Sunday, April 27, 2014

Mock Tri = official TRIATHLETE

         Today was the mock Tri. What is a mock Tri? It's a practice of the triathlon
race on the same course without timing and full TIFL mentor support. At this
time I would like to shoutout to group 2 and it's awesome mentors Amy and Melva.

     I never sleep well the night before a race. Last night was no difference, 
tossed and turned all night. Kept thinking about the race. My hands go to sleep
continuous through the night :-( I woke up once and it was 3:45am. I knew I
still had more time to sleep. Back to sleep. By the time my alarm went off at 6
I was still tired. I am so not a morning person but I make it work. The car and
bike are already loaded. All I needed was to fill my filtration bottles. I
decided to put ice in my camelbak, smart thinking my young patoine(shoutout to
my fellow Star Wars fans who got that). I'm in my Tri suit getting ready and I'm
already seating. WTF?? I decide at the last minute to grab a t-shirt to wear
over my Tri suit. Once I get to AE Finley I literally hits me like a ton of
bricks it's cold as ice outside. My body temp was up so I didn't really feel it.
Fellow TIFL athletes are there and setting up their bike and transition area. I
can hear "Let's get it stated in here" in my head. (I love the black eyed peas,
even paid some serious $$ to see them at PNC)

               I'm told I'm with group 2. We are at the back of the outdoor pool. I realize
this Y has it going it. What do you expect it? This is north Raleigh, home of
$$$$. I pass some of my Fit-Tastic peeps Claudia & Penny. I finally find the
number 2. I pull in next Melva. Little did I know she would be my rock that
would get me through the day.

               I start unloading my bike and someone tells me to go check in. I grab my $10 and
head to the registration table. I run into my buddy Julie. She has that "what
did u get me into Jo" look on here face. I get that look a lot because I am a
pretty good motivator to talk folks into doing stuff. As I am in line to register and check-in. I see one of my running and NCRC buddies Rebecca. She has come out to root us on. She is a triathlete herself. I'm listing my ICE. I always putdown my mom. I mention that they may not be able to find her since she's in Florida on vacation. TIFL mentor Amy tells me to list someone
who is local in the event I get hit by a car. OUCH! I understand the need.  I put down tall drink. Who is tall drink? Tall drink is a very good friend of mine. Tall drink is my nickname for him because he's a tall drink of water. My nickmane is BIG BABY.  He is the only one who can call me that. We've known each other for almost 14 years. He's like the big brother i've never had. Whodini song is in my head "Friends, how many of us have them" I head back to finish getting my transition area ready. I'm told that my towel is too big. On race day i will have less space. I fold my towel to a much smaller size. This is what happens when you miss the transition clinic. I was in rock n roll 3.5 hour recovery nap. Umm hmm that was some good sleep. A few of us head over to potty before we get ready for the race. I hear someone yell out "you know it's a race because there's a line to use the bathroom" The difference is we have real bathrooms and not porty potties. I'm so glad i went because my nerves have kicked and that's all i'm going to say about that before it really gets to be TMI.
               We head over for the swim. We start the swim in group order. Our group is 2nd.
250 yards of swimming any way you can. That's what I'm talking about. Up and down. Up and down until the ladder. Some of my fellow TIFL athletes pass the
ladder. Overachievers :-)

