We had a huge weekend this past weekend. And I’m not prone
to exaggerate, so you know we had an important weekend. This past Saturday
morning we dropped our three smallest cheerleaders off at our friends’ house
(thanks Matt and Amanda!), and we travelled to the promised land of triathlon to
tackle some firsts: the first time we’ve both raced the same individual race,
the first race of the season for Jason, and the first time I’ve tackled the
half-iron distance (1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, 13.1-mile run). Meet the Chisago Lakes Triathlon.
To say we had a successful weekend would be a serious
understatement. We deemed this important for a couple of reasons. One, Jason
needed to scratch the itch of racing. (He says the itch has since been
sufficiently scratched.) I needed to “feel” a significantly longer race with
all three disciplines put together. We also needed a sort of dress rehearsal
for IM Choo, which is looming nearer and nearer (nine more weeks!).
So, what exactly made this so successful? First, we both
survived an arguably gross open-water swim. The lake had thick patches of weeds
to navigate through. It was the most bizarre swim I’ve ever
encountered. I’d be stroking my way through the water when a tangled mass of
foliage would wrap itself around an arm, leg, or even across my head.
Memorable.
Secondly, we both had a pretty specific nutrition plan to
follow on the bike which included getting in a sufficient amount of fluids and
then taking in solid calories every 25-35 minutes. This is the first half-iron
distance that Jason has had a concrete nutrition plan and stuck with it.
Incidentally, neither one of us had gut issues or problems with cramping in
this discipline. We had zero hydration issues, except that both of us lost
bottles during bumpy spots on the bike course. I’m thinking Mr. T. is going to
be revisiting our hydration set ups to see if we can do something to make
bottles even more secure.
(Side note here: the weather was a factor today. More than
once I thanked our lucky stars for where we live. We had both rain and wind to
contend with on the bike—the weatherman forecasted gusts up to 25mph and a 60
percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. We had wind, but we both aren’t
sure if it really blew that hard. Thankfully, because of our rural, wide-open spaces,
we’ve both trained in windy conditions, and while the locals around us whined
about the wind, we recognized the blessing of fairly consistent shelter belts that lined much of this course.
And yes, it rained on the bike and some on the run. I’d call the weather
interesting—it staved boredom off for me at least.)
Third, we both PR’d—meaning we both set personal records.
Jason had his best time in three attempts at this particular race, and I now
have a time to shoot for in the future.
Probably the best part of today is evident right now: no one
ended up in the medical tent, and we’re driving home, fully coherent and only
slightly sore. So, I guess the Yoda-trainer knows what he’s doing when he
writes our plans.
As with any time that I have a significant amount of time
alone, a myriad of thoughts go through my head. With today’s workout and race,
I thought of all of the life lessons a person can gain from triathlon. Here are
the lessons we learned today. Feel free to take them to the nth degree of
philosophy or just take them literally.
- Keep moving forward.
- The pain will subside. It won’t last. Just fight through it.
- Race your pace.
- Smiles are contagious, and they make people feel better. Smile more.
- Start at the beginning. Finish at the end.
- Reward yourself along the way.
- Wear sunscreen.
- Use a sufficient amount of anti-chafing agent.
- Thank your support crew. And be a support crew. We all need each other.
