It has been a long week, a week that started with accomplishing the most intense physical challenge of my life, followed by teaching my first week of school with a new class in a new team in a new grade, and then teaching my regular fitness classes.  There have been no gluten-free aha moments, no evenings of cooking delicious meals (unless you count a really good gluten-free pizza topped with string cheese).

(String cheese actually works pretty well in a pinch.)

There has been no time to tweet with my gluten-free friends, and definitely no time for blogging.  I’ve missed my blogalicious friends tremendously.  I’m physically and mentally exhausted, and now that it’s finally the weekend, I have a cold.

I’m done complaining.  It really hasn’t been as terrible as it sounds.  I have a fantastic class of cute, quirky, smart, thoughtful, squirmy little nine- and ten-year olds.  My new team is great, although I miss my old teammates.  And I just completed an Olympic length triathlon!!!  I still can’t believe it.

I knew I could bike the 25 miles.  I’ve taught spin classes for years, I’ve worked really hard on speed, and I rode 35 miles several times this summer.  I had no idea how fast I could bike though in a racing situation.

I knew I could run 6.2 miles.  It would be hard after swimming and biking, but I knew I could push through it, and I could even walk if I needed to.  I was not concerned with time.  I just wanted to finish this triathlon.

But the swim.  I wasn’t sure about the swim.  I knew I could swim over a mile in a pool.  Cardiovascularly, I was ready for this.  But swimming in a lake would bring a host of challenges.

And they were all terrible and horrible.

That swim was one of the most terrifying moments I can remember.  But I was glad to have the Husband and Andrea there to remind me that I was going to give it my all and that I could do it.

What was I so afraid of?  See here.  Out of that LONG list of fears, I experienced every single one of them, except for the snakes.  And each one was as terrifying as I imagined it being.

I got kicked in the head at the start.  I got smacked and grabbed by the flailing arms and legs of other competitors.  I couldn’t catch my breath, so I couldn’t put my face in the water without gasping.  I couldn’t swim in a straight line.  As people were passing me while I was doing the SIDE STROKE, I thought, “Who are you kidding?  You don’t belong out here!!!” But as I rounded the first buoy, I was able to get my face in the water.  I got into a rhythm, and the time swimming increased, and the time dog paddling decreased.  It was long, it was miserable, I did a lot of praying.  And I can’t remember being happier to leave anywhere than I was while running out of that lake.  And despite all of my floundering, I still can’t believe that I swam 1500 meters in 27:10.

Transitioning to the bike, I put the swim out of my mind and prepared for the best ride of my life.  The great thing about being a slow swimmer is that there are more people to pass on the road!  I biked hard and fast, finishing in 1:17:26.

The run was excruciating.  I hit a spot between miles two and three when those doubts started creeping in again.  “What are you doing out here?  These people know what they’re doing.  You’re an elementary school teacher, not an athlete.  You are so not in their league.”  But I pushed those voices aside and put one foot in front of the other.

I kept passing an older man on the bike and the run.  And then he’d creep up and pass me again.  We swapped positions several times until we were side-by-side for the last mile.  After a terrifying swim, a wonderful bike ride, and five miles of flipping back and forth between physical and mental numbness and physical and mental pain, this man encouraged me through the last mile.  When I wanted to slow down a little on the final hill, he told me to pick it up.  When I wondered if I could make it, he told me that I could.   We crossed the finish line together and ended our brief friendship with a high five.  A total stranger.  But I’ll never forget him.

I was pleased with a time of 56:09 for the 10k run.  Heck, I was pleased just to be done running.

It was terrible, horrible, and incredible all at the same time.  But the most wonderful moment was the moment when it was all over.  Not only had I accomplished my goal of finishing the triathlon, but I finished way sooner than I had hoped at 2:48:49.

And THAT is incredible!

I am not normally a procrastinator.  The closer a due date comes, the more stress I feel.  So my theory is that in order to minimize stress, just get the task done early.  The due date comes, the stress level is low, and my task is complete.

You can’t procrastinate when training for a distance event.  The body needs time to adapt to the progressively increasing mileage.  I’ve been training all summer for my first triathlon, increasing mileage each week, compounding workouts, until I actually completed race distance in all three events yesterday.  I feel so good going into this race, knowing that I have a 1.5k swim, a 40k bike, and a 10k run under my belt.  Now I just need to do it all one more time, for real, next Sunday.