               We wait on the rest of our group. For some people the swim is the hardest. For
me the hard part is the next sport, the bike. After the swim, we head back to transition and 
get ready for the bike. Then we walk our bikes up to the bike start. Cross over the speed 
bump and we are off for the 9 mile bike ride.
               We head out of the Y and onto Baileywick, slight downhill. I'm thinking we will have to come back up this hill to reach the finish. We are down by Baileywick park and turn into 
the neighborhoods. This part I know. Turn and turn. Hill and hill. I remember pretty much
 walking my bike up most of the bigger hills. We get to a turn of a super busy intersection.
 I believe it was Mt Vernon. this is 2 lane road and cars are booking on this road. Cycling on a busy road with cars is a scary experience. There's a slight uphill and i ride too far on the right and hit the grass and i take that as sign that I’m supposed to walk my bike. Melva and I walk our bikes up. Melva tells me "2 fingers to walk the bike" this is actually a good tip. We make it up the hill. 1 down a billion to go. We ride some more and then we turn left back into the neighborhood. Ride and ride we go. We hit another hill and I’m so tired and spent 
i think of Cartman from South Park "screw you guys I’m going home" is running through my head. Emotions hit me hard as I'm struggling and i get off my bike and i break down. My rock AKA TIFL mentor Melva comes over and talks to me and ask me "if we need Jesus" I tell her yes. Then I think about the story of the kid who was kidnapped and was singing so much that the kidnappers brought him back. I tell Melva yep I so can see that happening with my 2 youngest nephews. Braylon Jamal Outlaw would be asking for some food and a smartphone to play with. We start singing the song that little boy was singing "Every praise is to our god" we only hum the chorus. it gets me back into the riding groove. I continue to push through. We make it to Carrington AKA the devil. TIFL mentor amy mentions that downhill is where i rock. I go out 2nd. Down Carrington "fly like the wind". Downhill i love. it's the uphill where i have issues. 
I attempt to bike up but i'm so tired that i just say FU and walk up Carrington. My group is waiting for me at the top. Amy tells we have a few more turns and then we will be headed back to the finish. I love that word. Few more turns and we are riding across the bridge over 540. I know it's literally 2 more turns. We get to the stop sign. I see TIFL mentor Alicia at the entrance to the park.
                We cross Baileywick. We regroup and then head back to the Y. I struggle up Baileywick. There's another hill. Hills how i hate you, let me count the ways. I walk the bike 
and then I hit an intersection and i can feel that i'm starting to break down again just like mile 8 at myrtle. I drink some water and get my breathing under control. Melva says "come on you have to ride in for the finish" I get back on the back, cross Baileywick and head towards the finish. The course monitors tell us to dismount before we hit the speed bump. Dismount and walk the bikes back to the transition area. I drop the bike. Stop RunKeeper and commence to take a selfie. Melva and Amy are yelling at me "you don't have time for selfies"I'm thinking to myself there's always time for selfies. They rattle on about being timed during transition. All I hear is the teacher on charlie brown talking to me ROFLMAO. I'm 2/3 done with the TRI. We head out for the last 1/3 the 2 mile run. At this point it is more like a leisurely stroll. As we head near the front side of the Y I see tall drink. I'm so glad to see a familiar face. He yells out
 "you got this" slow and steady through loop 1. at the water stop I see "the boy" AKA Trish's son. I talk to him about RNR. He tells me he finished in 3:00 then corrects himself and tells me it was 2:58 :-)
               We finish loop 1 and who is waiting at the entrance of the Y, tall drink. He rocks.
 We are headed back in for loop 2. a TIFL mentor walks up to me and tells me "you and i were lined up together at City of Oaks" I respond "yeah back in 2012" She tells me "you got this" Loop 2 here we go. I'm doing ok except that I’m tired and my lower back which is my problem child is aching like no tomorrow. We are making our last turn and we see TIFL mentor Brittany. She gets a call I’m assuming from the finish line and they are asking about us. She lets them know we are headed to the finish. We turn on Baileywick and then we are at the entrance to the Y and headed to the finish line. Everyone is there waiting for me to cross. I absolutely love they are cheering and yelling. It feels so good to cross the finish line. I cross the finish line. Trish walks over to me and tells me "You are a Triathlete" Yes I am now a triathlete. I see some of my Group 2. High fives are going all around. 
               I notice the merchandise table is being broken down. Man I was ready to go shopping. Guess I should have done that before the race but i was holding out. Then it's group picture time. I love a group picture. 
               Then I realize I still have to walk all the way back to my car and oh joy load it up. Who cares? I have finished my first mock tri and I am now a triathlete.
               A few things I need to work on: nutrition (barbecue lodge night before a TRI is not the way to go), strengthen lower back muscles, as much hill training i can get in in the next 3 weeks.
T minus 3 weeks until the real kahuna, Ramblin Rose May 18.
               I would be remised if I didn't give a special shout out to my BFF and her crew for coming out to the picnic to support me.

