I DID IT! NYC Triathlon Race Report

Who would have thought that, as I sit here today, days after my second Olympic triathlon, I'm thinking... "I'm kinda sad that it's over!"

I tell you... with the training season that I've had... NOT ME! Especially when only about 48 hours ago I was sitting at dinner, butterflies eating away at my stomach, thinking "Boy, I can't WAIT till this is over..." I'll start from the beginning... here's the story.

HISTORY (or HERSTORY!)
I ran my first triathlon in May, 2006, in St. Petersburg Florida. I trained with Team in Training (TNT) to do the St. Anthony's Triathlon. I remember it being a huge feat (especially the run), but after I was finished, I vowed to do one again. I vowed to do the NYC Triathlon, in the greatest city on earth, which I called my home. The following spring, I signed up to begin training for the NYC Tri with TNT and began training. But with so much going on in my life - applying to grad schools, studying for the GMAT, etc., my heart just wasn't in it. I was disappointed, but knew that the best thing to do was drop out of the training program, and focus on other things. 6 months later, I moved to Chicago to start grad school, and it seemed like finally doing the NYC Triathlon was just not going to happen for me.

Moving to Chicago made me realize how much I loved New York, and upon scoring an internship back in NY for Summer, 2008, I signed up to volunteer at the triathlon with my friend Megan, to score early entry into the 2009 Tri. My winding road to the NYC Triathlon was finally heading straight... I signed up for the race in November, and I was on my way.

Upon returning to the city, I joined a new triathlon club called SBR, and along with Megan, began to train for the impending race. Being out of training for nearly 3 years, and with only 7 months to go until the tri... I had my work set out for me!

THE RACE:

July 26 -- i couldn't believe it - the race day was finally here! When asked by a friend if i felt ready, I responded... "well, i did everything I could possibly have done to study for the test" - and that's how I felt -- I had completed a full mile swim in the Hudson the week before, I had done a ~40 mile bike, and I had raced in enough 10K races through central park to be able to see the course with my eyes closed. I was ready. Funny enough, all the training and preparation could not have rid of the most terrified face I had before the swim start... thumbs up are deceiving!

We walked down 'the plank' as I fondly chose to call it, and before I knew it, I was in the water, and swimming away. My swim was pretty solid, and I tried to take it all in, enjoy the fast current, and look up at the sky. After a bit of a while, I suddenly felt myself hit something hard! I had hit the sea wall (or perhaps part of a sunken plane??) and touched the muck on the floor - EWWW! i quickly doggy paddled back to deeper waters, as one of the lifeguards yelled "Stay Right! Overcompensate going right, and you'll be on the right track" -- he was right. I pushed myself to swim 'right' and ended up going straight. I felt amazing - and so excited - as I exited the water and saw my sister, Evan and Megan standing there cheering. What a thrill.

First Tri Swim (2006): 48:33

NYC Tri (2009): 25:39 - Thank you Hudson River Current! (and my awesome SBR swim coaches)

Then there was the bike... I just got on and just went. But before I left, I took 2 Tums to settle my stomach from the Hudson. The first thing that happens on the NYC Tri bike is a wonderful uphill. I powered up there, fueled by the fans and the SBR Bee, and yelled "You bitch of a hill, i'm going to get you!" (i don't know what came over me!) It made everyone laugh, and put me in a great mood. The bike was peaceful, slightly challenging, and an overall great ride. The roads were a bit wet, so we had to be careful, and a lot of the younger (fast!) men were speeding by, but I found a comfortable pace, and just went. As we were heading south on the highway, I tried to take in the beautiful views of the river and NJ, and just enjoy the ride. About that time, though, my butt started really hurting! I was having a spasm in my right glut! (my right butt cheek!) OWWWW! i could hardly sit. You should have seen me -- it probably looked like I was doing a funky chicken dance as I was trying to stand up, flex my butt muscles, adn massage my butt with my bike seat to try to get hte muscle relaxed again. Ow did that HURT! But, I came in like a champ, and overall found it a really good ride.