Although I’m not a procrastinator, especially when it comes to training, there is one little thing that I’ve kept putting off.  The open water swim.  I’ve been deathly afraid of swimming just under a mile in a lake.

What am I so afraid of?

1.  Getting tired and not being able to hold onto the side of the pool to catch my breath.

2.  Snakes.

3.  Swimming across the natural habitat of many species that I can’t see but that can see me.

4.  Snakes.

5.  Not being able to see the bottom of the lake.

6.  Snakes.

7.  Not being able to swim in a straight line without lane lines.

8.  Snakes.

9.  Flailing arms and legs around me and choking on their splashing.

10.  Snakes.

This morning was the very last moment that I had to swim in a lake as school starts tomorrow, and next weekend will be spent traveling to Fall Creek Falls.

Today had to be the day.

The sun was just starting to rise when I slowly walked down to the water’s edge.

Fog was hovering above the lake as I gingerly tiptoed into the bath-like water.

The mossy rocks felt disgusting under my feet, and I couldn’t wait to get in far enough to pull my feet up and tread water.  But, kerplunk!  I slipped and fell, enjoying the slimy bottom with more than just my toes.  Ick.

But I did it.

The Husband swam next to me, encouraging me the whole way.  We swam across the cove of the lake and back again.  I practiced sighting, aiming for a tree, and I was amazed when I stopped in the middle to see just how far I’d come.  Going back and forth in a pool you don’t get a true picture of the distance that you’ve covered.  But when you stop in the middle of the lake and see tiny your tiny car back on the bank, it’s quite evident.

I didn’t panic, I had a little practice sighting and adjusting my direction, I didn’t see a single snake, and I swam through the green water only being able to see my fingertips as I reached through each stroke.

I only swam back and forth once.  But that was enough for me to realize that I can do this next weekend.  There’s nothing to be afraid of.  (And the snakes will be scared away before I even get into the water as the women start after the men!)

Triathlon, here I come!

(Gulp!)

It has been in the 90′s in Nashville for weeks now, and summer just officially started last week.  My summer workouts typically take place inside in the aerobics or cycling studios, but this summer triathlon training has required me to be out in the heat.  And I’m not a fan of intense heat.  So we’ve been getting up much earlier than any school teacher on summer vacation would choose to be up, just to workout before the heat of the day becomes unbearable.

On Saturday morning we had the longest brick workout yet.  Slipping into the pool at 6:00am, I barely noticed the difference between the air temperature and the 86 degree water.  We got in a 35 minute swim, and then we were off to the truck to get the bikes.

The truck was packed with everything we needed for this three hour event.

Brick workouts don’t actually start in the morning.  They start the evening before with the process of packing the truck with everything we’ll need for a successful workout.  Here’s a sample of the preparation:

1.  Bathing suits, towels, and goggles laid out.  Road IDs and watches ready to be strapped on in the truck on the way.

2.  Bikes on the back of the truck.  (On our new bike rack!!!  Woo hoo!)

3.  Biking shorts, cycling shirts, gloves, cycling shoes, socks, sunglasses, and GU gels ready.  The socks and GUs placed in the cycling shoes and the gloves and sunglasses in the bike helmets.

4.  Running shoes, laces untied for quick transition.

5.  Four water bottles and two Myoplex recovery drinks in the fridge and ready for tomorrow.

As we transitioned between the pool and the bike ride an elderly gentleman walked by our truck as we were pulling equipment out.  “In my day, I just hopped on my bike if I wanted to go for a ride.”  Ha!  No fancy shoes, bike helmets, GPS watches, or cycling shirts with pockets for your GU gels?  How did you ever survive?

Our ride was LONG, just over 26 miles in 107 minutes, but it was so much fun.  I’m really starting to love roadbiking now that I have the gearing down and my balance and control have improved.  But for the last 30 minutes or so of the ride, I was already dreading the run ahead.  I knew it would be miserable. It always is.

It was only an 18 minute run, but I had never run that long after a swim and bike.  Even those shorter runs were miserable in a brick, so I was nervous. 

