Half Full Triathlon

If there is any experience at any event that can prove how amazing the Compex Sport Elite is, I think that my experience during and after the Half Full Triathlon is that one. My results at this race are nothing to brag about but how I felt and how I recovered sure are!

To explain, as I’ve written before, I’ve had some difficult times this summer that have really impacted my training and I cancelled every race I was supposed to do between Eagleman in June and this race in October. I’ve done fairly well recently at keeping up with my yoga, pilates and core work and with doing some pull work on my swim bench. But I’ve been mostly unable to actually swim, run or bike due to some more emotional challenges. I didn’t realize just how bad this was until I went back and looked at my log after Sunday’s race. My last swim was an easy open water swim on June 16. My last run was an easy 35 minutes in early September. And my last bike ride was actually before that - and I don’t want to admit just how pathetically short that was.

On the good side, when I sit down at my desk to work, I have been using my Compex either on the endurance or the Active Recovery programs. Definitely not a substitute for training but I have been keeping to a structured program of using my Compex.

Last fall I had registered for the inaugural Half Full Triathlon this past Sunday. It’s a fundraising event for the Ulman Cancer Fund and there were going to be a ton of cancer survivors there as well as a large group from Team Fight. Even though I was by no means ready for this race, I thought that if they could get out there and race, I could at least get myself to the start line. From there, my goals were pretty simple: keep going until I crossed the finish line or I missed a time cutoff - with no training, I was a little worried about just how slow I would be.

I’m going to give you all the blow-by-blow boring details below but here’s the very pro-Compex summary. I used my Compex on the massage program on Saturday after heading up to the expo, racking my bike, and doing some brief core and swim bench work. Needed to get ready for the race! During the race, I never experienced muscle soreness. In fact, I only felt a bit of tiring/cramping in my quads going up one hill on the bike. I wasn’t setting any speed records but I wasn’t hurting either (admittedly, my knee was but that started a couple of weeks ago and I need to get in to the doctor for that). I finished and during my post-race massage, the therapist commented on how loose my muscles were and how great my flexibility was. He asked what I’d done and I told him about my secret weapon. I used the Compex Recovery Plus program when I got home and Monday morning woke up to absolutely no muscle soreness. Not a twinge. Not going downstairs. Not going upstairs. Not standing or sitting or anything. The only pain I had all day was in that knee when I had to wear heels.

So while I don’t advocate ever doing a half-ironman without training, I have to rave about how Compex protects me from my own stupidity. Thank you, thank you Compex!!

Now the details for anyone who is interested:

The day started with one of those comedy of errors types of situations. I woke up about 3 am to go to the bathroom. First thought, ‘yeah! I’m hydrated.’ Second thought, ‘my head and throat shouldn’t hurt like this. And I’m really thirsty. Oops.’ So some tylenol and a glass of water and back to bed until my alarm went off at 4:15. Alarm goes off and my head hurts even worse so I hit snooze and lay back down. Right after the cats get comfy on top of me, I bolt upright, throwing cats off the bed because I’ve remembered that I can’t oversleep. The entrance to the park closes at 6:30 and I need to leave the house by 5:15 to get there on time and I haven’t packed. Downstairs, two more tylenol, print my checklist and start the packing. At 5:15, I’ve got the basics but haven’t grabbed any nutrition for the race. Oh well I think, they’ll be something on the course and if I don’t leave now, it won’t matter how much nutrition I have as I won’t be able to get to the race.

On the drive up, I was so happy that it was early enough that the roads weren’t crowded. Not only was I making good time but tylenol makes me really sleepy and I’m not sure I was the safest driver. I managed to get to the race location at 6:20. But I was so tired by that point that I decided to nap in the car for 15 minutes before heading over to transition. Phone alarm goes off and I’m jogging across the field from my parking location to the transition area. I got there as they were announcing 18 minutes until transition closed. So more of my being completely unprepared for this race - and usually I’m so organized, I have a checklist that I double and triple check. I got my bike set to go, put the half bottle of water I’d brought for the drive and my empty bottles on the bike hoping there would be water on the course, found a packet of cytomax in my bag to put in one of the empty bottles, found my helmet, glasses, chip, shoes, socks and race belt. Then I grabbed my wetsuit and swim cap with 2 minutes to go, got body marked and ran down to the swim start. (BTW, despite the hurry, that nap - best idea ever!)

Down at the swim start, I realize I’m still wearing my rings and necklace and now I’m worried about losing them in the water. What to do? I decide to put the rings on the chain and tuck it into my jog bra. It will be under the wetsuit and hopefully safe. My new Xterra wetsuit won’t be here until next week and the zipper on my old suit stuck again but a nice woman waiting to swim helped me get that up all the way. In line for the start I was able to talk to some of the other women, including one doing her first half-ironman - and willing to swim in 65 degree water without a wetsuit!