First Tri Bike (2006): 1:55

NYC Tri (2009): 2:03 -- slightly disappointed with this, as I felt like I was really pushing it. But I'll chalk this one up to this course being MUCH more hilly - and my time would have been MUCH slower had it not been for awesome SBR peeps making me do Harlem Hill repeats, and taking me on a 40 mile hilly bike ride weeks before

The run... OWWWWw - man, did my butt hurt! By the time I parked my bike, and headed out, I thought for sure I had pulled a muscle. I walked up the slight hill to 72nd street having to hold on to the railing! OH man oh man - what was I going to do!? I saw my "Team Shari" spectators along 72nd street, and said "Guys... go have a bite to eat, this run is going to take me a while!" But it wasn't so! at all! By the time I got into the park, I had a nice pace going, and managed to push through the downhills, and walk quickly up the uphills. Soon, I was running full time, and I met people on the run (Vic, and some people from Team in Training) who pushed me along! I started to feel great! Afterall, I KNEW this course, had done it tons of time! Before I knew it, I was running along to mile 3, then 4, and pushing it through (with a few short walks to take some deep breaths). Then I was at mile 5.. 1 MORE MILE TO GO! I felt amazing -- but the crowds were a bit dull.. so i egged them on by screaming! WOOOO! (come on people! dont just stand there!) And they were awesome -- they were cheering and screaming along with me
First Tri Run: 1:27
NYC Tri Run: 1:18

The big WOW came when I crossed the finish line and saw the clock...

First Tri Finish: 4:21

NYC Tri Finish: 4:02

That's right -- I cut 19 MINUTES off my time! AMAZING. I felt strong, excited, proud, and I guess was pretty emotional, because I had a bunch of volunteers asking me if i was ok! "ARE YOU KIDDING? YES!!!"

I owe the 19 minutes perhaps somewhat to the Hudson River current, but I also owe them to my AWESOME SBR coaches and friends, who pushed me along to completely new heights in the past 5 months. Thank you to everyone.

Until the next tri! Just Keep Swimming!

Shari...

Race Report: SBR Sprint Triathlon.... and the dreaded DNF

Usually athletes write a race report after finishing a winner race, detailing their adventure second by second, how they felt at every inch of the course, and sharing little lessons learned along the way.

Well, here is my race report -- but I'll warn you - it's not a glowing review of a PR race, detailing my personal best with details of how I pushed through despite the pain and fatigue. But I like to believe that my story IS triumphant -- although how so remains to be seen. I've thought through every second of the race, and deciphered what went wrong so it won't happen again. I don't regret the decisions that I made, I just hope that I (and other endurance sport participants) will learn from my experience.

I awoke Saturday morning tired, but excited. I was about to participate in my 2nd ever triathlon, and I was ready to fight the good fight. I arrived at the beautiful race site (with my triathlon training friends Megan, Yael and MaryBeth), settled in the mountains of upstate NY. The water looked peaceful, the air nice and cool -- aside from the impending rain, it was a nice day for a race.

As we headed into the water for the swim I felt happy, excited for myself and my friends (Megan and Yael were about to complete their first ever triathlon!) I ran into the water, slow but steady, and got ready to swim. The water temp was 67 degrees -- as a girl from FL, I wasn't REALLY aware of what that meant. I was equipped with a wetsuit - but one that didn't have any sleeves. I thought I'd be fine. However, I wasn't. As soon as my body hit the water, my heart froze. I tried a slow doggy paddle to let the other women get away from me on the swim, but found that I couldn't take the next step to put my head under the water. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe, and I think in retrospect, I was going into a full-blown panic attack. My body was not responding to my trying to swim, and my head was saying "just calm down!!" - but i couldn't. I finally admitted defeat and called over a lifeguard to help me out. How ironic! Only 2 years prior to this, I was volunteering as a "Swim Angel" helping women in their first sprint triathlons make it through the water. Now I was the one who needed help! I hung out for a bit with a life preserver, trying to slow my breathing, and continue to move along, kicking my legs. I let the life preserver go, and tried to swim -- but I STILL COULDN'T! "Come on, Shari! You can do this!" I said.. but I couldn't slow my breath enough to breathe comfortably while swimming. So i found help on the nearest surf board.

