A Triathlete Looks at 40

Ah, the off-season, where 2 words can describe my joy, "sleep in".  Finally a weekend where the alarm isn't going off before 6 am for either a race or to get out and train before it hits 90+ outside.  As I look back over my season, a few things stand out.

1. Racing the Masters division is awesome.  Lots of hardware/swag.
2. There are more kids under the age of 18 racing then ever before.
3. Some of those kids are really really fast!

I love a sport where you have the opportunity to continue to do well, even excel, and can have numerous goals along the way.  I love the fact that now this sport has spread to the youth who can continue to compete and enjoy the sport for many years to come, or perhaps branch off and excel in one aspect of the sport and then come back in later life (think Lance, only without the doping).

So in retrospect of the 2014 season, I met a few goals:
1. Remaining fit over 40 and continuing to enjoy my sport.
2. Finally got up to 90 minutes of running (thanks to injury this hasn't been possible the last 3 years).
3. Won the masters division at several races and managed a Top 3 OA at a couple local races.
4. Moved up from Category 4 to Category 3 in cycling.

There were also a few goals I didn't manage, some due to performance, others due to time constraints, that I hope to accomplish in 2015:
1. Complete (and hopefully PR) a 70.3 race, something I haven't done since 2011.
2. Top 3 Masters in a tri series (Just couldn't get in enough races).
3. Place Top 25 AG (qualify for Worlds) at Nationals (let's just say I didn't have my perfect race, somehow after 30+ years of swimming, I still haven't managed to find goggles that don't fog so I can actually see where I'm going! Worst - Swim - Ever).

For just a few more weeks I'll continue to enjoy my off-season, but even as some are just now finishing up their race seasons (mine has been over for a month) I can already feel the excitement and anticipation growing for next season.  For only the 2nd time in my 10 years of racing this sport I've decided to find a coach to help kick me in the butt this season (somehow when I write my plans I feel this complete freedom alter them significantly out of convenience, not exactly conducive to performance), so I'm confident that with the help of http://www.mpmultisport.com/ (thanks to a sweet discount deal from http://www.usmes.org/) 2015 will be better than ever!

Welcome to the "Masters" Division

Like many women, I've spent most of my 39th year dreading turning 40.  Every time I raced this season and the body markers innocently asked, "Age?" I reluctantly replied "40", even thought I'm thinking, "Not yet!  I still have a few more months until I'm officially Over the Hill!".  This weekend though, it actually paid off.  Rev3 Triathlon had a BRILLIANT idea to offer a masters payout.  I'm not sure what the rationale is, perhaps they traditionally have lower participation in the Master's ranks.  Perhaps someone decided that those who have persevered for so many years in this sport, most of us older folks pushing our bodies until we inevitably injure ourselves, deserved to get a payout.  I don't know, but whoever came up with the idea that there should be a payout for the Master's division is AWESOME!  Despite going slightly off-course on the swim (the part where we swam directly into the sun and were blinded), dropping my chain after hitting potholes on the bike course (other than the one part with pot holes the course was good), and one of my slowest runs, including the race where I tore my calf, I still managed to place first in the Masters division (even though I was only a lucky 13th overall, although that did include a few pros).

If anyone reads this post, I highly recommend Rev3.   Over Memorial weekend I also raced the Rev3 Rush on the Richmond International Raceway (think NASCAR) which was an absolute blast.   It was a super sprint, only 250M swim (in a makeshift pool set up inside the racetrack), roughly 5 mile bike, DRAFT LEGAL criterium style around the racetrack, then just a mere 1.5 mile run (my kind of race :).  One of the most fun races I've ever done, and I hope to do it again next year.

I also managed to earn the title of Langley AFB Athlete of the Year at this ripe old age.  I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to race like this, but thanks to Dara Torres I'm confident I can still continue to swim <almost> as fast as I did as a kid, and thanks to Jens Voigt and Chris Horner (and that fact that I only started cycling at 30) I believe I can still get faster on the bike.  Oh, and let me not forget to mention a local favorite on my very own Bike Doctor team, Scott Giles, who continues to get faster and kick ass despite being 40+.  And I'd be remiss not to mention one other source of my inspiration to continue pushing myself daily in training, Snapple National team member Hillary Cairns who also continues to kick butt even as she grows older (I swear she must have the regenerative powers of Wolverine).

So as 40 grows steadily closer, rather than dread the day, I say, Bring It On!  I'm proud to join the ranks of my fellow athletes who are "Fit Over 40".

