Race Recap – Coney Island Aquathlon

Finisher Medal

This was my second year doing the Coney Island Aquathlon. Last year, I completed the Sprint Distance (half mile swim, 3 mile run) and this year I completed the Olympic Distance (1 mile swim, 3 mile run).

My finish time was 1:36:05.79 and I placed 2/4 in F40-44, 43/51 overall and 14/28 women. It was a very difficult race and I am proud of my placement. I am also proud of simply finishing. I had only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before and was feeling really sick to my stomach before the race.

In the swim, I choose to start more toward the back this time, and it worked out well. I was never kicked or hit the entire time. I was also able to get into a rhythm a lot earlier. This, however, did not stop me from having a few moments of panic during the race.

Exiting the water

The first was when I saw jellyfish swimming by at about a quarter mile in. They were about muffin sized and I wasn’t sure if they were going to sting me or what. I had to calm myself down and remind myself that it was actually kind of cool to be out there swimming with sea life. They left me alone and I didn’t see any more after that point.

The next moment of panic came between the half mile buoy and the ¾ mile one. I was sighting off the shore and just didn’t seem to be moving at all. This reminded me of my race last year when I DNF'd and I started to panic that it was going to happen again and that I was stuck in a current I couldn’t overcome. I really wanted to give up at that point. I was overcome with sadness and fear and exhaustion. However, I took some deep breathes, put my head down and reminded myself  that “slow and steady wins the race”, “don’t quit” and "just keep swimming".  After a short amount of time, I looked back at the half mile buoy I was surprised to see I had moved quite a bit of distance from it. This gave me some confidence because it meant that I must be moving forward. From that point on, I just focused on the buoy ahead of me and getting closer to it. When I finally reached the buoy at ¾ mile, I knew I was almost done and was relieved.

From there, it was a quick swim into the beach and off on the run. My run did not go so well. Because of how sick I had been that morning, I just hadn’t eaten or drank anything. I had a few sips of Powerade at the transition, but couldn’t really stomach it. I even skipped the first water station, because I just didn’t feel like it. Well, I must have been really dehydrated at that point, because about halfway through the run, I felt like I was going to pass out. At the turnaround, I grabbed two cups of water and felt slightly better. But I made it to the end on sheer willpower and just focusing on getting to the timing mat. I was in a daze at the finish. Once I was through the gate, I sort of didn’t know where to go or what to do. Mark sat me down and gave me some Powerade and I started to feel mildly better. Exhaustion overcame me and I just wanted to go home and sleep. This was unusual for me, since after a race I am usually wide awake, full of adrenaline and ready to go some more. Not this time. When we got home, I slept for about 4 hours.

I will not be doing this race again next year and I cannot recommend it to others. As this was my second year, I feel I have given this race a fair shot. This was the most disorganized and unsafe race I have ever done. Last year, it was mildly disorganized, for instance, they had forgotten the finisher medals and the run was poorly marked. But, they had insisted that since it was “new” race they would be working out the bugs.

It was worse this year. It started with my registration not making it to the race directors, so that I never received any pre-race emails. Both of e-mails regarding this went answered. So, I wasn't even sure they would have my registration when I got there. When I arrived, my name was written on a separate paper from the rest of the entries, and when they looked for my bib, they had accidentally given it to another racer and had to give me a new number. The transition area was chaos and no one was telling people where to go or what to do. They had way too few volunteers and none of them seemed to have a clue. They forgot to body mark people at registration and were running around frantically trying to write numbers on people’s hands, because at that point most everyone had their wetsuits on. When it came time for the pre-race briefing (which usually takes place on the beach) they called everyone back to the boardwalk and half the people were still in the water warming up. During the briefing, they misspoke the distance of our race telling people it was a 1 mile swim, 6 mile run. The directions were incomplete and unclear and when people asked a question, they never stated the answer over the microphone so that ALL of the race participants could hear.