At this point, the rest of the women swimming were what seemed like miles ahead of me -- including one of my team mates who I knew I could swim better than. I started to cry (which didn't help my breathing), and the poor lifeguard on the surf board probably really didn't know what to do with me. I finally let go of the surf board, and started to swim. I made myself swim 10 strokes, then take a break, and continued with this, through the swim. I was finally able to calm myself down, and enjoy the feel of the water, but I couldn't shake the feeling of sheer disappointment as I got out of the water (with only 4 people behind me), and headed towards transition 1.

I ran into transition 1 and jokingly commented to the other 2 people in the area "Well, at least it's easy to find your bike this way!!" Threw off my wet suit, and threw on my bike shoes.. At this point, it wasn't about my time anymore -- that had gone out the window in the first 5 minutes of the swim -- it was just about finishing for me. My friends, who are about the same pace as me, were probably nearly 15-20 minutes ahead of me, and I just wanted ot get this over with.

Little did I know, I was heading out on the hardest bike course I had ever encountered in my life. Biking is fun -- but biking hills is just really challenging. And biking hills, ALONE is challenging and frustrating. My front wheel was rubbing the front breaks, and subsequently, even after shifting my gears as low as possible, I was still working harder than normal to climb the hills. But yet, I persevered. I just wanted to finish. I tried to relax and enjoy the breathtaking views of mountains, nature, and beautiful lakes and campground sites. I just kept going... but the bike course seemed to take FOREVER! and I wasn't going fast enough to keep up with the few racers who were behind me in the swim, but passed me in the bike. GRRRRR! WHAT AM I DOING HERE! was exactly how I felt. Finally, with one racer behind me, I sped down the 2 mile downhill, and shifted my gears, knowing what was next...the dreaded 1.5 mile straight uphill.

I tried and tried, but I just couldn't do it -- I had to get off and walk. My messed up breaks, coupled with my frustration and out-of-whack emotions just led me to complete and utter distress. Before I knew it, the girl who was behind me passed me, and I became the last biker out there (confirmed by the police car on my tail, following me as I walked/biked slooooooooooowly up the hill.) I was spent -- i just started to hyperventilate and cry. WHAT A MESS! This is NOT what I had hoped for with my first race back in the triathlon circuit. I was full on dejected. "Maybe this sport just isn't for me," went through my head more than a few times.

As I biked back into the transition area, I knew the day was over for me. Nearly all of the other athletes were packing up their race things, and some were already in their cars heading home. I didn't want to be a quitter, but I couldn't imagine going out for a 3 mile run at this point. I actually did put on my running shoes, thinking "maybe I'll just go for it..." but I heard some woman say how hard the run was, and I decided then to turn my chip in, and cheer on my friends as they ran into the finish instead. I found my friend Yael as she was nearing the finish, and cheered her in. HOORAY!!! I was proud of them, but even more disappointed in how my day went.

So, why was this day triumphant, you ask? Well, it's Monday morning -- I've had 2 days to think through what happened on Saturday, and I decided that it wasn't me - it wasn't my inability to complete the race that held me back. I wasn't going to be the fastest athlete out there, but I could have finished (and probably would have pushed myself more with some fellow athletes at my side, instead of being out there on my own...) I decided that it was factors that were out of my control that led to what happened on Saturday. And now I know that I need to work on open water swimming, I need to cover my arms to make sure my body is warm enough to swim in lake/river water in the Northeast. And most importantly, I have two more races scheduled for this summer -- I need to NOT give up.

