race report - santa barbara tri

here goes~first time i'm actually posting numbers here. race distances: 500m/6mile/2mile. times: 11:00/1:32/19:22/2:36/26:32.

my buddies raced saturday. i was the official photographer. in my photographic duties, i ran around a lot. granted i had on my knee brace and my new achilles/plantar brace, but i was having pain even running around then. so at that point i'd decided once-and-for-all that i was just going to walk the run the next day. period. essentially my race ended as soon as T2 started. good plan. how many good plans do YOU know that actually materialize? because virtually NONE of my do...this race was no different.

water was a balmy 63 degrees (joke). we were wave 4 of the co-ed group. all of us were amazed at how close to shore the swim course was. very short in and out distances. it was an all-out cat fight to about 5 yards beyond the first buoy. and lemme tell ya, i'm no little pussy (had to, couldn't let that one go). i kinda feel bad, i never once got hit but i hit my fair share of girls. no, scratch that. don't really feel bad at all. i was so hyped up - too much so actually. really need to work on that. granted adrenaline is a good thing, but i noticed it hindering me when i was trying to get into my rhythm in the swim. i'd gone out twice beforehand, as usual to acclimate my body temp, but the first time took my breath away. the second time helped, but i wasn't as calm as i'd like to have been going out with my wave. shortly after that first buoy, it was like someone turned on the light switch - it thinned out within i think 2 breaths (6 strokes) and there were only a few of us. the only gripe i had about this race (well, ok so there were a couple, but in this particular leg...) was that there was no delineation between the waves. we all had either white caps or blue caps. and they weren't gender specific. so when we were out there, it was hard to tell which were girls from my heat, and which weren't. not helpful for someone who feeds off the hunt. i'm told i passed a guy from the very first wave out that morning. sucks for him. i was following this one girl towards the last buoy, just staying with her. and then i decided i should push it and catch her. what the hell, right? i was walking the run, i could kill my shoulders and arms, wouldn't need them again for the rest of the day so screw it. caught her, faster than i'd expected which actually scared me a little bit. beat her out of the water. below is the pic of 'her'. i looked down at my watch and was surprised also by my time then, and intrigued that my HR wasn't capturing at all. that was going to make for an interesting race. my watch had just become a very expensive stopwatch, my HR monitor just an additional strap to hold up the girls. ah well.

get into and out of T1 shockingly fast. i was having too much fun. i was talking to all the girls around me, asking them about their swim...i shut up when they didn't seem to be having as much fun as i was. got to the road with taunto and off we went. i was doing my 'woot woot' thing, having a damn good time. fucking lunatic. the bike was actually pretty fun. i still haven't looked at my avg mph, but i know it wasn't the best, nor what i was hoping for. but it was such a short course, and there were very few straightaways on which to gain some ground, so i just went with it. cheered on every LATCer i saw, chased down a few people. the bitch i'd hunted down in the swim oh-so-effectively returned the favor about mile 2 or so. whorebag. that wasn't in the plans. i didn't keep track of how many people i passed or how many passed me, besides the above-mentioned whorebag. but i pushed it, HARD on that bike course. since i'd watched my friends the day before, i knew how they were trying to (poorly) (my other gripe btw) run the bike dismount. so i pulled my foot out of my right shoe, undid my left shoe and braked, and then forgot to take my foot OUT of the shoe. nice charrissa. half-assed course official: 'dismount at the chalk!!!' charrissa: which chalk?? THIS chalk?? and down i went. mother fucker. landed my ass ON the chalk line. didn't hurt, but didn't look pretty, nor was it in the plans either. then the guy grabbed my bike for me and i yelled at him. probably scared the shit out of him. i have this fear of being dinged for outside help. so i didn't want him helping me. i grabbed my bike and my shoe and i was running again. yeah, that could've gone smoother. those pics were deleted as soon as they were shot. sorry.