 

Thursday, April 24, 2014

First bike ride on the course route with a sore bum

Thursday is TIFL bike ride. We are now riding on the course route. I've been near the course only one time on my way to finding Zaxby's. I let Siri guide me but I disagreed with one turn and man oh man was that a mistake. Next thing you know I'm im some neighborhood and then I'm on baileywick and lo and behold there is the bark. Woo hoo I have found my destination.

Baileywick park is nestled I'm north Raleigh. I've been here since 98 and never heard of. Then again there are probably a dozen other parks in wake county that I don't know about.

TIFL turned out in huge numbers tonight. We looked so good riding out out the parking lot. I love it!!!

Everyone is giving me additional tips on my bum soreness. More time on the bike, adjust my seat, padded bike shorts(have them and no difference) and bike seat cover.

We have 3 options tonight, 6 miles, 7.5 miles and 8 miles. I'm an overachiever and competitor deep down so I opt for the 8 mile group.

We are off on our journey tonight. Bum is aching the whole time. There are an extreme amount of potholes on this side of time. Seriously city of Raleigh what's the deal?? We hit the famous hill on Carrington. I've been told about this hill for awhile and I was told it is called "the bitch" OMG I now know why. I was attempting to ride up it and somehow lost my balance and ended up walking it along with a few of my fellow TIFL athletes. Shoutout to TIFL mentor Connie and Sharon tonight. They were my rock, cheerleaders and motivational coaches. Someone told me "there is no shame in walking your bike up the hill". They were absolutely right. We ride and ride and ride. TIFL mentor Martha gave me great advice that we go downhill I should peddle to build up momentum to get up the hill faster. Boy oh boy did that work on a few of the hills. On our journey back we turn back onto Carrington. Downhill here we go and then I try to make it back up but I just doesn't have anything left in the tank. We walk the bike. No shame in my game. None at all. We are almost back at the park, cross the bridge and we yell out "Hey 540" them we met up with out TIFL folks about ready to cross baileywick back to the park. I'm so excited because I know my car is eagerly waiting on me. I have made the wrong wardrobe choice in undergarments and I'm chafing like no business, my feet are aching(still don't know why that happens) and my bum is ready to disown me. Through all that I realize I DID it, 7.45 miles. Less than 2 more miles and that's the course baby. Mock Tri bring it on!!

As I'm writing this blog post, I'm thinking that I may be canceling on some scheduled events on my schedule. I need some serious recovery time before Sunday

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

My 1st Wednesday night swim and taking the Tri suit for its first swim

I decided to get fully ready for the mock Tri I need to attend all 3 trainings this week. That included the Wednesday night swim. This was my first time attending the Wednesday night swim. Since I have my brand new tie suit from junonia I figured that tonight would be a good time to break it in. I'm putting it on and the zipper is I the back. I struggle zipping it up but finally it get it up. I head to TAC about 6:45. Swim starts at 7:30. OMG the parking lot was packed. TAC is rocking on Wednesday night.

I head to poolside to meet with the other TIFL athletes. Erin comes over and checks out my Tri suit and thanks to her discovery I am wearing my suit backward. Who knew?? You have to really be comfortable to realize you are wearing something backwards and not get upset when everyone is laughing at you. Erin tells me I should go turn it around because swimming will not work. I go make a quick wardrobe turnaround and OMG it makes so much more sense when I put it on the right way. Zipper in front. Who knew? I know now. It fits so much better. When I head back poolside, everyone starts cheering. I love my TIFL family.

We line up in our swimming paces/lanes. We do our warmup drills and swimming drills for 30 minutes. Then the real fun happens, we get out the pool and line up for 250 yard swimming just like the race. I make it through the 250 yards. I've discovered that the swim is your race and you do what you do to get through. I'm thinking I am going to rock the mock and ramblin rose.

Tomorrow is bike ride along the race course. I have been told "wonderful" things about it including the HILLS. Bring it on!!

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Getting back into the grove and ready for the mock Tri

I haven't been training with TIFL since RNR. This is my week to get back into the groove. Bonus I need to get ready for the mock Tri on Sunday, yeah 😍😍😍.

