Looking back to move forward
“We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on experience.” --John Dewey
I believe that Dewey, an education reformer and philosopher, was correct. And I feel like my triathlon season this past July and August is rife with lessons...but now I need to do the work of learning them. So this is my reflection on the 5 races in 6 weeks that comprised my multisport season in 2021.
Races and Highlights
The first two races. the Door County Tri Relay and the Screw City Du Relay, were the subject of my previous post "Slaying Dragons" so I won't go into detail here. But there were 3 others the Naperville Sprint Tri, The Iron Girl Sprint Tri and the 4WomenTri Minisprint.
Big finish at Naperville
The Naperville Sprint Tri was August 1, in Naperville, Illinois. I had done this race before, a few years ago, and was hoping for at least as good a race as I had before. The first time was very hot...but I will admit I was more rested then.
I started the day feeling relatively good as I waited in line to start the swim at Centennial Beach (a man-made pond/lake the makes the swim like a cross between open water and the pool). The swim was 375 meters and I was truly not concerned about it until about halfway through when someone accidentally grabbed my left leg and pulled me under. I recovered alright, but my leg felt "tweaked" and it had been a little bit of a freak out.
The bike was uneventful, expect perhaps for the uphill and into the wind portion...but that is pretty par for the course.
I struggled through the "run." The tweaked leg was unhappy and my back was tightening up. Glenda met me and went with me for a little while, and I managed to create a big finish at the end.
It was pure cussed-ness and the compliments on the Ciao Bella Tri suit (which I'll admit is pretty awesome) that got me through. I wasn't fast, but I wasn't last. I was pretty toasted.
Over the next day I developed a hitch in my ribs...which turned out to be tight lateral muscles and seemed to take a long time to loosen up. Let's just say sneezing was a joy. I started questioning whether I could do the next race two weeks later...
Iron Girl in the Buddy Wave with my best buddy
The Iron Girl Sprint Tri in Pleasant Prairie was on August 15. It would be my longest swim in a race ever. One of the unique things about this race is that it has a buddy wave. This means that unlike most triathlons which are very fixed on individual effort (ie no outside help, no pacers etc.) there is one non-competitive wave that allows you to do the event with a designated buddy. If you signed up for the buddy wave you were not eligible for awards, but I wasn't worried about that anyway. Glenda agreed to be my buddy, mostly because of the long swim.
Although after Naperville, I debated for two weeks about whether to do this race we were there on race morning. We had spent two entries for the not-inexpensive race and I felt recovered enough, though not completely recovered. So we decided we "could." Thinking about "should" didn't really happen until after.
Since we were racing as buddies, we decided that we needed to dress as buddies. And since it was a women's only race, we decided to go old school and channel our inner Tough Cookies (TC was a women's training group we had been involved with back in Austin). Glenda said she was going to wear her pink tutu on the run....so, OF COURSE, I had to make myself a pink tutu for the run as well.
The swim was 800 meters...there were plenty of buoys and platforms marking the course, and giving the uncertain swimmer a place to breathe a moment. There were lifeguards on every platform and in kayaks on the water. It was an exceptionally safe course...and an exceptionally difficult one in that it was straight east into the sunrise. We planned to swim to the right of the course, for ease of taking a quick breathe at the platforms if needed. We started out, and with the glare on the water I couldn't see the platform or the far shore or ANYTHING. I sort of freaked out, but Glenda grabbed my hand and put it on the first platform (I'd have swum right into it!) and as I calmed a little she said, "Sighting is tough, but I can do it...just stay on my hip." and I did. After the initial frenzy, I actually had a very good swim.
Then it was on to the bike which Glenda and I rode together as well. I had trouble hitting a rhythm...but otherwise it was a great course, only a few hills and closed to traffic. By the end I was feeling it and the fact that I was probably not fully recovered after Naperville was definitely an issue.
The "run" was a mosey, a ramble, a shuffle from bench to bench. I was doing 25 minute miles and barely holding on. But I had Glenda, and I had my tutu (which got lots of cheers and compliments....and that kept me going). We were the last people to cross the finish line and the announcer stopped awards to have us cheered in (which was very special). We were not, by the way, the last in terms of time on course...there were people in earlier waves that took longer. But either way it didn't matter...I was just glad to be done and praying that I could recover enough to do the mini sprint the next weekend.
Nearing the end of the mini sprint at 4WomenTri
The 4WomenTri was a first year event in Chanhassen, MN. Glenda had received an e-mail about it and after some consideration we decided to support this new event. Glenda did the sprint, and I did the mini sprint which was advertised as 100 meters/6 miles/1 mile....a perfect distance for a fun race to cap the season.
