Practice
Click here for the practice.
Diamond in the Rough
We will be tailgating at this race on Saturday. Click here to sign up to bring something.
Coach's Challenge
How serious am I about winning the Piranha club championship? If we get 40 Tri-Dawgs signed up for Diamond in the Rough July 13 I will come out of retirement and do my first triathlon in over 25 years. And if we get that many I'll do the international distance not the sprint. We have 26 signed up as of today. 14 more to go!
Fundraiser
Most of you know that Michael Ramone is the owner of Delaware Swim and Fitness Centers which is our primary sponsor. He is also a state representative. He will be hosting his annual crab feast and fundraiser on July 14th 3:00-7:00 PM at our Pike Creek location. Cost is $35 per person and includes all the crabs you can eat, subs, salads, cold beer and beverages. That is a true bargain! Everyone is welcome.
Sources for Running Injuries
Click here.
Cycling Tips for Triathletes
Click here.
Caffeine and Post Race Recovery
Click here.
Islandman
Michelle Wang 1:35:44
Heather Drysdale 1:45:44
Brian Drysdale 1:22:11
Michelle's Race Report
With all the storms we've had recently, the race organizers were still optimistic that we would have a triathlon on Saturday. Due to the rain, we set up our transition areas with trash bags over our helmets and gear and hoped the rain would stop before we got in the water, which it did. The skies were gray and looking at the raging ocean I hoped the course organizers had selected the right direction for us to go with the current. I waited at the start with my peeps: pool swim buddy Heather Drysdale, bay swim buddy Becky Flynn, and my cousin Donna Griffin. After the start I battled the waves for what seemed like 5 minutes just to get 50 m out. I was disheartened to realize at this point I could still touch the ocean bottom and perhaps I should have run instead of swimming that part. My goggles were taking in water even though I swam my last 3 practices with them uneventfully. I stopped several times to fix them and cursed myself for not wearing my goggles from escape the cape. I tried to remain positive because I could see my bay swim buddy in the corner of my vision so I knew I had a good swim for the conditions. I started to say my mantra to myself : GLIDE and tried to get in a rhythm, but the swells made it hard. The 200 m north seemed to go faster in comparison to getting to the straight away, but getting in was harder than I thought. The waves were so big that I even tried to body surf a wave in, but without luck.
As a came out of the water I saw my Mom and Diane Arnold cheering me on. I didn't even mind running up the beach to transition because I was so relieved to be out of the water. Recognizing my stuff when everyone had white garbage bags over towels and shoes was a little harder than usual. I caught Becky in the first mile of the bike and cheered for her.
The bike was a 3 loop course with a fair amount of turns which I took really cautiously because of the slick conditions. I knew the slow curves would hurt my time, but I felt like I was moving pretty well on the straight always. I was really enjoying myself too; in fact I almost wiped out on the 2nd loop because I was waving to my mom and Diane while trying return to aero bar position.
I lost significant time in the transition for bike to run by trying to enter transition the wrong way, then trying to rack in Heather's spot instead of my own. My friend Becky jogged into transition while I was leaving and she was so excited that she stuck with me. I knew she'd pass me on the run, but I didn't mind. The sand was pretty firmly packed and the ocean breeze felt great! I saw Brian and my cousin going in the other direction and I tried to keep my cadence up. I thought about track practice with coach Fischer and making yourself feel hollow so you could keep running even when tired. After the first mile mark Becky passed me and I cheered and then I saw Heather and I cheered again. I passed my mom and Diane and smiled thinking about how much better I felt this year compared to the year before when I thought I might keel over. Shortly after the 2 mile mark I was feeling tired, but I heard Becky's 7 and 9 year olds cheering so I pushed on. I crossed the line in 1:35:44 and was appreciative for the cool towels and water-ice at the finish.
Michelle's Race Report
With all the storms we've had recently, the race organizers were still optimistic that we would have a triathlon on Saturday. Due to the rain, we set up our transition areas with trash bags over our helmets and gear and hoped the rain would stop before we got in the water, which it did. The skies were gray and looking at the raging ocean I hoped the course organizers had selected the right direction for us to go with the current. I waited at the start with my peeps: pool swim buddy Heather Drysdale, bay swim buddy Becky Flynn, and my cousin Donna Griffin. After the start I battled the waves for what seemed like 5 minutes just to get 50 m out. I was disheartened to realize at this point I could still touch the ocean bottom and perhaps I should have run instead of swimming that part. My goggles were taking in water even though I swam my last 3 practices with them uneventfully. I stopped several times to fix them and cursed myself for not wearing my goggles from escape the cape. I tried to remain positive because I could see my bay swim buddy in the corner of my vision so I knew I had a good swim for the conditions. I started to say my mantra to myself : GLIDE and tried to get in a rhythm, but the swells made it hard. The 200 m north seemed to go faster in comparison to getting to the straight away, but getting in was harder than I thought. The waves were so big that I even tried to body surf a wave in, but without luck.
As a came out of the water I saw my Mom and Diane Arnold cheering me on. I didn't even mind running up the beach to transition because I was so relieved to be out of the water. Recognizing my stuff when everyone had white garbage bags over towels and shoes was a little harder than usual. I caught Becky in the first mile of the bike and cheered for her.
The bike was a 3 loop course with a fair amount of turns which I took really cautiously because of the slick conditions. I knew the slow curves would hurt my time, but I felt like I was moving pretty well on the straight always. I was really enjoying myself too; in fact I almost wiped out on the 2nd loop because I was waving to my mom and Diane while trying return to aero bar position.
I lost significant time in the transition for bike to run by trying to enter transition the wrong way, then trying to rack in Heather's spot instead of my own. My friend Becky jogged into transition while I was leaving and she was so excited that she stuck with me. I knew she'd pass me on the run, but I didn't mind. The sand was pretty firmly packed and the ocean breeze felt great! I saw Brian and my cousin going in the other direction and I tried to keep my cadence up. I thought about track practice with coach Fischer and making yourself feel hollow so you could keep running even when tired. After the first mile mark Becky passed me and I cheered and then I saw Heather and I cheered again. I passed my mom and Diane and smiled thinking about how much better I felt this year compared to the year before when I thought I might keel over. Shortly after the 2 mile mark I was feeling tired, but I heard Becky's 7 and 9 year olds cheering so I pushed on. I crossed the line in 1:35:44 and was appreciative for the cool towels and water-ice at the finish.
No comments:
Post a Comment