Getting better with time

Yesterday, I completed the Army Ten Miler. In 2010, I couldn't run this race due to an injured ankle, last year I finished in 2 hours 13 minutes and this year, I finished much, much faster. I had a bit of dejavu from 2010 on Monday after rolling my ankle while running down stairs in boot camp.  I took the rest of the week off to rest and ice it, so that I wouldn't be sidelined again for this race. It was very painful to be on the sidelines in 2010 and I enjoyed it so much last year that the thought of not being able to run it this year brought me great sadness. I had only run a few times in the 4 weeks since my Ironman 70.3 Cozumel and after hurting my ankle again, I was a extremely nervous on race morning... but I was committed to try.

We met up with several ladies that morning for Team Usual Suspects photos, decided on a post race meet up spot and we took off.

Team Usual Suspects!

Me and Tania

Lisa, Me and Tania

About to get it IN

My friend Tania got a bib at the last minute to run with me. She really helped to pace me for the first 3 miles and then she had to take off at her usual speedy pace. Pier was being her usual Spectator Extraordinaire self and showed up at mile 1 and mile 5. I was so surprised to make it to the 5 mile mark before 1 hour (it usually takes me 1:05 to run 5 miles). The bands and spectators were amazing and some of the runners were mind blowing! There was a guy running and playing a piccolo the entire time! The 14th Street bridge kicked my butt again this year, but I got across it by taking it light post by light post, alternating running and walking. There was a lady who told me that I was pacing her the entire race and I couldn't stop now. When I started to walk in mile 9, she was right there with a positive message to get me going again. I started to think about how my friends would be at the finish line when I finished. I decided to push through my exhaustion and try to achieve my stretch goal, which was to finish in under 2 hours. My goal was 2 hours flat, but with that lady pacing me in Mile 9, I knew that my stretch goal was possible. My legs hurt, I was exhausted and thirsty, but I kicked up the pace and finished strong in 1:55! I cut 10 minutes off my 10K time and finished the entire 10 mile run 18 minutes faster than last year!

Me and Pier

If I do this race again next year, I will push for 1:45 with a stretch goal of under 1:40. I may not be racing at all next year (more on that later), but if I do, I will try my best to meet these goals.

DONE!!!!!!

Ironman 70.3 Cozumel

Pre-race:

We traveled to Cozumel on Friday before the race. This was the travel day from HELL! We all tried to go with the flow and we held it together quite well despite all of the travel snafus. We were supposed to get in at about 4pm but did not make it to the hotel until about 9pm. We flew into Cozumel, took a shuttle to Playa del Carmen, was denied access to the 3pm ferry, although it was right there, waited for the 5pm ferry which sailed off and left us on the dock, discovered that it was the last ferry of the day with that company, had to return/purchase more tickets for a different company that made us bring our bike boxes up a flight of stairs instead of storing them at the bottom of the ferry like the luggage and then finally arrived in Cozumel and took a cab (which we had to pack our 4 bike boxes and 6 people into by ourselves, as the cab driver watched)  to our hotel.  I think our little stop over at Playa del Carmen's Senor Frogs and the shenanigans that took place there, made our travel woes a little more bearable. By the time we made it to our hotel, I was tired and in pain from dragging my bike box with one missing wheel. 

We FINALLY arrived!!

On Saturday morning, we went out for a practice swim that was absolutely amazing! The water was calm and warm with beautiful fish, turtles, dolphins and scuba divers. We were approached by a guy who screamed out, "ENGLISH!" when he heard us talking and he immediately became a part of our crew. Philly Joe was his name, he fit right in and never left our side. He was a hoot. Race preparations were confusing and time consuming, but we got it all done. 

About to hop in for a practice swim

Planning to take on the island!

Showing off our Tri tats!

Philly Joe!

We were rushing around right up until the time when Dawn and I had to make a mad dash to meet our swim wave that was on the deck waiting to jump into the ocean on race morning. We had a few minutes to spare before jumping in. There was a dolphin show and the Military band played for us before we started our Ironman 70.3 Cozumel journey...

Awesome dolphin show before the race!

These girls were PUMPED UP!

