Mojo forecast for Saturday's race

Saturday is race day - first sprint tri of the year. Nineteen days from marathon to triathlon is a fairly quick turnaround under the best of circumstances.

This is my current setup. I took my bike into the local shop for new tires and they found a suspicious spot in the carbon on the front wheel so it is on its way back to Zipp to be evaluated. So I'll use one race wheel, and one training wheel. It's just more incentive to pedal a little harder.

So....what is the race outlook for Saturday? Well, the water will be chilly and exhilarating for sure - low 60's. But having done fine in Auckland's very chilly and choppy waters, I'll manage just fine. Low of 46, high of 69, 10% chance of rain. I'll take it!

The "mojo" forecast is a little less certain. It's only been this week that I've started to see its return. (I like this definition of mojo: that positive spirit toward what we are doing now that starts on the inside and radiates to the outside.)

Till this week, I have felt pretty flat. No mojo. Heavy legs, heavy spirit. How can three miles seem so long after a marathon? My goal since emerging from the Boston fog, over and above all, is to restore that "lightness of being." What keeps me training and racing is that almost transcendent state of mind. You just know when you have it, and you know when you don't. It got a bit buried in the Boston aftermath.

Just in the last few days I've seen signs of that lightness (a byproduct of gratefulness I believe), re-emerging. So my goal for Saturday is to tap into that, to have a positive race, to push it a bit on the swim and bike, and to have some patience with myself on the run.

This race is just about getting back in the game and recharging the "mojo" for summer training and A races in August/September.

I really don't know what I will have on Saturday, but I'm looking forward to finding out.  No pressure, no expectations, just letting it unfold.

Longevity in this sport is so much about attitude and mindset. I was reminded of that by Lindsay Cotter, wife of pro triathlete James Cotter. Read her post on 'Glad it's over: Race Weekend."  They keep perspective, humor, and grace through the ups and downs of the sport -- and through a weekend that was full of unplanned challenges!

With that I am reminded of those wise, powerful, and timeless words of all the ages - "Suck it up Buttercup".

The Hitchhiker's Guide to....Cycling??

If that book exists, I need it. Perhaps I should explain.

I had a simple hour aerobic ride on the schedule and took the bike out with the race wheels for the first time this year. Weeeeeee! I drove the bike to my kid's school and figured I could just squeeze the ride in from there and finish to coincide with dismissal. No time wasted! Perfect plan! Yes, until 3/4 of the way into the ride when I spotted a crouched white kitty alongside a sharp bend in the road, then saw the gravel and oncoming traffic, made some cat-and-vehicle evading maneuver and blew a tube.

Dang it! And no repair stuff with me (yeah, yeah...dumb). Then I remembered the small split in the tire left over from last season. Could that have been it?

I was just a few miles from the car so I figured surely some good Samaritan would offer me a ride into town.

I took off my helmet, hung it from the aerobars, then....oh so stupid....took my bike shoes off (to spare the cleats I could replace for $10 was my thinking) and walked barefoot on the asphalt shoulder. After a while I began to wonder if rolling my beloved race wheel on a flat tire was doing damage to the wheel so I then carried the bike -- complete with the dangling shoes and helmet.

Barefoot woman, walking, carrying a bike adorned with shoes and helmet. Nothing strange about that.

People waved. "Hi!!" Trucks went by, a school bus, big roomy mini vans. I faced traffic. I looked the drivers in the eye. I telepathically communicated that my bike would fit very nicely in the back of their truck and that as a grateful passenger I would make enjoyable small talk!

I've rescued riders before. Hellloooo, karma, where are you?

Despite the cool day, my feet apparently started to burn. I walked about a mile thinking I was just being wimpy. Then they really started to hurt. I thought back to the barefoot runner I saw at Boston.

Argh! Come on, people! I know about 42! I don't even need a ride through the galaxy, just into town!

Then I called my friend Bryan for a rescue.

I am left with sizable blisters on both heels. The upside is they keep me from noticing the blisters on my insteps from my failed attempt at the sock-less run yesterday.

The bike is getting new tubes and tires. Too bad the shop did not also have new skin for my feet.

So what was I missing? Some secret sign? An expression? Was I so scary looking? Why was I so incapable of hitchhiking back to town? Where is the Hitchhiker's Guide to Cycling?

Lessons learned: don't train without the bike bag and repair kit and don't worry about the stupid cleats.

10 days till first tri of the season. Things to do:

(Photo shows the Smith Mountain Lake race venue from my kayak trip the following day!)

