Orillia Try-A-Tri - Check!

My first triathlon is in the books!

350m swim + 10K bike + 2.5K run = 1:09:57

Let me just preface this by saying...I am a poor swimmer, I'm afraid of taking hills and corners too quickly on my bike, and I'm a slow runner. So why the heck would I sign up to try a tri?

I really don't have an answer for that, aside from...it called to me.

It called to me so loudly that I actually signed up for two this summer. So that if this one was dreadful, I'd have a second shot at tri in August, rather than having to wait until next season to redeem myself.

Now, if you've been following along, you may have noticed that I didn't exactly train for this. I've been biking, I've taken up running, and I swim when I can. But I wouldn't call that focused training.

Each leg in the tri sounded very reasonable to me - but I really underestimated what a game changer it is to put 'em together in one event. Particularly when you add in 31C weather with blazing sun.

So you won't be surprised that this event was a challenge! 

My goals for this race were modest, though: Learn the logistics of doing a tri. Finish. Not dead last if possible.

Done and done :-)

Here's the details -

Before

We stayed at my parent's the night before. The race had an 11am start time, so I had plenty of time to wake up, have breakfast and get ready. Said 'see you at the finish' to my family and rode my bike to the starting line - about 6 minutes away. Sweet.

My red bike is racked. Yes, it's a mountain bike.
 I'll invest in a road bike by next season, I promise.

Checked in about 45 minutes before the start, picked up my ankle chip, got marked, racked my bike, organized my gear, checked out the entry & exit points for each leg, then headed to the beach.

Was a bit of a long walk from transition to the swim start, but on soft grass and clean sand. Nice and easy on the bare feet.

Hit the water for a quick swim. Lovely and warm. And all of a sudden, it was time to get started.

First two waves went out...2 mintues to go before mine...tap on the shoulder...my mom and sister had come to the start to surprise me! Which helped take my mind off how nervous I was.

Hamming it up for the camera with a gun show. Less than a minute to go.
Yes, I'm wearing a swim suit. Will invest in tri suit and possibly wet suit for next season 

 350m swim - 13:32 (includes time to exit the water, cross the beach and enter transition)

Honestly, there were more than a dozen of us in this wave - everyone is really spread out to the sides

Ran in as far as I could, started swimming, and immediately ran into trouble.

Between a mad rush of adreneline making me forget absolutely everything I knew about breathing and technique...and the water being much choppier than I had trained in...I got hit in the face with a wave, swallowed most of it and couldn't breath. Like I'd had the wind knocked out of me.

Forced myself not to panic and to tread water until I recovered. What really helped keep the panic away? The idea of having to give up 20 seconds into a race that I'd signed up for 8 months ago...well, that made me furious.

Recovered, started swimming and almost ran into trouble again with another wave. Decided to flip onto my back for most of the swim rather than keep fighting the waves. Had to swim a heck of a lot harder than I had planned to in order to made up for lost time.

Left the water breathing hard and headed to transition.

T1 - 3:06

Pleased with how I laid out my gear; everything went smoothly. Took a few moments but I was still having a hard time generally calming down. Headed out on the bike still breathing hard.

Leaving T1. Wondering exactly when I'll be able to catch my breath, and how on earth I'm going to be able to run later.

Bike - 34:53

Bike started at the bottom of a steep hill. Said a few nasty words to myself about it and headed up. Reached the top without stopping to walk (woohoo!), and started up a long slope. Followed by another hill. Things levelled out around the 4K mark and I was finally able to get my breathing under control.

Got to the turnaround and - hey - isn't that my mom over there? Fabulous surprise. So great to see a familiar face on the course.

Me in black beside the guy in red.
Mom didn't get a pic of me approaching. Guess I was going too fast, haha.

Aside from being somewhat cautious on down slopes and corners, I love biking. I was really able to relax and enjoy this ride.

Which was over far too quickly!

T2 - 1:48

Got off the bike and was shocked at how tight my legs were. You know, I had *meant* to do some brick training this spring...better get on that before my next tri in a month...

Run - 21:34

The late morning start to this race meant that it was getting close to noon - and very hot and sunny - when I headed out on the run. I knew going into the race that this would be a problem so decided just to have fun with it. Short runs, lots of walk breaks. Took my time at the water stations getting a drink and sprayed down. And guess who showed up at the turnaround? Mom!

I wasn't kidding when I said I'd decided to have fun on this run.

The best thing about a 2.5K run? It's over really fast.

About 50 feet to go and just spotted my husband, kids and dog. Lots of cheering for mom.
And the dog dragged my son off his feet trying to get to me! 

FINISHED!!!!! And with a smile.

After the race - kids played at the park, I walked the dog around a bit, picked up a goodie bag of snacks, picked up my gear and rode bck to my mom's. Lunch, then a 3-generation girl's trip to another beach (Orillia is full of beaches) to celebrate!

The verdict? I learned a lot, including how undertrained I was for this. Have a plan for how I'm going to prepare for the next one in 4 weeks. And a goal to do this again next year :-)

A HUGE thank you to my family for all of their support and encouragement. My younger sister for picking up my race kit and coming to the start, my mom for driving all around town to catch me on each leg, my kids for cheering me on at the finish, to my dog for coming on every training run with me!

