So, my story continues… It was only a few days before the race and I was feeling pretty down. My swim was awful, my bike and run were OK, just really slow…but would my ankle hold up for the whole race? I was trying to look at the positives and not dwell on the negatives, but it was really hard. I had been working on a bible study that some ladies in my church were doing. I was reading about having a disciplined life and to not let our emotions get in the way of being disciplined. The author wrote “note the importance of not dwelling on our feelings but of exercising our wills to think the truth.” I pondered that for a long time. I thought to myself, “I know I can swim, even if it isn’t very good or very fast. I know I can do the bike and the run. I know that I will be slow, but I also know that I WILL finish.” Thinking about the race this way and praying constantly, imaging God guiding me through the water, pushing my legs on the bike, and moving my legs on the run really helped me to relax and not worry about the race so much. I had done a half-Lavaman two weeks before the race and it went OK. In fact, overall, I felt pretty good about how I did. It was hard to imagine doubling what I had done, but I really thought that I would be OK. I tried to forget about my swim training mishaps and focus on the fact that I completed a half-Lavaman and what I KNEW I could do. This actually worked quite well and the Lord really calmed my nerves.
The day of the race arrived! I was just a little nervous, but overall, I felt quite relaxed. We were up and on the road by 5:30am. We drove to Waikoloa, about 40 minutes north of Kona, where the race was taking place. I set up my bike in the transition area and tried to remember where my bike was among the 1100 bikes lined up in the parking lot! We only had about 2 feet to set up all of our stuff for the bike and the run. I was trying not to let my nerves get the best of me when I saw all of the other athletes getting ready. Thankfully, everyone was really friendly. I went and did a short practice swim which went OK. It was a little intimidating seeing how far out the buoys went. I have to swim WAY out there? Really?? I had to keep reminding myself of what I KNEW to be true, “I can do this. I’ll be slow, but I know I’ll finish.”
The time waiting before my heat to swim felt like an eternity. I just kept walking to try and warm up my ankle. I prayed and prayed for peace and strength and endurance. I kept repeating one of my favorite bible verses, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It was finally my turn to start the swim! I decided to swim with the novice swimmers since my skills and confidence were so low. It was a bit discouraging to see the pros finishing the swim while I waited to start the swim! I just kept praying and repeating my verse, and I managed to stay relatively calm the whole time I waited. As it turned out, there were only about 20 people in my group, so I didn’t have to worry about running into people, and getting kicking or passed by everyone. That was a relief right from the start! Overall, the swim went OK. I had a hard time staying on course; I kept veering off to the right, which made me have to exert more energy to get back on course. I couldn’t continuously do the free style. I just didn’t have the endurance. I would do the breast stroke for a while and then switch back to the free style. I could definitely go faster doing the free style, I just couldn’t keep going! There were 4 or 5 buoys that seemed a mile apart themselves! Each one, I would say to myself, “one down, 4 to go…” When I reached the last one and turned to return to shore, the sun was glaring off of the water and it was really hard to see where I was going. This made it even harder to stay on track! I ended up doing the side stroke for a lot of it because it was faster than my version of the breast stroke and I could swim straighter than when I did the free style. I swam to shore doing the free style and was so glad when I finally touched the sand. I knew I was finally finished!! Thank GOD! AJ and Jenna were there to cheer me on. AJ took pictures while Jenna ran with me to the bike transition area.
My transition to the bike went OK. I was trying to hurry, but my legs were already feeling a little weak because of using them so much during the swim. My ankle was already a little sore too. I got my shoes, helmet, biking gloves, sunglasses and sunscreen on, ate a few energy snacks and got started on the bike. The 2 times that I trained on the course, it was really windy, but thankfully it wasn’t too bad for the race. I felt good for most of the bike and pushed myself pretty hard. I was able to pass a few people, so that felt good. Of course I got passed too, but I didn’t mind. I was having fun! About half way through the bike, I started to notice that my toes on my left foot were feeling numb. I wiggled them around trying to wake them up. Then it felt like I had a rock in my shoe. I didn’t want to stop and lose time, so I decided to wait until I finished. By the time I finished the bike, it felt like I had a large rock under my second and third toes. I was hoping I wasn’t getting blisters! I finished the bike feeling pretty good. I felt like I had a pretty good time compared to the other times I rode the course. When I got off my bike, I could tell that I had pushed it harder than usual. My legs were like jelly for the first 10 feet or so! I checked my foot, but to my surprise there was no rock, and thankfully, there was no blister either! So, I was off on the run! Again, I had my cheering section cheering me on as I came back from the bike and as I started on the run!!
