Sunday Morning Swimming

I'm in Georgia this week and need to get some work outs in, as time is rapidly passing by and Augusta Ironman 70.3 and the Marine Corp Marathon will be here before we know it! I reached out to a few nationwide triathlon groups on FB about places to swim and Ann-Marie responded. I was excited that Ann-Marie not only gave me some suggestions of places to swim but offered to swim with me. Game ON.... or so I thought.

Ann-Marie and I first met at the track at Piedmont Park to get some speed work in. The workout was hard, as expected, but the humidity made it tough on the lungs which made the rain much welcomed. I was a little pressed for time, so we had to cut our time at the track short and head to the pool. Yeah... Ann-Marie neglected to tell me beforehand that she swam competitively back in the day. I knew that she gave swim lessons earlier that morning and that she probably wanted to get a swim in herself, instead of coaching me, but urra uhm... that is what ended up happening after she saw me swim.

She just had this "look" on her face and so I decided to welcome any tips or suggestions.... and then it began. Ann-Marie first told me about a few things I was doing wrong and suggested that I do this and that... Then,  she pretty much just let me have it, with a big old Georgia smile. All I could do was laugh. This chick basically told me "You ain't going NO where fast if you keep up that SUNDAY MORNING SWIMMING!".  I was so focused on my swim form and trying to gliiiiiiide through the water and swim prrretttty and not disturb the water, but basically she told me to pick up the pace and do the dang thang! She told me to say this in my head as I swam, "1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2" and stroke each time I said it. I decided to say "1-PULL-1-PULL-1-PULL", because she had told me that I wasn't really PULLING ( This is when your arm is underwater and you are stroking back. You are supposed to really PULL yourself through the water). So, I guess I have been lollygagging as I swim and taking it easy like Sunday morning. Okay.

I tried the "1-PULL-1-PULL" tempo in my head for a lap and was breathing HARD at the end of the lane. She said, now THAT is how you swim when you are trying to go somewhere. She pointed out that for my cool-down, I could go back to my "Sunday morning swimming", but if I Sunday morning swam the whole time, my cool down would just be to stop swimming. Ha! She then told me of a lady she coached for an Ironman that was a "Sunday morning swimmer". She said in 2 weeks, this lady had gotten dramatically faster. Well, damn. I got it!

No more Sunday morning swimming for me! Thanks Ann-Marie!!

7 weeks until Augusta! YIKES......

Tri Rock Philadelphia Triathlon: Olympic

On Sunday I completed the Tri Rock Philly Olympic distance Triathlon. I have been training since the beginning of the year, but if I'm completely honest, my training has not been as intense nor consistent as it needed to be. I knew that I could complete the distances since this was my 5th Olympic distance triathlon. As the race got closer, I just started to think of it as a training day and as the jump start of my Augusta Ironman 70.3 Triathlon and Marine Corp Marathon training. What I didn't expect was to get my azz handed to me on a platter. That was one TOUGH race!

The swim: 1500 meters

It seemed like it took forever to get to each buoy. I swear I thought they forgot to put out the 500m buoy, as I don't recall seeing it. It felt like I was swimming at a stand still between the 700m buoy and the 800m buoy. It appeared I would never get to 800m buoy! Once I reached the 1000m buoy, Philly Joe was swimming next to me screaming "Rebecca, YOU GOT THIS!". I had no doubts, but that was not what I was trying to hear from Philly Joe, as he started 2 waves behind me. I started to see more and more red and orange swim caps from groups that started behind me, so I knew I was taking a long time. I just kept swimming my race and eventually I was done. Time: 38:59

The bike: 24.9 miles

Philly Joe made me cuss him out a few several times on this course. He initially said that there was only 1 or 2 hard hills... then he changed the story and said there were a few, but they weren't bad... then he started to really be truthful when we got to Philly and told us about all the hills we had waiting for us. Great. Yeah, I had been on the hills of Howard County and I rode in the mountains of Virginia, but these hills were long and winding and had a second part to them. I had to stop twice at the landing before attempting the second part of 2 of the hills. I have never stopped on the bike course before, but this time, I stopped twice on each loop. It wasn't because my legs couldn't take me up, but because my heart was pounding so hard that I had to give my ticker a little break. I will just chalk it up as not being conditioned enough for the bike course. My bad. When friends tell me there are only 1-2 hard hills, I now know to not trust them and expect like 6 long, winding hills with 2 parts. THANKS PHILLY JOE! (*insert evil side eye here*). There will be hills on the Augusta Ironman 70.3 course, so between now and then, I will start to ride with the guys and get my azz kicked in training, so I will never feel like a bike course kicked my butt like that again. Time: 1:45