T2 could've been faster. i got everything off, and everything on, and then remembered my knee brace. and of course one of the straps wasn't tight enough. i don't know a way around that part. if i tighten the brace before the race, chances are it still won't be tight enough, or it'll be too tight come T2 because of the blood flow fluctuation in my leg. who knows. so i'm coming out of T2 jogging (no one wants to be seen walking out of transition) and that's when i realize it - no pain. in my bad knee, in my good knee, achilles, foot, nowhere. son of a bitch. i'd just red-lined for the first 30 something minutes of that race on the premise i was going to walk the run because of my injury(ies). HATE that. then i realized the adrenaline from the botched dismount might be masking pain, so i walked/jogged the first mile. i also noticed my heart and lungs weren't on point, so i just took my time. cheered everyone else on. got to the water station and tried to barter for a corona (seemed like a fair trade - taunto for a corona?) (yes, i've already apologized for trying to give taunto away for beer - he said it was ok, because i was still asking for a mexican import; now if it had been a bud light i was asking for, he says we would've had some major problems). they were aptly apologetic for being unable to meet my thirst needs at the water station. i hit the mile marker and still with no pain, i decided to run it in. i looked down at my watch and saw 51 min. THAT's when i realized i still had a chance to make it under an hour - my pre-injury overall goal for that race. word to the wise - don't come up with time goals for a race with less than a mile left. it's just not feasible. or maybe just not for me, when i'm not playing with a full deck yet. others probably have the ability to pull something like that out of their asses, but not me. not yet. i was able to push the last 100 nicely, not a full sprint but a comfortable quick long-stride run. official finish time: 1:01:01. what can ya do?

on a personal note, the weekend was just plain perfect. eve had an awesome race, her first back at it after the horror that was oceanside back in march. dave experienced a fun twist, loss of all food within the first 5 miles of the ride. i was just like a proud mama with her little duckies all out playing in the water on saturday. i managed to take some great race photos of the two of them. it was too cold for eve, but once again, she's such a trooper. such an inspiring little lady that one is. we had wonderful food the whole weekend, in particular saturday night's meal. complete with wine, amazing food, singing, pencil art, garlic knots, and animated conversation. i am so blessed to have these people in my life. enough said!

feed your monkey for just $2.50

crazy shit swim today. here's what it looked like:

WU - 300 EZ
MS
10 x 100 - Pull Set (:10)
10 x 100 - Fins (:10)
10 x 100 - Standard swim set
5 x 100 - Pull Set (:10)
5 x 100 - Fins (10)
5 x 100 - Standard swim set
CD - 200

ya know, 5000m just isn't normal. i'm not michael phelps. i don't wear a speedo. i haven't smoked pot in years (unless you count that one time, on PCH). 5000m is normal for olympic athletes. not my retarded ass. that's probably why i ate that shit up! i think my coach gives me crazy shit workouts like this so that i will have something to blog about after. the real reason my coach gives me these crazy shit workouts is because he knows i have triathlete ADHD. and now, with my 'injury', this is what happens.

i realized today how long :10 breaks can really be. in past long swim workouts, i enjoyed the longer stretches, 400-600m at a time. but today, i didn't know how this was all going to go, so i just stuck to the schedule. kind of. i only did the first pull set with my pull gloves on one 100. those things absolutely kill my arms, way too quickly. i knew with those damn things on, i had no chance of making it all 5000m. i got a little bit bored by the 3rd set of 10 x 100s, so i decided to try my hand (arms? legs?) at flip turns. everyone i've ever seen always makes them look so easy. i've never seen eve do them, but i can totally picture the graceful aquatic somersault she'd perform. i've tried them once, and got so much damn water up my nose that i haven't tried since. i did it that first time, with fins on, and that was all she wrote. i did them for the rest of the entire swim. think your risk of illness increases with every inhalation of public pool water? i'll get back to you on that one.

when you go through 3+ swimming lane partners, you've probably been in the pool too long. just what i'm thinking. i went through 3, the '+' refers to this one lady with massive floatation devices not well covered by a string bikini. face it, those things cut a workout in half. who needs a wetsuit, just get breast implants. more expensive, sure, but that's just logistics. that's why she didn't count as an actual lane partner in my book. this lady was probably 50 years old, string bikini, full face of makeup, a visor with a swim cap over the back side of her head (so as not to get her equally fake platinum blonde locks wet, i assume). so random. and i'll admit, i did kick and punch just a little harder every time i passed her. she didn't last long.

the whole thing was amazingly zen. i found myself counting strokes, and realized it's the exact same pattern we use for neonatal resuscitation. so anyone out there who breathes with every third stroke, YOU TOO can save a baby. at one point i found myself closing my eyes, and just letting my arms take me. it was awesome. i hadn't thought about the potential pain with fins, but was pleasantly surprised when none came. had some cramping, but that's nothing new. i don't think i've ever finished a pool workout without cramping in my toes and/or calves.

