Ontario Women's Triathlon Race Report

My first ever running race was a women's 5K and it had chocolate, firefighters and medals that looked like silver keychains (I don't even remember getting one). I said never again. The marketing towards women of all things bubbly and pink was making me gag. No surprise since I am more of a tomboy myself and I don't get fashion, makeup and high heels. Whatever, that's not the point here. Ever since that first race, I was turned off by women specific races. It just seemed that they were getting more and more ridiculous as the time went by.

When Iron Girl came to Ontario a few years ago, I rolled my eyes three times inside my head when I saw the pink glitter on the medal. Only Swarowski crystals were missing from it, or was there a big, fat one in the middle?... I don't remember. Maybe I am just jealous that I didn't get one... A couple of years forward, and Multisport announced that they were going to have their own women's tri and I was very reluctant to participate. However, once I heard that Paolina Allan was going to be race director, and knowing her badassery, I started wondering if it was worth giving it a try. Only idiots don't change their minds, the saying goes. Phaedra said she was going to go, a few women from our tri club were interested as well... I said, what the hell, let's make it a party! (with a good dose of estrogen thrown in it, yikes).

Honestly, the lack of medals in triathlon has started to get to me. I race for bling, ok?? And it does not have to be pink, or to be covered in glitter, to be worth fighting for. While I have gotten into the top 10 often enough, I only made it on a triathlon podium once, and it was at Barrelman swim/bike last year thanks to a field of 20. So anyway... this race had medals, yay!! And they were going to be ... pink. *sigh* Beggars can be choosers, right? Yet another reason to toe the line.

The morning of the race started like any other weekend for a triathlete... alarm clock at  6am to head out for a workout. Given that I was going to drive for over an hour, I was very thankful for the 10am late start. I took my sweet time to eat breakfast, pack my transition bag, fill my water bottles etc... Zin helped me with my bike, then off I went. I was still undecided what to wear, so I took both my FMCT tri kit and my TRS Racing team bike jersey and tri shorts. The weather gods promised to dump copious amounts of water on our heads, but I was still unsure about the temperature. I decided to wait to arrive on site to make a choice.

Once there, I racked my bike, then proceeded to pick up my race kit, chip and get body marked. Once again, the 42 on my calf smiled at me. The "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" according to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In a few days from now, I may even start glowing in the dark, you'll see. I made a portapotty stop, hugged my friends, listened to John Salt and Paolina doing the race briefing (I didn't even bother look at the race maps, oops), then squeezed into my wetsuit as the first raindrops were starting to fall on us.

FMCT models. I want to be Barb when I grow up. 

I headed to the beach, trying to figure out where the run back to T1 was going to be. Someone said that we're going through a tunnel?? Oh, there it is! It goes under the road... that's cool, I guess. I was going to be in the second wave with the 40-49 ladies. The lack of men in the race was a little confusing, but in the end everyone in wetsuits and swim caps looked just about the same, with a little more curves and spunk. The energy was awesome to tell you the truth. Not only it was going to be one of the largest Multisport races, but it had 250 women and that was truly impressive. To put it in perspective, the last Olympic tri of the season had 173 participants altogether. The thought of a larger age group gave me an even bigger motivation to race hard and see how I can hold my own out there, despite my serious lack of training this season.

With all the excitement around, I had little to no time to warm up. I was still trying to figure out the course buoys and how many dolphin dives I was supposed to do, thanks to the shallow water that went on forever. I did manage to get in the water for a minute or two, just enough to get water inside my wetsuit and on my face. I watched with amusement the first wave start and how many women ran all the way up to the first buoy. But I could hear Paolina in the back telling us that's better to swim as soon as we can and I took a mental note. Not even 3 minutes later the gun went off and it was our time to run through the waves, even though there were none that morning.

Went to Hell and back

I ran for maybe 20 meters, then did 2-3 dolphin dives and started swimming pretty hard, while a bunch of feet were hitting the ground all around me. And for the first time ever in my open water swimming experience, I could not breathe. I could feel a panic attack building up and I was unable to take deep breaths. Usually big breaths are supposed to help with regaining your calm, but it was impossible to do so at the time. I faced two options: stand up and walk, or just keep swimming... just keep swimming... just keep swimming... I opted for the second option just because Ellen always makes me laugh. It took at least 200m to finally be able to breathe somewhat normally. However, given how hard I was swimming, there was no time to take peaceful breaths. I was in full race mode, alright. Thankfully the course (500m) was very short and I knew that I only needed to survive the ordeal for 10 minutes or so. I swam until my arms hit the sand, then stood up and ran towards the shore. You can tell by the photo above that was not my most blissful swim. As a matter of fact, it was my fastest swim this year!! Where is T1 again??