Tuesday is training run. I'm so not into running anymore. Blame it on the Bike Ike!! I love the bike. All I want to do is ride the bike or swim I the pool.

I pair up with the 1/1 pace group. Then we make a group decision to do 0:30/0:30 then we make a unanimous decision to just move. That works with me. The goal is to do the the run distance of the Tri which is 2 miles. We go out for 1 mile and turn Around. I don't know what it is my lower back always aches when I am either running or waking. I know it's because the lower back muscle is weak along with a weak core. It's something I have to work on. Did I mention I am work in progress.

According to RunKeeper (side note: I love that app & I need to send them a tweet or email) we did 2.1 miles. I'll take it. Tomorrow is swim training. This will be my first time making the Wednesday swim. Lazy Johanna has always thought 7:30pm was too late to be doing any form of exercises especially when it's prime recliner time. Since I'm off Thursday I'm there. Thursday is bike training, we are at baileywick, which is the race course. I've heard about the 2 hills that I have to look forward to. Woo hoo.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

The longest bike ride so far

For for first time on Thursday I actually drove to the bike ride from home. Because I was coming from a different direction, I took lumley road off 540 and then it hit me I should have take aviaton *Smacks head*

I get to our meeting place about 6:05pm and I see 1 of my buds Lillie already there. Few more tifl athletes show up. Few mentors show up as well. 1 of my fav mentor is the lead tonight, Helen aka Claudia, yeah she's in a witness protection plan because she has multiple aliases she uses. She has brought me a shirt from CRW(Capital Run Walk). They are giving away shirts. How cool is that :-)

We gather round for our route for the night. We are small in #. What's the saying where 2 or more are gathered. That's the PK coming out. 7 athletes and 2 mentors. 6 mile bike ride. I'm rolling with my padded bike shorts tonight. The left leg rides up and I'm showing generous amount of thigh. :-(

All the ladies know that if I am behind you going down a hill I will be "on your left" very soon. I love downhill. It's just me and the wind. "I believe I can fly" oh yeah I really do. What goes down must come back up. I told TIFL mentor Brittany I refuse to walk up the hill on Globe. It's a personal thing. I must ride it no matter how long it takes me. You know what that hill went down again. BOOM!!!  Did I mention that Jane showed up after we took off. I love Jane. She's awesome sauce.

I'm feeling all kinds of discomfort on the bike ride. I don't know if it's the shorts or Aunt Flo but I'm in serious pain. I'm ready for the ride to be done so I can make some readjustments. We make it back to the parking lot. RunKeeper reads 5.8 miles. I yell out "I have to make 6 miles" and keep riding through the parking lot. I hit 6.04 miles and drop the bike and get the iPhone and walk around the parking lot with Julie and Lillie. Shoutout to Julie Reed who made her first Thursday bike ride with the group. Yeah!!!

In 3 days I have my next fun filled adventure, the inaugural Raleigh Rock'N Roll half marathon. I have not been feeling excited about this race. I'm really trying to not worry about the course time limit that they so nicely emailed me about the other day. All I could think was diva NMB and the sag van. Then there's the biggest loser Charlotte casting on Saturday that I won a front of the line spot for in a Facebook contest. I don't feel like driving back and forth the day before RNR. Can u say stressed? I can.

It just dawned on me that I only need 3 more miles and I will be at ramblin rose bike distance, woo hoo baby :-)

Monday, April 7, 2014

Longest swim + hillest bike ride

Good morning Monday! It's taken me some time to recuperate before I blogged about yesterday's brick. For the first time during this TRI journey. I went to church in addition to the training. This running around is really for the birds. I make it 10:30am worship service. Then i have a PPR meeting from 12:30pm-1:30pm which I run out of at 1pm because i need to eat something before 2pm poolside. I run over to Cary, pick up a quick bite, sit in the car and meditate for a few minutes before it's time to get ready for the swim.

