Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Jessica vs.Triathlon


As you may have seen in my New Year, New You post, I like to task myself every year to try new things, grow personally and professionally, and typically challenge myself in some way physically. This year for my Physical Challenge (Double Dare anyone?), I chose a Triathlon. Now, let me preface this by saying that a Triathlon is comprised of three sports: running, swimming and cycling. I am indeed a runner but am an absolute novice when it comes to the other two. Therefore, this has proven to be and will continue to be a challenge. That’s what I signed up for, right?

Time, Money and Food!
First of all, it is a MAJOR time suck. Don’t get me wrong, it is exciting and I’m learning something new every day and challenging myself physically and I’m loving it BUT training for three sports takes A LOT more time than for just one sport. My training schedule includes workouts 6 days a week (marathon was like 4) and biking and swimming take a bit more planning and time in general as just heading outside for a run. Not to mention 2-3 hour long workouts every Saturday morning. Here is some insight into my last two Saturday practices. Started with 3 mile run in the butt ass cold then immediately into hill sprints, what it sounds like, sprinting up and a down a hill over and over again with a coach yelling at you to work your arms and get your legs up, then to the Rec center for core work and yoga and THEN into the pool for 45 minutes. Last week we again ran 3 miles in the butt ass cold and then hopped on the bike for a 15 mile ride. It is a lot people. Basically, my life is completely centered around when I can fit in a workout. It’s just a few of months so I keep telling myself I can do it!

It is also pricey as hell – swimsuit, cap, goggles, hand paddles, swimming lessons (yes, more on this later), bike helmet, bike shorts, bike tune up, bike shoes, more dry fit leggings/shirts, a Tri bag (yes, this sport requires its own special bag because you have so much crap to carry around for the big practices) and other various things are breaking my bank!

You must also consider your daily caloric intake and your diet in general when you start training for something like a marathon or triathlon. It is a difficult balance as although many might think you are working out so much you will lose weight when you are working out that much you are hungry as hell all the time so you have to find the right balance of eating for fuel and recovery but eating the RIGHT things and not giving yourself free reign to eat everything in sight just because you worked out that day. Your body is also reacting, changing and building muscle so contrary to popular belief not all marathoners or triathletes are skinny!

Swimming
Swimming is my current nemesis as we base lined at my first practice in the pool and turns out I suck. Haha. I was expecting this because knowing how to swim and actually SWIMMING or racing are two different things but it was still a blow to the ego. We were supposed to do 30 laps, which is the same distance as an Olympic Triathlon swim (see details below) and after 5 laps my coach told me to just do 10 today (Sprint Triathlon distance) as I could barely even swim one length of the pool without coming up for air and dying. Honestly, there are so many moving parts to swimming – breathing rhythm, stroke mechanics, balance and body roll, kick with your butt not your legs, keep your head down but your butt up, blah blah blah. Plus, it is a sport that you move with, not against, so my natural tendency to pound it out or muscle my way to success does NOT work so I’m having to change my typical approach and relax and let go. For those of you who know me and especially the athlete side of me this is not easy. Another challenge I suppose! Anyway, due to my suckiness in the pool I am having to do individual sessions with my Tri-coach and signed up for private lessons with an actual swim teacher! And let’s not forget about the incredibly sexy high leg, one piece Nike swimsuit that flattens my boobs like a 10 year old boy and the high cut leg style makes me feel like I’m a Victoria’s Secret bathing suit model in 1984. Warning: you must surrender your pride and all things sexy if you decide to train for a Triathlon.

Cycling
I also learned quickly that although I know how to ride a bike, riding a road bike is another story. I didn’t even know where to put my hands and had to look up on the internet which way my helmet went. The first two times I took out  my bike (which I borrowed from a friend – Thanks Nancy!) I thought I was a total idiot and didn’t know how to work the gears but turns out they were broken! Haha. Total loser. Spin class was a helpful introduction to practice form and get comfortable with the upper body lean that you do when on a road bike and the guys at Richardson Bike Mart were AMAZING at giving me a quick tutorial after fitting me to my bike. It seems I still have alot to learn though in terms of dealing with flats and changing tires - yikes!  And the only thing sexier than my high cut leg, flat chested one piece swimsuit are my super sexy padded crotch bike shorts. But trust me, my lady business would not be happy without them so I happily obliged. So, I actually really enjoyed my first long practice ride and am getting comfortable and learning my preferences for gear shifting, etc. Right now I’m still in running shoes that fit into my pedals but I may upgrade to cycling shoes and clips which allow you to have more control, power and speed on your bike. But they scare me because you are “clipped” in and I foresee many falls in my future with that plan.  I actually did fall during the first ride, but of course not while moving, just while standing there. We were pulled off waiting on the rest of the group and I had one shoe fit into my pedal and one out and all of a sudden – whoa, whoa, WHOA , TIMBER. And I went down. Typical Jess.

Running
Obviously, I have this one down but the different is that my body has been trained to run long distances so my natural pace is a little slower as I had to ensure I could sustain 13.1 or 26.2 miles at it. But with the Tri’s, I’ll either be doing a 5k or a 10k and could definitely speed up my pace and help improve my time. So, another modification I’ll be making to my natural tendency so I can speed things up. My hip should allow for these shorter distances (for those of you who don’t know I stress fractured my hip two summers ago while training for a half marathon and although apparently healed it hasn’t quite been the same) so I’m hoping my body will survive.

The Race
My race is the TexasMan Triathlon in Valley View Texas (north of Denton) on May 5th. The swim will determine if I do a Sprint distance (500yd swim, 16 mile bike, and 5k) or an Olympic distance (1500m swim, 24.1 mile bike, and 10k) triathlon. Technically the training for both is the same. Moral of the story is I will be in the best shape of my life after this and I better have a rockin’ body! My luck though I’ll just bulk up like a damn man. Haha.

I am training with Team In Training, an organization that benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Each team member is required to fundraise for LLS so I would appreciate your support in the form of a donation on my behalf to LLS as your money will go towards research for cures for these terrible blood diseases and helping to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Click here to access my fundraising page and donate now! Thank you in advance for your generosity!