My legs were pretty shot from the bike, but I was determined to run most, if not all, of the 6.2 miles. The run course starts on the lava, so I didn’t run too fast. I ran the first mile, which felt like three! I was pretty tired by this point, so I ended up walking for a while. Also, by this time, it was really hot and there wasn’t much shade. I ran off and on throughout the course. I think I probably ended up walking about 2 of the 6 miles. Not really what I wanted to do, but I was getting tired and my legs were wearing out. At about mile 4.5, my ankle started hurting. The course moved from the road and sidewalks to lava, rocks and sand. I had to walk a good portion of this just because of the terrain. Just before the last mile, there was an aide station (with water, etc) that my friends from Hospice were running. It was such a boost in spirit and energy to see them! I ran most of the last mile, except for the part that was on sand. It’s really hard to run on sand when you are fresh, much less after doing a triathlon! The run course had to be changed slightly because the tsunami we had 3-1/2 weeks before Lavaman caused some damage to the beach where the run was supposed to take place. While I was sorry that the beach was damaged, I was really glad that I didn’t have to run on the sand as much as the original course called for! The course ended up on the pavement, going around a pond and then a little on the sand before the finish. I was getting so excited to be done, that I think I actually picked up a little speed the last half mile or so. It was so exciting as I got closer and closer to the finish line. I could hear the music, people were cheering, and the announcer was saying my name as I crossed the finish line! AJ and Jenna were there taking pictures and hugging me! They didn’t even care that I was hot and sweaty!!
It was such a great feeling to have completed the triathlon! I said to AJ, ”I can’t believe I just did that!” It was pretty amazing that I DID do it! It took me about 3-3/4 hours, a little longer than I was hoping for, but at least I finished AND I wasn’t last! After all of the training and injuries and frustrations, I had really done it!! I thank and praise God for giving me the ability, strength, and endurance to finish the race!!
I thought about doing the next Lavaman at the end of August, but I decided that instead of doing the whole thing by myself, I would do it as a relay. I’m trying to talk AJ into doing the bike; I’ll do the run; so all we’ll need to find is a swimmer. We’ll see what happens. I’m also thinking about doing a half marathon in August. I need to let my ankle heal up a little more. It’s been kind of sore lately and I haven’t even been doing anything! I felt great after the race. I wasn’t sore at all. I was really tired for about a week and I didn’t really do any training except a 2 mile run. Actually, all I’ve done since the race is one run and one walk. Pretty lame. If I going to do a half marathon, I better get moving!
Well anyway, that’s my Lavaman story. I’m sorry to be so long winded. I hope I didn’t bore you to sleep! Now, I think it’s time to catch you up on life BEFORE Lavaman! But, that’s another story!! :-) So, until next time…aloha!
Hawaiian Sunset at Hapuna Beach
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
LAVAMAN! -Part One
Well, here it is, April 5th already. I just can’t believe how fast time goes! For one thing, it’s been a long time again since I posted, but what really amazes me is that I have been training and anticipating the Lavaman race for months…and now it’s done! It’s a bit of a letdown, but it’s a relief also.
