Triathlon
**Learn more about Ramblin Rose events here**
Sometimes I feel like a fraud.
Here I am writing this blog that’s supposed to be about fitness: training for triathlons and races. But in reality, there hasn’t been much of that.
I’m not where I thought I’d be at this point: 16 months into motherhood. I’d assumed after an active pregnancy and jumping back into things easily that I’d be back at my normal fitness level by now.
I’m not. And I’ve been ok with that. But now I’m ready.
I started out strong, easing back into running {after a long, drawn out break due to pre-pregnancy injury} just weeks after having a baby. But then it went downhill. Not a steep downhill; a slow and not-so-steady slight downward incline.
My baby didn’t sleep. Like REALLY did.not.sleep. I became an absolute robotic zombie. I went into survival mode. Most of the time survival mode did not include physical activity that went beyond the athletic feats it took to coerce the babe into slumber. I had no interest in the effort it took to go to the gym or picking my feet up faster than a walk.
Then I got stuck in a rut. I adapted to the routine of not really doing much or always taking care of everything else first. I remember a friend telling me once that she gave up long distance running after having a baby because she no longer had interest in going out on 2 hour long training runs. At the time I didn’t understand. Now I do.
Even when babies exhaust you and frustrate you and plain wear you out, you still want to be there for as many moments as possible. It’s hard to tear yourself away even if you know taking care of yourself is good for everyone in the long run.
So I’m in need of a little push. Something concrete on the calendar that I can’t brush aside. And I’ve found just that. Two little somethings, actually.
I’ll be doing not 1, but 2 triathlons this summer/fall. A couple months back I won a giveaway from Caitlin and immediately registered for the Winston-Salem Ramblin’ Rose Sprint Tri. Now I’m excited to announce that I’m a Ramblin’ Rose Blog Ambassador! Which means they’re graciously covering my registration to the Ramblin’ Rose Tri in Charlotte.
Ramblin’ Rose organizes a great series of women-only events that “inspire & empower families”. Though I have no qualms competing against men, I love the camaraderie of women’s-only events. The Ramblin’ Rose tris are specifically designed for beginners- they’re super sprints of 250m swim, 9 mile bike, and 2 mile runs {“ish”- each race is a little different}. The perfect intro {or re-intro} to the sport of triathlon.
I’m so excited {if not somewhat terrified} to have these two events on my calendar. I can’t wait to start training. This is perfect timing to go along with the What’s Beautiful campaign I’m participating in. Anybody want to do one with me?! *Nudge nudge*
I might need you all to remind me that I need to train though…deal?
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Training
I was so anxious to get back on a wakeboard after taking a year off for my bum knee that I didn’t stop to think about the consequences of a somewhat dangerous sport. I know, stopping, thinking, consequences- boring stuff.
I’m sure I would have done it anyways, but now, two weeks before my big bike ride, I’m sitting here with a sprained ankle. All because I was a liiiitle reckless wakeboarding in too-rough waters.
Although my ankle is mostly healed now, and I believe it will be fine in time for the ride, it’s definitely put a kink in my century training plan. {Walking doesn’t bother it too much, but pointing my foot or turning it sideways is almost always a mistake.}
What started out looking like this:
Now looks a little more like a couple of 8-10 mile rides here and there.
For now I’m doing a some awkward looking one-legged trainer rides, although I’m not sure that’s helping any. As soon as vacation’s over, it’s back on the trails.
And by the way, I’m not scared of my bike any more. Actually, as soon as I got on and went for a ride or two, I laughed at my own ridiculousness.
Really the only thing that bothers is me is finding a safe place to ride with an appropriate road-bike surface. Still working on that one…
Training
Before taking off on a run or hopping on your bike, you probably check the weather report. Maybe you look up the forecast online, or perhaps you just stick your head out the door to gauge the temperature. Or you may ignore the weather report completely, knowing your headed out for run whether its hot, cold, rainy, or dry.
But there’s one weather report you really should be checking before heading outdoors for a workout, and it’s pretty likely you’re not already doing it.
The Air Quality Index.
That’s the one where they say whether it’s a “code orange” or “code yellow”- and they’re not talking about national security. They’re talking about the quality of the air we breathe.
Air quality looks at two important factors:
1. Ground level ozone
and
2. Particle pollution
Ground-level ozone forms when pollutants from things like cars and power plants combine with the hot sunlight. It causes a substance that irritates the lungs, throat, and eyes. It can cause shortness of breath and aggravate asthma.
Particle pollution is literally referring to particles in the air- small solids and liquids that get suspended in the air and can get deep into our lungs. It can also irritate the lungs and asthma, as well as cause arrhythmias and heart attacks. Particle pollution is especially high when there’s a forest fire, residential wood or trash burning, or weather that keeps pollution close to the ground.