The run: 6.2 miles

The weather was absolutely perfect on Friday and Saturday, but by the time I made it to the run on Sunday, it felt like I was running through hell! Man, it was hotter than Hades out there! The temps had reached 90 degrees. NINETY DEGREES!! There was shade and music for the first 3 miles, then we ran across the grass by transition, the music stopped and it felt like Satan started to breathe fiery dragon breath on me. OMG! It was SO HOT! I started to talk to people on the course, as I always do, to motivate them and myself. I started to want to jack someone running in the opposite direction out of their cold, wet towel. The thought crossed my mind to just turn around and head in the opposite direction. I was tired, don't get me wrong, but the heat was what made it bad. I felt sun whipped! I put ice in my sports bra, poured cold water on myself every chance I got, finally got a cold towel for my neck. I just suffered through. I met a guy named Steve who was celebrating his 40th birthday, in grad school, was racing with his older sister that always beats him during races, it was his 4th Triathlon, he has not had much luck on match. com...... I got to know everything about Steve as we ran past 2 poles and walked past one. It was survival of the fittest out there! Finally, Edwige and her Mom came out to the course as we were approaching the finish line, but I had already committed to Steve and our new friend Maggie that we would cross the finish line together. As soon as I crossed, I saw Philly Joe and Rosalind, who both told me the hills weren't bad. If my eyeballs were a knife, they would have been stabbed! Time: 1:24


Anyway. I finished and got my medal, right along with the triathlon azz whupping that I probably needed to kick me into full blown triathlon and marathon training. At least I wasn't last! I finished 1232 out of 1333 and 43 out of 47 in the F35-39 class. I would be concerned if I was competitive. To me, finishing really is winning and I know that I did more than more than 1/2 of the country's population before noon on Sunday. Once again: I am a Triathlete!!



Next Up:
Annapolis 10 miler
Augusta Ironman 70.3 triathlon
Army 10 miler
Marine Corp Marathon

Everything ain't for everybody

Some people need to realize that everything ain't for everybody and instead of putting in their two cents about something, they just need to shut the hell up. I realize that a small percentage of people do triathlons and to many people, it is a foreign concept. What I don't understand is why someone would tell me that, "You're 39. You're getting old and your body is slowing down. You need to rest. You are always running, biking or swimming or something. You're doing too much". Now, if this person understood that in the last week, I ran twice, cycled twice and swam once and that is not nearly doing too much, he would not be winning my STFU award today, but he is. 39 is "getting old"?? GTFOOHWTBS. I hate when people open their mouth and say stupid stuff. If you think that you are old, then deal with it, but don't try to project that shyt on me. This dude is 40 years old. FORTY! Maybe it's a military mindset or something. I'm not sure. But, 39 is NOT too old to compete in triathlons. Actually, the largest percentage of Triathletes are 30-39 and that's growing. Folks must realize that they can't push their stupid azz way of thinking on others. It's always some loser that doesn't believe that they can do something that tries to tell you that you can't do it. It's just projecting, I know. But he still wins the STFU award today for being an ignorant idiot. Moving on.... How was your day?

Self talk

We all have our moments when doubt creeps in, but it is absolutely imperative that we cut those thoughts at the root. Sometimes when I am riding, I say out loud, "I AM NOT TIRED!!" or "I AM SOOOO STRONG!!" and ironically, less than a minute later that feeling of fatigue goes away. Conversely, when I think or say, "This SUCKS" or start whining and asking who's idea was it to ride this course?!, it seems like the agony is unending. Our minds tell our bodies what to do. There are so many new folks training for a triathlon that don't seem to know and use the power of their thoughts to get them through. I hear so many excuses of why they can't do something, that I just want to tell them, "no you can't! If you think you can't, then you absolutely CAN NOT",  but I would be labeled as the mean girl, so I just keep my lip zipped. It's really simple. If there is something that you want to do, you find a way to do it.

I recall my self talk being completely different when I was learning to swim, trying to stay vertical on my bike and starting to run again after my surgery and double pneumonia. I remember having this belief that I could actually complete a triathlon, despite my challenges. I didn't know where the mental strength came from, but I knew it. I wrote about it here. I found out what I needed to do to accomplish that goal and I accomplished it. It wasn't easy, I fell, I cried, I was slow, there were many events that I missed out on, but I accomplished my goal. The word "can't" isn't even a part of my vocabulary. I have my moments just like everyone else, but I don't let those moments stop me. I don't quit. I can, because I believe I can. Our self talk is so very important. If we simply change our thoughts, we can change our world.

