Ayerd{dot}com :: Triathlon

Ick.

I've been a bad, bad blogger. I stopped my triathlon blog cold turkey. After IM-CDA, the body kind of gave up. I didn't run, swim, or bike for two weeks but otherwise had a good time. I think I had hurt my lower right leg just before or during IM.

Then I did an Olympic triathlon at Mercer Country Park. An Olympic, on four weeks of solid ass sitting. Didn't do badly. In fact, it was a PR at 2:39. Felt a little tuckered at the end and wondered how much better it would have been if I hadn't dicked around for a month and instead kept at my training.

Then did some travel for work. A small run or two out in Portland, OR. Nice place, Portland. Wouldn't hurt my feeling to abandon NJ and move out there. The Loving Wife™ doesn't think this would be a good idea. Were negotiating.

In the middle of the trip to Portland, I got a call from work: "You got a passport? Free next week?" With a "yes" to both, it was off to Paris, France, for a meeting. Yes, one meeting. Paris was okay, but 13 hours in an airplane in 3 days saps your strength.

The morning after I got back, did a sprint. Felt okay, but nothing great. A fun race, sure, but I was way more tired than I needed to be. Time was off too -- 2 minutes slower than last year. Not working out for 2+ months and an 8-hour flight the day before will do that to you.

I tried to get back on the training band wagon. A swim here, small run there. Then I over did it. 18-mile long, not-so-slow run with friends. My leg, which had been hurting since after IM-CDA, had been feeling a little worse with each under-trained for event kept complaining, but didn't hurt enough to stop me (you can run through a lot if you put your mind to it), finally started hurting enough for me to see a doctor.

Yea! Stress fracture of the right tibia. Cool, huh?

Had to abandon the Marine Corps Marathon and another late-season tri. That, even more than lack of training sucked out ever was left of my will to train.

That was 5 weeks ago. 2-more weeks until I see the MD again. I've started to swim a bit here and there. This weekend I'm aiming for a 2-hour bike ride — can't stand on the pedals so the seated climb will be my friend. Next week we think about time on the Elliptical.

Need to get moving though and the stupid leg needs to get better. Only a few more weeks until the Goofy Challenge.

I'll also try to start blogging again (in addition to the main blog and my work at Nation States.

This weekend was the Skyland's Triathlon. Just a wee sprint race. But a local race and I had been signed up to compete in it. Then the injury. No impact = no run = no race. So I watched while many friends and the Loving Wife™ partook.

It was a great day for the race. Highs in the upper-70s. Sunny. Low humidity. /sigh. It is harder to spectate than I thought it would be. Man, I just wanted to be out there.

Things I did notice:

• It was a sprint, but, whoa, the folks watching with me were fairly uninformed about triathlon. Swim, then bike, then run?! Why are they not swimming right in the middle of the course? Can that person really hang on to the kayak?
• Transitions look a lot slower when you're watching. I knew a few of the folks racing and know my transition times are about on par with theirs. They moved so slow and seemed unfocused. I wonder if having a tape of my transition would make me better at it. I've had my swim stroke, bike position, and run taped. All led to improvements. Why not the same for transition?
• To the woman who effected the most complete swim-to-bike transition I've ever seen. Thank you! Whoa. Where most larger (cup size) women will wear a sports bra under/over a swim suit, this lady didn't go in that direction. She wore a bikini top under the wet suit. After bouncing into the transition area (and no, I wasn't the one who noticed her — the guy next to me pointed them... er, her out) she pulled off the wet suit, put a towel around her neck so the ends covered the front parts and let out a "don't look" loud enough to guarantee anyone close by would look in her direction. The then undid the bikini top, bent over looking for a sports bra undoing all the goodness the towel was providing, took her time putting that puppy on, and then pulled on a bike top. Did I say "whoa" yet? While I didn't mind at all, I can only hope someone pulls her aside and suggests wearing the sports bra under the wet suit next time. It would have been faster, if less enjoyable to watch.
• There was the woman who got carried from the water to T1 and then placed on the ground next to her bike... and her bike leg. Looked like a mid-thigh amputee. She wasn't last out of the water and wasn't the last on back from a very hilly bike course. Didn't see her run, but, I'm pretty sure she finished. Very inspiring!

Overall a great day to race. Friends and Wife all finished. Spectating makes you just as tired, if not more so than racing. Lesson learned and I now really understand why it is extra special when the roads and start/finish area are full of people cheering for the racers.