Some Random Thoughts and then a race report.

My comments aren't working. Not sure exactly what happened. Got to try and get that fixed.

I didn't update my schedule for last week. Oh well, didn't do much so I guess it doesn't matter. Will update it for this week.

Why do I schedule things for 1 weekend and then end up wiped out by the end of the weekend??

Why do I love naps so much lately??

Okay, enough. Today was the Na Wahine Sprint Triathlon.

I really don't want to report on it as I was very dissappointed in my performance. But I must use this as a learning experience and move on from here.

So this actually begins yesterday, Saturday. Actually, this report should start last week when I laid in bed more mornings than not and only walked the dogs for exercise. But I'll start with yesterday. It was my first saturday marathon training group. We had to meet at 6:30a.m. which means me getting up at 4:30a. m. since I live so bloody far away from everything. So I go and we spend the next 2 hours running around up and down the hills of Diamond Head and surrounding areas. Just a note, I really enjoyed the group. They are fun people and I had a great time. I did cut out a little early as they were heading into the crater and that is a steep uphill for about 2 miles. Since I had the Na Wahine today I decided to bail out a little early. So I spent the rest of yesterday getting ready for today. Good thing I started early cause my tri suit needed to be washed, ugh!!!! But by late last night my ankle was hurting, oh no!! I have a race tomorrow.

The alarm went off at 4:00a.m. As is typcial for me the night before a race I don't sleep well. I had been awake since around 3:30. So I get up and start stumbling around getting ready. I left the house around 5:00 a.m. and made it to the race site by 5:40 a.m. The place was packed. I got my gear and set up everything in the transition area; got my arm and leg marked; got my chip; headed out to find a bathroom that wasn't crowded. By 6:20 I'm at the water and the pre-race meeting has begun. Just a side note here: the race officials read the rules about drafting and passing on the bike and did a piss poor job. This race attracts a lot of 1st timers and what he said about 3 bikes lenghts and 15 seconds was completely unintelligible. Since this is a beginners race they really should take the time to explain these things. Okay, at 6:30 the first wave of elite racers go off. We are then told to get in the water since it's a water start. This is where things started to go bad for me. The water was cold (yeah, okay, cold for ME!!) and as soon as I hit it it took my breath away. I was trying to make it out to the start buoys against the incoming tide while the race director is yelling that it's 40 seconds to the start. I begin to freak. I did not even hear the horn go off I just saw the mass of people start to swim and I entered a full blown panic attack. I started to hyperventilate; I couldn't swim to save my life; I was freaking BIG time. I tried to just keep moving forward however I could but I was really doing a piss poor job of it. I was drinking ocean water like it was beer, the whole time hyperventilating and freaking. I was literally ready to call it quits. I just knew I couldn't make it. Finally, one of the course officials told me to just stop swimming; tread water; shake my arms to release tension; and take some slow deep breaths. This helped. I was then able to at least move my arms in the swimming motion; I still wasn't breathing properly so I kept my head up but I was moving. After a minute or so of this I was able to put my head in the water and swim and breath the right way. Once I did that and was able to get into my regular rythm that really helped calm me down. I don't know how long I was freaking but the entire swim took 24 minutes. Since I know I can swim that distance (I've done it in that area) in 15 minutes I figure I must have been freaking out for at least 10 minutes. I was never so glad to get out of the water!! But needless to say I was pretty bummed about my performance and really upset because I don't know where that panic attack came from. T1 took a long time because it started when we left the water. We then had to go about 1/2 mile to the bike area and since it was over grass I walked, I didn't dare run.

On to the bike. I got to the transition area and there were only about 10 bikes left (glad I wasn't the last one:). I got my shoes and helmet on in rapid fashion and headed out. I knew I could make up some time on the bike so I flew. I did good on the bike. I had ridden this course the past 2 weekends so I knew it by heart and could really fly on it. I moved up 30 places in the bike leg. I was passing people on my old Bianchi and once I passed them I never saw them again. T2 was much quicker, like 1:26 - wow!!!

Off on the run. After pushing it so hard on the bike my legs were tired. I decided to start real slow on the run and then pick it up as I progressed. It was not to be. My ankle was throbbing and I was tired. I decided since I screwed the swim up so bad there was no need to hurt myself. I would run for about 10 minutes then walk for a few. That worked out good till near the end. The last kilometer or so was over grass. I will not run on grass because of my ankle. So I walked the last bit and I couldn't even walk it fast because the ground was very uneven and full of nuts. UGH!!! But I finished in 2:08. Not even close to what I had hoped for but this race really gave me some info about myself.

That whole swim thing really has me bugged. When I did my first tri last October I was so panicked about the swim. I worried for weeks before hand. I swam in the ocean 3 times a week to make sure I could do it. I was really, really worried about it. Come the day of the race I was nervous but not panicky. I completed that swim (400 meters) in 12 minutes. I felt great and figured I just needed practice. Since April I have been swimming at least 2 times a week almost every week. I was not nervous about this swim at all. I had swum this swim in this same spot a couple of times. I knew how to do it and was very comfortable in the water. I was ready. I don't know what happened. Why did I panick like that??? What caused it and more important, how do I prevent it from happening again??? So now I'm totally freaked out about the swim again. I don't think I'm going to do any more tris this year. This has really scared me and I don't know exactly what to do to get over it.

Well, that was my weekend. A little learning; a little fun; and something to think about.