The race venue, Lake Ann, was beautiful. They took some time to set up the swim area for the sprint, and told of us doing the mini to follow the buoys for the swim area. Which we did, only to find that the swim was more like 150-180 yards...not a big deal, but longer than expected. It went by quickly and uneventfully.
Then up the hill and through transition onto the bike. The bike was only 6 miles long...but Holy Hills, Batman! I concentrated on trying to keep steady up the hills and lower the impact on my legs by using the downhill for recovery. Again, it was relatively quick and uneventful, and soon I was rolling into transition again. I lost a little time there as I ran right past my bike spot!
My major goal for the run was to run some of it, not walk, mosey, stumble and sit my way through it as I did in the longer races. I was feeling the long season that came before this race and was clearly not fully recovered, but I did it, running and walking, not fast but at regular intervals.
Because this was a short race, I did it in my TomBoyX rainbow swimsuit. I just added biking undies and a bra for comfort and a bib skirt to hold my bib on the run. This suit is very bright and can be seen for miles around...or so it seems. It was a stroke of brilliance, because before the race, after the race and during every leg there were positive comments and questions about it. It made me visible and got me cheers...not a bad thing when you are struggling in a race (and pretty good even when you aren't struggling).
Lessons learned
Lesson #1--Just because you can, doesn't mean you should
It is not surprising, I suppose that I piled on so many races. So many things were cancelled in 2020 that I (along with many other people) was hungry to do some in person events. Naperville was a deferral from 2020, Door County we were working for the photo company so why not be on-site and do the race, Screw City was one of the few races we were able to do in 2020 and we wanted to support them, Iron Girl had been on our radar for a while and 4WomenTri was a lark. These were all things we COULD do.
However, the day after the Door County race while I was editing photos for the Half Iron distance race, I found myself feeling run down and very achey and just really tired. I ended up sleeping nearly 12 hours that night. I wasn't sick, I was just very tired. I chalked it up to a hard race, maybe a little dehydration or issue with nutrition. The same thing happened after Naperville and Iron Girl...each time there were more extra aches and pains and it seemed harder to recover.
Looking back, I raced 10.5 hours over that 6 week period...multiple marathons for some people...without enough recovery. My body yelled at me especially loudly after anything that took more than 2 hours. I heard it yell, but I didn't listen.
I should have listened. I am very grateful that I am not injured...because I could easily have been. I have decided that I have to scale back to be able to do this longer. And the new mantra in race planning (and maybe in other parts of my life) is going to be "just because you can, doesn't necessarily mean you should."
Lesson #2--Never underestimate the power of a great outfit
You might noticed that I mentioned what I wore for the various events. And though it may sound vain or silly, I've discovered more than ever that it matters. Why? A couple of reasons. First is how what you're wearing makes you feel...obviously you want to be comfortable, but does the outfit make you feel confident? fast? fun? Does it make you bold? Does it make you smile? Picking the right outfit for a race is a kind of a serious matter for me.
The other reason is what reaction do you get from others. (Hint: this is also part of the reason I like to run in costume). If my outfit makes other people smile or provokes a reaction like "great kit!" "love the tutu!" or "where did you get that suit?" it just automatically makes me smile back. It also makes me feel seen and lifts my sometimes flagging body and mind. In short it helps me keep going and give it my best effort.
So silly or vain it may be...it is still powerful.
Lesson #3--Keep moving, they can't bury a moving body
This lesson I learned from a fellow competitor at the final race of my tri season. Her name is Judy Rykken, she is 83 years old and she was the last to cross the finish line in the Sprint at the 4WomenTri...she also won her age group! She did two things after the race that impressed me.
The first was immediately after we had all cheered her in and the race director asked if she needed anything. Her reply was "just to sit down." They got her a chair and I thought there is a woman after my own heart, because that is always the first thing I want after pretty much any race.
The more important thing, though, was the advice that she offered to us all during the awards ceremony.."just keep moving, doesn't matter how or how fast...remember they can't bury a moving body." And in that sentiment is a new mantra for me ... Keep Moving, They Can't Bury a Moving Body. It seems a very useful and important mantra as I approach my 65th birthday!
Sorry, not sorry...but not again!
So, do I regret doing all those races in such a short time? No, not really. Do I think it might have been healthier and better for me if I had maybe backed it off a bit? For sure.
It was good for me to know that I could do these things, however slowly. But it was better to learn that though I could do these things, It would probably have been happier (and healthier) if I had spread things out. My body just needs more time to recover, and the slow recovery took a mental toll too.
So I'm proud that I could pull this off, but I have NO plans to try to do so much in the future.