At this point, we are literally 6 weeks from Ramblin Rose and 3 weeks from the mock tri. We are at crunch time. Then it literally hit my like a ton of bricks that this will be my last Sunday training before the mock TRI. April 13 is rock n roll. I will probably be sleep or on the couch recovering next sunday around 2pm. I have weekend rotation Eater weekend. Then the mock TRI is April 27. That's life

Let me get back to the brick. Yesterday's brick was swim & bike. Little did we (TIFL athletes) realize that we would also be running after we came back from the bike ride. I'll get to that in a few :-)

We line up in the lanes, beginner, intermediate and advance. Some of my fellow athletes tell me "go on over there, you know you not a beginner" pointing to the intermediate lane. That still cracks me up. We go through our 100 yard drills which turned out being about 400 yards total. Then we are out of the pool. We are going to do 4 lanes of laps. A lap is down for 25 yards and back for 25 yards. We do 4 lanes of laps. In case I have completely lost you, this means we swam for 200 yards. Yes that comes to a total of 600 yards at this point. Who's keeping count? I'm not lol. The mentors are on both ends of the pool cheering us on. I'm on the last lane and i hear my partner in crime Julie yell out "Jo you got this" A little cheering on goes a long way. I take off down for the last lane. I get to the end and a mentor yells out "You only have 25 yards to go"  You just don't know how good it is to hear that. 4 lanes done, 200 yards done. I'm out the pool and my heart is BEATING out my chest, my hands are shaking. No flashes of my life comes across so i'm still alive. Then Trish TIFL mentor yells out "anyone want to go for a 2nd round" what i was thinking is probably not allowed on blogger. I opt to not do a 2nd loop. A mentor comes up to me and mentions how fast my push off is and that i should glide through a lane instead of stroking because I am moving much faster. Another tip I will keep for RR.

Now it's time for the real fun, changing out of sweat swim clothes to dry biking clothes. This is the TRI life. This time I brought the biking shorts. They slide on very easy. As soon as I get dressed, wouldn't you know i have to go potty. The bladder of a baby I tell you. I'm walking out with someone who i can't remember right now. It's Sharon Johnson :-) I just remembered. We talk about how this this workout #2 walking the steps up from the locker room to the 2nd floor. I get bike ready.

As we break out into the bike levels. I line up with the intermediate group because i am no way fast. I do like to bike ride. We are told we are going to do 4.8 mile bike ride. I'm thinking that's cool. We did that on Thursday. We hit hills that my thighs are not familiar with. We go through neighborhoods i am unfamiliar with and we hit one hill that i just say FU and walk it. I look up and Jane Waltz is walking it as well. There is no shame in walking your bike up a hill. No there is not. Once I get to flat ground I get back on the back. Snap, crackle and pop goes a muscle. I'm really starting to rethink this whole TRI stuff at this point. We keep on biking, more hills. TIFL mentor Martha is riding with me. She asked me "did you ride up that hill" I nod because at this point speaking requires too much energy. She's more excited than i am that i took down another hill. We run into some more TIFL folks who have made a wrong turn. As we contiune on our ride we wonder where they are. We finally hit the route i am familiar with. We pass that cool as a fan blue corvette. That car is caliente HOT. We get down the hill and turn back towards TAC. As we head back to the picnic tables, i see Julie running but everyone else is done. I guess that means i missed out on the running. I'm all torn up inside lol. Another TIFL brick is done. 200 yard swim (only 50 more yards for the race) + 4.8 mile bike ride. My ASS yes i said ass because that is what it is. I can clean it up my bum is hurting (foam roller i'm coming for you when i get off work). Every time I stand up from my chair i have to brace myself because the butt muscle talks back to me and soon as i prepare to walk away from my chair the muscle decides to do a cha cha. Lord give me strength to make it through this day.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

1st Real spring bike ride plus a little transition

I love Thursdays. I always have. Thursday = Friday eve woo hoo!! Thursdays used to Ugly, Grey and Lost on ABC. TV Addict party of 1. Now Thursdays mean it is TIFL bike ride, my fav sport of triathlon. Apparently I did not eat alot today because i am starving when i leave work at 4:30. When I make my weekly stop at Chick-fil-A Brier Creek to make my wardrobe change, i order a full combo and completely inhale it in like 3 minutes. Can you say HUNGRY???

