Transitions, now that’s an interesting thing to contemplate and practice. Transitions or as otherwise known T1, which is your transition from swim to biking and T2 which is from biking to running, count toward your overall event time and so your goal is to minimize your transition times as much as possible. The question is how to practice those unless you’ve been through a TRI before? Well, nutty competitive folks like me might actually put out their transition towel which is intended to hold all the gadgets and gear you need for the second and third leg of your TRI. Namely, stuff like: bike helmet, bike shoes, socks, running shoes, sun glasses etc…on their bathroom floor, jump into the shower with their TRI suit on and once soaking wet jump out of the shower and attempt to race through as quickly as possible (while water is pouring onto your bathroom floor) your T1 process. Yep, crazy but true. Did it help my T1 time? I’m not sure, but in my head I’d at least been through the routine before.
Monthly Archives: May 2012
Gear!
Ask any Triathlete and they will tell you that triathlon is NOT an inexpensive sport. I’m sure you can get by on a minimum budget. But for folks that like gear, gear that is intended you make you look great and/or compete better or maybe, I suppose in some cases, both, you can drop some serious cash. Tri suit, check, sun glasses, check, bike gloves, check, bike shoes, check, running shoes, check, running hat, check, sports nutrition, check. Can’t you just hear that credit card machine churning out receipts? It did and it still does…I am a self professed gear junkie.
Swim, Bike, Run
My first lap swim was interesting. In my days as a swimmer I would compete in the 500 yard freestyle which is 20 lengths of the pool. So I thought, I’ll just swim a nice easy 500, of note is the fact that the swim portion of my first TRI was a 450 yard pool swim. After two, yes 2 lengths of the pool I was completely winded and thought how on earth did I EVER race a 500 free. I was concerned, if I couldn’t easily swim 50 yards how was I going to comfortably race 450 yards and then tack on a 12 mile bike ride and then run a 5K? Hello friends at Swim Labs (www.swimlabs.com), one 30 minute lesson to tune up my breathing and stroke technique and I was off and running…or rather swimming. Was I headed to the Olympic swim trials? Nope, but I could feel my groove again in the water.
Next challenge was running. First time on the treadmill I could not run a quarter mile, approximately 3 minutes, without being anaerobic. This isn’t just breathing hard but truly out of breath. Really, how could I be fit and not handle a short run? I soon realized that each of the different components of fitness and triathlon training require difference types of skill, technique and endurance. After a running lesson with Cary, I started to improve my ability to run for longer periods of time without feeling like I needed “the bucket”.
On to the bike, enter Zen, or actually “Zen Boy”, (doesn’t everyone name their bike?) my beautiful Giant Avail Advanced road bike. I shopped pretty extensively with the help and research efforts of #1 guy Keith. I looked at Cannondale, Trek, Orbea, Specialized and Giant road bikes. While I liked all the bikes, I fell in love with Giant. Plus the guys at Giant Cycling (http://giantdenver.com/) were great! Now this may sound stupid, but bikes have changed considerably since my old ten speed days so I needed help with the fundamentals. Like how to shift, break, plus there was the small matter of bike shoes. Talk about being patient, and thankfully NOT making me feel like a total doofus, Joe V at Giant Cycling coached me through shifting, breaking, clipping and unclipping on the in-store Cycleops trainer. Thank you Joe V!
Becoming an Athlete
In January 2011 I decided that I would pursue completing a Sprint distance triathlon. I also, which is not unusual for me, successfully convinced about 10 other friends and colleagues to complete their first TRI with me. The event was selected, and again @KirkMac input was sought. We chose the location of his first TRI pursued some 8 years earlier. Ft Collins Club hosts a bi-annual Sprint distance triathlon, it’s well run, reasonable in size from a number of participants, beginner friendly and includes a ¼ mile indoor snake swim at the EPIC pool located in Ft Collins, a 12 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. I registered and it was official. On May 15th, 2011 former Fat Ali would become a triathlete. WOW!
