 I am an East Coast expatriate hiding out in the Midwest... I am an urban gal living in the suburbs and occasionally hiding in the country I am a yoga practitioner, fitness enthusiast, believer in the mind-body-spirit connection... I am a mid-life "revert" to the Roman Catholic faith in which I was raised and which has become an enormous source of support, encouragement, inspiration, and joy in my life... I am a mom, sister, daughter, and wife... I am an explorer; adventurous and curious about the world and people around me... I am educated in the formal sense but I gain insight through everyday living... I created this blog at a time of great fear and apprehension in my life. I chose to sustain it because of the discoveries about myself and the world around me that it has revealed. What you can expect to find here: the documentation of a love-hate relationship with the greater Philadelphia area
reminiscing about the good-ole-days (the 80's!)
complaints about my various ailments and injuries, both real and imagined
pictures and stories of gardening, decorating, shopping, sewing
my love of irony
links to kooky news stories
way too much scatological musing for sane people
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Sunday, June 13, 2004
Today I woke up at 3:55 am to load the car and head off to the Batvia Triathlon, on the Fox River. The folks were all very friendly, and even though some of the competitors are totally "hardcore" - what with mondo-expensive bikes, top of the line wetsuits, etc.- there were also plenty of novices to make for a nice mix.
I was numbered to start somewhere in the middle of the pack. Each entrant would enter the water every 10 seconds. That was a nice advantage for me, as I got to see how others approached their swims. Some went into swim-team mode and cranked out a nice fast crawl for the whole 500 meters; many others (like myself) began in a crawl and then would switch to "rest" strokes such as breaststroke, backstroke, etc. Whatever it took to finish without drowning. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to sustain my freestyle for even the 1st half; oh well; I got through it, and in 9 minutes, which is decent.
My big problem was the bike: UGH! Last night I nioticed my back rim was slighly bent, and then I was having some slippage on my back gear. Well, as I mounted the bike, WHAM! No gears! I lost time re-alinging the chain and geting it into 5th gear. So what I ended up having as my options were 1st and 5th gear. At least I HAD that 1st gear since the 16-mile bike course turned out to be much more hilly than expected. Plus, ssudden gusts of wind slowed things for everyone. Honestly, and I am not sure why this is, but I think I really am a better distance rider - I really can't get into a groove until at least 7 miles. Its like those 1st 5 miles were torture and seem that way even when riding on the indoor trainer. I need to practice that skill set much more, obviously. So, I lost significant time on the bike, which was a bummer, but managed to get through it and then the run (which I mostly walked at a quick clip) was a breeze. No, not a breeze - a pleasure. You see, the event planners set the run to go through a gorgeous trail along the Fox river (actually went around it on each side.)> There were gardens, parks, a large publc Japanese garden, beautiful homes...plus the sound of the swift-running (and VERY high) river, the greenery on the banks and shade from the trees, and of course my favorite: birds galore! I even stopped to check out a Martin singing in some bushes along the way (why not - I wa \s already running about an hour behind everyone else!)
The best move I made all day was to bring along my MP3 player and jam to tunes along the run. Nothing in the rules against it (no safety issues as we weren't running on streets.) That really got me through an otherwise exhausting but fulfilling race.
Yes, I finished, and although I am ready for bed and tending to a sore back (due to leaning too far on my bike - my handlebar stem is too long for me) I am felling pretty darn good about my second successful triathlon event.
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