Repeated damage from air pollution can cause permanent reduced lung function.
Most of the time when you hear about air quality, you hear it in terms of whether “sensitive people” should go outside or not. So why is this the one weather report you need to pay attention to? It’s highly likely you fall into the sensitive category. In fact, if you exercise outdoors at all, you certainly do.
When you exercise, you breathe deeper and faster, pulling more and more of that potentially polluted air straight into your lungs.
So what do you do?
– Try not to exercise outdoors when alerts are orange, red, or purple. If you’re extra sensitive, also avoid exercising when it’s yellow.
– Take it easy if you are exercising outdoors- the more you exert yourself, the more air pollution you breathe in.
– Find out what time of day the air is best in your area and exercise then. In many places, that’s the morning.
– Hit the treadmill, stationary bike, or other indoor activity.
For more info, visit AirNow.
Do you pay attention to the air quality before exercising? Did you know being active puts you into the sensitive category along with children, older adults, and those with asthma and other lung or heart problems? It’s been orange all week in NC…
Biking
You probably don’t pay that close attention, but for some crazy reason you do, you might be wondering why I posted about the fabulous bike I got after 2 years of wishing and dreaming.
Well, let me tell you.
I became absolutely paralyzed by fear.
Fear that this bike was too good for me.
Fear I didn’t deserve this bike.
Fear that I would break it. Wreck it. Destroy it.
Fear I wouldn’t like it.
Fear I wouldn’t want to ride it.
Irrational? Yes. Ridiculous? Yes. Going to keep me from riding? No. I mean, eventually.
After years of researching, saving, and waiting for the day I could finally own a road bike, it finally happened.
And then I absolutely panicked. Never once did I think about what it would be like to actual RIDE that bike. That I knew NOTHING about bikes. Not about REAL bikes- bikes I could break and destroy, not hybrid bikes that fell apart every time I blinked but didn’t care about.
Not once did I think about where I would ride. Who I would ride with. How I would ever learn to ride on the road. The time it would take to ride.
What finally convinced me to go with this bike was that the bike guy said I would be significantly more comfortable on this bike when I was riding longer than 25 miles. Did I ever think about how far 25 miles is? No. Not until I took my bike out for the first time and rode 4 miles. FOUR.
25 miles on a bike is like 2 hours. Maybe more if you’re slow like me. How many days a week do I really have time to ride a bike for TWO hours?? Or more?
That four mile ride was all I needed to panic. Absolute, outright panic. The gears overwhelm me. I can barely remember what’s up and what’s down. I’ve been terrified of cross-chaining ever since I learned what it was. How do I avoid it? Doesn’t that mean you miss out on like half the gears? And how do I know I’m about to do it without staring down at the spinning gears between my legs? I certainly can’t do that on the road.
{I mean, seriously, if I Google “chain falling off bike”, a picture of my bike comes up.}
And oh the road. I thought we had enough trails to ride on so that I could avoid the road altogether. But running trails and biking trails are totally different. You cover mileage a lot faster on the bike- which means you run out of trail a lot faster. And parts of the trail turn to gravel and rough patches; wooden bridge slats; tree-root infested dirt segments. Road bikes are supposed to be on pavement. Will 10 yards of rickety bridge pop my tires?
How will I ever learn to ride well enough, or fast enough, to keep up with the “real” cyclists? The ones who meet at the crack of dawn Saturday mornings, on the way home from work on Wednesdays, or Sunday afternoon before meeting for coffee. The ones who could teach me how to ride on the road. The ones that consider 17-19mph slow. The ones who consider a 3 hour ride to a different state a “casual” ride.
How do I know if that clicking in the bottom two gears is normal, or if something’s about to break? What about the constant clatter of what must be the bearings in the back wheel? You can’t read these worries away {my usual coping mechanism}.
Insane. Irrational. I know. {Even more ridiculous considering I’ve ridden more than four miles. Including the 12 miles I rode on this very same model bike a few weeks ago.} I feel ridiculous even just typing this. But it’s real. I promise. After my first ride I called the bike store and asked them to take it back. Ok, I begged. Begged them to let me bring it back and get a bike with streamers and training wheels. One I couldn’t possibly break. One that I could leave out of my sight for .2 seconds and not freak out. There might have been tears involved. Ok there were definitely tears involved. Lots of tears. {The answer was no, in case you were wondering.}
So there’s really only one thing to do. Get over it.
So I’m getting over it. I’m working on it. I’ve promised myself I’m not going to break it by looking at it. If I break the chain, I can get a new one. I can ride the 4 mile trail 80 times in a row until I want to venture on to the road, or get fast enough to keep up with the big boys. And, well, the liking it part? Let’s just hope as the panic dissipates, that part comes back.
Biking
Happy birthday/graduation/tax return to me!!! Thanks Mom/thanks husband!!