But bigger than all of these issues and why I will not be doing this race again, is that is was completely understaffed and unsafe for the swim. I only saw one kayak out on the water. When we started out, it was slightly foggy and you could not see the buoys. Already, that is an unsafe situation. They had one individual standing on the jetty blowing a whistle and waving his arms randomly. I could barely see him and I had no idea what the heck he was doing. USAT rules state that you can use any stroke and that you can even hang on boats and buoys (unlike traditional OWS rules.) He seemed to blow the whistle every couple of seconds when someone stopped or switched to breaststroke. I think he blew the whistle at me once when I stopped and treaded water to fix my goggles once after they had fogged up. But, I could be wrong. Who knows? I really have no idea what his purpose was. By the number of times he blew the whistle it could not have been to call for help. There is no way that if something went sideways, like it did at my prior race where the current was so strong and many people were pulled from the water, that one kayaker and a guy blowing a whistle would be enough. If there were others out there, I didn't see them. At the point when I had panicked, the kayaker was nowhere to be seen. If I had seriously wanted to exit the water, my only way to do so would have been to swim in to the beach. If there was a strong change of current, we would all have been screwed. The lack of safety measures in the water was just unacceptable to me. There are a million things that can go wrong in the ocean and it cannot be taken so lightly, IMHO. I will stick to races where they are prepared for contingencies, like the ones run by CIBBOWS. To compare, the Grimmaldo's Mile  at the same beach had 10 kayakers, jet skis, EMTs, swim buddies, rescue boats and police on hand.

On the run, the only staff people on the course were at the start line and at the turn around at the far end of the beach. Once again, we had to dodge the weekend beachgoers on the run. Since this was only pedestrian traffic and the course was a straight line, this was ok. But near the exit of the race, the second water station ran out of water before the race was over and the location of the post-race food was totally unclear. As I had mentioned, I was in a daze at the end and someone should have pointed me to the food or at least noticed that I looked unwell. It took me wandering around to locate some water and some bagels. Ridiculous.

The overall disorganization of the race coupled with the total lack of concern for safety was just awful. Cross this one off the list.

Race Recap – NYCRUNS Firecracker 5K

On the Ferry

This past 4^th of July, my family competed in the NYC Runs Firecracker 5K on Governor’s Island. We were very excited to sign up for this race, since it was a unique venue and would be my 4 year old son Teddy’s very first timed 5K.

We had to pick up the packets the day before in the city at the New York Running Company. Since we live in NJ and have to pay to go into the city, we made a day of it, and went to the AMNH to see the Pterosaur exhibit a second time. Then, Teddy and I walked across Central Park to the running store. It was really fun day and we even saw the Go Ruck people in the park.

A hurricane was predicted for the day of the race, so we were a bit nervous about the weather. But, as luck would have it, the rain missed us and it was a nice day for a race.

Pre-race

We woke up at 5am to drive in, since you had to be at the ferry terminal by 7am and the trains don’t run that early. Teddy was exhausted from so much walking the day before, and from getting up early, but was still in a good mood and made a lot of friends.

I considered this “Teddy’s race”, so I let him set the pace and kept him on track when he got tired or distracted.

The course was over paths and nice and flat. It was two loops and he kept a nice pace for the first mile, running a good portion of it. By the second loop, however, he was a little tired and for the first time ever, I experienced the “back of the pack” feeling.

Running around the castle

Teddy felt it too, sadly. He kept saying how “terrible” he was and I almost wanted to cry, because it was just not true. He was doing so well and trying so hard. On the second loop, they were breaking the course down behind us. There were runners walking in front of us, as if we weren’t there and at times we were unsure of which direction to go because the course was no longer clear. Because this was a race, however, I made sure that Teddy never deviated from the course and never stopped.

Near the end, we motivated him by reminding him of the bagels that awaited him at the finish line. Teddy loves bagels. At the finish line they had already disconnected the timer and had to manually write down our times. Prior to this, my husband said they were calling out the names of each individual as they crossed the finish line. They didn’t do that for us, but thankfully, Teddy had made a lot of friends on the course and a group of the volunteers cheered him across the finish line.

 

The Big Finish

I was, and am, so proud of him. It was a lot of work for him. His little legs are so much smaller than an adults and it must have seemed like twice as far to him, but he never quit and he finished with a time of 1:02:43. I hugged him tight and we went to get some post-race sustenance. When we got there, there was no cream cheese or spreads left, which really really disappointed him.

