Ms. 60 goes Aero...

Minnetoka Tri was today. First time doing this event and I had a blast.

I'm really have so much fun doing triathlons. I enjoy the activities, the events and the courses. It is also fun to watch other competitors. I'm sorry I didn't discover this sport sooner, but... it is what it is.

Sometimes I worry about the time that I'll have to give up participating. At some point, I'll either be too slow, or just tooooo old to be spending a lot of time in performance wear.

Having said that, there are plenty of people in their 50's that compete. Even 60's and older are out there on the course. So if they can, I can (God willing).

The weather was much, much better today than two weeks ago when I bagged on New Bri tri. Then, it was cold (41 degrees air temp) and rainy.

Today was very different...it was sunny and warm. Summer has finally, finally arrived!

Hubby is away on a business trip, so I went to the event solo, which was a little lonely. I set up in transition, went to the portapotty about a million times, got on my wetsuit and followed the masses to the start.

I stared at the lake for a little while, turned around and there was Nat. She had come to see me do the swim. I was very happy to see a friendly, familiar face. It was great that she showed up for me.

I was a little nervous about the swim. Not about the mechanics of the swim, but about the water temperature. My fears were for naught. The water was crisp, but with the help of my wetsuit for my core, I was just fine.

The swim is a little different than other tris. Instead of being an out and back, the course runs parallel to the shore line. I was in the last wave -- got in the water, started swimming and didn't stop once.

Not stopping is still a big deal for me. Not long ago (like last year...), I'd have to stop, re-adjust my goggles; let some of the stronger swimmers get by me and relax.

Then I had my "no stop" break through last year and it has been smooth sailing, or shall I say swimming, ever since.

I got through the 1/2 mile swim in just over 17 minutes. Not tooo fast, but certainly not tooo slow. I passed people from different waves, felt strong and just did my thing. I was very happy with my time.

Transition One (T1) was a little putzy. I was a little dizzy coming out of the lake (normal from rolling side to side in the water). I got tangled in my wetsuit but eventually got it together and got on the bike and out on the course.

The bike course was pretty, but hilly. Hillier than Chisago's 1/2 iron course. As I was getting out on to the course, this woman zipped right past me. Her age, according to her leg, was 60. She rocketed by me on her slick tri bike and immediately got in to aero position.

All I could think was "you GO, Ms. Thing" and "I got to get me another bike!".

We rode from the lake through Excelsior and out to Lake Ann Park (site of my "no stop" swim break through) and around that area.

I felt pretty fast and strong, although some of the hills were tough. Still, I passed plenty of people -- who then passed me when my chain slipped off. Twice.

After I finally got the chain back on, I caught up to and passed the posse, bringing myself in to T2 in under an hour.

Quick change of shoes and out to the run. My legs were stiff -- hills and just general stiffness, so I was slow going getting to the actual "running" part.

Eventually I got it together and started to run. I was slow, but got through it. Again, passing plenty of people, which is highly unusual for me.

At one point, I saw a familiar leg: it was Ms. 60, just ahead of me.

I decided to smoke her, which I did. (Evil grin).

I pulled in to the finish line at 1:53:48, which I believe is a PR for me for this distance.

Next up, Rochester Oly on June 27th.

So GLAD tri season is hear!

Updates: Cat, Toe, Training - cha cha cha

Several updates today.



I'll start with the easiest:

Training:

I did a ROCKING swim yesterday with friends and fellow triathletes Marcia, Gary and Dave. We went to one of Marcia's fav places, Little Long Lake, which is a nice sized, clean lake just outside of Minneapolis. Gas boats and "large" boats are not allowed on the lake, so if there is any boaters, they are in small motorized fishing boats, canoes or kayaks.


The lake is secluded enough that there are not pesky policemen waiting to bust you with a $125.00 ticket for open water swimming. It is not so secluded that there were several other triathletes doing practice swims, so we were definitely not alone in the water.

We swam from the boat launch to a dock, to the other side of the lake, where we encountered about 25 campers, who looked to be about 12 or 13 years old and who were getting ready to go on to the lake for a little canoe adventure. I'm sure we looked like creatures of the sea emerging to attack the camp when we came out of the water.


I did not wear my wetsuit in preparation for the possibility of the lake at Pigman being too warm to allow us to us them. Usually, I depend on the wetsuit for that extra buoyancy in the water.

Yesterday, though I felt very good in the water without it. Hurray. Progress!

Toe:

You might recall Nat's "toe of woe" story from June where she ripped off her big toe nail while trying to put her bike rack on her car.



It took her several weeks to scab over and now she has this cute little bacon strip looking thing where her nail used to be. Looks oh, so chic. (See pics on her blog).

Well, never to be one to let my friends suffer alone, I had my own toe incident recently.

Actually, the actual "incident" happened in July at the Richfield long pool. I was helping to put the lane lines in the water for one of our practice swims and a rung from the line slipped under my big toe nail. Someone pulled up on the line and SNAP went my toe nail.

Hurt and bled like a muthafocker.


What I didn't realize until last Sunday, is that when it went SNAP, it really snapped the nail at the nail bed. I was taking off nail polish and realized I could lift the entire toe nail off my toe, except at one tiny corner where it was still attached to the nail bed.

yeech.


I could see that I had a new nail forming under the old one, so I just clipped the old one off. My new nail does not look like bacon, but it sure does look strange next to the others.


So Nat and I are TOE-ins. (Say it quick; should sound sorta like TWINS).






Cat:

You are probably sick of hearing about Gorby, but it is what it is. He had a recheck with an oncologist at the U this morning and the news was not good at all.

Tumors are back (surgery was a little over three weeks ago). This is a very aggressive cancer indeed.

The Vet, a very, very nice man, outlined a range of treatments including chemo, feeding tubes, blah, blah, blah to doing nothing but making Gorby comfortable.

The chemo course does not really do a lot for him -- it may extend his time a little. It may not.

The "do-nothing" course is also a crap shoot. We don't know how long it may be (or may not be) until he loses his appetite all together, is in pain (or not), is no longer having any quality of life.

Very sad news.


Hubby came with me this morning, and that was very helpful to have the extra support and pair of ears.

Right now, this moment, I'm leaning towards some minor medication to help relieve inflammation and to just let him enjoy what ever time he has left, spoiling him rotten.

I really don't like my friends (furry or otherwise) suffer alone.


And this absolutely breaks my heart.

Crack o' Dawn...

I met Nat at 6:00 am today for a swim in Channhassen's lovely Lake Ann.

Nat's toe has mostly recovered -- she still has a scab where her nail used to be, but no pain and no scariness, so she is back in the training saddle.

It was a little tough to get up at 5:00 am since it was still dark out. Thank heavens for the timer on our coffee maker.

I can just about stumble out of bed, head in to the kitchen and have that sip of coffee to help convince me it is NOT time to get back under the covers.

We met in the parking lot near the beach just as the raindrops started to fall.

We tried to "convince" each other that we should alter our plans, but then the reality that Pigman 1/2 Iron is less than 30 days away.

There was not threat of thunder or lightening, so we trotted down to the beach, put on our wetsuits and went swimming.

It was a good workout for us. We took the same route I did with our coach -- Greg -- a few weeks back. It took us about 3/4 across the lake and back, for a total of about 40 - 45 mintues.

Then it was home, kiss the just-waking-up Hubby, shower, feed the cats, and zip to work.

I'm not sure that the workday will be as fun as the swim...