical. I knew the run would be a lot slower for me but I hoped to keep it under an 8 min/mile pace (which I barely did: 7:59 pace). The race felt pretty fine. I worked hard on the swim and bike. I maintained for the run. I hoped to enjoy a little kick at the end, but alas! about 300 yards from the finish, before increasing my effort, I felt that funny acceleration/palpitation of my heart that I occasionally get. I SLOWED down to try and keep my heart rate in the low 180's (if it gets to the mid-upper 180's, I'm done for) and managed a little bit of a kick for the last 25 yards (just in time for the photo op : )

Afterwards, I saw my racing pals Hillary (1st in her AG of 45-49), Val (1st in AG 50-54) and Sandy (2nd for 50-54). Congrats to all of them! I am very pleased that my time was within seconds or a minute or so of theirs as they are all strong racers worthy of respect. I'm proud that we are the 4 oldest women (we're 49 - 53) who placed in the top 20. Not only am I in their ranks, but I enjoy their friendships, even if it's only the occasional, supportive, curious email a few times a year and some chat at the races.

Here I am with a fellow "Magnolia mom" acquaintance Kathy S., who is a 40-something mom of 3. She joined the Elite wave this year (and I hope I can take some credit for encouraging her to do so). She is a tough competitor who has placed in her age group in past races. I keep trying to catch her in the swim, but haven't been able to yet.

Subaru Women’s Sprint Tri
9/7/08
2nd in AG/10th Overall
Total 1:32:28

Swim 14:28
T1 2:40
Bike 41:12
T2 1:32
Run 32:38

I did this race in ’04 and’05 and finally came back to race it again this year. My wave was made up of all women 45 years and older. The swim felt good and as far as I could tell, I was 2nd throughout the swim to one other “green cap” about 10 yards ahead of me. But when we exited the water, she stopped to peel off her wetsuit before crossing the timing mat, so my swim split shows me as the fastest in my wave. I huffed and snorted my weary way through T1’s longish run to the transition area and was soon out on the bike course.

Though I had checked the bike map prior to the race, I’m afraid I was on auto-pilot from the last time I did this race. I missed the proper turn-around point for the 2nd lap of the bike leg, found myself facing head-on bike traffic and was quickly shouted back onto the correct course by a race volunteer. Val R. was one of the potential head-on crashes I dodged during that maybe 20 second error. I knew she would be gaining and passing me on the bike leg and there she was!

On to T2, I was happy that no others from my wave had caught me yet, but since my run has been weak this season, I thought I might see someone with a “5” on their calf (our wave number) passing me soon. With Val ahead of me and Debbie G. behind me (another strong competitor in our AG), I wondered what would happen on this very hilly 4 mile run. Well, I felt pretty good. No stopping to walk, no unusual tachycardia… There was Val staying about 30 yards ahead of me for most of 30 minutes or so… By the 3rd mile it seemed I was getting a little closer. I didn’t really expect to overtake her, though I hoped to close the gap (maybe that was overly ambitious since her pace was 10 seconds per mile faster than mine at the Danskin 3 weeks ago). I did close the gap quite a bit, but not enough! I finished 4 seconds behind her for 2nd in our age group. But no regrets! It was a fun race and I’m happy to have finished so close to her.

Debbie G. placed third and I finally met and chatted with her. As I mentioned, she is a strong racer in my AG who has competed in several of my past races, including AG Worlds in Vancouver (where she finished around 35 minutes or so ahead of me), but I had never had met her before. I’m glad to have a new racing acquaintance. She will age up to the 55 -59 group next season.

The Subaru Tri is nice in that it has drawings for STUFF during the awards ceremony and I was a lucky winner of a basket full of goodies. In addition to the random giveaways, the podium finishers get prizes along with a plaque of some sort (I scored a Speedo swim bag). But my favorite thing was the award they give for 1st, 2nd and 3rd fastest overall for T1 and T2. And though I know I usually post a decent T1, according to them, mine was the fastest of the day earning me some plastic trophy trinket saying so (alas! when I got home to view the results, I see that the 1st place overall finisher actually had a faster T1, so I’m not sure why I got the award, but I was excited about it at the time anyway).