Nevertheless, we were looking forward to picking up his medal, since I knew there could not have been many under 10s at the race. What a nice souvenir it would be of his first race and his hard work! We watched the entire ceremony and my heart sunk when I realized that they had grouped the 1-19 into one age group. I just couldn’t believe it. After all was said and done, he was competing against adults! Three people in his “age group” were 19 years old. The second place winner overall of the race was 15 and in his “age group” as well.

I explained to Teddy what they had done and he seemed to take it ok. He was, however, still mad about the cream cheese and made a point to tell one of the volunteers that. I love that kid. So, we went and got some ice cream at the Mister Softee truck and headed to the ferry and home for the day.

When I got home, I reviewed the rules again. Maybe I had misunderstood or misread them? Nope. They stated:

Awards: Awards will be given to the top 3 male and female runners overall and the top 3 in each ten-year age group approximately one hour after the race begins.

My friends assured me that if I wrote the race director that surely they would give him his medal. So, I did.

Their response was as follows:

“While your son’s performance in the Firecracker 5K was more than worthy of recognition, it is our current policy to have a 1-19 age group. We do appreciate your feedback and will certainly take it into consideration the next time we revisit that policy. Thanks so much and a big congratulations to Teddy!”

I’m not sure where this “policy” is written. I, personally, think they just made it up. I looked at site and at their prior races, including the same race last year, and they did have a 1-9 year old age group. I have to say, I am very disappointed in the NYCRUNS organization. I would have no problem with this result, if it was clearly stated in the rules beforehand, but it just wasn’t and it seems really unfair to me. But, I guess that is life and Teddy is going to learn this lesson sooner rather than later.

As for this race overall, we won’t be doing it again next year. While it was a good course and well organized, it was huge PITA for us to pick up the packets and to get there in time and in total, between the parking, trains, registration, and disappointment healing ice cream, this race ended up costing us $156.00. Next year, I think we will just do the local 5k and visit Governor’s Island another day.

Race recap – Lincoln Park Triathlon

Awake, but exhausted. Allons-y!

So, I did it! I completed my first triathlon, the Lincoln Park Triathlon. It was a Sprint Triathlon with a 500 meter lake swim, 10 mile bike ride and 5k run. My overall time was 1:39:05. This was about what I expected, based on my training, so I am not too surprised. I was last in my age group (12/12), to which I stick out my tongue, but not last overall (209/242). It’s only up from here!

I'm ready.

It was a beautiful sunny day and the weather could not have been more perfect. We had to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn (5:00am to be exact), which I loathe, to get there in time. My husband and son came along to cheer me on and by the end they were more tired than I was. We are not morning people. When we arrived, the first parking lot was full, so we had to park in the second, which was a decent distance away and required us to walk about 10 minutes to the check-in.

Checking in was very easy and smooth, since I had picked up my packet on Friday. I only had to get my timing chip, get body-marked (my number 299 written on me in Sharpie), and set up my transition area.  Then, it was off to the porta-potty for the 8^th time. Haha.

Swim: 9:58.8

Swim!

I was in the orange wave of swimmers: 44 and younger. Thank you race director, for not making me feel too old. I was hoping to be one of the faster swimmers in my wave and I might have been, except for a few miscalculations on my part. The first mistake was that my over-confidence got the best of me and I put myself in the front at the start. In my prior open water swims, I had followed the advice to hangout near the back and then catch up, in order to avoid the chaos, since after a bit, people spread out. I really should have stuck with that strategy. Once I was in the water, everyone was so close together I ended up getting pummeled repeatedly, just as I have read about, and it really threw me off, much more than I expected. I switched to a breast-stroke to see my way out of the crowd and, in doing so, lost a bunch of time. As a result of getting kicked and hit, my heart started racing too and I had difficulty calming back down. In addition, I had pulled my groin muscle on my last 5k and when I did a frog kick at that point, the pain flared up again. (Thankfully, I just avoided doing it again, so it was not a problem for the rest of the swim.)

