Sunday, August 22, 2010

Triathlons, Bronx Half Marathon and other sundry stuff

What a luxury to have a couple of idle hours to catch up on all my favorite blogs and indulge in some bloggie love! You folks have been BUSY! I am lounging around, enjoying some well-earned rest after slaving away most of my morning at a Practice Traithlon. You heard me right. I am spouting new vocabulary these days. I signed up for SheROX at Asbury Park next Sunday! The teeniest sprint triathlon I could find...400 m swim (I somehow thought it was just 250 yards till a few minutes ago, so I am hyperventilating right now. Don't call 911 yet. I'll get over it), 12 mile bike ride and a 5K. I signed up on a whim a week ago and gave myself no time whatsoever for any coaching or mentoring. I have no buddy to attempt this with either...I'll have to do it all by my lonesome self (with 1200 others, I'm told). The two times I went ocean swimming apparently gave me enough confidence to attempt this! What was I thinking?

I must say, a frantic attempt at a crash course into triathlons during the past week has put me in touch with a few amazing women triathletes, who have been extremely helpful and resourceful. I am finding that triathletes belong to a wonderfully tight knit community.

Anyway, there's no turning back now. I am not about to let $108 go to waste. Hence the practice tri, which went surprisingly well, IMO. I am also shopping for more equipment (they told me I need baby powder to get sand off my feet after the swim, a bike helmet to go with my blue hybrid bike (my ski helmet won't cut it, it seems), a water bottle holder for my bike, bike shorts and a few other odds and ends. Yikes! This is a lot of work (warning: this is what happens when you are totally clueless about triathlons and sign up for one 2 weeks before the race)! No tri suits, wet suits or clip pedals for me. Not even bike shoes. I am trying to keep things simple to avoid transition trauma. I will be swimming in a sports bra and bike shorts (without padding - ouchie on the bike ride!) and just throwing on a jersey for the bike and run portions. I hope I survive with the genitals intact. Oh, well. Too late to worry about that!

RACE NEWS!!! I ran the Bronx half marathon last weekend as a bandit runner and achieved a PR!!! 1:42:03. It was a beautiful day to race. I am pretty pleased, especially as I've cut out speedwork completely (the achilles still bothers me on longer and faster runs). I car pooled with other club members who were also racing that day, and we all had a fun time.

On another note, I have been metamorphosing into a vegetarian. Beans and lentils have become a regular part of my diet and ample doses of dairy, especially eggs/egg substitutes and milk complete my protein intake. I may be imagining it, but I feel lighter and more energetic. There are occasions when I break the rule...the rare fish when DH cooks his aromatic fish curry (heavenly!), or when I am ravenous and meat is the closest edible thing on hand. But like anything else, practice makes the perfect vegetarian, so I will keep practising.

And now...I have a few more precious idle moments, which I look forward to spending on the couch, curled up with my book. There is a thunderstorm raging outside. At some point, I will shuffle into the kitchen and make myself a decadent cup of hot chocolate, courtesy Ghirardelli. Mmmm. Enjoy your evening, all!

10 comments:

ajh said...

Hope your book is a good one! It must be cool if you are having hot chocolate. I am in my sweatpants loving the cooler weather!

Lindsay said...

cleaning up the diet, a half-pr and triathlon's eh? not too shabby! i hope the "real" one goes well next weekend!

zzz said...

It's not hard to be a vegetarian once u find the right diet. All the best for ur Tri next week.

Jamie said...

congrats on the bandit PR. Good luck in the tri's!

Marlene said...

AWESOME! Congrats on the half PR, speedy pants!

Beth said...

You are SO busy! That is great! I hope you enjoy your first tri. I bet you will love it. Congrats on your PR, too. You are superfast!! Can't wait to hear about the tri. :)

Heather said...

Holy speedy half! And so exciting about the tri - looking forward to reading all about your tri experience. I don't wear padded shorts on the bike (even up to 50 miles I've done without) and it isn't too bad. A little numbing, but you'll survive. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Kavi! Wow,you are a super lady. You got to tell me about the triathlon afterwards!

Pearl F.

Abby said...

Ack! I almost missed this! Good luck this weekend!! SheRox is such a great, well organized race - I know that you're going to have a blast! Can't wait to hear about it :)

(And way to go on the half PR - total speed demon!)

Scheri said...

I hope you have a great time with your triathlon! I made a goal of doing one a year, but missed it this year... with school back in session, our schedule is way too busy.

Congrats on your PR! That is fabulous!