Well, this was the fun race of the season and my last. So for a slack season of training with no firm goals and a shaky start at Worlds, I’m happy with my 4 tri’s and 2 OW races and the gradual improvement as I make some progress with my running again. And I did achieve my goal of having fun with this!

Here's a really unflattering picture of me exiting the swim at the Danskin. But I like to imagine a whip in my upraised hand, instead of the goggles that just got yanked off my head, and maybe in my right hand a long spear impaling some enemy. Visualize long blond braids and a helmet with horns instead of the blue cap, a breastplate instead of wet lycra.... Or maybe my right hand is holding a bow, my upraised left hand is pulling an arrow out of the quiver on my back and I am slaying Orcs...or better yet, I am Eowyn about to slay the Lord of the Nazgul! Yeah!

One of my favorite parts of the Lord of the Rings: the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is raging, it's a bloodbath out there, orcs, trolls, wargs and bad dudes threaten our Heroes and the future of Middle Earth. Disguised as a man, Theoden King's neice Eowyn reveals herself, fulfills prophecy and becomes one of the great heroes of the War of the Rings doing something no man can do: slay the Lord of the Nazgul, the chief Ringwraith:

"A cold voice answered:'Come not between the Nazgul and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.'

A sword rang as it was drawn. 'Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.'

'Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!'

..."'But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Eowyn I am, Eomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you are not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.'

The winged creature screamed at her, but the Ringwraith made no answer, and was silent, as if in sudden doubt. ....Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Eowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.

She she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise.

Out of the wreck rose the Black Rider, tall and threatening, towering above her. With a cry of hatred that stung the very ears like venom he let fall his mace. Her shield was shivered in many pieces, and her arm was broken; she stumbled to her knees. He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered; he raised his mace to kill.

But suddenly he too stumbled...Merry's sword had stabbed him from behind....

Then tottering, struggling up, with her last strength she drove her sword between crown and mantle, as the great shoulders bowed before her. The sword broke sparkling into many shards. The crown rolled away with a clang. Eowyn fell forward upon her fallen foe. But lo! the mantle and hauberk were empty. Shapeless they lay now on the ground, torn and tumbled; and a cry went up into the shuddering air, and faded to a shrill wailing, passing with the wind, a voice bodiless and thin that died, and was swallowed up and was never heard again in that age of this world."

Summer 2008 Continued...

II. Backpacking

Warm, sunny days! Mosquitoes! Rain, wind, fog, snow and cold! A clear, full moon night in a snowfield! A black bear, a lone coyote, whistling marmots, deer! A fantastic sunrise from Camp Muir! Glissading! Trudging up steep trails carrying a 42 lb. pack! The little flask of Grand Marnier!

I remember saying sometime in the past year that I wanted this summer to be more recreational, to get back to some camping and take the triathlon thing a bit more casually. So with 3 car camping trips, 3 day-hikes and 4 backpacking trips, I guess I achieved that!

Backpack to Sheep lake in mid-August:

I took Camille and her friend Alina on this easy 2-miler that is part of the Pacific Crest Trail on the eastern boundary of Mt. Rainier National Park. Sure, I had to carry most of the gear for 3 people on MY back, but it still felt harder than it should have…and these 2 girls went leaping up the trail like mountain goats, faster than I could keep up with. We had planned for 2 nights/3 days out, but after a full day of side hiking, exploring and swatting at the dratted mosquitoes, we agreed to hike out before sundown on day 2. The girls swam in that cold mountain lake and scrambled a few rock faces, so it felt like we'd done enough. We headed for Enumclaw, arrived unannounced at my brother Tommy’s great home: a lodge-like cabin that he and his wife Stina built – and enjoyed a clean, comfortable, bug-free night.
(yep, I have some photos of the girls at Sheep Lake, but I'll post them later...)

Three backpacking trips to Mt. Rainier National Park:

August 22: My friend and I hiked from Sunrise to Granite Creek then to Glacier Basin for 2 nights/3 days and around 15 miles of hiking. Perfect weather and big vistas made up for some hard climbs and descents.