I was finally starting to find my rhythm when I got to the middle buoy.  During my earlier practice at the lake, we were allowed to swim in an enclosed area, but during the race we went further out into the middle and I was surprised by the amount of seaweed at that point. With each stroke I was pulling chunks of it, like hair from a drain, and it was it front of my eyes and in my mouth. Yuck.  Also, at this point, my goggles started leaking badly and I had to stop and fix them. I had known before this race that it was time for new ones, but had put it off. I should have known better.

I know I could have gone a lot faster in this section, so I was disappointed by my time.  I was hoping at least to gain a few minutes from the swim, but that didn’t happen.  Then, it was time to move onto the transition to the bike.

Bike: 48:47.3

Bike!

From the lake, we had to run barefoot to the transition area over concrete and my delicate feet could not take it, so I walked. It took me a while to clear off the sand and get my socks on, which made me realize I probably should have brought a water bottle to rinse my feet off. I think I may have done that for my prior Aquathlon. I can't recall. That would have saved me some time, which I badly needed, because what came next was not pretty.

As expected, this was my worst section. I’m fairly certain I was the slowest biker out there. “On your left” was all I heard as people flew by me, again and again, for nearly an hour. I felt really alone on the bike course, as I was by myself for a good portion it (aside from when I was being passed). Since the course was not closed to traffic, I had a few moments of fear as well. One driver forced me onto the sandy shoulder at one point to avoid him. and near the end the cops were so bored that they were talking to each other and not paying too much attention to directing bikers or traffic. I had to yell to get their attention about which way to go a couple of times. That was slightly annoying.

Because this was literally only my sixth time ever really riding on my bike since I got it,  I don’t feel too badly about my time. I am still just a beginner and I need to ride more frequently and on the roads, even though they scare me. It’s as simple as that. Thankfully, my upcoming race is an Aquathlon and I won’t have another triathlon until the end of the summer, so there is plenty of time to train.

Run: 34:15.4

Run!

The transition here was easy, because I don’t have clipless pedals yet. I already had my sneakers on, so all I needed to do was hop off my bike, rack it and take of my helmet. No problem. I dawdled a bit and ate a gel and drank some Gatorade too. I have read that this is a "newbie mistake", but after that slow bike ride, a few seconds wasn’t going to matter. When I first started to run, that groin pull kicked in big time and I thought "damn, I might need to walk this course." Thankfully, it went away after a little bit. But, oh my god, did my legs feel like jello after I got off the bike! I expected this feeling to disappear after a little bit, but the entire run I felt like a turtle running through molasses. I seriously thought I was clocking a 16 minute mile. It turns out, however, I was actually going my normal speed and I finished the 5K portion in my usual time. In fact, my time was 25 seconds FASTER than the regular old 5K I had done the week before where I had so much more energy. I was very happy with my run time.

I still haven’t figured out the sunblock thing. I had applied waterproof sunblock before the swim with plenty of time for it to sink in, but definitely could have used a reapplication before the run. I now have a slight sunburn. I’m going to have to read up on how to manage that in future triathlons. Maybe use the spray kind and just mist myself at transition?  It was also very fun seeing my Gold Coast Triathlon Club teammate, Diane, out on the course and her “good jobs” on the bike and high five on the run were a nice pick me up when I was feeling tired.

Overall, I am proud of myself and I look forward to working hard and getting faster for the next one. My husband asked me how this compared to other races I have done and, honestly, I think it was easier than both my half marathon and Spartan Race. Unlike the half marathon, the different sports really broke up the monotony and unlike the Spartan Race, it wasn’t a full body workout. Plus, zero burpees makes everything easier! After both of those races, I needed a few days to recover. Right now, I feel like I could workout again tomorrow.

I would definitely recommend this course to other beginners. It really was pretty flat and the lake was very calm and warm (80 degrees, which was not wetsuit legal, but for a person like me, who gets cold easily, a welcome thing.) There were also delicious box meals at the end courtesy of Applebee’s and a very pretty finisher medal and t-shirt. It was well organized and well staffed and everyone was super nice. I really had a fun time.

Now it’s time to take a nap!

One step, two step, getting closer

My first triathlon is a little over two weeks away, and I have to admit I have been getting a little nervous.