US Military Endurance Sports Camp Tucson - Day 0

So after a small issue with a cancelled and re-booked flight (which Delta kindly didn't let us know they had re-booked for us) we made it from the east coast to the west.  As the training part of the camp officially starts tomorrow, today was just some light training, and an opportunity to catch up with friends we hadn't seen during our winter hibernation from racing.

The 'ol back seems <mostly> better for now, but the 'ol (everything on me is pretty much middle-aged now) calves seem to be acting up again after spending 10 hours traveling yesterday.  Fingers crossed I wake up feeling "fresh" tomorrow and ready to start what promises to be the most training I've done since I did the CIOR military pentathlon training camp back in the late 90's.  Too bad my buddy Jim isn't here, as a physical therapist for the military, he was able to bring all of his tools along to help alleviate some of the muscle pain at the end of the day. I was told there would be massages on a limited basis, but somehow that was missing from the informational meeting tonight... however, the swag so far has been great and our new kits look pretty sweet.  I must be a masochist because I'm looking forward to the painful training that lies ahead! This camp culminates in a sprint triathlon for myself and a few other USMES members out in Coronado Beach, CA, we'll see how much is actually left in the tank when it comes time to take on the Navy Seals on Sunday!

The Reluctant Rest Week(s)

Despite my mantra to "listen to your body", it didn't take long for me to break my own rules.  Having finally gotten to the point where I felt like I could truly start "training" again, I started trying to pack in the miles and the hours... I made it up to 16 hours in one week, and considering my (lack of) time management skills, this was a great accomplishment for me.  Unfortunately, my body did not agree with the increased training and the degenerated disc in my low back, which hadn't caused any significant problems in over a year decided to flare up.  I went from 16 hours in a week at the beginning of the year, to only getting in 6-7 the past 3 weeks.  Not quite the start of 2014 I had planned on.  I remember a time when I looked forward to a rest week, but 3 in a row is far too many.  Once again I find myself having to struggle with the ideal training plan I want to do vice the realistic training plan that my body will actually do.  Not to mention the time and money for all the therapy required just to keep me going.  This will be my first season racing the "Masters" division, I guess this is part of my body's way of reminding me of that... on the bright side, I can finally bend over and touch my toes without pain, now if I can just find that fine line and stay on the pain-free side of it....

Finally....

So, I haven't posted in forever, and, well, I haven't done all that many races this season, but I'm happy to report that I did have a few good results out of the few races I did, 1st Category 4 (ok so it is the lowest category in women's cycling, but a win is a win) at the Church Creek Time Trial, 1st Cat 4 at Dawg Days circuit race, and, finally, once again I managed an overall first place in a Sprint Tri.  Ok, so it was a small local sprint tri, but still, after 2 years of battling injury, it was nice to finally get another overall 1st in a Tri (last one was Dewey Beach in 2008, so it's been a while).  The course was both challenging (super hilly!) and fun.  And the cool thing was that the DC Tri Club, of which I'm still a member even though I moved to Hampton, pretty much dominated getting Overall 1st place in both the men's and women's Olympic division, and then me in the women's sprint.

As the big 4-O comes closer and closer (I just turned 39 but will race the 40-44 and overall Master's categories next year) it is good to know that it is still possible to bounce back from injury, well at least to the point where I can race again, and I haven't given up hope yet that I may still even now fully heal and be able to get faster.  As I sit here watching the Vuelta a Espana, Chris Horner is truly an inspiration, on the way to possibly winning his first-ever Grand Tour at age 42.  Just goes to show, some things do get better with age :)  Ok, so I did get my butt whooped by a bunch of 20 somethings at Patriot's Sprint Tri last weekend, but there's always next season, and maybe I really will be faster at 40...

Armed Forces Championships... check!

So, at this very same race last year is where I blew up my calf and ended my season.... I'm happy to report that this season I was able to make it through and still place in the middle!  Yes, my run sucked, but I made it through and without pain!  Here's the race report:

Swim:  The water was a balmy 62 degrees.  I say balmy because when it was 54 at the race in 2011 I got hypothermia.  So 62 felt downright nice in comparison.  The water was a bit, well, wavy, it is the Pacific Ocean after all, and the course was a bit longer than last year, but considering how much I hate full wet suit swims, I actually had a decent one and came out of the water in 5th.  I actually passed the girl that came out 4th in transition and it was off to the next leg...