The swim was a time-trial start. We were in waves but within our wave we stated in pairs at 5 second intervals. Love this! No banging, no crowds. The only time I got banged was going around the 2nd turn buoy - that’s a great pleasure compared to normal. I did have a problem when I first hit the water. All of a sudden, my wetsuit felt too tight and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t figure out why until I remembered the 65 degree water and that I have asthma. Once I realized it was just an asthma attack, I realized that I would warm up and it would go away so just kept swimming. After that, my only problem was that they told us to keep the buoys on our right and one of the turn buoys was so far to the left that I almost missed it and headed for the buoy to the right of it. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one - even a friend who is a good swimmer told me that she did the same thing. After that, my only issue is the standard swim one for me - I’m so slow that I get bored before I get out of the water. I was also a bit concerned about the swim cut off and glad when I realized I was at the swim exit before I even saw it coming up.

Ran out of the water, began taking off my wetsuit and noticed that my chain, the one I’d put my wedding band and engagement ring on was loose and hanging down the front of my tri-top. My first thought was that they were lost in the water. My second, that didn’t make sense, they would have been in the wetsuit so they were probably somewhere between the swim exit and my bike. My third, it didn’t really matter. I was going to have to take them off someday, wouldn’t this be a rather good karma way to make that happen. Kind of a breakthrough for me. So I grabbed the chain and threw it in my transition bag when I got to my spot. I thought my wedding band might have been tangled up in it but wasn’t sure and didn’t take the time to check.

Got transitioned and headed out on the bike. I knew the course would be hard, I’ve ridden Columbia before and this was hillier and some of the hills were on rough road surfaces. And I was slow - 4 hours on the bike, that’s an average of 14mph! But despite the knee pain, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I guess it’s hard to feel like climbing a hill is that hard when (a) it’s nothing compared to Killer Miller on the Savageman course and (b) the person next to you is wearing a jersey that says Team Fight or Survivor 2010. As one group’s kit said “F* Cancer!” with the Lance Armstrong quote: “Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever.” On a more practical basis, I stopped at the first water stop confusing the volunteers who kept trying to hand me bottles as I rode by. I explained that I had to unscrew my bottles to fill them with water. I also found out that at least one of the volunteers was from the DC Tri Club!! Mixed up my Cytomax. Ate the one Hammer Gel I’d managed to grab and headed on. BTW, I should add - the volunteers here, at all of the intersections, and throughout the course were just great.

Filled with water, having some actual nutrition, I was ready to go. My only problem, on the next rough downhill, the yellow mesh thing that keeps the water in the aero bottle bounce right out and water started shooting all over me. I was really grateful that wasn’t the Cytomax but a little annoyed at the cold water on a cold day. Was passed by Elizabeth from DC Tri and the HIP program and she was looking good on the bike and ended up having a great day. Hit the second water stop and stopped to empty my aerobottle and took a gel. I don’t want to mention the name of the product but I’m not having that one again! The taste was horrible. In fact my reaction was so obvious that the two closest volunteers started laughing. After that it was out for the second loop which was pretty uneventful. My only concern, based on my pace, was that there would be some sort of bike cutoff that I wouldn’t make but eventually I was on the final section back into transition. That part cruelly has some climbs you don’t expect, right when you are ready to be off the bike. Thankfully, other than my knee, everything felt okay. No back pain, no muscle pain, not even a sore neck. And many kudos to Sugoi try shorts because no pain in any sensitive areas either.

Off the bike and into transition. Surprisingly, also able to run into transition and I didn’t have that bottom of the foot pain I’d had at Eagleman. Of course, there were a couple of challenges in transition. For example, I had to spend time digging through my transition bag looking for something I could eat on the run because I knew I wasn’t eating the race supplied product again. I found an opened packet of Clif Bloks, took a couple of Endurolytes and headed out to run. Shockingly, still able to run!

The run was fun. Again, there were great volunteers all over. I found some people to run with and talk to for a while. I knew I’d need to walk a bit so I used the strategy of walking for 1 minute after each mile marker at either the first hill or aid station I hit. That worked really well. Most of the time I maintained about a 10 minute mile pace, which felt really good. The course wasn’t as hilly as the Columbia tri course and very doable, especially with my hill walking rule. Sooner than I’d expected (but still really slowly), I was taking the turn to the finish - which, of course, was uphill. Just at the entry to the finish shoot, I heard my name and saw a friend cheering for me which was a great treat.

The finish was well done. A volunteer met me with a space blanket and a medal, offered to take off my chip, got me water, asked if I needed a chair, helped me get my finishers t-shirt and didn’t leave me until she knew I was fine and ready to head off for food. A yummy burrito sans tortilla, a really good massage, a brief race de-brief with Suzanne (the friend from the finish), a second burrito, and I was ready to check out lost and found. And shockingly, they’d found my engagement ring. Later, I found my wedding band - I had thrown it in my bag. So I did lose the pendent I’d had on the chain but nothing else.

Overall, a success. I did a race. I enjoyed it. I made a big emotional breakthrough. And I’ve been able to train this week and am beginning to get motivated to set some goals for next year. Waiting another week or two for the results of a medical test before making any commitments for next season but I think this is good.