It seemed like it took forever to get back, as we almost ran a full circle around the transition area. That's ok, more time to appreciate how I did not die. Yay me.

Back in transition, I found my spot without too much effort and quickly put on my helmet and bike shoes. By then the rain was in full force, but having thought to cover my mat with a large garbage bag before the race start, I was glad to see that both pairs of shoes were not yet soaked. I trotted my way out of transition and right away got in aero and dropped the hammer. The ride was an out and back along Lake Simcoe and I was joyfully reminded of the ride I did with Zin, Paul and Mellen last year that brought us to Jackson Point on a cold fall day. This time it was quite warm, despite the buckets of water being dumped on us. I love riding in the rain, especially when the course is flat and I am not freezing my ass. I kept passing girls and lost my voice shouting "Left!". During the entire ride I was only passed twice, once by Clare and once by Felicia. I took a note of their names and wondered if I was going to see them again that day, but given the difference in speed, it was more like... buh bye!! Enjoy the podium!

My bike Trinity and I having fun in the rain

I did not look at my watch once, going only by feel and asking myself every once in a while... can you push harder? Obviously my fitness is nowhere near where it was before, but I still felt quite powerful passing so many people out there. Obviously, this was a race targeted towards beginners, so I cannot really compare, but still... an average of 30.5kph is not too shabby. I took a gel halfway and a few sips of water. I had never done such a short race and I kept wondering if I wasn't supposed to drink more, but the rain kept me hydrated, I guess.

And so I was back in transition in just over 29 minutes. Question was, how much was I going to hurt on the run? I quickly changed into my running shoes and put on my bib, then ran out. I waited a few minutes to settle into a groove before looking at my watch. I saw some numbers in the 5:30/km and decided to try and stay on that pace until the end. I knew that I had run faster earlier in the season, but not after a bike. This was going to be a challenge, but doable I thought. I passed a few women and gave myself a virtual pat on the back. 4km... that is less than a Taekwondo run around the block. I can do this!!

Once I got to the turnaround, I passed a woman in my AG. Honestly I wasn't sure whether she was in the du or the tri, but it made me run scared. From that moment on, my goal became to keep ahead of her. I did not look back, but I kept pushing forward.
You can clearly see how I kicked it into the second gear by my heart rate trace, for a beautiful negative split.

In the end I met my goal of 5:30min/km, but I was spent!! I kept wondering in the last km if I was going to puke at the finish line again. I crossed the mat exhausted but relieved to be done. Can you tell? Thanks to this effort I finished 5th out of 32 in my age group and I could not be happier with this result.

That was a hard fight, it deserved a fist pump!

Paolina gave me my medal and I instantly forgot that it was pink. New distance (my shortest race ever!), new PR, sweet medal, great company, fantastic venue. When can I do it again?? It was truly amazing and I could not be happier for Multisport and Paolina for such a success. I heard that they are going to add more women's races next year and I say, bring it on!! You made me a convert and I love it how they encourage more women to join the sport. I will be more than happy to represent!

After the race I made sure to change clothes since I was soaked to the bone, then went to grab some food and a glass of bubbly. I watched the awards ceremony and I was super happy to see Barb, Phaedra and Amanda on the podium. So much fun!!

I won the crazy hair competition this time, yay! Phaedra must be impressed.

Then I went home and hang my new medal along with all the other ones. I may not have many, not even a rack to display them properly, but this one truly brought a smile to my face for everything that it represents. I made some awesome friendships thanks to running and triathlon and this medal shows how I finally embraced the community and the joyful spirit that brings us all together in competition and outside of it. It may be pink, but I love it.

Fun and torturous times

This summer is going by so fast! Maybe because of the anticipation of new beginnings in September... and because we're just 3 days away from the end of July, for crying out loud. That's it, the countdown to setting the Christmas tree has started.