1.2 mile Swim:

My goal was to finish the swim in under an hour. The average time to complete this distance for someone in my age group is 46 minutes. I am a slow swimmer and finished in exactly 1 hour the last time I did this distance, so I wanted to beat that... and I DID!! It was a great swim minus a major issue with a buoy that fell over and a kayak guy that was trying to steer the swimmers around the buoy. There was a huge pile up and I found myself surrounded by about 6 men that were literally swimming over each other and one had his forearm on my lower back. I thought I was going DOWN. All I could do was scream PLEASE! PLEASE! Eventually, we all were able to swim around the kayak and toppled buoy to finish the swim. I felt strong the entire way and was overjoyed to finish the swim in 55 minutes!

56 mile Bike: 

My goal was to finish the bike in 3:30 or better. That meant that I had to keep my speed at 16 mph and no slower. I knew of the strong cross winds for 9 miles that would probably slow me down, so I would have to make up time for that by going faster, like 18-20mph. The last time I raced this distance, I lost about an hour due to GI issues and being too stubborn to stop at a porta potty. My goal was to race smarter this time and stop if I needed to. It appeared that the winds were tough for much longer than 9 miles. I picked up my speed after the winds died down and really enjoyed riding through the little town with the kids shaking water bottles with rocks inside. They were cheering SI SE PUEDE!  (YES YOU CAN!) at me and that helped me to keep my speed up. I think that I did a good job with eating and drinking very 15 minutes and had just calculated how fast I needed to go for the last 20 miles to make my time goal. I made a few turns and before I knew it, I was being waved down and told to get off my bike. That was the end of the bike course. I was so confused, as I thought that I had further to go. I walked into the little staging area and saw what looked like a million run bags and I was so confused that I just held my head and started screaming (translation: I had a panic attack and a mini melt down due to confusion). The next thing I knew, someone was in front of me with my run bag and lead me to the area to sit down to change into my run gear. I really don't know how I finished that bike ride so fast! I know that I sped up in the little towns with the kids cheering me on, but I am usually not that speedy. I am thinking that perhaps I was guided the wrong way or something. My official bike time was 2 hours 21 minutes. I will take it!

13.1 mile Run: 

My goal was to finish in 2:30 doing a 3:1 run:walk ratio. The first time I did this distance, I did it in 2:39. The last time I raced this distance, I ended up walking the last 8 miles due to my feet feeling blistered, so my time was off. I planned to leave it all on the course and really give it my best. The spectators were amazing! They were cheering and playing music for us and there were many aid stations with water, ice, Gatorade, Vaseline, pretzels, Pepsi, etc. I started my run 3 minutes:walk 1 minute plan, but my watch died, so I had to alter that. I saw Tania's friend Tony on the course and ran with him for a while. I also saw Francy, Philly Joe, Dawn and a few other people, but I never saw Lisa. I started to worry about Lisa. It started to get really hot and I was getting tired and was walking way more than I was running. The course was brutal and mentally challenging in that you had to do 2 loops and pass the finish line chute at the halfway point. I made the best of it and really got into the crowd support and before I knew it, I was running through the finish line chute, high 5'ing the kids and pumping my fits at the adults screaming SI SE PUEDE and VAMOS REBECCA VAMOS (our names were on our race bibs)! I felt like all of those people were out there just to support ME! The little girl who put the medal around my neck made me tear up when she told me that I was her hero. She went through the trouble of asking her friend how to say it in English, which made it even more special to me. 

I found Dawn and Philly Joe in the finisher area. We had to escort Francy to the medical tent after she crossed the finish line (her knees buckled and she looked faint) and we learned that Lisa had taken sick on the bike and was pulled from the course. It was a brutal race and I am glad that everyone turned out to be okay. I really hate that Lisa took sick, as she trained so long and hard for this race. I truly feel like we are all winners just for toeing the line. We all lived to race another day.

My overall time was 6 hours 45 minutes. I feel like I gave it my best in the swim, struggled with the wind on the bike course, yet finished way too fast despite my chip time and I struggled on the run due to fatigue. There were just a few Americans racing and I did not see another black American woman on the course, so I felt like I had to represent. The Mexicans gave me so much energy to power through the rough moments and I felt blessed to be able to race on such a beautiful island. Finishing this race was a very proud moment for me. It was only second to me finishing the swim in my first Triathlon. I am excited to say that I am an Ironman 70.3 FINISHER again! I really want to do a full Ironman one day, but I want to improve my fitness and buy a Tri bike first, so it may have to be in 2014.

