Fun Fitness After 50

Who Was That Woman in the Leopard Print Full Body Swim Suit at the Emmett Sprint Triathlon 2013

August 13, 2013 by Laura Blodgett 7 Comments

There is no photo of me coming out of the water because my photographer had to catch the last bus down to town, but here I am right before the race.

The crowd gasped as my leopard-spotted form burst up out of the water of Black Canyon Reservoir. I had just finished the most comfortable triathlon swim of my 4 sprint triathlon career, and I felt like shaking my psuedo fur in a display of triumph, but the race had really only just begun. I needed to trot on to the bike transition.

There I would peel off my home made full body swim suit with ease. It was a bit of a shame that it had to come off. The suit had gotten a lot of comments while I waited on the shore of the reservoir before my swimming heat, the start of the women’s Sprint Distance at Emmetts Most Excellent Triathlon. One burly 30something man had high-fived me while he told me how great the suit was. A 72 year old gentleman had told me it was the best swim suit he had seen in 72 years. Many men and women came up smiling, saying how much they liked it. Many asked if it was a wetsuit and where I had gotten it.

Getting into the water just 5 minutes before the starting gun was not at all difficult with this extra layer of fabric. I did not miss not having a wetsuit. I treaded water in the back-middle of the pack next to the inner orange buoy. When the cannon went off, I began at a low-key pace. I think I might be better at pacing myself than many of the swimmers, because it wasn’t long before I was slipping past them. (click on any photo to enlarge)

The start of the women's Olympic distance swim for Emmetts Most Excellent Triathlon 2013 in Black Canyon Reservoir — The start of the women’s Olympic distance swim for Emmetts Most Excellent Triathlon 2013 in Black Canyon Reservoir

I was more ready for the crowded conditions this time and not as willing to give way as last year. I was polite, but I held my ground when others around me bumped and pushed. I know that I also collided inadvertently with some swimmers, because in the murky water, it is not easy to see people until you are right next to them.

The Olympic distance swimmers are off in the distance, far past the yellow buoy that will be my corner to turn at.

About half way through the swim, I made my first ever strategic swim move and made a short power effort to squeeze through a slow bottle neck. I don’t remember kicking anyone, but it was either get by or have their feet in my teeth. That group seemed to be thrashing and more tired than I was, and once I was past, there was very little bumping again.

I was very pleased to realize that I was not nearly as tired from this swim. Being able to swim without lap turning in my Endless Pool Fastlane current had really given me the feel for the longer swim. I was relaxed and I still cut my time by about 35 seconds. It is true that some of that time may have been because I did not have to stop for a few seconds this year while they fished out a distressed swimmer. It was still a much more enjoyable swim overall. Swim time 11:41 (minutes:seconds)

The bike ride was very non-eventful compared to last year. For one thing, the hours I have spent on the bike since then have given me a much better feel for riding. I owe a special thanks to several people involved with Nampa Cycling and Rolling H Cycles for their encouragement on training rides. I rode lower on the bike and felt so much more balanced. Of course, the new bike seat helped a lot, too. But I also know that I was riding much more consistently in higher gears, even going up the moderate hills on the course. I am going to have to learn how to switch into the higher gear range, which sounds scary to me.

I did play leap frog with a group of about four 30something women, which was fun for me. They seemed friendly about it all, so I’m going with the theory that it was just “inspiring” to have a 52 year old constantly pass them, so it spurred them on to pass me again. But there were not farmers on combines chasing me down and no pick-up trucks trying to take me out when they turned corners. It really went by quite fast. On this leg, I trimmed last year’s time by about 3.5 minutes. Bike time 41:24 (minutes:seconds)

The transition to the run was kind of funny because I didn’t have anything to leave there at the start of the race, nothing to “mark” my spot. All I needed to do was park the bike, then take off shoes, remove another shirt layer, and deposit my hydration pack.