My athletic endeavors have been rather uneventful lately, which is probably a good thing. If you remember my plans stated here last week, I managed to keep myself accountable for at least the triathlon related workouts. On Thursday I went to the lake for our weekly OWS and spent most of the time with two new members, helping them to become more comfortable in deep water. This left me with just enough time to do a 750m loop on my own, and it was a good way to clear my head at the end of a stressful day. To add more endorphins to the mix, I also followed the swim with a 6km run around the lake. Judging by the tightness in my knees, it is probably the max distance that I can run right now and I can't really complain. I'll take anything over 30 minutes as a good enough challenge for my wobbly joints.

Friday was another scorching day and Taekwondo did not happen. Neither did the Saturday black belt training as I chose to spend some time with my family instead. I did make it to the little party that our school put for our team representing Canada at the ITF World Championships in London, UK. It was pretty sweet and I hope our team is going to bring some shiny hardware back this week.

His and hers

The next day I had to wake up early for our club's second triathlon simulation day of the year. And 5:30am is damn early for a Sunday. Oh the things we do for our members... After marking the course, Zin and I went over to Professor's Lake to set up the transition racks, the tent and the whole shebang with the rest of the crew. Of course, I also had to set up my own transition spot. I was going to "race" after all.

You can tell how hot it's been this year by the color of the grass.

Aww, isn't he a sweet hubby? Thank you hon.

All set! Isn't Trinity pretty with her red tyres?

I got in the water shortly after 8am and swam 2 loops trying to stay close to Mellen who seemed to have a few difficulties swimming straight, which gave me a little advantage on the distance and made me feel like a champion mermaid. That's what happens when you get only 3h of sleep, eh Mellen? However she swam another loop and biked some 100km afterwards, so I'm just pretending to compete here, haha.

Then it was time to bike. I was supposed to lead the beginners' group, but I only had one taker, so I rode with an older gentleman called Dave who was just about the perfect match for a 40km relaxed ride. He was also quite chatty, so I had a good time. Until I found out that we had an acquaintance in common who died 2 years ago, that is. Unbelievable. A person who I considered the epitome of success in life, who had everything going for him: fame, fortune, a beautiful family, and the most amazing house, where I used to go party with the company I worked for when I first came to Canada. He was one of the kindest and most knowledgeable people I knew, and a genius in the field of mathematics. And cancer took all this away. Yet another reason to say: Fuck cancer.

Oof, that was heavy. Back to our cancer fighting activities (one can hope, right?). Last on the day's menu, the run. Dave and I went running together as well, and thankfully we managed to change subjects in time to appreciate our surroundings. A loop around Professor's Lake and everything was right with the world again. While on the run I was, of course, pokemoning, and trying to make an omelette with a few eggs in my Pokedex. One of them refused to hatch when the time was up, so I continued running in (little) circles until it did, which brought my total to 4.7km run. You gotta do what you gotta do (aka I'm that cuckoo. Some call it stupid too, and I'm totally fine with it - you should see the number of Instagram and twitter users that I lost since I started talking Pokemon Go).

Doesn't it look like fun?

Alright, once that was done I could finally call it a day. We dismantled the transition zone, packed everything and went back home. I had to meet with hubbs later on to pick up his bike because he was doing a "mega" training day (3km swim, 140km bike, 30km run) and he was afraid to leave it in his car in the middle of the Caledon trailway. I spent the rest of the day waiting (and worrying) for him that he was going to melt under the hot sun. I am glad that he didn't, but he came back home 10lb lighter (not a joke).

This week I took a rest day on Monday, not only because there are no Taekwondo classes for two weeks, but also because I was going to start a new Trainer Road bike program the next day in preparation for Barrelman swim/bike where I will be defending my AG win from last year. So on Tuesday, after much procrastinating, I opened my laptop, clipped on my (power) pedals and started the 1h torture (Strava 8 min FTP test here). Zin set the workout for me at 85% down from my previous FTP, where I used virtual power thanks to my speed/cadence sensor and the trainer data. This time, the truth was going to come out, whether I wanted it or not. As I said from the beginning, I was pretty sure that I lost 30 virtual watts between the previous FTP and this one, and I was bang on the money.

Overall I am rather happy how I paced this test and proud that I pushed through when the tough got tougher. One can only look at my max HR during these intervals to feel my pain.