Believe you can, put in the work and don't quit.

Tri Becca

Tri training check in

Things are well under way with training for the 2013 Triathlon season. So far this year, I have run a 1/2 marathon, a 10 miler and I'm almost done with a 2 month boot camp. I am trying to eat less wheat, more smoothies and have seen the scale go down by 8 lbs! I have started to work on my training plan that will take me to my Olympic distance Triathlon in 7 weeks, my Ironman 70.3 triathlon in August and my first marathon in October. The biggest accomplishment so far has been been to finally move out of the slow lane at the pool and actually hold my own in the medium lane! GO ME!!

I am excited about this tri season, as it is my time to focus on speed and diet. I have never given these two things that much attention, as I have been trying to build my endurance and get my "head game" straight. As we all know, most of this is mental and it doesn't mater if you are speedy if you don't have the endurance. Now that I have the endurance, I am all about working on speed drills and my diet so I can hopefully lean out and finish faster. I can't wait to see what this year will bring!

The only bad thing is my hip that's been hurting off and on for a few months now. I am trying to stretch more and have taken yoga here and there, but have plenty of room for improvement. I will do my best to address this, so the hip is not my nemesis for the whole season. I have a free entry into a 1/2 marathon on Sunday that I'm thinking about bowing out of, as I don't want to make the hip hurt worse. I have to figure this hip thing out quickly...

Full speed ahead,
Tri Becca

Gifts

So, it seems that me and a couple of my friends have the gift of giving race entry fees as birthday presents and I LOVE it! It started when I gifted Dawn the race entry to a triathlon in Bermuda, then she gifted me the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon this year, I got her back by signing her up to raise funds for a charity and race in the Marine Corp Marathon this year and then Bertha got me by gifting me a bib to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run on yesterday! I love my friends! Bertha got me good! She asked if I was interested, but when I told her yes and asked if it was free, she slammed me by saying "NOTHING is ever FREE!".  I was disappointed, because I was excited about the possibility of running the race this year. Well, when Bertha came to my birthday dinner, she told me about my gift. I was ecstatic... but a little nervous because I had not run more than 6 miles in over a month and the race was less than a week away! Oh well. I was excited about running the race with Bertha and her clients from Fitness Heights International. Another friend, Candice, gifted me a ticket to an event the night before the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, but with not being prepared to go out and run 10 miles, I had to take a pass on dancing until the wee hours of race day morning.

Running races is so much easier than doing a Triathlon in that you can just show up and hop in line. I waited until the last minute to leave home, drove almost 1/2 way to the start line and ran the rest of the way to warm up. I saw a few friends and took some photos and we were off... every woman for herself.

I saw Bertha on the course and we threw high 5's. I saw Lisa twice and she was looking like she wanted to chop off her aching foot around mile 6, I saw Mia looking like she was hurting too. I had to start the self talk at about mile 6.5... you know the, " you are NOT tired! NOTHING hurts! You HAVE done this before! You have run further than this after swimming and cycling! Let's GOOO"  self talk. Then, out the blue someone slapped me on my butt. It was Tania! Whew, she came at the right time! Her and Heather were booking it and I managed to hang with them for a couple of miles. When I hit mile 8,  I started whining and taking little walk breaks. I let them run ahead and suffered through, but I never let mysef walk more than 1 minute at a time. I was well into mile 9 and taking a little walk break, when this girl all dressed up in pink told me, "if you run the last 1/2 mile, you will finish in under 2 hours!". That was my goal, not a lofty one, mind you, but my goal, nevertheless. The last 400 meters was up a little hill and me and the girl in pink kept it moving. I was SO happy to see the finish line and even more proud of myself for banging out a 10 miler with less than a week's notice! Go me!

Next up: Potomac River Running 1/2 Marathon on May 5th

Please support me

I am raising money for this very important cause and I'm asking you to help by making a contribution! On October 27th I will be running the Marine Corp Marathon on my "Tri Becca Journey to Ironman". Please support me & our Marine men and women as I train for my first marathon. I will be fundraising for "America 4R Marines" an organization with 100% volunteer management and 98.6% of funds going directly to our Marines and Sailors. No donation is too small and is 100% tax deductible.

Please use the link in this email to donate online quickly & securely. You will receive email confirmation of your donation and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation. Again, no amount is too small and is 100% tax deductible. I thank you in advance for supporting me as I train for my first marathon.

I really appreciate your generosity and support!!

Thank you,
Rebecca

Want to donate or help? Simply go to the link below:

http://www.active.com/donate/2013teama4rm/tribecca1