I was glad I had become aware that I could hang my bike from either side of the rack, that it didn’t have to be facing the same direction as all the other bikes. My husband would probably have had to suffer through watching me walk the bike all the way around the rack again and I would have lost 2-3 minutes going through the transition. I can tend toward ridiculous levels or organization….also, still being fairly new to triathlons, I’m still learning what all the rules of order are. Don’t want to get disqualified for something stupid.

There were not very many people transitioning to the run at the same time as me!

My legs felt much more tired than they had during my trial triathlon a week prior, and I had apparently taken a bit too much to drink at the end of the bike ride. I had a persistent side ache for about 2 miles. However, I kept telling myself to just run light and enjoy myself. It helped that I kept receiving fun comments about my bare feet.

There were so many comments that I can’t remember all of them, but they are all positive and a few stand out.

One spectator observing from her yard yelled to her companions, “She’s my hero! She has bare feet!”

A tough Olympic distance triathlete passed me and said, “Well, now I feel a wimp! Bare feet!”

Another Olympic fellow calmly intoned as he glided by from behind me, “Barefoot and beautiful.”

It’s kind of nice that a little old lady sprint distance triathlete like me can impress some hard core competitors. (recall that my age is written boldly on the back of my calf)

Exclamations and comments of amazement were directed to me throughout, all the way to the finish line. It’s funny to think that probably no one knew I had been the lady in the leopard suit. Now, I was the barefoot lady. 🙂

I really wished I could have sprinted the finish, but 2 things were against me. One, there was a set of mats that my tired mind mistook for the finish line right before I rounded the corner to the finish line. Fortunately, my husband called out my name when I stopped to walk there, so I looked up and saw my mistake.

The other issue was that I was concerned my legs might cramp up, like at the end of the half marathon. Having been fighting the side ache, I had declined any other fluids during the 3.1 miles of running, but I doubt that would really have made a difference. The legs were just tired and doing what they could. I would just have to rely on the feeling of pace I had worked on developing all these weeks.

I ended up running an overall pace that was 7 seconds a mile faster than last year, so that obviously made me happy. I really didn’t feel like I was running that pace. Even though I had been attaining that pace regularly during training, it just didn’t have the same sensation at this point in the race. I wanted to feel faster, but an average 8:16 minute mile pace is very satisfactory for me at this stage at the end of a sprint triathlon! Run time 25:37 (minutes:seconds)

Having beat my last year’s total finish time by 5 minutes, I was disappointed to see that another 52 year old woman had crossed the finish line 10 minutes before me. Hmpf. So, it looked like this year I would get 2nd in my age group. When the awards were being given out, I was even more disappointed because I saw that first place winners were getting a fun lime green baseball cap. Second place only got a black cap.

Happy to be getting my bright green triathlon hat!

Then, when they were calling second place for my age group, they called someone else’s name! My heart fell! When my name was called next, I was confused, but happy. I got my bright green hat! 🙂 It turns out that the 52 year old woman who beat me took first place for all sprint distance women, which “disqualifies her” for an age group award. (she got much nicer awards) So, I have mixed feelings about this.

the 50-54 year old women's Sprint Distance Emmett Triathlon 2013 awards — the 50-54 year old women’s Sprint Distance Emmett Triathlon 2013 awards

My overall ranking among all sprint distance racers was 10 places better than last year, but what really counts is that my personal time was better. The mix of people is going to be different every year. For instance, the woman’s overall winner last year completed the course in 1 hour 5 minutes 13 seconds. The time for this year’s winner was just over 1 hour 12 minutes.

Being beat by 10 minutes by another 52 year old woman means that I really can’t use my age as an excuse for anything.

Total finish time: 1:22:36 (hour:minutes:seconds) (transition 1 took 2:51, transition 2 only 1:02)

“First” in age group awards, 2nd actual in my age group

79th out of all 199 sprint distance racers

23th out of 97 women in the sprint triathlon

For the record, I did not use my bike side mirror (the one that attaches to my sunglasses) or my Garmin watch (not water proof) for this race. I thought both would slow me down too much trying to put them on during transitions. I found that I did not miss the mirror, probably partly because I was only dealing with other cyclists and not motor vehicle traffic. I was able to glance over my shoulder adequately before moving out to pass others.