August 29: An out of state visitor wanted a Mt. Rainier experience while visiting here over Labor Day weekend. So we car camped a couple nights and day hiked around the Paradise area. On the second day, we included a start up to Camp Muir, one of the base camps for climbers summiting Mt. Rainier. Well, we got a late start, fog surrounded us and snow started falling which made route-finding potentially difficult or impossible since we had no GPS or experience on the climb. So we were satisfied with hiking part of the way up, throwing some snowballs, glissading a little on the way down and returning safely for hot chocolate. The final 2 days of that weekend, we backpacked part of the Wonderland Trail (a 93 mile loop around Mt. Rainier) to Indian Bar, for a 15 mile round trip. The scenery was beautiful despite the cold, wind and on-and-off rain.

September 13: We returned to Paradise to backpack up to Camp Muir. The weather was perfect! Clear and warm, it was shorts-and-tank-top-hiking in the snowfields and there were no challenges finding the route this time. There was a highway of climbers and day-hikers going up and down the route. But the hiking was tough! It was all uphill with that overnight pack and increasing altitude and it took about 5.5 hours to hike the 4.5 miles and 4600 feet of elevation gain. I definitely felt the lack of oxygen in the last ½ mile or so. And jumping crevasses kind of spooked me.



Once at Camp Muir, relaxing at sunset, cooking a meal and enjoying hot chocolate was quite rewarding There was no wind, a full moon rose and there we were with a commanding view of mountain peaks to the south, the horizon to the east, and this big, hulking beast of a mountain at our backs. Pitched the tent in a snowfield by moonlight and in silence (except for the regular rumbling and crashing of rockslides on the other side of this basin or the crunch of icy snow under our feet) and it was quite surreal! Not being used to 10,000 ft elevation, I had some shortness of breath, headache and restlessness making sleep a little difficult.

The basin faced east and so did my tent door making for a big bright view of the sunrise. Hiking down was much easier. After experimenting with various ways to glissade (or slide on your butt through the snow in some fashion), I settled on using my folded Thermarest (to pad the bumps and keep my rear from freezing!) covered by a heavy duty garbage bag (more slippery than the Thermarest surface allowing a faster ride). I don’t think it helped me get down the slopes much faster than if I just kept hiking, but it was a ton of fun!

Summer Recap '08

Yikes! It's officially autumn and I haven't blogged since late June! And since my audience, my blog-followers, all 3 of you, have recently mentioned the lack of new blog material, I feel it's my duty to bring you up to date.

I'll start a Summer '08 recap here and continue with details and photos in separate blog posts to follow.


I. Fun Stuff Having Nothing To Do With Triathlons, Training or Racing

- School was out June 17, and a return to an old tradition was needed: Car Camping! I took my Camille and her friend Carolyn, a couple of 12 year olds, out to one of our favorite places, Fort Flagler, for 2 nights of car camping on the beach. We were met by Camille’s cousin Corinne, Uncle Chris and Aunt Jamie who live across the water in Port Townsend. The weather was clear, but the stiff wind all day allowed only a few warm hours during midday. Otherwise, it was a chilly few days of camping. Evenings we huddled around the campfire with smoke stinging our eyes as the wind shifted constantly. Marshmallows and chocolate kept us happy enough though.


















- I went to the Fremont Fair and saw some of the Solstice Parade. Love the naked bike riders! Maybe I'll join them some day? I would need excellent disguise (best to avoid: "Oh look, isn't that Camille's mom?" or "Gee, I think that's my home care nurse there on that bike"). I would love to post some of the great photos that a photographer acquaintance of mine emailed to me, but who knows what kind of trouble I could get into for that. If you would like to see some of those creative, humorous, bold, nude cyclists and know me well enough to have my email address, just ask and I'll provide the link.

-Camille joined me at the University Street Fair on what felt like one of the hottest mornings of the summer and convinced me to purchase a "Sky Chair", a sort of hanging, hammock-like chair that is oh-so-comfortable when you try it out after walking around at the fair for a couple hours. I have enjoyed it many times on my back porch this summer!