So, the triumphant end to this story is that it is Monday, and my swim gear is packed for practice tonight. I'm not giving up, and I WILL cross the finish line of the New York City triathlon on July 26. This may have been a minor set-back, but it's made me even more eager to challenge and prove myself with a full olympic triathlon. And, given it's a race of more than 3,000 athletes, I'm certain I won't be out there alone.

Planning Ahead

Now, I don't claim to be an expert... in fact, I'm far from it. But I know very well that the ONLY way to succeed with weight loss is to PLAN AHEAD! And guess what... i SUCK at planning ahead. For the most part, I've always eaten what I wanted to eat, when I wanted to eat it - when the craving struck, I went for it. That's not to say I was gorging myself on milkshakes and burgers, but alas, even eating "not that bad for you" foods in excess isn't a good thing.

So... planning ahead. It's a big goal for me. I try to have a plan when I go to the grocery store of what I'm going to eat for the upcomign week. I try to have a plan when I start my day, of what my 3 meals and 2 snacks will consist of. And, to make it easy, I've chosen a few "good" snacks to grab and go with me when I pack my lunch.

ROADBLOCK: I usually screw up the plan at 2 specific times: 1) going out to eat - i will even study menus and choose ahead of time, but the spur of the moment change of mind kills me. 2) eating at night - - i never PLAN for dessert, so when I want something after dinner, i don't really have a good strategy for WHAT to eat at that point. i suppose the easy answer SHOULD be "nothing" - but let's face it... it's not that easy.

Wanna hear the ULTIMATE challenge for planning ahead? Embarking on a cruise. I'm TRYING to start planning ahead - and visualizing what i will eat at meals. Egg white omletts, fresh fruit, yogurt, burgers w/out the buns, salads with dressings on the side, just a taste of dessert, easy on the alchohol. It won't be easy, that's for sure. I'm going to have to screw my noggin on pretty tight. But, my goal to work out AT LEAST 3x on the trip is helpful - and I'm excited about the "swim against the tide" lap pool on my ship. Should be lots of fun.

So... as long as I make "good decisions" as often as possible, and stick to the work-out plan, i shouldn't TOTALLY sabatoge the 6 lbs i've managed to lose in the last few weeks. Those pounds are gone for good. And hopefully the fact that I'll be in a bathing suit for the majority of the next week will help me... STICK TO THE PLAN!

It just takes time.

One thing that I constantly harp on myself about... and get harped on for by my boyfriend... is my lack of patience. That's me! Super ambitious, constantly craving (be it food, excitment, sleep, etc.) and never EVER able to take a step backwards, appreciate what's there, and just enjoy.

So... this is a new challenge that I'm trying to become more aware of, and improve upon. Ultimately I won't ever 'cure' myself of this need to know what's next, get involved, be all things to all people, etc. In fact, it's something that I don't WANT to cure about myself. Because of this ambition, i have:
Switched high schools after 10th grade to go to a "School of the Arts"
Got my first internship in NYC (no networking needed!)
Moved to NY for good
Finished my first triathlon
Applied and attended grad school at my DREAM SCHOOL!
Moved BACK to NY, and got another amazing job.

However... despite the many good things going on in my life, it's hard for me to just relax and enjoy... I'm always looking for the next big get. (my boyfriend was worried about initially dating me, b/c my Jdate profile was too intimidating! She runs, she tris, she plays cello, she volunteers, she's social...ahhh!)

Well, here we go. Because i've recognized lately that there are some things that might NOT come so easily to me. Namely, losing weight and adjusting to my "new and improved" life in NYC.

I'm used to adjutments - i really am. I switched schools in the middle of HS, i moved to new york 1 month after graduation, i moved to chicago without a flinch. But how easily we forget that none of those times was stress-free for me. (what is?) So, why now?I've lived in NY before - I have the same friends, the same jaunts, the same city... so why should it be so hard to adjust to the new things - a new apartment, and a new job?