I was concerned about not having any idea of my total race time or running pace, but between the adrenaline from the race atmosphere and the consistent training where I DID know what my pace was it seems I was fine without the Garmin. It was nice to be aware that the clock at the finish line was set for the male Olympic racers and did not reflect my time. That would have been depressing! The race coordinators post the finish times pretty promptly for all to crowd around. 🙂

That afternoon I had dreams of the triathlon while I napped. I was in the run telling myself, “Just go a little faster. You can do it. Just a little faster.” In the dream, I did go faster. The next day, I found myself constantly thinking, “I could have gone faster!” Coach/Husband says this is normal. And the training doldrums that I felt about 6 weeks ago are a thing of the past. I’m already thinking about doing it again next year. Who’s going to do it with me??!!

Small Tips Make a Big Difference in Open Water Swim at Lucky Peak in July

August 1, 2013 by Laura Blodgett Leave a Comment

Open water swim time is the most difficult part of triathlon training for me to schedule. In fact, since I have practiced it the last 3 years and circumstances were conspiring against me recently, I had decided not to worry about it this summer. I mentally reviewed what I remembered and hoped that would be enough.

It would be cold
It would be crowded
There would be low visibility
It would be hard to swim straight
There would be unpredictable water movement

There didn’t seem to be anything I could do to prepare for 1-3. We haven’t heated my pool in a few weeks and the water temperature is still in the mid 80’s (number 1). The pool is small, but I supposed it wouldn’t be tooooo hard to convince my 2 girls that still live at home to stand next to me and jostle me around while I try to swim… still, it is hard to simulate a swimming crowd (number 2). I’m certainly not going to do anything on purpose to make my pool water murky; I can’t think of a way to blind fold myself underwater, but be able to see above it (number 3).

I have worked on sighting some (number 4), but if there is one thing that still gives me twinges of sea sickness in my pool, that is it. Consequently, I haven’t done it a lot. What I have done, though, I have done according to some information from swimsmooth.com about using as little energy as possible in the sighting effort. Also, I have noticed that I am much more comfortable in the moving water (number 5) than when I started in the pool almost 9 months ago.

When a trip to Lucky Peak reservoir was in the making for a Sunday in late July, I wasn’t too excited about it. I figured there would either be uncomfortably crowded shorelines, or I would end up on some fly ridden, sun scorched, rocky thread of shore. Yeah, I’m not really an optimist.

Approaching the boat ramps at Spring Shores at Lucky Peak reservoir; it cost 5 dollars to park and another $5 to launch the boat.

However, so as not to be a spoil sport, I worked on my attitude. My husband tossed in the idea of open water swimming for me, which I hadn’t thought would be part of the trip. This was interesting. I packed my lunch, long-john swim suit, and my umbrella.

In about 10 minutes of open water swimming, I was able to work on all 5 things listed above to a degree that should be very helpful. Plus, I was reminded of a couple of other important aspects of the experience.

The boat GPS recorded the water at Lucky Peak as being 69.8°F. Chilly for me. Since there was no starting gun to pressure me, I took my time getting in, even with my full body swim suit. Last year, the water at Black Canyon Reservoir had been low – mid 70s, or so they told us. And, I had only had a swim shirt on over my triathlon suit. It was good for me mentally to feel the water and see that swimming in it with this attire was completely comfortable once I got going.
A boat GPS is a handy way to measure the water temperature!
I may not have been pinned in by other swimming bodies, but I was swimming circles around 4 of my grown kids while they tried to balance on a log. I highly recommend this for preparing for the mental strain of swimming with others thrashing around you. I had to stay near this activity in the tiny bay because the multitude of boats was coming quite near to the shore. The kids on their log, the boat anchored to the shore but being regularly relocated by the incoming wakes, and the other boat traffic were my crowd for the day.
The water may not have been teaming with other bodies, but the bodies that were there were quite random in their movements –
Even though I knew there would be low visibility, there is nothing like experiencing it. I could see my own arms in the water (I was wearing my goggles), but nothing under the water to guide me. Oh, to do a triathlon in a secluded, clear lagoon some day! What I discovered was that this lack of visibility seemed to trigger a low level of panic. I wouldn’t have told you at first that I felt panicked, but I knew I had been feeling very comfortable in the moving water at home. There is something about murky water that makes me just want to get to my destination. Once I realized this was going on, I consciously relaxed and felt much better. I am very glad to have worked through this before the triathlon.
Me swimming circles around the log activity.
I was greatly encouraged with how my new understanding of sighting felt. To be honest, I didn’t read the total description thoroughly. I just picked up on the part about not lifting the whole head up, but just getting the eyeballs above surface level. I absolutely think I could do this even with the boat wakes because of swimming in the Fastlane.
The swells from all the boat traffic didn’t bother me at all. They didn’t make me sea sick. They didn’t interfere with my breathing. Knowing these things, which I also attribute to my training in the Fastlane, will help me begin my swim without unnecessary concern.