There is Camille in that "Sky Chair:"

-I joined some old swimming pals and met some new ones on the Fourth of July Road Trip to Deep Lake in Eastern Washington for some car camping and an open water swim. Check out my blog entry from last year for more about Deep Lake: http://agingup.blogspot.com/2007/12/more-deep-lake.html and http://agingup.blogspot.com/2007/11/deep-lake.html

My friend Patty joined us for some camping and relaxing. When we were returning from our 2.7 mile out and back swim, the lake was eerily empty of other people - they had been evacuated while we were out on the swim. There was a fire burning in the narrow canyon leading up to the lake and you could hear the crackling and see the smoke and flames approaching. There was no real danger, but it seemed exciting enough to snap a picture on the way out.

Next up:

II. Backpacking

The Rest of the Race

After the aforementioned swim in English Bay (Vancouver: The Swim), there was still a 40 K (about 24 mile) bike ride followed by a 10 K (about 6 miles) run before this race would be over. Transition 1 started OK, but I slowed down after the longish run to my bike, was a bit sluggish pulling of the wetsuit, decided to wear socks and a windbreaker because of the cool weather but finally got going with my bike for another longish run out of the transition area. I think my T1 was about 7 minutes which is a very long time.

I started the first of 4 loops around Stanley Park and as I expected, got passed regularly by the younger women who were already out on the course doing their 2nd, 3rd or 4th laps (having started their race up to an hour before my wave went out). By my 2nd lap I expected to see the older women's wave coming onto the course and by the 3rd lap, I was sure the men would be passing me in droves. But this never happened. Each lap got less crowded and I suspected the race had been suspended. I'd later find out that after my wave had gone out for the swim, the swim had been cancelled for the remaining waves (the women 55 and older and all the men) due to adverse weather conditions.

I practically had all of Stanley Park to myself with the shivering volunteers half-heartedly cheering me on. My riding is what I'd call a hard workout, but I never really felt like I was racing. The swim had taken a lot out of me and I just wasn't feeling competitive. A few women in my age group passed me (in addition to those younger ones). Sad to say, the only riders I passed were a few AWAD's cranking along in their racing wheelchairs. My heart rate was up in the low 160's, which is where it normally would be in a race when I feel I'm pushing hard on the bike. So I guess I wasn't slacking too much.

(There I am checking out the course the day before the race; definitely slacking here). - >

On to T2 with that being significant only because I could see that, yes, the race was continuing and not cancelled and I would now have to go run. I thought maybe I'd snap out of this flat race I was having and be able to pass some able-bodied woman in my age group.

I wanted to start the run under control and not go out too fast. Since I had not trained enough to do an Olympic race anywhere near my best, I was OK with keeping the running going however I needed to, even at a comfortable jog if need be. In the first 1/2 mile I started to struggle - my tank felt empty, no energy was in me. When running gets hard (and it's almost always hard, but when it gets really hard...) I start my "I will not stop, I do not walk" mantra. That has gotten me up many a hill. At about 3/4 mile, my mind said "I will walk, I will walk". Soon my body followed and when the next water station came along, I took a breather. The little walk break didn't help for long, the rest of my so-called race now became a series of "Just make it to the next water stop" or "Just don't stop to walk in front of this crowd of spectators". I had mentally thrown in the towel and I was just dead tired.

Thinking back, I had drunk only about 1/2 of the sport drink during the bike (I normally would have drunk it all, providing some extra calories for the run to come). The fatigue in the run came around the 2 hour point in my race and assuming I probably burned extra calories in the cold and churning swim, I think I basically "bonked".

In endurance sports, particularly cycling and running, bonk or hitting the wall describes the condition when an athlete suddenly loses energy and becomes fatigued, the result of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles becoming depleted. The average human body stores enough glycogen to generate 1500 to 2000 kcal of energy. Intense cycling or running can easily consume 600-800 or more kcal per hour. Unless glycogen stores are replenished during exercise, glycogen stores will be depleted after 2 hours of continuous cycling or 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) of running.
- Wikipedia

Bonk or no bonk on the run, that couldn't have been my excuse for the mediocre bike ride. And what's with letting myself get depleted in the first place? I think I should know better.

