Best Week Ever, pt. 2: Wonder Women.

The Spring 2011 Wonder Women (I'm in the back, wearing blue).
Photo by Ellen Ormsby.

Welcome to the second installment of my 32nd birthday week adventures: my practice tri and party with the Wonder Women training group.

Before I tell you about the tri, though, an update on the Wine Country Race: Last night, I checked the official results and learned that Katie and I clocked in at 2:17:16. That means I beat my previous PR (2:18:55) by over a minute, and Katie beat hers by 5 minutes! I was really susprised and pleased to see that time. What makes it even better is the fact that my 2:18 half felt really hard and this one felt relatively easy. I would say the courses were equivalent in difficulty, which means I am getting fitter and faster!

"Fitter and faster" is a good segue back to tri-training, because tri-training deserves much of the credit for my improvement. As many of you know, I have been training with the Wonder Women group (through Annapolis Parks and Rec) since April. Our session lasted from April 3-June 5th, meeting for two hours every Sunday. Even though we only met once per week, the prospect of those weekly workouts provided plenty of incentive to step it up during the rest of the week.

Despite the fact that everyone in the group was super-nice and our coaches encouraged us to work at our own pace, I never got past a certain intimidation factor. Every time I glanced at our training schedule I would be gripped by thoughts like "Bike ride next Sunday- I better get pedaling if I don't want to make an a** of myself," or "Open water swim- I better get to the pool if I don't want to drown." Some might argue that intimidation and fear are not the best motivators, but I can point to a whole slew of improvements made since April (faster run times, ability to stay upright on my bike, marked decrease in flailing in the water) which suggest otherwise.

This Sunday, I faced the culmination of all the fear, intimidation and improvements made during this Wonder Woman session: the practice tri. Our coaches set up a transition area near a local community beach and mapped out our course: an open water swim of undetermined distance (it took people 10-15 minutes), a 10.1-mile bike ride, and a 3.37-mile run.

Surviving last week's open water swim helped me approach the practice tri with more excitement than dread, but I was still nervous. Among our group, I am one of the slowest on the swim and the absolute slowest on the bike. Given the fact that the bike is the longest leg of the event, I knew I would finish last. I was okay with that, but I didn't want to get so far behind that I had to cut off some part of the course or make everyone stand around forever waiting for me. In many ways, I approached this event like I used to approach races: with no goal other than finishing without humiliating myself.  

Of course, I made even this low-bar goal a challenge by running the wine country race the day before the practice tri. When I woke up Sunday morning, I was relieved to find that I had only minor stiffness and soreness and (miracle or miracles) no noticeable hangover from all the wine. That afternoon, I took a couple of Advil and some Alka-Seltzer just to be on the safe side, packed up my gear, and headed to our makeshift course hoping for the best.

The swim was not my finest hour. We started out swimming to the left of a barrier, but within a few strokes, the water got too shallow to continue. Everyone starting bumping into the bottom and standing up, laughing. We moved to the other side of the barrier, where the water was much deeper. I could still touch the bottom, but just barely. The deeper water freaked me out a bit and made it harder to get into a swimming groove. In the end, I gave in to to fatigue and nerves sooner than I needed to, and walked along the bottom more than I should have.

Things got better on the bike. Once I started pedaling, I could definitely feel the accumulated fatigue in my legs, but it wan't too bad. The course was beautiful, with plenty of downhills and flats and no super-steep heels. Even better, our coach Andrea joined me on my second of three loops and rode with me to the end, keeping up a running conversation about counseling and wellness. It was just the distraction I needed, and the time passed quickly.

After the bike, I headed off on my own for the run. At this point, I am not steady enough on my bike to grab my water bottle while riding. Thus, I completed the whole bike leg without taking a drink. In the transition area, I quickly gulped down some Gatorade, and then headed out, leaving the bottle behind. I realized pretty quickly that this was a mistake. It was hot, and I was tired and dehydrated. The first few minutes of the run were miserable, and I wondered if I would be able to finish without walking. Then, I looked down and saw "1-mile" chalked onto the road by our coaches. I glanced at my watch and saw that I had only been running for a little over 8 minutes. So, despite feeling lousy, I was making good time and already 1/3 of the way there. I rallied and finished the 3.37 mile run in just over 30 minutes, just a bit off my recent 5K pace.

After the practice tri and a group photo (see above), I invited the rest of the group back to my house to celebrate the end of our session and the birthdays of myself and our coach Ellen. My wonderful friends Nancy, Jessie and Liz had volunteered to get my house ready during the practice tri, so I returned home to find the grill lit, chairs set up, and all the yummy food laid out. (FYI- I have awesome friends.) We had a great, low-key party, which was the ideal end to my action-packed birthday weekend.

The next morning, I logged on to Facebook and saw this great article about our group. Its wonderful to see our coaches getting the recognition they deserve, and I hope it motivates more women to join!

Stay tuned for the final installment of Best Week Ever, in which I will tell the stories of everything else that happened during my birthday week, including my niece's high school graduation and my first non-humiliating encounter with a favorite writer.