Was it miserable? YES!  Incredibly miserable.  And oh it was hot, so so so hot.  But I did it!  I swam just under race distance, biked more than race distance, and all I have to add now is 4 more miles to the run that I did today.  The chasm between what I know I can do and the goal ahead just got a little bit smaller.

It took a whole lot of preparation, determination, and buckets of sweat, but I did it!  I was proud of myself, but I was even happier that it was over!  I did a little victory dance in the parking lot.

Maybe, just maybe I’m going to survive training in the heat this summer.  And maybe I’ll even survive the triathlon in August!

When I started training for the triathlon, the Husband told me that it’s not a matter of if I will crash on the bike, but when I will crash.  Yesterday, I had my crash.  And I’m really hoping it counts.

As we were swimming laps, I kept seeing the sky getting darker and darker.  I was really hoping that we could finish our swim before hearing thunder followed by lifeguard whistles.  Thankfully, we finished that portion of our training and headed out to get our bikes.  Maybe my mind was on the fact that the hot and humid morning was starting to feel cooler, and that the wind offering respite from the heat was most likely going to be followed by a nasty storm.  Maybe, just maybe, my mind wasn’t completely focused on the mechanics of riding…or even on the balance required to start riding.  Maybe I was a little preoccupied with that unsettling feeling that maybe we wouldn’t be finishing the ride that we had planned for that day.  Or maybe it was just the time for my crash.

Even though the dark clouds continued to roll in, we decided to at least start the ride.  (I suggested a Starbucks stop until the storm passed through, but the pavement would still be wet afterward, and we’d have to tone down the pace anyway.  And what training benefit would there be to riding at a slow pace just to get in the training time?  We agreed that it was all out now or not at all.)  I snapped my shoe into the pedal and BAM!

I don’t even remember the falling part.  I just remember realizing that I couldn’t twist my cycling shoe out of the clipless pedal fast enough.  But I do remember the landing part.  It was mostly on my left palm and forearm.  And then what hit even harder than my body on the pavement was the realization that I had just had my crash.  IN THE PARKING LOT!  And if that wasn’t bad enough, I wasn’t even RIDING!  My first crash wasn’t even bragworthy!  I had stepped into the left pedal, lifted my right foot off the ground, and before I could even fumble for the right pedal, I fell hard to the left.  How humiliating!  As I wiped off the blood from my knee, I must have apologized a hundred times to the Husband for ruining our transition time.  (If you know the Husband, you know that he was more annoyed by my apologies than anything else.)  I couldn’t believe what a stupid mistake I had just made.  And we didn’t have time for stupidity.  We had a storm to beat!

I tried to laugh about my idiotic crash as we started off.  It was mere minutes before the sprinkles began.  A few miles in and the sprinkles turned to rain.  Any hopes of a long ride were dashed as the rumble of thunder quickly followed.

You know that I am completely driven by “the plan”. The schedule dictated an 80 minute ride, and now the weather was, once again, interfering with my plan.  How dare it!

Should we continue?  Should we just bike laps through the local neighborhood and keep it close to the truck?  The transition from rain to downpour quickly made it clear that we were done for the day.

I was one very unhappy rider.  Not only did I have a ridiculous first crash, but now I couldn’t even finish the training ride.  I don’t even think we made it five miles.

I suppose I should be thankful.  Considering the weather, the wet pavement, and the fact that only a tiny piece of rubber separated me from the pavement, I should actually be extremely grateful for many things:

1.  My injuries were minor.  (Yes, the bruising will be nasty, and the ache in my arm has now migrated to my shoulder and back, but I’m sure that will subside within days.)
2.  I fell by my truck, which amazingly comes with a comprehensive first aid kit.  (Apparently, Nissan understands the type who would buy an Xterra!)
3.  I have a training partner with common sense who shut down the ride when the rain picked up.  As much as I argued against turning back, he was right to call it.
4.  We made it back to the truck on wet, slick roads without further injuries.
5.  I’m going to believe that I’ve HAD my crash.  As embarrassing as it was, if you’re going to crash, doesn’t crashing at 0 mph sound ideal?

So, I’m thankful.  I’m a little achy.  I need help gripping to open a jar.  But I’m healthy, I’m safe, and I am ready for a great training week ahead.

Are you ready, Carla?  I have some miles to make up!