See this really slick hydration system (the aero-water bottle that I have to rubber band, stick a cut-off cup bottom over and secure with strapping tape)??? That mess contained the Cytomax I was supposed to be drinking. And speaking of aero-anything, the only time I was going fast enough for some sort of "aero" position to be helpful was on the downhills when my hands needed to be on the brake levers. I ought to get rid of those aero-bars.

I walked more and more, as frequently as every 1/4 mile, towards the end. Though I didn't really relish the thought of coming in last (which was getting to be a very real possibility), the good news is, I enjoyed myself. I chatted it up with the friendly race volunteers and cracked jokes with them as I sipped my Gatorade and watched yet another straggler on the course get ahead of me. This was no longer a race (I don't know that it ever was a race, for me). The sun was finally out, all I had to do was finish the course so why not enjoy it rather than suffer?

The hardest part was the long finish chute where I did not want to walk (neither did I feel the need to put forth some ridiculous and meaningless finishing surge). I crossed the finish line and was welcomed by more race volunteers who flattered me with congratulations and asking me how my race went (you get that 1:1 attention when you are trickling in at the end of the pack). I felt happy to swallow my pride, blab away with a few of them and laugh at myself.

This was not a race for me to have been competitive or to seek any PR's. But I did expect to actually RUN the entire run and maybe pass a few people. That I didn't was a combination of 3 important things: insufficient training, insufficient calorie intake (the bonk) and mentally giving up. When I later checked my heart rate monitor, I saw my HR max was 187. It's never been that high before (the late stages of a hard race and maybe it's in the low 180's). Something was up with this body of mine. After the race, I collected my gear, rode my bike around Vancouver's waterfront while there was a bit of sunshine, eventually showered, then enjoyed a Mojito with Sandy. On to the reception and snacks for Team USA and I was feeling fine. No sore muscles or unusual fatigue that day or the next. Go figure.

Last I looked, final results STILL are not posted, now 2 weeks later. But my time was about 3:01 with the 10K "run" being around 1 hr. My best indicator of how I "should" have done is by looking at the times of two local women who I've raced against several times. Both Sandy L. and Debbie G. consistently finish within 3-4 minutes of me. In this race they were about 30 and 35 minutes ahead of me. They could be stronger than ever, but even so, had I been able to have something closer to my normal race, I think I should have finished somewhere nearer to them, which would have put me, as it did them, about mid-pack for our age group. I would have been quite pleased with that outcome! But my 3:01 put me last for the American 50-54 women and probably 57th out of about 66 for all women in our age-group (again, the final results are pending).

Favorite road-trip CD? Into the Wild by Eddie Vedder for sure.

I still don't know what my goals are for this '08 season. I'm not all that focused and that's OK, I have other important things to do this summer. But I will not take for granted any of last season's successes now. I better appreciate how the hard work and the time taken training plus the setting of goals added up to some good past seasons.

Whilst I was road-tripping home on Sunday afternoon and clicking a photo of myself driving with the bike in the back of the car ( the photo above), I accidentally snapped this picture of the inside of my car. There, pinned to the ceiling, is a photo of me and my pal Darcy in a happy, smiling moment at the finish of another triathlon a few years ago. And there, see that circular thing that says "USAT"? That was quite an unexpected surprise. A month or two ago I received that patch and a certificate in the mail from USAT. Apparently my '07 ranking earned me "the distinction of an All American Honorable Mention" according to the certificate.

OK then, one bad race be damned! I'll interpret this accidental photo as a message! Get to work then go out and try again another day. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Vancouver: The Swim

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships were held in Vancouver, B.C. last week, June 3 ,4, 5 and 6. Each day included races for different categories of athletes including Juniors, Under 23, Elites, AWAD (“Athletes With A Disability”) and my group, the Age Groupers (for both a sprint and an olympic distance race). Triathletes came from all over the world making for an interesting mix of languages, accents and team uniforms. The Age Groupers for Team USA numbered about 400, with around 20 being in my age group (about 67 total from all countries).