I was surprised to see that the test did not destroy me as I had feared. The next day I even went for another 6km run and I survived it just fine. Tomorrow I took another day off from work and I plan on going on another bike ride with Mellen, then Kingston triathlon race on Sunday! I will be doing the (longer) sprint, while Zin will be doing the long course tri. An exciting week for sure!

If you are in Canada, do you have any plans for the long weekend? For me, any long weekend is good enough reason to be giddy! Have fun, kids!

Lazy days of summer

Coming back from Muskoka I felt a little drained. Not only because I spent most of my weekend on two feet, but also because of a heatwave that we've been "blessed" with for the past two weeks. Only today I felt that my brain wasn't ready to melt as soon as I stepped out of the door.

I don't do so well with racing in heat anymore. Not that it bothers me on the spot, but after such an effort I need to go down for a long nap. I did not have this opportunity on Sunday after the race, and to make matters worse, the heatwave got really out of control Mon-Wed, to the point that I completely gave up all ideas of exercising. I have to pat myself on the back for even leaving the house and going to work.

Yay for more water!

On Thursday I finally came out of this lazy stupor and went to Professor's Lake for our club's open water swim. A storm was looming on the horizon, but it did not affect our time in the water. I did 2 loops for a total of 1500m then decided to go on a 3km run loop around the lake. To be honest, after all the heat, the idea of running in the rain was rather inviting. About 1km in, this is what the storm looked like from the distance (and I still had to make it across the pond).

Unsurprisingly, I got soaked in the last km, but it felt absolutely wonderful. Once I finished the loop I waited for Mellen and hubbs who were running a little behind, then headed home for dinner. All of a sudden, I was full of energy again!

The next day, when Mellen asked if I wanted to go with her on a bike ride, I could not say no. As I had other errands to run and a wedding reception to go to in the evening, I took the day off and chose to enjoy it to the maximum.

We chose to rode from my house to Erin and back. To be honest, I was very apprehensive because Mellen is so much stronger than me on the bike, but without knowing it, she had already planned to tire herself up before showing up. As a matter of fact, she rode 70km to start the day, then met with me for another 75km. I had one of my best rides of the year, but finished with another Strava extreme suffer score because of a 170bpm average over 2h50. I am THAT out of shape, OK? Mellen's HR... 140bpm. Alright then, glad that she did not fall asleep.

Still dry before the deluge

I should probably thank the rain for keeping us on the edge of our seats, literally. We got soaked (again!) on our way back from Erin. It was still a lot of fun, especially flying down Mississauga road with cross winds and all the speed! Despite the copious amount of sugar that I eat, I am also glad to report that I did not melt.

However, I was afraid to melt under the sun once I came back home, so I settled on a lazy chair in a shady spot with a cold beverage. It was glorious. I may or may not have fallen asleep in the process.

Apparently epic suffer scores require epic rest days, so Saturday I had to take the day off. Again. And while I was resting I did the unimaginable. I downloaded Pokemon Go!! And what does one do when they have a new toy? They go Pokemon hunting. With their cat. Like a certifiable crazy cat lady.

I caught a Pokemon. His name is Picchu and he is very athletic. Special powers are Killer Purr and Vertical Jump.

Then this happened. It was one of the first goals that day. I ended with over 15k steps, over 3 times more than a regular working day, 5 times more than a weekend on the couch.

Since then I went hunting every day. I now take the "long road" while going to the nearby coffee shop, just so that I walk by all 4 Pokestops within a 2km radius. I saw dozens of teenagers and grown up people outside enjoying the game. If someone puts a lure on one of these pokestops, it's pandemonium. Teens and adults come over on bikes, skateboards, cars or just by walking. It definitely took the neighbours out of their homes and it's really awesome to see.

My sons got on their bikes again. We compare Pokedexes and combat levels. We are bonding again around a silly game. Say what you want, but I do enjoy their company again. After 5 days I reached level 13 and caught/evolved 47 different Pokemons out of 150. This makes me happy.
Just look at the Pokemon effect on my activity level from the last 3 days.

Look at me (Pokemon) GO!

