Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

well I hope it is wetsuit legal for you. You have a great attitude about the whole race so you'll be fine. just keep moving forward not matter what happens. If you switch to breaststroke in the swim or walk during the run at least you would be moving forward and getting it done! In my experience rolling hills means no major climbs just some hills to make you suffer some.

Yes I am doing another tri this time it is a sprint. it will be my first sprint. I am using it as a warmup race for the back to back oly's i have coming up the next two weekends. It should be a ton of fun! I can't wait already!

_________________
http://www.myspace.com/MaryStellaStab
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... ef=profile

yeah that's what I'm thinking about rolling too. I'm pretty confident in my bike/run, it's just the swim. Emailed the race director to see what water temps are looking like.

Thanks for the good luck wishes!

_________________
vegan for the win!

Can you rent wetsuits out there? If the water's warm, a sleeveless suit feels ok and can still give you a little advantage...

_________________
Radical simply means "grasping things at the root." - Angela Davis

I have a wetsuit, and the race is apparently wetsuit legal. My suit has full sleeves. I'd like to be brave and try swimming in the bay and work my way up to an Alcatraz swim...that water is quite chilly so I figured I'd get the full sleeve.

I used my wetsuit already in a race this year plus some OWS sessions, so I'm used to swimming in it. That was in a gross lake, the race this weekend is in a river so I'm not sure how different that will be. Might affect sighting I'm told.

_________________
vegan for the win!

lobsteriffic, you'll never guess who works out at my gym....the founder of the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon!


His name is Joe and he is an absolute trip. At 75, he does these upside-down chin ups in the cage at my gym, scaring the hell out of all the young 'uns. He has some crazy exercises that he does specifically for swim training. It always draws some stares. He has a great personality--always upbeat and proactive and completely encouraging no matter who you are or where you are in your fitness journey. I call him "Coach." He gives me crap for chatting with my buddies sometimes in between sets. I tell him, "Hey, Joe, I'm absorbing their power through osmosis, here, I need a little time!" and we laugh. He's just as guilty for kibitzing at the dumbbell rack, especially if you ask him about Alcatraz and how it all got started. Then, he can go for hours! Ha, ha!

He says he's not sure if he'll be doing the race anymore, might hang up his Alcatraz cleats, so to speak. Hell, at 75, as healthy as he is, he can do whatever he damned well pleases.

Baby Herc

_________________
Power [][][][][][][][][][]
Speed [][]
Stamina [][][][][][]
Smarts [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
http://allthoughtsworkoutdoors.wordpress.com/

Wow, he sounds like such a cool guy!!!

_________________
vegan for the win!

yay wetsuit legal! water might be choppier in the river although they usually pick a calm section for the swim.

@baby h - "coach" sounds awesome!

_________________
http://www.myspace.com/MaryStellaStab
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... ef=profile

looking for your race report! Can't wait to hear all about it!

_________________
http://www.myspace.com/MaryStellaStab
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... ef=profile

Oh my gosh, I'm home, I survived and finished. Will type up a race report later!

Hope your race went well!

_________________
vegan for the win!

Most excellent!

_________________

Happiness is a personal choice!
I am the sole source of all my sadness and joy.

"The logic of worldly success rests on a
fallacy: the strange error that our perfection
depends on the thoughts and
opinions and applause of other men."
Source: Thomas Merton

Congrats on finishing! Looking forward to your report. I just posted mine. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

_________________
http://www.myspace.com/MaryStellaStab
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... ef=profile

yah yah, i can't wait to read it.

_________________
Radical simply means "grasping things at the root." - Angela Davis

Sunday, August 15th: Olympic Tri!

Woke up painfully early. Made the drive to the town, it's over an hour away. Got there early and set up. Weather was overcast/occasionally drizzling. At least it wasn't super hot.

Swim:
Course was two loops of a 750m triangle. I went WAY off course in my second loop. I was disoriented in the waves and started sighting off of the wrong buoy. I've never swam in waves before...it was actually making me a bit sea sick! A kayaker didn't stop me until I was about a couple hundred meters off course. Yikes. Definitely the last one out of the water. Figure I swam closer to 1750m.

T1:
Suit got stuck on heels a bit. Tried to slow down and take my time as my head was still reeling from my horrible swim. Didn't want to forget things.

Bike:
This course was pretty silly...it was open to traffic and was a busy street! Almost had a close call with a stupid truck and I noticed some other athletes having problems.

The way out was pretty fast going, some rolling hills on the way back. Nothing too major, just enough to keep you shifting constantly. Caught up with a few folks but my swim put me pretty far behind everyone else so my second loop was a bit lonely.

T2:
Transition was poorly controlled...people that finished the duathlon and sprint triathlon were just hanging out and blocking the exit. Nice.

Run:
My marthon training has paid off, run felt good. I had to stop to walk a couple of times but that's because I had a painful blister, not because I was tired. Not sure why I always get a blister in the same spot in tris...I never get one when I'm just running. And yes my feet are dry when I put on my socks. Hmm.

I also had to pee really, really badly. There wasn't a portapotty on the course which I thought was silly. Also, the aid station just had water. I could have used something a little more but oh well. Seems to me I was told they would have a sports drink.

Overall:
super happy I finished! Even if my time wasn't that great... I looked at the splits for the other slow swimmers and I definitely would have passed them on the bike and run. There was just too much time to make up. Oh well. I wasn't really there to race against others.

Going to spend the off-season working on my swimming and come back and rock it next year.

Monday, August 16th:
Rest day - calves are killing me!

_________________
vegan for the win!

u did it! It's great you kept after it even after the swim didn't go as planned. Dealing with what happens is so important in racing! I've had problems with traffic on my races too. It's sad really. yuck on the transition area! Thicker socks help me with the blister issue. Also you can put body glide or any anti-chaffing product on your feet. I put powder in my cycling shoes because I wear them without socks and I also put powder in my running socks. Something I think the aid stations run out of the sports drinks. But again way to keep going when things were not going your way! It was your first oly and I think you did great! You got one oly under your belt now look out!!!

_________________
http://www.myspace.com/MaryStellaStab
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id= ... ef=profile

Hmm, it never even occured to me to put body glide on my feet - you're smart! Will try that next time. It always happens in the exact same spot on my foot, and only in tris. So bizarre.

_________________
vegan for the win!