2008 Season review so far...
2008 Season Review:
May 4th
May/June Physiotherapy time—messing up my foot was the best thing that could have happened for/to me. Amongst many other reasons I learned how to run properly because of it all, which is invaluable for my Tri-for-Kids trip. I still took my dog for walks up and down the mountain while on crutches, and even got my bike rigged up so I could ride on my winter trainer with my cast on.
June 15th Wasa Lake, BC (Sprint triathlon)—Less than 4 days off of crutches I started racing again. I had to downgrade form an Olympic distance triathlon to a Sprint distance, and I only did the swim and bike, then pulled myself out before the run because I wasn’t allowed to run yet as my physiotherapist said I was “grossly unprepared.” I wasn’t missing the race for anything though, so I just did what I could.
June 22nd Christina Lake, BC (Sprint triathlon)—I still wasn’t allowed to run yet, but I was allowed to walk, so I left my shoes at home and strapped on my sandals after I got off my bike…then walked the 5km. I soaked it right up too…after all, how often do you get to do a triathlon in sandals? Never… except for me on that day. It was real hard having to walk when all I wanted to do is run. I only have one speed and that is all out, so being forced to walk isn’t my cup of tea. If I was wearing shoes I would have run, which is why I left them at home (because I know myself too well).
June 29th I skipped the Sprint triathlon in Maple Ridge because the long drive would have hurt my foot before I even got to race…then I still had to make the long drive home.
July 6th Vernon, BC (Sprint triathlon)—I was finally allowed to run…Yahoo! My foot only got sore when I stopped concentrating on my stride pattern and began running improperly. I would notice it ache quite quickly, which brought my focus back to my stride, then the once running properly again, the aching would start to go away. It felt so good to run again… even though it hurt so badly the way running does for me. Sprints were over too quickly and feeling too short…can’t wait to do an Olympic distance.
July 13th I missed the Olympic distance triathlon in Squamish for my close friend’s wedding as well as a charity event. (I was sad about missing my first Olympic race…but not sad about why I was missing it.).
July 20th Penticton, BC (Olympic triathlon)—FINALLY! An Olympic distance race! (Twice as long means twice as much fun! Yahooooo!!!) This was the start of a stretch of 4 Olympic distance races over 5 weeks…the heart of my season. I loved going longer…especially in the swim. I had a pretty good swim despite terrible goggles. My chain fell off again the same as it did last year…in almost the same place. It has only ever come off at that race. Foot was fine during the run, but bottoms of feet go numb when riding my bike. Need to sort out my pedals. Run beat me up as expected, but I got through it better than last year.
July 27th Salmon Arm, BC (Olympic triathlon)—I had a terrible race…worst one ever. Only had about 1½ hours of broken sleep because of terrible mosquitoes. Got left index finger squashed and cut up by pedal crank before race. I felt like lead in the water. Goggles leaked and fogged up so I couldn’t see a thing, which caused me to swim all over the place, and also made me have to keep stopping in the water to try to adjust my goggles while treading water with my feet. I wanted to get out of the water and go home, but I don’t quit! My wrist wrap came undone during the swim as well, so I had to tuck it into my wetsuit. Run was ok…foot was fine (It was a “swim-run-bike” order). Kidneys hurt so bad on bike that it hurt to breathe. Neck hurt so bad on bike that I could barely move it or see more than just ahead of my front wheel. Feet were numb from pain when on balls of feet, but numbness subsided when I stood on the middle of my feet (I took off my clip-in pedals for regular ones to see if they make a difference with my knees). Was close to getting off my bike a few times to just stand on the road for a minute to give my body a break, but there was that thing again… “I don’t quit!” I can’t live with quitting… It was a hard race for me. It was what I needed out of this season though…to drive myself through pain and mental games. I know I will have to go through so much worse during my Tri-for-Kids trip, so I just see it as no big deal in comparison and just keep grinding it out. I ended up getting the “Ironman Award.”
Mid-point season summary (post marathon and injury):
Less than four days off of crutches I began racing again. The first half of the season consisted of 5 triathlons in 7 weeks. I started with a stretch of 3 Sprints in 4 weeks right out of the gate, took a week off for a wedding and a charity event, then began a stretch of 4 Olympic distance triathlons in 5 weeks (with the possibility of 2 Open Water swim events as well…1.5km and 5km), which after the second of those races was the season mid-point.
For the second part of my season I am looking at 4 Olympic distance triathlons, and 1 Sprint distance triathlon, with hopefully 2 Open Water Swim events…5 triathlons and 2 swims in 8 weeks.
It would all add up to 1 marathon, then out of commission for foot injury. Six weeks later I was back racing where I did 6 Olympic and 4 Sprint distance triathlons with 2 Open Water swims (12 races over 15 weeks).
Aug. 3rd Nelson, BC (1/4 Ironman)—It felt soooo good to not have to drive for hours to get to a race and then sleep all crammed in the back of my truck with my doggie. Even though I only had about 1½…maybe 2 hours of sleep the night before the race (which is the typical norm for me anyway) it is amazing how much of a difference sleeping in an actual bed makes…
From all the races I have done so far there is no course that even comes close to comparing to how beautiful our race is here in Nelson. It is also the most casual while still having more high-end aspects like timing chips, etc. (Christina Lake is as casual as a race could ever be.) I love the high-end ones like
The race itself was good, but they are all starting to blend into each other, and as much as they are all great, especially all the Race Director’s and people who put them together, it is all starting to feel like ‘just another race.’ Salmon Arm was tough on me because of my body at the time, but as for racing itself, I am starting to not find Sprints and Olympic distance triathlons at all challenging. I show up and do them like they are no big deal to do. That state of mind has gotten me into hot water with some around the triathlon community as people seem to think that I am belittling what others are doing, which is a bummer as there is no way would ever do that. I just mean it from my perspective. That is why I wanted to get up into some ½ Ironman’s this year, because I wanted more of a challenge, but after what happened with my foot during the Vancouver marathon I am thinking more about protecting it (in anticipation of my trip) rather than nourishing my ego to go and whup down a ½ Ironman.