If I hadn’t already been able to swim without stopping for 20 – 25 minutes in my pool, I would have felt greater need to establish that ability in the open water. However, I know I can practice that more at home. Also, if I really want to swim for extended times or distances in any reasonable water during the summer, I would either need to go quite a bit earlier in the morning on a weekend or during the week.

The last surprising thing about my mini open water swim, is that it was kind of fun and makes me less likely to think of it as a scary training activity. The longer periods of swimming in my pool, with no need to turn seem to have really resulted in a new level of comfort in the water. I might have to see if my husband wants to take his boat out again before the triathlon!

It is kind of handy that my coach/husband has a boat.

How Using a Wetsuit for Open Water Swim May Lead to Sea Sickness

August 21, 2012 by Laura Blodgett 3 Comments

I have discovered an unlikely cure for motion sickness. Motion. It all began when I attempted to go on a cruise 2 years ago (the world is made of jello) without taking any motion sickness medicine because such medicine knocks me for a loop. It’s one thing to be incoherent for a car ride. It’s quite another to be drugged for a romantic week with the husband. Unfortunately, I was affected by the gentle bob of the ship as it left the harbor, walking like a drunk sailor when everyone else acted like they were on solid ground.

I had packed an arsenal of options, but quickly found them to be unhelpful. Determined to have some fun, we went up and tried a little dancing, which amazingly kept my stomach happy. Fast forward to my open water swim practice in Lake Cascade this July, when I was considering using a wetsuit for the Emmett Triathlon.

The wetsuit was the same one my husband had worn for the Lake Cascade Triathlon last year, therefore proven functional for more than California scuba diving. Still, while it was nice to avoid the slight chill of the water, I felt I could not use my body significantly from my waist down. Even though I have become comfortable using a single kick per arm stroke, the wetsuit was resulting in too much limitation and my body was floating more than swimming.

There was a minimal ripple to the surface of the lake. The benefit of buoyancy began to have a negative affect on me. My stomach started to churn. I finally had to give up my swim and climb back on the pedal boat, groaning with nausea. Since we still had to return to shore, my husband jumped in for his swim, while my daughter and I pedaled along side of him. Little by little, as I pedaled, I started to feel better, even though the wind picked up and the waves were actually resembling small ocean swells with white caps.

Once on shore, I felt worse again, I suppose because all my motion sensors were completely confused by this time. I went to our cabin and slept a lot over the next couple of days.

The goal had been to swim in the lake several times during the week, but this first swim had me spooked. I didn’t want to get back in the water, but I knew I had to. I decided to try without the wetsuit and was greatly relieved to have full range of motion. I was not over exerting myself, because a relaxed swim is important for a triathlon, but I was in charge of my movement. I did not feel sick at all, which is saying something, because I can get sea sick swimming on my back in the lap lane. I even dealt with the lake weeds that swept through my mouth, and tickled my arms and legs.