IT JUST IS. And it's been harder than you'd think for me to recognize this. So... I'm trying to set my sites to day-to-day adventures, rather than thinking so far ahead. Sure, the triathlon is in the distant future, but it's about the journey, not the destination, right? And while I'm much happier in the city now than I was during that miserable time when I first moved here... I'm still adjusting. To the city. To the job. To the new (and exciting) life here. And you know what? That's ok. (say it... believe it!)

My weight. Now this is one thing that's really got me. After years, and years, and years of fighting the good (well, not so good) fight, why expect the weight to just melt off you? So, this too is a journey. I'm trying new foods to see how they affect me. Trying new workouts to see how those work too. I'm only on about week 3 of the 'actual' battle - and so far it's going well. As of this morning, I've lost 6 lbs since I arrived in NY. And I'd have to say.. that's pretty good.

then WHY is it not enough? Why do I still want more? For me, because of reasons explained earlier, a question I may not be able to answer. I suppose in due time, perhaps it will be.

All for now...

Lunchmeat...

i HATE making my own lunch. Like really hate it. I'm too tired in the morning to think about what I'm going to eat hours later, and I've had a history of ditching my "healthy sandwich" for a much much more appetizing Chipotle burrito, $10 salad that never tastes that good, or burger/sandwich/wrap/something more tasty than what i brought, from a nearby midtown manhattan establishment.

My co-workers at my old job were terribly bad influences on me. Every day i'd wake up with good intentions, put together a simple, but delicious, pb&j, and a few snack items, and head to work. But, by lunch time, someone had always suggested we go out - spend some $$ on something more expensive, and seemingly more tasty. And with that, my wasteline and wallet went to ... crap.

I'm trying to conquer my fears, and hatred, of bringing my own lunch - and so far, have done a pretty good job. Snacking throughout the day has been very helpful too -- one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. I've chosen from apples, bananas (which i found out have more than 200 calories! ouch!), almonds, yogurt, and small bags of popcorn.

My lunches have ranged from simple salads, to delicious wraps -- it's all about making things delicious... and simple!

Today's menu:
snack: 99% fat free Key Lime yogurt -- omg, SO GOOD
lunch: wrap with smoked turkey, low fat swiss cheese, onions, arugula, and a few small dallops of caesar dressing... YUM! it tastes really good, and it's not bad for me!
snack: Apple.

What's for dinner? Not sure yet - but I'm thinking some baked chicken with tomato sauce, or a turkey burger.. and some salad.

TRI HARD 2... here we go again!

So, this might be a bit premature, but I have an announcement to make...

I'm swimming, biking and running my way to another finish line... at the 9th Annual Nautica NYC Triathlon on July 26, 2009.

But this time... things are gonna be a little bit different.

First off, I'm no longer a brand new triathlete -- i'm coming back into this a seasoned athlete. Sure, it was 2006 - but some things, you never forget.

This time, I'm training and participating with my good friend Megan Edelson - an awesome friend who didn't know what she was getting herself into when she offered to help me volunteer at the NYC Triathlon 2008 (which got us early registration, and ultimately sealed our fate... regular registration for this race sold on in 22 minutes!)

Don't worry - this time, I'm not asking for any moolah. While training with Team and Training and the Leukeumia and Lymphoma Society was rewarding and wonderful, this year, Megan and I will be training with another team... TEAM LIPSTICK! An all-women's triathlon team based in New York City.

And, finally, this time, I'm going to be tracking a little bit more than just my triathlon training on this blog... I'm going to be tracking a weight-loss program, as well. Yes indeed, I'll be using my faithful social and family networks to help cheer me on as I complete some of my life's toughest goals.

So... now you know, and that's all for now. Thank you in advance for your support, and I will be back in touch closer to when I start my training... Feb 10!