Everyone says just focus on finishing. Yes, that was certainly my goal, to finish and finish feeling strong and healthy. Of course, the competitor in me wanted more…finish, finish feeling strong and healthy and finish fast. By this point in time I had been on my fit and healthy path for a year so I was pretty darn fit. But I certainly would not have considered myself an athlete. I was focused on making that happen. So I embarked upon a serious triathlon training program. Would I sign-up with a free online triathlete training program? Buy a book and follow that program? Nope, not me! I signed up with a top triathlon coach. Enter @CoachCary www.coachcary.com. Cary Kinross-Wright is not only a top coach as part of the Endurance Performance Coaching (EPC) group, but also an amazing endurance athlete including 6 time Ironman finisher, Xterra (off road triathlon) elite competitor, ultra marathon racer and adventure race athlete. You get the drift I didn’t sign-up with a novice coach, Cary is the real deal.
So Cary put together an individualized training plan for me. This included tracking my daily training, notice the shift, I was no longer “working out” I was now “training”. Interesting, but I believe there actually is a psychological difference. Athletes ”train”, other people “workout”. I purchased a heart rate monitor, and after several hours of frustration in getting the little devil to get set-up properly I began logging my training efforts and uploading the results to Training Peaks (www.trainingpeaks.com). My training included the obvious elements of Triathlon swim, bike, run. Never mind the fact that I hadn’t swum laps since my high school swimming career ended decades ago, didn’t own a road bike and hadn’t ever been a runner. People sometimes think Sprint Triathlon equals Easy Triathlon, hmm; maybe I was originally one of those fools. It absolutely does NOT mean easy! Any distance triathlon requires commitment, focus, endurance and (I love this one) mental toughness, plus the ability to string together those three events, one after the other without taking a nice little rest in between.
2010 – Transformation from FAT to FIT
I was determined, that this time would be different.
This was not a diet, as diets have a defined end, and then what? This was not focused on weight or size. This was not focused on calories. Simply it was focused on becoming fit and healthy— “mindful” healthy eating coupled with frequent vigorous exercise plus adequate rest.
Now, what does “mindful” eating mean? It means (to me), that you do not deprive yourself, because that just makes you want (dream about, negotiate with yourself, pine for and eventually shovel in as quickly as possible) whatever you tell yourself that you cannot have. Mindful eating is, being aware that if you have French fries, or cake or a cocktail or whatever makes your taste buds sing, that’s ok, you just can’t do that with every meal and you need to do so with reasonable portions. Reasonable portions means just that, no need to measure, weigh etc. but a whole pie, or cake or sheet of brownies is not reasonable a single slice is just fine.
Workout and mean it. Make regular vigorous exercise, meaning most days of the week, a high priority part of your life. Is working out always fun? No. Can it sometimes be fun? Yes. Is it more fun after the first couple of tough break-in weeks? Usually.
Adequate sleep is different for everyone. Just make sure you get enough quality sleep to recover from your frequent exercise.
This is what I did. I worked-out 5 days per week and worked-out hard. I plugged music into my iPod that got me energized. I joined a gym that was convenient to remove any obstacles meaning excuses. I committed to myself that this was a priority, that this was important for my health, for my wellbeing, for…me. OK, now that’s key. I was doing it for ME, not anyone else! I also posted an 8×10 copy of the original offending photo that I refer to as “Fat Ali” in a place that so I (not everyone that came to my house to visit) would frequently see it; to remember, how that felt and how I was on a path to change that feeling.
We went back to Hawaii for Spring Break 2010, five months after the infamous photo shoot previously mentioned. New, better (not great) photos that were starting to reflect the transformation underway were taken. A representative photo was posted (8×10) beside the original as would other periodic swim suit clad photos which eventually formed a wall of photos that visually tracked my progress.
