Running Again? In a Race!

To wet-suit, or not to wet-suit? That was the question I was pondering on Saturday afternoon while gazing out at the balmy Pacific Ocean on Jericho beach, only 16 hours away from start time. I swim at least 10sec/100m faster without a wet-suit, yet the ocean did not look warm. I did a quick dip without the wet-suit; it was cold, but not terrible, mind you it was 3pm, sunny and 23 degrees. I was set on not using one to be quite frank.

Alarm went off bright and early at 5 am, had some trouble finding my car keys (yikes!) but was out of the house by 5:35, had half a whole grain bagel with peanut butter on the way to the race. That's when Alejandro by Lady Gaga came on the radio... that woke me up and since I was the only car on the UBC roadway I zipped to the course and got a great parking spot.

I was feeling a lot better about nutrition for this race... I know what works for me and what DEFINITELY does not: nix spicy food pre-race, replaced Gatorade with Vega sport electrolyte(easier on stomach and milder taste), really important one for me is when to eat the night before and how much. My two friends: Mary and Tracy and myself went out for sushi, that sat great- light, plain and digests quickly.

So the question of the day comes up: wetsuit? After a solid run warm-up I decided against it. It was beginning to rain and the air temp felt colder than the water. So I got tossed around a bit in the choppy waters (wind picked up for sprint start), I swallowed some water... I was irritated with my swim. But quick T1, got on the bike and vowed to pick off as many people as possible. The new bike set-up felt pretty good, especially the new position of the aero bars.

Into T2, my left shoe was hard to get on, but grabbed my race belt on off to the run. Consensus: my legs felt slow. Injury is progressing, but still not 100%. I wish I could have run at full speed, alas I am not QUITE there. Turns out my run time was better than I thought. Got a text from Noa congratulating me on it, and I thought: Really? It was good? 22 and change, and it was off a long bike course. So it is coming along... Finally. Ended up 6th in my age group, and I got to watch fellow Pentictonite Jeff Symonds win the half iron, along with Tyler and Leif cleaning up the relay division.

Next race is Peach Classic in Penticton: no wetsuit there I sure hope. MORE WORK TO COME.

And note to self, go to bed early. This past week, what with out of town visitors, the holiday, sleep patterns were thrown for a loop. So on that note, it is A-OK to go to bed when it is still light out :)

Happy training