 

Lessons learned:

•  Ride more hills to help prepare for windy courses
•  Go on more long runs after long rides to get used to running on tired legs
• Treat myself to another destination race in a beautiful location

Post race:

I planned to wear my medal and finisher shirt for days on end after this race, but with Lisa getting sick and not finishing, the desire to do that had faded. I was filled with joy for finishing, but was very sad for Lisa. I'm just very happy that she did not end up in a medical tent like so many others. We all posted up by the pool and enjoyed multiple libations and relaxed. The next day was a good day of more drinking, relaxing on the beach, short swims with in-water photo shoots and chilling in hammocks and in the hot tub during a rain storm. There were some moments to remember, like the big ass bird that stole a quesadilla  right out of my hand, getting my head patted down by a man in a bear outfit and "Mr. Willy" on the 3rd floor that kept making naked appearances on his patio. We went out for a very nice traditional Mexican dinner on our final night. The restaurant was nice, the food, libations and musical entertainment were good and the 2 dogs in the restaurant were just chilling. Great times.

Me and Dawn

In route back to Cancun to catch our flight, I met a cool couple, Kyle and Andrea, from Utah. I remembered them helping me to get my bike box off the ferry when we arrived and them telling me that they would be on the course to cheer us on. They shared how they rented a scooter to ride the bike course to look for their friends and they could not find me, but they captured a really great finish line photo of me with my hands in the air. When they asked how I got into Triathlons, I really surprised myself with the words that came out of my mouth and realized how inspiring those words could be. I shared with them how I started running 5k's and when I first learned of Triathlons, I dismissed the idea, because I could not swim. But when I had to have abdominal surgery, subsequently developed double pneumonia and could not breathe well enough to climb a flight of stairs, I was motivated to run again and learn to swim. I told them that "because I could not do anything, I wanted to do everything". This is so true. My dream of becoming a triathlete came when I could not take a shower without getting winded. I did not have a bike, did not know how to swim and could not walk a block, let alone run one. My story is a true testament that if you put your mind to something and invest the time to be able to achieve it, anything is possible. That just happens to be the motto for the full Ironman, which I will tackle one day: ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Me and the cool Tri guy, Kyle Lambson

Thanks to everyone who sent positive vibes, prayers and thoughts my way. Your support is immeasurable. Thank you to Lisa, Francy and Dawn for traveling and racing with me and to Erin Steptoe and Queen Mum for travel support. You ladies ROCK! We must do this again and invite Philly Joe.

Post dinner at Casa Mission

Love,
Tri Becca

Masters Swimming

In September of 2010, I was looking for a Masters swim club to join and signed up to be on the waiting list for the District of Columbia Recreation and Parks Masters Swim Team. It was so long ago that I forgot all about it until I received an email on June 5th saying that my name had reached the top of the waiting list. I was preparing for EagleMan, so I decided to not start until after the race. I came up with every excuse possible to not go in the 4 weeks after the invitation came. I was nervous. I was scared. I even wrote to the coaches and told them how I was nervous to come out because I am slow and I don't know how to do flip turns and I don't want to slow anyone down... yadda... yadda. Their response? See you at practice.

I went for the first time on Tuesday and I got in the slowest lane with an 81 year old man. I thought that I could at least hang with him. Nope. There was another lady that got in our lane and this old man was literally swimming over us. Eventually, he told us that he was tired of swimming into us, that we were too slow and that he was going to find another lane. An 81 year old man told me that I was too slow. Wow. This was after the coach told me that the warm up was 600 meters. SIX HUNDRED METERS! My longest warm up to date has been 300m. By the time I got to 500 meters, he told me to just stop and he moved me on to the next set/drill. After 1 hour of him modifying the workout for me, I decided that I had enough for one day. The swims are 90 minutes long, but 60 minutes was all I had in me.

As expected, I was slow, I couldn't  flip turn and I did slow someone down, but I survived and I went back today. Today was a better day. The coach gave us all drills that most people were unfamiliar with. They still did the drills faster than me, but we were all at the same starting point, which didn't make me feel at that much of a disadvantage to start. I am glad that I joined and I know that this Masters team will make me faster and a more efficient swimmer. I will keep showing up and just keep swimming....