It is possible I may try a wetsuit again some day; or I may limit my races to warm water events. If I want to think about a wetsuit for a race, I will definitely try it out before the race and make sure I have enough mobility in my legs so that I am not at the mercy of any … ripples in the water.

ducks handle ripples on Lake Cascade, Idaho

Pedal Boat Used for Triathlon Swim Training in Open Water

July 31, 2012 by Laura Blodgett 5 Comments

pedal boat is floating dock for open water swim practice

Safety and comfort for open water swimming practice can be greatly enhanced by taking a pedal boat along. With someone in it, piloting it alongside the swimmer, of course! I haven’t spent a lot of time in open water, but I have been accompanied by a jet boat, a canoe, and a pedal boat (not all at once). I prefer the pedal boat.

Pros:

There are no gas fumes in the water
It is quiet
It is comfortable to swim right next to it, thus the swimmer is less vulnerable to motor boats
It does not tip over when the swimmer comes aboard after swimming
It does not create a wake
It is easy to hold onto for a short rest
Swimmer can be part of the pedal power on the way back for a great cool down
It can be used as a low stress supplemental pedaling workout
The dog likes it…

pedal boat dog comes along to monitor open water swim

Possible inconveniences:

It doesn’t go very fast
It is challenging to pace it for more than one swimmer if their speeds are very different
A short ladder may be needed to make it easier to get in from the water (I have managed it without one so far)
It takes some practice to learn to steer it
More than 3 people in it can make it very slow

Pedaling the pedal boat is very relaxing for me and I have taken my husband fishing with it a number of times, as well. He says I can talk about what ever I want to while I’m pedaling him around the lake, so you can see that pedal boats are good for marriage, too!

27 28 29 Combination for a Happy Triathlon and Anniversary weekend

August 28, 2011 by Laura Blodgett 22 Comments

(Us after we finished on Saturday, photo by Greg)

On August 27th, we celebrated August 28th, which was our 29th wedding anniversary, by completing the Lake Cascade Sprint Triathlon. The weekend was off to a rousing start as I picked up my husband from the Boise airport after a two weeks for him in Shanghai (yes, China), followed by delayed flights that barely got him to back in time for Transition Nampa-Lake Cascade, which is triathlon code-talk for, well, transitioning to the next phase of action. Timing amazingly allowed for a quick stop to watch one daughter’s cross country race, then we were off to check in at Cascade Vacation Rentals’ Blue Skys Cottage.

We arrived at Van Wyck Park at just the last possible moment, 8 PM, to pick up our race packets that night. It was helpful to see how everything was set up and would look in the morning. We found our cabin at the end of a narrow dirt lane, in the dark, on the side of West Mountain. A schedule was agreed on for the morning and somehow we managed to sleep.

In the morning, I made my favorite breakfast of malt-o-meal and chocolate chips and shared it with Greg. Then I mixed up my version of a RealLemon lemonade sports drink, which means following the directions and adding a bit of salt, and put it in my new Camelbak Fairfax hydration backpack (mine is yellow). I dressed in my tri-suit, topped by a sweat suit and a polar fleece poncho to keep my core heated until the swim since I wasn’t going to wear a wet suit. We double checked for transition supplies and headed back down the mountain.

Greg had graciously agreed to take us in earlier than he would have liked to, knowing that I would be more relaxed that way. There were only a handful of 150 racers (for 5 different events) there before us, but the volunteers were active, cheerful, and helpful. We got our race numbers (left back of hand and left upper arm), race code (back of left calf), and ages (back of right calf) written on us in big, black permanent marker. The bikes were placed in the rack, the timing chips were attached to our ankles, and we did a bit of stretching and deep breathing while waiting for the pre-race briefing. There was friendly chatting and sharing of information between the athletes.

Waiting for the starting horn, we dipped our toes in the water and discovered that there are advantages to the water temperature being warmer than the air temperature. It felt like getting in a lukewarm bathtub. Then we had to move back and wait for three minutes after the Olympic distance racers began their race. In some trepidation of getting trampled during the run into the water, I hung back in the second row. Then our horn blew and the lake was filled with splashing bodies, including mine.

