I tried to do the swim/bike portion of triathlon training today and had an utter and complete fail.
Since I couldn’t get my butt out of bed this morning to train with the team, I thought I could be clever and go later in the day.
Well!! Sequence of events:
1. Get to the beach, water looks calm. Putting on my wetsuit, bend over and I hear that horrible tearing noise that NO woman wants to hear – a giant gaping hole just tore open in the back of my wetsuit.
2. Now feeling incredibly fat and self conscious, I peel off the destroyed wetsuit and decide NOT to give up, but go try to swim anyways. I go wade into the water. Feels nice!
3. This part of the story can be shown via pictures (courtesy of Jason Hullinger). GIGANTIC WAVES that were NOT there a few minutes ago now started swelling up from the ocean. I got bitch slapped left and right trying to get past the breakers. Click on the pics below to see larger versions of my misery and shame.
Me vs the wave. Guess who won?
Screw you, wave. I’m just gonna dive under you!
That’s right. Point and laugh at my defeat. Here I am retreating in shame, having lost my swim cap to the ocean.
4. I dragged my body out of the ocean and after coughing out some water and trying to drain my ears, decided to STILL NOT GIVE UP. I was going to go RIDE MY BIKE.
5. Have you ever tried to squeeze a damp body into bike shorts? Especially as a curvy gal? It doesn’t work, OK?? SO instead of suffering additional ‘omg I’m a huge fatty who tore my wetsuit’ misery that would occur in trying to wedge into bike shorts, I said ‘EFF IT’ and decided to bike in my sports bra and skimpy bikini bottoms.
Now, I didn’t get honked or hollered at, AT ALL!! How come I get honked at while wearing cycling clothes, but not while mostly naked? I am taking this as a very bad indicator and my self esteem would be shot if I actually cared.
I did 5 miles on the bike, before the soggy sandy saddle up against my barely covered girl bits complained.
A for Effort, D- for work out.
PS I have sand in my ear 
PPS Please fund my shameful day by donating to the LA Children’s Hospital Oncology division. If it makes you pity me any further, my thyroidectomy scar hurt like a BIOTCH today, too.
So for some reason I can’t recall, I have decided to start training for a (sprint) triathlon. I mean hey.. I can swim, I can bike (duh) and I could slog my way through a 5k. So I did a 5k.. and did terribly. I went to a tri-training swim in the ocean, and really thought I’d end up shark food. I am still working towards the goal of a tri, but lemme tell yah – not easy.
So I decided to interview someone that just finished her first triathlon, and is on to conquer bigger and better!! I bring you Lindsay – a 20something Los Angelino that conquered surf and sun to complete her tri. And most importantly, this is how she got into cycling.
TC.com: Why do a tri?
Lindsay: Over the past few years I’ve gotten into running. I started doing half marathons. Last summer a surfer friend of mine convinced me to start swimming with her at a local pool. I had never been a swimmer before, but I’ve been surfing since I was a teenager and thought it’d be a great cross training workout. I went to a ocean speed circuit that was part of LA tri club and I LOVED it. Everyone was so fit and in shape and I just thought to myself how I could totally be a triathlete, too.
By the end of the summer, I competed in my first race (an aquathlon – a swim / run race) and loved it. From there I figured I was already 2/3′s of the way there, so why not go for it and try my hand at a triathlon.
I just like new challenges in general so I put a triathlon on my bucket list
TC.com: How did you prepare
Lindsay: The one thing that was completely foreign to me was the bike. I knew I had running and swimming down and was committed to making sure I did both of those activities at least 2-3x /week. The bike was a different story because I’ve never ridden a road bike before. I’ve always been one of those people who sees cyclists on the road and gets annoyed that they are taking up the lane, so the thought of becoming one was just crazy to me.
I decided to take an intro to road biking class through REI adventure school to get used to the idea of riding on the road. I found that a lot of people in the class had similar concerns and were in the class to get over their fears and get more comfortable being on the road. I ended up loving the class and the feeling of being on a road bike. They are so light and fast! I had been researching road bikes for months but at that point I got serious about buying one.
Anyway, to get back to the question…to train for the bike I rode a stationary bike at the gym until I got my own bike.
she runs, she swims, she biiiiikes!
TC.com: What was the hardest part during the tri?
Lindsay: The hardest part during the tri for me was the transition coming off the swim, running in the sand, and getting ready for the bike. I was out of breath and needed to take a couple seconds to calm down, take some sips of water, and mentally prepare for the bike. It was my first race so I wasn’t competing for a time goal, I just wanted to finish.
TC.com: How did you feel after?
Lindsay: It feels amazing! The end of the race was such a high for me. I had my boyfriend, parents, and our golden retriever Bailey at the race cheering me on. So many of my friends and family called me to see how I did. I was really touched by how much everyone supported me in my efforts.
I’ve always admired the level of fitness that triathletes have. I trained hard, I changed the way I eat, and I focused hard on my training. I feel different and that I can no longer go back to my old ways and habits. I’m a triathlete now!
TC.com: Would you do it again?
Lindsay: Hell yeah! I’m already registered for Malibu in September.