EagleMan Ironman 70.3!

About to get it started with Tania!

I can proudly proclaim that I have completed an Ironman 70.3 Triathlon! I swam 1.2 miles in the Choptank River, cycled 56 miles through Cambridge and Dorchester, Maryland and ran 13.1 hellish hot miles for a grand total of 70.3 miles. This race was one of many lessons. Due to some mistakes and race day conditions, the race was hard as hell, but I'm a FINISHER!!

1.2 mile Swim: Lesson - Make sure that I study the course and don't bring leaky goggles

I had a complete panic attack after dipping my head in the brackish water, which burned my left eye. My goggles were leaking! No bueno! This was followed by my second panic attack when I realized that I didn't study the course to know which way to go and could only see out of one eye. Tania was with me and told me, "You don't have time to go back! You just have to use your good eye! You can't see too much in this dirty water anyway! Just follow everybody else!". I quickly realized that I was already out in the water and I just had to buck up. The beginning of the swim was very panicky for me. I thought of asking a kayak person to lead me back to shore. I thought about how many people have a DNF (Did Not Finish) on their Triathlon record, so it would be no big deal if I quit. I COULD NOT SEE! Those negative thoughts were thwarted once I thought about all of the people who got up early to come out to cheer me on and to follow me on-line. I reminded myself that I had over 30 people on FB who wrote that they would pray for me and send good vibes. I thought about how I have done this before and how I have practiced swimming in the pool with my eyes closed but only opened them to see, when I turned my head to breathe. I practiced that in order to prepare myself for something like this. I combated every negative thought with a positive one and I made it through the swim. However, I did have a near accident when I thought that the yellow kayak was the yellow buoy, so I tried to swim around the kayak... just as the guy in the kayak was about to take off! I am so glad that he saw me, as that could have been a very bad accident. I made it through the swim in my expected time, despite the panic of only having one good eye. It was nice to hear Maddy screaming my name as I ran into transition.

56 mile Bike: Lesson - Stop when needed, as trying to push through will cost you time

I had some Tart Cherry Juice with breakfast, but perhaps I had too much. My stomach was in knots even before I got in the water. After ingesting a little too much river water, my stomach was not happy. I tried to keep it moving and started the bike ride. It was great to see Heather cheering me on as I took off on my bike. I just knew I was about to smoke that ride!There were porta potties on the route but I just kept moving, hoping my stomach would settle down. I started off super fast with my fancy borrowed ZIPP tires from Arrow Bicycle, but I noticed that my pace got slower... and slower... the more I tried to ignore the stomach pain. I just wanted to finish. Finally, when my speed dropped to something ridiculous and I could not be upright any longer, I stopped at mile 46. I was able to return to my planned speed for the last 10 miles and quickly regretted waiting so long to stop. I could have finished that bike ride about 45-60 minutes minutes faster, if I had not been too stubborn to stop. Lesson learned.


13.1 mile Run: Lesson - Remember the tips

Shelly told me to put some Body Glide or Aquaphor to my feet before the run. I had both of these, but I forgot to slather it on.  Truth be told, I simply forgot once I saw my teammate, Mylah, in transition packing up her stuff. She said that she was done, that she was not going back out on the race course to finish. I asked her if she needed anything like food or drink or if she was injured, but  she was fine. When I realized that it was just mental, I literally grabbed her by her wrist, pulled her off of the ground and we ran out of transition together. The poor girl didn't even have time to put on her socks; she had to stuff them in her shorts. I just could NOT let her quit.  We shuffled together until she gave me her commitment that she would not quit and then I took off. I initially had a little Achilles pain and had to stop to stretch a few times in the first 3 miles. I thought that if the pain continued, I may have to quit. The pain eventually went away. I wore my ankle brace to protect the ankle, but could not wear my compression socks due to some new rule. I thought I needed the compression socks to ward off shin splints, but my shins never bothered me this time. It would have been too hot for them anyway. My feet started to feel like they were covered with blisters after mile 5 from my socks being so wet and all of the friction. I did not think to wear moisture wicking socks. My feet hurt so bad to run, that I just walked the last 8 miles. It was over 90 degrees and there was no shade. About 90% of the athletes were walking. There was plenty of ice and snacks on the course, which was great, although they ran out of snow cones at the turn around point. I made a new friend, Kristine with the DC Tri Club, and we kept each other company until we approached the finish line. The Tri Unify cheering squad was in full force! Cassandra and her friend Sharlimar were waiting for me as I made my last turn to finish the run. Rian was there to give a high five as I made my way down the finish-line chute. Maddy, Diane and Adrienne were not too far away. It meant the world to me to have them there to cheer us on. It was a proud moment to see Mylah cross the finish line after she nearly quit the race. Next time, I will be sure to remember the tips and to wear proper socks.