When I think back over the months, I guess it’s easy to see how time got away from me so quickly. I signed up for Lavaman in October 2010, only a few weeks before it filled up and they closed registration. I was committed. I hadn’t been running in probably 6 months. I hadn’t been on a bike for over 2 years, and all I had was a mountain bike. I needed a road bike to do this race. I didn’t really know how to swim. I could kind of do the free style, but I couldn’t breathe and do the free style at the same time! What was I thinking signing up for a race that I was not at all skilled to do and was starting at the bottom in ALL areas?! Could I really swim 0.9 miles, bike 25 miles and run 6.2 miles?? I wasn’t sure, but lots of people told me I had plenty of time to train…I hoped so…
So I starting walking, then slowly started running. Fortunately I was able to build up to 3 miles pretty quickly since running is something I have done off and on over the past 8 years or so. Then I joined a swim class for adults to teach me how to swim. I learned pretty quickly that this class was not really for beginners because the coach wanted us to swim 100-200 yards for a warm-up! I couldn’t even swim 25 yards without coughing and gasping for air! I was really out of shape for swimming!! The coach had me hang on to the side of the pool and practice breathing “hundreds of times” while he continued to teach everyone else how to improve their stroke! That was really discouraging and I almost quit the class, but my friend convinced me to keep coming. The coach was really supportive too, even if I didn’t know what I was doing! It was hard to watch everyone else swim so fluently while I struggled just to breathe! I wondered “Why are these people in this class? They’re already great swimmers!” I set goals for myself to be able to do so many laps without stopping by the end of each month. Unfortunately I learned that I couldn’t build up endurance for swimming like I could running. It’s a whole different sport!
I rented a road bike from one of the bike shops just to give it a try. My first attempt was pretty discouraging and embarrassing! I hadn’t been on a bike in over 2 years and I had never ridden a bike with so many gears before, so I didn’t really know what I was doing. I rode for maybe 4 or 5 miles and was working my way back to my house. I was climbing a hill and I just could not make it! I was getting passed by a kid on his scooter!! OK, NOT cool! NOT funny! I had to stop and push the bike up the hill. That was pretty humiliating until I got to the top and realized that I had put the bike in the highest gear instead of the lowest gear going up the hill! That was a good lesson learned! I rented this same bike one other time and it went much better. I decided that I wanted to buy a road bike and I was told that I could buy this one off of the rental fleet. It was nearing Christmas by this time and things were getting busy due to the holidays, so I didn’t act on it right away. As it turned out, my wonderful husband surprised by and bought the bike for me for Christmas! We moved on January 1st, so the bike just sat for a few weeks before I had a chance to use it, but finally, about the second week of January I went for about a 10 mile bike ride. It was great! I loved it and it wasn’t work at all.
I felt like my training was beginning to come together. I was running 2 days a week, swimming 2-3days a week (one day was lessons) and now I could start biking! My swimming was still slow, but by this point I could at least breathe. My technique was still awful and I still had very little endurance, but I was trying! I didn’t like to practice swimming. It was really hard work for me and not fun at all. I had to force myself to swim because I knew that’s where I needed the most work. I kept doing something wrong with my stroke and I would end up with tight muscles in my neck and shoulder. I was getting regular massages and going to the chiropractor, which helped but usually only until the next time I swam.
In early February I got aero bars put on my bike. Aero bars are the handles on the bike that you rest your arms on. I thought it would make the ride easier and help me to have less numbness in my hands. Well, the first time I used them was a couple of days after I did a short swim and running race. The swim was really hard for me even though I used my fins and snorkel gear. I think I did something to my shoulder and then by using the aero bars, I really injured my neck and shoulder. I didn’t have the aero bars adjusted correctly at first and I kept having to lift my head a certain way to see where I was going and I think since my neck and shoulder were already inflamed from the swim, the bike ride just did me in. I ended up with pain and tightness in my neck and shoulder for about 3 or 4 weeks. I couldn’t swim very well and I couldn’t bike either. During this time, I focused on my running. I was feeling pretty good about it and was able to run 5 miles pretty well.
At the end of February, I was finally able to bike again. The first time back, I rode 10 miles and it felt great! I was so excited to be back on the bike! Unfortunately, this same day I sprained my ankle doing something totally unrelated to training! It was like half of a baseball sticking out from the side of my ankle. It was awful!! It was only 6 weeks from the race and all I could think about was after all this time and training I wouldn’t be able to do it!! But with lots and lots of ice, a brace, massage and chiropractic, I actually healed up pretty quickly. Well, not completely. I’m still dealing with achiness and swelling, but I was able to be back on the bike after about 1-1/2 weeks and running after about 3-1/2 weeks. Fortunately, those two sports came together OK for me. I was never real fast in either, but at least I felt like I could complete them without too much difficulty.