For one thing, I don’t know how I will do when each event is combined together. The distance is a Sprint, with a 500 meter swim, 10 mile bike and a 5k run. My last swim was 1.2 miles, my last bike ride was 16 miles and my runs are generally around 4 miles, so I know I can do them each individually. However, I have yet to complete a brick workout and am worried about how I will feel when all of them are stacked together, particularly the run after the swim. My legs usually feel a bit like jello when I get off the bike. I have a brick workout scheduled for Monday, so hopefully it will go well.

The other thing which was making me nervous was finding a tri suit to wear. The stores around here did not carry any in my size, and judging from their selections, you would think female triathletes only come in two sizes: Athena and waif. As a short but curvy girl, I had to resort to shopping online. It took three tries to find a tri suit that fit me.

The first one I ordered was an 2XUComp Trisuit. It was nearly perfect - except I'm not 5'10". It was great in the bust and hips, but had 2 inches of extra fabric in the middle.

The second one I ordered was a TYR Sport Competitor Trisuit. Apparently, Tyr thinks women don’t have hips and are pretty much straight up and down. I couldn’t even get it over my hips at all, despite the measurements online saying it was my size.

My third, and thankfully final, attempt was the Louis Garneau Pro Suit. And, luckily, it fits. So, now I have one less thing to worry about. The material is really thin and light, and quite stretchy, despite it supposedly being a compression garment. I have yet to test it out in an actual workout, but hopefully it will be good and won’t chafe or anything.

The only thing else I am still worried about is getting up so early! I am so not a morning person and I really hate that every race starts at an ungodly hour. Unlike many triathletes, I usually workout in the evenings and rarely wake before 8:30am. The whole getting up at 5:00am thing does a number on me and fills me with dread. I need to start altering my sleep schedule soon so I can deal with this and I am not looking forward to this aspect at all!

A Day Of Healthy Eating

Every day you hear people talk about “eating healthy” and, like many things, this means different things to different people. As a person who loves nutrition science and tends to read a lot, over time I have come to the following understanding of what it means to “eat healthy”:

First, I try to eat a diet which is as close to this pyramid as possible:

IMHO, this is a pretty good representation of the diet I think science supports for a long and healthy life. In relation to food, by “healthy life”, I mean one which minimizes your risk of chronic food-based diseases (like diabetes, heart disease, liver disease and certain cancers) and which provides you with enough energy to live productively. I think you can avoid diseases and still be unhealthy, if you don’t have energy and feel unwell all the time. It is important to have both qualities.

Second, I try to eat very little packaged/processed food. Mainly, because packaged foods tend to have too much salt, too much sugar, fewer nutrients and lots of chemical ingredients which, as far as I can tell, haven’t been tested enough to know their long term effects on the body.

 

Third, I try to eat foods primarily for fuel and not to feed negative emotions. This means being conscious of when I am not really hungry, but instead upset. When this happens, I try to workout instead. I do eat food for pleasure, since I can’t imagine a life without wine, cheese or bread!

That’s really it. Sometimes, I drink more alcohol than I should or go on vacation and eat a lot of Anderson’s Roast Beef. It’s part of being human. But, I don’t do that every day.

I think many of the articles about nutrition overly complicate the matter and can leave people with a sense of confusion about what they should be eating. In the past, I have Googled “a day of healthy food” in search of examples and nothing useful ever came up. So, I thought I’d show you what a healthy day looks like to me. This is what I ate yesterday.

Breakfast:

1/2 c. whole grain oats, cooked with 1 diced apple, 1 tsp. brown sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Coffee

Calories: 256

Lunch:

Salad made up of 2.5 c. spring mix, ¼ cucumber, 1 c. grape tomatoes, ¼ c. walnut halves, 1 tbsp. light ranch dressing
Water

Calories: 308

Snack:

1 Orange

Whole grain toast with 1 tbsp. maple almond butter

Calories: 255

Dinner:

Wheat Berry Chili* with ¼ avocado and 1 oz. Greek yogurt, 1 corn muffin

Calories: 764

* I substitute one of the cans of black beans for kidney beans and add carrots.