I continued on this path throughout 2010. Frequent vigorous workouts, mindful eating, rest—repeat. I do need to give credit where due to my fabulous husband. He has always supported me, my efforts and my whims. In this case he, as the chef of the family, ensured that we had quality meals and fresh foods on hand. He thinks he’s an OK cook, I think he’s great…I think I’m right, anyway…quality ingredients, lots of fish, lean meats, fresh veggies, fresh fruit—YUM! At the end of 2010 I gave away the 2 largest sizes of clothes I owned (14 and 12) and packed away in storage 1 additional size (10) with the goal of reviewing in 12 months for future give away if I stayed the course.
In December 2010, @KirkMac asked me “What’s next?” stating his opinion that I needed to have a competition to keep me on track. Hmmm, now that’s interesting, those that know me know that I’m competitive by nature and was a athlete through high school (yes, that was close to a thousand years ago, but so what!) Kirk suggested…Triathlon. Now, that was really intriguing.
Who’s that Stranger in the Photo?
My family including my parents went on a lovely vacation to Maui, Hawaii in October 2009—a family favorite locale that we’ve enjoyed for many years. After the trip, I was back home reviewing the holiday photos with the intention of selecting one for inclusion in my traditional photo calendar. Now, while I knew that I was chubby at this time…I was quite frankly shocked by the photos of myself on the beach. To be clear, I am not a candidate for The Biggest Loser. But my “chubbiness” or really fatness had transformed me into a woman that I didn’t know.
Looking at one photo after another I saw:
- A woman that had bad posture
- A mid-forties gal that looked at least 10 years older
- I looked tired and frustrated
Reflection time…these photos reflected the image I was projecting to others, which was scary. Not the typical high energy, can do, positive gal that I consider myself and am generally (I think) known to be. The seeds were being sown for change.
Coincidentally my friend, colleague, mentor and former “fat guy”, @KirkMac, who, by the way, is now an 8 time (and counting) Ironman finisher, including Kona, mentioned a book that contributed to his personal transformation Younger Next Year, by Chris Crowley @CrowleySpeaks www.youngernextyear.com and Henry S. Lodge. Being the supportive guy and fitness focused individual that Kirk is, he gave me a copy of the book for Christmas 2009.
Loved the book, if you haven’t read it I’d highly recommend it to anyone that is interested in optimizing health and fighting the general “decay” (yes, that term is used a ton in the book) that comes with the aging process. In a nutshell, Younger Next Year speaks to the physiological benefits that result from vigorous exercise…not the “ho-hum am I done yet?” type of exercise that I mentioned earlier. But, the kind of workout that gets your heart pumping and sweat pouring, the kind that taps into those endorphins that people love to talk about.
New Years resolution time…2010
As we all know, resolutions that tie into January 1st have a very low level probability of sustained success. Still it was that time of year and an opportunity for me to jump into the deep end of personal transformation.
The Back Story…
A little background seems appropriate to set the stage.
As with many women, including my Mom, I have for much of my adult life struggled with weight and body image. This resulted in several costly and sometimes painful outcomes:
- Yo-yo weight fluctuations
- The “scale” became either my friend or adversary depending on what was displayed
- Diets and deprivation; food became both the “enemy” and the “reward”
- Infrequent, obligation-based exercise—we’re talking ho, hum time-based “am I done yet?” type workouts
- Self image and personal satisfaction with self-image became associated with which size pants I was wearing
- Enough different sizes in my wardrobe to fill a small boutique
- Feeling like the ugly step-sister, when on a weight upswing which was becoming more often than not
It was generally all or nothing. Not a toe in the water, either all-in or all-out. This cycle was based upon DIETING. I personally hate that concept as it a fraud…for me it meant: Diet and lose weight, stop dieting and gain weight, diet and lose weight, stop dieting and gain more weight. A vicious and unhealthy cycle that I needed to stop for both my physical and emotional wellbeing. A myopic focus on the numbers displayed on the scale…was a focus on the wrong thing. I needed to shift my energy and focus to becoming FIT & HEALTHY.
triathlonmomma 