• Get race wheels trued and put on bike because without a third arm I can't seem to do it
• Ask if they need new tubes/tires?
• Decide what shoes to race in
• Put Xtenex laces in chosen running shoes
• Decide. Socks? No socks? Socks? No socks? (every year the same debate)
• Swim in open water
• Brace self for cold lake (repeat often: "It's not as cold as Auckland")
• Wear wetsuit and hope small rip does not get bigger
• Check supply of Body Glide
• See if I can get wetsuit off over new gigantic Garmin watch
• Figure out how that "multisport" mode works on the Garmin
• Mental rehearsal of triathlon to reduce odds of doing something really dumb
• Remember how to go fast
• Invite the pain
• Practice mounting and dismounting bike
• Find packing list from last year. it worked.
• Break out the new goggles
• Figure out food/entertainment/packing for family triathlon "weekend" away
• Ignore brain that asks, "i forget, why do you do this?"

Remember that feeling of racing. Of chasing. Of passing. Of hurting. Of questioning. Of wanting. Of finishing.

Feel the smile grow on your face.

Go have fun. Knock off the rust! Enjoy the lake and your friends.

Freedom, Support for Boston, What I shared

photo by Matt Gentry

Last night the local runners gathered to run/walk together in support of Boston - the rescue workers, law enforcement, medical personnel, race officials, government, citizens, runners, and of course the victims. We wore our Boston colors, shared a moment of silence, and myself and a fellow local Boston runner, Kirsten Mosby, were asked to say a few words.  

photo by Matt Gentry

This was organized by Runabout Sports and the owner, James DeMarco, who is truly, undeniably, the beloved hub of our running community. Runners for Boston shirts were sold and donations taken with 100% of proceeds going to One Fund Boston.  

We live in a community that knows first-hand about tragedy with the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. Fortunately, I've seen the strength and resilience that can result. That gives me great hope.

I used my few moments last night to talk about the freedom that running affords us -- the ability to go out the door under our own power, to move about, to chose our route, to explore the world, to run. We have freedom in our bodies and freedom within our country. I shared how I felt that the bombers threatened both with life- and limb-destroying weapons and an assault to freedom through fear, and a locked down city.

It's hard to know what to do, how to respond. I suggested that maybe the best thing we can do as runners is to try to bring more people into "the fold" to share the freedom that we know. Get more people out walking and running (or hiking, cycling, swimming, whatever) in the world and understanding responsibility for the environment and appreciating the sweetness of life.

I continue to be haunted by images of the victims, fresh from the destruction. It's been a tough week for everyone, but last night helped to move things forward for me. And true to form (sigh), even in the midst of a "community run", I took off for a few cobweb-clearing, freedom-loving, reflective solo miles in the middle, but looped back around to finish up running with James and one of his high school track alums. Listening to their conversation and James' excitement for the first annual Blacksburg Half Marathon this fall lifted my fog and left me feeling pretty good.

Maybe runners and running can't fix everything, but we can fix a lot ;-)

photo by Matt Gentry

More info about the event:

Blacksburg’s running community rallies for Boston by Zach Crizer, Roanoke Times, April 22, 2013
Community shows up to run in honor of Boston victims by Melissa Draudt, Collegiate Times, April 22, 2013.

Boston Recovery

We all know the things that need to be done in the days following a marathon - good nutrition, hydration, sleep, easy movement, gentle stretching, and a return to normalcy. Mentally, you have to catch yourself from the fall, from the months-long focus that carried you to the top of the mountain, where the only direction left is down. This time around, the way down has been extra rocky.

I don't need to rehash the events following the 117th Boston Marathon that shut down a city. I am just so relieved to know (pending due legal process) that the perpetrators have been caught. I am amazed by the work of law enforcement and the citizens of Boston. It's one for the good guys, one that we simply could not lose. We needed this one.

Immediately after the race, the papers and local media tried to contact me but I did not engage. I felt that the attention needed to remain on the victims and those directly affected. I had finished, I had survived, and my friends had too. Where is the story in that?

As it turns out, there was a story, but a different story. It is the story shared by probably everyone who was in Boston -- that from such a terrifying and publicized incident such as the Boston Marathon bombings, you find out you matter more to people than you knew, and you are reminded how much they mean to you. How often in a lifetime do we get that opportunity?

The young, stupid, short-sighted, deranged minds of the bombers could not have predicted that their actions would also steel our resolve and bind us to one another more firmly. Ha, take that!

My 2013 Boston Marathon chapter closes, and the triathlon chapter begins. The body feels good, the spirit is healing, and the energy is returning, but I've got a ways to go. I think it's going to take some time for all of us.

A few more pics from the Boston Marathon before the focus returns to triathlon and my first race in two weeks.

This looks like a finish line shot but was somewhere midway when I was still fresh and had the energy to ham it up. (not the case at the finish!!)

I'm going to assume this guy in the next two shots was getting ready to high-five someone. I'd like to point out that his number is way lower than mine, so he started ahead of me. Just saying. It IS a race ;-)

 

Me and my pocketed peanut butter and jelly sandwich crossing the finish line.
I only ate part of it, but I was glad to know I had it!