They called everyone up off the beach for us to walk across the timing mats. Then they started the race with only half of the people down on the beach. It didn’t matter to me as I don’t pay attention to times, but it was pretty unfair to many in the race, and just left somewhat of a weird feeling within the race. My timing chip started falling off when I was in the middle of the lake. I stopped a few times to try to re-strap it, but it didn’t work too well, so I had to swim without kicking my one leg until I got across the lake to where I could stop to strap it on properly. It kind of bothered me as it seems I haven’t been able to have a smooth from start-to-finish race yet this year… The bike was ok. As always I charged as hard as I could, but I still feel like my legs are completely out of shape. I am also stiff messing around with my pedal situation. This time I went with regular crappy pedals and used my running shoes (like days of old). It saved my knees somewhat, and my feet didn’t go numb and sore, so I am thinking that unless I find some kind of miracle pedal and shoe I can clip in with, then I’ll have to do it old-school style, which is going to sacrifice a lot of power and make the mountain passes on my Tri-for-kids trip much more challenging…which is fine as “easy” only gets boring and unfulfilling anyway… The run was just another run. The marathon took something out of my love for running, which I think is just because it’s not the freedom setting thing it used to be before I had all this pain surging throughout my body. At the beginning of the run I desperately had to take a bathroom break, so between that and the timing chip thing that probably cost me another 5-7 minutes…Oh well… The long course in Nelson has some rolling hills that people talk a lot about, but it’s the same thing in places like the Kal Rats triathlon in
Aug. 10th There are no races on this weekend…I get a weekend off…next weekend will hopefully be an epic one though…Sweeeeeet!
I got a shoulder injury this week from gathering and chopping my firewood for the cold season that’s quickly approaching.
Aug. 15th Kelwona, BC (1.5km Open Water Swim event)—I entered but woke up with a sore back, so I decided to skip it and go for the 5km swim only. Driving already hurts me too much from my butt to my mid-section, so it would have only made things worse…then if I did the 1.5km swim on top of it, it could have jeopardized the longer 5km swim on the next morning; so I have decided to have a casual day to give my back a bit more time to figure itself out, and then leave for Kelowna in the evening… a little more rested.
Aug. 16th Kelwona, BC (5km Open Water Swim event)—I bailed on this race as well even though I was in
Aug. 17th Kelowna, BC (Olympic triathlon)—I still wasn’t feeling too well, but that had no bearing on what this day was about. Last year they made me start with the AWAD’s (Athlete’s With A Disability). I didn’t really like that as I don’t want to compete in that division (I don’t feel like I deserve to be there, as well as I don’t want special attention). The race director’s understood that, but it was only because I take so frickin’ long to do these races. This year I wished I was starting with that group again just because I couldn’t stand waiting around so long to start the race. I prefer to start at 7:00am rather than hanging around waiting until almost 9:00ish. I was so super fatigued already, and waiting around just made it worse (I could really feel it in my legs.)
Just as with all summer I had a lot on my mind outside of racing, but this was the first race where I had a true sense of fun again…the way it used to be for me. The race itself was just another race. I don’t mean that in any kind of negative way. I just mean that they are all seeming to just blend together. I love the Apple triathlon in
The only thing that really stood out in the race that was different than most was the gigantic bug that flew into my right eyeball during the 2nd lap on the bike. It almost knocked me off my bike. It gave me a headache, and made it so I couldn’t see out of that eye for quite awhile…plus I had a gushing load of tears flowing from my eye because of it, which also made seeing tough. Other than that it was business as usual. It did feel good to have thorough fun again, and have that feeling of pain in the face from smiling so much… Thanks Richard, Randy, Biggi… (I was bummed I didn’t get to see you Richard…)
Aug. 24th I will be away in
Aug. 31st Summerland, BC (Sprint triathlon)
Sept. 1st Vancouver, BC (Olympic triathlon)
Sept 21st Disney World,
Main summary of season:
Right form the start my season has been just flying by. It has been exciting in ways and for the most part, very blurry. I have been learning so much that will help me in my preparations for my trip…that’s for sure. One of the biggest things I have been feeling has been a deep sense of being overwhelmed, which all is rooted within the way I charge through my pain as well as the Spirit & Determination Award I have been donating and presenting at all my races. Too many people keep coming up to me to tell me how inspiring I am and how great everything is that I am doing. It has been real hard for me to wrap my head around, and is something I have been trying to come to terms with (for a lack of better words) as all that stuff is only just getting warmed up because once my Tri-for-Kids tour starts it is all going to explode beyond what I can imagine. As overwhelming as it all is, I do feel it is the role I have to take as I can’t ignore the gift I have been given to seemingly inspire so many just by doing things I love…In this case…”Triathlon!”
Racing virtually every weekend this year hasn’t been that big of a challenge other than the driving and the way being in a vehicle hurts me so bad (it hurts me too much to sit for more than a little bit). In Nelson, everyone said I looked real strong from the water right through the run. I just said, “Oh yeah?” I don’t really look at my times, but I think I knocked off something like 20-25 minutes from my time from last year. I don’t see that result though as I only see the mistakes in the way of the timing chip incident and things like that; but overall the only thing I think about is if I went as hard as I could…I have never answered that question with a “No,” and that’s the only