The craziness has also taken over my office. We have 2 gyms and 4 Pokestops on the campus and I find myself walking around the office a lot more, working from the cafe where people put lures regularly, and going outside to visit the pond. It almost makes the office bearable, almost. Can you argue with this?

View from the Pokestop

Where is my Pokeball when I need it? Did the game freeze on me? Oh wait... 

Comfortable sandals are mandatory for Pokemon hunting

But don't get fooled by the idyllic conditions, the inside is still a zoo and my head is still up in the trees. Probably a good introduction to what I'll be doing in 2 months from now: I am going back to school and will abandon the IT world for good. I had 16 good years going from computer engineer to Sr. Manager of a team of 30, climbing the ladder as high as I felt comfortable, but now it's time for a change. I have decided to become an Arborist (wiki link here) and signed up for the Urban Arboriculture program at Humber College. I guess I'll be climbing even higher now, ha! Classes start September 26 and I could not be more excited about it. The program lasts 2 semesters and if all goes well, next spring I will be working outside, taking care of trees as a "tree surgeon" with my new best friend, the chainsaw. I honestly feel that I fit right in. Not only the people that I met in the industry are so friendly and down to earth, they welcomed me with open arms and I think that I will feel much better in this environment, doing something good that makes a difference for nature and the habitat. And who knows where this path takes me. A new adventure for sure, with a lot of hard, physical work, learning and growing challenges, pretty much from the bottom up.

Trees, you've got a friend in me

Alright, now back to working out before my work becomes a work out. On Monday and Tuesday of this week I also went back to Taekwondo after a 10 day break. I think I needed this break after the emotional roller-coaster that took so much energy out of me. On both days we started the class with a jog/sprints combo and I survived both days without any pain. I suffered while stretching though, but that was to be expected. I worked on my patterns until my brain gave up and I was no longer able to coordinate my left with my right. That must be sign of a good workout, or I'm just getting old, as usual.

Today I took another day off from exercising, but I plan on swimming/running tomorrow, TKD class on Friday and/or Saturday, then triathlon simulation day on Sunday. Keeping the fun alive, one day at a time. Cheers!

A semblance of normality

Another week in the books and no boo boo to spoil the party. Now that's how you start a blog post! Where's my muscle emoji when I need it?

I went to Taekwondo on Tuesday and we did a 6.2km run at the beginning. I tried to stay on top of the leaderboard as the fastest of the group, but the instructor's son put on his 6'5" long legs and left me in his dust, after I beat him the week before. I ran like a maniac though, finishing the run in 34min 40sec, a 45 sec improvement over the previous run, but with the HR in the red, average 181. I pretty much do a speed workout every night I run there, reason why I try to limit the runs to 2 a week so I don't kill my legs, especially since I had little choice over the days I went training and they ended being back to back. Not good.

The next day I ran again, but thankfully only 4.5km. Then we worked on some sparring techniques - lots of high kicks. Not sure what was easier for the ribs - the power kicks we did the day before or the combination kicks during sparring training.  But I managed just fine, despite training with the black belts as they prepare for the ITF Taekwondo World Championships. Speaking of which... this is what ITF Taekwondo looks like.


And this is our school Miller's Taekwondo:


I still take painkillers at night because sleeping on the injured side is hard and I don't get my beauty sleep that helps me function like a human. Hopeful that by the end of the month the bruised ribs will be just a distant memory.

Thursday was OWS night at Professor's Like. A beauty of a swim... so different from the Sunday before. The lake was like glass, although on the chilly side. I helped a new member swim two loops, so it was full of zen. Bubbles bubbles breathe... Look, a pretty cloud and the sky is so blue! Where is that buoy again? I just got lost in my thoughts... as usual. I love open water swimming! Too bad I didn't give any of this love to the pool over the winter, but that's ok. I am not going to break any records this season anyway.

The week went by very fast and with the arrival of the weekend, the apprehension of the longest ride of the year, on the hottest day so far. My friend Sam from "Breaking my Runners In" is training for Muskoka 70.3 and she wanted to do a hilly 100km workout. Crazy as I am, I said yes to joining in the fun pain. Emma made us a route starting from Burlington, complete with a donut stop, 1000m of elevation and only 39 turns. I had to wonder if Emma was PMSing or something, because it delivered! I didn't count all the hills, but the motto quickly became "it ain't over till it's over". The meanest one was strategically placed at km 85, and the last one was just 500m before the finish. Thanks Emma!! What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right?