2 hours later, i was done. i got into my truck, and already noticed that my arms and shoulders were sore. and just how NOT 'power' steering my truck has. i'm lucky i made it home. and of course i get home, i get my cheetos and my chocolate milk (hey - don't knock it til you try it), sit down in my chair, and i turn on the movie 'the kingdom' and i make it to the point when they're on the plane before i'm passed the hell out. GONE. i woke up with the ending credits. now THAT, my friends, is what i call a damn good workout.

injury #1

some people say injury in triathlon is inevitable. others say if you are diligent about training, rest, nutrition, and mindful of your body, injury is avoidable. what do i say? i say son of a bitch. and god dammit. and really? WTF??? and that's after the tears, the anger, and the ever-present denial.

it all started last thursday night. right after i pulled off my SECOND toenail. i went for a run. at the beginning of the run, i was already having knee pain in my good knee, so i started experimenting with pronation/supination. the true ADHD kid that i am, i quickly lost interest in said experimentation and just ran. with only about 0.2 miles left, my knee brace was all but sliding off my leg, so i stopped to tighten it. when i put my left foot down to start running, the pain screamed up my foot and into my calf. i thought 'well, screw it, i'll just walk, my HR is too high anyway', so i walked in the last of the run. no biggie. i'd been having achilles pain, i thought it probably was just the MO for my f'd up legs in general. went to bed. woke up friday for my first actual work day of bedside nursing, and i couldn't bear weight. walking out to my truck in the garage brought tears to my eyes. i walked on my toes all day long. looked like an idiot. i just wanted to be home with ice. but then a new work buddy of mine needed help, which kept me from going home until well after 8:30 (i'd gotten off work at 3:30pm). saturday morning again brought me to tears, but this time i wasn't even able to walk on my toes. super irritating, especially since there's no bruising, no obvious swelling anywhere on my foot. so instead of my track/trainer workout which i'd been looking forward to for at least a week, i spent the morning in urgent care. which, might i add, was a total waste of time. the PA, although very nice, was not helpful. of course, i've got to remember i'm not the average patient. i went in, told him i was a nurse, and a triathlete, and that i have a race in one week. i told him how the 'injury' potentially happened, and what i'd been doing for it since. after that, he just kind of sat there and looked at me. excellent. not comforting at all. he offered xrays, which i declined. with no outward sign of injury, if there was/is a fracture, it's got to be miniscule, and the chances of an xray catching it are just as small. needless to say i hobbled away from that visit with nothing. well, less than nothing actually, as i was $30 poorer.

i drove out to malibu to meet my friends, and cried as i passed all the cyclists along PCH. the bitter jealousy was overpowering. i was even surprised by my reaction. i managed to find these velcro support things that wrap over the foot to help maintain the arch. like magic, i was able to bear weight on my heel the minute i strapped them on. my walk was better, but still very slow and still with pain. swimming, thankfully, remains in the cards, as i have zero pain. i kick haphazardly as it is, and when i do, it's not with enough force to flex enough to elicit pain. so i spent yesterday afternoon in the pool after lunch.

today was interesting. the MB swim. the walk out sucked. sand is not good when you can't walk normally. and sand walking for a damn mile just isn't my idea of fun to begin with. the swim was actually pretty good. granted the pier looked forever away the entire time, but it always does. i didn't see any of my friends while i was out there. with maybe a quarter of a mile left, i looked at my watch, and i was already at 23 min. at that point i knew it wasn't going to be a fast swim. i started hoping that when i finally did touch sand again, everyone waiting for me would just shrug off my overtly slow time to my new 'injury', even though my swimming isn't affected in the slightest. near the pier i thought i'd spotted one of my friends, so i stuck with her, until she took a really wide swing around the pier. i finally stood at 42 min, thinking (and saying aloud) WTF? i was dumbfounded. i actually was able to swim more of that swim that i think i ever have. i only took 2 10-15 sec breaks to fix my goggles, and other than that i was going the entire time. i asked a couple of the guys what the hell was up with that swim, and if it took them longer than usual too. they joked with me, and i never got a straight answer. imagine my surprise when i look back, and along come my friends, WALKING down the beach from the way i'd just swam. one of them said they walked it in after a half mile because the current turned against us. and then another friend came walking. i was blown away. i didn't notice i had to work any harder during the swim, i just noticed my watch. i guess i need to start paying closer attention. but the way i see it, if it happens like this in a race, getting out and walking isn't an option, so i'll just keep trucking.