I'm chilling at our meetup spot. I normally am not alone but I am. Don't worry, the cashpoints ATM is getting more action that a lady of the night working her corner. A little after 6, i see a fellow TIFL athlete is pulling into the parking lot. I get my bike prepped and ready for wheels down at 6:30. I'm getting more handy with loading and unloading my bike and checking the tire pressure.

Martha our TIFL mentor bike lead announces that after we ride our 4.8 mile loop. We will come back and run or walk a few laps around the parking lot. If you want you can do a 2nd 4.8 mile loop. You want to guess what i did. If you guessed laps around the parking lot, you would be correct.


I've been riding my bike for awhile now but the next ride the sore spots from the last ride wake up and yell out "We're back" I packed my compression shorts and not the padded bike shorts. Sunday I will pack the padded bike shorts :-)

Last week, i was told to lead my body down as i go downhill. I did that again as we are going downhill on Globe. I was flying. Lenny Kravitz was singing beside me "i want to get away, i want to fly away" What goes down must go back up. I pedal one peal at a time back up the hill. I refuse to walk up that hill. I REPEAT i refuse. Hill training is good. that's what i keep telling myself. 4.8 mile loop is done. I dropped my bike by the Max and i walked around the parking lot for 2 laps. Initially once i started walking my legs felt wobbly but then they warmed up and i was good to go. Another bike ride is in the books along with a transition to a walk.

T minus 10 days until Rock 'N Roll. Lord give me energy and motivation.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

April Fools TIFL run

I almost forgot it was April fools day until tonight's TIFL run. We met at 6:30pm on Tuesdays at the crabtree creek trail near the bridge. As we gather together and break into our pace groups, our fearless TIFL Raleigh Chapter President talks about having a strong core. She said a strong core is needed for the sport of triathlon. Tonight after we do 3 intervals of run/walk, we would drop and give her 10 pushups. Right then and there I was thinking about Cartman in Southpark "screw you guys i'm going home" OMG i love me some cartman. I even have a stuffed cartman thanks to an ex-boyfriend. Then Trish says "April fools" The BEST april fools prank ever.If you could have seen the expressions on the faces of myself and my fellow athletes. Where was Helen Bac when you need her to record this moment. It was priceless. I'm still getting a kick out of it hours later. Shoutout to Trish Crabtree, best April fools joke!!

I go out with the 1:1 intervals. I already know I will probably make it through 1-2 intervals. Running for 1 minute just doesn't work me. I felt so sluggish today. I don't if it was the pepper steak from New China that i completely devoured for lunch like i hadn't eaten in weeks. Or is that i feel like a stuffed ham on Easter Sunday when I run. Who knows. After interval 2, my lower back, my nenemsis starts to talk to me and not in a good way. Thank goodness I have an appointment with Dr. Jessica, the BEST chiropractor in the Capital City. She works at Active Chirorpactic on St. Mary's Street. Yes this is a plug. Please tell them I sent you. I have no idea if there is a referral bonus involved :-) My other nemesis started talking my shins, calf muscles. I'm wishing i had packed my calf sleeves. Last time i wore them them started sliding down to my ankles, truly not a good look. I need to put them back into the rotation or bring for a new pair. For the rest of the duration, TIFL mentor Len and I just take it nice and slow. We chit chat about everything from movies which if you know me is my FAV thing to talk about to corporate america and the weather. Hallejuah we are turning around. A few of the other groups have passed us and waiting for us near the bridge. Len says to me "You want to finish strong and pass them" I'm thinking to myself "are you kidding me" Deep down inside there is a competitive chick who shows up every now and then. So you know what I did I took off I mean I really took off. If only I could keep that run forrest run pace every time I might be on to a new PR. RunKeeper definitely got confused because according to it, i ran a 14 minute pace. That's just kra kra. I haven't even check to see what the Garmin said. It will probably have the real pace on it lol

What are we?Triathletes
What do we do?Finish strong

After the run, it's my FAV part the social. We head to our tuesday night hangout, Panera. There must be a connection between athletes and Panera. 2nd time this week i've been there with fellow athletes.
I do this, Panera makes the bomb food and it's not cheap but this salad right there was delish