Don't be fooled by our smiles, this was after 45km ONLY.

TRS Team photo! (suck the belly in)

I think we climbed that thing in the back

The route was really beautiful though and it had a few awesome downhills too, good enough for some Strava PRs. I drank 4 bottles of water, 2 of Gatorade, had 2 gels and a fruit bar, plus a butter tart. I managed my nutrition pretty well for the conditions, just like in the good ol' days when workouts like these were the routine. The only thing missing were the salty balls, haha.
Oh wait... here they are.

Sorry, not sorry. 

We met with them boys just before the donut/butter tarts stop. Hubby is on the left. These guys were out for 170km in preparation for Ironman Mt Tremblant. They still had 100km left when we met them, and again... don't get fooled by the smiles. The sweaty and delirious ones at the end of the ride are just below.

I went back home and prepared lunch for the boys, then waited for hubbs to arrive from his own epic adventure. We barely had 1h to rest, then went out to one of TFC's soccer matches since we have a few season tickets. For once TFC won, against LA Galaxy nonetheless.

If we look a little pooped, it's totally normal. It was only after we got a cold drink in the shade that we perked up a little. We even compared tan lines. I definitely win.

He may have a nice caramel color, but I am a real cyclist.

The next morning I slept in. Oh, what a glorious sleep. Our cat didn't even bother me, but of course... Zin woke up early again, this time to run 28km (and it distracted the cat away from the bedroom). It sucks to be Ironman in training sometimes.

Another scorcher of a day, but I spent most of it inside, until I went out for another open water swim that is. This time, direction the Quarry where our friend Mellen joined us for some quality "mermaiding". Aren't we pretty?

Another season first, and a 2200m swim that woke up my ribs by the end. Little by little I am getting there... Not ready to do long triathlons any time soon, but I can do some long swims and bike rides, and survive short, fast runs.

Little did I know, the ride I did yesterday was a blessing. Just today I was asked to replace someone at Muskoka 70.3 for the bike segment of a relay and I said yes!! I was really bummed last year when I didn't get to play on that course, but this year I am taking every opportunity as a chance to remind myself that I am not completely broken and I can still do things. I may only ride my bike every 3 weeks, but at this point I know that I can survive the Muskoka hills. It won't be my fastest time on that course since I lost a lot of fitness (and packed on 10 pounds), but I plan on having as much fun as I can while keeping the #rubbersidedown. Since hubby is doing the race as well, I am going to have triple the fun: racing, catching people and cheering my friends across the finish line. Now that's going to be awesome. Stay tuned... first race of the season is next Saturday!

Back at it

So the ribs situation, while annoying because I cannot sleep very well, is not a deal breaker. Last week I went back to Taekwondo and we had to run 6km (like every class from now on). I was apprehensive to have my insides hit my ribs while in motion, but in the end it was not too bad. It felt like I had a stubborn side stitch and the next day the pain was a lot milder. Go figure. Only a dull, constant pain remained. No more sharp shooting pain, so... yay? The next day we had to run another 6km. That too went well, although I had some pain in the knee that kept coming and going, just to mess with my mojo. Stupid knee, I bet next time it's going to be the other one to bother me. I guess I am still not ready to run two days in a row. By the end of the week I could even do some kicks and add some power into them, so things are moving into the right direction. Still not much core power to help me with balance, but that too shall come back one day.

Alright, enough with the complaints for today. After the crazy training sessions during the week, I took it up a notch on Saturday. How masochistic I am, you must be wondering.

In the middle of a career change (more on this later), I had signed up to attend an event put together by the Women in Arboriculture Canada group, my new adoptive family. I woke up early (for a Saturday, but not for a triathlete!) and drove to St Thomas, about 15km south of London, ON. Arrived there right on time to grab a tshirt, a few promotional materials, a buff and a catalogue for Universal Field Supplies, the Arborist reference store in the Peel region. Rope, carabiners, pulleys, harnesses - OH MY. After getting introduced people left and right, whose names I mostly forgot, we watched a demo for Single Rope Technique done with both fancy, and not as fancy gear, then got released into the wild to climb (designated) trees in the park.

Our playground for the day

Arborists in the wild

Tree climbing champions - learning from the best!