Tri Unify Cheering crew!

Me and Mylah (those are Mylah's socks stuffed in the legs of her shorts)

 In hindsight, the race was not bad, with the exception of the heat. I was properly trained to complete the distances. I just need to make sure that I remember some key things next time, so I can be better prepared for what race day may bring.

I will do this all over again in Cozumel on September 23rd. I just hope to do it a little faster!


Tri Becca

Winning = earning the medal

Training for a 1/2 Ironman has been one of the most mentally challenging things that I have done so far. It has taken more than just training and learning how to fuel properly. More than ever before, I have had to have the "you can do it, if you really want to do it" talks with myself. There were days when I just stayed in bed or on the couch, because my mind believed that training that day would not make me any faster or more fit. On many days, I thought "What's the sense? What does it matter? What will this ONE training do to help me?". There were days that I went out to swim and could not get my heart rate to come down. Today I went for a run and the ugly shin splints returned. The shin splints decided to return just NINE days before the race!?!? WTH???  I was determined to not let it get me down. I came up with a plan after realizing what could have caused the shin pain to return. It has been HARD. It has been harder to just get my mind right, than it has been to complete any 56 mile ride, 2000 meter swim or 13.1 mile run. But, I am stronger as a result of training for this race. Mentally stronger.

I know that I can finish this race on June 10th. I know that I can finish all 3 legs of the race before the cut off times. I know that if I keep my heart rate low during the 1.2 mile swim, keep a manageable pace, eat and hydrate on the 56 mile bike and if I consistently do a 4:1 or 3:1 run/walk for the 13.1 mile run, then I can finish before the total race cut off time. I KNOW this. I BELIEVE this. I don't have doubts, per se, I just don't feel as fit as I want to feel going into the race. Am I excited? Absolutely not. I'm nervous. I'm nervous, because I don't know what to expect since I have not done this distance of a race before. I'm nervous because I won't have my usual racing buddies with me or my usual cheering squad out there being my "race day stalkers/paparazzi". I have been trying to get used to training alone and racing alone and being okay if there are no familiar faces out there on race day. But it has been tough. Mentally tough.

I am going to race on June 10th. I am going to follow my race day plan for pacing myself, hydration and nutrition. I am going to WIN, which in my mind, is earning that medal when I cross the finish line. I will pretend that every cheer I hear is really just for me. I will be fine. I will be tough. Mentally tough. I will have the mind of a Champion... because, in my mind, I am a Champion.

Tri Becca

Time to press play

 
Last night was the first night that I had a good night's sleep without coughing all night. I finally feel rested and really able to train at close to 100%. Bronchitis is no joke, especially if your lungs have been compromised by double pneumonia in the past. It had me down, but I'm BACK! I thought long and hard about filing for a refund for my upcoming Ironman 70.3 (it's a 1/2 Ironman), but I decided to let the April15th deadline pass. Since I started with Triathlons, I have always had challenges to overcome. I feel that this setback with Bronchitis is no different. I still feel like I can do it and I will.

Eagleman 70.3 (My 1/2 Ironman) is in 7 weeks. I will train hard and make sure that I am as ready as possible. I have another 1/2 Ironman in September in Cozumel, which I will make my A race. My prayer is to stay healthy and injury free, so that I am more prepared for that one.

Thanks for your positive thoughts, prayers and motivation,
Tri Becca

What an honor!

I have the distinct honor of announcing that my colleagues with Tri Unify have elected me as their club President! I am extremely humbled by this appointment and will strive to do all that I can to continue the mission of Tri Unify. Thank you to all of the members who voted for me. I promise to not let you down.

Tri Becca