I got the car all packed, found my passport and started a little Road Trip.

As I’ve mentioned in previous blog entries, I had concerns about facing the cold water in English Bay in Vancouver and I knew my lack of consistency and volume (hours per week) in training would limit my race. Still, I aimed to have fun, get in a good workout, accept the certainty of a race without any PR’s and enjoy the experience of being part of group of internationally accomplished age-group athletes (even though some part of me wasn’t convinced that I really deserved to be there, I did qualify fair and square).

The afternoon of my arrival to Vancouver and the next day involved team pictures, a team meeting, team dinners and breakfasts, riding the bike course around Stanley Park and racking the bike in the transition area. I met many new Team USA people (most seemed to be from warmer climates and didn't quite know what to make of the 50 degree rain). I saw Dave and Francie, the couple I'd met at Nationals a year ago and recognized some others from last year as well.

Finally race morning arrives! After setting up my transition area and going for a jog, it was time to head for the beach.

I wanted to take a picture of some spectators. Many were bundled up in fur-trimmed parkas, wore thick gloves and winter boots. And here we were about to swim in this cold, grey water followed by a bike ride in skimpy wet lycra.

Slaying Dragons

Camera crews were here and there at the beach. As I waited in the corral before going onto the beach, one big lens was in my face (ugh! I go mute when asked anything in front of a camera). The cameraman asks me something about the race or why I am doing this to which I answer: “I’m here to slay my personal dragons…I’m going to face that water”.

HUH??? What the heck is she talking about? That probably ended up on the editing room floor. But actually, I had thought about this metaphor before, my dragons being things like Fear, Doubt, Pride, Laziness. Fear about facing the cold and the discomfort of racing, of looking slow, inept, old, ridiculous; doubt about my abilities and about my business to be here; pride having to do with some self-imposed pressure to improve my own performance and maybe not being able to do so. Also pride being the impulse to just give up rather than have a mediocre or even a bad race. And laziness - staying in a warm bed sure seemed appealing that morning! Those dragons and others are part of the human experience that I believe visit all areas of our lives at times (except for a few egomaniacs and those with delusions of grandeur who crash arrogantly through life). Athletic competition provides practice in slaying dragons.

(No actual dragons were harmed in the race or the writing of this blog. Any resemblance to actual dragons is purely coincidental. The author neither endorses nor condones mistreatment of actual dragons, and apologizes to any dragons that may take offense at the metaphorical use of "slaying dragons".)

Cold…

The big topic of the weekend was the weather! Even for the Pacific Northwest, it was unseasonably cool. Because of the cold weather and many hypothermia cases in the Thursday and Friday races, race officials shortened the Saturday AG swim from 1500 meters to 1100. Each day of the championships had some combination of cool, wet and/or windy conditions. My Age Group wave was the lucky one to experience all 3 and to such an extreme that just after they sent us out for our swim, the swim portion was canceled for the remaining Age Groupers, 2/3 of the pack consisting of women 55 and older and ALL of the men. For these groups, the race converted to a Duathalon (run 5K, bike 40K, run 5K), which caused much grumbling in some and much relief in others.

(This picture is the next day just before the Elite women started. They had calm water as you can see. And a lot more photographers clamoring around the start line.)

The water temperature reports varied from 11 degrees Celsius to 12.8 depending on what news source you got (that’s 51.8 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit). Air temperatures were in the low 50’s and who-knows-what with the wind chill. Any way you slice it, that’s darn chilly by most OW swim standards. I kind of think 55 was closest to accurate for my swim. The cold water wasn’t painful on my face and was tolerable once I started swimming.