I want this setup

Girls know how to have fun

Excuse my butt hanging out of my pants - but I am climbing a tree!!

I am not in there, but not far. About 5 girls up ahead.

I had my own challenges during the day because I went completely unprepared, resulting in some painful blisters on my hands. The only piece of equipment that I could use was my hard hat which I had to wear while under the canopy. The rest of the equipment was graciously lent by other ladies who didn't even flinch at the idea of sharing with a complete n00b that they met an hour before. I learned lots, met awesome people and had a good upper body workout to prove that I belonged in this "industrial athletes" group.

The next day I had to wake up early again, boo. This time, for an open water swim, the second of the season with the FMCT tri club at Professor's Lake. It was super windy and the lake had a nice chop, therefore I chose to spare my ribs (see what I did here?) and swim only one 750m loop. It was more than enough. I returned home so tired, that I jumped back in bed and slept until noon.

And this completed my epic week of crazy, adventurous workouts. Let's see how this one goes.

Like two fish in a pond

First open water swim of the season! We couldn't wait for Professor's Lake Beach to open this year, we've been counting the days and today, finally, we could get our swim on! It was the first one ever for hubbs, in a wetsuit that is. It was also my first time this year that I was putting my wetsuit on. Good news, it still fits! In less than 5 minutes each, we were ready to go. I couldn't contain Zin, he went in right away, I bet he was eager to try his new rubber skin.

We're going to swim from here...

All the way there... that's about 100m I bet!

I followed suit shortly afterwards and was surprised by how warm the water was. A bit "fresh" on the face, but I wasn't expecting anything less, we're in a spring fed lake after all and it's been pretty cold out there this year. We went back and forth along the demarcation line and it was much better than I thought despite the fact that the area wasn't deeper than 5 feet, the water was crystal clear, lots of fish were doing their own thing and didn't seem to be distracted by our attempts to imitate them.

Like a boss

Like myself

We went back and forth maybe 5-6 times, then a bit to the deeper area towards the platform that you can see behind me. I could not stop watching the fish. There were a few really big ones in the deeper end and I was mesmerized. We called it a day eventually. It was close to lunch time and we started to have fish envy. In the belly. Come'on, one last photo, and we're gone!

We really had a good time. I am very happy that Zin is such a natural and is afraid of nothing. I want to see him completing his first triathlon already, he's going to kick some ass! Next open water swim, Thursday with the tri club, but this time in the middle of the lake around buoys! Let the triathlon season begin!

Putting my fish on: success!

You remember how I said a few weeks ago that I was terrified of open water swimming? It surely still stands true when I imagine myself at a triathlon start and getting thrown inside the "washing machine", but this week has been certainly memorable because I got my first taste of lake swimming and got pretty drunk on it. Lemme explain.

On Monday, I talked my youngest son into going to an open water swimming clinic for kids as a local coach member of my tri club is trying to put together a triathlon club for kids. The swim was at Kelso Lake, about 30min drive from our house and we were told that 4-5 other kids all between 10-13 yr old were going to attend. The day was a bit on the chilly side with temperatures in the low 20s Celsius, but it was beautiful outside and a shame not to go for fear of a cold swim. Although I had not planned on swimming, I threw my wetsuit in the trunk, just in case, and off we went.

When we arrived there, I noticed a lot more adults than kids carrying backpacks and didn't quite know what was going on until we arrived on the beach and they all started stripping and putting on their wetsuits. My son got ready to swim with the other kids and jumped in the lake whereas me, I was standing there puzzled, not sure what to do. I realized that the male coach, Dave, was about to give a private lesson to all the adult folks, while Lorene, the female coach, was going to teach the kids. So I asked for permission to put on my wetsuit too. I was in a hurry to join them since they were already in the water going over the basics and the dolphin dives... and pulled too hard on my wetsuit and put a nick in it. Oh well. Shit happens, it wasn't all the way through to the fabric and it was only one inch long. I tried not to freak about it and went in the lake to join the lesson.