...and most of all my husband, for always helping out and NEVER complaining about being on sherpa and driving detail for all of the races I do. 

xoxoxoxox Jen

Cabin Camping

We spent last week on vacation!

We were fortunate to get a fantastic deal on a lakeside cabin a couple of hours north of the city, and had an absolutely wonderful time.

The cabin was rustic (no running water or electricity), tiny (maybe 350-square feet including a screened in porch), but came with a propane fridge and stove...it was a major step up from the tent camping that we usually do for our summer vacations!

We spent the week completely unplugged. Lots of swimming and canoing, cards, board games. Stayed at the cabin aside from a trip to the dump to look for bears. Oh, and one run into town for supplies and ice cream, then straight back to the lake.

Which we shared with a lot of wildlife - chipmunks, raccoons, frogs, mink, heron, blue jays, finches, beaver, loons. Countless dragonflies and butterflies.

Have a look -

There's our dock in the right corner. Cabin is hiding behind the birch trees left of centre.

There's the cabin!

View from the cabin - looking north

From the same spot, looking east

We swam to the sandy beach across the way a couple of times every day - 1.3K round trip.
Great open water swim practice!

Whittlin'

More OWS practice. My husband took this from the canoe.

My sister came up for a day. We were unable to convince Stella to jump in.



Canoing with my sister.
We had to flip a coin when my husband suggested that the more responsible one sit in the back.

Five black bears that day. We watched for a minute or two then booked it out of there.

It was really, really hard to leave and come back to the city.

Reservations for 2013 open up in early December. I've marked my calendar.

How are you spending your summer vacation?

Dialing Back the Intensity (for a second week)

I kept things light again this week - the weekend was pretty tiring (more below) and I needed to rest up for a race coming up this weekend. I'll kick things up a notch next week.

So - why was my weekend tiring? The kids and I went on a sleepover at the Science Centre!

Goofing around while we wait for the program to start

We checked in, dropped off our bags, caught an IMAX movie (Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees) and a science demo, then had a few hours to explore the Centre. So great to have the place pretty much to ourselves - the kids were able to have extra time on their favourite exhibits and try out a few things that we ordinarily don't get to when things are crowded.

Pulleys make lifting weights easier

Using kid power to play a radio and power some lights

Rocket chair!

Stroke of good luck - our sleeping assignment was in our favourite hands-on gallery. I scored a great spot next to their favourite exhibit (an imitation beaver lodge) and by a huge window.

Midnight (yes, midnight) and time for bed. That floor was NOT SOFT.

 Up early the next morning for breakfast, then we had two more hours to explore around.

Surprisingly cheerful for 7am.

We had a great time. Being able to explore to our heart's content without any crowds really was the absolute best part of this and was well worth the price of admission. We even found exhibits that we didn't know existed! We've been on a similar sleepover before, at the zoo, and found the same thing: it's nice that the attraction puts on some special programming for the evening, but having the place pretty much to yourself is absolutely fabulous.

I highly recommend that you give this a try if you have the chance!

Like I said - I kept the rest of the week pretty light:

Sun/Mon - rest days. Walked the dog.

Tuesday - biked to the gym for Zumba class and a boot camp. 7 minutes on the stairstepper, 40 pushups, 1 min plank, 200 crunches, 4 burpees. Good lord, burpees are hard.

Wednesday - drove to the gym. Did a circuit and a boot camp. 290 crunches, 50 pushups, side planks, standard plank, 11 burpees.

Finally got a picture of my sweaty self where I actually look sweaty.
I don't look as sweaty as I actually was, but at least you can tell that I'd done some work.

Thursday - Walked over to school in the evening for the Spring Concert. My son was helping to run music for the other grades and performed a song with his class.

Friday - Rest day. Son and I are climbing the CN Tower tomorrow morning!

Skating and Workouts and Go Karting, Oh My!

We're on vacation this week! We usually take the two weeks off with the kids over the school break, spending the first week crazy busy with Christmas, then use the rest of the break to relax, rejuvenate and have fun close to home rather than pack bags and travel.

So - how'd we spend the first week of 2012?

Saturday - New Year's Eve - 2.5K Resolution Run in the morning. Had friends over for dinner & games for the evening, then headed out the door for a 1.25K family/dog walk followed by sparklers & noise makers on the front lawn at midnight.

V2.0, me, SIL and nephew waiting to start the run

Sunday - 1.1K dog walk in the AM. Spent the rest of the day in our PJs, reading our new Christmas books, watching movies and playing games. Oh, and I signed up for my first try-a-tri!

August 25, 2012 - 400m swim, 10K bike, 2.5K run
This has set off a flurry of goal setting for 2012 - 2014

Monday - Beautiful, crisp day! Met up with friends to go ice skating for the first time this season. 2.2K dog walk before dinner.

Why yes, I am wearing my spiffy new Resolution Run jacket, thank you for noticing.