This is not a “perfect” day by any means, nor would I eat this every day. In fact, I'm not sure such a thing exists. Some days, I have more meat and some days I have sweets. In fact, I think this day was a little light on calories. But, it was a rest day and since most of these foods were very filling, I really wasn’t hungry. Today, I ate a bit more.  I try to eat a wide variety of foods and so, for example, today, I ate a total different breakfast.

Breakfast:

1 c. Greek yogurt, 1 c. blueberries, ¼ c. granola

Calories: 358

While I am not a chef, I do like to cook and I think it is essential to have at least some basic cooking skills, if you would like to eat healthfully. Most of the foods I had were really simple and didn't take much time or skills to prepare. I think that is important, since I'm a pretty busy gal. Also, most of these meals were not costly, since I don't have a ton of money. I buy many of the items in bulk from Costco and they last for several (if not, many, in the case of the oatmeal!) meals.

I am always open to tips and new recipes, so if you have a favorite you'd like to share, leave the link in the comments!

Hit the Road Jack

My new ride

I finally got a new bike and am very excited to begin building up my mileage. It is a Specialized Allez Carbon 2, which I acquired from a fellow member of my tri club.

It is very different riding on a road bike than it is riding on a stationary bike at the gym and there are still some aspects I need to get used to. Yesterday, I took it out for a ride down and back on my block and it was a little scary, since, as I mentioned, I live on the side of a mountain. But, I managed to survive. It took me a few seconds to figure out how to get my feet in the pedals while moving, how to handle the brakes and how not to go so fast I thought I was going to die. I still have to master the whole changing gears thing and properly turning around corners.

Freshly re-tapped bars

Thankfully, the bike was in good working condition when I got it and I only had to do a little bit of basic maintenance to get it on the road. I replaced the back brake pads, re-taped the handlebars and put some pedals on it. I also adjusted the seat. I plan on eventually getting some clipless pedals and cycling shoes, but for now, I just opted for cheap pedals with straps, so I could get going.

However, the whole situation did get me thinking about the fears which hold me back. Bicycles are really not all that complicated, but some people manage to make them seem really intimidating. It is in my nature to read all that I can about a subject before diving in and there is a lot of information available on bikes online, very little of which pertains to actually riding them. I am trying hard (though not entirely succeeding) to not get sucked into reading all about bicycles, rather than just riding. Reading can definitely assuage some of my fears, but it can also raise new ones I never knew I had.

I really want to take the bike out again, but I am still very fearful of riding on the street and getting hit by a car. I just don’t have enough skill yet. It helps to remind myself that I rode everywhere as a kid and that I also rode a bike through traffic in Denmark and wasn’t scared at all. So, I think some paths and group rides are my next step in building up mileage and experience. Allons-y!

Race Recap - Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon

The Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon was my first half marathon and I am very proud of finishing. Even though I knew, from reading the course map and other people's reviews online, that the course was going to be hilly, it was still a bit hillier than I expected. We started out on a slight incline and right off the bat headed up a very steep hill. I ended up walking quite a bit more than I expected, right out of the gate. It was a constant up and down for the entire race.

The most entertaining parts of the race were the signs of encouragement along the way that must have been created by the race volunteers. There were pictures from movies and silly sayings through the course to keep us motivated. It’s fun to be greeted by a picture of Will Ferrell saying “Wanna streak to the finish line?” when you are tired and need a laugh. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of the signs as I was too busy running.

After a number of climbs, the race leveled out for a bit, for a long stretch along the highway. I don’t think this is the typical route of the race, as it was changed at the last minute because of unusable trails. For me, this part was just straight and boring and my least favorite part of the race. However, it was a nice break from all the hills and it also gave me a chance to eat my gels and get a second wind to tackle some more hills.

 

The last part was along the waterfront and as expected, it was very chilly. But, thankfully, I was prepared for that having done two prior runs along the waterfront.

The final mile headed back up a hill. That had me swearing just a little. Nothing like having to run uphill at the very end when you are the most exhausted, particularly when you hate hills! 

Overall, I felt my strategy and training went very well. I was grateful to have my nutrition belt, so that I could drink whenever I wanted and I timed my gels right, so I never felt too tired. At the end, my legs were very sore, but I was not so sore that it took me too long to recover. For a first half marathon I thought it went very well and I look forward to doing another one in the future. Maybe this time with less hills!