Having recently read some specific advice about triathlon swimming on swimsmooth.com had helped calm my nerves. In fact, in spite of bursts of adrenaline earlier throughout the week, I never had an adrenaline rush during the race. This was very helpful during the swim. I couldn’t concentrate on my form the same way as swimming in the lap pool, but I was able to relax into my stroke, which was predominantly crawl, only needing to use the breast stroke for a couple of short intervals to get my bearings. I did swim off course one time on the first stretch, heading towards the center of the encircled area, which probably cost me about 20 seconds. There was a bit of bumping and kicking, but everyone was very pleasant about it all.

Imagine my surprise when I exited the water and saw Greg sitting there getting help removing his wetsuit! He has never been able to swim faster than me. He says he just wanted to be out of there so fast that he powered through. Plus, he had the wetsuit for buoyancy. He also started in the first row. So, I passed him sitting there helplessly wrapped in neoprene, but he passed me right away again because he actually got on his bike faster. I was concentrating so hard on what I was doing, that I don’t even remember him coming and going right beside me at the bike rack! He did wave at me when he passed me going the opposite way on the mountain…

From the moment I entered the water, I had no sense of where my standing was in the race. So, as multiple racers on road bikes passed me on my mountain bike, I got a little depressed. However, that meant I had at least done decently in the swim. Also, I had known that the heavier mountain bike would make things comparatively harder for me. Over 90% of the other racers had light weight road bikes. There was nothing to do but keep plugging along, smiling at the volunteers along the course. There was never a group riding near me. They would pass me and go off into the horizon over a hill. The course was a combination of rolling hills, a middle section up West Mountain, down the mountain in fear of crashing, rolling hills again, then it ended with a side trip through a neighborhood with a couple of killer hills that I had to pedal standing up. Yikes. That was an unexpected course change. At one turn, I asked if I was the last one, but the volunteer responded in a surprised voice saying, “Not even close!” so that encouraged me.

I had started my own watch at the beginning of the race, so was happy to see that my total swim-bike time was just over an hour. That was 15 – 30 minutes better than my estimate! Whoot! But now my legs were feeling uncooperative and though I had had every intention of enjoying my run through the back roads and along a lakeside trail, it took a great deal of effort to keep those legs moving.

Since I am only up to running 2 miles barefoot, I had chosen to purchase a pair of Soft Star Moc3’s in order to make the transition from biking to running more manageable, since I wanted to wear regular tennis shoes on the bike. I had only run in them two times before the actual triathlon and had gotten a couple of blisters then, but, being concerned about overdoing it with my barefoot distance, I still wore them. During the race, I was quite comfortable, except for one tiny little blister that I barely noticed in the last half mile.

The best part of the run was that I began to pass people!!! I had apparently paced myself well. I just thought about relaxing into my barefoot form and my legs began to loosen up some after a mile, even if I still felt like I was going slowly along. I was very happy to find that I had actually run at an average 9 1/2 minute mile pace!

I still had no idea what my overall standing was in the race. Greg came back to run with me after he had finished and told me I was doing well, but I didn’t know what that meant. As it turns out, I was 14th out of 27 women and first in my age group (!). I was 35th out of 53 when the men are included in the results.

That’s the first individual blue ribbon I’ve had since junior high, I think. I beat several women younger than me, and had a better time than about a third of the age group winners younger than me. A little more comparison statistics showed me to be 17.5 minutes behind the winner, but 24.5 minutes ahead of the second to last place. (Last place was far enough behind that I didn’t want to use that. I’m certainly not discounting anyone’s effort. It was simply a matter of statistics.)

Greg was amazing, as usual. After not being able to run for a few weeks due to a stress fracture, he managed to take eighth place overall, as well as first place in his age group! That gives us matching blue ribbons to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Very satisfactory.

A perfect ending to the event was a trip to some hot springs with good friends. One of them had run the Olympic distance triathlon, so, being a little light headed after the race, we were quite humored to see that our legs spelled:

SOS (on the left calves)

Okay, it’s corny, but what a day.

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