Tuesday - Back to the gym and so, so happy to be feeling great! Full workout + mini bootcamp (15 tricep dips + 30-second plank + 40 crab kicks + 70 assorted crunches + 25 pushups). Today's workout was #427; I'm aiming to get to 500 before July.

Later - spent an hour helping my husband scrape paint off of my son's bedroom walls and ceiling. Wasn't in our plan for this week, but turned out to be a necessary step to prepare his room for painting.

This was a lot of scraping. Daughter dropped in to help for a bit. My hands are sore now.

Wednesday - 2K dogpark walk (and a lot of throwing the ball for fetch) in AM, 2K dogpark walk in afternoon (and a lot of dog/human soccer), took kids skating before bed.

Love after-dark skating

Thursday - Took the kids to the Science Centre to check out the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit, then hit a rink for some more skating time. After dinner - Curves + bootcamp #2 for the year (150 assorted crunches, 30 full situps holding a 10lb medicine ball at arms' length, 35s plank, 25 pushups). Working my way back to the level I was at before I got sick.

Taking a picture of yourself skating while trying not to skate into someone or get in other people's way is tricky.
That's my son's buddy in the background.

Friday - 2K dogpark walk + 1K dog walk, then out to try something new: go karting! This is something that's been on my son's wishlist for a while, and I'm glad that we finally got to it. My son is at a perfect height right now - tall enough to drive the fast karts with adults, but also short enough to go out on the junior karts with his sister. Win-win all around.

Me finally working up the courage to go at top speed - 35kph wheeeeee

Kids karts maxed out at 22kph.

My son absolutely loved this - which we expected - and so did my daughter! She wasn't sure about it initially, but when she found out that no adults are allowed on the course when kids are taking a turn...and then realized that since her brother was the only other kid there this evening, the track would be pretty empty...she thought she'd give it a try. She was nervous at first but got over that as soon as she rounded the first turn in the course. And went back for another turn with a huge smile on her face.

And me? I was equally nervous! There's something about the sensation about not being in control that I have a hard time with. Water slides do the same thing to me. But I'm proud to say that I went out for 4 turns - and enjoyed it :-)

How's your 2012 - off to a good start?

Trying Something New - Treetop Trekking and Ziplining!

I opened my email one day recently and found that someone very wonderful - who knows that I'm on a mission to try new things - had purchased two passes to a treetop trekking adventure for myself and a guest, complete with transportation and lunch. And ZIPLINING!

How amazing is that?

This very wonderful person refused to be my guest.

So, I brought along my very good friend, Naomi.

Naomi is the world's best neighbour. She cooks and shares. And bakes and shares. Makes me laugh. Listens to my endless chatter. Cuddles my children. Takes my dog out for runs. Digs massive holes in my yard when I decide that I want to plant trees. She's also got two fabulous children and a pretty great husband. Standard neighbour stuff, no?

We got ourselves up early and headed out of town to our adventure. Got fitted for harnesses and helmets, had a safety lesson and did some practice moves 5 feet off the ground. So far, so good.

Look Ma, no hands! Practicing a fall during orientation.

Um...one small thing? I'm kind of afraid of heights. And this activity involves being 20-30' off the ground walking on wobbly things that bounce and sway. For a few hours.

Check out the beginner's course - wow!
We actually ran under part of this during the Warrior Dash in July, and I remember being disappointed that it wasn't part of the Dash...

Time to WTFU.

Reminded myself that my parasailing adventure this summer proved that I'm not going to die if my feet leave the ground.

Climbed the ladder and headed up into the trees.

This was seriously hard work! There were about 40 of us up in the trees but there was almost pindrop silence the entire time. Navigating through the obstacles took a lot of concentration and involved a lot of problem-solving. Oh - and let's not forget courage...strength... and balance!

Just don't look down!



Warming up with what I now know was an easy one



Naomi (centre) all smiles - she's already planning a trip back to try this again!



Steady...steady...
Little did I know at the time that this was another easy one. Those barrels, though? Not easy. No sirree.

I am very proud to say that I finished both the beginner and intermediate courses. Needed a break by that time though - I was so filled with adrenaline that I was shaking! - and waited on the ground while Naomi did the advanced course.

 
I got a LOT out of this -

• I stared one of my fears right in the face (heights) and didn't run away. 
• I got to test out just how strong I am - and was very pleased with the results. 
• I got to test out my flexibility, agility, endurance and balance  - and was very pleased to see they have improved. Thank you, Zumba!
• I got to work my brain! Focus, planning, control. Check.

Did I get any fun out of it? To be honest, it was so much work that I didn't notice if it was fun or not!

But then we got to the ziplining. AND THAT WAS SERIOUSLY FUN.

Honesty, I am having fun - I'm just concentrating REALLY HARD on what to do about the tree that I'm zooming towards.

Naomi heading out on the Big Zip...

...and me zipping in to the finish line!

There were a few shorter zips during the courses - and then a 983-foot Big Zip at the end. Apparently we hit 40KM/hour going down that one. Wheeeeeeeeee!

Stepping off the platform on any of these was pretty nerve-wracking, but then...so fast, so fun!

Yep, I'll be back.

To that wonderful person who treated us to this adventure? THANK YOU.