Swimming, on the other hand, was a completely different story. I just could not get it to come together! I struggled through each training session. Honestly, I probably didn’t work as hard as I could have, or should have, but when you’re doing something you don’t enjoy and don’t want to be doing, it’s really hard to give it your full effort! I swam in the ocean a few times and each time I chickened out because the waves were too high, it was too rough, I was tired, my goggles fogged up…you name it, I thought of it! I had one relatively successful swim in the ocean about 2 weeks before the race. But unfortunately I follow that with two not so successful swims! I attempted to do a training session with a group of people that my friend knew. They were doing a half-Lavaman, and I thought it would be good practice. I realized very quickly, but too late, that I was WAY out of my league training with these people!! They took off on the swim like rockets! I couldn’t keep up, I panicked, I was sucking in water…it was so bad! I still tried, but I only swam about half the distance that they all did. Then we biked. I was slow compared to all of them, but it went OK for me. I didn’t run since I had just run 6 miles the day before and wanted to give my ankle a rest. I followed that adventure by having another training session in my swim class. The coach took out all of the lane ropes to make the pool like the open ocean. We had to practice swimming around buoys like we were in the race. Well, that was another disaster! I got passed by everybody except one person, I again panicked, I had to stop because I was sucking in water and coughing, and still my endurance was just not there! This was only a few days before the race…how in the world was I going to do this!??? What was I thinking? Did I really think that I could do this? Why am I not better than this after all this time? All of these thoughts swirled around in my mind the rest of the day. I left that training session nearly in tears.
Stay tuned for Part Two coming soon…until then…aloha!
When I think back over the months, I guess it’s easy to see how time got away from me so quickly. I signed up for Lavaman in October 2010, only a few weeks before it filled up and they closed registration. I was committed. I hadn’t been running in probably 6 months. I hadn’t been on a bike for over 2 years, and all I had was a mountain bike. I needed a road bike to do this race. I didn’t really know how to swim. I could kind of do the free style, but I couldn’t breathe and do the free style at the same time! What was I thinking signing up for a race that I was not at all skilled to do and was starting at the bottom in ALL areas?! Could I really swim 0.9 miles, bike 25 miles and run 6.2 miles?? I wasn’t sure, but lots of people told me I had plenty of time to train…I hoped so…
So I starting walking, then slowly started running. Fortunately I was able to build up to 3 miles pretty quickly since running is something I have done off and on over the past 8 years or so. Then I joined a swim class for adults to teach me how to swim. I learned pretty quickly that this class was not really for beginners because the coach wanted us to swim 100-200 yards for a warm-up! I couldn’t even swim 25 yards without coughing and gasping for air! I was really out of shape for swimming!! The coach had me hang on to the side of the pool and practice breathing “hundreds of times” while he continued to teach everyone else how to improve their stroke! That was really discouraging and I almost quit the class, but my friend convinced me to keep coming. The coach was really supportive too, even if I didn’t know what I was doing! It was hard to watch everyone else swim so fluently while I struggled just to breathe! I wondered “Why are these people in this class? They’re already great swimmers!” I set goals for myself to be able to do so many laps without stopping by the end of each month. Unfortunately I learned that I couldn’t build up endurance for swimming like I could running. It’s a whole different sport!
I rented a road bike from one of the bike shops just to give it a try. My first attempt was pretty discouraging and embarrassing! I hadn’t been on a bike in over 2 years and I had never ridden a bike with so many gears before, so I didn’t really know what I was doing. I rode for maybe 4 or 5 miles and was working my way back to my house. I was climbing a hill and I just could not make it! I was getting passed by a kid on his scooter!! OK, NOT cool! NOT funny! I had to stop and push the bike up the hill. That was pretty humiliating until I got to the top and realized that I had put the bike in the highest gear instead of the lowest gear going up the hill! That was a good lesson learned! I rented this same bike one other time and it went much better. I decided that I wanted to buy a road bike and I was told that I could buy this one off of the rental fleet. It was nearing Christmas by this time and things were getting busy due to the holidays, so I didn’t act on it right away. As it turned out, my wonderful husband surprised by and bought the bike for me for Christmas! We moved on January 1st, so the bike just sat for a few weeks before I had a chance to use it, but finally, about the second week of January I went for about a 10 mile bike ride. It was great! I loved it and it wasn’t work at all.
