All packed for Hawaii

I've packed everything that can possibly fit in my suitcase. I decided to carry on my swim goggles and my running shoes - just in case... I'll let you know how it's going tomorrow when I get to Kona!

Final Prep - Only 2 days to Hawaii!

I am in the final preparation stages for the triathlon. I leave on Thursday (yes, the day after tomorrow!) and the race is on Sunday! For me, the final preparation consists of choosing which sundresses and sandals to pack, buying sunscreen, and mapping out Kona shopping. Let's face it, the bike is packed and shipped and I'm not going to improve on my swim or run, so I might as well enjoy it. Here's how the Lavaman experience will happen:

Thursday 3/26 - Fly to Kona, Hawaii. Get settled into hotel. Meet Team in lobby to run to the swim course at "A Bay". Run 1.5 miles (the last part of the run course) to the bay and swim with the sea turtles. After dinner, the Team takes over one of the hotel ballrooms to unpack and reassemble our bikes. Enjoy drink with paper umbrella and slice of fruit.

Friday 3/27 - Ride the newly assembles bikes back to "A Bay" where we will preview the transition area, then swim the swim course, then ride 12 miles of the bike course. After that we'll return to the transition area and ride our bikes over the first 4 miles of the run course. Then, we return to the hotel to store the bikes and run 2 miles of the run course. Then, I'll enjoy several drinks with paper umbrellas!

Saturday 3/28 - We choose which course to work on - swim, bike or run. Then we pick-up all of race info and officially check in for the race. That evening there is a team meeting and dinner.

Sunday 3/29 - It's race day! I'll be up by 4:30 am (if I sleep at all). Eat breakfast and ride with the team to get the transition area set up by 5:30 am. The race officially starts at 7:30am. I hope to be done by 12:30pm and enjoying a post race cocktail by 12:31.

I'll be blogging from Hawaii - hopefully with photos. Thanks for all of your support for the past 6 months! I couldn't have made it this far without you!

New Team Photo

Here's a new team photo from Saturday's practice triathlon. I'm in the middle of the middle row with the blue hat. I'll post more as folks send them to me.

Practice Triathlon - 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run

Yesterday morning was our practice triathlon in Encinitas. We arrived before sunrise to get our transition area set-up. You have to hang your bike on a rack and get your bike and run gear organized right next to the bike - your socks and shoes, bike helmet, running hat, sunglasses, water bottle, etc. Then we got in our wetsuits and took some team photos. The race started on the beach, where the team ran into the water to the 1st kayak, turned to swim parallel to the beach for 1/2 mile to the next kayak and then swam back in. Then we ran from the beach to the parking lot where our transition area was set, stripped off the wetsuit, got our bike stuff on and set out on the bike. The bike was south on the 101 for 6 miles and then back. Then the bikes were racked and we set out on the run - 2 loops of 1 1/2 miles. We each were assigned a number so every time we started and finished an event we called out our number so that we have times for each event and transition.

So here's how the event went for me...
Body Marking - Your race number is written on your hand and your arm in permanent black ink. Your age is written on your calf. This is so when a 63 year old woman passes you on the run you know you need to run faster. I scrubbed and scrubbed after the workout, but I am still branded with a huge 37 on the back of my leg. In Hawaii I am assuming this will also leave a lovely tan mark.

Swimming - I ran into the water to start the race and instantly the waves were huge. I tried to dive underneath them, but kept getting pushed back. After a few minutes, I was really frustrated. My coach came over and tried to help me get through the waves, but once I was flipped by a wave even he agreed that maybe I should skip the swim. And, by that point the first swimmer were getting out of the water. So, I ran up the beach with them to the bike transition. (I was not the only one to skip the swim due to the waves)

Bike - I did well on the bike. My new water bottle allowed me to fuel without stopping. I went faster with all gears now working. I did swallow a small bug.

Run - I felt really good on the run. The only negative was that I had to pee so bad by then that it felt like some pee might leak out if I ran hard. I kept squirting my shorts with my water bottle just in case :)

Except for the swim part, I feel like I did really well and had fun doing it. I'll post my times and photos when I have them. 2 weeks from today and I'll be doing the real thing!

Update

Yes, I'm lagging on blog updates. Sorry... Since the last blog I've run a 9 minute mile at the 1-mile time trial, skipped an ocean swim since I was worn out from Las Vegas, and purchased a water bottle that sits between the bike handle bars so I can drink and keep both hands on the bike - genius! Tomorrow is our practice triathlon and our last big workout before the event (that's what I'm now calling the race, an event - much less pressure that way). We're meeting before sunrise to get set-up and the workout starts at 7:30. We'll swim 1/2 mile, ride 12 miles and run 3 miles. That is just about half the Lavaman distances. I am hoping to do this workout in less than 2 1/2 hours. I am REALLY hoping to make that time. The event in Hawaii is twice the distance and will be about 90 degrees, so I'll need to more than double the time of this workout to project my time at the Lavaman event. I don't want to exercise in 90 degree heat for more than 5 hours :) I'm pretty sure all of the beer will be gone by then. I'll post a new entry after the workout and let you know how it went. Thanks for your support!

Sunday Swim Update

Yesterday was another ocean swim workout. The weather was perfect - so sunny & warm - and there were absolutely no waves - yippee! The workout was to swim out from the beach to a kayak, then across to another kayak, then back and forth between the kayaks until you were tired and then swam back to the beach. I'm not sure of the distance between kayaks or to the beach, but it seemed really far. I'm not a fan of swimming in the ocean when you can't see the kayak you're swimming towards. I started out ok - made it all the way to the first kayak. I was pretty tired through. Then, it got rough as I lost my new nose plug! Yep, this one lasted 1/2 a workout. This time I bought one that floated, but it didn't really help as the ocean took it away faster than I can swim... So, I swam the rest of the way with my head out of the water. I much prefer having my head out of the water, but it is much slower. My coach had me try the back stroke, which I liked, but I don't go very straight :( I swam for about 35 minutes before I had had enough. The good news is that I moved forward the whole time. The bad news, is that the mile is only 27 days away!

Before the swim I went to a refresher tire changing clinic. I am betting the more I practice my tire changing the less chance I have of getting a flat during the race. I feel confident in my ability to change either the front or rear tire though, so bring on the nails! One of the mentors also fixed one of my gears that was sticking, so hopefully I can go faster now.

The workout schedule is pretty compact now that there is less than a month remaining. Actually, we have a week of no workouts before the race and our bikes get packed and shipped on 3/18, so I actually only have about 2 weeks to get my butt in gear. So, I'll be swimming tonight, running tomorrow, biking Wednesday, running Thursday and hopefully swimming again on Friday. I'll miss the Saturday workout, but will be at the next ocean swim on Sunday. Phew! Thanks for all of your support!

I am officially registered for the Lavaman!

I am officially registered for the Lavaman Triathlon. The start list was posted on their web site today. I got really nervous seeing my name on the list today!

Here is the official Lavaman start list for females 35-39. Your age is calculated as of December 2009 (goodie) so almost all of us are listed as a year older. As you can see, out of 60 participants in my group, I am listed #60. All of the other San Diego participants are from my Team in Training team. http://lavamantriathlon.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=32:start-list-female-&catid=35:entries&Itemid=32