Kelso Lake

It was supposed to be my rest day, but the coach had a plan for this clinic so to hell with my rest day. From then on, we did a lot of back and forths (one length was about 120m) across the lake learning the following:
- 2 lengths sighting
- 2 lengths turning around buoys
- 2 lengths drafting off another person's feet
- 4 lengths with water exit after the first loop, run on the beach and back in the water for the second loop
- 2 lengths with water exit and quick removal of wetsuit

Total 1500m of most valuable experience in a group where I got the right amount of kicking and pulling and being swum over and drinking water and untangling algae from my arms. It was a pretty awesome day and I am extremely glad that I had the intuition of bringing my wetsuit with me, even though I messed it up a bit. It's the life of the neoprene, what can you do. I did, however, learn a great tip for putting it on, which made all the difference on Thursday for the second open water swim of the week, but I'm getting there, hold on.

Before we move on, I guess it's worth mentioning my "wardrobe malfunction" when I removed my wetsuit at the end of the clinic. See, my regular swimsuit exploded the last time I went to the pool, growing 4 sizes bigger by the time I came out of the water. The fabric disintegrated even further when I removed it in the dressing room and I had to throw it directly in the garbage as there was no way to salvage it. When I went to the lake on Monday, I had with me an older swimsuit from the times I was 8 sizes bigger. It was ok while under the wetsuit, but when I peeled the wetsuit off, the swimsuit top (it was one of those tanktops with a separate bottom from a Plus size shop) went down as well as the fabric on the straps gave up under the wetsuit's suction force. Nice!! The guys were having a good chuckle while I was being assisted with the "situation". Anyhow, long story short, after Monday, I had no more swimsuits left, so I had to go shopping.

I had two missions before my Thursday official open water swim: to find neoprene glue and a new swimsuit. The first mission got delayed as I had a lot of work in the office and it just seemed impossible to find any in a physical store around me. Eventually I found someone who suggested to try a scuba shop and BINGO, found one last container of Trident neoprene cement (with more warning labels than rat poison). I was now just hours from the swim, so I drove there at lunch and back to the office and took care of the boo-boo on the spot, hoping that 4h of drying time would be enough.

I also went to a swim shop and found an "aqua suit" (as opposed to a regular swim suit, go figure). It's made by Speedo and it looks just like the one on this skinny woman on the right (that is not me, I don't think her thighs touch like mine).

So... where was I? Missions, right. Two out of two complete!! Thursday night could not come fast enough, so I drove straight to Professor's Lake, our neighbourhood "beach" with all amenities and lots of fun for the entire family.

Again, I felt lost for a few minutes, but decided to go in and ask for the open water swim group. They quickly directed me to the marina where many of the group members had already stored their stuff and were already swimming. Once more, put on my wetsuit, while being very careful not to make another boo-boo, pulling from the inside as I was taught by the tri coach. It worked like a charm and after a quick talk with the swim organizer who showed me the buoys and the direction of the swim, off I went.  A loop was 750m, he said most of the people were doing 2 loops. Put my head down and tried to relax, a bit overwhelmed by the experience - that lake looked bigger than ever! - but finished the first loop in 18 minutes and I was no longer scared at all. I could hardly contain my excitement for being there, having the whole lake for myself  in one of the most beautiful evenings of this summer.

My coach Dave (are all coaches named Dave? not to be confused with the coach from the beginning of this post) had given me 1h of swim practice for that night, so I managed to fit in 3 loops for a total of 2.35km in just 56 minutes, the fastest and farthest I had ever swum. The whole experience was so surreal, I didn't want to leave the place, so I took this picture right as I was leaving.

Professor's Lake at sunset with lonely buoy and lifeguard

Here is the Runkeeper workout, with GPS map and all, thanks to my new Garmin 910 XT watch, w00t w00t!

Needless to say, I came back home ready to eat my young. I settled on a bit of cow instead and one hour later, I went out for a 50min run as well. I never felt so lethargic as during that run, it was still extremely hot and I wished I'd gone aquajogging instead. My arms were also cranky for the rest of the week, reminding me that I had asked them to do over 1500 strokes each to drag me all across Professor's Lake. Last but not least, I also got my first chaffing ordeal because of my Xterra Vortex 4 wetsuit. Not sure how I could fix it, it's at the base of my neck, due to the overlapping pieces of neoprene making up the zipper protecting flap. I will try some PAM next time, maybe that will do it.

Neck chaffing, 2 days after

Any other ideas to stay away from chaffing on that particular spot? Thanks, Internets.