…and Wind

The canceling of the swim was not due to mere chilly water, however. The wind picked up suddenly about 1 hour before my race and increased in intensity as my start time of 8:05 a.m. approached. All across English Bay, there were white caps and swells. The waves crashing on the beach weren’t too bad, but the buoys and boats rocked wildly offshore. One news report I read later mentioned “adverse weather conditions”, “nasty 5 foot wind-chop”, “raging currents driving swimmers towards shore”, and “moiling water” (online definitions for “moiling” include: to churn about continuously; confusion, turmoil; violently agitated; turbulent). Here’s an article: http://www.insidetri.com/article/71453/cold-water-high-waves-throw-itu-age-group-world

I later chatted with a swim volunteer who said the rescue boats (and there were precious few of them for those conditions!) pulled around 20 women out from my wave and the boats were capsizing in the surf! I found this clip on You Tube showing a few seconds of the waves during the swim exit for an earlier wave of swimmers: Waves:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=889400540020585501&q=Vancouver+triathlon+2008&ei=B9JMSJuyBqCm4QLS8bWMDA&hl=en

Here’s my experience in the water: God Awful! For some insane reason, I found myself front and center at the start line (around 130 women, age 45 to 54). Even in a small local race where I’m likely do well in the swim, I avoid front and center. At Worlds I should have been off at the edges and definitely not in front. The gun went off (kind of hard to hear as the neoprene cap and second, colored swim cap kind of muffled sound) and we ran into the surf, diving into the swell. I’m on auto-pilot for a few moments and swim hard out of excitement.

(This photo - not my own - is from the Elite women's race on Sunday, a much smaller group and I notice none of them wear the neoprene caps that many of us had. Made of tougher stuff, I guess.)

Something Resembling Swimming

Excitement turns to near-terror for a few moments as I realize this ain’t no normal swim. Next, it was just bewildering (time for another online definition; bewilder: to cause to lose one's bearings; to perplex or confuse especially by a complexity, variety, or multitude of objects or considerations). The agitated water was a challenge (what I’m doing barely resembled or felt like normal swimming and it took my full attention to avoid freaking out about this somewhat alien environment). All the flailing bodies make me realize I just need to get the hell out of the pack. I accomplished this by moving forward and diagonally and allowing them to go around me. Thankfully, no one tried to swim OVER me, (maybe my defensive kicking kept that at bay). I think getting pushed under would have put me over the edge on managing this. I needed to stop and breast stroke plenty of times in the first couple minutes and less so as I got some space around me.

Be The Dolphin

Soon I get into as close to a steady rhythm as swimming in a washing machine can allow. My goals were to just keep moving forward, avoid swallowing/inhaling too much salt water, avoid nausea or vertigo if possible and stay in control of my mind to avoid pushing any panic buttons. Stroke timing was mostly dictated by the rise and fall of waves and I felt rolled about. I can’t say that I swam all that hard as I didn’t want to go to the edge of breathlessness and fatigue. I felt like I needed some reserve for the occasional smack of salt water in the face that robbed me of a breath when I wanted one. The pack was very spread out and I could tell I was closer to the rear. Which was ok with me. Being bewildered and all, I forgot my mantra "Be the Dolphin" (a team dinner 2 nights earlier was held at the Vancouver Aquarium where I enjoyed the underwater viewing tank and watching dolphins dart around. I thought visualizing that grace, speed and ease would be a nice thought for the race. Nice thought).

Turning towards shore, the waves now helped by pushing me along. My hand felt the bottom, then I was raised by the surf and lost contact. Next thing I know, I’m abruptly dumped onto my knees in 6 inches of receding waters. Sensing my opportunity, I scurried out before the next surge could catch me. I was surprised by the lack of dizziness and ability to immediately run, unzip and pulled off cap and goggles and I headed into T1.

Lisa Walker (45-49), Tracy Orcutt (40-44) and Sandy Laurence (50-54) are racing acquaintances from the Seattle area who had good races that started with good solid swims. Lisa and Tracy are usually tops in their age groups and usually earn overall podium finishes and Sandy is no stranger to the podium for our AG. Final results are still pending, but I'm sure congratulations are in order to each of them and I hope they are pleased with their races.

Next: Transition 1 and beyond…stay tuned.

There is Dave C. from California, our unofficial USAT cheerleader. He kind of badgered me into staying in the race when I was close to pulling out last April.