I felt like my training was beginning to come together. I was running 2 days a week, swimming 2-3days a week (one day was lessons) and now I could start biking! My swimming was still slow, but by this point I could at least breathe. My technique was still awful and I still had very little endurance, but I was trying! I didn’t like to practice swimming. It was really hard work for me and not fun at all. I had to force myself to swim because I knew that’s where I needed the most work. I kept doing something wrong with my stroke and I would end up with tight muscles in my neck and shoulder. I was getting regular massages and going to the chiropractor, which helped but usually only until the next time I swam.
In early February I got aero bars put on my bike. Aero bars are the handles on the bike that you rest your arms on. I thought it would make the ride easier and help me to have less numbness in my hands. Well, the first time I used them was a couple of days after I did a short swim and running race. The swim was really hard for me even though I used my fins and snorkel gear. I think I did something to my shoulder and then by using the aero bars, I really injured my neck and shoulder. I didn’t have the aero bars adjusted correctly at first and I kept having to lift my head a certain way to see where I was going and I think since my neck and shoulder were already inflamed from the swim, the bike ride just did me in. I ended up with pain and tightness in my neck and shoulder for about 3 or 4 weeks. I couldn’t swim very well and I couldn’t bike either. During this time, I focused on my running. I was feeling pretty good about it and was able to run 5 miles pretty well.
At the end of February, I was finally able to bike again. The first time back, I rode 10 miles and it felt great! I was so excited to be back on the bike! Unfortunately, this same day I sprained my ankle doing something totally unrelated to training! It was like half of a baseball sticking out from the side of my ankle. It was awful!! It was only 6 weeks from the race and all I could think about was after all this time and training I wouldn’t be able to do it!! But with lots and lots of ice, a brace, massage and chiropractic, I actually healed up pretty quickly. Well, not completely. I’m still dealing with achiness and swelling, but I was able to be back on the bike after about 1-1/2 weeks and running after about 3-1/2 weeks. Fortunately, those two sports came together OK for me. I was never real fast in either, but at least I felt like I could complete them without too much difficulty.
Swimming, on the other hand, was a completely different story. I just could not get it to come together! I struggled through each training session. Honestly, I probably didn’t work as hard as I could have, or should have, but when you’re doing something you don’t enjoy and don’t want to be doing, it’s really hard to give it your full effort! I swam in the ocean a few times and each time I chickened out because the waves were too high, it was too rough, I was tired, my goggles fogged up…you name it, I thought of it! I had one relatively successful swim in the ocean about 2 weeks before the race. But unfortunately I follow that with two not so successful swims! I attempted to do a training session with a group of people that my friend knew. They were doing a half-Lavaman, and I thought it would be good practice. I realized very quickly, but too late, that I was WAY out of my league training with these people!! They took off on the swim like rockets! I couldn’t keep up, I panicked, I was sucking in water…it was so bad! I still tried, but I only swam about half the distance that they all did. Then we biked. I was slow compared to all of them, but it went OK for me. I didn’t run since I had just run 6 miles the day before and wanted to give my ankle a rest. I followed that adventure by having another training session in my swim class. The coach took out all of the lane ropes to make the pool like the open ocean. We had to practice swimming around buoys like we were in the race. Well, that was another disaster! I got passed by everybody except one person, I again panicked, I had to stop because I was sucking in water and coughing, and still my endurance was just not there! This was only a few days before the race…how in the world was I going to do this!??? What was I thinking? Did I really think that I could do this? Why am I not better than this after all this time? All of these thoughts swirled around in my mind the rest of the day. I left that training session nearly in tears.
Stay tuned for Part Two coming soon…until then…aloha!
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