Blenheim Triathlon, Frustration, and Portaloos

I must admit that Sunday’s triathlon just kind of snuck up on me.  I have been so swim focused, and busy with work travel, that opening the race pack on Sunday morning seemed quite a surreal experience.  I was racing?  A triathlon?  Where did that come from?!

I decided to go into this triathlon just to have fun and enjoy racing.  And I did.  But I also left the race incredibly disappointed, and reviewing from the bottom up how I am approaching tris.  Sure, I tri because I can.  But I also want to keep on becoming more and more competitive.

And because of my desire to keep improving I sometimes get really frustrated.  I try to see the positive in things, but it is hard to keep motivated when you feel like the training “is not getting you anywhere”.  I know that is my reality – I have to work hard to maintain what I have, and that improvement is going to be hard to come by, and will take time. 

But sometimes this is just so frustrating I could scream.

Perhaps the start to my day yesterday just sums it all up perfectly… 

I dropped my phone in a portaloo

Oh my god.  When faced with the loss of my phone, I decided that instead of freaking out and crying, I would just laugh about it and see if a bit of persistance and care would pay off.  I don’t like giving up on things.  So I wasn’t going to quit on the phone.

So gross.  My initial reaction was to just leave the phone, forget about it, move on.  To give up.  I mean, was it worth it, the trouble, grossness, sacrifice in saving the phone?

Then I wondered how bad things would be, I mean after all, it was only 8am… So I opened the loo up and decided to rescue the phone.

It was not pretty.  But I was optimistic.  The phone was still working.  I flipped the case off and left it in the portaloo, and tucked the stripped down and bare phone into my rucksack.  And I decided that I had done my best for the phone – an accident had happened, but what would be would be.  And I needed to get ready to do a triathlon.  Holy cow.  I was doing a triathlon.

I did the race, came back, and noted with glee that the phone was still working.  It worked for about 2 more hours, and then it died.  Sigh.

Such was its fate.  But never one to give up, I placed the phone in a bag of top quality risotto this morning, and plan to leave it there for 24 hours to see if it will resuscitate and dry out.  And if it doesn’t, then time for plan B – a visit to the Vodafone store, to use that phone insurance policy for a new one…  And fear not, that risotto will not be consumed!

The phone in the portaloo saga is kind of an allegory for my day yesterday.  Full of optimism, including the way forward, and needing a plan B.

My Blenheim experience, and my Plan B

Although I had done very little training (relatively speaking) to set myself up for maximum success in this race, I still hoped to crack the two hour barrier.  And I didn’t.  My run is holding me back, as are my transitions.

My swim was ok, although I knew I was not trained to sprint at the moment.  I had the goal of exiting the water in less than 15 minutes, and I scraped under this barrier, crossing the timing mat at 15:28.  I’m cool with that.

The bike was super windy.  I expected more.  I had hoped to do the bike course in 45 minutes, but instead did it in 50.  Again, it was super windy.  The time was faster than last year, showing that even in windy conditions I am a lot stronger.  I didn’t red line myself on the bike, as I knew I hadn’t been running and wanted some sort of leg strength on the run.  So maybe I could have gone faster, even in the conditions, but I am cool with the way I approached the bike.  I was not quick, but I felt better than last year, more confident, and it was a lot of fun.

My run.  I have not been focusing on the run at all, and it shows.  I have not been to the track in months.  I have not been running for weeks, except for the run off the bike at the end of my recent rides in Suffolk.  I am weak, still, at the run.  OK, I did have a minor improvement compared with last year – I took about a minute off the run.  But really I expected more, even if I have not been training.  My last 5k at the Egg Hunt in Florida (pancake flat unlike hilly Blenheim) went really well.  This, well it did not meet my expectations.

I need to do more running.  The time has come – after the Bay Swim – to get back to twice a week focused running.  I am not looking for miracles.  I would be content to be able to “run” sustainable 14 minute miles.  I think this is achievable.  I was at about 15 minute miles at Blenheim and I am not happy at this level.

And transition times.

My transition times have always sucked the big one.  Especially T2, when I don ankle braces for the run.

Now wearing ankle braces does not kill my transition time as much as wearing compression socks.  Since 2010 I have worn compression with the braces as a way of managing potential friction and blistering.  Getting compression on, mid-race, is not easy!  In fact, it is a time suck.

And you know what?  It is not even solving the blistering problem…  I’ll spare you the picture, but I now sport a blister the whole inside of my left foot above my heal, to my ankle bones. Ewwwww…

One of my Twitter friends, Deb, suggested taping as a way to manage blistering.  She is an ultrarunner, and apparently this is a fairly tried and tested solution for blisters in the ultrarunner community.  So when talking with my sports therapist Michael, he suggested Tiger Tape, the zinc oxide strong tape used to tape footballers ankle injuries.  So I’ve ordered some.  I am thinking that the tape will also help my ankle/foot position in water, making calf cramping less likely (I had major calf cramps last Thursday swimming).

At this stage, I can’t see what I have to lose in trying a new solution.  So far I have tried so many different types of compression socks.  I have tried Invigorators.  I have tried Therafirm.  I have tried Nike, 2XU, Sugoi and Moose.  And I keep having blistering issues.  And putting on the socks mid-race takes way too much time.  I reckon I could shave 2 minutes off my transition time if I just went back to normal socks and relied on tape to stop blistering.

So that’s the first part of my own plan B.

The next part…  I really wanted to crack the 2 hours in a sprint to ensure my ability to be included in the ITU Hyde Park paratriathlon race in August.  I have said that my focus this year is not the paratriathlon series – instead it is a few single sport longer distance events, plus doing two Olympic distance triathlons in a year (thus I need to focus on that running, soon, to see improvement for my “A” race in Maine in August).

But that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about entering the Hyde Park race.  In recent correspondence with British Triathlon it was remarked that I needed to demonstrate that I could meet the cutoff times for the race to be included.  My transitions are a big factor in this.  So I need another sprint distance race, to see if I can meet the 2 hour cutoff, if I want to entertain the idea of doing Hyde Park.  And to see how racing in tape only feels, prior to doing my Olympic Distance races.

The plus side?

There is always a plus side.  Even when I feel hugely frustrated because of my time at Blenheim, I am also very satisfied.  I can just wake up and do a sprint triathlon now.  About 3 years ago this was definitely not the case.  I can run a constant 5k, even without run training, and although it is slow, I can do it and walk fine the next day. 

And as Coach T reminded me, I am doing this all to improve and extend my quality of life. 

Yes, doing the training and keeping active, with goals of races, makes me feel good.  I may not feel like working out every day, it is undeniably easier for me to want to be a couch potato rather than an athlete (I am sure SO MANY PEOPLE can relate to this feeling).  But all the training and doing triathlons makes me feel good.  My energy level is high. 

And I enjoy triathlon.  I enjoy each step I take on the course.  When I am out there, I feel alive. 

And I feel as if I have a place in the sport – the champion for the slow, for those who think they can’t do it, for those that are happy to be able to just be active and to push their own limits, regardless of the outcomes.

So I’ll keep remembering the positive, and crafting the Plan Bs.

Let’s hope my phone cooperates with this approach too!