can i just tell you how badly ice buckets suck? they SUCK. beyond suck. beyond blow. it takes my poor toes so long to reperfuse it's just painful. and it's the toes that have no nails. maybe toenails actually serve as a sort of insulation. hmmm

the plan for the week, charrissa shall be a fish. and ingest aspirin throughout (if i run in to a door at any point this week, i'll probably die from internal bleeding). and hope that my toes don't fall off from the godforsaken ice bucket. and find shoes that actually support me. yesterday when i went to the running store, the guy, as always, didn't believe me when i told him my shoe size. actually had to take off my new balances and show him the tongue. that's when i saw the width of these shoes is a 2E. wtf??? yes, i know that's where this injury has come from. and my achilles problem. ever want to see your coach's head just pop right off, tell him that little tidbit of info after hours of bitching to him about how you hate running, how running sucks and how you have pain here and here and here...that sucker will just pop right off. trust me. not only are these shoes about 4 widths too wide, but they're also walking shoes, which means the insole/arch is incredibly inflexible. yes, i know i need new shoes. but ya know, i've been unemployed for 11 weeks now. running shoes weren't really on my list of must-haves when my bank account never hit more than 3 digits.

santa barbara is in 6 days. 155 hours actually. i'm not convinced i'm not racing. i'm not convinced i am racing. it's my first race. ever. it's only a 2 mile run. i haven't tried it yet, but i seriously doubt the bike would be painful. i remember how to tape my feet/ankles like my old basketball coach used to do. i don't know how the tape would hold up in the water. i know that if i do too much right now, this injury will only get worse, not to mention plague me for the rest of the race season. but i'm not running at all this week - walking at work will be plenty. i'm swimming my arms off. possibly hop on the trainer towards the end of the week. i'm going to do what i need to do this week, i know that. but no, i'm not going to say i'm not racing this weekend. so get over it. and stop telling me not to race folks. somebody just better be ready to give me a piggyback ride towards the end of the run a week from today.

one is plenty, thank you

so let's just tally up the week shall we?

8800m in the pool. 2+ hours spent on my trainer. lost count of the actual bike miles. 2 ocean swims. 5 hours of running. today alone: 60 min ride, 30 min run, 45 min ride, 20 min run, 15 min balls out ride, 10 min run. started the week with celebration, a teammate's Hell Week was over. haven't laughed that hard in quite a long time. but some genius plots were hatched that night, complete with lamb's asses, midgets, phallic shaped overgrown meat-stuffed vegetables, and tutus. oh the plans we concoct.

today's workout, in short, AMAZING. i've never had that much fun during a workout. for half of the first ride, i was with eve. in true 'us' fashion, those 30 minutes flew by and it was quickly time for me to turn around. my second ride was much faster mph. all because some girl thought she could pass me at the beginning of a hill. which she could, and did. but it wouldn't remain that way. i'm too damn competitive. the minute she started to struggle up the hill, i was all over her ass. and then some. i waved when i finally passed her going the other way. tacky? probably. humorous, uh yeah. ironically i was going to tell my coach after this weekend that i wanted to work on speed on my bike. after today, specifically after hunting that beotch down (no, i don't know that she's a beotch per se, she's probably a very nice girl, but on PCH, she's the competition = beotch), i know i'm getting faster. especially up hills. and i haven't really even done hill work yet. that makes me giggle, the evil giggle.

all the pool time this week has been awesome. i've truly embraced/cherished my last week of unemployment btw. 7200m of that came out of 2 workouts alone. great workouts. kicked my ass and i loved it. yesterday i finally broke 1:40 on my 100 time. 1:35 actually. granted that 1:35 essentially nailed the coffin in what was the remainder of my workout, but still, i hit a 1:35. my form still needs some tweeking. either my form has improved, or i've become quite efficient with bad habits. regardless, i can get from point A to point B faster.

my run, eh. it's still there. we've definitely rounded 3rd, possibly on the homestretch. possibly. heart rate is officially under control. i've learned tricks. of the heart rate variety. amongst others. but pertinent to this, of the heart rate variety. i wouldn't go so far as to say i still LOVE running, the honeymoon was over when the pain in my Achilles began. oh and i was chased by a skunk this week. i shit you not. it was a late-r in the evening run some night this week - don't ask me which one. down here in the barrio that is my 'hood. which made me remember that i'm afraid of skunks. i was chased by an evil possessed (no, that's not redundant, you can be possessed by crazy/stupid or you can be possessed by evil - this skunk was evil) skunk when i was a kid. of course i was also bit by a goose, stomped on by a horse, and chased constantly by a goat as a child too, but the skunk was all that's stuck with me. ironically i was raised alongside a skunk. don't read that every day do ya? stick with me kid, i'll show ya all kinds of things...

and for the record, charrissa's mind can only be blown one time per week. ONE TIME PER WEEK PEOPLE. i'm at a surplus of 3 right now. and we still have one more day in this week. three of the four mind-blowing events occurred during conversations over meals today. maybe tomorrow i shouldn't eat...that's the plan. i'll just drink. drinking is good. beer makes everything better. wine works too, but 'better' comes faster and that's not always the wisest way to go. fun, oh hell yes, wise, no.