Bike:  The course is flat and fast, although a bit windy.  I almost immediately caught up to one of the Canadian girls (they aren't scored against us, so this particular girl did beat me, but I when I talk about what place I was, I'm only counting US armed forces, in exchange for the 2 Canadians that beat me, I did pass 2 open men if that makes any difference for a trade :)  and we ended up riding together for the entire time.  Canadians rock btw. We caught up to a Marine and for about a lap were a group of 3, then one of the Navy girls caught us and we were now a foursome for a bit until we dropped the Marine despite my best efforts to keep the group together.  Fortunately, we soon gained 2 fellow Air Force triathletes (one is a former pro, the other recently got 2nd in her age group at Kona) and were a relatively large pack for the women's race, until we unfortunately dropped our recently commissioned 2LT (although if she just starts doing group rides regularly she'll be kicking our ass next year) and spent the last of the 4 laps as a group of 4, until the 2 stronger girls took off (might I add that one of them was a mere 1, yes 1 second off of Chrissie Wellington's bike split at Timberman in 2011) leaving me and my new Canadian friend as a twosome for the last half lap.  As one of the Navy women was off the front from the start, I was in 4th after the bike.

Run:  Ah the run.  Thanks to the aforementioned calf injury, to date I had only run 4.5 miles.  Which, as anyone who has ever trained for a 10k knows, is not quite enough if you are expecting a "good" result.  So... 47 (ridiculously slow) minutes later I finished in 12th.  I was happy with this though given the circumstances.  A little bummed that in the process enough Navy girls passed me that the Air Force women's team took 2nd as a result, but just happy to actually be walking after the race, instead of being carried to the medical clinic and then spending the next 9 days on crutches like last year.

For more on the race, check out these posts:
http://racechase.weebly.com/ (June 3rd)

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4598188%3Bsb%3Dpost_latest_reply%3Bso%3DASC%3Bforum_view%3Dforum_view_collapsed%3B%3Bpage%3Dunread#unread

The Long Road to Recovery

Over the past year and a half I've tried several different therapies and therapists in my quest to recover from a calf strain that has turned into a chronic issue. In this time I've learned a few things:

 

1. Therapy that is causing you more pain is not for you. It's good for a therapist to believe in thier treatment and to be passionate about their work, but if the treatment is causing you more pain then you started with (by the time I finally broke up with my last therapist, I had pain not only in my calves, but my knees and back as well) then it's time to move on to something else.  Which leads me to the next thing I learned:

 

2.  Only you know your body.  Sure, doctors and therapists know how the body works, and they know solutions to certain problems.  But not everyone is the same, and not everyone responds the same way to a treatment that may have been successful for others.  In the end only you can choose what's best for you, and only you can actually feel how your body is responding to treatment.  If you've given a treatment a certain amount of time and you are not seeing results, you need to stop and assess how much more time and money you are willing to waste if you continue only to find out it doesn't work.

 

3.  Don't take "no" for an answer.  I had one therapist who gave me all of one exercise, told me I would be in chronic pain for the rest of my life, then sent me on my merry way with out so much as a follow-up appointment to see if the one exercise she did bother to give me had any effect.  There's almost always at least some form of treatment that will bring at least some relief.  We are complex organisms that can compensate for just about every injury.  Where there is a wll, there is a way, you just have to continue searching for the correct path.

 

4. Refocus.  My goal in the long term is still to do another Ironman.  But in the short term I will be concentrating on sprint distance this season.  And even though my run is lacking, it is the swim and bike I will focus upon since I am very limited in distance and speed in the run (for now).

 

So, how did I get here?

 

1. Incorrect shoes  - I got suckered into thinking to be a "good" runner I had to force myself to be a forefoot striker, even though it's not my natural gait, and bought shoes accordingly; needless to say, things didn't go well

2. Gait retraining - in itself not a bad idea, everyone can always improve their gait, but forcing a dramatic change that instead of causing less pain, causes more pain somewhere else is a bad idea (I've read several studies that indicate that the Pose method is a major contributor to calf injury)

3. Not listening to my body - I decided my race schedule was more important so I pressed on, instead of just missing races I've suffered over 2 seasons now

I still have yet to find that perfect combination of treatment methods to get me where I want to be, but at this point I am at least making progress, even if I am going two steps forward and one step back at a time, but I have a much higher degree of confidence that I am finally on the right path.  Above all else, I am listening to my body this time around.  So far this season I've only done one race, a short criterium, but despite being somewhat undertrained I did manage to place 3rd in the Women's 3/4 race, with no calf pain during the race, so at least I'm off to a decent start....