TC.com: Now you’ve done a sprint, do you want to do more?
Lindsay: Absolutely. I’d like to try my hand at an Olympic and maybe do a 1/2 Ironman one day
TC.com: Tips for those who want to do a tri?
Lindsay: I would also like to mention that I started seeing a trainer 2x / week for strength training and overall conditioning because I felt that it was important to have a strong fitness base when training for a triathlon.
Awesome! Thanks Lindsay, and congrats!
Readers – have you ever done a triathlon? Any tips for us? Or are you interested in doing a tri or duathlon?
So aside from the 5k I did yesterday, I’ve been a mega-blob the past few days.
Why? I have horrible pain in the side of my neck, to the point where I can’t sleep and I’ve been taking pain meds every few hours in an attempt to dull the pain. I even spent most of today sleeping.
Go see a doctor, you say!
I agree, I respond!
I got laid off in May, and instead of going with “first born child” expensive COBRA, I signed up with Blue Cross CA. I called them today to find out what the hell the status is with my freakin’ insurance and it’s being held up by the doctor that performed surgery on me in April. His office is closed today, but I’m going to his office tomorrow at 10 am and getting this straightened out.
Don't worry, I can't always touch my toes either
So the only thing I can attribute the neck pain to is maybe my new uptick in jogging for triathlon training. A close friend of mine did the 5k with me yesterday and now is complaining of leg soreness – turns out he didn’t stretch after the 5k, and doesn’t know WHAT type of stretches to do!
Therefore, this post is dedicated to informing ya’ll on some stretches for jogging and/or cycling.
As there is a ton of information on the interwebz, I won’t regurgitate the content on my post but link to it for you to click through on.
- You stretch AFTER exercise, when your muscles are warm, not before!
- If cycling long distances, you can do some stretches on your bike, or hop off while at a stop and stretch.
- TotalBike.com has a great page, complete with pictures of all the stretches you should do as a cyclist.
- The pictures are goobery, but here are some basic stretches for runners
Any stretches/advice on how to prevent/reduce sports related injuries?]
Even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp
And it read Sparky’s a pimp
Stomach’s like hell but no throwing up
Half way to finish and my GPS is blowing up
Today I ran a 5k
I got to say it was a good day.
-Modified Ice Cube lyrics
bitches, watch where yer goin'
So as the lyrics state, today I ran my first 5k. My time? 39 minutes. Yup. That’s right. 12.5 minutes a mile. Laugh all you want, but I freakin’ jogged the whole thing. And was passed by numerous women and children. Repeatedly. But hey, as my friend said, you can only get better, right?
So while jogging in the merciless sun, in my new overpriced Nike dri-fit visor, I was envisioning why cycling is so incredibly superior to jogging (or running, if you are fast, unlike me).
Here is my top ten list as to why cycling is better than jogging:
- The bike holds the water bottles, not you
- Less impact on poor feet and knees
- The thrill of being the motor of a machine!
- More changes of scenery (farther, faster)
- Generate more of a breeze when doing 15 MPH vs. 5 MPH
- Cooler gear – cycling shoes just look SO much techier than running shoes
- Various body positions available while cycling
- Requires more thought and attention
- Can get up to 50 MPH on a bike
- JUST CUZ
Did I miss anything? What else should I add?
As a counterpoint, here are some reasons why jogging MIGHT be better than cycling:
- Cheaper entry barrier
- Don’t have to clean chain/maintain bike
- Accidents while cleated onto a bike really suck
- Bike thieves
- What do you think makes jogging better than cycling?
A beautiful Southern California afternoon. My plan: Bike around and then attempt to jog 3 miles (essentially Brick 2 of a Triathlon). I planned to jog at the local high school track, which is not only quite lovely but easier on the ol’ knees/feet.
Typical California Teen
Typical Teens
I end up at the track around 3:30 PM. I thought today was the last day of school, as a friend’s daughter was done with school as of today. Bike into the track area and there are teenagers everywhere! They were… holding books.. and walking around with back packs…and sitting on the wall right where I would have to walk by to get into the track area.
I stood and stared around for a bit, confused. What were these teenagers doing here? Shouldn’t they be.. elsewhere? I could also see a football team on the field, practicing. I bailed, then returned and stood around a bit more. After awhile, it dawned that I may seem like a creepy pedo, scoping out the local teen meat on my bicycle or something.
Heyyy baby, check out my cannondale!
What was restraining me from marching past those teens and jogging on the track?
Complete self consciousness. I didn’t want all those teenagers staring at me, judging. Especially once I got on the track and slogged around with my attempt at a ‘jog’. It’s like being a self conscious teenager all over again. Here I am, 32 years old, and wanting to avoid the judgemental stares of teenagers. How does it still have any power over me?
They will snicker at my thighs
Needless to say, I decided it would be ‘creepy’ to ‘lurk’ around teenagers and biked home, planning to jog ‘later’ (aka not jog for the day). Do you ever find yourself daunted by teens?
Remember, I live in California where apparently they are done with puberty by 13 years old and truly DO walk around in ‘daisy dukes and bikinis on top’, to quote the lovely Ms. Katie Perry. Right dawg?
